Death of a Hero

The army of evil had regained the land to the river before winter set in once again. The emperor was old and had no more living sons. Only a small militia of adolescent boys remained. When they looked across the river, they saw only death waiting patiently for warmer weather. Hope had fled the hearts of everyone but fools. Princess Pottegad bore a child in the winter and nursed the babe while confined in a prison. Her wicked captor had encouraged her to care for the child until spring approached. As she nursed her bastard, she met the only named enemy in the history of the war, Kuna. Kuna was a teenage girl who had been prepared as a human sacrifice for Molekad, the god of war. She had known her fate for over a year and had been freed from imprisonment the same hour that Pottegad had delivered a child. The girl knew what would happen to the baby and thus spoke to Pottegad through a crack in the wall. When the princess learned that her son was to be sacrificed, she despaired of life and prayed for death. Kuna, consequently, had learned that the mother of the baby was human. Until that point, she had assumed that the baby was only half human and half beast since he came from the woman. Pottegad had surprised the girl by learning their language and cried when she learned what was to be done with her son. Initially, Kuna had only wanted to save the child. Filled with compassion, her heart had expanded to include the mother. On the night before the day that marked the end of the year, Kuna set fire to the building where the princess was being held. While the soldiers called for water, she entered the back. Both women knew that death would follow soon after getting caught in the attempt to escape, but both women knew it was worth the risk. BoBevad had indeed been in the tent that had burned. He had suffered no burns, however, because he was soaking in a cold-water tub to rid him of fever at the time of the fire. He awoke the next day naked, disoriented, feverish, freezing, and still injured. He was aware of the carnage around him and wept bitterly while imagining how his wife had died. He crawled from the burnt remains of the tent until he came upon a donkey still saddled and grazing. After coaxing the animal to him, he held onto a stirrup while the beast dragged him to an abandoned farmhouse nearby. For three weeks, he hid in the basement of an abandoned home near an abandoned town. He ate only handfuls of grain and raw eggs produced by the hens that roosted there. When he was able to move without agony, he explored the town while clothed only in a towel. He took the foreign-looking uniform from a dead enemy whose body had not been noticed by either army. He also took the dead man's sword, which was lighter and sharper than his normal weapon. He walked from village to village, looking for the remainder of the army, but found only enemy garrisons. He killed the garrison at Ashdod – 60 men – and freed the captive women and girls. All the men and boys had been slaughtered. He took the captives west toward the river and came to the village of Ganivad, which was also occupied by a garrison. There, too, he killed 60 men and freed the captives. He did that in three more towns until he was standing over more bodies than he could count. He stopped only 18 miles from this very spot in the field of Skobed south of the palace. He had with him 2,200 women and hundreds of girls. The women had learned the sword from BoBevad and were armed with the enemy's weapons. The mighty man had been a patient teacher, not wanting the women to fight in battle but knowing they would be forced to do so if they were to break through the enemy's front line and make it to the river. Then, BoBevad learned that his one true love was alive and pregnant with the spawn of the leader of the Ruinous Troop. A freed captive woman had sworn it to be true. Winter was almost upon them as he despaired and hoped. The battle at Jeconidad's fjord was bloody and short. The army of 2,200 women and one man broke the enemy that had numbered over 10,000.