Legends Of Zyconia Part 25

Terrek killed the couple that had jumped upon him and began killing the ones clinging to Streak with Diana's help. He also helped those nearby that were struggling. Everyone was fighting hard; the fear of being pulled into the murky depths of the swamp made everyone frantic. The ghouls seemed to be overwhelming them at first, but Terrek saw that if everyone banned together they would overcome them. Hemoth was a great warrior in this situation. Because of his size, the ghouls had a very hard time keeping him occupied, so he was free to knock the ghouls away from the others. A dark shadow flashed across the swamp. Terrek looked skyward to see Selate swooping in low.

"Scecrrreeeeee!" Selate's scream, although it hurt their ears, sent the ghouls scrambling back beneath the muddy water.

Terrek felt like cheering but he quickly made the group press on before they could be attacked again. Selate flew across the swamp away from them and they again heard her scream but this time from a distance. Suddenly everyone heard the splashing of footsteps from behind.

"Commander Terrek, Mother I've found you!" it was Timothy addressing Terrek and Juliana.

Terrek was about to chastise him when he noticed several ghouls gathering on a small tree behind the boy.

"Timothy watch out!" Terrek ran towards the boy.

Just as the ghouls were about to pounce on Timothy, Terrek plowed into them. Timothy quickly ran to his mother as Terrek fell into the pile of ghouls. Horrified, Hemoth and Zachary, the closest soldiers, rushed toward Terrek as his head sunk beneath the water. The others followed. Hemoth grabbed for Terrek's hand as it slipped beneath the surface. Just for a moment their fingers locked. Then, in an instant, he was jerked away.

"No!" cried Hemoth as he frantically moved his arms around below the surface grabbing at anything solid.

Zachary, John and the others followed suit and Diana dismounted Streak and quickly began to help. Some began diving below the surface but the water was too dirty to see anything. Here and there large pits of mud were discovered on the bottom. Perhaps he'd been pulled into one of them. They continued combing the waters until their arms were numb. Their search slowed.

"I don't see him," one of the soldiers called.

"We have to keep looking!" Diana screamed through her tears.

"Please," she begged.

Hemoth nodded and bent down to search, everyone else followed suit but with grim expressions. The wind howled through the swamp rattling the few trees and chilling them to the bone. Juliana held bawling Timothy tightly in her arms, a grave look on her face. She was near tears as she thought: Were the ghouls already devouring Terrek? Where was their leader now?

The soldiers looked out across the swamp. Their leader was gone; slowly, gradually they stood, waiting for orders from one of Terrek's aides. Hemoth stood nearby with Zachary and John. Diana still frantically searched the muddy water. Not far off they heard splashing noises, obviously more ghouls were moving toward their position. Juliana looked at Hemoth, surprised that they had stopped searching. Hemoth spoke in low tones with Zachary and John, he said to the other soldiers.

"It's time to move on," he ordered.

Diana looked up in disbelief, her emotions raw and unhindered.

"No! Please we have to keep looking, please," she begged as she ran toward Hemoth.

Hemoth looked sympathetically at her as he picked her up, put her over his shoulder, and stepped toward his horse.

"Put me down, we can't leave now, please, don't! Terrek!" Diana screamed.

She went hysterical, clubbing Hemoth in the back with her fists. This had little effect.

"What about Terrek? We can't just leave him here!" Juliana asked Hemoth.

Hemoth pushed Diana up onto his horse and momentarily faced Juliana.

"He's gone, we can't just stay here. More ghouls are bound to attack," he said in a low tone trying not to let Diana hear him.

Juliana turned, frustrated, and reluctantly mounted her horse with Timothy. They all took one last look as they headed away.

Suddenly a violent splash was heard nearby. Zachary jumped from his horse.

"It's Terrek," he yelled.

He swiftly sprinted through the swamp. Terrek struggled desperately to stay above water; both his hands were locked onto a nearby tree branch. Terrek was pulled under as the branch snapped, but this time Zachary grabbed firmly onto the sleeves of his tunic. Zachary turned and lifted with all his might, but instead he felt himself being pulled into the watery pit. His head also went below the surface, but Hemoth reached him, and clamped his other hand.

Hemoth, not about to lose a second chance to sase his friend, heaved skyward. With a sickening, gurgling noise Zachary was pulled above the water. Sputtering, Zachary was barely conscious. Amazingly he still held Terrek's arm. Hemoth swiftly grabbed Tcrrek's arm as one of the other soldiers carried Zachary to safety. Hemoth strained his muscles as Terrek slid up out of the mudhole. Terrek looked dead. His eyes were partially open but glazed. His pupils had rolled up into his head. A lot of his clothing had been torn away, his upper body was revealed and one leg of his pants had been torn away revealing his well-muscled leg. Large cuts and bruises covered his entire body. His face was dark and pale. His body was cold. He wasn't breathing.

TO BE CONTINUED...

TO READ FROM THE BEGINNING GO TO: LEGENDS OF ZYCONIA PART 1

TO READ THE PREVIOUS PART GO TO: LEGENDS OF ZYCONIA PART 24

TO READ THE NEXT PART GO TO: LEGENDS OF ZYCONIA PART 26