The Heritage

Chapter 25

"This is a good plan, Haito." Jak stood back watching as Haito's men built a smouldering fire on the stones in front of the throne room's doors.

"It has worked in the past." Haito uttered a short command and two men began fanning the smoke beneath the doors into the room beyond.

"What's that? Fire! My god, they're setting fire to the palace!" Eldergar gaped about at his soldiers. "Do something!"

"Clever devils," Mingus granted. "They're going to try and smoke us out. Drag those drapes over here."

Two of the soldiers grabbed the drapes along with Oakley's body and dragged them quickly to the door, stuffing them along the bottom, blocking the smoke.

"That's better."

"They've blocked the door," Jak said.

"This is also something we have done before."

Haito lit a small stick and touched the flame to the bottom of the door, igniting the drapery material. Inside, flames began licking at the dried material and soon a wall of fire consumed the draperies and the unfortunate Oakley.

"We'll all die! Tell them we surrender, Captain, before we all burn to death!" Eldergar's panic began infecting the other soldiers and they started muttering tentative agreements, watching Mingus carefully.

The Captain went to the door and kicked away the remaining embers and giving Oakley's scorched body a brutal shove with his boot.

"Maybe you're right, Sire. After all, there is nothing to be gained dying in here like dogs, is there?"

"Absolutely not!" Elated, Eldergar rushed around his desk and down to the door, covering his nose and mouth at the stench of burning flesh. "Tell them we are coming out, Captain. You'll see this is the best way."

"Oh I know it is," Mingus smiled.

Haito signaled his men and four of them loaded their bows and stood in a line facing the door.

"They said they were surrendering," Jak spoke against the action.

"This is also another familiar situation, Captain. It is but a precaution."

The door opened slowly and they could hear King Eldergar chattering away about peaceful negotiations and nobody doing anything rash. As they swung wide, both sides faced one another with a professional assessment, then just as Jak was about to step forward and greet Eldergar, Mingus raised his foot and rammed it into the King's back, propelling him forward with his arms raised in surprise.

Four bolts from the readied crossbows struck the King in the chest reversing his momentum and sending him backwards into the doorway. Mingus cursed aloud as the door stopped up against the King's lifeless form, preventing it from closing and he barely had time to jump to safety before another volley of arrows zipped past into the palace.

He turned and ran to the rear of the hall, jumping over two of his men felled by the archers. Followed by their men, Jak and Gainer charged through the open door, swords slashing at the remaining soldiers. In an instant the battle was over. The Dramin soldiers lost all appetite for fighting and calmly dropped their weapons and sat down.

Jak turned to see Mingus hacking at the wood of a hidden door behind the throne. He squared his shoulders and walked toward the soldier with a heavy tread.

"Give it up, Mingus, there is no escape today."

"You and your little band of monkeys going to stop me, are you?" He turned to face Jak.

"No, Captain Gainer is going to stop you. He has a bone to pick with you over your treatment of some of his men in a glade near Caval."

Mingus snorted a laugh and swaggered forward. "The day Holland Gainer can pick bones with me will never come, Captain."

"That's for the two of you to decide. We'll leave you to it." Jak retreated to the door and, shaking hands with Gainer, herded the rest of the men from the room.

"He actually meant it!" Mingus laughed, coming back to the center of the room.

"Yes, he did." Gainer drew his sword and held it at his side.

"You are a fool, Gainer. You are no match for me."

"We shall see, Dar, we shall soon see."

"These doors are too thick to hear anything," one of Jak's soldiers complained. "What do you think is happening?"

"One of them will come out when it's over," Jak said. "The other door is covered by Haito's men so this is the only way."

"What if they kill each other? How will we know?"

"We'll send you in, Nosy," another soldier teased.

"How long has it been?"

"Long enough," Jak worried, glancing at the door.

He was about to break his word to Gainer and enter the room when the huge knob turned and the door scraped open. There was a loud gasp from the men as Dar Mingus stood grinning in the doorway, one arm dripping blood and a huge red stain on his tunic. Jak opened his mouth, his words caught tightly in his throat.

"Told you, Captain... told you..." Mingus gasped and mouthful of blood spilled from his mouth as he did a slow spin and crashed to the ground.

Jak leaped over the fallen soldier and ran into the throne room. "Gainer! Gainer where-"

"Here, Jak. Over here behind the desk."

Jak rounded the desk in a skid and knelt by his friend. A damp mass of bloodied hair showed from beneath his cap. He managed a grin and tried to sit but gave up, letting Jak pull him to his feet.

"Gainer, where else are you hurt? Your head is a mess."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Jak but that's it. My head. I hit it on the stone floor when I fell over the desk."

"But Mingus- he's- he's dead. Outside."

Gainer sighed. "I thought my strikes were fatal. He's really slowed in his old age, Jak. He took one last mighty swing at me and I toppled over the desk and hit my head. I guess he thought he'd killed me when he saw the blood and the fact that I wasn't moving."

"Are you telling me that he never touched you? You slew Dar Mingus without getting a scratch?"

"Guess I'll be a bit of a legend now, eh, Jak? You'll have to give me proper respect."

"I'll make a deal with you. I won't tell them you fell over and knocked yourself out if you don't get a big head." The two friends laughed, shook hands and staggered together from the room.

*****

The royal carriage bumped to the same dusty spot outside the Moraine town hall as it had on its only previous trip, only this time the group gathered to greet her looked even more forlorn. As Primula's entourage strode up the crumbling steps and into the building, the Governor,Elder Stemm, stood by dispassionately, aware that his term as Governor would end shortly. In front of the largest gathering Moraine had seen since the Winter War, Primula outlined the new direction the lives of the citizens would be taking.

Moraine and Dramin would remain two separate realms united under theoriginal Kingdom of Dramoraine and ruled by the legitimate heir, Wyeth of Lazzard. The people were told that the new king would initially make his residence in Dramin until the restoration of Moraine was complete at which time an alternate residence would be prepared.