Rebel's Revenge Chapter 16

Chapter 16



Monday watched the ground slowly pass beneath them. For half an hour they flew over cultivated fields, and then the terrain turned into gentle rolling hills with thick deciduous forests. He could see a mixture of ash and maple, oak and what looked to be hickory. The formation they were flying in appeared to be well spread out and by slowly turning to his left and right he could count at least a hundred of the flying warriors. Flying closest to him beneath the transport birds were Gary, Chris and Hemdall, in one group, Throwar and two other Vikings in another, and at a further distance more of the Vikings and Germans. Henri and General Zanik were harnessed with him.

After two hours of steady flight the birds finally started to descend into a small grassy meadow. There were no signs of civilization that he could see.

"Pit stop," he said, as the bird lowered them to the ground. Henri looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You know, when the race cars have to stop for fuel and such," he told Henri. Henri smiled again and shook his head at the crazy American way of mutilating their own language. They were given water, cheese and bread for lunch from a basket on the side of the transport bird.

"From here we cut straight northeast," the Captain remarked to Aileea. "We flew south because the Admiral has never seen this part of the empire before." She was commander of the Squadron which had been escorting the Admiral on her tour.

"I see," Aileea said, "the Admiral is on a personal site seeing trip." The Captain winked at her.

"Problem is," she stated, "this is dangerous territory. We're only a few miles from our southern frontier and the garrison here has been losing warriors to some enemy on a regular basis. Last week, three warriors failed to return with their mounts. I warned the Admiral but she insisted that we fly this route."

Aileea slowly munched her bread and cheese. The prospect of danger excited her.

"I'm going to split the squadron and separate it by about a mile apart," the Captain continued. "I want you to take half and position yourself on my right wing. We'll split the captives also. You'll take four sets of three and I'll take the other four sets and the Admiral. If there's any danger it'll be more towards you than me and if you're attacked I'll take the Admiral and fly like hell until we get her to safety. Once she's safe I'll return and help you if possible."

"Good plan Mam," Aileea replied, happy for the chance of command once again. She motioned for her friends Taileea, Janeea and Tobeia to join her. She wanted to make certain they were with her half of the squadron.

Half an hour later the birds took to the air again.

Monday noticed they had been fed raw flesh of some kind for their meal and marveled at the casual way these women could control the incredibly dangerous birds. Their talons alone could rip a man to pieces. They were flying at a low altitude of about three hundred feet.

Suddenly, he saw a small black cloud blossom off to his right. It was followed by many other small black clouds. He could hear nothing but the steady beating of the giant bird's wings.

"That's anti-aircraft fire," Henri yelled over the noise, "we're being shot at by anti-aircraft fire."

Just as he finished a black cloud and hammering concussion blossomed next to them. The bird carrying them let out an ear piercing scream and started plummeting towards the ground. All Monday could see was the terror on General Zanik's face as they twisted and turned in their rapid fall. Just before the bird hit the ground it floundered in the top of a tall oak tree catching the rope holding the three captives in among heavy branches. For a few seconds the rope held then it snapped with a sharp pinging sound and they were dropped about fifteen feet to the soft ground below. Shaken but unhurt, Monday rolled over and sat up. The bird which had been transporting them was lying about twenty yards from them flopping like a chicken with its head cut off. He could see a gaping wound in its side gushing forth fountains of crimson blood. He felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for the animal.

Glancing up in the sky he watched saw several more birds come plummeting down, the warriors screaming to their deaths with the birds. Then, all around them birds started to fall. Some landed and hobbled about with broken wings or mangled legs, others completely ripped apart. The sky was full of falling birds and warriors. Monday saw the bird transporting his nephews glide into another tall tree and spear itself on a broken branch. The boys hanging beneath appeared to be unharmed. Suddenly remembering his companions he turned to face General Zanik.

"OK Grady!" he yelled, over the sudden loud noise of automatic weapons fire. General Zanik nodded his head yes and he turned to Henri who was lying on his side in the lush grass. Turning him over he saw a small cut and goose egg sized lump on the side of his head, but no other sign of wounds. "Henri's been knocked out," he stated, "I think he's going to be OK though."

"What in Sam hell hit us," General Zanik remarked. "Sounds like a major fire fight in progress on the other side of those hills."

"More like a turkey shoot," Monday muttered, looking down as Henri started to regain consciousness. He removed the buckle knife from his waist and deftly cut their leather bonds, spotting a small gully to their right. "You take Henri and head into that ravine. I want to do a little looking around."

He headed for the tree in which Chris and Gary had fallen, the sound of automatic weapons fire was starting to die down. As he reached the tree he noticed the boys and Hemdall hanging about five feet off the ground. He climbed up and cut the rope and let them fall to the soft earth. "Take Hemdall and head for that small ravine just to the left of that large tree over there," he pointed, "General Zanik and Henri are already there."

Without saying another word he took off at a jog through the dense underbrush. Coming up on one of the dead warriors mounts he liberated a handful of the small feathered spears in the quiver on the saddle then continued on up the side of a small hill. Shortly he came upon another transport bird with three Vikings lying next to it. Two were dead from the fall but the young man Throwar was trying to untie his bonds. Just to his right he could see three more dead Vikings and several dead female warriors. He quickly cut Throwar's bonds with the sharp point of one of the spears then using sign language pointed him in the direction of the ravine and told him to go. Throwar took several of the spears he offered and quickly trotted in the direction Monday pointed.

Monday continued up the side of the hill halting at the crest to get his bearings. To his left in an open field he could see the bodies of several dead birds and to his front one lone female warrior lay spread over a large boulder. He caught movement from his right and saw half a dozen or more female warriors sitting in a depression with their hands over their heads. They were evidently being held captive by whoever it was who had opened this deadly ball game.

One moment Aileea was flying at the head of her squadron the next she saw a black cloud and felt as if someone had hit her upside the head with a hammer. Stunned, she looked at her mount that was bucking and quickly losing altitude. The right wing had been pierced by some object and there was a steady stream of blood flowing across the golden feathers. The Gahn was gliding to a landing in a small open clearing. Around her she could see other warriors falling out of the sky, their mounts missing legs, wings and even heads. She was completely terrified. She had never encountered anything like this.

As the Gahn landed she quickly dismounted and looked around her. To her right several other warriors had landed and were forming into an infantry unit, among them most of her friends. She ran to join them.

"What was it?" she asked, as she jogged up. "What could knock us out of the sky like that?" None of the warriors had the slightest idea.

"Form into an infantry wedge," she ordered, "we'll head south to see if we can find the enemy."

They marched for five minutes and spotted what appeared to be several men standing near a small cleft in a slight depression in the ground. They held strange looking weapons of metal and wood in their hands which she assumed were oddly designed clubs. As soon as they were within narrow range she ordered the warriors to lose a flight of arrows. Only two of the arrows found their mark and two of the male warriors fell to the ground.

Immediately the remaining two swung their metal clubs around and fire and thunder came from the ends of them. Several of the female warriors were sent sprawling to the ground, gaping holes in their bodies, the rest stood in shock. One of the men was motioning for them to throw down their bows. A warrior to her right drew the bow in preparation to let loose her arrow, but was suddenly struck down by a blast from the man's weapon. The man continued to motion to them to lay down their weapons.

Faced with the unknown, Aileea nodded to the warriors to lay their bows on the ground. They couldn't fight something they knew nothing about. The man then motioned for them to join him in the small clearing and place their hands on their heads. As she sat down she noticed they were poor specimens of men. They were both fat and smelled as if they hadn't washed in years. One of them which had been hit by an arrow lay on his side, the arrow sticking from his left calf; he was moaning and crying to the other two who continued to ignore him.

As one male kept the strange weapon pointed at them the other walked over and openly admired the beauty of Aileea. He was staggering and evidently half-drunk from some smelly brew he kept drinking from a bottle. He removed a knife strapped to his leg and quickly cut the right strap holding her tunic in place exposing her right breast. She could do nothing but stare in hatred because he was still sober enough to kill her. The other male shouted something which made him angry, but he turned and rejoined the male guarding them. The one on the ground continued to cry. Then, for no apparent reason, the nasty one crushed in the head of the crying man with the butt of his weapon, laughing in pleasure as he did it.

Suddenly, from behind the men she caught movement. The handsome warrior they had captured was standing not ten feet behind them, a disgusted look on his face. He placed his fingers to his lips in a sign to keep silent then advanced on the two men. Faster than she'd ever seen anyone move before the handsome one struck at the fat men. He used no weapon just the side of his hand, but she could hear the cracking of their neck bones before they hit the ground. He then policed up all their weapons and belts and motioned for Aileea and her warriors to follow him. Aileea hesitated. She knew nothing about this dangerous man. To her left she heard what sounded like a large number of men heading in their direction. She was caught by indecision until she looked into his glittering gray eyes and smiling face and knew she could trust him. She glanced at her small unit. Only Janeea, Taileea, Tobeia and two warriors remained. She gave them a signal to follow the handsome man.

With the six females following him Monday headed back in the direction of the ravine. He spotted large parties of men in the distance combing the woods and a small group of three in a dry wash brutally raping one of the female warriors. He couldn't take the time to attempt a rescue because there were just too many armed men all over the place. As he neared the ravine where his party had been directed he spotted Gary waving at him. They followed Gary back into the ravine, Monday taking the rear and erasing their trail as well as he could. Half an hour later they came to the entrance of a large cave and most of his party was standing at the entrance.

"Clear all tracks and retreat into the cave," Monday ordered, giving his captured weapons to General Zanik. "I'm going to take the high ground and recon again."

They knew not to question Monday's orders. They had learned that he never did anything unless it was of vital importance.

Aileea watched as the handsome male gave instructions to the captives, or ex captives standing in the opening of a cave. He then quickly disappeared up the side of the small mountain leaving no trail that she could see. A stout man and another one in a dark uniform was motioning for them to follow them into the cave. They were smiling and she could tell they meant them no harm. Suddenly one of the sea people started arguing with the one in black and she could understand most of what was said.

"I will not leave Lord Monday to do the work," Hemdall yelled, angry at this German whom he'd never really liked.

"Had Monday wanted help he would have asked you," Henri shot back. "I don't know what he's doing but by going out there you could place him in real danger."

"I'm going," Hemdall roared back. "Don't try to stop me little man." Hemdall shoved past Henri and headed down the ravine leaving deep tracks in the sandy soil.

"Bastard'll get us all killed," General Zanik whispered, "some people ain't got no common sense."

Monday was squatting in a concealed position above the entrance to the ravine when he spotted Hemdall boldly walk into the open. At the same time several of the unknown men spotted him and quickly ran in his direction. He watched as Hemdall drew one of the small spears back ready to cast at the men. The men laughed at this show of bravado and advanced to within fifty yards of Hemdall. Suddenly Hemdall roared a Viking battle cry and charged the men. Caught by surprise they let him get within twenty feet before all of them opened up with automatic rifle fire and cut Hemdall to pieces.

Monday winced at the death of this brave warrior. He knew that Hemdall was aware of the weapons of the strange men, having seen those of the Germans, why had he charged them. Brave stupid fool. The men poked around Hemdall's body, several going to the mouth of the ravine. Spotting only one set of tracks they turned and walked back to the body. Their leader gave a command and they left in a spread out formation heading back towards the direction they had come, but, lacking military training, they soon came together in a mob. He watched for another half hour without any sign of other intruders. He slowly climbed down the hill and entered the ravine. He swept out his and Hemdall's tracks as he backed up the ravine heading for the cave.