Beyond Doubt: Whispers of the Unseen - Chapter 83

Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.

As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.

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Chapter 83

Dear Reader, It may be extremely irritating that at moments like this, you have to wait hours, if not days, for the denouement. Unfortunately, this story is a reflection of life in many ways.

Days of deadly silence often precede that one moment of denouement. That all-defining change in that chain of monotonous events.

Where do you get the strength from when that moment comes knocking?

*Why is it always that favorite link that breaks? Why is that wonderful event ending?
*

It quickly becomes apparent that it is necessary. When the men are close enough, the giant comes out of cover. His intimidating stature and the roar with which he makes himself known freezes all three.

The first one gets the arrow that was lying at the ready on Retsj's bow right between the eyes. The two remaining men try to exchange their bows for their swords, but before their arms are even stretched, they both feel a hand from the forest giant around their necks.

They are lifted off the ground, and in a fluent motion, their heads collide with a dull thud. I hear the cracking of the skulls. Retsj drops the battered bodies to the ground and dives back behind his stone cover, just before a series of arrows fly overhead.

Three of the soldiers lie on their stomachs in the grass, bows at the ready, aiming at everything that reveals itself. Ahead of them, the other four storm the place where Retsj is hiding. Reiko oversees the whole thing and apparently does not estimate Retsj's chances too positively. Zigzagging to avoid the arrows of the archers, he runs towards the giant. After the first volley of arrows, I do the same.

Numico manages to divert the shooters' attention by injuring the closest shooter. Now they search for the place where the arrow came from but cannot discover the little man. If they look up to their brothers in arms again, it will no longer be possible to give them cover. They are engaged in a frantic fight.

It's four against three. Reiko continuously tries to keep two soldiers away, while Retsj and I are already having trouble with one.

We are slowly being pushed back towards the sea, something that does not go entirely according to plan. The shooters leave their positions to provide support to their buddies. Only the wounded archer remains down; it seems that Numico's shot was enough.

Retsj steps forward when his opponent lunges. The soldier did not expect that, so his sword hits the giant's shoulder. Fortunately, the step forward had slowed down the force with which the sword would have fallen early.

Although she does drill into the forest giant's shoulder, his brown tunic turns red, but the forest man doesn't move a muscle. The fist of the injured arm gives the soldier, who is off balance due to his slowed-down hit, a blow under the chin in such a way that he is momentarily lifted off the ground. Then Retsj plunges the sword that was in his other hand into the stomach of the unfortunate man.

For a moment, it's three against three. Retsj steps in to take over one of Reiko's attackers. But the two remaining shooters are already halfway there.

I see Numico sprinting towards the bridge. None of the soldiers see the boy; their eyes focused on the three men in front of them. As the boy runs, the wounded soldier starts moving. Half standing up, he aims his bow at Numico, who falls flat on his stomach as soon as he sees the weapon.

'That was from an unexpected angle,' the soldier, who had just aimed his arrow at the boy, must have thought when Cabilah's arrow pierced his neck.

Now Cabilah also comes out of hiding. Numico continues to run towards the bridge; Cabilah also moves towards the bridge, but her eyes remain focused on the battle.

The two shooters have now reached us, and we are faced with superior numbers. Reiko lashes out, and with a mowing motion, he manages to make the superior force slightly less powerful. The blade of his sword hits the neck of one of the soldiers with enormous force. It's four against three again.

“Martio, leave,” shouts Retsj, “if you three make it, that's enough. We will be fine.”

I look at Reiko, who is busy parrying the swords. “Depart in the name of the gods,” he shouts, his sword whipping back and forth like a wild beast, pushing the two soldiers back for a moment.

I can't; I can't let these men die, whatever the purpose.

“Let's go,” Retsj says calmly, "there are so many more lives at stake.” As he speaks, he forces his opponent closer to me. For such a huge guy, he is still very agile with the sword. We stand there shoulder to shoulder.

“Retsj, Reiko, forgive me. Your lives will not be in vain I swear.”

Retsj steps between me and my attacker and, like Reiko, takes care of two men. Then I sprint towards the bridge. The ground flies under my feet. I don't look back anymore. There in front of me is Cabilah; she still hasn't crossed the bridge. She stands there like a statue, staring at the clash of arms. I stop running.

“Martio, I have to, I can't let them die, it has to work. He says they're stupid dogs anyway. Then they have to listen. We can't leave them behind,” her voice sounds hoarse.

Tears are in her eyes. She probably cried in front of both men. Then she walks towards her men, singing, singing beautifully.

It seems like everything is slowing down. Her voice sounds thin, like the song of the gods, and I feel everything relax. It's difficult for me to regain control of my mind. If she succeeds, I see that she has approached the men. Aware of her plan, I run after her.

The moment I catch up with her, she is within earshot of the men. That turns out to be true because the soldiers fighting with Rech let their arms hang at their sides. Retsj also threatens to lower his weapon. I run up to the forest giant and punch him in the face. He looks up, startled, then smiles and presses his hands to his ears.

The two soldiers, who were still trying to drive Reiko into the sea, look back. Probably because of the silence behind them, they see their mates standing still aimlessly.

They leave Reiko alone for a moment to see what is going on. They walk towards their stationary colleagues. Their former leader takes advantage of this and sprints towards the bridge. He is familiar with his sister's gift.

I expect the two soldiers, who were on their way to their silent colleagues, will soon also be prisoners of Cabilah's voice. With Retsj by my side, I also go to the bridge. Cabilah walks quietly behind us, still singing. The men follow her voice; they follow her like the living dead. Then I hear Reiko scream, “Damn Cabilah, that redhead is deaf.”

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Picture By Me And My Artificial Intelligence