One Night in Bastat Part Two (complete)

    “Maeve! Maeve!” I rush over to her, but already the bed is soaked with blood. I don’t know what to do. I turn, looking up at Sanguis as he clutches his hand which is now missing a finger. He glares at me and I can feel his piercing stare deep into my soul.

    “If it isn’t the great and all mighty King of unity,” he snarls. He stands erect, keeping a firm hold on baby Amon. “How does it feel to see what will become of your kingdom?”

    I swallow down my fear and stand before him, brandishing my sword.

    “Oh my,” Sanguis chuckles. “Isn’t that the same one that killed me?” he tilts his head to the side. “Perhaps you should get it sharpened.”

    “It isn’t blades that will end you, Sanguis.” I snarl at him.

    “Hopefully not.” Sanguis bounces Amon who is starting to fuss. “Besides, you and I are connected now.” He plants his palm flat to his chest. “We’re practically brothers.”

    I take a deep breath and keep my shoulders stiff as my knee threaten to knock. “Blood does not make kinship.”

    “But it can make chains.” Sanguis smirks.

    From behind me I am dragged down onto the bed beside Maeve. Her blood has formed long tendrils that chain me down to the side of the bed and the ground. I struggle and choke as they wrap around my throat.

    “Should I?” Reginald cackles as he raises his blade.

    “Don’t you dare touch him,” Sanguis snarls at him with a hushed voice. “I need him.” He jerks his head. “I just need to find the father now. Hopefully Edragon is better at listening to orders than you are.”

    I cough and choke, trying to fight back against the bloody tentacles that are holding me. I can barely breathe and their vice only gets tighter. I’m starting to fade, I need air, I need to get out.

    There is a shimmer of light and the tendrils recede. I collapse to the floor, violently heaving and gasping for breath. 

    “Dhaval,” Maeve drops her staff and nearly falls from the bed. I grab her, lifting her up and setting her back on the bed. “Dhaval please-” she sobs as she weakly tries to keep a hold on me.

    “Maeve, lay down, stay still.”

    “Oh my god-” the voice behind me I know all too well. I turn, seeing my father and several others standing over Demir’s body. My father throws his head back, roaring with all his might as his back bends. He mourns his friend the only way he knows how.

    “Penu!” Chiyo screams, throwing herself down on the ground beside his body.

    My mother rushes in, tending to Maeve before giving me a glance. “Dhaval are you ok?” She asks me.

    “I will live,” I wheeze. “But after this night I am not sure I want to.”

    “You have to!” My mother snaps at me. “You will whether you want to or not.” She checks Maeve with close attention, seeing the bleeding is coming from between her legs. “This isn’t good,” she whispers urgently.

“Where’s Amon?” Chiyo snarls.

    I look away ashamed.

    “Dhaval!” Chiyo screams at me.

    “We need to get Maeve out of here!” Mythri snaps back at her.

    Chiyo bares down on me, pushing her dagger against my already sore and tender neck. “Where’s the baby, Dhaval? Where’s the baby? Where is he?”

    “Sanguis,” Maeve chokes. “He took him...Demir-”

    Mythri holds Maeve up. “It’s ok. We know you did what you could.” Somehow, my mother manages to lift Maeve up in her arms. “We have to get Maeve and the others to the cave. That’s what’s important now.”

    Chiyo is shaking with rage. No doubt she has lost so much tonight, not just her father figure Penu and her best friend Demir. 

    “The children are in the cave,” I tell her. “Maeve and Mila took them there. The children are safe and they need to protect them.”

    “I will not leave Bastat until they are all dead,” Chiyo snarls.

    “You’ll be dead.” I stand before her, towering over her. “To the caves.”

    Chiyo glares into my eyes and moves over to my mother. She takes Maeve from her and gives her a sword. She barks orders to the two guards with her and they leave.

    “Be safe,” my mother kisses me before she goes.

    I turn to my dad who is placing his own shirt over Demir’s body. “You should go too, Dad.” My voice cracks.

    “I am not leaving.” He places his paw over Demir. “And I am not your father this night.” He stands and looks at me. I never realized we were the same height before. All my life he has been bigger than me. “I am one of your men to command.”

    I swallow but it is still hard to breathe. “They’re after Chi,” I reply. “And Sanguis has Amon.”

    “Is that what you want to do? Find him?” Amit asks.

    I take in a deep slow breath and let my shoulders rise again. “I have to.” I claw at my own chest, digging my fingers in. “It’s my fault Sanguis Rex is resurrected. He’s my responsibility. This whole world in my responsibility now. I have to protect it and right now...I’m failing.” I look up at my dad and feel tears in my eyes.

    Amit claps his paws down on my shoulders. “Then let’s go. Now.”

    I feel something climb up my leg. Looking to my shoulder, little Addor is perching himself there. He still has Sanguis’ bleeding finger in his mouth. I take the finger from him and wrap it up. I am not sure how this will help me, but part of me believes Addor didn’t do this out of spite. It was a calculated move.

    “You can leave too if you want,” I tell the dragon.

    Addor glares at me and his growls low in his throat.

    I put my hand over his head. “Fine. Stay.”

    Amit and I leave the house and move through the burning wreckage of Bastat. Ahead of us Habbar is being constricted, held down by the same bloody tendrils that had held me. Addor screams and the tentacles recede, letting him go. Habbar jumps up, screaming and hollering and thrashing about in his anger.

    “Calm, old friend,” Amit beckons to him.

    “He had a baby!” Habbar screams in Amit’s face. “That sick piece of shit is carrying a baby through hell!”

    Amit looks around and his tail twitches furiously behind him. “Is that where we are? I didn’t think hell was this horrible.”

    “That baby is Maeve’s new child,” I tell Habbar. “Sanguis is trying to kidnap him. Where did he go?”

    Habbar points. “Up ahead. That Gnoll who is with him had one of the sabertooths with him.”

    “He has Chi now too.” I can feel the air crush from my lungs. My bones feel weak but I know I have to remain standing. 

    “There’s a cave a the other end of the oasis,” Amit shouts to Habbar. “The women and children are hiding there. Mythri and Chiyo just headed that way. If you could protect them, that would mean more to me than you staying here.”

    Habbar turns to us and his eyes have gone white with all the rage and fury within him. “I want to squish his stupid head like a berry under my foot,” Habbar growls. The lava in his body is glowing near white now as well.

    Amit nods and grabs his friend’s arm. “I know. As do I. But the children that are there need you more. I ask you as your friend to protect them above all else.”

    Habbar nods and places his palm at the top of Amit’s head. He then turns to me and points. “Keep his body so I can squish it, even if he is dead.” Habbar moves along, crushing and stomping raiders in his wake.

    Amit and I rush ahead, fighting our way to get to Sanguis and Reginald before it was too late. We come to the edge of the oasis, stepping through fire to see Sanguis, Reginald, and the Gnoll Edragon standing over a body.

    Edragon turns and his eyes fall directly on us. I steel myself to fight but for some reason he remains quiet. He turns back, looking at the shivering figure on the ground.

    “What is that?” Amit snarls. “Why did he look at us?”

    I remember fighting Edragon. He’s young, probably the same age as me. His father had been executed by my mother and Chiyo and he wanted me dead and to suffer. So why did he just glance at us? Did he see us or not? I thought for sure he wanted me dead more than anybody.

    There’s crying ahead of us and Edragon picks up the figure on the ground. “It’s Chi,” Amit whispers. His eyes then cut to Reginald and he grits his teeth. “And that one,” he snarls. “He has Demir’s head.”

    I put my arm on his chest. “Dad, please, I need you to stay calm now.”

    “What do they even want?” Amit is shaking. I had only ever seen my Father in this state once before and it had haunted me since I was little.  “What is the point of any of this?”

    “Stay here,” I whisper to him. “If anything happens I want you to run and go to the cave. Don’t think about me, think about mom and the kids. They need you.” I rise up, walking towards the three men.

    “Dhaval! You cannot ask me that!” Amit grabs tight to my arms. “I am not leaving my child.”

    I tilt my chin up and glare at him. “I’m commanding you.” As I turn back I see Sanguis is facing me. The baby still in his arms.

    “You found me, little king,” he says with a smile. 

    “I just want the child,” I reply.

    Behind him, Chi is trying to get up but Reginald and Edragon keep kicking him down and beating him.

    “I won’t relent on this, little king,” Sanguis sighs. “This is my child. I’m going to raise him right alongside my daughter.”

    Chi grabs Sanguis’ ankle. “He’s my son!” He cries. “Please! Give me back my son!”

    Amon starts to whine and cry.

    “You call yourself a father,” Sanguis snarls. “You woke him up.”

    He raises his hand and Chi levitates on the ground. He chokes and coughs, struggling against Sanguis’ grasp.

    “Edragon, come here, hold him will you?” He passes off Amon to Edragon then swirls his free hand in the air. Chi cries out in agony, writhing and screaming. Amon’s screams grow louder and louder. Both of them are crying out in pain and suffering. I rush forward, drawing my sword but Reginald knocks me down. He strikes the side of my head and falls into the sand, slipping and tumbling down the slick dune.

    “I told you not to touch him!” Sanguis throws Reginald aside and drops Chi to the ground. “You don’t listen to me!” Sanguis strikes him across the face. “This is disgusting me.” He tosses Demir’s head away and it rolls into the sand near me.

    I hear yelling and screaming all around me to the point it becomes like rushing water. There is a roaring in my ears and my blood pounding. Addor covers me, laying on top of my head and hissing. I’m not sure what happened after, all I know is I wake up to water being forced into my mouth.

    “Good, you’re awake.” Chi sighs.

    I grab him up and hug him tight. “Thank the gods your alive!” I cry.

    Chi holds fast to me. “We wouldn’t let me die. He said he had more for me.” He starts to sob. “What more could he possibly do?”

    I look over Chi’s shoulder, it is barely daylight out and the air and sky are a dark shade of gray. Bastat is smoldering and all that seems left of the once beautiful and thriving oasis is smoke. I cling tighter to Chi, both of us holding onto the only thing that’s left. 

    Chi is walking with a limp, his clothes are bloody but he has no wounds. I take Demir’s head in hopes of burying it with his body if it wasn’t burnt. I wrap it up and we head back to Addor’s cave.

    Himank is standing guard out front and a moment later Mila rushes out and grabs me. She sobs as she clings to me, but she would never admit it. I hold her, kissing the top of her head to comfort her. 

    My mother comes out and embraces me as well. Maeve is still alive and she and Chi have no idea how to handle their grief and suffering. They just stare at one another, dumbstruck and unsure what a future really even is. 

    The cave is full of survivors, but not everyone is there. Bastat is in ruins and it is lucky if even three hundred survived the massacre. 

    I find Dali in the cave tending to the children. She looks up at me and her gaze is one of knowing. She rises from the ground and holds her arms out to me.

    “Give him to me,” she says with a steely voice.

    I take Demir’s head, wrapped in cloth, and place it in her arms. “I’m so sorry.” I whisper to her. “He died trying to save baby Amon.”

    Dali nods, a slight smile on her face. “He would die for a child, wouldn’t he?” She looks at me, her bright eyes full of tears. “I don’t understand.” She says with a breathless voice. “I knew it would happen. But I don’t understand.”

    I blink as a few tears fall down my cheeks. “I don’t either.”

    I leave the cave, staring out as the smoke rises into an already dark sky. Mila sits beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. I take hold of her hand, squeezing it tight.

    “Are you ok?” I ask her.

    “I’m fine,” she whispers. “I’m better knowing you’re still here.” She rises up and looks at me. Her steely eyes slice into me and I kiss her. “Stop that,” he fusses at me.

    “I need you,” I whisper. “I can’t stand myself right now.” I fall into his lap, sobbing horribly as she rubs the back of my head.

    “You did the best you could. You did beyond that,” she whispers to me. “How could you do more? There was-” she shakes her head as she gazes out beyond the smoke. “How could we do anything at all? It was...senseless.”

    I’m fetal in his lap. My people depend on me and this has been the worst and most violent massacre to happen in the Rakshasa country for eons. Even the war wasn’t this brutal. I’ve failed as a king, I know I have.

    Mila lays herself over me. “What can I do to make you understand?”

    I cling to her like a drowning man to a rock and I sob until it feels like my lungs are about to break. I lay there with her, sitting up as the sun begins to rise. Storm clouds fill the sky and soon, rain starts falling. It clears away the smoke and washes away the blood and ash from my face and hands.

    We take everyone back to the royal court. We set up the refugees from Bastat in the palace. I let my mother handle it all, seeing to their care and needs while they’ll be staying with us. It is unknown now if Bastat can even be saved or if the oasis will return.

    One evening, I’m sitting by myself in the council room. I have barely slept since the attack on Bastat and I feel the heavy weight of the world on my shoulders. The doors open and I see Orrick walking in. He’s holding his newborn daughter in his arms. She was born the day it rained on Bastat.

    “I was walking her,” he says with a small, quiet voice. “I saw you come in here.” He walks over to me and holds the baby out. 

    I shake my head. “I don’t deserve it, Orrick.”

    “My father will be able to be buried at home because of you.” He shakes his head at me, still offering the small, squirming baby. “You couldn’t have saved him, Dhaval, that’s the whole point. You did everything as you had to.”

    I take the little girl whose bottom half looks like a tiger while her top half looks almost exactly like her father and Demir. They have the same dark skin and already she has a thick head of hair.

    “What’s her name?” I whisper as not to wake her.

    “Dera,” Orrick voice trembles. “For him.”

    Dera fidgets and hisses and I grin as I see Maitri in her expressions. I hold her close like I wish I could have Amon. 

    “I could have done more,” I whimper.

    “No.” Orrick snarls at me. “You couldn’t have.” He wipes at his eyes. “Stop blaming yourself. Stop hiding!” His voice is quiet but harsh. “What happened was unavoidable and my father knew his death was coming. Dhaval, you did everything right. You did.”

    I sniff the top of Dera’s head, taking in the wonderfully sweet and amazing scent of how new she was. I smile and for the first time in weeks the weight lifted from my shoulders.

    “We are all in pain and mourning,” Orrick says. “That’s why we need you. We need you now more than ever. You have to fight Dhaval you have to-”

    I stand and put my arms around my friend. He clings to me, sobbing into my shoulder as his daughter tugs at his hair. 

    I have a long way to go before I feel worthy of my role. Like Sanguis called me I am nothing but a little king. But he has gone and done the worst thing he could possibly do. He has left me alive and therefore, he has created his doom.

    I will not fail my people again. I will not let Sanguis continue. The next time we meet it will be his death.