Chapter 8: The Temple of Malicoe

Author’s Note: There’s little in the way of sex in this particular chapter. With where the story currently is, there just wasn’t any room for it in this section. If you’re just in it for that, you may want to revisit a previous chapter. I’ll make up for the lack of sex in Chapter 9. Enjoy!

It was only a few hours after dawn. The sun was now bright enough in the eastern sky to burn off the fog that remained in the foothills of the Sorellan interior. As they moved further toward the mountain, his visibility became better until the entire countryside was open to his eyes.

Barak kept a steady hold on the reins of his horse. One false move in this kind of terrain could quite easily spell their doom. He looked down from the path they were following to the nearby edge of the current hill. If he took his eyes off of it for a moment, one bad step by the horse could send them careening over the side.

It was something he thought about often once they reached the hard terrain of the Sorellan interior. Realistically, death could find them at any time, but he much preferred a short death from a musket to a long drawn out one from falling off a cliff.

Instinctively, his eyes sought out the wagon in front of him, struggling up the narrow path while being drawn by four horses in two pairs of two. The most harrowing part of their entire journey was making sure the wagon stayed on the path and making sure those horses stayed healthy. There was no way they could move that amount of treasure as quickly on their own, let alone meet all the physical demands of moving a heavy wagon full of gold up a mountain. Yet, that was what they needed to do.

“Otis, pick up the pace,” Barak yelled at the man in charge of the main wagon. “And for the love of all that’s holy, hug the hillside!”

The man did as he commanded, and the wagon lurched forward along the narrow, rocky path. Behind him, Barak looked around to scan the countryside they’d just passed through. Most of it was green, lush and fertile like he would expect from the coast. Apart from some groups of ex-soldiers and the occasional robber, much of the countryside was beginning to show signs of calming down.

That fact made him grimace. For this plan to succeed, they needed to move quickly and let the chaos of the surrounding countryside hide their steps. If Heron and his creatures started to bring some peace to these lands, their chances of reaching the coast with Daimanos’ gold and the temple treasure greatly diminished. At that point even escaping with their lives intact was almost ludicrous.

Regardless, he continued on. There were enough surprises left behind for any followers in their wake that he was sure they’d meet their deadline. His man, Melitos, was a capable fellow if not completely unscrupulous. He could still be counted on to do his job for the right amount of gold. Right now, they needed all the time he could buy them with their slow going.

It hadn’t started out that slow of course. They had made excellent time on the well-maintained roads leading out of the East Sorellan capitol yet hauling this much gold greatly reduced their speed. They had long since reached the point where any respectable person would have ditched the horses due to the state of the path but Barak couldn’t care less about that. The beasts were there for a job and that was it.

What happened next showed no clearer indication of this lack of sentiment when the horse of one of his men got its leg caught in a deep hole on the way up the path. The beast made a hell of noise as it buckled, nearly throwing the man to the ground before he had a chance to slide off. In the next moment, the horse completely collapsed, nursing a clearly broken leg. The beast still tried to get up once more, but its mobility was already severely compromised.

Barak said a silent prayer that it wasn’t one of the horses hitched to the wagons. That would have delayed them significantly.

“Manos, get back on your feet,” said Barak to the man who was still trying to dust himself off. “I want you to get on with Spiros’ horse.”

“Share horses with Spiros?” questioned Manos, giving a look of disdain.

“It’s either that or walk,” said Barak with a shrug. “You just say the word if you don’t mind walking all the way up the mountain from here. It bothers me not.”

Manos let out a deep breath as he jogged to catch up with Spiros. Barak just about stopped his horse and let the two men behind him pass by while he hung around the rear with the wounded animal. As soon as the main group was just about out of sight, he stopped his horse and leapt off before walking toward the wounded one. He put his hand against the beast’s face and listened for the sounds of labored breathing from the animal. It wasn’t a pretty sight. There was only one thing that could be done in a situation like this where time was of the essence.

Getting back to his knees, he removed his musket from the rack attached to the back of his horse. The morning air was quickly pierced by the sound of gunfire, causing a small flock of birds in a nearby tree to scatter. Once he was satisfied with the results, he secured the weapon back on the horse, threw his leg over the animal, and hurried to catch up with the main group.

It wasn’t the best solution, but it was the easiest. It was also the only thing that made sense given their current timetable. If they weren’t loaded down with treasure and on the coast at dawn at the appointed time, they’d miss their ship. And if they missed their ship, the time spent trying to find one of out Sorella would surely let Heron’s troops catch up to them.

Barak clutched at his breast pocket and made sure the letter was still inside. He took it out, his eyes scanning over the contents for the hundredth time since receiving it. The letter belonged to his paymaster, the organizer of this little scheme with the intention to completely destroy the Sorellan people and occupy their island.

Daimanos had been a fool, and like most fools, he had chosen not to ally with Barak’s new paymaster when he had the chance. The paymaster did the next best thing: he approached Daimanos’ government to see who inside could be persuaded to work in his favor in exchange for payment. Even though it had taken some convincing to make Barak ultimately betray his own people, he knew that all that really mattered in this world was money. And at the end of this little excursion, he was set to become a very wealthy man. Wealthier than even Daimanos.

Barak smiled grimly at the fate of the foolish king. Charging into battle with that oversized sword of his, he’d been beaten by the very man he’d so unwisely tried to betray. As if that wasn’t enough, all that he’d worked for to become the only king of Sorella evaporated once he was killed by Jack Easterbrook.

Barak had watched it all happen.

He was also the one who didn’t stick around to see the consequences. Disappearing quickly into the forest, he managed to steal the first horse he could find and ride at a gallop all the way back to the East Sorellan capitol city. Luckily for him, his new paymaster’s envoy was still in the palace, the very man who convinced him to do this one, little task before becoming endowed with all the riches he could want. By stealing Daimanos’ treasury, he could deliver a golden fortune that was capable of changing lives. Even still, his paymaster wouldn’t be satisfied with just the dead king’s gold.

Barak shivered as he remembered the order to ransack the Temple of Malicoe as well. The ancient temple contained one of the largest treasures he’d ever heard of with countless artifacts from the legendary age of Sorella and its first kings. That treasure alone could make a man wealthier than his wildest dreams, enough to buy up entire countries and islands at will or to spawn his own fleet of battleships.

Even still, the very idea unnerved him. He’d heard all the stories growing up. The curse that existed for mortals who tried to touch the treasure. Those were great fables and fairy-tales, his new paymaster had said. Besides, once he delivered the gold, he’d have no time for curses as he got to enjoy all the pleasures that it brought with it. And for once, he would truly escape Sorella and set up his own home far away, protected on his own island and in his own grand house, enjoying the money until the day he died.

That was the dream at least. They only had to get up this damn mountain to make it happen. And prevent that lame king Heron and the fool Easterbrook from catching up to him. He wanted to be the one sailing away on the warship right as Heron and Easterbrook reached the coast and realized they were powerless to intervene. Especially once they got sight of the powerful, Swabian warship carrying him away.

For it was the Swabians that were his new paymasters. The Swabian Lord Avila was his new partner, and the one who had given the order to steal all the gold from Sorella. Barak had to admit his plan was a good one. Once weakened by disorder and civil war, the island would be unable to rebuild itself without any money in its coffers. Unable to tax a broken population and facing a starving people and looming crisis, the Sorellan people would be ripe for conquering. And there would be far too few of them to resist this time.

It was an interesting new method for them. For too long, the Swabians had been known to take what they wanted by force. Island after island fell to their might until their empire was by far the largest one in the entire Vector, dwarfing the lands of the ill-fated Galicians. Yet, they’d run into one tiny hiccup along the way. Forty years ago they’d tried to conquer Sorella by force, but had been thrown back with the might of Sorellan fire.

This new plan was the start of a new tactic for the Swabians. Instead of brute force, they would try a novel approach and use subversion as a method of conquering their enemies. And then all of this land around would settle under the heel of Swabia. All that mattered was that he fulfilled his part of the task and deliver the gold to Lord Avila while he conquered the Sorellan people.

To those that asked why he was so willing to betray his own people, Barak just shrugged. What did it matter to him if Sorella was ruled by Sorellans or Swabians? In the end, the strong ruled the weak, and that’s how life would always play out. Better now for him to be on the side of the strong than for him to die on the side of the weak. As long as he could get out and make himself wealthy, it was of little consequence.

After a while, his horse had caught up with the main group as they began to take a bend around a hill that led them closer to Mount Tarpeious. In a short while, they’d be able to see the landing that the temple occupied and be all that much closer to their goal.

At that moment, his man Manos came jogging back to him. He must have dismounted from the backside of Spiros’ mount and he walked up next to Barak in a huff.

“What is it?” asked Barak impatiently.

“There’s men on the trail ahead. They look like soldiers,” said Manos while pointing in front of them.

“How many of them are there?”

“No more than four. That’s all I can see,” said Manos.

Barak grabbed for his gun once more. “We have to move quickly. Grab the others but leave two men with the wagons. We need to take out these soldiers.”

Manos nodded excitedly and went to inform the others. As Barak swung off his horse and prepared his rifle, he vowed to do his utmost to destroy the soldiers in his path. He would let nothing come between him and securing his future.

Nothing.

About thirty miles to the east, another small party was making its way through the foothills of the Sorellan interior. This party was much more cohesive as a group, huddled close to one another in conference as the trail continued to narrow. It was close to dusk and they’d pushed hard after the events of the morning. Jack didn’t want to waste any more time with their side excursion from this morning and insisted on riding hard until they came to their meeting point with Heron’s soldiers and passed off their horses.

He was saddened to see them go. In a race where every minute mattered, giving up the strong and steady creatures felt like the worst possible news. He only took solace in the fact that by the state of the trail ahead of them, it would be just as slow going for the Barak’s wagons as it would be for them on foot.

Although they’d lost the horses, they’d gained a new companion as well. Jack turned his head to look for Kat, finding the woman not far from him, her gaze already watching his back. She offered him a small smile before turning her attention back to the road. The woman was a mystery so far. Who she was seemed to be a question that he couldn’t quite answer. She didn’t speak much, but when she did, it seemed to be something that was deep or profound. Very often her words matched her beauty, stunning and delicate in equal parts. One thing was for sure—he wanted to find out more about this woman and who she was. Why was she in Sorella?

As the sun started to dip below the western sky, the group found a small patch of ground not far from the path but sheltered by a small grove of trees in order to make camp for the night. As Vera began preparations for food, the rest of them gathered around a small fire to discuss the plan to tackle this latest threat by the local thief, Melitos. Their discussion at the moment dealt with the logistics of reaching the man.

“We can reach the Dark Forest by this path,” said Nikias while addressing the group. “Most likely we can be there tomorrow afternoon.”

“How did it get that name?” asked Vera. “Why’s it called the Dark Forest?”

Both Nikias and Heron looked at each other before looking back to Vera and the rest of the group. “Odd things tend to happen in the forest. Unexplainable things. Some of those who enter never come back out. Others who do are never the same if they come out. It’s a place best to be avoided if one can help it.”

“Those very qualities would make it a perfect sanctuary for a gang of thieves,” said Jack finally. “No one is going to go exploring inside and just happen to find their lair.”

“It still begs the question though,” said Heron. “How does he make his home there with all the stories of the bad things inside?”

“Maybe he’s found a way around it?” suggested Jack. “How big is this forest?”

“Big enough,” answered Nikias. “It’s a few leagues in length and depth. You’ll know when we get there too.”

“Why’s that?”

“Dark doesn’t just reference the unexplainable things inside. The overhead canopy of the forest is so dense that it’s hard for one to determine if it’s day or night once inside,” said the minister with a solemn expression.

Jack nodded. “Still, we have to go inside and get this Melitos. Especially if he’s out attacking civilians for no purpose other than to rob them.”

“Jack, I want to bring order to my own country as much as the next man,” said Heron. “But why do we need to take care of this particular thief while it may distract us from going after the real treasure?”

“Because,” said Jack quietly. “Barak paid this man to put him in our way.”

Heron’s expression darkened. “You’re sure of this?’

Jack nodded. “I’m certain. The man admitted it right as he died. He whispered Barak’s name in his last breath. That’s how he’s been getting paid. Barak knew he wouldn’t be able to get away with the gold without someone coming after him. Now that we’re on his tail, he needs to keep space between us. That’s where Melitos comes in.”

“It makes sense,” said Vera. “Distract us to keep us as far away from him as possible. It’s not a bad idea.”

“She’s right,” said Nikias. “Maybe Barak is craftier than we realized. We’ll have to be careful.”

“We need to take down Melitos before we can get to Barak,” said Jack. “Otherwise, we’ll have to worry about him in our rear, and who knows what kind of mischief he can get up to while our backs are turned.”

“What are you suggesting, Jack?”

Jack thought to himself for a moment. “Perhaps what we need is a little bit of bait.”

“Bait? What do you mean?” asked Heron.

“I mean what do you think thieves in general like the best? To find easy prey, right? People who are easy targets and won’t resist. I’d say if we can get close enough to this Dark Forest without detection, we may be able to lure them to us.”

“And destroy them on our own terms instead of going to them,” finished Greg.

“Exactly.”

“That’s a big ‘if’ though, Jack,” said Nikias. “What if he chooses to ignore us? Then what would we do?”

Jack shrugged. “He shouldn’t if Barak is the one paying him. Other than that, we just need to make sure we offer a big enough target that he can’t possibly ignore us. Something that will have blinded them with greed to the point where they have to try an attack.”

“That’s not bad,” said Heron with a nod. “What do we use as bait?”

Jack looked over from the rest of the men to the three women in the group. Elektra was already watching him intently and seemed to be already thinking what he was. Vera’s look was still of confusion while their newcomer, Kat, looked on quietly without offering any advice to their strategy.

“I think Elektra already knows,” said Jack cryptically.

The entire group turned to look at the princess who wore a coy smile. “It’s simple. These men were after one thing when they attacked Kat,” she said while pointing to the blonde-haired woman. “If they happen upon three women in the forest without means to protect themselves, they’ll be too tempted by lust to just walk on by.”

“Absolutely not,” said Heron while throwing his arms across his chest. “We need to take enough danger as is with this journey that I’m not throwing the last daughter I have left out as bait for a gang of thieves!”

Elektra stood up to console her father. “Papa, it’s okay. I agree with Jack. This is the best way for us to lure them in. Besides, it’s not like I’m defenseless.” She casually tapped the musket at her side.

“But they could do anything,” argued Heron. “Once they are on top of your position, who knows what could happen? What’s more, you’d be putting the other women at risk as well! It’s not safe, Elektra.”

“I can handle myself, Papa,” said Elektra with more steel in her voice. “Besides, it’s not like the rest of you wouldn’t be close by to assist if things got dicey. Right, Jack?”

Jack nodded. “There are ways we can hide ourselves until the women need us. They won’t even know we’re there until we’re ready to spring into action.”

“How will we hide ourselves?”

Jack thought for a moment before turning to Nikias. “Nikias, this Dark Forest, do you know what kind of trees can be found inside?”

Nikias rolled his eyes in thought. “Oak mostly. A lot of maple and birch as well but that’s about it.”

“Oak is good for climbing. Maple as well,” said Jack quietly. “They’re tall trees and their upper reaches are well clustered with leaves. Perfect for hiding men with weapons.”

Heron contemplated the idea for several moments as his eyes flickered back and forth between his daughter and the rest of the group. “Isn’t there another avenue we can try that doesn’t put my daughter at risk?”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Papa, but that’s what I signed up for. Not to worry, we’ll be perfectly safe. I know all of you will take care of us when we need it. The rest of the girls aren’t scared to do it at all, are we?”

“Not at all,” said Vera with a confident smile.

Kat didn’t respond but merely nodded her head in agreement.

Heron let out a deep breath. “Fine. But I want to do this the right way. We pounce on them the moment they get close enough. I don’t want any of the women to so much as smell the breath of these thieves before we launch the attack.”

Jack smiled. “I think we can make that happen, Heron.”

“All right. You can count me in then,” said the king finally.

“Me too, this sounds like a good idea,” said Nikias.

“It was my idea, so of course I’m in,” said Elektra with a chuckle.

“Wait just a second,” said Greg suddenly. “I’m not too convinced that we need to launch this fight.” The Marine crossed his arms in opposition.

Jack’s expression changed to confusion as he looked to his Marine friend. “What’s on your mind?”

“A few things,” started Greg. “For one, we don’t know how many of them there are for sure, and while we do have the advantage of firepower, that almost wasn’t enough to save us during Daimanos’ last assault on Heron’s city. We could get overwhelmed again with enough odds.”

“That’s a fair point,” said Jack while weighing his friend’s words. “They could still outnumber us greatly but then again, let’s look back at the attack on Kat this morning. There were only five of them, and we killed three. Now if they know we’re coming, they may have sent out their largest group for a possible confrontation with us, right?”

Greg nodded while remaining quiet.

“So if their largest group was no more than five guys, I’m thinking we’re dealing with a small band of thieves. Maybe no more than ten in all, and I’m sure we’ve already wounded them greatly by taking out three. I highly doubt we’re dealing with that many of them and I’m sure the three of us with our firepower will be more than enough to take them out.”

Nikias nodded his head as well. “I’d have to agree with Jack on this one. This area of the country is known for having this type of robber element—thieves and the like. They usually operate in small bands. Once they get too big, that’s when the army gets sent in, so I doubt we’re dealing with a coordinated group of professionals here.”

“Okay,” said Greg before continuing with his argument. “But say one of us gets wounded or takes an unlucky shot during this upcoming attack. Our mission will be compromised having to care for one of the wounded.”

“Our mission was always going to be dangerous from the beginning,” said Jack quietly. “It’s not unusual that we might take a casualty. We all knew the consequences when we decided to go on this journey.”

“That was for the pursuit of Barak though,” said Greg. “Not to go chasing after his Melitos and his band of thieves.”

“Melitos is just an extension of Barak at this point,” said Jack. “We may even find out more about locating Barak by getting to Melitos. Besides, if this Melitos is causing trouble in the interior, he must be stopped.”

Greg took a step closer, lowering his voice so that only Jack could hear. “It’s not our fight though, Jack. We have our mission and it’s to stop Barak. As much as I like Sorella and its people, we can’t be waylaid by trying to chase down every village thief that crosses our path. If we can get around Melitos, I think it’ll be all the better.”

Jack nodded his head in understanding. “Normally, I’d agree with you and leave this character to his own fate. But we must use him to get to Barak. We don’t know what he intends to do with all that gold, but it can’t be good. If we can shut down all those in Barak’s hierarchy, we have a better chance of shutting him down.”

“It’s not our fight, Jack,” said Greg quietly.

“I disagree with you there,” said Jack firmly, surprised at seeing this side of his friend. Normally, Greg could be counted on to be ready for action at all times but seeing him like this was truly surprising. It wasn’t like him.

“Greg, I don’t want to have to worry about Barak in front of me and Melitos in my rear. We already have enough threats around us without adding one more to the list.” Besides, they had tried to attack and rape this new woman, the blonde-haired wanderer, Kat. Although she had listened to their discussion instead of speaking, her eyes hadn’t left Jack’s for much more than a minute for most of the day.

Greg noticed Jack’s stare. “It’s because of her, isn’t it? Because they tried to attack her? Is that the real reason why we need to neutralize Melitos? Is it for Kat?”

Jack took a deep breath. “It’s part of it. I feel bad for her to some degree. Losing her only companion in such a cowardly attack. Not to mention, who knows what would’ve happened had we not arrived at that very moment? Something far worse perhaps? There’s something about her that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

Greg looked back over to Kat. “She is beautiful, I’ll give you that. But I don’t know if it’s worth changing our plan just because she was attacked.”

“This Dark Forest is on the path in front of us. If it was behind us or out of our way, then I wouldn’t be pushing to do this as much as I am,” said Jack honestly. “But this is the very thing we’re here fighting for. To end the cruelty and barbarity that has engulfed this island. Yes, Melitos may be a thief, and there may be a hundred like him, but we can send a message right now that we’re putting Sorella back to the way it should be. I think Heron understands that as well, and that’s why he’s onboard too.”

Greg nodded. “I just hope we can catch up with Barak before he gets away. We’re still far behind him.”

“If we play this right, we won’t lose any time,” said Jack. “Just by picking the right spot in the forest and by making the bait big enough. We can dispose of Melitos and his band and be right on our way in the morning.”

“And if they don’t attack? If they don’t find the bait big enough and we find ourselves at the start of a new day empty-handed? What then? Will you give the order to move on?” asked Greg.

Jack thought about it for a moment before answering. “I will. We do this only as time allows. You’re right about one thing though. We can’t allow ourselves to get further behind Barak.”

Greg clapped him on the back. “I’m in then. In and out. Let’s get this done and get back on the road.”

The two men shook hands and then rejoined the rest of the members of their group. At this point, Vera had dinner nearly ready, and as she began to scoop their porridge into bowls, the group ate while engaged in light chatter. For the most part, Greg was the storyteller tonight, telling his rapt audience of Vera, Elektra and Nikias all about some of his adventures back in Java and some of the hairier battles he’d been a part of throughout his service.

Jack watched with a small smile on his face, his eyes flickering every so often to Kat. More often than not, she was watching him. She sat by herself and ate her meal quietly, although Jack couldn’t blame her for not being more engaged with the group. They were all strangers to her largely, not to mention she’d just lost someone important to her this very morning. It had to be a surreal feeling to find herself with a band of strangers while she was on her own quest. Yet, he made a note to himself to talk with her once they had a moment of privacy. There was much to be learned from their beautiful stranger.

There was someone else who also wasn’t partaking in Greg’s stories. Heron was kind enough to watch the rest of the group respond to the Marine before turning his attention back to Jack. After finishing his meal, he went to sit next to the other man.

“Feel like a walk around the camp?” asked Heron. “Nothing against Greg, but I wouldn’t mind a little conversation right now.”

Jack chuckled. “Not in the mood for war stories either?”

“I’ve lived through too many of them,” said Heron with a laugh. “I’d say that I’ve had my fill for the time being.”

“Come on then,” said Jack while getting up from his log. “Let’s take a walk.”

The two men started to walk away from the campsite and emerged into the nearby forest. For once, Jack was able to leave his walking stick behind, finally feeling capable of walking on his own unencumbered since the fight with Daimanos. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the effects of those wounds still, and it still hurt him when pressure was applied to some of those scars but being able to be fully mobile again was a gift in itself. He didn’t feel nearly as helpless as he did before.

“Beautiful country this is,” said Heron finally after they had strolled out of listening range from the camp.

“It truly is,” agreed Jack. “You rule a great country, Heron. Full of good people and beauty.”

Heron chuckled. “I’m surprised that you still think that way after all that you’ve seen since you’ve been here. I have wondered if it might have jaded you.”

“Not at all,” answered Jack. “Apart from a few bad apples, it seems the more Sorellans I get to know, the better I like the people as a whole.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that in the very least,” said Heron. “It’s not easy to rule them sometimes. Especially when I feel like I can barely rule my own household.”

Jack squinted. “I take it you’re talking about Elektra, aren’t you?”

Heron nodded. “Don’t take this the wrong way. Your plan is a good one, and I have to give that one to you. I just wish it didn’t have to put her in harm’s way, even for a moment.”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t feel like she could take care of herself,” said Jack. “Even just until we spring the trap on any would-be attackers.”

“And I know that she can take care of herself as well,” said the king as they walked deeper into the forest. “I don’t know what it is. I just want to see my only daughter loved and married. All of this soldiering on her part puts a knot in my stomach.”