FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (122 page)

     “Wait
!
One more request
!
No one is to kill the clanmaster but me
!
” Dawn interjected.

     “Identity _ and what is his of this of the one who hired your clan to kill my order, this so-called Baron Chessmaster
?
” asked Ray.

     “I must admit, his true identity I don’t know. Only the clanmaster knows. But I’ve seen him at The Lair. His head was always hooded so no one except the clanmaster has seen his face. But two things I’ll tell you about him. This will be my free gift to you, as a token of my sincerity. Firstly, he’s an Elementhar, for I’ve seen him conjuring flames to light his way as he moved around in The Lair. Secondly, he’s an untidy person. He was always eating and throwing the wrappings of food items around him. I remember him well because it was this last trait that offended me so. The Lair is my home, not a garbage dump. Yet he littered it as though it
was
a garbage dump. Anyway, that’s all I know, Minvian Iddell. I hope it’s enough,” answered Eclipse.

     Ray’s jaw dropped at Eclipse’s words. An Elementhar killed his order. His entire order wiped out by one of its own kind
!
Throughout the entire history of the Elementhars, this was not heard of. Never had an Independent Elementhar or an Ordered Elementhar killed any other Elementhar; except in duels conducted in accordance to Elementhar law. But an outright murder, especially using assassins or mercenaries, was never heard of
!
Who had stooped so low
?
Why would he stoop so low
?
What had he hoped to gain
?
It was infuriating
!
It was disgusting
!
Ray just could not believe it. It took a while for him to calm himself down. But calm down he did. And he was thankful, for he had gained one step closer to the truth.

     For a long while, Ray sat silent. Eclipse studied his face as best she could. She could only imagine the anger and the sense of betrayal that he was feeling. She knew these feelings well. She had felt them when the government betrayed her village all those years ago. She had felt them when Venom Collart became corrupted and deviated. It was a pity that she had to put Ray through the same feeling. But the truth was the truth, however unpleasant as it was
!

     “Kill _ you are not to do of this to the clanmaster until I have captured and interrogated him; thereafter upon his conviction and sentencing you may then have the honour of ending his life,” said Ray to Dawn.

     “No
!
He dies immediately
!
Just stay out of my way
!
I’ll get it done
!
He killed my uncle. Vengeance is my right
!
” protested Dawn as she stood up, angry and determined.

     “
Feel
_ now you know how I do of this, assassin; and you
will
not
kill him until I have interrogated him so that
I
may exact my vengeance upon Baron Chessmaster,” insisted Ray, calm and composed; but firm.

     Eclipse put a hand on Dawn’s shoulder and gave her a stern look. Dawn understood what Eclipse had meant with this gesture. The tactician in Dawn realised, as Eclipse had realised, that they needed Ray’s help to save those who were trapped in the clan. And furthermore, without his help, she would not be able to exact the vengeance her heart was burning for. Reluctantly, Dawn sat down, glanced a resigned look at Ray and nodded her head.

     “Relay _ I shall do of this of your offer to the king and the Fallsian government as I have promised. Stay _ you are to do of this here until a decision is made with regards to your offer; and as such, this meeting is adjourned,” declared Ray as he stood up and entered his tent.

     Ray wrote down the contents of Eclipse’s offer as fast as he could, trying to steady his anxious hands while doing so. Shortly thereafter, a despatch rider rode out of the camp, galloping as fast as the winds, directly to Fallsene City.

     At dawn the next day, a contingent of approximately 100 riders and twenty horse-drawn carts rode casually out of Fallsene City.  To the casual observer, they may have seemed like a caravan of merchants travelling to some distant land for trade and bringing along with them a fair number of guards for protection, but the disguise fooled no one. All of Fallsene City’s residents knew where they were going and why. And all of them uttered silent prayers for their success. For although these riders appeared to be casual, in truth they were not.  They were a raiding party.

     Hidden under the riders’ casual tunic, they wore chain mail shirts. They bore no shields on their arms or on their backs. The shields were hidden in the horse-drawn carts. Each of the riders carried a sword, a canvas pouch, a water container and several daggers on their belt. Rolled up in canvas wrappings and secured to their harnesses were spare swords, daggers, bows and arrows. Their backpacks were fully stocked with food and medicine. Each of them wore a cape, which would undoubtedly serve as a blanket for the cold nights ahead. They brought no canvas for tents, for they did not plan to be staying still or sleeping much. Their facial expressions were serious and grim. At the head of this contingent was the old, battle-scarred veteran, Dagger Lidell.

     Two blond haired youths rode immediately behind Dagger. Although they were relatively young in age, both of them just approaching the age of 20; their battle-scarred faces and their hardened expressions indicated that they were not novices to war.

      “For Free Falls and for the name Genox, Tip, we will make those stinking Serpentians pay
!
” said the clean shaven of the two.

      “Well said, little brother
!
I have no doubt that when we are done, the Serpentians will cower and tremble to the name Genox
!
” agreed the other, who had a moustache and a stubble for a beard.

     The two brothers smiled and gave each other a determined nod. Then they looked straight ahead and pushed their horses into a gallop. Thundering roars sounded and dust clouds rose as the contingent galloped at full speed towards the land of their savage ancestors, Serpentia.

     Meanwhile, in the dark, stuffy dungeon of the royal palace, a guard comes up to Minvian Thorn Sayvion’s prison cell.

      “They have deployed,” says the guard.

       Thorn is silent.

       “You should have gone with them,” adds the guard.

       Thorn stays silent again.

       The guard walks away. Thorn lies still in his bed. Doubts begin to consume his mind. He wonders if it is better if he had appealed his case and gone with Dagger Liddell instead. But be he right or wrong, he too utters a silent prayer for the success of Dagger and his raiding party.

DEMISE OF THE

SHADOW DEATHMERCHANT CLAN

     He opens the lid. The stench attacks his nose. But he is used to it. He finds nothing that he can scavenge. He shuts the lid and moves on. He opens the next lid. The stench attacks his nose again. But in his mind, what stench is there
?
He takes a look inside. A glass bottle
!
Wonderful
!
He grabs it. He opens another lid. A chipped chopping knife
!
Marvellous
!
Heaven must be smiling on him this day
!
Day
?
What day is this anyway
?
What month is this, or season, or year, for that matter
?
It has been raining a lot, therefore, it must be Wet Season. And this is his third Wet Season since he was sacked from his job. So the year must be 1183. Or so reasons the former Deputy Governor Stomp Greel.

     Stomp moved on to the next thrash can. He found nothing. But he was satisfied. He has found three glass bottles and a chipped chopping knife, and this was enough for him to buy a meal or two. He sat down on the dirty, smelly backstreet and reminisced how his life was a few years prior. Back then, he threw away bottles by the dozens on a daily basis. But he never threw away a chopping knife before, because he had never owned one. He had never cooked. He had always eaten out. He could afford to. He had a big house. He had a few servants working for him. And every night, he would go to the taverns and pick up a new lady ‘friend’. Ahh
!
Life was good back then
!
Then the people of the Ten Betrayed Villages
had
to cause trouble for him. They
had
to protest
!
And some of them
had
to get themselves killed. Then his boss, Governor Sheppal, got pissed off by the whole incident and fired him for it. And his whole world shattered.

     After Stomp was fired, he had found a job as an accountant in a textile company. The pay was not great, but he still had hope. He could save up some money and open his own business one day. Then he could regain all that he had lost and maybe even more. But for some unknown reason, he was fired a few months later.

     A month after that, he found work as a clerk in a sawmill. And that job did not last either. He was fired a few months later. By then, he had defaulted on his home loan payments. The bank came and took away everything. He was forced out on the streets. He went around searching, but could not seem to get a job. In the end, Stomp became a beggar. A cold, sickly, starving beggar. He was poorer than the farmers whom he had hated so much, and he had hated them because they were poor in the first place.

     The sky had turned dark. Stomp brought his mind back to the present. He got up off the ground. He would have to walk over to the brewery to sell the bottles that he had scavenged. But as he took a few steps towards the main street, five figures, all dressed in black, jumped down from the roof tops and barred his way. He turned around, not knowing what else to do. Then another five black-clad figures jumped down and blocked his way. He was trapped
!
He was confused
!
What was all this about
?

     The figures took off their masks, revealing their faces clearly to the former deputy governor. He looked at them, first in confusion and then in anger.

     “Do you recognise us
?
” asked one of the figures.

     “Yes
!
You are those stinking farmers
!
I lost my job because of you
!
I lost everything because of you
!
” answered Stomp.

     “Good
!
We’re happy because you’re miserable
!
” said Venom Collart.

     “What do you want
!?
” asked Stomp.

     “Vengeance
!
” answered the Ten Founders of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan in unison.

     “Vengeance
?
” asked Stomp.

     “Vengeance
!
We want you to know that you lost your job because of us,” said Rake Breven.

     “We want you to know that you lost your job in the textile company because of us as well. We had threatened the owner and forced him to terminate your employment,” said Tiller Breven.

     “Why you…,” was all Stomp could say before Venom Collart pulled out a sword and pointed the tip of it at him.

     Stomp backed away and cowered a little at the sight of Venom’s sword.

     “We also want you to know that we were responsible for you losing your job at the sawmill. We had kidnapped the owner’s daughter and ransomed her release with your job termination,” said Root Swerrell.

     “And we had posted warning letters to all the businesses in Southnode and Southverge that whoever employed you shall have all their loved ones killed,” said Bud Swerrell.

     “But why
?
” asked Stomp.

     “Because we’re happy that you’re miserable
!
” answered Eclipse Menox.

     “Because we want you to suffer as how we did, and even more,” added Oak Nomell.

     The realisation dawned on Stomp. He had been sabotaged all this while. No wonder he could not get a job, or keep it when he got one
!

     “Why are you telling me this now
?
” he asked.

     “Vengeance
!
” replied the Ten Founders in unison.

     “What vengeance is there left
?
” he asked.

     The Ten Founders of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan draw out their swords. They close in on Stomp. He begins to realise what they had meant when they said the word ‘vengeance’. He begins to piss in his pants. He knows what is coming. Rake cuts him at his left knee. The former deputy governor screams out in pain and falls to the ground. Tiller cuts him at the right knee, just to torment him. Root and Bud both cut him at the wrists. Stomp lets out another scream. Oak stabs his right shoulder. Stomp cries out like a little girl. Eclipse cuts him across the cheekbones. He cries out again. Venom slides the edge of his blade up the middle of Stomp’s pants. Stomp lets out a silent scream.

     “Vengeance is ours
!
” says the Ten Founders in unison as they stab Stomp over and over and over again.

     And so former Deputy Governor Stomp Greel’s life was ended in a smelly backstreet of Southnode Town, three years to the anniversary of the flooding that destroyed the Ten Betrayed Villages. And then the Ten Founders dispersed and disappeared into the shadows.

     She closed her eyes. Streams of tears rolled down her cheeks. She cannot bear for him to touch her, but she allowed it, yet again. She had no choice. Her father had died a few days ago, on the
12
th
Day of Fifth Month of Dry Season in the year 1200 of the Known Era
. Her mother was threatened with execution. She had to do this. It would spare her mother’s life. She was barely of the age 18. But she was old enough for him. She felt his cold-blooded hands unbutton her dress. Those cold-blooded hands
!
They were probably the same ones that killed her father.

     His hands discovered every inch of her body. She was his to use, to abuse. It was nothing to him. She was just a vessel to channel his lust and desires. And when he was done, he let out an evil laugh. He did it on purpose, to show her that he truly and completely owned her. More tears rolled down her cheeks. Her body trembled as she sobbed. He lay with a sinister smile on his face.

    “You may go, Silk. Come back tomorrow at the same time. And bring your sister
!
” he said.

     “But clanmaster
!
She is just 15. She is too young
!
” Silk objected as she sat up and looked at him, naked except for the thin sheet that covered her chest.

     “I’ll decide if she is too young or not
!
” retorted Venom.

     Tears began flowing freely down Silk’s cheeks again. She got up, got dressed and left the clanmaster’s chamber. She walked silently down the dimly lit tunnels of The Lair. How could she do it
?
How could she bring her younger sister to be devoured by this monster
?
Would death be more preferable
?
But would death solve anything
?
Would it inflict pain and suffering upon him as he had inflicted onto others
?
No, death is not more preferable
!
Justice is
!
Vengeance is
!
And one day, she would get her vengeance, she swore. But for now, she would just have to endure. Her sister would have to endure. Her mother, most of all, would have to endure.

     It was a nice, bright morning on the
22
nd
Day of Fifth Month of Dry Season
, when the quiet streets of Eastsands Town were awakened by the sounds of thundering hooves. Minvian Sky Proest and 3
rd
Pond, 3
rd
Lake, 1
st
Ocean galloped all the way up the main street until they reached The Spot. Along with them rode the rest of the Royal Elementhar Pond, which were 4
th
and 5
th
Rivers. Minvians Ray Iddell, Clover Genox and Serene Genox stood at the entrance to welcome them all. Ray had returned to The Spot just the day before and had brought along Dawn Breven and Eclipse Menox as ‘guests’.

     “Freedom and harmony _ Minvian Proest, I wish you of this
!
” greeted Ray.

     “Freedom and harmony, Minvians Iddell and Genoxes
!
” replied Sky as he dismounted.

     “News _ of this, I take it that the king has consented to the assassins’ proposal
?
” asked Ray quite unnecessarily after a brief exchange of bows.

     “Affirmative. They and those on their side are to be pardoned and a large piece of land in the northern part of North-western Falls Province has been allocated for their ‘resettlement’. The entire 3
rd
Pond and I have been assigned to assist you in the attack on The Lair. Our orders are to capture or kill all Shadow Deathmerchant Clan assassins except for those whom the king has pardoned. Here is the letter of pardon that bears the king’s seal,” said Sky as he handed Ray a rolled-up parchment.

     Ray unrolled the parchment and read the contents, with both Clover and Serene crammed up either side of him, reading it too. Ray gave an acknowledging nod to Sky. He then told Sky where his subordinates could set up camp and get breakfast. He also told Sky to come see him when he was properly rested. Sky bowed, turned around and shouted orders to his soldiers and moved to set up camp.

     It was only about mid-afternoon when Sky felt himself rested enough to meet Ray and the others at the Command and Control Centre. Ray then sent five guards to fetch their ‘guests’. When Dawn and Eclipse had arrived, they were sat down on one side of the table with Ray, Clover, Serene and Sky on the other. Rod Sayson sat in a corner, observing.

     At first, they all sat in silence. Though none of their faces betrayed any emotions, their hearts were beating rapidly with doubts and anxiety. Ray and the others had doubted the sincerity of Dawn and Eclipse. What if this ‘deal’ was some sort of an elaborate trap
?
But if it was, to what end might it serve
?
But if it was not, then what a fantastic opportunity it would be
!
They could put an end to the threat of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan forever.

     To Ray, this ‘deal’ would mark the most significant breakthrough, if not the end itself, to his quest that has lasted 15 years. Finally, he would be able to destroy the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. Finally he would be able to avenge the destruction of his order. And most important of all, he would be able to discover the identity of Baron Chessmaster. He would then snuff out the light in this beast’s eyes, and finally, he would have closure
!

     For Clover, this ‘deal’ was almost as meaningful to her as it was to Ray. She had been initiated into the Order of Fire Elementhars by him. Although she did not know any of its original members, she was connected to them through Ray and his guidance. She had gained from their wisdom and knowledge through the reading of their section of the Original Vanguard Manuscript. They were a part of her history and she was a part of their future. Putting an end to Baron Chessmaster’s life would be a fitting tribute to her order.