Seven Rules by Dayle MacKenzie
Chapter Twenty One
“I’ll come,” said Andy, as he jumped to his feet.
The Warrior pointed to the children.
“You take three children, I take three. Follow me, do what I say and be quiet.”
The children fell in behind and the group moved out of the cell.
“Did you kill the guard?” Andy asked him.
The Warrior smiled.
“No, just hit him hard. He will sleep well. But tomorrow he will wish he was dead when the High Priest finds you gone.”
The group moved quietly up some steps to another door which led onto a passageway. Just past this door another guard was lying unconscious on the floor with a bowl of soup spilled next to him. The Warrior smiled.
“You?” Andy asked pointing at the guard.
“No, poison in his food,” the Warrior replied.
They followed the Warrior down the passageway to another doorway. Without looking back, he held his arm out and signaled for the group to stop. He peeked through the gap for a few seconds, then signaled them forward and they slipped outside.
They were in a dark alleyway between two large buildings. The Warrior led them down the alley to where a man and a woman were waiting in the shadows. The woman rushed to the children and spoke quietly to them, hugging each one in turn. Andy noticed some of them smiling for the first time.
The man and the Warrior shook hands, and then he and the woman led the children away. The Warrior turned to Andy.
“The children are safe now. We have one more job to do.”
“What’s that?” asked Andy.
“We will get your half of Talisman back.”
“Good,” said Andy. “How do we do that?”
“We will go to palace and get it. Follow me.”
“What’s your name?” Andy asked the Warrior.
“Käpu’n. What is yours?”
“Andy.”
“Andy,” Käpu’n said almost to himself. “It is a short, easy name. What does Andy mean?”
“I don’t know really. The full version is Andrew, but I never gave it much thought.”
“You should find out. To understand your name, it is important.”
Käpu’n was striding along at quite a pace. Andy was struggling to keep up.
“What does Käpu’n mean then?” he asked between puffs.
“Käpu’n means, ‘young bull’.”
They walked on in silence for a couple of minutes. Andy hadn’t had a decent feed or a drink since leaving Archie’s house and it was beginning to show. He finally stopped. Gasping for breath he yelled out.
“Käpu’n! I need a drink!”
Käpu’n stopped and looked back at Andy.
“Sorry, Andy. We will find you food and water not far from here, but we must keep going.”
“OK,” said Andy. “But can you at least walk a little slower.”
Käpu’n smiled.
“Good. We shall walk slower. We are near the palace now.”
They rounded a corner and a huge stone building lay in front of them.
“The palace,” said Käpu’n.
Andy stood and tried to take in what he was seeing. The massive building was similar to the ancient Roman or Greek buildings he’d read about in his history books. It was impressive even by modern standards. Andy knew that the Maya didn’t use machinery or even animals, so it was all built by human sweat and muscle. It should have been magnificent, but in the dark night with the orange glow of dozens of burning torches it just looked evil.
“Wow!” Andy said.
Käpu’n nodded.
“Yes. This is the back. We will get in this way.”
As they walked towards the palace Andy heard a terrible din coming from inside.
“What’s going on here?” he asked. “It sounds like New Year’s Eve gone bad.”
“They are here to celebrate the return of the Talisman and your sacrifice tomorrow, but my friends in the palace kitchen poisoned the food. Those who ate or drank anything will be sick and those who did not will be fighting for their lives.”
“Fighting who?” asked Andy.
“I belong to a group who resisted the High Priest after he murdered our royal family. He now have both half of the Talisman. With the whole Talisman he can control time and history. He is an evil man who will do great harm to all the world.”
“Did I hear you say ‘my half’ of the Talisman?”
“Yes, your half travels back. The half the priest has is forward travel half.”
As Käpu’n was talking they approached an entrance to the palace. The guards at the door were lying on the ground looking very much like they were dead. Käpu’n stepped over them without as much as a second glance.
“We are late. My friends have started without me.”
They entered through the door into a large corridor. Käpu’n hugged the left side and signalled Andy to do the same. He stopped at each door and took a careful look inside before moving forward. Inside one of the doors was the kitchen. By the look of the huge pots boiling over and the smell of burning food, the staff had left in a hurry. Peeping through another door they discovered a guardroom with a number of guards lying unconscious.
“It does not pay to steal your master’s food,” said Käpu’n. “Especially when it has been poisoned by my people.”
Andy was shocked at all the dead people, and by Käpu’n’s casual attitude.
They moved on and saw more of the same. Empty rooms with the occasional person lying unconscious or curled up in a ball groaning. It was obvious that this part of the palace had been hastily abandoned, but as they neared the large doors at the end of the corridor they heard the sounds of battle on the other side.
Käpu’n was about to look between the doors when a guard slammed against them and staggered through the gap. Käpu’n leapt back then drew his knife out and adopted a defensive stance. He stood almost side-on to the guard, his free hand forward and his knife held in the other hand behind him, out of the guards view. His legs were placed apart giving him a solid base from which to strike. He was also swaying gently on the balls of his feet making it hard to see which way he would move.
Andy didn’t know the least bit about martial arts, but he’d seen enough action movies to know that Käpu’n looked the business.
The guard straightened himself up to his full height. He was huge. Well over six feet tall with massive muscles all over his body. Looking at Käpu’n he sneered. Andy thought he might pee his pants he was that frightened.
The guard stepped towards Käpu’n, but as he took a second step his face suddenly contorted in pain and confusion. He spent a few frantic seconds grasping behind him with a massive arm, then his eyes rolled back and, almost in slow motion, he fell to the floor.
Andy stood rooted to the spot still fighting his own battle with his bladder. Käpu’n relaxed a little and stood up. The cause of the huge guard’s death became obvious as he fell. He had a large knife sticking out of his back. Just on the other side of the door the owner of the knife was smiling at Käpu’n.
“Acan, it is you. Thank you brother,” Käpu’n called to him in his own language.
“You owe me a debt now,” Acan replied. “He would have snapped you like a twig.”
“I’m sure I will get the chance to pay you back. Things look bad.”
“Not as bad as you think. We have the Priest cornered with what remains of his palace guard. The Talisman will soon be ours. Come!”
Käpu’n turned to Andy.
“My friend Acan has saved us. Come with me and stay close,” he said, as he moved into the hall beyond the door.
Andy leapt over the body of the guard and ran after Käpu’n as he entered the hall. He was stunned by its size. It had been set up for a great feast with two rows of tables facing each other along each side of the room. At the far end of the hall was a massive golden throne that seemed to tower above everything else.
The scene inside the room itse
Acan was just ahead of them running to join the fight. In front of him was a large group of people dressed like Käpu’n. As they got closer, Andy was starting to make sense of the chaotic scene. Käpu’n’s comrades were in a semi-circle around a slightly smaller group of palace guards, who in turn had formed a circle around the High Priest. Behind him, on an elaborate gold plinth, was Andy’s Talisman. Next to his was another identical Talisman.
Käpu’n’s people were pressing forward against the guards, despite their savage efforts to defend the priest. Knives and spears were being wielded on both sides in a never-ending series of jabs and counter thrusts. The room echoed to the screams of the hurt and dying. If one of Käpu’n’s people was wounded they would slip away from the battle. The fate for any guard who fell was sealed as Käpu’n’s people closed around them.
Käpu’n turned to Andy and thrust him into a gap behind a stone pillar.
“Stay here and do not move,” he said. “I will come back and get you. If you see me fall in battle, flee with my people. They will look after you.”
Andy did not need to be told twice. He’d seen hundreds of battles on TV and had killed thousands more bad guys in video games, but none of that compared to this. The sound and smell of it all had turned his stomach into a knot and his legs to jelly, but in the midst of his worries he couldn’t help but be fascinated watching Käpu’n go about his business.
Käpu’n made his way round to the side of the battle closer to the plinth where the two Talismen rested. He moved with a grace and stealth that attracted little attention and had all but snatched the Talisman when the Priest noticed him. He yelled to the guards and two of them turned to attack Käpu’n.
The first took two strides forward and made a wild slash at Käpu’n with a sword. Käpu’n had ample time to see the clumsy attack and ducked almost casually under the swinging weapon. In one fluid movement he spun, jabbed the guard in the ribs with his knife and then kicked his feet out from under him. The man fell and disappeared from sight amongst the crowd.
The second guard ran screaming up the steps, with his weapon raised high above his head as Käpu’n waited for him in a defensive crouch. Just as the guard was about to smash his weapon down, Käpu’n’s leg shot out like a lightning bolt and kicked him in the center of his chest. The guard’s face contorted with pain as he stumbled, then fell back into the crowd.
The Priest’s men were now severely outnumbered and were struggling to protect him. The two Talismen were only a few metres from Käpu’n with no one close enough to stop him. He ran over to the plinth to grab the prize that so many of his people were fighting and dying for. The Priest stared at Käpu’n in horror as he realized he was about to lose everything. He screamed in a mad rage and burst through his guards towards Käpu’n, hacking at friend and foe alike as he went. Käpu’n’s people fell back in fear, leaving Käpu’n unprotected.
“Look out Käpu’n, look out!” Andy screamed as loud as he could above the noise.
Käpu’n snatched up the two halves of the Talisman and turned to meet the priests attack. He raised his knife up and blocked the Priest’s swinging blade. The Priest slashed again and was blocked a second time. The two stepped back and eyed each other warily. Käpu’n was torn between finishing off the priest or taking the two Talisman and making a run for it. Youth, speed and skill were on his side but common sense demanded he not risk losing both halves of the Talisman.
His mind was made up for him when the door at the other end of the hall flew open and more guards ran in to join the battle. He could see that his people would be fighting on two sides and that they would lose any advantage they had gained.
“Run, flee out the door behind the throne!” he shouted. “Andy, run as you never have before!”