Chapter Five

It’s true, in crisis situations, everything seems to slow down, Gresh thought. After all, he was, along with two Agori, one Glatorian and a wagon with valuable cargo, plunging into the depths, probably to their death… and yet, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The water was drawing closer inch by inch and he felt every breath he took – in, out, in, out. In his mind raced madly, even though he seemed to have all time in the world before impact. Below them was the headwater of the Skrall River, in which the melting water of the Black Spike Mountains came together to feed the oasis of Tesara with the live-giving liquid. The river ran south, but thanks to the great heat, it already evaporated before reaching the region of Atero. Gresh braced his body. Even if he hadn’t spent all his life living near water, it would have been clear to him that all his bones would break during the impact, so he had to submerge cleanly. Headfirst he split the water’s surface, but he had forgotten that even here the Skrall River wasn’t very deep. His head hit a rock at the bottom of the river and everything went black. Then the darkness was pushed away by lively colors. Gresh stood amidst the Sea of Liquid Sand and despite the quicksand that surrounded him; he managed to remain on his feet. Not far away the village of Vulcanus was burning. The Agori and Glatorian burned, too, but walked around as if nothing was happening. He looked right. Malum lead a horde of Vorox to Vulcanus, but instead of attacking they passed through the village and charged into a group of Bone Hunters. Nearby sat a troop of Skrall watching the action. Once both sides were tired from fighting, the Skrall overwhelmed both, the Vorox and the Bone Hunters. Then something even stranger happened. A shooting star crossed the sky and lit up the desert night for miles around. It fell down and burned a crater into the sandy floor. Smoke and flame rose and finally a figure rose slowly… one Gresh had never seen before. At first he thought it was a Glatorian, but the creature kept growing and growing and soon towered miles over Bara Magna. The figure grew and grew… or was it Gresh who was shrinking? He looked down at himself and noticed that his legs were half sunken into the quicksand. He was sinking! He called for help, but the Agori in Vulcanus were too occupied with the fire and the battle with the Skrall. Only the giant figure stood over the chaos below and called Gresh’s name.

“Gresh… Gresh… Gresh!”

The Glatorian’s eyes snapped open. The burning village, the quicksand, the Skrall and the giant were gone. He was lying in the sand and looked up to the two Glatorian Ackar and Kiina. Strakk, Tarduk and Kirbold sat nearby in the shadow of a precipice.

“You gave us quite a scare,” Kiina said, laughing.

“Don’t try to get up,” Ackar advised. “You hit your head really hard.”

“What… how did you get here? Gresh asked and tried to get up despite Ackar’s warning. Immediately everything began to spin and he had to lie down again.

“When the Exsidian ore didn’t arrive in Vulcanus, Raanu grew nervous,” Ackar replied. “If it is not delivered, Iconox can’t pay their debt to Vulcanus for the lost match.”

“Ackar convinced Raanu to wait a little instead of acting too hastily”, Kiina said. “He said we would either find you and the Exsidian or try to prove that Iconox sent the cargo on its way. We just arrived when Strakk fished you out of the river.”

Gresh gave his fellow warrior from Iconox a surprised look. Strakk and he were anything but good friends and he knew that he never did anything without wanting something in return.

Their gazes met. “Tarduk promised me a part of his next artifacts trove when I find you and get you out of the water”, Strakk explained. “Thus it was only reasonable to…” Kiina stared angrily at Strakk as if she wanted to teach him a lesson with her trident. Ackar had walked over to the shores of the river and stared into the water.

“At least we found you, but according to Kirbold, the Exsidian is lying at the bottom of the river. Raanu won’t be happy about this.”

“Worse”, Kirbold said, “if we don’t have a safe route anymore to send cargo from Iconox to Vulcanus and back, then it is of no use that both these villages challenge each other in the arena. When a village has got something the other one wants there’ll be confrontations.”

“If we manage to get the Exsidian to Vulcanus we may be able to avoid that,” Ackar said. “But your Spikit ran away, the wagon is shattered and the whole area is teaming with Vorox and Skrall… the situation is serious.”

Gresh forced himself to get up. Everything was spinning for a moment, at first fast, and then slower, that way he didn’t get sick. He staggered over to Ackar. The Exsidian had probably buried itself deep into the riverbed. It would be possible to recover it with the proper equipment, however, without the wagon; they could only transport a few ingots anyway. Even if they loaded a few ingots onto Ackar and Kiina’s Sand Stalkers, the expedition would be far from being a success.

“Maybe we should get a wagon from Vulcanus?” Tarduk suggested.

“We probably could save you that effort”, Kiina said. “What do you think, Ackar, there may be someone around who would be very eager to get some Exsidian?” She nodded her head towards the north.

Ackar smiled.

“This is an absurd idea”, Strakk grumbled while trudging through the sand. “Not only absurd – suicidal, too. And of course they chose me for it.”

He kept himself from looking back. Strakk knew exactly where Ackar and Kiina were watching him from up between the rocks, allegedly to cover his back, but he knew the true reason. They wanted to make sure he didn’t make a run for it. Strakk marched from the Dark Falls to the southeast, in the direction of the open desert. Gresh had proposed to head north, to Roxtus, but Kiina had been against it.

“On that way he’ll never make it past Malum and his Vorox”, she said.

“Additionally, the Skrall are not stupid enough to think a Glatorian would voluntarily come to them if there was another solution. No, the encounter has to look accidental.” Thus Strakk was wandering through the desert, beneath the burning sun, without any equipment. If he was “fortunate”, a Skrall patrol would cross his way. If not, he’d fall victim to the bone hunters or some hungry desert creature. Not for the first time he asked himself whether the Match with Ackar he had been promised was worth all this. Strakk stopped to drink something. During the accident he had lost his water canister, but he had insisted that Kiina would give him hers before he moved out. Kiina was afraid that the Skrall would not believe his story when he was carrying water, but Strakk refused to leave without water. He took a large gulp. When he took down the water canister, he saw something in the distance. He saw riders coming towards him. He couldn’t make out whom they were through the heat waves rising from the sand. He counted about half a dozen armed figures on Sand Stalkers. Strakk felt a surge of relief. Bone Hunters rode Rock Steeds, so the riders were probably not raiders. He at least didn’t want to fall into the hands of the wrong criminals. He forced himself to stop walking. Even though his mind called at him “Run!” Strakk in no way was a coward – after all, one couldn’t be a successful Glatorian if one had fear. But he thought practically. Should something happen to him, his compensation would at least have to be generous… If it would still be of use to him… The riders had now come close enough that he could make them out. It was a well-equipped Skrall patrol eager for a round of “punch the Glatorian”. Strakk felt how his knees grew soft, but he kept himself together. He had to look exhausted and afraid if his plan was to succeed – At least that is not hard, he thought.

The leader of the squad was an elite warrior Strakk hat met before. His name was Stronius. He had watched many Skrall matches in the arena, with unmoving features and without saying even one word. Rumors say he came to supervise the Skrall Glatorian. Should one of them, by some miracle, lose – or simply not win fast enough – he had the permission to punish him.

Apparently the Skrall even need more motivation to really punch someone, Strakk thought sarcastically.

Stronius rode directly towards Strakk and looked down on the Glatorian with a self-pleased smile. “A long way from home… Glatorian.”

“I am…” Strakk began.

Stronius cut him off. “Maybe you need a meal and a bed. I am sure we’ll find something for you in Roxtus.”

Strakk had to gulp. He has heard a lot of rumors about Glatorian that were on their way to Roxtus – or were taken against their will – and were never seen again. They said they were used as “guinea pigs”. That was the least creepy version. Other speculations on why they were brought to Roxtus and what happened to them there were far worse. “I was on a journey with a few others”, Strakk explained. “Our wagon plunged down the Dark Falls. I… I am the only survivor.”

“A wagon?” Stronius asked. “What was the cargo?”

Strakk hesitated shortly before answering, just long enough to seem believable. “Exsidian, we were on our way to Vulcanus. But it is now at the bottom of the river.” Stronius smiled. His eyes were gleaming with greed. “You are aware, Glatorian, that we could finish you off now and take the Exsidian for ourselves?”

At least he’s honest, Strakk thought.

“But we don’t do such things”, Stronius continued. “As honest citizens of Bara Magna we will do something else instead. I’ll send one of my men to Roxtus in order to get a wagon and you will lead us to the spot where the Exsidian sank. And then we will…get it out for you and send you and your cargo on your way again.”

This can’t mean anything good, Strakk said to himself. The Skrall don’t exactly have the reputation of being a charity organization.

The Glatorian looked down at the sand, then up at Stronius. If he would agree to this proposal too fast, this would not seem authentic – the Skrall knew that no Glatorian could seriously believe they would let him go – neither with nor without cargo. Strakk pretended to struggle with himself and finally resign and accept. “Agreed.”

“You made a wise decision”, Stronius said, which was supposed to mean about as much as: Had you said no, you’d already be dead now.

It took a few hours until the Skrall returned with the wagon. Stronius didn’t let Strakk out of his sight. Once or twice the Ice Glatorian was tempted to betray the plot, hoping that the Skrall would let him go home. But his intelligence won – by telling the truth he would ensure that he would never have the opportunity to lie again. When the Skrall finally returned he brought the message that Tuma, leader of the Skrall, hat doubts about Stronius’ plan. However, he agreed under the condition that the “job” would have to be done as fast as possible and any “excessive material” would have to be disposed of immediately. Strakk had heard many names for him, but “excessive material” was new to him. They made their way to the Skrall River in silence. Strakk hoped the other Glatorian had stayed true on their word and were waiting for him. Should they have thought twice of it and had left for Vulcanus; he’d be in great trouble. When they reached a rise, Strakk saw the spot. Neither Gresh, Kiina, Ackar nor anyone else was to be seen. First he started to panic on the inside – they had betrayed him! Then he noticed that no tracks could be seen in the sand at the shores. He calmed down a little. They wouldn’t have had any reason to cover all tracks when they were only on their way to the fire village. The plan was still valid and he had to keep playing his role.

“I don’t see any trace of your comrades”, Stronius said. He didn’t sound distrustful, but rather bored. After one year in Bara Magna he no longer found the tricks of the Glatorian amusing.

“The river carried them away”, Strakk replied a little too fast. “I am the only one who survived.”

“I see”, Stronius said. “So if I send one of my men downstream, he’ll find them where the water loses itself in the sand.”

“Sure”, Strakk responded. What else would he have been supposed to say…?

Stronius gestured to three of his men. “Go and see whether you find something in the riverbed – and be thorough. The life of a Glatorian depends on it.”

The three Skrall descended and stepped into the water. Only a few moments passed until their armored heads reappeared at the surface. One of them swam to the shore and climbed into the sand. In one hand he was holding an Exsidian ingot.

“Down there are the remains of a wagon”, the Skrall reported. “And more ingots like this one.”

“Very good”, Stronius said. “All of you go down and get that stuff up. Meanwhile, I will keep an eye on our ‘friend’.”

The Skrall warriors went to work. As with every labor they tackled they were fast and thorough. Again and again they would emerge with new ingots that were loaded onto the wagon. The higher the stack got, the broader grew Stronius’ smile. Without a doubt he was already thinking of how Tuma would welcome him when he returned with such a treasure. When the wagon was fully loaded, Stronius and his men got back on their Sand Stalkers. The elite Skrall grinned to Strakk and pointed his Thornax launcher at him. “Thanks a lot, Strakk. We will forever remember your services for the village of Roxtus … on your memorial stone.”

Strakk closed his eyes. The shrill whistling of a fired Thornax could be heard and shortly afterwards a sharp cry. But it didn’t come from Strakk. The Glatorian opened his eyes and saw Stronius lying in the sand.

“Drop your weapons – now!” Ackar bellowed down from the nearby rocks. “Get away from the wagon!”

The Skrall warriors opened fire with explosive Thornax ammunition. Strakk used the mess to run to the river. He wanted to cross it and make a break for the desert beyond it. He had already come to the opposite side when Kiina appeared behind a sand dune.

“Where are you going?” she snapped at him while she kept firing Thornax barrages at the Skrall.

“Out of the line of fire”, Strakk answered. “I am unarmed, in case you missed that.”

“Being unarmed will be your smallest problem when you abandon us”, Kiina shot back. “For example when we make you one head shorter. Here!” She gave Strakk her trident. “Start being useful. And remember – point the sharp end at the villains.”

Even though the enemies outnumbered them, Ackar had managed to keep the Skrall away from the wagon. Stronius had sent a warrior that was supposed to stop the Glatorian. He had already managed it around and half up the rocks when he crossed paths with Gresh, who hurled a well-aimed stone at him. The Skrall fell tumbling back into the sand.

“Are you ready?” Ackar yelled.

Kiina nodded and took aim. “Go!” she cried.

The two Glatorian fired their Thornax launchers parallel onto the sand directly in front of the Skrall. The explosive projectiles collided noisily and whirled sand through the air and into the eyes of the Skrall. Temporarily blinded, they could not prevent that the Glatorian Gresh and Strakk and the two Agori raced to the wagon and climbed aboard. Ackar rode over and brought Kiina her Sand Stalker, which she rapidly mounted.

“Go!” Kiina yelled when she drove the Skrall’s Sand Stalkers apart. Gresh spurred the Spikit on with his reins and the wagon was rapidly racing away. Ackar turned around and fired at the Skrall who were reemerging from the sand cloud.

“I can’t believe it worked!” Strakk said.

“It’s not over yet”, Gresh reminded him. “We have yet to reach Vulcanus.”

“And I’m afraid they still have a score to settle with us”, Kiina said, pointing back.

Gresh looked over his shoulder. The Skrall had recaptured their Sand Stalkers and were in hot pursuit of the wagon. Spikit were fast and enduring, but not as fast as Sand Stalkers. It was only a matter of time till the Skrall would catch up.

“Any good ideas?” Strakk asked assembled the group.

“Kiina and I could search for cover and stop them”, Ackar said, “While you keep riding to the village.”

“No way”, Gresh said. “This has actually been our task. I won’t let anything happen to you because you helped us.”

“I don’t think we need your permission for that, little one”, Kiina replied. “Look for a suitable spot, Ackar, where we can take them into crossfire.”

“Wait a second”, Strakk interrupted. “There is someone up ahead – red-armored. Maybe Vulcanus sent some rookie warriors as support?”

“Whoever it may be, I hoped they are well-equipped!” Ackar said. “We are about to have a rough confrontation.”

They quickly got nearer to the figures. When the sight became better, Gresh felt his stomach becoming as tight as a knot.

“Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that. They are well-equipped, that much is for certain.”

Strakk stared ahead. “I don’t believe that. We can’t possibly have that much bad luck.”

“Who are they”, Ackar asked while his gaze was still fixed on the Skrall closing in behind them.

Gresh wanted to answer, but the words stayed stuck in his throat. After everything they went through he couldn’t believe their mission was about to end… and more than that…“They are not coming from Vulcanus”, he finally said. “The red armor… it is Malum. He and his Vorox are expecting us.”

“And the Skrall are right behind us”, Kiina remarked.

“Around us there is nothing but endless desert”, Ackar said to himself. “No hiding place to be seen. We can neither escape nor defeat them, least of all do both.”

“I bet we have good chances to be trashed”, Strakk said. “And we’re about to find out…'