When War Calls(35)

‘Traitor!’ Tyral yelled and rushed forward with the knife ready for another strike.

Kobin caught the knife with his good hand and the two became locked. They had been of equal strength for as long as they had known one another, both unable to best the other in combat, but now Tyral was ill and Kobin had suffered a fresh and deep wound to his left shoulder. Even with the wound, Tyral would soon be at Kobin’s mercy, but he fought on, knowing his rage could make them equal once more.

Kobin would not let it be. With a kick to Tyral’s legs, he managed to trip his opponent and make a powerful hit to his back, causing him to fall over. The knife skipped away from them as Tyral slid across the ground. Almost instantly he was on his feet again, making a second charge at Kobin. Kobin had no defence except to fall back with the force, and the two wrestled on the trail they had walked for so many years together.

Their limbs were flying wildly with very little contact being made for several minutes. Tyral then managed a hit that broke Kobin’s nose, but it had opened up Tyral’s guard around his stomach, allowing Kobin to kick hard and get away from Tyral. Tyral got onto his knees, winded and unable to stand. Kobin felt the blood seeping from his nose and put a cloth to it to stop the flow and he stood watching Tyral trying to stand back up. Both men were fatigued, trying to catch their breath, but even with the new injuries, it was clear Tyral was suffering most.

It seemed likely he would concede defeat, as there was not much point in going on. The only reason he had fought was in an attempt to bring justice against the one that had betrayed him and his people. The man with dark, sunken eyes, the most evil being he had ever met, had won by any account. No matter the outcome now, Tyral had lost.

Another wave of fighter jets approached; a second strike was imminent. They would bomb the village until there was nothing left, its people trapped by the forces moving in from the one access point to the valley.

Tyral had failed.

All his time spent away from his family to ensure their safety, and still this was their fate.

He couldn’t just let Kobin go free for this. He couldn’t let him live when so many innocent would die.

Mustering energy from somewhere even he did not know existed, he charged at Kobin once more.

‘Stop!’ shouted Kobin. ‘We mustn’t fight!’

His words were lost on deaf ears as the two men became locked together again. Kobin was unable to use his left arm and suffered several hard punches to that side. His only defence was to pull Tyral in close enough that it was too hard to gather any force behind his punches. They both targeted each other’s necks, seeking the kill. Their grips were strong, so neither could speak, but each read the others’ eyes. There was slight fear, regret and anguish in Kobin’s, but what he saw in return caused him to fear like he had never feared before. There was something else in his old friend’s eyes, something ancient and rare. He had seen it once before but could not place the experience. It seemed as if Tyral’s eyes were alight inside, burning with pure hate but also something he didn’t understand. Then he realised where he had seen it, and his own eyes widened with disbelief and shock.

‘You can’t,’ he whispered.

Suddenly Tyral’s body emanated a heat that made them too hot to hold onto. Kobin released his grip and backed away several paces in astonishment. Tyral was almost upon him again when the rumble in the ground became terrifyingly loud and both men began to lose their balance. A tear in the earth snaked its way between them, massive sections of dirt breaking free on either side as new hills and caverns were formed. Tyral took another step toward Kobin just as the ground gave way and he started to fall. Kobin reached out to save his friend from the abyss and managed to grab his hand.

‘No!’ he yelled through gritted teeth. ‘Not this time!’

Tyral stared lifelessly up at Kobin, as if already accepting his fate as one finger slipped, followed by another, and then another, and then the last. The two men that had been friends for so long were both left staring into darkness, Tyral into Kobin’s eyes and Kobin into the abyss that would forever shroud his world in loneliness, claiming the one friend he felt he truly had.

The rumbling slowed as he turned away from the edge, tears surfacing through the blood on his face. He had failed. His plans, his dreams of ruling the world with Tyral were over. He wondered how it had all gone wrong, whether he had been right in his assessments or not. Tyral had not given him the chance to explain that he had already taken measures to protect Tyral’s family. The rest of their people he did not care for, as both he and Tyral had often made note of how poorly the villagers had treated them. They were not worth saving. He had left the destruction of the village as a surprise, as the ultimate revenge against those that had wronged them. And yet Tyral had seemed to want to save them.