The Marenon Chronicles Collection

Chapter Three





The Stühocs destroyed the entire village. They had started by torching it with flaming arrows and when they were satisfied with that, they charged into the village square. It was a farm village with perhaps two hundred people. Three of the villagers managed to escape, and one of them barely had any life left in him. The three sat huddled in the mouth of a cold, damp cave in the hills above the village. As they shivered, they silently watched the smoke of the village fluttering serenely, almost mockingly in the setting sun. Most of the fire had already gone out because there hadn’t been much to burn.

Dink’s jaw clenched as he watched the Stühocs make camp among the ashes and dead bodies of the villagers. The foul Stühocs didn’t lose a single soldier in the conflict. Then again, it had hardly been a conflict at all. It was a massacre. Once the Stühocs had cut the number of survivors down to about fifty villagers, they started to round up the rest and tie them up with rope. Dink hadn’t been in Marenon for more than a few months, but he knew it wasn’t normal for the Stühocs to take so many prisoners. From what he had learned, the Stühocs desired mostly to kill. After watching, horrorstruck, as row-by-row, barred carriages passed through the smoldering village ruins, it seemed that they had been busy picking up prisoners all across the central region of Marenon. There were hundreds of carriages filled with prisoners. He wondered silently to himself what the foul Stühocs might be planning.

He held a canteen to Richard’s mouth, tilting it slightly until the last of the cool water was swallowed. Richard nodded his thanks and Dink took another long look at the arrow protruding from the man’s chest. The arrow must have missed the heart because Richard was still alive, but the blood seeped through enough to show that his time was limited.

“Don’t even think about trying to take it out,” Richard said.

Dink nodded and glanced at Emma who sat against the cave wall, staring blankly at the village. She had not been injured, but shock was apparent on her face. He turned his head back down to the dying man.

“What do you suppose we do?” he asked, knowing there wouldn’t be a good answer.

Richard started to sit up straighter, but the pain was too great. With a slight groan, he slumped back down and breathed slowly.

“You and Emma need to go north,” he said. “You’ll find safety there and you’ll be able to warn the northern villages. If you can make it to them, they won’t face the same fate as our own. They’ll at least be able to put up a fight.”

“There were hundreds of them,” Dink said, “maybe a thousand.”

“And if you don’t warn the villages, they will be taken by surprise,” the man let out a deep painful cough mixed with saliva and blood.

Dink watched him sadly, unable to help him in any way.

“It’s coming,” Richard said.

“What is?”

“It’s here.”

In that moment, Richard’s eyes went wide and his body began to shudder slightly. With one final breath, he reached out to Dink, but his hand dropped to his side as he closed his eyes and fell silently asleep, breathing no more.

Dink sat petrified. He had seen a hundred or more people die that day, but this had been the hardest. Richard had become a friend. The man had been the village leader, and all who lived there had looked to him for guidance in every aspect of their lives in Marenon. Losing him was surreal. Dink had only been in Marenon a few months, but he had found this village, just weeks after surviving the gauntlet in Canor, a sick game set up by the previous king. He had been searching for his wife and found her among the people of this village. She had been there for two years. Richard had taken her in and treated her like a daughter. When Dink showed up at the village, Richard called for a celebration feast, for they had heard many stories from Emma about Dink, and how much she wanted to be with him again. Fate had brought the two together. Dink found happiness with his wife once again and a new satisfaction with his work in the village. There was a certain peace about it that captured everything he had wanted out of his previous life. It was ironic that it had taken death to finally make Dink happy.

Now he stared outward as the flames of the Stühocs incinerated his happiness. He cursed them for their callousness. They came in and destroyed on a whim, not caring about the sacred lives of the people. Dink wanted to help those who were taken prisoner, but Richard was right. He and Emma needed to warn the villages to the North. What good would one man and one woman be against an army of Stühocs? Trying to free the prisoners would be folly.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and scooted next to Emma. He wrapped one of his big arms around her and stroked her long, brown hair. She buried her head in her arms, tears flowing uncontrollably. Dink’s heart ached to see his wife in such pain.

“Emma,” he managed, not knowing what to say. What could he say? She had just lost most of the people in this world that were important to her. He would wait. She didn’t need to be hurried. They would be traveling through the night to reach the northern villages and it would be an exhausting trip. He looked again to the smoke, then to the Stühocs below.

In a split second, fear tore into Dink. At the bottom of the rocky hill, he could see a patrol of Stühocs slowly making their way to the top. The path they took led straight to where he and his wife sat. His sudden surprise caused Emma to look up as well, and she saw the same thing. He looked at her, wishing he could ask if she were ready to move, but it wouldn’t matter. It was time to leave.

“We can’t let them see us,” he said.

She nodded, wiping away the last bit of her tears as she set her jaw firmly. Weaponless, they took each other by the hand and crouched low as they moved from the mouth of the cave to the outer edge and up. Dink feared with each step that their movements would be spotted. His fear changed to terror because within seconds of leaving the cave entrance they were seen by the patrol. One of the Stühocs shouted to a few soldiers below while the other three sprinted up the path. Dink was at least relieved to be in an area where there were tall boulders in every direction. It wouldn’t be impossible to lose the pursuers. They clambered up the hill, but they were moving too slowly. The two were in good shape, but they would never be able to outrun the furious Stühocs who had battle-trained stamina.

They looked in every direction searching for some place to hide or some weapon to use. Emma looked further up the hill and saw a giant rock surrounded by trees at the edge of the forest.

“Let’s go there!” she pointed. “They might split up on the path below and pass us by.”

“It’s worth a try,” Dink agreed. They sprinted up the hill as thoughts of survival quickly replaced the thoughts of mourning for their loss. They climbed to the peak of the largest boulder, hidden among a patch of bushes and trees. Emma stood quiet to listen, but Dink grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“You need to run,” Dink said. “Go on without me. I’ll stay behind and distract them, while you keep running north.”

Emma shook her head violently. “We stay here!”

“If we stay here they’ll probably catch us both.”

“What exactly do you plan to do?” she asked.

Dink waited a moment and said nothing.

“Please don’t go down there,” she pleaded.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “There are only a few of them.” He reached down and picked up a fist-sized rock. “Besides, I’ve got a pretty good throwing arm.”

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard!”

“It’s better than getting caught up here,” he said. “It’s all I’ve got, do you have a better idea?”

Emma said nothing, still angry that Dink was putting her in the position of being the sole survivor while he sacrificed himself. “What if they kill you?”

Dink could feel her limbs shake underneath his grip. “You keep running. No matter what you hear or see, don’t stop until you know you are safe. I’ll catch up with you soon, I promise.”

Emma squeezed him tight and then kissed him on the lips. She had lost so much, but to lose her husband would be losing absolutely everything.

Dink held her out at arm’s length. “Go.”

With a hesitant step she turned and ran.

Dink watched for a moment as she made her way up the side of the hill, then he looked down to his hand, turning the rock over. What was he thinking? Did he really believe he could defeat a group of Stühocs with a small stone? He probably wouldn’t, but it would give Emma enough time to get away. That was all that mattered. If the soldiers had the desire, they could track the two of them together easily, and would eventually catch up. At least this way, he could keep their attention and give Emma plenty of time to get away.

He walked back down the path, and when he came to the fork, he waited. Gradually, he could hear the loud breathing and heavy steps of the Stühoc soldiers. When they came around the bend, they spotted him immediately and stopped, weapons held ready.

Dink stood, casually tossing the rock up and down in his palm.

“Evening gentlemen,” Dink said. “Nice weather ain’t it?”

The ugly gray Stühocs looked at each other, confused. “We need to take him alive,” one of them said.

“I say we kill him,” another said.

“Yeah, we’ve got all the prisoners we need.”

Dink held firm, watching each of them intently.

“I say try to kill me,” Dink said, trying to sound as brave as possible. Emma would need all the time she could get. “But if you can’t, turn around and go back to the hell you came from.”

The three Stühocs looked at each other, snickering. “What, you think we won’t be able to kill you?” the middle one said.

“I think if you tried to kill me, you’d be slightly embarrassed at yourselves.” Dink was stalling, and he knew the Stühocs would catch on soon. Any amount of time he could give Emma to get further away was good.

“What should we do first, cut off his limbs or go straight for the heart?”

“Limbs!” the other two shouted at once.

As they started to move, Dink held up his hands and yelled for them to wait.

“Let’s not be too hasty, good fellows!” They stopped again. They had probably never seen such a lighthearted victim. “If you take my limbs first, then I won’t be able to put up any sort of a fight, now would I?”

“We’re not interested in a fight,” the middle one said.

Dink snarled at the grotesque figures in front of him. Their gray skin peeled and cracked, and their stench was that of the sulfur from their burning land. Their faces were deformed and scars cut across the cheeks and down their necks. Dink continued.

“Perhaps you would be interested in something else,” he said.

“And what’s that?”

Dink had no idea what he was about to say. He had only said this to keep them occupied. He looked down at the rock in his hands and then back to the group of three. Without any more hesitation he pulled his arm back, taking a quick, careful aim and threw it as hard as he could at the middle Stühoc. His aim was true and the stone landed in the middle of the soldier’s face, shattering his nose on impact. The other two looked back at their screaming comrade, gray blood spilling from his face, then they charged after Dink.

With nothing in his hands, Dink readied himself for the fight. The left one swung his sword hard at Dink, but he quickly jumped out of the way. The other did the same and missed, but this time Dink tackled him full-force to the ground. He reached for the Stühoc’s weapon, but he sensed the other was behind him so he rolled onto his back. He had been correct. Now he was on the ground and two Stühocs towered over him, swords pointed at his chest. He was done. There was no running now, no more fighting. He had been beaten. At least Emma got away, he thought to himself, relieved.

“You’re not as smart as you think you are,” said the Stühoc on the left.

“I consider myself smarter than most,” Dink uttered. He tried to remain confident in his final moments, but he could hear his voice shake when he spoke.

The Stühoc gripped the sword tighter and got ready to swing down on Dink. He closed his eyes, waiting for the deathblow to take him away from Marenon, when he heard the Stühoc cry out in pain. When he opened his eyes, the Stühoc was on the ground, holding his head. Dink followed the gaze of the third and saw that Emma stood at the top of the nearest boulder, rocks in her hands. Her next rock landed in the chest of the third Stühoc, causing him to drop his sword. Dink reached for it and stabbed the creature and it wailed in pain. Dink stood upright quickly and ran to the next one, stabbing him through the chest. The first Stühoc that Dink had thrown the rock at was still moaning on the ground. He stood over the disgusting form, thoughts of the day’s previous battle reentering his mind. They showed no mercy, why should he? With a hard swing, he brought the sword down on the Stühoc, killing him instantly with the sound of breaking flesh and bone. He pulled the sword out and walked to meet Emma. She ran to him and they embraced each other with relief.

Dink was not going to scold her for coming back. If she hadn’t, he would be dead.

With no more Stühocs on their trail, the two traveled northward to warn the villages of the coming horde. Maybe, just maybe, the other villages would stand a chance.