The Boy From The Forest

“Great Overlord, we must cease all daily activity and mourn over the Lesser Overlord for thirty-three fadsacs. Decency demands it.”

“Just shut the hell up.”

The second assistant engineers mate moved away from the Great Overlord’s throne. He was a bit put out, Great Overlord or not.

The second assistant engineers mate was manifested in a permanent solid shape with several appendages suitable for working with small tools. Since his status was not that great, he kept this shape all the time. His supervisor was the Chief Engineer, and she would morph from one shape to the other as the occasion demanded. The Great Overlord was a formless blob who would sometimes form an appendage as it suited his fancy. And of course, the Emperor existed in a pure gaseous state at all times.

“Great Overlord, where are we going?”

Really good question. “Keep parallel with the surface until we get to an area where there are none of those big tall plants.”

The great spaceship skimmed along, hardly above treetop level. Suddenly, the big tall plants were gone, and the land under them had just plants that were very short.

“Put us down near that small area of water.”

The helmsman deftly centered the ship directly over the small lake and started to set it down.

“NO!! Beside the water, not in it!!”

“Sorry, Great Overlord.” The helmsman hastily extended two appendages to correct their course.

The Great Overlord contained his irritation. They were all very shaken over the natives that were so intelligent and adaptable. The Navy Regulations plainly stated that natives on primitive planets were to worship the beings from the stars.

“Great Overlord, the ship is landed and stable.”

“All available warriors, go out and secure the perimeter. Deck Four, I want you to waken all the warriors that are still in cold sleep. We are going to have to fight.”

A few miles away

“Here we are, patrolling the far reaches of the kingdom of Narrython.” Sir Bob had a talent for stating the obvious.

“Just remember that what we are doing is providing a vital service to one and all.” Sir Harold had a talent for sarcasm.

“So what did you two do that you have to ride patrol on the day of the royal wedding?” Sir Elmer chimed in.

“I whistled at Princess Icelandia. How was I to know she was somebody important.”

“I told Sergeant Nolting what I thought of his ugly face.”

“What about you, Sir Elmer? You did not volunteer any more than we did.”

“I was drinking Concordian Wine. One of the cooks offered it to me. I did not know it was supposed to be saved for the wedding.”

On rode the three knights. They were resigned to riding patrol and missing the wedding. It was actually kind of peaceful out there.

“Great Overlord, all the warriors have been awakened from cold sleep. They are milling around outside trying to clear their heads. Spirits of the ancestors, I have no idea what we are going to feed them.”

“To the Centurion of the second phanex: Take half of your command and form a provisioning party. Go out and see what foodstuffs you can find. We have no idea what is the lay of the land, so proceed with all due caution. We need to get established in this new land.” The Great Overlord was giving necessary orders. They weren’t beat yet.

Sirs Bob, Elmer, and Harold rode about a hundred yards from where the Forest began. Birds were singing, and there was a pleasant breeze.

There was some kind of sound in a brushy area a little distance away.

“What is that?” Sir Harold was instantly alert.

“Probably some old cow.” Sir Bob did not want to hear about it.

“Ouch!! These plants have sharp protuberances all along their length.”

“Zzzbtx, do not be such a whiner. What if the Great Overlord heard you crying like a day-old hatchling?”

“Centurion, that is easy for you to say. You are standing in a place where there are no plants with sharp protuberances.”

The Centurion raised his voice. “Everybody!! It is not necessary to walk in a straight line. If you encounter some obstacle or some area where the walking is difficult, just go around it. No need to be like Zzzbtx here.”

Zzzbtx said nothing. Not a good idea to tell the Centurion what you were really thinking. After a moment, he got clear of the blackberry bush.

The Centurion was feeling pressure to find something that they could eat. The Great Overlord was adamant about that. Wait, there was something. What were those things?

“Halt!! Everybody close all your communication orifices.”

Three of them. Each one was a four-footed creature which was carrying what appeared to be another being with two legs and two arms. There was a lot of metal and other things involved, but that was of little interest. Definitely edible.

The Centurion raised an appendage and silently gave orders to his command to spread out and surround these things. Zzzbtx obeyed, but he took the trouble to go around a blackberry bush.

“I tell you there is something in the bushes. A whole bunch of somethings.” Sir Harold just would not shut up about it. “I think they are all around us.”

Sir Elmer and Sir Bob woke up. Any knight learns to sleep in the saddle, but this was not the time. The horses also got excited, sensing that a fight was about to start.

“Now!” The Centurion shouted out his primary communication orifice. All of the aliens stepped out of the bushes and showed themselves to the three knights.

“Ewwww! Those things are ugly. I don’t like the looks of them.”

“Form a line. We will charge them three abreast.” Sir Elmer was the oldest, so he took charge.

“Everybody, try to grab one. Use stunners if you have to, but absolutely no disintegrators. We need to bring something back.”

Sir Elmer, Sir Bob, and Sir Harold charged directly at the Centurion. The Centurion realized he needed to set a good example and grab something that everybody could eat. Good grief, they were coming fast.

“Eeehah!!” Sir Elmer’s sword slashed into the Centurion, nearly taking off his head and slashing into his body all the way to his second and third brains.

Zzzbtx brought up his stunner and fired it at Sir Harold. The electrical charge struck Sir Harold squarely in the chest. Then the electrical charge went around Sir Harold’s armor. It went around and around the armor, not especially touching Sir Harold. Sir Harold swung his sword at Zzzbtx. Before the sword touched Zzzbtx, it gave Sir Harold a pretty good shock. And an instant after that, the sword split Zzzbtx from top to bottom. There was yellow ochre circulatory fluid everywhere.

And then they were through the line of aliens. At first, they just rode as fast as they could, to be sure they had got away.

“Sir Elmer, the Castle is back that way.” Remarked his horse, Mike.

“Mike, I know that. We will go this way a little longer and then turn around and go to the Castle. We need to give the alarm.”

They came over a hill. Sir Elmer figured to turn around once they were out of sight of the creatures that attacked them.

And there was an immense mountain of metal. A lot more of these very strange beings were swarming all over the place. What they were doing, it was hard to tell.

“Turn around now!!”

The great war steeds were surprisingly nimble. They changed direction very quickly when they had to. Off they went back in the direction of the Castle of The King.