FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (14 page)

     “Superior _ now do you see why I am of this to you
?
” asked Scorpion.

     Ray was silent. He was so angry that he could not find the right words to say.

     Scorpion moved to the back of the queue and punched Stick in the belly. Stick gave out a yelp-like sort of sound and collapsed to his knees. Scorpion dragged Stick by the collar and placed him next to Ray.

     “Kind _ do not say that I am not of this to you, Ray, for I have brought you a friend,” he said.

     Suddenly, a food tray slammed into Scorpion’s back. He stumbled forward slightly, but he kept his footing.

     “Alone _ you leave Ray of this, Scorpion
!
” warned Bloom.

     “Alone _ yes, you leave Ray of this, Scorpion
!
” repeated Radiance.

     Scorpion started laughing. Then he shook his head, walked away from the queue towards the table where Cutter was seated, grabbed Cutter’s food tray and walked off with it. Cutter just sat there stunned. Scorpion’s behaviour was just so strange to him that he did not know how to react.

     Meanwhile, the Dellix twins helped Ray to stand up and Slide did the same for Stick. Then Slide brought the both of them to the infirmary.

     Master Autumn jumped out of her seat when she saw Ray and Stick. She was furious. But she did not ask anyone about what had happened. She just assumed that Ray and Stick got into a fight with each other.

     “Behave _ is this how you should do of this, Ray
!?
Better _ I had expected of this of you, young man
!
” reprimanded Master Matten unreasonably.

     Slide chose to ‘gracefully’ leave the infirmary, before he became a target himself.

     ‘Fault _ it was...’ was all Ray could say before Master Matten cleared her throat loudly and gave him such a stern stare he felt his gut shrink.

     “You
!
” said Master Matten as she pointed a finger at Stick.

    Stick pissed in his pants … and then pretended that he did not.

     “Brilliant _ Master Santlyn told me you were of this, and that you would make a great Elementhar one day, so how is it that you ended up behaving like this
!?
” she said while giving him the same stern stare as she had given Ray.

     To both Ray and Stick’s surprise, Master Matten did not inspect their injuries like they thought she would
!
Instead, she dragged the both of them by their ear and made them stand in the middle of the empty field under the hot afternoon sun.

     “Stay _ you will do of this until I come back and bring you in
!
” she commanded, and then she turned and marched off.

     So there in the empty field and under the hot sun stood Ray, with a swollen eye and Stick, with a bruised stomach and wet pants.

     “Feeling _ how are you of this, Stick
?
” asked Ray after a while.

     “Talk _ do not do of this to me, you imbecile
!
” responded Stick.

     “What
?
” said Ray in total surprise.

     “Fault _ this is all yours of it
!
” accused Stick.

     “What
!?
Fault _ how so is it mine of this
?
” objected Ray.

     “Listen _ you do of this, you baboon
!
Given _ if you had just done of this of your place to Scorpion, then none of this would have happened; and we would all be in class where I can make all of you look stupid
!
” said Stick.

     “What
!
” expressed Ray in surprise.

     “Heard _ you did of this of me, Ray Iddell
!
” said Stick.

     “Justice _ would it have been of this if I had given my place to Scorpion, Stick
!?
” highlighted Ray.

     “Justice
!?
Justice
!?
Justice _ who the hell cares about of it, Ray
?
Doing _  what I was of this was dominance, supremacy
!
Idiot _ I made him look like of him in class, where it mattered, Ray, so that I can be the best Elementhar amongst us. Dominate _ I was doing of this by ruining his reputation amongst the masters, so that they would think him stupid and think me smart. Justice _ it’s not about of this, Ray
!
Impression _ it was all about of this
!
Justice _ thanks to your idiotic notion of this, my plans are ruined
!
” argued Stick.

     Ray shook his head in confusion. Something was not right with what Stick was saying.

      “Bad _ I can understand why you would want to make Scorpion look of it, for he treats you badly; but why all of us as well
?
” asked Ray in good faith.

     “Competition _ life is of this, Ray; and for me to rise, all of you must fall
!
” answered Stick selfishly.

     “Competition _ life is not of this, Stick; but it is about purification of our souls instead, so why can we not rise together
?
” Ray pointed out.

     “Competition _ life is of this Ray; and there is only
one
‘King of the Hill’, so to speak, and I intend to be him
!
” argued Stick.

     “Happen _ and what will of this be to the rest of us
?
” asked Ray.

     “Happen _ of this to the rest of you, you may rot for all I care; for I am the best and the world must know that I am the best; and everything else does not matter
!
” answered Stick.

     “Confused _ I do not know who is more of this, you or Scorpion
!
Great _ as of this as you think you are and that you think I am not, at least I do not piss in my pants
!
” commented Ray.

     Stick opened his mouth to respond, but no argument came out. As much as the ever so great and magnificent and all-mighty Mister Stick Dugs, ‘King of the Hill’, would like to deny it; the truth is, he
did
piss in his pants. And on this point, he could not argue against Ray.
Damn you, Ray Iddell!

     The sun was mercilessly hot and after a while, both Ray’s and Stick’s throat felt coarse and dry. They began to develop headaches. Ray was wobbling while Stick began vomiting.

     Ray saw two figures approaching them. He wondered whether he was hallucinating or not. Then he heard Stick cursing and he knew that he was not hallucinating.

     “Dellix _ those damn twins of them, what are they doing here
!?
” Stick said a little too loudly.

     Bloom handed Ray a bamboo water container, and Ray drank from it greedily. Then Radiance handed him a piece of cake wrapped in large leaves, and he ate it up in two mouthfuls. Ray had then wanted to hand the water container to Stick, but Bloom snatched it from him.

     “Doing _ what are you of this, Bloom
?
” asked Ray, surprised.

     “Deserve _ he does not of this, for he said curses of us and I heard it,” answered Bloom.

     “Deserve _ you are the one who is of this of damnation, not us, so too bad, Stick
!
” said Radiance as both she and Bloom walked away.

     “Puking _ happy doing of this, Stick,” added Bloom.

     Once again, Stick was at a lost for words. Ray had wanted to pity him. But Ray knew that his sympathy would be wasted on Stick. So Ray decided to teach him a lesson instead.

     “Given _ they would have done of this of the water to you, if you had not been so proud and arrogant,” said Ray.

      ‘Need _ I do not ... auurgh
!
’ was all Stick had managed to say before he bent over and started vomiting again.

     And all Ray did was laughed, and laughed and laughed.

     A month after Ray had begun his training, his relationship with both Scorpion and Stick was as bad as ever. Scorpion made it a point to pick on Ray whenever he could, which was whenever he was not picking on Stick. Stick was as snobbish as ever, but particularly so to Ray. Then one day, Ray stepped into Master Santlyn’s office to ask him about them.

     “Behave _ why do they do so of this towards me and the others, Master Santlyn
?
” asked Ray after explaining his problems to him.

     “Behave _ they do so, Ray, for similar reasons; though through different ways. Bullying _ they are both doing of this, with Scorpion using his strength and aggression; and Stick using his intellect and diligence. Bullying _ they are doing of this to gain power and respect by
not
earning these the right way; and perhaps they felt themselves inadequate to be able to earn these the right way, and they chose to cover up their inadequacies,” explain Master Santlyn.

     “Stop _ how do I do of this of them
?
” asked Ray.

     “Stop _ of this, you could insist on Scorpion
not
treating you the usual way by firmly telling him to stop; and as for Stick, you could ‘out-study’ him to make him look foolish and perhaps then he would stop,” advised Master Santlyn.

     “Advice _ thank you for yours of this, master,” said Ray as he got up, bowed and left the office.

     Two months had passed, and the situation had not changed one bit. Scorpion was still bullying Ray and the others; and Stick was ever the more snobbish and arrogant. Ray decided that he has had enough of the both of them. So when Scorpion tried to pull Ray out of the queue during lunch time, Ray gave him a punch right in the nose. Scorpion yelled out in pain, and then he grabbed Ray by the collar of his shirt and beat the living daylights out of him. Scorpion only stopped when Slide grabbed his punching wrist and gave him a stare so stern that it sent shivers down his spine. Scorpion walked away without any food.

     Slide helped Ray to get back up. Ray’s face was swollen. His nose and mouth were bleeding. But his spirit was high.

    “Proud _ I am of this of you, Ray; for you took it like a man
!
” complimented Slide.

     “Thanks
!
Ouch
!
” said Ray as he tried to smile.

     “Showed _ you did of this to him, Ray; thanks
!
” said Cutter, who became Scorpion’s third favourite bully victim after Stick and Ray.

     “Showed _ I think he did of this to me, not the other way around, but thanks anyway, Cutter,” said Ray.

     The Dellix twins took one look at Ray’s face, freaked out and rushed him off to see Master Matten, so in the end, Ray did not get any lunch either. What was worse, Ray had to stand in the empty field under the hot sun again, and this time he stood there alone. As usual, the Dellix twins came to his rescue with some drinks and snacks after an hour or two.

      Scorpion once again tried to grab Ray and pull him out of the queue at dinner time. But this time, Ray punched him straight in the nose even before he managed to get close. And for good measure, Ray kicked him in the groin as well. Scorpion collapsed to his knees and whimpered like a scared puppy for a few heartbeats. But then he got up and came charging desperately at Ray. Both boys proceeded to beat the living daylights out of each other, with Scorpion fairing much better. And then came Master Matten, who grabbed both boys by the ear and made them stand alone in the empty field in the dark. As usual, she was not concerned with their injuries, just their punishment.

     “Idiot_ you are of this, Ray; for why can you not just submit to my supremacy
!?
Look _ do of this of us now, cold and hungry and standing in the dark
!
” said Scorpion.

     “Idiot _ you are the one of him, for if you treated everyone fairly and equally, and if you had
not
considered yourself supreme, then none of us would have to be here cold and hungry and standing in the dark
!
” replied Ray.

     “Submit _ you could have chosen to do of this
!
” stressed Scorpion.

     “Dominate _ you could have chosen
not
to do of this
!
” countered Ray.