Battle for Peruna by Josiah Boss (book club suggestions TXT) 📕

to eat it, even after he told them what it really was.
Then, of course, there was all the fun times of hearing them coming down the hall, hiding behind corners, and jumping out to scare them while yelling “Surprise!” Then after lunch he'd pulled the water bucket trick on them.
Then in the afternoon, he'd found a dead rat, fixed a piece of string around it's neck, and dragged it across the hallway in front of them. That had scared nearly to kingdom come. After he'd gone and put ash on the inside of Gardenia's gold princess ring that she wore on her head. When she pulled it off, a neat, gray-black ring was left on her head. It was not amusing to the girls, but was greatly amusing to Nikkelon and the guards.
He'd then gone and gotten the whole castle involved, when he lit some smoke weed and tossed it in their room. That had caused pandemonium, when the girls came to their room, and it was filled smoke. It was soon discovered that it was nothing but smoke weed after they got the whole castle, armed with water buckets, to their room. That was when Garnock put an end to his trick playing, so now he was in the library reading history books of when centaurs had first come to Peruna.
He was very intrigued when he found out that they had battled a whole band of hairy monsters which they had dubbed “minotaurs”. Only two minotaurs had survived the fierce last battle and had disappeared to never be seen or heard from again. Garnock I (Garnock's great-great-great-great grandfather) had said that the minotaur is the only beast that can match the centaurs' skill and wit in battle. Nikkelon remember his dad saying that his own great-great-great-great grandfather had been killed in the last battle with the monsters. The battle was now known as the Battle of the Plains.
********************************
“Hey, here's a book that might help us out. It's titled the Battle of the Plains,” said Garth, pulling a dusty book out the ancient bookshelf. “I remember my great grandfather telling stories that his great grandfather had told him about this battle. My great-great-great-great-great grandfather was the leading general in the battle.”
“The book's even written by him, see? 'Garnock I, author'.” Skandar pointed to the faded cover.
“Oh, yeah! Well, let's dig in.”
“See, here it says that in the four day Battle of the Plains they killed all but two monsters they called minotaurs.”
“That must be what that beast is that chased us!” Skandar said excitedly.
“Yeah, but look, it says here that they had been fighting these monsters for nearly six months to drive them out of what is now Peruna. The reason it took so long is 'cause the minotaur matches the centaur's skill and wit in battle, to the T.”
“Wow! So we've got to be careful,” said Skandar.
“You got that right,” said Garth.
“So, the two that survived must have come here, bred, reproduced, and now there's probably way more than two. For one, the original two couldn't possibly still be alive, so it must be one of their offspring,” pointed out Skandar.
“Yeah, that's scary! That means that there could be any number of these monsters running around ready to snatch us up on a whim,” said Garth.
*****************************
Back at the castle... “Ha! Swiped your queen! Gotcha again!” Forester roared with laughter.
“What!? You cheater, how'd you do that?” Felgor was dumbfounded.
“Well, see, I just left my queen up here, and you-like the fool you are-moved your pawn right into my trap.” Forester threw back his head as he roared in laughter. “Oh, did I forget to mention that it's check-mate.”
“What the...?”
“Hey, didn't you two know that we're under siege?” bellowed Mardoc, bursting into the room.


Part
Two


PART TWO
Tace and Zebulon stamped impatiently. It had been twenty minutes since Garnock and Atherton had gone to silently file through the lock and open the main gate to the castle.
“I wonder what’s taking Garnock so long?” said Tace turning to Zeb.
“I have no idea. It could be anything,” said Zeb. “The lock could be double thick, or there could be more than one outside lock, or a guard might be above the door, and they can’t light, 'cause he might see them. The list could go on and on.”
“Yeah or maybe we just missed the signal that says they’ve cut through and are opening it.”
“Must have cause there’s the signal that the gate’s open.” Two flashes pierced the night.
“There,” Garnock grunted, “shouldn’t be long till they come. This gate’s getting mighty heavy.”
“I almost have the rope taut,” said Atherton, who was turning the wheel on the inside wall of the castle to raise the gate. “It’s a good thing you thought of lifting up the gate first then tightening the ropes. It would’ve squeaked something awful going up, otherwise.”
“Here they come now. Good, you’ve just finished tightening the rope.” Garnock quickly secured the rope on the other side.
The troops came racing across the bridge and into the castle. The startled guard started to blow his horn to warn the castle, but an arrow from Aubin knocked him backward off the castle wall. Zeb silently raced up the wall stairs. He ducked into the shadows just as a guard appeared. With one swift stroke he cut the guards sword belt off and with the two handed back hand knocked him over the wall. He heard a splash below and raced on. The second and third guards got the same treatment.
The fourth guard blocked Zeb’s back hand with his own sword, after Zeb missed his sword belt. Zeb reared up and at the same time struck out with his front hoof, catching the guard square on the bottom of his jaw. The guard slumped, and Zeb, with a back hoof, kicked him over the edge into the courtyard.
********************************
Two of Mardoc’s right hand men were strolling along in the shadow of the south wall talking, when the first one happened to look up just in time to see something vaulting over the wall and down at them.
“Look out!” he yelled to the other soldier, who looked up then instantly cowered as the something crashed down on his head, sending him to the ground and pinning him there.
“What the--!? Get this thing off of me!” he screamed to the first.
“I’m trying, but it’s heavy!” With a final backward staggering step, he managed to get the whatever-it-was off of the second man. “WHAT is it?” he asked.
“How am I supposed to know?” the second snapped.
They rolled the armor clad body-as they found out-over and saw the south wall’s guard’s face staring up at them, eyes blank, mouth open, and bottom jaw at an odd angle.
“YUCK! What happened?” He looked to the first.
“I don’t—“ His sentence was cut short when an arrow suddenly appeared buried in his throat. His eyes bulged; he staggered back a couple of steps, then crumpled to the ground in a heap—dead.
The second hit the ground just as another arrow hissed over his head and buried itself in the face of the first. He waited a couple of seconds, then jumped up and ran. He heard a couple of arrows kiss the rock at his feet, then felt one brush his hair. He felt a fourth ricochet off his helmet, and when he turned around, another arrow just about cut off his nose. He froze and instantly felt searing pain as an arrow passed clean through his left leg in the calf. He screamed and clutched his leg, then hobbled to the doorway which already had three or four arrows buried in it. He opened the door leading into Mardoc’s dining room.
Two arrows hissed into the room. The first buried into the chest of a servant bringing Mardoc’s supper to him, and the second neatly trimmed off one of Mardoc’s dreadlocks and pinned it to the wall behind him. Mardoc started and tipped over backwards in his chair, just as another arrow passed through empty air right where his chest had been seconds before.
*******************************
Aubin raced through the open door with five other archers behind him. The room was already vacated.
“Where’d they all go?” asked Yasahiro, one of the archers.
“I don—Ah! Through that far door. After them!” All six turned and raced up the stairs.
*******************************
Garnock looked around, and, convinced that all the soldiers were down fighting, blew the retreat signal on his horn. Instantly it appeared that the gate had become a vacuum, sucking all the centaurs through it. The soldiers hesitated, then jumped on horses and followed them in hot pursuit, when ordered by Forester and Felgor.
******************************
“They’re retreating!” Aubin called to the others upon hearing the sound of the horn. “Hold up!” The others held up and came back to Aubin.
“Now why don’t we get out? Which way would be—Ahhhh!”
“What happened?” asked Yasahiro almost panicking.
“I’ve been hit. Get out of here. I’ll fend for myself,” said Aubin.
“No,” commanded Yasahiro. He turned to other four. “You get him out of here. I’ll cover for you, okay?” The others nodded and hustled Aubin out before he could protest. Aubin looked back and got one last glimpse of Yasahiro bravely covering for them by fighting ten men at once. Then the door shut behind them.
*******************************
“Remember the plan,” shouted Garnock to the others as they raced for the valley. “When we get to the wall where the archers are, wheel and charge again.”
They swept down the valley, black against the moonlit landscape. The archers started shooting as hard and as fast as they could as soon as Mardoc’s soldiers appeared, and they didn’t let up until they couldn’t shoot for fear of hitting a centaur.
“Captain!” a voice broke through Garnock’s train of thought. He turned and saw Ichihiro, Yasahiro’s twenty year old son coming towards him.
“What?”
“Tace is down. Skylar was hit by an arrow twenty minutes ago, along with dozens of others. They’re too strong for us. You’d better call off the battle, before they wipe us all out.”
“Thank you. Now go fight.”
“Aye, aye, Sir.” Ichihiro wheeled and galloped away.
Garnock’s shoulders slumped. Everything had gone as planned till now. “Oh, dear Lord…” he moaned. Then, suddenly, he faced the sky and screamed, “Help us!”
********************************
On top of the hill, the old man stood with his hands upraised, and his face lifted to the sky. He was waiting for the command. Then it came. “Go.” And go he did.
************************************
“Garnock, stop.” Huh? Garnock looked around to see where the voice had come from. There it was again. “Stop. Call off your soldiers.” What? Was he that crazy or something? “Why?” he asked out loud without thinking. “Just do it.” Okay, so maybe I’ll try it just this once.
************************************
“They’ve stopped fighting,” pointed out Felgor.
“Duh, you ding-dong, if they’re not fighting, then what do you think they’re doing, huh? Scheming, that’s what,” said Forester.
“Hey, Felgor,” a low soothing voice reached Felgor’s ears. He turned to Forester, “Did you call me?”
“Who, me? No, why?”
“Oh, no reason. I just thought I heard someone call me, that’s all.”
“Looky here, Felgor,” came the soothing voice. Felgor slowly turned his head to look behind him. “Come into the woods. We’re gonna have some fun.” An evil laugh echoed through the valley. “NO!” he shouted. Just then his heart stopped pounding as the most evil creature stepped out of the trees. Felgor had seen it once before—in his worst nightmare. He screamed.
Felgor looked over at Forester to see if he saw this thing. Forester was on his knees, hands covering his face, looking in the opposite direction, and saying over and over,