R
uger Slade lay in the dirt with his belly on the ground. The Gond would spit on him and his men when they walked by. Regardless, he kept his head down, his eyes and ears open. He was glad to be back on Titanuus. But for how long?
He moved his head slowly to one side and faced Vern. No barbarians were within earshot.
He said, “Glad to see things haven’t changed.”
“Yeah.” Vern twisted his thick lips into a smile. “Just like back in the day. Glad it’s you. So are we going to lie here all night?”
“Patience.”
So far, Bearclaw and Horace had managed to fool the Gond leader. The wild warriors were craftier than they were smart. Ruger could hear bits and pieces of the conversation carrying under the clamor of the siege going on at the Wall. Bearclaw was making a case that more armies and tanks were coming and that the Gond needed to wait. The Gond leader, a grizzly of a man named Glaag, had taken command of the tribes. He was calling the shots. The other leaders that had opposed him were dead. That was the story Ruger had caught.
Glaag led Bearclaw and Horace over to the tank. The roaring bonfires cast dark shadows on all their faces. The barbarian rapped his knuckles on the metal and pointed at the machine and at the Henchmen lying on the ground. “Iron chariot run them over.” He spoke in a bearish voice. “I want to see their heads pop from their shoulders. I want their bodies to squish. I want King Hector to hear the bones in their bodies pop.”
“I want my tribe to see it too!” Bearclaw argued. “They be here at the dawn. More armies come with the Shield of Steel down. I say that we should wait.”
Glaag thumped his muscular tattooed chest with his fist. “Don’t try me. I am in command. Roll the iron chariot now!” He had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder and carried a single-bladed war axe in one hand. He put the flat of his big blade in front of Bearclaw’s face. “Do you want to challenge me?”
Bearclaw lifted his eyes to meet Glaag’s iron gaze with his own. “Yes.”
Horace pulled Bearclaw away by the collar. “We are here to conquer the House of Steel, not one another! You can play your games later!”
The wild-eyed Glaag thrust his axe into the air. “The challenge has been made! I accept!” He pointed his axe at Bearclaw. “Do you change your mind and cower?”
Bearclaw brought his twin-bladed battle axe around to his front, slapped his chest, and said, “No!”
“What is Bearclaw doing?” Vern said under his breath.
“Buying time. You aren’t in a rush to get trampled by that tank, are you?”
“No,” Vern replied.
Ruger twisted his head around for a better look at Glaag. He and Bearclaw squared off in front of the tank. The Gond gathered in a huge circle, yelling and chortling at a fever pitch. They’d forgotten about their prisoners for the moment and chanted for their leader.
“Glaag! Glaag! Glaag! Glaag! Glaag!”
Horace dared a look at Ruger. Ruger pointed his lips at him, telling him to wait for his signal. Horace nodded subtly. The plan was still on. How he was going to execute the plan was another thing. He had to wait for the moment and hope it came.
“Be ready,” he whispered to his men.
Glaag waved a big arm over to one of his men. “Bring the shields.”
A Gond with a long braided ponytail handed a small round shield to Glaag. Glaag beat his axe against the shield’s steel. He tossed it to Bearclaw. Brimming with confidence, Glaag said, “To make the match last longer.” He took the other shield offered to him, tossed his head back and yelled, “Haaa-hoooom!”
Bearclaw’s eyes narrowed. He lowered his gaze to the top rim of the shield and spun his war axe by the handle.
Glaag charged. He brought down his battle axe on Bearclaw’s shield with bone-jarring impact.
Bearclaw’s knees buckled underneath him. He shuffled backward and struck out with his axe. The blade’s edge clipped Glaag’s shield.
The Gond leader moved smoothly and easily for such a large man. He fended off Bearclaw’s attacks with well-timed ease.
To the hungry howling of the tribes, the titanic, wild-haired, tattooed warriors danced back and forth. They exchanged a flurry of axe blows to the shields with quick and resounding effects.
Ruger tensed. Glaag’s powerful and precise strokes beat on Bearclaw like a hammer. The metal and the wood on Bearclaw’s shield started to chip away. His friend groaned underneath the barbarian’s superior strength and weight.
“By the Elders, that is a barbarian of barbarians,” Vern said with a gasp.
A Gond guard rushed over to Vern and kicked him in the ribs.
Vern let out a groan.
Bearclaw snaked in a few strikes at Glaag’s belly. The barbarian backpedaled and knocked the jabs away.
Glaag let out a wild, howling scream and yelled, “I will drink your blood, brother!” He unleashed a windmill chop that blasted through Bearclaw’s shield.
Bearclaw dropped to a knee.
The clustering Gond horde let out earsplitting screams.
The well-knit Bearclaw, large in stature for a normal man, could not match Glaag’s greater length and superior strength.
The weight of Glaag’s axe, powered by muscle as hard as iron, bore down on Bearclaw’s shield.
Bearclaw lifted his shield.
Glaag knocked it down. He twisted the direction of his axe. With a hard swipe, Bearclaw’s shield was ripped out of his grip.
Bearclaw chopped at Glaag’s knees.
The barbarian knocked Bearclaw’s axe aside with his shield. He tossed his shield away and spun his axe in the air. “Come! Die!” he said with throaty words.
Gasping for breath, Bearclaw came to his feet. Sweat dripped from his hair into his eyes. His broad shoulders sagged. He gripped his war axe with two hands and rushed Glaag.
Axe heads met and locked with a sharp clank
of steel.
They wrestled back and forth chest to chest, with the bigger man leaning on the other.
In one fierce motion, blades locked together, Glaag ripped Bearclaw’s axe out of his grip. The barbarian flattened Bearclaw with a hard boot to his chest.
Standing right in front of the tank, Bearclaw fell on his backside. He clutched his chest. His head hung down.
To the shrill howling of the blood-hungry throng, Glaag lifted his mighty axe high in the air with both hands and let out a triumphant bellow.
