The Wrath of the Lizard Lord by Jon Mayhew Page A

the fifth Cryptos guard, sending him spinning from his mount. The guard landed on his back with a loud thud and didn’t get up. Two female giants stabbed their spears into the lizard’s throat, knocking it backward off its feet.
    The final guard pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight into Gog’s face. Everyone froze. The women held their spears level and Gog braced himself to die.
    Dakkar gritted his teeth and squeezed the trigger.
    The rifle jerked in his grip, numbing his shoulder and making him think he’d missed. A spurt of red in the man’s arm told him he hadn’t, and the pistol fell from his useless hand. Dakkar winced and looked away as the giants fell upon the wounded man, stabbing with spears and pounding with clubs.
    Gog stood still and stared over at Dakkar. The giant’s eyes burned with anger. Dakkar glanced around for the powder horn but saw only scattered ashes and the dead Cryptos guards. He’s going to kill me , Dakkar thought as the giant turned and stamped towards him.
    Dakkar stood, gripping his empty rifle in trembling hands. Maybe I can use it as a club , he thought hope­­­­lessly.
    Gog towered over him now, staring down and frowning. Dakkar stiffened and met Gog’s gaze. At least I’ll die with dignity , he thought, as a prince should!
    Then, to his surprise, Gog squatted down and brought his face close to Dakkar’s.
    ‘You hate Rohaga too,’ he said, pointing at the fallen rider. It was a statement, not a question. ‘You save Gog’s life.’ He bowed his head and thumped a fist to his chest. ‘ Bukkah ! ’
    Dakkar bowed back. ‘My pleasure,’ he said. He tried not to think of the riders. Although he’d only wounded them, some had already died at the hands of the giants and the other riders would too. There was nothing he could do about that.
    ‘W-el-come.’ Gog rolled the word around in his mouth. Then he glanced at the bodies scattered about them.
    Dakkar felt a pang of sadness at the carnage. About twenty giants remained. Dakkar counted six men, eight or so children and six women. Dakkar could hardly bear to look but estimated that around thirty giants had fallen. The survivors of the attack hurried from body to body, hoping to find life. Women wept and sometimes a giant would cry out in rage, beating the ground with his fists. Some huts blazed and cooking fires lay scattered across the clearing.
    ‘Cryptos hunts your people?’ Dakkar said. ‘The Rohaga – they try to kill you?’
    Gog paused for a moment, then nodded. ‘Always. They kill the Sarba tribe. They kill all. We . . .’ Gog searched for the word. ‘We hide.’ He wandered off, pausing at the body of a friend.
    Mary stood at the door of the prison hut, her face pale and drawn. The pistol hung in her fist. Dakkar walked over to her and prised the gun from her grip.
    ‘It’s terrible,’ she whispered.
    ‘This is what Cryptos does,’ Dakkar said, almost to himself. He’d seen the ruthlessness of Oginski’s brother and his own father, the Rajah of Bundelkhand, taking life, but this went beyond anything Dakkar had ever experienced. He thought of Oginski. Was he this ruthless once?
    ‘We not stay,’ Gog shouted over to him, whirling his club over his head. ‘Rohaga have found us. To caves!’ He pointed a blackened fingernail to a distant rocky outcrop that poked above the treeline. ‘ Samblaya ! A Khav Suum ! More Rohaga be here soon. You come with us.’
    Dakkar stood, uncertain for a moment, and glanced at Mary.
    ‘Well, I’m not waitin’ ’ere to be killed!’ Mary snorted, hitching up her skirts and stamping over to Gog’s side.
    The remaining giants gathered food, pots, skins and weapons on to their backs. Dakkar hurried from one fallen rider to the next, salvaging rifles, pistols, powder and musket balls. The giants had smashed most of them but he managed to gather two pistols and two rifles and plenty of ammunition. In addition, he found a sharp knife and a machete for hacking down