Spirit Blood: Genesis of War

Makaylen’s eyes opened as he sat straight up from where he had been sleeping with the vivid memory of Simon, surrounded by the Dread Army, walking away from him still fresh in his mind. The intense pain throbbing in his head caused him to grab hold with both hands as he lowered himself back down onto the cold ground.

“He’s awake, he’s awake!” A woman’s voice shouted as he felt two hands rest upon his arm.

Slowly his eyes adjusted as he peered up into her blurry face also noticing two blurry figures rushing over to him as well.

“Wha…where are we?” Makaylen managed to say as his vision improved revealing the dirty face of Lockefren kneeling beside him.

“Don’t strain Makaylen, you have a pretty bad bump on your head,” Lockefren warned him.

“Well, it’s about time you woke up. We were wondering if you were ever going to come to,” Jason added while smiling down at Makaylen.

Makaylen squinted his eyes noticing how overgrown Jason’s facial hair seemed to be. He reached up with one hand and felt his own face covered in overgrowth.

“How long have I been out?” He asked while raising his hand up to his throbbing head.

“It’s been a couple of weeks. Good thing you talk in your sleep. You looked dead there for awhile,” Terrell replied as he and Jason kneeled down beside him.

“Where are we? Help me up, please,” Makaylen said trying to sit back up again.

“Maybe you should try and rest,” Terrell offered. “You took quite an injury.”

“No, my legs need to get some strength back into them. Please help me up,” Makaylen asked of his

friends again.

Lockefren and Terrell slowly eased their friend off the ground and helped him to stand. Makaylen leaned on their shoulders as he took in his surroundings. Standing and smiling at him were Chris and Moira and sunk down in a corner watching earnestly was the dwarf, Bildan. Looking at his friends, and then down at himself, he noticed that each of them were wearing a uniform of sorts made of sackcloth only covering the lower parts of the man’s body and fitting like a loose dress on the women. The group of seven were now trapped in a dark and dirty cell void of beds or anything else of comfort.

“Where are the children?” He asked suddenly realizing they were not in the room with them.

Everyone looked down with saddened faces. Jason huffed as he lumbered over to the oak door of the cell sealed with power bolts running across it from the outside.

“We don’t know,” Jason announced irritated and defeated. “We haven’t seen them since our fight with Simon and his men. Then we were thrown in here.”

When Jason turned to look out the small opening in the door to peer out at the torch lit hallway, Makaylen could see the many whip marks running across Jason’s back still swollen and red from his attempt to keep Simon’s army from taking the children captive. Jason grunted as he hit the door with all his might before sinking down unto his knees with his head resting upon it.

“All I know is when I get out of here I will exhaust the life of my traitorous friend who took the last reason I had to live from me,” he grumbled with fury coursing through his body.

“Aye, that sounds good to me,” Bildan blurted.

“I am sorry Jason. Surely the children have not been harmed, however, as they must serve some purpose in this horrible situation,” Makaylen stated, purposely ignoring Bildan’s comment. “Simon was my friend as well and I feel more betrayed right now than I have in many, many years.”

“But gentlemen,” Chris spoke up, “vengeance is not the key to our success. The true key is in the salvation of those around us, not personal vendettas. We must try and have compassion for our friends who have not betrayed us and remember those, less able to fight, that are held captive under the same tyrannical rule as we are right now.”

“Yes, of course Christopher. Leave it to a priest to speak of love in a time of war and despair,” Makaylen replied giving Chris a slight grin of thanks.

“We have tried everything we could think of to get out of here. The doors are all bolted with electric bars and they are never opened. The few scraps of rotten food and brown water they do supply us with are pushed through a small opening in the wall. I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but how are we going to get out of here?” Moira asked the group as tears began to fill her eyes.

Christopher embraced the saddened lady as she sobbed quietly on his shoulder. Feeling a bit of strength come back to his legs, Makaylen left Terrell and Lockefren, who were discussing the situation in Elvin, and joined Jason who was now sitting with his scarred back up against the door. He lightly pounded his head on the door as he sat with closed eyes trying to calm his anger.

“You know Jason, it is very common for one such as yourself to have a temper so great it would be simple for them to lose control over their actions and do things they would not normally do,” Makaylen commented.

Jason stopped rapping his head against the door and looked at Makaylen confused, “What do you mean, one such as myself?”

“I simply mean someone who is Spirit-Blooded. Surely you’ve been told of your ancestry before,” Makaylen stated.

“My ancestry? Yeah, maybe a little,” Jason said as he lowered his head. “The man I considered as my

father once told me something about being a descendant of the ancient Xythanians, but he didn’t know much more than that. Apparently I’m supposed to have some great destiny, but none of that matters to me. The only thing I want is to find Amon and TaeAnne. This war has taken my father, the only woman I have ever loved and now her dear children away from me. I cannot lose them. No Burning Spirit or Shining Spirit matters, only those two kids do.”

“I have suffered a loss too great for words myself,” Makaylen replied also feeling the hurt Jason did in his heart. “Years ago I too was in love. Prematurely, death took her from me and I’ve never felt a connection like that ever since. Revenge was all I consumed myself with. Loss of life is not an easy test to bear.”

“Test? My father spoke of tests,” Jason said looking into Makaylen’s eyes. “This is not a destiny I want if I must lose so many that I care about.”

“That choice is yours to make, however, I can help you to uncover the path you should take and tap into the power you possess inside,” Makaylen informed him. “You have a potential welling up inside of you that only you can release. Though we have not been given the opportunity to actually become friends, if you could find it in yourself to trust me someday, I can help you the same way a very wise man once helped me when my pent up power only revealed itself as an uncontrollable anger and lust for revenge.” Standing back up, Makaylen looked down at Jason and finished, “I too am Spirit-Blooded, as is Moira. The same abilities you have seen us possess are hidden inside of you. There is much to be said, but unfortunately, not much time to say it in. When you are ready, I will be waiting.”

With that said, Makaylen walked to the middle of the cell and announced for all to hear, “We need not worry my friends.” After every eye was on him, he continued, “Any time now Davien and Benthalas should arrive with, I pray, the perfect solution to our dilemma.” Pausing for just a minute Makaylen

asked, “By the way, Bildan, why are you wearing a full bodied sackcloth like the women?”

“Because those filthy guards were jealous of my chest and couldn’t bear to look at it,” he answered with pride.

“Um, more like they thought he was a woman,” Jason whispered to himself loud enough for only Makaylen to hear.

All feeling in Amon’s wrists had ebbed away from hanging upon his confinements of chain for so long. He opened his eyes and slowly raised his weary head at the sound of someone unlocking his cell door. Achingly Amon turned his attention to his sister hanging on the wall beside him. She had her wrists hung to the wall as well and was trying to sleep despite a consistent cough she had been plagued with for days now. She moaned at being stirred from her sleep by the loud clanking of the cell door being swung open. Entering the dark and dank cell was an orc-like man with his grotesque face smashed into his leather mask. The man grunted and squealed as he trudged into the cramped cell. Amon could scarcely move from his repeated beatings and lack of food, but inside himself he screamed in fear of what this creature may intend to do.

“Don’t touch her!” Amon managed to yell in one exasperated breath after witnessing the creature begin to poke and prod TaeAnne with one of its three hoofed digits.

The orc spun in alarm at hearing the boy speak with strength. With his one deformed hand he slapped his oversized belly making it shake as he squealed mimicking human laughter.

“You sound a lot stronger than you look,” the man taunted. Limping over to face Amon, the filthy creature slapped his belly again followed by a cackling of squeals. “I guess I’m going to have more fun than I thought.”

Again he slapped his belly before balling up his hoofed fist and landing a powerful blow across Amon’s cheek. Blood streamed from Amon’s mouth with the sound of breaking bones. A storm of grunts and squeals sounded in the room as the orc slapped his belly, proud of what he’d just done.

“There is nothing you can do little boy. Now just hang there and bleed while I do what I came in here to do,” the creature whispered into Amon’s ringing ears.

Hurriedly he limped back to TaeAnne’s side roughly lifting her groggy head to place his pig-like mouth upon hers when the cell door flew open slamming against the wall. Stunned, both the creature and Amon looked up to see a man standing in the doorway armed with a sword.

“Get away from her you abomination to mankind!” The unfamiliar voice demanded.

The orc dropped TaeAnne’s head and lunged for a large executioner’s axe that hung on the wall and stood in a defensive stance waiting for the man to make a move.

“Now you filthy animal,” the regal looking man said as he neared the orc, “you will see just how I gained my kingdom.”

The creature ran for the man, but he moved swiftly to the side and stuck out his sword tripping the orc. The creature lost his balance and ran head first into the wall. Squealing in pain, he dropped to his knees holding his head while the man came up from behind and decapitated the creature. The man then ran to the children’s aid and slashed their chains free from the wall.

“You will be alright,” he told them calmly. “I am Kenneth Wulf and I’ve come to get you out of here.”

“We can’t leave yet,” TaeAnne weakly stated. “Our friends are here…we must find them.”

“You need not worry about them. I am not alone in your rescue. They are being freed now as we speak,” Kenneth quickly told them trying to place Amon, who had passed out by now, upon his shoulder. “Can you walk Miss?”

“I think so,” TaeAnne mustered to say as Ken tenderly helped her to her feet. “Wulf? Are you not the king of Karza?” She asked looking into his deep blue eyes.

His face carried sadness and redemption as he thought of these words.

Gently helping her out of the cell he answered, “I was once, but my blindness to the truth has removed me from that position.”

Escaping down the long hallway Kenneth silently prayed to himself, Please Shiloh, help me redeem myself so my unborn child will one day see the man his father should have been.

The small icy breeze that rushed through the small opening in the dungeon door revealed to the captives that winter was indeed upon them. Jason tortured himself over and over again imagining the possible fates of Amon and TaeAnne who had both spent their last birthdays while running from foul creatures and imprisoned by a treacherous friend of his. Makaylen’s words of pent up power and Spirit-Blood occupied his days while thoughts of Thessa’s children consumed his nights. He kept to himself, not really wanting the companionship of his fellow inmates, but rather the consumption of thoughts regarding escape and revenge.

“I can’t believe we’re still in this forsaken place!” He yelled having finally grown weary of his solitude. “I cannot rot here while Amon and TaeAnne endure unknown fates.

Jason paced back and forth like a caged animal before turning his attention to Chris and Makaylen who, at late, were getting on his nerves by acting so calm and full of faith regarding their inevitable rescue.

“And you two,” he shouted, “you just sit there speaking of mundane matters instead of using some of your power to get us out of here. Where is this heroic rescue you spoke of Makaylen? Where are Ben

and Davien? Why haven’t we been killed or something?!”

Jason finished by lowering his head and placing it in his large thick hands as he once again tried to calm himself. Chris and Makaylen exchanged glances before Makaylen got up from off the ground and approached Jason. He laid his hand on one of Jason’s shoulders, but Jason sharply shrugged it off.

“Jason, I know you are tormented over the kids, but you can’t take it out on the rest of us,” Makaylen said never raising his tone.

“What do you know? You don’t have the first clue what I’m going through!” Jason yelled, squaring off ready for a fight.

Just as Makaylen began to speak, Christopher placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder.

“Makaylen and I stay calm with faith and prayer,” Chris calmly said to Jason and everyone else in the cell. “If it be the will of Shiloh for us to stay here then we will remain right here. If it is not His will, which is what I believe, then He will open for us a window of escape. We must keep our calm while always searching for that window ready to run through it. All we have right now is faith to lean upon. Without it we will all surely crumble.”

The night crept up silently as everyone took to their respective spots and sat quietly reflecting upon Christopher’s words. Guilt kept Jason company as memories of his faith in Shiloh flooded his mind. He used to join in with others when they spoke of faith and the will of Shiloh, but now having lost so much that he held so dear, it was difficult to see any window of escape Shiloh might possibly have planned to provide them with. I don’t deserve your help. I’ve fallen at a time when I’m needed to be stronger than ever. Why would you help me, one who has believed before, but turned away little by little as the fire got hotter? Sighing, Jason continued to pray to himself, Please, let it be your will that we escape and I may find them again safe and unharmed. Please forgive me Shiloh and help me to be strong.

The breeze filtering through the dungeon door rushed passed them as the main door down the hallway of cells could be heard swinging open. Someone could be heard in the silence making their way down the hallway and then keys could be heard jumbling in the lock to their door. Everyone rose to their feet and prepared for whatever may be about to enter the door. Their door had never been opened in the three weeks they had been held captive there. Each of them wondered if today may be the day they were to die. Slowly the door creaked open to finally reveal a small woman leaning against the door frame twirling the keys around her dainty fingers.

“Whew! It smells a bit ripe in here. You’d think you guys had been held captive or something,” the small woman announced as she cracked a mischievous smile.

“Who is that?” Chris whispered to a smiling Makaylen.

“An answered prayer brother, an answered prayer,” he whispered back.

Running to the woman, Makaylen lifted her in the air hugging her with all his might.

“It is so good to see you Jashel! I so hoped you’d come!” Makaylen exclaimed, squeezing the girl before setting her back down.

Waving her hand in front of her nose she replied, “You’re lucky I did. You’d all die from toxic fumes if I hadn’t. Makaylen sweetie, you need a bath! We can hug later, ok?”

“You’re right. There will be time for celebrations later,” he said growing serious again. “How did you get passed the guards?”

Jashel motioned behind her in the hall where a very tall dark blond Amazon woman stood waiting for Jashel and the rest. Another huge grin came over Makaylen’s face as he mouthed a thank you to Iwo.

“We don’t have time for this! We must find Amon and TaeAnne,” Jason hurried as he tried to make his way passed Makaylen’s reunion.

“Wait, Jason. We need to find our clothing and weapons before we can leave,” Terrell announced.

“You don’t have to worry about that sweets, it’s all taken care of outside,” Jashel informed the group.

Quickly Jashel and Iwo lead the way as the curious companions rushed out of the dungeon corridor and into the cold dark night. The freezing winds caught the seven off guard once they were outside. The ground had a light dusting of snow making their feet instantly hurt from the cold.

“Where is he?” Jashel annoyingly asked out loud looking around for someone.

Out of the shadows appeared a man in a heavy fur lined cloak and hood masking his face. Over his shoulder he toted a large bag.

“There he is, finally,” Jashel announced seeing the man make his way to them.

“Ken?” Makaylen wondered out loud once the man had reached them. “What are you doing here? I thought you were being held captive too.”

“I was, but I came to my senses before it was too late. Here,” he said handing the bag he possessed to Makaylen, “there are some things inside you will all need. It’s not the best, but it’s all I could rummage in such a short time. I couldn’t get anything that would fit the dwarf perfectly, I’m afraid .”

Bildan gave the King a scornful look, but was too grateful for clothing and shoes to actually say anything to him.

“No, it’s more than enough. Thank you my friend,” Makaylen said as he embraced Kenneth. “How did you know how many we had with us or that there was a dwarf?”

“Your friends Davien and Benthalas were most informative in helping us prepare for your rescue,” Ken answered.

“We need to hurry,” Jason ordered as he hurriedly put clothing on. “Where are the children?”

“There is no need to worry Jason. They are in a safe location with my wife and your two friends. Oh,

and a woman named Nephida. Apparently she escaped from Simon’s hideout when you were all captured,” Ken informed him.

Jason gave Ken a suspicious glare, “You’ll forgive me if trusting a Wulf brother is a little much to ask of me right now.”

His comment was met with the disapproving glares of his comrades.

“What?” Jason asked them as he put a wool vest on over his long sleeved cotton shirt.

“You cannot condemn one man for the fault of another,” Chris wisely stated.

“Jason it is not just mistrust that you have, but it is an anger at Ken’s actions which have prevented you from taking revenge upon Simon and rescuing the children, is it not?” Makaylen calmly asked.

Tired of Makaylen’s criticism, or all-knowing attitude, Jason spouted, “That’s what you think! You think you know everything and everyone, don’t you?” Jason got right into Makaylen’s face with rage filling his eyes, “But you have NO idea what I’ve endured or what I’ve lost because of vermin like his brother!”

Jason thrust an accusing finger at Ken while he yelled at Makaylen. Makaylen stood his ground waiting for Jason’s fury to ebb. A gentle hand touched Jason’s shoulder causing him to snap his head back only to witness his dear friend, and once savior of his life, looking into his eyes with deepest concern.

“You don’t have to be so hostile merely because you were made to think about the worse in the prison cell,” Lockefren gingerly told him running her hand down his arm trying to easily lower his accusing finger. “We need to fight together, not divided.”

Jason gave a half-cocked grin to his friend before turning away from the group giving Makaylen and Kenneth a serious scowl as he turned.

After smiling at Lockefren, Makaylen turned his attention back to Ken as he asked, “Where are we going from here?”

“I cannot follow you. Not this time. I don’t think my presence here is very wanted and I want to be with my family right now. I’ve had to be away from them for so long,” Ken answered. “Just be careful Makaylen. A powerful wizard is in control of everything in Karza right now and has so many on his side. You will find him, if necessary, at the castle. But do not go alone…,” Ken warned Makaylen, “he is never alone.”

“Thank you Ken. You have been most helpful,” Makaylen answered.

With another embrace, Ken darted off into the shadows. Makaylen turned his attention to the impish grinning half-elf, half-halfling thief staring at him.

With a giggle and a wink she ordered, “Follow me!”