Chapter 32 - The Leap

After meandering through a few more hallways and descending a few more stairways, Pipes led Remmaline through a giant door. At this point, he released her hand, opened the door, and quietly but urgently said, “Follow me and stay close!” Remmaline, not daring to say a word, simply nodded her head and passed through the doorway. When she first saw the doorway, she was relieved at the prospect of finally getting some fresh air. But as she emerged outside, she realized that the air was anything but fresh. In fact, it was among the most putrid air that she’d ever breathed. Looking around, she realized why.

She had just entered a courtyard that was filled with black knights. These men were the smelliest beings Remma had ever seen, and that included the pigs that Skittlechip used to raise out behind the castle. The air seemed to be so thick with the odor that Remma could taste it; she gagged twice and nearly lost sight of Pipes as she did so. The knights were lining up in companies of 100. Each company had 10 rows of 10 men. The men were each covered with black chain mail armor, and each had a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. The various companies each had a commander in front of them that was shouting orders to put on their helmets and get in order. Remma could hear the soldiers grumble as they begrudgingly lined up in battle array. “I’d grumble too if I were surrounded by such gross-smelling people,” Remma thought to herself. She secretly felt bad for the poor men that had to stand right in the middle of those groups. They would have to march for hours surrounded by that horrible smell, and they could do nothing about it. And though most of them might be really bad people, some of them--like Fred--might be there just because Slumbutter captured their family and made them serve him.

As Pipes and Remmaline walked through the courtyard, Remma gradually heard some men uttering loud cries and moans off to the side. Pipes evidently also heard the sound, because he veered off to the right to see what was going on. Through the dim light, Remma could see three men leaning against the castle wall. Their shirts were off, and their hands were tied to some iron rings that were fixed to the wall. A fourth man was standing behind them and beating them, one by one, with a rod. As he beat them, the man declared, “You miserable wretches, this will teach you to scorn the command to go to battle!”

Pipes held Remmaline back with his right hand, then he approached the man that was administering the beating. “What seems to be the problem?” he inquired.

“Who are you?” the man replied with a sneer on his face and with contempt dripping from his voice.

“I am Pipes, the second in command of this expedition,” Pipes replied calmly. “Now I suggest that, unless you want to join these three men, you answer my question straightway.”

The man seemed unimpressed. “Well I don’t care who you are,” he replied. “My name is Thudrucker, and I have one job--to make sure that the men are prepared for battle. I report to none by Lord Slumbutter himself, so I could care less how high and mighty you think you are. As for these three louts--they had the audacity to come down and say that that armor had been stolen. Well, a man without armor isn’t “fit for battle, and we’ve got no use for ‘em. So I’m going to beat them as an example to the others, and I’m going to throw them in the dungeon till our army returns from its victorious conquest.” Then, raising his rod in the air as he raised his voice, Thudrucker continued, “And if you’ve got a problem with that, then maybe you need to get a taste of my rod up the side of your ugly bald head!”

No sooner had Thudrucker finished his sentence then Pipes darted down, grabbed the man by his ankles, then stood up. He then began to swing Thudrucker around in circles, shaking him vigorously as he did so. The rod soon fell out of his hand, and his armor and cloak soon slid off his body as well. In a few moments, Thudrucker was as barechested as his victims that remained against the wall. Then Pipes released him and sent him flying about 50 feet in the air. He landed alongside a nearby company of black knights, who had a hearty laugh at his expense.

Pipes then walked over to where he lay on the ground, picked him up by the throat, and held him high in the air. As Thudrucker shook, Pipes thundered, “It looks like you too have lost your armor! I’ll give you a choice, you insolent fool. You can release these men, or you can join these men! What will it be?”

In a barely audible voice, Thudrucker croaked, “I’ll let ‘em go. Just please put me down.”

Pipes released Thudrucker’s throat, and he crumpled to the ground. Pipes motioned to Remma and they began walking again. As he walked, Pipes turned and bellowed, “If I see one more scratch on those men when I return, I will track you down and break every bone in your body!” Remma saw genuine anger in his face. She still didn’t undertand all that was going on, but she knew that Pipes was not a man to be trifled with. If he asked her to do something, she would do it. She sure didn’t want to end up like Thudrucker.

Eventually, Pipes and Remmaline passed through a sallyport and walked over the bridge that traversed the castle’s moat. The field beyond the moat was filled with men on horseback. Pipes barked out to no one in particular, “Where is Lord Dor-ko?” One man on horseback, who evidently recognized his voice, replied, “He’s up front, Pipes. Tell him we need to get moving. The men are restless--if we don’t get going and start fighting the enemy, these boneheads will just start fighting each other.”

“Thank you,” Pipes replied. He picked up the pace as he continued moving forward. Though he was merely walking, Remmaline had to run just to keep up. Pipes no long spoke to Remma; he simply turned around from time to time to make sure that she was still with him. The kindly look that Remma had initially seen on his face back at the castle had disappeared. It had been replaced by a look of tight-lipped determination. Remmaline could only wonder what that meant.

Finally Pipes and Remma came to the head of the column of cavalry. As they did so, Pipes was surprised to hear a whinnying sound, followed by the sight of Dor-ko flying through the air. Dor-ko and his armor crashed to the ground with a loud thud. A great white horse towered over him, standing on his hind legs and pawing the air with his forelegs. Dor-ko quickly rose to his feet. Cursing with all his might, he grabbed a whip that lay nearby and started beating the horse. “You thrice-accursed beast! You most detestable of all creatures! I shall teach you to defy me!”

Remmaline was shocked at the sight. She loved animals, and she started to run forward to try and protect the poor horse. But without even casting a glance her way, Pipes reached down and held her in check. “Don’t move a muscle,” he whispered. Pipes then walked up to Dor-ko and asked, “Where, might I ask, did this animal come from?”

Dor-ko straightened out his armor and tried to resume a pose of dignity. He then replied, “It is the wretched horse named Spartacus, which that dolt named Philip brought to us. This is the only beast alive that knows how to navigate through the Great Swamp of Cliffton.” Then, his rage returning, Dor-ko bellowed, “How dare he defy the authority of Lord Dor-ko?” And he resumed whipping the horse. Spartacus reared up and recoiled from the beating.

Remmaline couldn’t stand it any more. Seeing that Pipes’ back was turned, she ran forward to Dor-ko and kicked him in the shins. “Leave him alone!” she cried. “If he threw you off, it’s just because you deserved it, you meanie!”

Dor-ko stopped whipping the horse and turned to Pipes. “Who is this miserable little whelp?” he asked.

“That is the rebel king’s daughter, Lord Dor-ko,” Pipes replied. “As you know, my lord, we are bringing her as insurance that the rebels will not resist our relentless assault.”

Dor-ko turned back toward Remma and stooped down to stare at her. Remma saw a cruel smile come over his scarred face with a crooked jaw. “Oh, yes, of course,” he said slowly. Then, without warning, he grabbed Remmaline and thew her in the air toward Spartacus. “Why don’t you take the horse?” he yelled as Remma flew through the air.

Remmaline was sure that she was about to die. She was hurtling right toward the horse, who continued to rear back and snort. She just knew that she would land on the horse, and that the horse would send her flying through the air again, and that should would be flipped upside-down and land on her head and break her neck. But instinctively she reached out for the horse and grabbed it by its neck. But then something very curious happened. The horse bent its knees, settled gently to the ground, and stopped moving. Remma slid herself onto the horse’s back and took a deep breath. For the moment, she was still alive.

Dor-ko just stared at the horse, completely dumbfounded. His crooked jaw hung open, but no words escaped. Pipes broke the silence by saying, “Lord Dor-ko, I see that my horse, Mudpuddle, has been brought forward. Why don’t you ride him, while I take Spartacus? The horse seems to have taken to the girl, and he should now ride with no trouble to our destination. It shan’t be long before we are at the gates of Cliffton.”

Dor-ko didn’t reply with words. He simply spit, grunted, and strode over to Mudpuddle, a sinewy brown horse that stood just a hand or two shorter than Spartacus. Leaping up on the horse, he turned and yelled, “Sound the horn! We’re moving forward!” A bugler who stood nearby mounted his horse and blew his horn. Pipes vaulted atop Spartacus and placed Remmaline behind him. “Hold on tight and listen,” he whispered. Pipes led the horse over to the left of Dor-ko. Soon the march began, with the cavalry leading and the foot soldiers following. The Grand Army of the Black Knights was on the move, with Dor-ko and Pipes riding at its head. They sound of the march was muted as the horses and soldiers trod on the fresh dirt road that had been methodically carved through the dense forest. The assault on Cliffton had just begun.

After about 15 minutes of marching, Dor-ko turned to Pipes and said, “Is that the smell of smoke that inflames my nostrils?”

Pipes said, “It could be, Lord Dor-ko. Shall we move forward and inspect?”

Dor-ko nodded. He turned behind him and motioned to one of the men behind him. “Hey Diphthong!” he yelled. “We’re moving forward! Keep ‘em marching and in order--we’ll be back shortly.” Then Dor-ko and Pipes urged their horses forward, and they galloped quickly down the road. Within minutes, they were beyond the sight of the advancing army.

After the horses had crested a hill and turned a corner, they came to an abrupt halt. One hundred yards in front of them was a raging fire. Some large trees had been cut down across the road, and they were all ablaze. Flames leapt 20 feet into the air, and smoked billowed up to the sky. Dor-ko was stunned. “What is this?” he asked. Then, with rage rising in his voice, he asked again, “What is this? Who dares defy the advance of our armies?”

Remma then watched as she saw Pipes pull his horse alongside Dorko’s. Quickly grabbing his spear, Pipes thundered at the top of his lungs, “We do!” He then thrust the butt end of his spear into Dor-ko’s gut and knocked him from the horse. He swiftly vaulted himself astride Mudpuddle, leaving Remma atop Spartacus. “Ride toward the flames!” he bellowed. “Now!”

Remma didn’t dare look back. She spurred Spartacus onward, and soon she found herself moving faster than she’d ever moved before. She thought she noticed a couple of arrows flying through the air, but she hardly could worry about them when she was facing a wall of flames. The fire came closer, and Remma was heading straight at it. When she was a mere 10 feet away, she heard Pipes’ voice behind her yell, “Leap!”

Remma then felt herself fly through the air, still planted firmly atop Spartacus. She ducked and closed her eyes as she passed through the raging flames. For the second time in the last hour, she felt sure she was about to die. But while her mind raced, her horse landed on the other side of the log barrier. She quickly collected her wits and looked to her left. Pipes and Mudpuddle were beside her. They had both made the leap, and they had both survived.

But soon she gave up all hope again. For when she looked up, she saw three men clad in black armor only about 50 feet away. They were sitting atop their horses. Two had spears aimed at them, while the one in the middle had an arrow notched and drawn. Their escape, Remmaline could see, was over.