Heroes of the Fallen Read online

There was no longer any reply.

  “If I am blind how will I see?” he whispered to himself.

  Though initially it had been dark as pitch, it gradually changed from black to dark purple to blue to a deep blue gray. No, it was smoke billowing out of the ether, far beyond anything the smoldering parchments could have produced. It came from the walls and the floors surrounding him.

  Out of the irrepressible darkness, a figure came, a great, green-scaled serpent. It slithered up before him, and Aaron saw no boundaries of any kind, not even the earth beneath him. He heard a great rushing of waters and the serpent grew until it was the size of the mightiest tree in the forest. It was as tall as his father’s pyramid.

  It spoke to him, “Behold, Son of the Prophecy. Wrath is coming to the world of men. In storm and tempest he comes, he rebukes the sea and dries it up. Mountains shake before him, rivers move before him, who can survive him?”

  “Who are you speaking of, oh great vision-serpent?” asked Aaron.

  The head of the serpent drew back, and the mouth of the serpent retched open and a man stood within it.

  “It speaks of you, of you, of you,” said the man. He was dark of skin and complexion but had cold light eyes. He wore a turban, and he wore the skins of animals’ unknown to Aaron. Strong he was, with a savage manner for one who stood so still. His short beard was trimmed, he had an arrogant imperious face and yet he gazed proudly on the boy.

  “Who am I, to bring wrath to the world, and who are you to tell me such things?” said Aaron.

  “I am your forefather of old. I am Laman, Father of all the Lamanite peoples. You are my greatest son, for you will destroy the seed of my hated brothers, the Nephites. You will wipe all trace of them from the face of the earth until it will be as though they never existed. You are my wrath, my revenge!”

  “How can you be here? You died centuries ago!”

  “A son of perdition never dies, we wait for the unmaking and will thwart it if we can.” With that, the serpent closed its jaws over the man and seemed to swallow him.

  “Oh, mighty serpent, is the man your servant, or are you his?” asked Aaron.

  The green vision-serpent looked sly at him and hissed, “Perhaps thou art the same as he, not my servant but slave he be.” It slithered backward and disappeared, the mist vanishing with it.

  The disappearance sucked the air from Aaron’s lungs, and he collapsed in a writhing, euphoric heap. His weakened body ached, but it didn’t matter—he knew for himself now, he was the one, the son of bloody prophecy, the fulfillment of dreams and revenge.

  Pale Stranger

  Zelph felt strong and vigorous. He had traveled far over rough terrain with thick forests and wide rivers, but no fatigue was upon him. He had met and talked with the Son of the Great Spirit. When he looked at his own hand, he saw the paleness, almost a glow, to his skin. It was no dream.

  He kept a good pace and hoped to outdistance the army of Almek by several days. Almek’s invading army was cautious for fear of being spotted, but he had no such worry. He was on a divine mission and the Great Spirit blessed him.

  This land of the Nephites was indeed beautiful, he loved the numerous lakes and rivers. He saw many farms with men working them, but they paid him little heed. They all have their own work to do, what matters a tall stranger, and from afar I probably appear to be one of them, he thought.

  These lands also contained many caves. Near the entrance of one he faintly saw the Gadiantons’ mark on its stone face. Had he not so recently been with the Gadiantons and learned their ways, it would have seemed only a curious weathering on the rock. Knowing they might be nearby, he kept an eye open for trouble.

  On the fifth day of his desertion, he awoke and crawled out of the brush wickiup he had made for himself. Drinking from a cool stream, he ate some of the amaranth and honey the disciple had given him and finished the last piece of salted meat brought from camp. Walking down a narrow gully, he smelled something amiss. He stopped.

  The birds had stopped singing and all was deathly still. He dropped low and got his back up against a thick tree. Waiting another minute, an impatient voice called out, “Come on out of there, big fella. We want your valuables, not ya life, and we will be on our way with a thank ya very much, so come on outta there.”

  Zelph gave no reply. He realized they were speaking Nephite and he had no problem understanding them.

  “I have ten excellent archers ready to shoot ya down if ya try to run away. Ya best come out now. It’s your valuables, and we will be on our way. Don’t make me angry.”

  A new voice, firm and humorless, called out from across the gully. “Ah, but what if I want your life, robber?”

  Peering out cautiously from behind his tree, Zelph could see a lean, dark haired Nephite with a short, trim beard prodding a robber with his sword. Other men, dirty and unkempt, were pushed out of the woods at the hands of a band of organized warriors.

  “Come on out, we have these rascals,” called out the dark-haired man who seemed to oversee the warriors.

  When the lead robber tried to scramble up and away, the dark-haired man kicked him back to the ground. The lead robber looked about fearful, his long greasy hair hanging out of his odd red cap.

  The leader of the Nephite band knocked the red cap off his head and trampled it underfoot.

  “I have rights under the judge’s law,” said the robber, trying to grab his cap.

  The captain stepped on his hand. “When you became a robber to prey upon good folk and innocent people, you gave up the right to flaunt your liberty that spits upon ours.”

  Zelph did not quite understand all of this, but he had a good feeling about the captain. He came out toward him.

  “My sword, you are a big fellow. My name is Tobron, captain of these ten. It seems we have come upon these robbers just in time. They meant to rob and murder you,” said Tobron, looking intently at Zelph. “What is your story and why are you in this forsaken place?”

  “My name is Zelph, son of Qof-Ayin, great grandson of Samuel the Lamanite. Perhaps you have heard of him? I understand he visited these parts a long time ago.”

  Some of the Nephites snickered. “We have a comedian,” said one of them.

  “You are no Lamanite,” said another. “Look at his skin.”

  Tobron stared Zelph up and down. “Yea, he is a Lamanite, though the palest one I have ever seen, and with ice blue eyes.”

  Zelph had not looked at his own eyes. It had not occurred to him that they could have changed as well. All his life he had been dark of hair, skin, and eye.

  The scouts of Tobron milled about him now to peer closer. Even the robbers being held in place on the ground with a foot or spear craned their necks upward to look at him.

  “What are you doing here, Zelph? It’s a long way to Jershon where your people dwell in Nephite lands,” said Tobron, referring to the pacifist Lamanites who had been given a holding of lands in exchange for renouncing war.

  “I seek to go there, but do not know the way,” answered Zelph.

  “How can you not know the way home? Are you that lost?”

  “I have never been there.”

  “Then where are you from?” said Captain Tobron warily.

  “Far to the south, from the city of Mutula, ruled over by King Xoltec. I need to speak with the prophet Onandagus in Zarahemla as soon as possible. Can you help me?” asked Zelph, extending his broad hand.

  “Yes, yes, I can,” said Tobron, as he shook hands with Zelph. “But you need to speak with me as well. After all, that’s why my men and I are out here.”

  “You are seeking me?” asked Zelph.

  “Not you so much as your brothers and the Gadianton dogs who lead them.”

  “What of these here you have already captured?”

  “These scum are wanderers who I have tracked for the last few days almost as much by smell as their trace,” said Tobron. “The dangerous ones blend in much better, only scum like this waylay people out in the
wilds.”

  “Please sir, ya are mistaken,” spoke the lead robber. “We meant no harm, we were simply starving and thought, hey, that looks like a big well-fed man. Perhaps he has a little something to eat on him. We weren’t going to hurt him.” The robber chief grinned through yellowed teeth.

  Tobron scowled at him and put his sword to his throat, making him wince before removing the blade.

  “What is the meaning of their red caps?” asked Zelph.

  “Their Phrygian cap is a symbol of their supposed freedom from under the judge’s law. Some judges will not prosecute men who wear them, others will. For me, it is a good indication of who is a Gadianton, or at least a king man. Chief Judge Onandagus has outlawed the wearing of the red hats during public demonstrations because they are used as a badge among rioters, a way of identifying among themselves who not to stone.”

  Zelph was curious now, realizing that things in the Nephite land would not be as simple as he initially expected.

  Motioning for him to follow, Tobron led Zelph along with his men over a hill and into a gully where the group had left their horses. “Why are you out here by yourself then, Zelph?” asked Tobron. “You are part of an invading Lamanite army, are you not?”

  “I was, but I have left them behind and now seek Onandagus.”

  “Why should I trust you? You might be a scout or a spy.”

  “Or worse, an assassin,” added one of Tobron’s men.

  “I am not a spy or assassin. I left to escape my fate as a bodyguard to the king. I was with the army that is coming, true, but I could not be a part of it. They are being led to ruin by the Gadiantons. It is not right to have such a war for conquest and bloodthirsty ways.”

  “How many are in this force?”

  “Over fifty thousand, mostly marchers but some chariots, a train of supply wagons, and a small cavalry.”

  Tobron stopped and his lips moved inaudibly as he counted.

  “Do you disbelieve me?” asked Zelph.

  “I believe you. This is precisely the reason we are out here, to find the army as it approaches and slow it if we can. How far behind are they?”

  “Not more than a day or two. But they are not coming this way... they are routing northwest to go around the Narrow Pass, up alongside the wilderness of Hermounts and then come straight across to Zarahemla. As the prince’s bodyguard I overheard a fair amount of military planning, and I was a captain in the king’s army.”

  Tobron thought for a moment. “Stand up,” he commanded the lead robber, who was holding his red cap in his hands like a beggar.

  “Well, it seems ya are very busy with such important news for the judges, we will just be on our way, and thank ya, we have learned our lessons,” said the red-capped robber attempting to walk away. “My thanks, good captain.” He bowed and turned to go.

  “Hold it,” Tobron commanded.

  The robber chief stopped and turned. “What? We said we was sorry.”

  Tobron went to him and hit him full in the face. “You insult me. Do you take me for a fool? I know your kind, Gadianton, you will hang when the chief judge hears your case.”

  “Hang?” gulped the youngest robber, looking to the next red-capped man. “But you said the brotherhood would protect us.”

  “Shut your mouth, Noah!” snapped the third robber.

  “Oh yes, you will all hang for your crimes, for besieging travelers and murdering innocent people in cold blood,” said Tobron, directing his words to the youngest one.

  “Never!” cried the red cap. “He is bluffing. We will be released, just stay true to the oaths that the Gadianton Grand Master gave us.”

  “Stay true to the oath, and you will perish,” said Tobron.

  The younger robber, Noah, continued to sob. Zelph judged him to be a couple years younger than himself, a boy of fifteen, already initiated into this dirty band of robbers.

  “Look at where you are,” said Tobron to the boy, holding the red cap out before him. “This holds a bloody bitter future for you.”

  “I will talk,” stammered the boy.

  Pulling him aside from the others, Tobron asked, “What do you know?”

  “Your oath!” shouted the red cap to the boy. “Your throat will be slit ear to ear, your entrails slung over your left shoulder.”

  “Silence that man,” commanded Tobron.

  One of the soldiers hit the robber chief over the head and tied him up, another gagged him with his own cap.

  Another robber shouted, “Noah, don’t tell them anything. You know what awaits you if you talk. It is far worse than anything some holier-than-thou judge can do to you.”

  Coming at him, a warrior scout hit him so hard, teeth flew from his mouth. “Murderers, you are the cancer of our society. Worms in carrion!” He spit at the fallen robber.

  The robber knelt on the ground, bleeding and weeping, as the other scouts bound and gagged him. Zelph stood by silent and immobile.

  Tobron said to him, “I am sorry, my friend, our tempers can get away from us, but these have been hard times for all of us on account of these robbers. My own father was murdered by them.”

  “I lost my father as well,” said Zelph. “They are no friends of mine. The Gadiantons infest the lands to the south like vermin and they have subverted our peace, our way of life.”

  The captain nodded. “So we both know of their evil all too well.” He turned back to the boy robber. “Talk to me, you do not have to hang like these two if you help us.”

  “What will happen to me?”

  “That is for the judge to decide,” Tobron looked at him and gestured ‘so out with it’.

  “I do not know where to begin,” said the boy.

  “Why did you join them?” asked Tobron.

  “That one is my brother, Muloki, he said that if we did not raid and take what we wanted we were not living. To work and farm is for the weak and stupid, he said.”

  “Do I look weak to you?” asked Tobron.

  The boy ignored the question. “He said who are we to toil and work by the sweat of our brow when the world is ours for the taking. I myself have only been with them a month or so. I am an apprentice. I have never killed anyone, I swear, I shot my arrows over people’s heads. They are the ones who murdered. Aha and Muloki are the real killers, not I. They have slain a dozen men since I joined them.”

  The two gagged robbers silently screamed underneath their gags.

  Tobron continued, “What do you know of a Gadianton raiding party with many Lamanites?”

  “Only a little. Aha said we need not bother helping them. There was more profit to be had in raiding across the countryside while the war is going on near Zarahemla. It’s Akish-Antum and the city robbers, that’s all I know of it.”

  “Very well, bind him and take them to Manti,” commanded Tobron.

  “Please sir, there is one more thing.”

  “What is it?”

  “Do not send me before just any judge. Deliver me to Chief Judge Onandagus.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because many of the judges are Gadiantons, and they will surely slay me for breaking my oath. Only Onandagus do I know for certain is not one of them, for they are always complaining of him. They hate him. With him, I know he would judge me for my crimes and naught else.”

  “What about these two? What would you have me do with your two compatriots?” asked Tobron.

  “Allow them to be judged by any other judge, they will not be condemned for they have broken no oath,” explained Noah, seeming more confident.

  “Why not have all three of you together before Onandagus?”

  The boy stiffened and hesitated an odd moment. “Because they would lie to slight me, as I have broken my oath.”

  “I think I will spare him your lies. You all will go to Manti to stand before Judge Alma.” Tobron turned to one of his men and said, “We must return to Onandagus to report on these events. The white Lamanite and I will ride with all possible speed back to Z
arahemla. Omnias, you are in charge. Be sure to get these Gadianton dogs to Judge Alma. Farewell, brothers.”

  Tobron and Zelph mounted horses and began the long ride to Zarahemla. They kept a good pace through thick emerald forests and by deep green rivers, reaching the city of Manti by dusk. Zelph was taken by the beauty of the countryside surrounding Manti. He liked the gray stuccoed walls of the city, until he realized that the walls were a necessity because of the aggression of his own people. He felt ashamed.

  Tobron interrupted his thoughts. “We will get some food here and trade horses. These are in dire need of rest. I have more from my own stables. We should be in Gideon by this time tomorrow. We will also get a good meal from my wife.”

  At his home, Tobron explained to his wife that he must return quickly to Zarahemla with urgent news. Soon enough, they had fresh horses waiting for them. His wife made a meal of corn, buffalo steak, and beans. She rolled it all up in tortillas and made extra for them to take with them. Outside, Tobron held and kissed her for a long moment before mounting his horse. He leaned down and kissed her again. She held his face for some time, tears running down her cheeks silent as frozen rivers.

  “I love you. Stay close to Uncle Joshua and your father,” he said as he wheeled his horse around. He did not look back as he rode away. They rode swiftly out the east gate toward Zarahemla, keeping on the well-traveled road until well after dark.

  “We had best let the horses rest and graze for now,” said Tobron. “We should catch a little rest ourselves.”

  “Should we keep a watch?” asked Zelph.

  “We will be alright. My horses will keep a good eye out for us. I have trained them since they were colts.”

  Zelph had never heard of anyone training a horse like that before, but he believed Tobron. He felt a kinship with this man who was a friend of the one he sought, Onandagus. “Where did you get such a fire to fight Gadiantons?” he asked Tobron, as they took their bedrolls off their saddlebags. “I sense it was not just your father’s murder.”

  “I am their enemy because they are an enemy to my people and my God. They delight in the shedding of blood, thinking they possess some great secret when they are only maggots in carrion. They feed off the misery they themselves induce. Nephite society is crumbling, and many do nothing. It makes me wish to fight all the harder for my children’s sake.”