Valkeryn 2: The Dark Lands (25 page)

Samson snorted. ‘Don’t kid yourself, grandma. I killed hundreds of your little freaks, and also just as many of the big dumb blockheads behind me. In fact, I could take them apart with my bare hands.’

Beside him, Wilson and Ramirez turned to look incredulously at him.

Wilson shook his head. ‘Boss, I’m not sure that…’

‘Shut up, soldier. We’re as good as dead anyway. Fight or die – I want to choose my own exit – how about you?’ Samson turned back to the Panterran queen. ‘You know what? I doubt there’s a single dirty freak amongst you that I couldn’t take down – right here, right now.’

Beside him, Wilson groaned, Ramirez sniggered. Samson got to his feet. He heard movement behind him, and expected to be crushed flat by an axe or club as big as he was. Instead, the queen held up her hand, grinning, her eyes glowing with excitement.

‘Yessss… yessss. Good. We accept your challennnge, warrior of Man-Kind. I will enjoy thisss sssport, and we will sssee what the sssons offf Man-Kind are truuuly capable of.’ She looked over his head, scanning the ranks of massive Lygon. ‘I choossse… Murdak, the Ssslayer.’

Samson heard the assembled Lygon grumble and begin to move behind him. Eventually the ill-humored masses parted to let one of their kind through who was as broad across as a horse. Standing eight feet tall, heavily scarred, and with a belt at his waist adorned with furs and bones as its trophies of victories past.

Murdak clenched his ham-sized fists, threw his head back and roared. Samson gritted his teeth, and tried hard not to cringe from the sound, so loud it hurt his ears in the confined space. The beast’s head came down, and his eyes fixed, firstly on Samson, then travelled to Wilson and Ramirez, before coming back to the Delta Captain.

‘No weapons.’ He grinned showing teeth like tusks and began flexing hands that ended in claws easily three inches long.  He started to shed his armour, the huge plates clanking heavily as they dropped to the stone floor. Murdak grinned again.

‘Winner eat loser.’

Samson turned to his men and winked. Wilson started to gag, and Ramirez just giggled. He turned back to Murdak.

‘Bring it.’

*

Becky, Edward and Eilif were chained together. Becky kept up a constant stream of complaints to Edward about being tied so close to the strange animal-woman. She lowered her voice, but Eilif heard every word and just glared.

At one point Eilif had heard enough of the ill-mannered language and reached across to tug the woman’s long hair to shut her up, but also just to… feel it. She immediately snatched her hand back and bared her teeth as Becky shrieked. She was beginning to hate the female human even more – the hair was like the softest flowing silk beneath her fingers.

Becky drew back, and Eilif dismissed her. So weak and soft;
they were nothing like Arn, or the descriptions she had heard from him about the people of his time. If these were in any way representative of the Ancients, then it was better for them they had left the world before the Panterran and Lygon had risen to oppose them.

It was mid-evening now, and fires were lit in the castle’s forecourt. Eilif despaired; the beautiful gardens that once surrounded the inner palace, where she and Grimson used to play, were transformed into fields of dirt, rubble and rusty patches of spilled blood. It still stank of death.

The three captives were dragged to where a throne had been brought out. Mogahrr sat upon it grinning down at them, but her eyes had a special attention for Eilif.

‘Princesss… we have a ssspecial treat for youuu – yessster-time’s warriorsss come tooo challenge thossse of toooday. Who isss better? Who isss more fit to ruuule thisss world?’ Mogahrr turned in her seat to reveal Colonel Briggs standing mutely, her eyes vacant and mouth hanging open. The queen stroked the Colonel’s head and spoke to her. ‘If yooou are theee bessst, then your wooorld already belongsss to usss.’ She waved one scaly hand.

Murdak stood waiting, the other Lygon cheering as he lifted huge arms and paraded at the edge of the make-shift arena. He turned, nodded to Mogahrr, and then stood, breathing heavily, his huge chest moving in and out, the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexing as he waited.

Eilif growled deep in her throat, making Becky pull away with a look of disgust, mixed with fear. She edged as far from Eilif as their bonds would allow.

At a signal from Mogahrr, the three Delta force soldiers were pushed out into the arena. All three were now stripped to the waist, and Eilif marveled at their
sizes compared to Becky, Edward and even Arn. These specimens of Man-Kind were what
she had envisaged, rather than the soft pair beside her.

She leaned forward to get a better view – one of the men was larger than the others, his name Sam-son, she’d heard, his short cropped blond hair shining silver and gold in the firelight. He hurriedly talked to the others, one listened intently, and the third just giggled with his head down.

Mogahrr lifted one taloned hand and held it lazily aloft. The crowd was silent as it waited. She grinned, and then dropped it. Murdak spun, holding his massive arms wide, roaring at the three humans. He displayed tusk-like teeth, and long claws extended from the end of his stubby fingers.

The crowd of Lygon roared in response, the anticipation firing up their lust for blood and combat. Eilif knew that every one of them would have given an arm to be out in the arena with the former rulers of the planet.

Murdak spread his arms again, wide enough to gather all three of the Man-kind in at once. The larger Man-Kind pushed the other two apart, and he began circling to the left, while one other moved to the right. The third remained where he was with his hands up over his mouth as though trying hard to stifle laughter.

Eilif shook her head. The agreement had been for no weapons, and this is where the Man-Kind found themselves hugely disadvantaged – they were physically smaller and less powerful than the Lygon, they had no real teeth or claws of worth. However, the Lygon general was the opposite. Murdak had claws and teeth that were daggers, and a formidable strength that would crush the soft bodies to a red mess if he got close enough.
When
he got close enough.

Eilif looked around at the walls of the inner grounds. She remembered every alcove, nook, every ledge or carved piece of stone – there were dozens of crawlspaces and se
cret passages to hide in. She knew she could easily get to another area, or even far outside the castle… if only she could get free.

She glanced across at Edward and Becky. Fleeing while trying to drag the two soft beings with her would be futile. She wished she had a blade – she could either saw through her bonds, or one of the wrists of the humans.  She looked down working her wrist where it was lashed to the young human female. She could gnaw through the bonds, but it would take time, and Mogahrr continually glanced her way.

Samson continued to jog around the outside of the arena keeping his eye on the huge Lygon. He kicked at the ground and dislodged a fist sized stone, and quickly snatched it up, holding it ready – his only defense. His comrade saw him and did the same, both now armed with the meager tools of the primitives.

Murdak’s lips curled back; perhaps he decided he had drawn out the spectacle long enough, or he simply couldn’t resist the blood lust burning within him anymore – he charged  straight ahead.

Eilif screamed a warning, but the lone Man-kind did little more than hold up a hand as if the giant would stop before him – he might as well have tried to stop a hurricane. Murdak leapt the last dozen feet, his bulk crushing the man to the ground. There came no sound from the human, even though Eilif was sure he still lived after the initial onslaught.

Murdak got to his feet, dragging the soldier with him, huge claws dug deep into the flesh. He flung the rag-like body side to side, striking the ground over and over again. Eilif could feel the impacts through the soles of her feet.

Eventually the body of Ramirez was soft, and red marks painted the ground on each side of the Lygon. Murdak held the smashed remains up, looking into its slack face momentarily before flinging it into the crowd. It was shredded and consumed in seconds.

Murdak turned, his orange and black fur taking on a silvery sheen as the moon broke through the clouds. Immediately the tall human warrior looked up at it, and closed his eyes, drinking in the luminous glow. He looked down at his arms and
Eilif guessed what he was experiencing – the same effect that Arn had felt. The moon’s glow somehow transformed them, making them more than what they were.

Murdak charged again, but this time both men moved faster than he anticipated. As Murdak pursued them around their arena, they outpaced him – the larger one, the one called Sam-son, looking back to taunt the Lygon. Behind Murdak, the dark haired human caught up and flung a stone that struck Murdak’s back, making him howl with pain. He, too, seemed to feel the strange energy coursing through him. He seemed surprised by the pain he could inflict on the much larger creature.

As the massed Lygon jeered Murdak, and he spun, his huge chest bellowing as he watched the pair. Sam-son jogged back to his fellow human, and quickly spoke to him.

While they were distracted, Murdak took the opportunity to attack. He charged, covering the length of the arena in seconds. The speed surprised both Man-kind, and the smaller of them stumbled. Sam-son paused to look at his companion briefly, before shrugging and trotting away.

The Lygon was on the fallen man instantly, and this time the man’s scrams were loud and agonized. Sam-son came in from behind and threw his rock, the small projectile crashing into the Lygon’s head – painful but far too small to be debilitating to the giant fur-covered beast.

Murdak turned to glower, but immediately went back to his second prey of the night. He lowered his head to the fallen man’s torso, and ripped away most of the chest. The screams shut off instantly. 

At the other end of the arena, Samson dug in the dirt. This time his effort was rewarded by a rock nearly as wide across as he was. He levered it out of the gro
und, and then grunted at the effort to lift it. Eilif grinned; this one, this stone, could make a difference. This stone could kill a Lygon.

Murdak looked up, his bloody snout dripping and his jaws trailing greasy entrails. He saw Samson approaching and seemed to smile. The Man-kind carrying the stone looked more like some sort of two legged worker ant, overburdened, and struggling just to hold the boulder aloft.

Murdak waited a few more moments, watching the human approach. Then in one swift movement he swept up the body beneath him and flung it. The loose boned corpse struck Sam-son across the chest, bringing him down. Before Samson had even been struck, Murdak had launched his attack. He leapt, one huge arm held high and the hand curled into a fist. Murdak’s plan was obvious – obliterate the hated creature, starting with its face.

The crowd of Lygon roared and beside Eilif the queen leaned forward her face split into a black grin. Murdak’s fist came down almost faster than the eye could follow.

Samson caught it.

The arena fell silent. The disbelief on the Murdak’s features was almost comical. How had a creature half his size been able to stop a blow that should have crushed his head?

Samson held on, his teeth gritted, straining. But he held on.

The moon shone brightly now, lifting high and lighting the arena. Murdak brought his other arm around, only to have it to grasped and held… but not for long. The arms were gradually pushed back.

Samson’s gritted teeth showed whitely, and the strained grimace started to turn up into a grin of triumph. His own strength was surpassing that of the massive beast he fought. Faster than Murdak could react, Samson let go of one of his arms, and jabbed a finger deep into one of his luminous green eyes.

Murdak’s head went back and he howled in pain, clutching at the damaged orb. He rolled away, shaking his head momentarily stunned. By the time he had regained his senses and vision, Sa
mson was back, standing in front of him, the huge stone once again held in his hands.

The Man-kind grinned. The arena was in stunned silence. Just Samson’s voice carried to Eilif.

‘Hey, head’s up.’

The Lygon roared, they all roared, and Samson brought the stone down like a comet upon the thick skull. Both the rock and skull exploded. Becky and Edward cheered and were jerked roughly to the ground by the Panterran.

Samson looked up at Mogahrr, and then placed one foot on the body.

‘Did I not tell you?’ He laughed and began to beat his chest, making a strange sound. He stopped, glared at Mogahrr and raised his arm, a single finger thrust upward.

‘I am the slayer of beasts, the skinner of cats, the baddest bad-ass on this planet.’ He raised his face to the moon, inhaling deeply, and sucking in its glow.

Mogahrr half rose from her seat, white-hot fury in her gaze. She spun left and right, before pointing one taloned hands to the ranks of Lygon.

Samson threw his head back, laughing, his hands on his hips. ‘Another? Let them come.’

Once again the crowd of brutes parted. This time the creature that bulldozed his way through was a head taller than Murdak – a mountain of gnarled muscle. Eilif’s lips drew back from her bared teeth. She whispered the name.

‘Goranx.’ Her eyes were riveted, and she couldn’t help her fists balling. Before she left for Valhalla, she prayed that Odin allowed her the pleasure of seeing this monster’s head separated from its body.

Mogahrr’s taloned finger went from Goranx to Samson, and then to the centre of the arena. The giant Lygon’s glo
wing green eyes fixed on the human, as he stepped out into the cleared space.

Samson opened his arms wide, revelling now in the battle, confident from his win, and enjoying his new strength.

Goranx immediately charged. Insanely, Sam-son charged to meet him. Regardless of the strength of the human, he was outweighed five to one, and physics just wouldn’t allow the smaller body to hold its ground under the mass and momentum of his opponent. They landed hard and slid, Goranx on top.

Eilif did not know this Sam-son, but willed his victory with every part of her being. Becky had her hands over her face, and Edward stared in horrified fascination, but his hands were clasped in an unconscious prayer for success.