Page 31 of Valka

Valka saw it as it happened and struck a kill blow at one of his opponents’ heads, and an abdomen slice to the other, sending him to his knees and then face first into the sand. Valka, in a blood-fueled haze, threw his head back and let out a shrill high-pitched trill as excitement raced through his veins. He began to hack away at Raska’s males as they all rushed forward in an attempt to overrun Valka and his males.

“I can’t get through the helmet!” Elkva yelled, trying to fight off an opponent by battering at the helmet he wore.

Valka swung his axe once more slicing into the hip of the closest male to him, then he let the momentum of the axe turn him in a circle so that he ended up facing Elkva and his opponent. He lifted his axe in an arc in the air, circled it above his own head to add more force to the blow, and just barely held onto it as it connected with the male Elkva fought. The male’s body, stood as though suspended in time as his head literally left his body and flew ten feet behind him before it rolled to a stop five feet later. “Remove head!” Valka snarled. “Aggggghhhhhhhhh!” he bellowed in his glory, and jumped back into the melee. He noticed a new wave of males approaching from behind Raska and those who were still fighting beside him and aimed his axe at them. “More come die! It is good day! Ahhahahahahahah!”

Oscal and Toska dealt those they were fighting death blows and charged through the crowd to intercept the new males coming to fight. But an interesting thing happened. The newly approaching males, outfitted with armor and weapons, greeted Oscal and Toska, making it clear they weren’t there to attack. “We are here to support Valka!” the first of them declared. Even more stepped up behind them, showing a solidarity with the one male who’d never fit in with them, who’d never been oneof them, but had always been the strongest of them all. “We are here to support Valka!” they began chanting in unison. “We stand with Valka!”

Katva, still fighting beside Valka, slashed his cleaver at the male he battled, planning to slice his mid section open, but the male blocked the blow, then dropped his weapon, raising his hands in the air, begging for mercy as he went to his knees.

Raska made the mistake of looking at the male in disbelief, giving Valka the chance to shatter his shoulder with his axe. Had it not been for the armor Raska wore, his entire arm would have been severed. He held his injured arm close to his gut, valiantly fighting with one arm, while Valka simply toyed with him.

It didn’t take long for Valka to get bored and begin slicing at Raska indiscriminately.

At first Raska tried to fight, but ended up on the ground, begging for mercy as he bled from multiple wounds.

Valka stood over him, his axe in hand. “You go.”

“I am Chieftain here! You can’t banish me!”

Valka glanced up, every male in the village whether they supported Valka or Raska was there, watching, waiting for his decision. He could easily kill Raska. Or he could win the loyalty of all, proving that he was a fair male and a much better leader than Raska ever was. And by so doing, he’d provide a safe home for Delia. “Valka village. Leave Valka village,” Valka said.

“It’s not your village! You don’t belong here! You have never belonged here! You leave!” Raska demanded.

“Valka village now.”

“Go back where you came from!” Raska spat.

“Valka, you lead us,” Katva said.

“I’ll follow Valka,” Oscal added.

“As will I,” Toska said.

“I already follow Valka,” Elkva announced.

“We follow Valka!” multiple voices cried out.

Valka shrugged and lifted his battle-axe in the air again. “Valka village.”

Most of those gathered cheered. The survivors who’d fought with Raska openly defied Valka. “We recognize only one of our own as Chieftain. You have no rights here,” one of them said.

“Do you hear? You are not one of us! I refuse to give my people to you!” Raska shouted.

“Die or go,” Valka demanded, leaving the choice to Raska.

“No! You killed my brother!” Raska screamed angrily, thinking he had a chance to argue his position because a handful of males still vocally supported him.

“Skala hurt mine!” Valka bellowed.

“It’s no excuse to kill him!”

“Go. Take cowards,” Valka said, gesturing toward those few who’d fought with Raska and were still alive.

“I will not give you my village!” Raska said defiantly.

Valka looked down at the male angrily, his patience wearing thin.

“Valka! She’s waking up!” Louise shouted from the edge of Valka’s cliff.