The Warlord

Outside Influences

by Martin Maenza

In the southwest region of the lands known as Skartaris, a city of great important was built. It was called Shamballah, the Golden City, and it was one of the most glorious of all the cities built by the ancient Atlanteans when they came to this realm. At the city’s center was a palace where Tara ruled as the region’s queen.

The auburn haired beauty wearing a short, light colored dress sat at a great table. It was filled with fruits that had been gathered by her servants and a roasted bovine still warm from the fire. The queen was joined this day by two others: a platinum haired beauty dressed in green and a rugged dark haired man with chiseled features dressed in dark pants and an open shirt. “Is the food to your liking, Jared?” Tara asked.

The man nodded as he swallowed the large bite of meat he’d taken moments before she’d asked her question. “It is very good,” he said.

“Did you have meat such as this where you come from?” the queen asked.

“Pork? Oh, yes, definitely. But your cooks use some spices that give it a unique flavor.” Jared had never tasted anything quite like it in all his years growing up on Earth. He then corrected his thought. This is Earth too, he thought. Or more correctly, a sub-dimension attached to Earth-1. His home was known as Earth-2. He never could figure out the crazy designations the members of the Justice Society had told him about.

The other woman nodded. “The drinda-root is very distinct,” Jennifer Morgan said. “It’s definitely not something you could pick up at the local Foodmart or E&P.” Like Jared, she was not a native of this realm she now called home.

Jared smiled. It wasn’t that hard to do given how captivating Jennifer was. From the moment he laid eyes on her when he first arrived here with the Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Alexander Luthor, he found himself extremely attracted to her.

But it was more than just her looks. She had a wonderful personality and a caring way. She also happened to be a sorceress, one of the best in the land. One could say she cast a spell over him but not a magical one. His sensitivity to magic would have revealed that. No, the spell was a more natural one.

Jared Stevens was in love with Jennifer Morgan. And he knew that she had similar feelings for him as well.

This was part of the reason that he’d been so relaxed here over the last ten months or so since his arrival. He knew he’d eventually have to make his way to Earth-1 proper, if it were possible. The communication between the two worlds had been cut off by a mystic barrier since the Crisis back in the summer of 1985. Before Alexander had returned to Earth-2 with the Hawks, he had hoped that Jared might be able to figure out what was preventing Jared from returning with them. His was a special case, and perhaps he might hold a key to breaking though the barrier between worlds some day. In the meantime, Jared had been using the excuse that he wanted to see more of Skartaris first before embarking on his mission. It was enough of a reason to allow him to spend more time with Jennifer.

His thoughts were broken as something brushed up against his leg under the table. At first it was a passing brush, but then it became more consistent. The look on his face alerted the others at the table that something was a miss.

“Is something wrong?” Tara asked.

“Uh…no…I don’t think…,” Jared said.

Jennifer lifted the dark table cloth and glanced underneath. There, a black cat was rubbing about on Jared’s leg with great intent. “Shakira!” Jennifer exclaimed. “Shoo! Now!”

The cat glanced at her with a biting look, tossed its head and bound out from under the table. The three watched it go. Then, the cat spun around in the center of the floor, glared at the group, and transformed.

Standing there now was a dark haired young woman in a skimpy black outfit. “You’re no fun at all, Jennifer,” Shakira said playfully. “I’ll retire to my chambers.” She tossed Jared a sultry look with her blue-green eyes and sauntered off.

Jennifer fumed slightly. The nerve of that shape-changer, she thought to herself.

Tara saw Jennifer’s face but did not know what to say to her stepdaughter.

Jared felt a bit awkward about the whole situation. He realized it best to change the subject fast. “Tara, where is Travis today?”

“Not too far,” the queen replied. “He went off to the Forest of Ebonar to help an old friend.”

“My father doesn’t like to sit around idle,” Jennifer added. “During times of quiet and peace, he still likes to keep his hands busy. Even if its just helping build a new fort.”

“It is good to keep the relations with the outlands positive,” Tara said. “After all, anything he can do for diplomacy goes a long way to undercutting the instances of confrontation.”

Jennifer nodded in agreement. “True.”

Suddenly, a figure burst into the room. A lanky green lizard man stumbled to a stop at the edge of the table. “My queen,” he gasped to catch his breath. “My queen, I seek help!”

Jared poured a glass of water for his friend and handed it to him. “Grell, what is it? What’s wrong?”

Grell gulped down the liquid and then brushed the excess away with the back of his hand. “Friend Jared! My thanks!”

“Grell, you need my help?” Tara asked.

“Seek Warlord,” Grell said. “Got word. Trouble at home. Need help!”

“Your home?” Jared asked. Grell and he had talked some since the day he arrived in Skartaris. Grell hailed from a small village of mutated lizard people to the northwest, past the mountains. “What’s wrong?”

“Invaders!” Grell said. “Small number but very strong. Very bad. Take over village.”

“Travis knows that region well,” Tara said. “His plane crashed down not far from there many years ago when he first arrived here.” That was shortly before he and Tara first met.

“Father is not far,” Jennifer said. “I’m sure he’d be willing to go investigate the situation.”

“Definitely,” Jared said. “Grell, let me take you to him.” The man rose from the table and took the lizard man by the hand.

“Thank you, friend Jared,” Grell said over and over.
***

 

A short time later, Jared landed in a clearing in the forest. The trip was a relatively easy one for him given his abilities of flight. The magical beetle artifact imbedded into his chest gave him that gift among others. Grell, however, hadn’t enjoyed the flight at all even though Jared held the lizard man firmly in his arms.

“There we go,” Jared said, putting down his friend. “See, no problem, right?”

“No, no problem,” Grell said shaking his head. Still, Jared could see the lizard man was happy to have both feet firmly planted on the dirt once more.

Jared looked around the area and paused. He then heard the sounds of hammering and voices coming from just beyond some brush. He turned to Grell. “Come on, this way.” The two worked their way through the greenery, ducking under low lying branches until they came upon an opening. There they saw a number of men erecting a large fence made from the trunks of fallen trees. One man in particular was whom they sought.

Travis Morgan was a well built man with long, white hair. His face was covered by a mustache and short beard. As he worked, sweat beaded down his muscular bare chest. He swung his mallet as he would a mace or club in battle: firm, solid and with complete accuracy.

When he finally paused for a break, Jared called to him. “Travis!”

Travis Morgan turned and smiled. “Jared. Grell. What are you doing here?”

“They’re friends of yours, Warlord?” a dark haired man with heavy eyes asked.

“Indeed,” Travis replied. “Let me introduce you.” Travis Morgan motioned for the new arrivals to come over. “Mikola Rostov, this is Jared Stevens and Grell.”

They exchanged pleasantries. Jared knew of Mikola, or at least his name. The man at one time was in love with Jennifer Morgan. The two had parted ways. Jennifer had told Jared this as they were getting to know one another, at that point where couples often talk about past relationships.

Jared quickly explained why they had come, and Grell told of what he knew about those that had attacked his home village. It wasn’t a lot of information to go on, but it was enough to realize that it could be a potentially bad situation. Travis Morgan listened intently, nodding. The former Air Force pilot was also starting to think about how to handle the situation.

“I could join you,” Mikola offered. “You might need my rather unique skills.”

The Warlord put his hand on his old friend’s shoulder. “Thank you, Mikola,” he said, “but I think you are needed here to continue supervision of this work. However, there is another way you can help.” He quickly told his friend what they would need. Mikola nodded.
***

 

Before the sun was in the late afternoon sky, the trio was riding out of the Forest on horseback. Mikola had been able to provide them with steeds and provisions for their trip. At the moment, they rode east on the Merchant Route, a worn trail that was used to move goods throughout the land.

Jared shifted in the saddle. Riding was not one of his better skills. “I could have flown us there,” he said. “It would have been faster.”

“Perhaps,” Travis said, “but Grell could not accompany us then.” The lizard man nodded. He was much happier on a horse than in the air, but only slightly. “Besides, part of this is investigative in nature. A flying man would draw attention to ourselves.”

“Oh,” Jared said and he had to agree. “I guess you’re right. We wouldn’t want to do that and make things harder for us.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say this will be a picnic,” Travis replied. “Things will get a lot trickier when we turn off the trail and head north. Though we’ll be following the edges of the Kharakan River, that doesn’t decrease our chances greatly from encountering trouble. We’ll have to ride through a good bit of the night to avoid the mercenary raiders.”

Grell cringed slightly. “I no like them. They take gold.”

“What if we have nothing for them to take?” Jared asked.

“They take life,” Grell said coldly.

Travis tried not to laugh. “We’ll be fine if we keep moving,” he said. And they continued on.
***

 

For three days the trio rode hard, stopping only at night and even then for just a few hours rest when it was safe. They had, at times, been forced to out run some rampaging dinosaurs and other threats with mind to kill them.

They steered clear of the city of Thera, a place that Morgan told them he once was welcomed as a god until incurring the wrath of Deimos, the high priest.

Soon after, the Kharakan joined up with the Balagar River. They continued to follow the river north even when it wound a bit to the east. To their west was the Desert of Sorrows, another place they wouldn’t want to pass through unless it was absolutely a necessity.

Finally, they were getting closer to the village of the lizard-men. They dismounted, safely hiding their horses so they could continue to creep closer on foot. “Grell, perhaps it best you remain here with the steeds,” Travis Morgan suggested.

“Grell want to help!” the lizard said.

“I know you do,” the Warlord said, “but we’re not sure what we’ll find there. We don’t want to risk anything happening to you either.”

“Grell no help?”

Jared looked at his friend. “You help by guarding the horses,” he said. “That’s a very big help.”

“And,” Warlord added, “if we are not back by the setting of the sun, we’ll need you to ride and get help. Can you do that for us?”

The lizard nodded. “Grell can.”

“Good man,” the Warlord said. He then motioned for Jared to follow, and the two humans started off towards the village.

“Is that such a good idea?” Jared asked when they were well out of ear shot. “If there’s a lot of trouble there, isn’t it better to have an extra set of hands?”

“It depends,” the Warlord replied. “We’re not sure who these invaders are and what they’ve done to the village. If it is a small number like the message Grell got was led to believe, its likely that you and I can take them ourselves.”

“And if its not?”

“If its not, then we merely assess the situation and plan a better strategy.”

Jared nodded. He liked the way Travis Morgan thought. The man was hardly rash; years trying to survive in a place like this would do that to a man. That and the military training he had on the outside world. It was easy to see why his name was the stuff of legends in Skartaris.

They got near the village, crouching down in some heavy brush. They sat quietly, observing all they could to get a handle on the situation.

The lizard village was made up of various small buildings which mostly served the purpose of antechambers if you will. Their true dwellings were small caves underground with tunnels that connected them to the buildings above. This allowed the species to remain cooler in the times of great heat that often accompanied the summer months. Not like the rest of the year of that temperate to begin with.

A few females moved about the grounds, mostly gathering buckets of water or food stuffs from the nearby pools and brush. Most of them had an expression of weariness or concern about them. When they spoke, it was in hushed voices as if to avoid being overheard.

Two large males then appeared, the first males Travis and Jared had witnessed during their time of observation. Both were rather large, stocky. While similar green in color to the women, their features differed slightly. When they spoke, they did so loudly and in a tongue that was not intelligible to either man. The two males grabbed at the females, fondling them to the female’s dismay. Then they would laugh at the antics and the women’s reactions before sauntering away.

“I guess we know what doesn’t belong here,” Jared whispered to his friends.

Travis nodded. “True. But where are the males like Grell? And how many are there of these outsiders?”

They would have to watch a bit more.
***

 

“Did you see the looks on their faces?” one of the Gordanian males said as they sauntered away. “They’re terrified of us! They’ll give in to our every request.”

“And our every need and desire!” the other said with a laugh. “Can you smell it in the air? Their scents give away what their faces and hands protest. They want us! This sure beats trudging around in the ice and snow, or waging a war against the humans, eh?”

“Its like a shore leave on Tamaran without the chance of your pass being pulled at the last minute,” the first one said. “And while these females aren’t nearly as aggressive in bed, its certainly a nice change of pace!”

“Yeah, it’ll do until we get bored! Then we’ll imprison them like we did the males!” The two laughed some more.

There was a sound near one of the building doors as another Gordanian cleared his throat. Both turned and then realized their conversation had been overheard by their superior officer. He didn’t at all look pleased.

Unlike the other five members in the squad, the leader didn’t completely strip out of his armored uniform upon arrival in this strange land. The others opted to “go native”, to try and blend into the surroundings. Despite his orders, they disregarded them. They told their leader that they needed to make the best of the situation, since they had no idea how they had gotten to this strange place nor did they know how long it would be until they’d return to the rest of the fleet. He had been resistant to the idea at first, but when they found this village of like creatures who were very easily overpowered, he relented and allowed them a little taste of freedom.

Now he was regretting that decision.

“Where are the others?” the squad leader asked.

“Tryal and Grnot are checking on the captives, and Nrnim is doing a perimeter sweep,” one of the two replied. “We’re to rotate shifts in a little while, per your instructions.”

“Good!” the leader snapped. At least he was maintaining some amount of control, though the men were starting to show resentment to even that. “I don’t want any surprises!”

“I doubt we have anything to worry about here,” one of the other men said. “Who even knows we’re here?”
***

 

Travis Morgan heard the sound of a twig snap, only seconds before a large figure lunged at him.

Jared spun around in time to see a large reptilian figure lunging for his friend’s throat. “Travis!” he yelled out in warning.

The Warlord was already in action. Rolling onto his back, Travis brought his booted feet in and up, pushing against the chest of the Gordanian warrior. He then rolled and pushed out, sending the lizard into the air.

The Gordanian tumbled and rolled to a haunch. “Humans!” he spat in his own tongue. “You will make for a fitting snack!”

“Don’t know what you’re babbling about,” the Warlord said, unsheathing the sword from his scabbard on his left hip, “but it won’t matter if I cut your tongue out!”

“Pahhh!” the Gordanian spat, this time in the human language of English. “Not when I alert the others!” And he shouted out two other alien names.

Jared heard the voices reply, and the sound of rushing figures approaching concerned him. “Travis, we’ve got company coming!”

The Warlord, however, was engaged in battle and could not reply. The Gordanian swung his mighty fists, hoping to connect with the human’s skull. Travis ducked and then swung his blade; the metal slashed across the alien’s massive right forearm.

“Aaaaargh!” the Gordanian growled. He grimaced and then barred his teeth between his massive reptilian lips. “You shall pay for that, human dog!” He pounced forward, springing in the air on his massive legs.

Travis couldn’t get his sword back around in time, so he swung his elbows up instead. The blow jammed hard into the reptile’s gut and knocked him to the side. Travis followed that with a two fisted blow to the back of the Gordanian’s skull, knocking him into the dirt with a hard thud.

The Gordanian tried to rise. The Warlord took his blade and drove it down hard through his back. The alien choked out a low cry before falling back to the dirt once more. Greenish liquid, presumably blood, gurgled from the alien’s lips.

The Warlord turned as two more of the huge reptiles burst through the brush. Jared Stevens easily vaulted over them and into the air. One of the aliens stopped to grasp for him; the other continued on towards the man who had slain one of their own.

Travis tried to pull his blade from the corpse when the other was upon him. The alien slammed his massive fists into the Warlord, knocking him away from his not yet retrieved weapon. “You killed Nnrim!” the Gordanian said. “For that, you will earn a swift death at my hands!”

Travis pulled a .44 automag pistol from the holster on his right hip, swung it up and opened fire. A half dozen 240 grain slugs riddled the alien’s chest. His aim was true, and his arm never wavered despite the oncoming assault.

The attacking Gordanian dropped to the ground mere inches from where Travis stood. “I don’t think so!” the Warlord said. He then turned to see how his partner was faring.

Jared was holding his own, blow for blow against the strong alien. In a battle of sheer might and fists, Jared has the advantage. “We can do this all day if you like, ugly,” he said as he took another shot and then gave one. “Even bare handed without weapons, I have the advantage!” Indeed, the beetle in his chest provided him with a level of invulnerability. Each blow by the Gordanian bothered him as much as a mosquito bite would.

Finally, Jared was able to gain the upper hand. He kneed the Gordanian in the groin, and followed it with a crashing two-handed blow to the base of the skull. The alien went down to the ground and passed out.

Jared was breathing a little hard from the workout when Travis put his hand on the dark haired man’s shoulders. “Whew!” he sighed. “I guess we’ll have to wait for ugly to come around before we interrogate him!”

Suddenly, a loud scream could be heard. It was a male voice, and one that Jared knew well. “That’s Grell!”

“Come on!” the Warlord said as they bound out into the village to find out from where the scream had originated.
***

 

The two Gordanians named Tryal and Grnot were dragging a lizard man through the village, much to his protests. “We’ll toss this one in with the others!” Tryal said.

“Or maybe we should just kill him now and be done with it!” Grnot chuckled as they came upon an open pit in the ground.

Grell looked over the edge. Down about fifty feet past the sheer walls he could see a number of the other lizard men from the village, many he had grown up with. “Who you? Why do this?” he stammered.

“Because we can!” Tryal laughed.

“Tryal, look!” Grnot pointed towards two men approaching through the brush, brandishing weapons.

Grell was pushed to the ground but caught himself before falling over the pit’s edge.

The Warlord swung his blade around, slashing at Grnot. The Gordanian howled in pain.

Jared Stevens lunged at Tryal with his dagger. The Gordanian spun around suddenly, using his tail to knock the blade away. It skittered across the ground.

Tryal lunged for him, knocking Jared to the ground. The two rolled back and forth, getting in punches where they could. Every time his tail was free, Tryal used it for an extra strike against the human. The back and forth continued, and Jared was feeling a little fatigued.

While he could take the hits, this creature obviously was stronger than the one he fought before. Plus, he was getting tired. Finally, Jared rolled once more to the ground with the Gordanian on top. He wrapped his legs around the alien’s torso and squeezed.

“I won’t be…broken so easily!” Tryal groaned.

“Not my…plan!” Jared said. He lurched forward, butting his head against the green reptile’s skull. He released his legs, pulled them under and pushed against Tryal’s chest. The Gordanian flung into the air, falling towards the pit.

His body fell over but Tryal managed to catch one hand on the edge. He huffed and strained; he was trying to find the strength to pull himself up.

Suddenly, Grell was standing there at the edge of the pit, a large rock in his hands. The lizard man heard the calls from the pit. They were angry and thirsting for revenge. Grell stared down at the Gordanian and locked into his gaze.

“You wouldn’t!” Tryal growled.

Grell slammed the rock down hard on the reptile’s fingers. Tryal lost his hold and plunged down into the pit where a horde of lizard men were ready to enact their revenge for imprisonment.

Grnot continued to dodge the stinging blade of the Warlord. “I will kill you, human!” the alien spat. “Just as our allied forces will destroy the rest of your race in the world above!”

“Forces? Attacking Earth?” Travis said.

“Travis! Look out!” Jared cried out.

The Warlord ducked just as a surging beam of energy sliced through the air. It hit Grnot squarely in the chest, frying him in an instant. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as the alien fell to the ground dead. Travis turned to where the shot had come.

Out of the brush appeared another Gordanian, this one dressed in gold armor about its torso with thigh high boots, wrist gauntlets and a helmet. In his hand, a metallic staff from which the energy blast emitted was firmly held. “I tried to convince them they were fools!” the leader of the squad said. “They felt this land offered little of a challenge! When the village fell to us so easily, that only enforced their foolish beliefs!”

The Warlord eyed the being. He carried himself better than the others. “Hard to lead those who won’t follow, eh?”

“They were fools and have paid the price!” the leader said as he raised his weapon. “I, however, do not abandon the tools with which I was trained! I will kill you all and then find my way back to the surface, meet up with the other squads!” He leveled the weapon at Warlord. “And, then, I will bring a bigger squad back and wipe out this entire place!”

“Nooooo!” Jared screamed as the weapon discharged. He threw himself in the way of the blast, taking the brunt of it head on. It knocked him back into the air, and he hit the ground hard.

Grell ran up to him. “Friend Jared! Friend Jared!”

The dark haired man groaned. His chest hurt, but he was in far better shape than Grnot. The magical beetle talisman had saved him once more. Still, it was hard for him to move just yet. “Grell, see if you can fashion a rope of some kind! Help those in the pit to escape!” Jared spied his friend in heated battle. “I’ll help Travis!” Jared tried to rise to his feet but was still unsteady from the blast. He hoped Travis could hold his own for a few minutes more.

The Warlord struggled with the alien. Both men held on firmly to the staff and tried to wrestle the weapon free from the other.

“You fight… valiantly for a human!” the Gordanian said. “You must know… you are about to die!”

The Warlord said nothing and gritted his teeth. He knew he was fighting not only for his own life but that of his friends and for all of Skartaris. If this invader was indeed part of an alien race that was attacking the Earth above, there was no telling what kind of forces he’d bring back with him if he were to leave here. Travis knew this had to end here and now!

The Gordanian managed to kick his foot up, shoving Travis hard. The Warlord stumbled backward, giving the alien time to level the weapon at him. “Now you diiiiiiieeeeee!”

Jared had leapt forward, driving his dagger down hard into the highest part of the creature’s exposed tail.

The Warlord took the opening as a chance to push forward. He grabbed the far end of the battle staff and pushed it up and back, just as the Gordanian triggered the firing mechanism.

The staff discharged its deadly burst directly into the alien’s face!

The Gordanian screamed out in pain as it fell to the ground. The staff clinked to the ground.

The alien clawed at its burning face.

The Warlord pulled his sword and drove it down hard into the exposed, charred face. It was the only vital region unprotected by the armor; it was the only way to insure that the alien invader was truly dead.

The first few lizard men who emerged from the pit cheered.

The Warlord retrieved his blade, shook his head silently at the fallen leader and turned to Jared. “Our work is done here,” he said solemnly. “Let’s go.”

Jared nodded. No more needed to be said, at least not on this day.

Despite all its beauty and pure, clean air, Skartaris was a savage land. It was a place about survival of the fittest. It was a place about extreme actions for extreme circumstances. It was a place where sometimes the hero had to do whatever was necessary to win the battle.