Tears of the Sun

'There is a trail in that direction, which leads over the crest. That is the way to Markassos,' reported Foxblood.

'Can you be sure of the direction?' asked Mira.

'See for yourself' replied Foxblood. Mira walked up to the crest, stared for a moment and returned.

'What did you see?' asked Mirree.

'Markassos burns' said Mira grimly. 'The flames light the horizon and a hovering cloud of smoke blackens the skies.'

Chapter Ten.

The cries of a messenger interrupted Lorwig's play. With a last wet kiss he sent his much bruised concubine back to the women's area.

'Come' he said loudly, lacing up his clothes and pulling down the hem of his kilt.

The messenger entered and bowed. 'An urgent message from the Wizard, your majesty. He says that he has felt the use of the Power by some other wizard nearby.'

'Did he say in which direction?' asked Lorwig.

'To the west, your highness.'

'Summon the Captain of the guard!' bellowed Lorwig.

The Captain came running, sword in hand.

'Stop waving that thing around, fool!' yelled Lorwig. 'Take a troop of men out to the west. Look for strangers heading this way. It should be easy, since everyone else is running in the opposite direction. Do not approach them. Just watch them and send a messenger back to camp.'

Lorwig turned back to the original messenger. 'Tell the wizard he should prepare for battle. It must be a wizard sent by High Kritias or some other city to the west.' Lorwig was careful to always keep the wizard several miles away from his own royal person and surrounded by a group of skilled archers. He did not want the wizard to get any ideas about setting up his own royal dynasty.

Chapter Eleven.

'If you are correct, then we can expect Lorwig's men to arrive soon,' said Foxblood. 'However, since they will know that they face another 'wizard' of some sort, they will not attack until their wizard arrives. Mirree, can you sense Lorwig's wizard?'

'Yes. His has little control and even now I can feel the flow of energy from his Tear. He is about five or six miles away in that direction,' Mirree replied, pointing.

'Then we must strike first,' said Foxblood. 'You must try to get us closer to him.'

'I will try' said Mirree.

They all moved to the top of an outcropping of dark native rock. From there they had a panoramic view of the countryside all the way to Markassos and beyond. In the direction that Mirree had pointed, there was nothing but forest.

'Perhaps you were mistaken,' said Foxblood, searching the landscape for signs of enemy troops. On the main road near Markassos he saw a moving cloud of dust headed in their direction. 'Horsemen, coming this way. We have thirty minutes before they arrive. The steep climb into the highlands will slow them down'.

It was Janna who found the way. A tiny flash of light in the middle of the forest caught her attention. Shading her eyes, she suddenly realised that she was looking at a pond and a small clearing at the edge of the woods.

'We must gamble that what you see is the right spot. To stay here is to die,' said Foxblood grimly.

Mirree and Mira made their preparations. This time Mirree stripped off her clothing entirely. Foxblood watched in horrified fascination as Mira began to whip her mistress. The whip was light and did not tear the flesh, but Mirree's back and buttocks were soon covered with painful looking red stripes. Foxblood realised that the Guardian expected to need more power than before if she was to transport them to the clearing and then shield them from whatever the rogue wizard chose to throw at them.

Holding a gleaming silver rod in her hand, Mira signaled for the two warriors to come near. Once more, the strange and frightening process of magical travel took place. In the blink of an eye they were standing beside the pond.

Unfortunately, they had arrived within a few paces of the troop of archers that Lorwig had assigned to guard the wizard. A cry of fury emanated from a tent that stood on the other side of the clearing. Lorwig's wizard burst out of the shelter, a Tear blazing in his hand. A ball of flame shot out from his hands, roaring towards Mirree. An answering shield of golden light flew from the Guardian's Tear to meet the fireball in mid-air.

For a moment, all the warriors in the clearing were frozen, watching the mystical battle. Suddenly, Foxblood realised that Mirree could do nothing to protect herself against the archers. 'Janna, we have to stop the archers from loosing. Quickly!'

The two lovers charged across the short distance, Foxblood reaching over his shoulder to draw his blade, while Janna aimed the point of her staff at the lead archer as if she were a lancer on horseback. They crashed into Lorwig's soldiers, weapons swinging.

Foxblood cut down two archers in as many seconds, his blade cutting through their bows and their leather armour as if they were cloth. Twisting to one side he slashed an arrow out of the air in an amazing demonstration of swordsmanship. The archer was still gaping in amazement when Foxblood's Atlantean blade cleaved his skull in two.

Janna's staff stabbed her opponent like a spear, the first section of wooden shell peeling off as the steel core punched through the archer's leather armour to skewer his heart. Jerking the point out, Janna swing her staff backhanded to strike the temple of a second archer, knocking him flat, his neck broken. The edge of a shortsword scraped across her chainmail, wielded by a more experienced archer who had dropped his bow in favour of a blade for close-in combat. Janna's right arm was still behind her and she knew that it was too late to bring the staff around. She caught a second blow of the shortsword on the armour of her left shoulder as she dropped her staff and reached up to draw her slim sword. Catching the wrist of the archer's sword arm with her left hand, she executed a drawcut, her blade flashing out of its sheath, over and down to sever the archer's arm at the elbow. Reversing her swing, she thrust her blade into his belly to finish him off.

The seventh and last archer in the troop was too far away for either Foxblood or Janna to reach in time. He loosed an arrow that slammed into Mirree's shoulder, throwing her to the ground. Foxblood's blade took his head off of his shoulders before he could shoot a second time, but the damage was done.

Janna ran to the fallen Guardian. Mirree was still managing to block the wizard's attacks, but Janna could see that she was fading rapidly as the shock and loss of blood weakened her.

'Janna, use your Tear!' cried Mirree through gritted teeth.

Janna stared at her in horror for a moment. She did not have the faintest idea of how to use the Tear as a weapon or even a shield. Foxblood had taught her well and she knew that to hesitate in battle was to die. Janna ripped the leather covering off of her Tear. 'What do I do now?' she cried.

Mira scrambled to her side. 'Spread your legs' she yelled desperately, watching the wizard's flames pound Mirree's flickering shield. Janna's eyes widened in surprise, but she obeyed, planting her feet apart as if on the parade ground. Mira lifted the silver baton and Janna saw that it's end was rounded, with a ring of small silver spikes about an inch from the tip. She realised instantly the purpose of the instrument. 'Do it!' she cried to Mira.

The Guardian's handmaid slipped the silver baton between Janna's thighs, probed frantically for a moment, and then shoved the spiked rod deep into Janna's vagina.

Janna screamed in agony, and for a moment she thought that she would swoon from the pain. Then her warrior spirit rallied, and she focused all the pain, fear and determination that filled her soul into the crystal orb that she held. The Tear suddenly blazed with power and a rod of golden light shot out like a battering ram, striking at the mad eyed wizard. For a moment, Janna's fury matched that of the Berserker and he was forced to shield himself from her blow.

As the wizard's flames condensed into a fiery shield, Foxblood threw himself forward, rolling across the ground to spring up beside the wizard. His sword flashed, driven by all the strength of his body. The blade touched the wizard's blazing shield and the blast threw him ten feet backwards to land flat on his back, stunned.

For a second, the berserk wizard snarled in triumph. Then his flames suddenly died and his eyes glazed as he toppled over, cut in half at the waist.

Janna fell to the ground, screaming in agony. Mira cradled her in her arms, saying 'Heal yourself. Use the pain. Feel your body, find the damage. Heal yourself'. Shaking with pain, Janna reached into her own body with the power of the Tear, somehow instinctively knowing what to do. She felt torn tissues heal, cuts and bruises fade. The power faded along with the pain, and to her amazement, she was whole again.

Foxblood rose from the ground, shaking his head, just in time to see Mirree force the arrow from her shoulder and heal the deep puncture wound. Pale from the loss of blood, she stood and walked over to Janna. 'You have done well little sister' she said, kneeling to take Janna's hand in hers.

Foxblood staggered up to them holding the dead wizard's Tear and said 'Unless one of you ladies is up to magically sending us home, I suggest that we start walking before Lorwig's soldiers arrive.

Janna climbed to her feet and threw her arms around her husband, and Foxblood decided that there was still time for a kiss.

Chapter Twelve.

King Lorwig glowered at the unfortunate messenger. 'So the wizard is dead?'

'Yes sire' said the trooper, cringing.

'And the crystal lost?'

'Yes sire'

'Get out'

'Yes sire.' said the trooper, gasping in relief.

When the trooper left the tent, Lisa stepped out from behind the partition. 'We have Markassos and our army is still intact' she said.

'Indeed' replied Lorwig. 'The fool wizard is dead, but we can always find another red headed fool. And we still have these' he said, holding up a velvet lined box which held three gleaming crystal orbs.

The soldiers guarding Lorwig's tent shook their heads in pity as the sound of a whip striking female flesh came through the thick fabric, but frowned in puzzlement a moment later when husky female laughter rose to match the sound of the whip.

The End.