Chapter 16
1067 Words
With the slight opening of his eyes, Khizo could make out that he was in a tent. He looked around and found an old lady standing with her back facing him.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Khizo asked.
"You are at Krimighan army camp. After your assassination attempt failed, the King's army arrived. I came here with them as a nurse."
"How am I still alive?" Khizo asked.
"That's something only you can know. We found you lying on your horse." The old lady replied.
"My horse?"
"Yes, he carried you safely through the battle."
"Davis threw me out of his Palace. That's all I remember."
"Your horse saved you from getting killed." The old lady declared.
"How's the battle going?" Khizo inquired.
"It's night. Both the armies have retreated."
Khizo struggled and finally managed to get up from his bed.
"You need to rest." The old lady warned.
"No, I'm fine." Khizo replied, ignoring the pain in his chest.
The Krimighan army camp had been laid quite far away from the city. The walls of Petuk were still visible but the distance between them was so much that neither they nor Petukians could fire at other.
"Where is Triston?" Khizo asked a soldier who was patrolling the camp.
"There," The soldier pointed at the largest tent inside the entire camp. It was golden in colour and had floral patterns on it.
"Thank you." Khizo said before walking towards the tent.
Without a question, the guard cleared a way for Khizo to enter the tent where Triston was discussing the war strategy along with other soldiers.
"Khizo, so glad to see you safe!" Triston exclaimed.
"Thanks, how's the war going?" Khizo asked.
Triston's face darkened, "Not good. The king gave us as many soldiers as he could but Petukians still have double the numbers. Tomorrow, the King himself will arrive at the battle."
"I don't think we can defeat them no matter how good we fight." One of the soldiers said.
"We are Krimighans. We have venom in our veins." Triston stated.
"A line from an old poetry won't help in any way." The soldier muttered.
Suddenly, Triston realised that Khizo had gone silent.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked.
"That's it! The key to defeating Petukians is Venom!" Khizo stated.
"What do you mean?" Triston asked.
"We can unleash a bed of scorpions on them. They'll do the work for us." Khizo said.
"And how can we get so many scorpions?" Triston asked.
"I know someone who can do this. Do you remember the man who provided us with food? He eats scorpions." Khizo said.
"In that case, you must leave tomorrow to meet that man."
"I will. By the way, what happened to Cloris?" Khizo asked.
"He returned back to us a while after we found you. He seemed very concerned about your condition." Triston replied.
"I will meet him tomorrow then. You all should get some sleep too."
"Wait!" Triston stopped him. He grabbed a horn from the table and handed it to Khizo. "Blow this horn and every Krimighan soldier will retreat while you let out the scorpions."

As soon as the sunrise came, the Krimighan army camp started buzzing with activity as the soldiers prepared themselves for the battle.
When Cloris got out of his tent, he found Khizo waiting for him outside.
"Khizo! Thank the gods you are safe!" Cloris cried.
In response, Khizo just smiled.
"How are you feeling?" Cloris asked.
"A lot better. Anyway, I want you to come with me." Khizo stated.
"To where?"
"To change the tide of the battle."
Aron and Cal were waiting for their owners at the stable of the camp.
"There is no comparison now. Aron is a better horse than Cal. He just saved my life." Khizo stroked the silky white hairs of Aron.
"Aron indeed is a brave horse. Triston told me about how he carried you safely through the battlefield. Although you have no idea what Cal can do for me." Cloris stated.
"We can spend our entire life and still this argument won't end." Khizo laughed, "Anyway, we have to go now."
Both of them climbed up on their horses and trudged out of the camp while Triston was giving his speech to the soldiers.
"Will you tell me where we are going?" Cloris asked as they rode ahead.
"You remember that man who gave us food?"
"I can't forget a man like this so easily."
"We are going to meet him."
"Why?"
"I'll tell you later."
Once they had again reached the jungle path, it didn't take them long to find the cabin again. The owner of the cabin was sitting outside the cabin, eating something that Khizo hoped wasn't a scorpion.
"I remember you." The man stated as soon as Khizo and Cloris got off their horses.
"You still have the scorpions?" Khizo asked.
"Why not? I eat them." The man replied.
"Will you give us all of them?"
"That will require a lot of shiny things."
Luckily, Khizo had made sure to borrow three pouches full of coins from Triston. He handed all the pouches to the man.
"That's a lot of shiny things." The man let out a burst of childish laughter.
"The scorpions?" Khizo demanded.
The man disappeared inside his cabin and came back carrying a huge bag. The content inside it was moving.
"Careful with them. Their poison will not take long to kill you." The man warned.
Khizo took the bag with shaky hands and tightened the rope that was sealing the opening of the bag. "We need to go now.
The battle was at its full height when Khizo and Cloris arrived.
"Shall we release them now?" Cloris asked.
"And let them kill Krimighan soldiers as well? Don't be stupid."
"What shall we do then?"
"Triston handed me a horn. It's time to use it."
Khizo took out a horn decorated with rare stones. He brought it to his mouth and then blew at it with all his power.
The sound of horn echoed across the battlefield. Upon hearing it, all the Krimighan soldiers dashed away from the battle, leaving Petukian army in a state of confusion.
Taking use of the situation, Khizo galloped towards the army, loosened the rope on the bag and tossed it at the army before making an escape.
Panic replaced the confusion in the army as scorpions emerged from the bag and started stinging the soldiers who were too stunned at first to even react. Once the Petukian army had regained their senses, they started swinging their sword at the ground in an attempt to kill the soldiers. Some managed to kill the scorpions while others were stung by them. By the time the wrath of the scorpions were over, the enemy army was reduced to almost half of their number.
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