Under Distant Skies

by Andrew Albritton

“This has to be it,” Ambrose said, taking a bite of beans in the firelight. “Tomorrow, we’ll find the treasure.”

“I hope you’re right,” Garrison said. “Otherwise, we’re going to have to find jobs.”

Ambrose laughed. “We can’t have that.”

Ambrose and Garrison were camped at the top of a shallow canyon, surrounded by dark hills and mesas. There was no moon, and the galaxy shone brightly overhead.

After unceremoniously dispatching their dinner of beans and cornbread, the friends lay down for the night.

“That’s where they say the treasure came from,” Ambrose said, gesturing upward. “The stars.”

“Let me sleep,” muttered Garrison.

“The legend goes like this,” replied Ambrose.

“You’ve told me the legend,” Garrison said.

“Yeah, but you didn’t listen, pard. It’s quite a tale. It’s worth knowing.”

Garrison turned over on his side. He rolled onto the other side. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the stars. “Okay,” he sighed. “I’ll listen.”

Ambrose cleared his throat with panache. “The natives tell that a lost tribe of this region was visited many ages ago by people from the stars. The star people brought great treasure. And the greatest gift of all.”

“Cash?” Garrison interjected, mildly amused with himself.

“Knowledge. Knowledge, Garrison. But, dummies that we are, we aren’t interested in that, are we? No, we’re interested the treasure.”

The friends looked up at the sky for a while, wondering if the legend were true. Wondering if there were people out there.

Ambrose continued, “The tribe became friends with the star people, and one day, they all disappeared.” Ambrose snapped his fingers. “Gone. The other tribes never knew what happened to them. But there were legends. According to one of the legends, the tribe went to live with the star people. According to another of the legends–and this is the one that concerns us–they left some of their treasures behind. In a cave. In a canyon, just like this one. And the cave is marked with the sign of the star people.”

“A sign, huh? A star, I’m guessing?”

“You’d think. But no. It’s a wing.”

“Okay. So tomorrow, we look for a wing mark outside a cave.”

“Yep. And then, well, then we can stop roustin’ about, and we can settle down. Maybe start a couple of families.”

They both grinned up at the stars, dreaming of a better life. Maybe things were about to turn around. They had both served with distinction as cavalrymen in the War Between the States, but since then, they had been less distinguished. They had travelled the west, taking jobs here and there, but never staying long in one place. After the war, they were unmoored and unsure.

But maybe there was a treasure in the canyon. And maybe things would be better tomorrow. They fell asleep hoping for the best–and unaware that they were being stalked by unseen nemeses.

Ambrose and Garrison arose at dawn. They ate a hasty breakfast of biscuit, buckled on their sabers, and mounted their horses. Just as they started into the canyon, the morning wind bore a faint sound to their ears: the snorting of a horse. Garrison swiveled his head to look at a nearby hillock.

“I heard it, too,” Ambrose said darkly.

They turned their horses and rode rapidly to the little hill from which the sound had come. Ambrose had been discreet as he gathered information about the treasure, but both he and Garrison knew that word of a treasure hunt tended to get out. And sometimes, when word got out, outlaws took interest. The cavalrymen rounded the hillock and saw, about a hundred yards away, ten men on horseback.

“Mornin’!” shouted Ambrose. “Somethin’ we can help you fellas with?!”

One of the men shouted back. “You already did! Looks like you found your canyon! Now why don’t you just head on back home and let us take care of finding the treasure?!”

“Not a chance! My associate and I would advise you to move along! We don’t want a fight!”

A couple of the members of the gang laughed. “Don’t like the odds?!” shouted one.

“For you!” hollered Ambrose.

The gang started to draw their guns, but before they could get them out of their holsters, Ambrose and Garrison were bearing down upon them, firing their revolvers. The outlaws returned fire, but their marksmanship skills were nothing compared with those of Ambrose and Garrison. Four outlaws fell, fatally pierced by bullets, and then Ambrose and Garrison were in the midst of the remaining desperados, their sabers glinting in the morning sun. The outlaws were reluctant to shoot for fear of harming their confederates, and they soon fell under the hacking and stabbing blades of the cavalrymen. In minutes, the skirmish was over, and the blood of the outlaws stained the desert dust.

“You alright?” Ambrose asked Garrison.

“Bullet grazed the top of my shoulder. I’m fine. You?”

“I think so. Slight bullet wound in the side. And one of them cracked me in the head with the butt of his pistol. But I’m alright.”

The friends took from the dead outlaws what supplies they could carry and made their way into the canyon. After a few hours, they found the mark for which they were searching: a feathered wing, graven deeply into the wall of the canyon. Just under the wing, there was a large rock. With not a word said, the men hopped off their horses and set to work moving the rock. It was terribly heavy, but with much grunting, and some profanity, the cavalrymen succeeded in rolling it to the side. Behind it, there was a low cave mouth that was just large enough to crawl into.

Ambrose and Garrison, out of breath, stood up and looked at the cave mouth. “This may be it,” Ambrose said.

Garrison nodded. He crouched down at the cave’s mouth and snapped his fingers a couple of times. No rattles sounded in response. No rattlesnakes. He wriggled into the cave. After crawling for several fathoms, he found himself in a small chamber. Sunlight speared into the cave from fissures overhead. Along the cave’s side walls there were animal-skin bags.

Carved into the far wall was an ornate doorframe. There was no door within the frame, only the rough rock wall. Garrison walked over to the frame and examined it. It was covered in an intricate and beautiful design of orbs and elliptical lines. He reached his hand toward the rock in the midst of the doorframe. He paused before touching it and frowned. He shook himself and took a deep breath. He touched the rock.

Nothing happened.

Garrison heard a gasp behind him. He turned. Ambrose was in the cave. He had opened one of the bags and was looking into it with unbelieving eyes. He put his hand into the bag and withdrew a glittering assortment of jewels. Garrison walked over to his friend, who let the jewels flow through his fingers back into the bag. Ambrose looked up from the treasure, his mouth open.

“Rare,” Garrison said.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I was talking about you at a loss for words,” Garrison said. He looked down into the bag. “And yes, the jewels, too.”

The cavalrymen smiled. They started opening the other bags. They were all full of jewels. “Yeeee-haaaww!” cried Ambrose.

Garrison nodded. “I agree. Let’s load up.”

Ambrose picked up a bag. “What was that you were looking at over there?”

Garrison shrugged. “Some carving of some kind. Looks like a doorframe.”

“Huh.” Ambrose set down his bag and approached the frame. “You suppose there’s any more treasure behind it?”

“Could be. There doesn’t appear to be an actual doorway though.”

“Strange.” Ambrose reached out and touched the rock within the doorframe. Nothing happened. He pushed against the wall with both hands and all of his weight. It didn’t budge. “Rock solid.”

Garrison walked up and stood beside Ambrose. He peered at one of the orbs in the doorframe’s design. The groove around it appeared to be deeper than the grooves around the other orbs. Garrison pushed the orb, and it rumbled downward about an inch. Then it began to glow yellow.

“Well I’ll be,” murmured Ambrose. “That’s one of the weirdest things I’ve seen.” The rock within the doorframe suddenly dissolved.

Both Ambrose and Garrison stepped back, eyes wide. They peered through the doorframe.

A darkened cavern lay beyond. Soft blue light shone through fissures in the dark cavern’s roof: it seemed like moonlight. It was as if, on the other side of the door, night had fallen.

“And that is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Ambrose declared.

“Agreed,” Garrison said.

They stared into the darkened cavern for some time. “We have to investigate,” Ambrose said.

Garrison grunted.

The cavalrymen stepped through the doorway.

“Cooler here,” Ambrose said. “That’s a pleasant change.”

“Yes indeed,” Garrison replied. “And something…something else is different.”

“I feel it too. It’s nice. It’s as if I’m…”

“Lighter.”

“Yes. Lighter. Exactly.”

The cavern’s cool air and the sensation of lightness were powerfully invigorating. The cavalrymen turned and examined the other side of the door. It was not adorned with any decorations at all. Ambrose saw a little outcropping of rock that was in the same place as the button on the other side of the door. He pressed the outcropping and the opening became rock again. Ambrose pressed the rock again and the door reopened. He closed the door and turned back to Garrison. They walked through the cavern. Turning a corner, they saw the opening of the cavern in the distance. Through the opening, they saw a star-strewn sky.

“How is this possible?” said Ambrose.

The cavalrymen walked out of the cave and into the night. Their eyes were drawn upward immediately by three great lights in the night sky. One was a yellowish planet that was encircled by spectacular concentric rings. The other two were bluish moons.

Realization struck both men. “We’re in the stars,” Ambrose said.

“The star people must’ve made that door,” Garrison said. “We’re in their world.”

“Right. Hm. Remember a minute ago, when I said that back there was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen? Now it’s this.” He smiled. “But I don’t dislike it.”

Garrison nodded. “Agreed.”

After looking at the planet and moons in the sky for a while, the men turned their attention to their immediate surroundings. They were standing on a rocky ridge. Below them was a valley, and in the midst of the valley there was a stone city. Great statues lay fallen in the plain and around the city’s crumbling walls.

They heard a strange shriek above them: it sounded like a mingling of an eagle’s cry and a lion’s roar. They looked up and saw a massive winged beast hurtling toward them. They instinctively drew their pistols, but their curiosity and intrinsic fearlessness kept them from fleeing back to the cave and the portal to Earth.

The beast landed on the ledge. It was a beautiful, dark-feathered creature with an avian head and a muscled, four-legged torso. It had a long tail of feathers that swished behind it, and two enormous wings. On its back, it carried a rider. A rider with a spear in her hand.

The rider looked like a gorgeous woman with white hair and blue skin. Elegant white lines were painted under her cheekbones and down her bare arms and legs. Her tunic and skirt were made of dark leather. She raised her spear threateningly and barked some words in an alien tongue.

Out of the corner of his mouth, Ambrose said, “Don’t suppose she speaks English, do you?”

Garrison grunted.

The alien hopped down off her mount. She brandished her spear and barked a few more extraterrestrial words.

Garrison said, “I think we should head home before there’s trouble.”

“Yeah,” replied Ambrose.

There was a whoosh overhead, and the alien looked up. She frowned and jumped onto her mount. A group of bobcat-like creatures with wings thudded down onto the rocky ledge. Hissing and crying ferociously, the monsters attacked the alien and her mount. The mount took to the air, and some of the monsters flew after it. The alien stabbed at the monsters with her spear and the mount bit and clawed them. Five of the monsters turned their glowing red eyes toward the men.

“Uh-oh,” said Ambrose.

“Agreed,” said Garrison.

The men unloaded their pistols into the monsters. One of them fell and one flew away, but the other three folded their wings to their sides and charged at the men with amazing speed. There was no outrunning the them. Ambrose and Garrison drew their sabers.

The monsters leapt at the men, who dodged to the side. When the creatures landed, Ambrose and Garrison attacked them fiercely. The creatures leapt and clawed and bit at the men, and the men punched and stabbed and hacked at the creatures. It was a savage fight under the strange stars of the distant world. The granitic ground was soon slick with the dark blood of the men and the phosphorescent, violet blood of the beasts. Though one of the beasts was slain, it soon became clear that the monsters would defeat the men.

The men couldn’t outrun the monsters. But they could fight them to the end.

After a few more minutes of battle, Ambrose fell and dropped his saber. One of the creatures raised its claws to strike him a death blow.

A spear whistled through the air and lodged in the flank of the monster before it could finish Ambrose. The monster fell onto its side. The flying mount and alien landed back on the ledge and charged into the melee. The mount quickly dispatched the remaining beasts with its punishing talons.

Garrison dashed on weak legs to Ambrose and kneeled beside him. “Stay awake.”

Ambrose coughed up some blood and said weakly, “I’m with ya. I’m with ya.” Ambrose tried to rise, but he fell back.

“Easy,” Garrison said.

The alien leapt off her mount and came to the men. She kneeled beside Ambrose and dipped her hand into a little pouch hanging from her belt. She drew out a handful of white, iridescent powder. She sprinkled the powder on Ambrose’s wounds.

“That…” said Ambrose, “that is not an unpleasant sensation.”

The alien raised her hand and offered some of the powder to Garrison, who was only too happy to receive it. He sprinkled it in his own wounds and felt the bleeding stop and the pain diminish. He sighed as he felt the medical powder do its work.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and said, “Thank you. I know you can’t understand me. But thank you.” He held his hand over his heart, hoping that the gesture would in some way communicate his gratitude.

“Yes,” echoed Ambrose, some strength returning to his voice. “Thank you, blue lady.”

The alien gestured towards her mount, which was standing nearby and watching the proceedings with a solicitous manner.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” said Garrison.

The alien ran back to the mount, took a blanket from a saddle bag and came and laid it beside Ambrose. She gestured toward Ambrose, then the blanket, and then the mount. She looked at Garrison with imploring eyes. She put her hand over her heart.

“I think she wants to put you in this blanket and let the flying animal take you somewhere,” Garrison said to Ambrose. “I think she wants to help.”

“Let her,” Ambrose said. He coughed. “She saved us.”

Garrison looked at the alien and nodded. He then realized that a nod may not have carried the same meaning there as it did on earth, so he pointed to Ambrose, then to the blanket, then to the darkly feathered mount. He started to lift his friend. The alien helped. They gingerly transferred Ambrose onto the blanket. Once Ambrose was settled on the blanket, the alien said a word to her mount, which came over and picked up the corners of the blanket with one of its forepaws. The alien retrieved her spear and jumped onto her mount and motioned for Garrison to join her.

Garrison took a deep breath and climbed onto the back of the flying creature. The alien patted her waist and Garrison put his arms around her. The alien said something very similar to “Hyah!” and the mount rose into the air. Garrison smiled: even here, on this far-off world, some things were the same.

They soared over the plain to the ruinous city. Garrison looked down at the immense statues that lay fallen amid the boulders and grasses. He noticed a strange black shape racing rapidly over the plain. He squinted at it. It seemed almost to be flapping wings. He realized, with a weird thrill of wonder, that the shape was the shadow of the mount upon which he was riding. They flew over the once magnificent walls of the city, and Garrison gazed upon the thoroughfares and buildings and monuments within. Though the tiles of the streets were cracked and overgrown with grasses, and though some pieces of edifices had fallen, much of the city’s splendor remained. People were moving about under the many lamps that illuminated the streets. What, thought Garrison, had this city been like at the pinnacle of its greatness? And what, he thought with a murky foreboding, had led to its fall?

Garrison’s mind returned to his fallen partner. He looked up at the unfamiliar sky and said a prayer for Ambrose.

The mount came to a high tower near the center of the city. The top of the tower was an open-air platform that was covered by a domed ceiling supported by columns. The mount dove between two of the columns and alighted on the platform. Garrison slid off of the mount and watched as it slowly set down Ambrose on a deeply cushioned divan. When the mount released the corners of the blanket, Garrison dashed over to check on his friend.

“How are you feeling?” Garrison asked.

“Jealous,” Ambrose replied. He coughed. “I couldn’t see a thing.”

Garrison chuckled. “I can’t lie. It was something to see. You’ll see it soon enough.”

The alien said some words to her mount, and the men watched as the magnificent beast nodded and flew out of the tower and dove down toward the city below. The alien uttered a few soothing words to the men and walked down a flight of stairs below a trap door in the middle of the platform.

The men observed their surroundings. Burning lampstands of elegant design stood about the platform. Other lamps hung from the columns. The smooth stone floor of the platform was littered with furniture that was made from wicker-like frames and soft cushions. Overhead, the inside of the tower’s dome was decorated with a design of planets and moons and the lines of their orbits, all rendered in materials that resembled the precious metals and stones of earth; it was the greatest work of art and science the men had ever seen.

The alien reemerged from below, carrying a jug. She sat beside Ambrose and drank from the jug and then raised it to his lips.

Ambrose drank greedily from the jug. When the alien lowered the jug, he looked up at Garrison. “Water.” Ambrose looked at the alien and gestured toward Garrison.

The alien handed the jug to Garrison, who drank gratefully. He handed the jug back to the alien.

A sound and sensation of wind swept through the tower, and the men and the alien looked toward its source and saw the mount returning. Riding on its back was a human woman. The alien set down the jug and rushed over and embraced the human. They exchanged words and approached Ambrose’s bedside. The human woman carried a satchel that was adorned with beads. She looked as if she might have come from one of the southwestern tribes.

She approached the men and observed them carefully. She said a few words to them.

They looked at each other and looked back at her and shook their heads. Garrison pointed to his ears. “Sorry. We don’t understand.” He shrugged. “And you don’t understand me.”

The human woman smiled. She said a few more words, these with a slightly different sound. The men shook their heads again. She sat her satchel on a nearby table. She removed from it a little stone vial with a stopper in its top. She took off the stopper and azure light shone from within. She held the vial up to the men and motioned for them to drink from it.

Garrison took the vial and looked inside it. The blue fluid inside glowed brightly. He sniffed the liquid. Its fragrance was entirely unfamiliar, but pleasant. It smelled something like the sea. He looked to Ambrose questioningly.

Ambrose nodded.

Garrison sighed. He drank half of the fluid, which was delicious and shockingly cold. He felt immediately as if his mind had loosened in some way, as if it had become more agile and active. It was an agreeable sensation.

“It’s good,” he grunted, handing the vial to Ambrose.

Ambrose drained the vial. His eyes widened. “Man alive.”

The human woman took the vial from Ambrose and said, “Now we can communicate.” She said the words in her language, but the men somehow understood them.

Garrison looked at Ambrose, frowning. “Did you…?”

“Yeah,” Ambrose replied. He looked at the human woman. “How….Wh…What did we just drink?”

The human woman smiled. “The blue tonic opens certain psychic mental pathways that usually lie dormant. These pathways, once opened, allow people, when they hear words, to receive from the mind of the speaker the meaning of the words. The tonic does not allow the drinker to perceive all the thoughts of other people, just those thoughts tied to communicative intent and linguistic expression.”

Ambrose nodded. He reflected for a moment. Then he said, “Whew.”

“Agreed,” Garrison said.

The human woman said, “We must treat your wounds.” She looked at Ambrose. “Yours first. Let me take a look.” She stepped over and reached out a hand. “May I?”

Ambrose gestured toward his body. “Have at it.”

The human woman performed a rapid and thorough examination. After she had completed it, she said, “I see some blood on your chin. Is it from your mouth or did you cough it up?”

“I coughed it up.”

She nodded and returned to her satchel. She removed a cloth, a number of green bandages, three stony vials, and a pouch. She returned to Ambrose’s side. She cleaned his wounds and sprinkled them with her own white powder from her pouch, after which she bandaged the wounds tightly. She then had Ambrose take a drink from each of the vials. She said, “You will heal. But you will need a few days of rest.”

“Thank you, Miss…I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“My name is Tala,” she said.

“Thank you, Miss Tala. I feel much better already. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You already have,” Tala replied.

“That’s mighty gracious of you,” Ambrose said. “I’m Ambrose, and this here is Garrison.” Garrison nodded and touched the brim of his hat.

Tala said, “A pleasure to meet you both. Garrison, come and sit down.” Garrison obeyed. Tala examined him and dressed his wounds and had him drink from one of the stone vials.

The blue woman approached the men. “My name is Kay. And this is my flier, whom you’ve already met. Her name is A’may.” A’may squawked amiably.

“Thank you,” Ambrose said. “For everything.”

“Yes,” Garrison said. “Much obliged.”

Kay tilted her head in a small bow. “You are welcome. Now, it is my duty as a watchperson to ask you where you are from and why you are here.”

“Well…” Ambrose said thoughtfully.

Garrison interrupted. “I can answer if you don’t feel up to it.”

Ambrose laughed and waved dismissively at Garrison. “The medicines have restored much of my strength. I may not be able to run on my legs yet, but I can run my mouth.”

Garrison said to Tala, “You may be sorry you gave him the blue tonic.”

Ambrose said, “Okay. To answer your first question, we come from…well, we come from another planet. Another world.”

Tala and Kay looked at each other wonderingly.

“Sounds crazy,” Ambrose said. “I know it does. But it’s true.”

Tala asked, “Is yours a world of green and brown lands, mighty oceans, white clouds, a single moon, and a yellow sun?”

Ambrose stuck out his lower lip approvingly. “A pretty good description there, miss.” Tala turned to Kay. “Dzaan. They are from Dzaan.”

Kay nodded and the women looked at the men with awe shining in their eyes. The men were confused, but not displeased.

“Did you come,” asked Tala, “through a door in a rock?”

“Right again,” Ambrose declared.

Kay asked, “And why did you come?”

Ambrose thought about his answer for a second. “We just kind of…stumbled in. We were in a cave on Earth and we saw a strange doorway in the rock and we investigated and next thing we know we’re looking at new skies and fighting off a pack of flying monsters.”

“Was the doorway in the cave where I met you?” asked Kay. “Yes, miss, it was.”

Kay looked questioningly at Tala and said, “I’ve been in that cave. I’ve never seen a door. They must have hidden the portals well.”

“They did,” Tala said.

Kay turned back to the men. “What are your occupations on Earth?”

Ambrose scratched his whiskers. “We used to be soldiers.”

“I can believe that,” Kay said. “You wielded your blades with great facility tonight.”

“Why, thank you, miss,” Ambrose said, touching the brim of his hat. “After the war ended, we became travelers. Adventurers, you might say.” He shifted himself on the divan. “You know, I’ve got a number of questions of my own. The main ones are, how do you know about Earth, and why are our worlds connected by doors?”

“That is a question for our healer, here,” Kay replied, nodding toward Tala.

Tala sat herself down on a cushion on the floor, and Kay followed her lead. They sat cross-legged and straight backed, with their hands resting on their knees.

“So, you’re a historian and a healer?” Ambrose said to Tala. “Not bad, Doc.”

Tala replied, “On our world, the job of historian and healer go hand-in-hand. We believe it is not possible to treat physical or spiritual ailments effectively without a strong knowledge of the past and its many lessons. I will tell you one of the stories from our distant past. One that involves this planet, which we call Hayva, and your planet, which we call Dzaan.

“Long, long ago, Hayva was a planet of great powers. Our storytellers speak of a time when our people could harness cosmic energies to marvelous effect. Flying machines graced the skies. Cities like this one were built. And a brilliant scientist conceived of a way to build a portal to another world. A group of explorers travelled through one of these portals and made friends with the people of your planet. A special friendship was forged between the people of this world and one group of people in particular. The people of this world took them little glinting stones that the people of your world loved, but that were worthless to the people here. That group from your world hailed from a region of Dzaan that was dry and dusty, but not without its beauties.

“Some time after the portals were made, our world was engulfed in a civil war. A tribe of reptilians declared hostilities against all the other tribes of this planet. The war completely ravaged our world. Our explorers returned from your planet and hid the portals to your world for fear that the reptilians might find them and try to conquer your world, too. The tribe of your world who had cultivated such deep bonds of affection with our people insisted that they be allowed to come to our world and help in the fight. After much resistance, they were allowed to come and they left your planet forever. I am, as you have no doubt guessed, a descendant of that tribe. If you venture out into our city, you too will be considered members of my tribe. Ones with strange taste in attire.

“But back to the war. It proved absolutely apocalyptic. Our world fell. Most of our technology was lost. Only a few stragglers of each tribe survived to inhabit the fallen world. Now, many years later, the reptilians are once again on the rise. They raid this very city regularly. If you hear an alarm of horns, be prepared. We fight them, and we will not allow them to destroy us again.”

Ambrose whistled. “That is quite a tale.” Garrison nodded.

Tala rose. “You both need rest.”

Kay nodded. “Yes, and you may stay here as long as you like.”

“Thank you again for your hospitality,” Garrison said.

Tala began putting her medical materials back in her satchel. “Please let me know if you need my assistance again.” She slung the satchel over her shoulder and mounted A’may, who flew off into the city.

Kay said, “I will stay in the apartment below. I have everything you need down there to make you comfortable. Feel free to come down any time.” She said goodnight and went below. Garrison found a large couch and laid himself down. The men were immediately asleep.

After twenty-four hours, Ambrose had regained most of his strength, and Garrison was completely healed. They stayed for two more days, enjoying the hospitality of Kay and exploring the wonders of the city. They developed an affection for the people of the city – an affection that was reciprocated.

On their third day on Hayva, the men took a stroll on the city walls.

Ambrose said, “I suppose it’s time we consider moseying on back home. After all, there’s a bunch of treasure waiting on us.”

“Agreed,” Garrison said.

The plangent note of a large horn sounded somewhere over the plain. Horns within the city began to sound. Ambrose and Garrison looked out over the plain and saw a rider and mount flying toward the city. The rider continued to sound his note of alarm. Beyond the rider, the men saw a chilling sight. A fleet of enormous winged serpents were flying through the air toward the city. Armor glinted on the heads and sides of the serpents. Their sides were covered with flapping wings.

Ambrose cursed.

Garrison echoed the sentiment.

The men felt a rush of wind. Kay and A’may landed on the wall beside them. “Take cover! The reptilians are coming!”

Ambrose and Garrison looked at each other. They looked back at Kay. “I believe we’d prefer to fight, miss,” Ambrose said.

Kay smiled brightly. “I thought you might say that, so I brought you something.” She reached into one of her saddle bags, saying, “Your blades are nice, but you will probably want something a little sturdier against the axes and bludgeons of the reptilians.” She pulled two sheathed broadswords out of the bag and tossed them to the men, who caught them and unsheathed them. The blades were heavy and sharp.

“Much obliged, as ever, miss,” Garrison said. “Absolutely,” said Ambrose.

“How do they attack?” asked Garrison

“A handful of reptilian soldiers stand on the back of each serpent. When they get over the city, some jump down to fight, and others stay on the serpents and throw spears and shoot arrows. They are not great fighters. They are too stiff and awkward in their movements. But their numbers and their cowardly style of warfare combine to make them formidable.”

“Not great fighters, huh?” Ambrose said, stroking his whiskers and gazing upon the airborne beasts. “You know, I think I’d like to get on the back of one of them there flying snakes. Take the fight straight to them.”

Garrison said, “I was thinking the exact same thing.” He looked up at Kay. “Care to give us a ride?”

A’kay squawked and nodded. Kay smiled. “Hop on.”

The men sheathed their swords and attached the sheaths to their belts. They jumped up on A’may’s back.

Ambrose said, “Yee-haw! Let’s kill some lizard folk!”

“Yes,” Kay said fiercely, turning her frowning, resolved countenance to the sky. “Let’s.” She cried “Hyah!” and A’may shot into the sky with a martial cry of her own. As they rose into the sky, they saw dozens of similar mounts flying out of the city to meet the scaly enemy.

A’may flew toward the nearest of the serpents. A few of the reptilians threw spears at her, but she dodged them with ease. Her riders heard the spears sizzle past them. The head of the serpent bared its fangs and tried to bite A’may but she flew upward out of the range of the serpent’s maw. She dove down over the beast’s back and she kicked one of the reptilian soldiers, who fell, hissing, into the ether.

Ambrose said, “I’ll take this one!” He slid of off A’may and cried, “Best of luck. Slay ’em good!” A half dozen reptilians swarmed Ambrose. They carried axes and broadswords, and their movements were slow and jerky. Ambrose unsheathed his sword and commenced with his single person campaign with precision and violence. Two reptilians tumbled from the serpent immediately. The numbers were against him, but the odds were in his favor.

A’may dashed through the sky to another serpent, dodging spears and arrows as she flew.

She came near the serpent’s back.

“Thanks, miss,” Garrison said, touching the brim of his hat and sliding off A’may. He landed and unsheathed his sword. A’may and Kay flew off to another serpent to do what damage they could to it and its payload of combatants.

Garrison was a fierce and unrelenting fighter, and his blade was a glinting storm that took the reptilians completely by surprise. He kicked one of the reptilians with such force that it tumbled to the head of the snake and accidentally drove its spear through the flying beast’s head. The snake hissingly cried out and started to lose height. Its movements became erratic and it was hard to keep footing on its back. Garrison kept his footing better than the awkward reptilians, and he continued to slaughter them, even as the titanic monster fell from the sky.

The serpent crossed the wall of the city while still airborne. Garrison saw that it would soon crash into the roofs of the city. He ran toward the head of the snake, knocking away any reptilians in his path. When he arrived at the serpent’s head the rooftops were only a dozen feet down. He sheathed his sword and crouched to jump off of the serpent, but he felt a rough, cold hand on his ankle. He looked down and saw that one of the fallen reptilians had grabbed him. He wrenched his leg free, kicked the reptilian in the face, and bounded into the air. He landed on the rooftop just as the snake crashed down. Garrison looked up and saw that some of the serpents were over the city now, and some of the fighters on their backs were jumping down. He continued his fight on the rooftops, hacking and flinging reptilians and leaping from building to building.

Back in the sky, Ambrose knocked down the last reptilian standing on the serpent and put his sword through the yellow-eyed enemy’s heart. He took a moment to catch his breath and take stock of his wounds. He was not grievously harmed. He felt some hot blood on an arm and ankle, but he did not feel any great stinging laceration or broken bone. Something at his feet flickered. He looked down and saw, in the reflection of the fallen enemy’s helmet, that another reptilian had regained its feet and was staggering toward him. He pretended to stumble, all the while watching the approaching reptilian’s reflection. When the scaly combatant was within striking distance, Ambrose twirled around, his sword raised, and neatly decapitated the enemy soldier. A spurt of black blood issued from the stump of the neck, and the spasming body fell.

Ambrose looked up and saw, with a grin, that the head of the snake was equipped with reins. He sprinted to the reins and took them in his hands. He jerked to the right, and the serpent flew to the right. He jerked to the left, and the serpent flew to the left. “Giddy up,” he said. He flew the snake through the air, getting in the way of other flying snakes, strafing their backs and knocking off reptilians, and otherwise causing confusion and consternation among the enemy fleet.

Kay and A’may flew by him and Kay called, “Quite a mount you have there, Ambrose!”

Ambrose doffed his hat. “This ole thing? It’s not as pretty as your mount, to be sure, but it gets the job done.”

Kay laughed and she and A’may flew back into the battle.

Back in the city, Garrison kicked a reptilian off a rooftop. He looked down and saw that a troop of reptilians had gathered and was marching through the street toward the plaza around which most of the city’s populace lived. There were defensive soldiers from the city stationed outside the residences, but they were sorely outnumbered. Garrison began running across the rooftops toward the plaza, preparing himself for a terrible fight. Preparing himself to die.

Just as he came to a building around the plaza and was looking for a way to get down, one of the flying snakes crashed directly into the troop of reptilians, crushing some and sending others hurtling through the air. Garrison saw the figure of Ambrose standing at the head of the crashed snake. Ambrose yanked his sword out of the snake’s head and hopped off, looking for more reptilians to fight. None were forthcoming. Garrison found some stairs and rushed down to meet his friend.

Ambrose smiled when he saw Garrison approaching. “Haven’t had us a fight like this one before.”

“Very true,” Garrison replied.

The men made their way through the city, helping with the wounded and the clean-up efforts. When, that evening, word of their exploits during the battle got out, the men were showered with praise, gratitude, and gifts from the city’s people. They returned to Kay’s tower at a late hour, their bellies and hearts full. Their bellies were so full with celebratory foods, in fact, that they found the stairs to the summit of Kay’s tower to be more daunting than usual. They soon, however, made it to the top.

They found Kay excitedly pacing and reading a sheet of papyrus. “Howdy, Kay,” Ambrose said.

Kay looked up from the papyrus with shining eyes. “It’s amazing. One of the reptilians was carrying a letter which gives us information about their bases and plans. It’s one of the greatest boons we could have found.” She waved the papyrus. “We’re already putting together battle plans. Word is being sent to all our allies. This could turn the tide.”

“Great news,” Ambrose said. “Congrats.”

Kay nodded. “You know, we could use fighters like you. I don’t know how long the war will last. I do know that it will be extremely dangerous. But you two don’t seem to shirk from danger, so I thought I would invite you to…well, stay. But you’ve already done more for us than we could repay, so if you want to go home, by all means go. With our undying gratitude.”

Ambrose and Garrison looked at each other.

“Talk about it,” Kay said, heading below. She walked down the stairs and shut the trapdoor behind her.

Garrison walked over to the ledge and looked up at the planet and moons overhead.

Ambrose joined him and looked up as well. “There’s a lot of treasure waitin’ on us back home.”

Garrison nodded. “Yeah.”

“And the life we’ve always dreamed of. There’s peace in the States now. We’d have enough money to settle down and never work again. Enough money to enjoy the finer things. Enough money to attract pretty women.”

“Yeah.”

“All we’ve got to do is walk back to the cave and go back through the door, and the dream comes true.”

“Yeah.”

“Or we can stay here and risk our lives and help people we barely know.”

“Yeah.”

Ambrose said, “I don’t know.” He groaned.

“Agreed,” Garrison said.

Both men looked up at the skies. After a few minutes of silence, Garrison said, “These are good people that live here.”

“I can’t deny it,” Ambrose replied.

Garrison sighed. “I don’t know exactly how to say this, but I’ll try. I think we might have found what we’ve been looking for. But it wasn’t in that cave.”

Ambrose thought about that statement for a while. Finally, he smiled. “Agreed.”

Andrew Albritton teaches in the Management Department at Missouri State University. His poems have appeared in Cargo Literary, Wales Haiku Journal, and Grand Little Things, among other publications.