FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (16 page)

     “Crazy _ are you of this, Scorpion
!
Diamonds _ those are black ones of these
!
” objected Stick.

     “So
!?
” countered Scorpion.

     “So ... Remember _ I do not of this exactly, but I know that we are not supposed to touch them. Dangerous _ they are of this,” said Stick feebly, losing his confidence, and also arrogance, for the first time in his life.

     Scorpion gave him a surprised look. And then he started laughing again.

     “Dangerous
!
Remember _ but I do not of this. Why
?
Ha
!
Ha
!
Ha
!
Stupid _ for once, the all-knowing, high and mighty Stick Dugs admits that he is of this
!
Historic _ this night is of this
!
Ha
!
Ha
!
Ha
!
” laughed Scorpion, clearly enjoying this moment of victory.

     Ray and the Dellix twins just stood silent. They did not know even what to think. Then to their further surprise, Scorpion produced several shovels from behind some trees and threw them on the ground.

     “Dig _ help me do of this now
!
” said Scorpion.

     Stick shook his head. The Dellix twins stood dumbfounded. But for some strange reason, Ray and Slide found themselves digging alongside Scorpion. Was it curiosity or just the complete loss of common sense
?
Both Ray and Slide could not be sure. But dig alongside Scorpion they did, until they got to the wooden chest. Slide helped Scorpion carry the chest out, but before anyone could have a proper look at it, Scorpion had struck the lock loose with his shovel and opened the chest.

     The novices immediately felt a strange feeling of despair emanating from the chest, or more correctly, from the hundreds of black diamonds contained within it. The novices felt goose bumps all over. And before anybody had realised it, Scorpion had already grabbed a handful of the diamonds and was stuffing them into his pockets.

     “Waiting _ what are you doing of this for
!?
Idiots _ you are all of these, so come on, grab as much of the diamonds as you can
!
” said Scorpion.

     Slide had begun reaching into the chest when suddenly Ray pushed him to the ground.

     “No
!
Wrong _ something is of this about these diamonds
!
” Ray explained to a slightly irritated Slide.

     “Diamonds _ they are just of them, Ray
!
Paranoid _ do not be of this
!
” ridiculed Slide.

     “Right _ he is of this, Slide, so you must not touch them
!
” yelled Stick.

    A loud and eerie scream pervaded the air. Everyone turned toward the direction of the scream. It was the Dellix twins. They were cowering in fear and hugging each other tightly. Then everyone turned toward the direction at which Radiance was pointing.

     They all saw him. Scorpion Tannex was standing upright with black diamonds in his hands. But he stood stiff and motionless, like a statue. Blood flowed from his eyes and nose. His skin was pale. Fangs protruded from his mouth.

     “Happening _ what is of this, Stick
?
” asked Ray.

     “Know _ I do not of this
!
” answered Stick.

     “Happening _ what is of this, Stick, for you know the book the best
!
” asked Slide.

     “Know _ I do not of this, Slide
!
” answered Stick in a panicky voice.

     Scorpion dropped the diamonds that he had in his hands. He opened his mouth wide. His fangs showed clearly. Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth.

     “Food
!!!
Hungry
!!!
Delicious food
!!!
” said Scorpion as he made a dash towards Stick.

     “Help
!
Help, help, hel..,” yelped Stick as he turned and ran for his life, leaving behind an odd odour which smelled a lot like urine.

     But alas for Stick, for he had gotten no more than five paces before Scorpion pounced on him and pinned him down. Stick saw death in Scorpion’s eyes, Stick’s very own death. Scorpion’s eyes were now totally red; and he looked more demon than human. He licked his lips. Saliva dripped onto Stick’s face.

     “Die _ I want not to be of this
!
Please
!
Kill _ do not do of this to me, please, Scorpion,” begged Stick.

     “Food
!!!
” said Scorpion.

     Scorpion opened his mouth wide. His fangs seemed to extend itself out even further. And he was about to bite down, and end poor Stick Dugs’ life.

    
Bonk!!!
The back of a shovel hit Scorpion at the back of his head. Scorpion lost consciousness and collapsed right on top of Stick. Stick pushed Scorpion’s unconscious body to the side, got up, and ran away into the forest screaming in fear.

     Master Ridge Santlyn threw away the shovel that he was holding. He turned and looked at every single one of the novices.

     “Done - what have all of you of this
!?
” he shouted.

     All the remaining novices stood still.

     Master Matten was already fast at work. She had turned the unconscious Scorpion onto his back and she had begun something that none of the novices had seen before. She had begun drawing her soul energy and radiating it out from her eyes in an almost invisible, constant beam. Her eyes glowed like bright sunlight. The sight was strange and scary. The beam from her eyes hit Scorpion’s face at a spot just above the bridge of his nose.

     Scorpion began writhing in pain. His body began to convulse violently. Senior Dencon held him down. Master Santlyn, meanwhile, put on a pair of thick gloves and began emptying out Scorpion’s pockets of the black diamonds. Ray could not help but notice how thick the pair of gloves was. He could also not help but to realise the urgency of removing the diamonds, for Master Santlyn just threw them on the ground as he removed them. Master Santlyn then took over from Master Matten when she became tired. The masters were trying to cure Scorpion in a way that the novices could not possibly hope to understand.

     It was dawn when the three masters finally stopped their efforts. Senior Dencon ordered Ray and Slide to return to the monune to get a stretcher. Ray and Slide set out immediately at full speed. Three quarters of an hour later, they returned with a stretcher. Senior Dencon and Slide laid Scorpion on the stretcher. Ray and Slide then lifted the stretcher and all the novices, under the guidance of Senior Dencon, headed back to the monune. Masters Santlyn and Matten stayed behind to recover all of the black diamonds and placed them back into the wooden chest. Ray presumed that the wooden chest would be re-locked and re-buried somewhere else.

     Back at the monune the novices got the tongue-lashing of their lives. Finally, the novices understood the stupidity of their actions. The black diamonds were originally white, and they had been embedded into weapons that the Elementhars had used in their battle against the demons. The embedding of these diamonds and other gemstones turned the weapons into Sorcerised Items. The white diamonds were used as shields to block and absorb demonic energy that the demons had sent out against the Elementhars. After a while, the diamonds became saturated with demonic energy and turned black. At this point, the diamonds could no longer be used as shields, so they needed to be discarded. Thus they were put into the wooden chest and buried so that no one could come into contact with them. Should anyone come into physical contact with them, as what Scorpion had done, he or she would be possessed by the demonic energy contained within the diamonds. Their soul would be corrupted and they would either die as a result, or even worse, turn into demon themselves. So black diamonds were not just valueless, they were dangerous.

     Suddenly, Master Santlyn came to a realisation; Stick Dugs could be missing. He had Senior Dencon go look for him. Half an hour later, Senior Dencon confirmed his suspicion. Stick Dugs had not returned to the monune. Master Santlyn instructed Senior Dencon to form a search party. All the masters, except for Masters Santlyn and Matten, were to set out to search for Stick. Senior Dencon was to be in charge of the search overall.  Each master was to command a group of four novices and set out in different directions. They would meet back at the monune every three hours and set out again after a little bit of rest. Senior Dencon bowed, turned and left with great urgency. The search parties were on their way within a quarter of an hour.

     The Fire Elementhars searched for three days and three nights. On the fourth day, they called off their search. Stick Dugs could not be found. One of the masters was sent to inform Stick’s family of his disappearance. It was when this master returned that they found out that Stick had ran home and would not be returning to Monune Ruby ever again. A silent gladness filled the hearts of the novices. But none of them showed it, of course.

     Scorpion was never himself after that unfortunate incident. Try as they might, the masters could not properly heal him. He would show up at class, sit silently and stare straight ahead all day. He looked more like a statue than a human. Confusion was expressed on his face all the time. He did not sleep well. Ray had heard him screaming in his room at night. The masters would rush to his room every night and it would take quite a while for them to calm him down. Ray also noticed that Scorpion had dark rings around his eyes and was dozing off in class. Ray thought of raising the issue with Master Matten, but decided against it. He was sure that the masters were aware of the problem.

     About a month after the incident with the black diamonds, the novices were brought on an outing to Eastpeak Town. The monune was in need of supplies, and its occupants were in need of a little distraction from their daily routine. Ray and the Dellix twins accompanied Master Matten to the apothecary. The other novices followed various masters to help with the purchase of supplies. Scorpion was meant to follow Senior Dencon to the hardware store, but he wandered off when Senior Dencon was not looking. He walked straight into the path of a horse-drawn carriage and was trampled to death. All the masters were saddened by this event. Senior Dencon felt guilty for not keeping a proper eye on Scorpion. The novices felt sympathy for their deceased classmate. But Ray felt differently. He was glad for Scorpion. He felt that it was better off for Scorpion. Scorpion did not have to suffer anymore. No more sleepless nights for him. No more bad dreams for him. No more hollowed existence for him. Perhaps now he would finally be at peace.

     The next few days were very busy days for Monune Ruby. The decision was made to hold Scorpion’s funeral at the monune rather than at his home. Ray suspected that this was due to the fact that Scorpion’s parents could not afford to pay for the funeral, and that the Fire Elementhars were more than willing to do so.

     The funeral was held at the empty field. It was a bright and sunny day. Scorpion’s coffin was displayed in front of two large columns of chairs. Scorpion’s family members were seated at the front rows.

     The event began with Master Santlyn welcoming everyone to this sad occasion. Then he said a few kind words in honour of Scorpion. Then one by one, certain individuals known as Receivers got up to the podium and delivered their lectures. Ray did not understand what they were talking about. All he knew was that they were long and boring. They were talking about life, death, afterlife, angels, demons, heaven and hell. This was the first time Ray had heard of such things, with the exception of demons, of course. Ray had always known that demons exist. Then at the end of it, Scorpion’s parents got up to the podium to address the crowd. They thanked everyone for attending the event and they said their final goodbye to their deceased son. Then the masters surrounded Scorpion’s coffin. Using their Elemental Sorcery skills, they created a play of flames in the shape of fire dragons weaving in and out and around the coffin until the coffin caught fire and was engulfed in a huge fireball. All of those who were present bowed their heads in sorrow and respect.

     So it is that on this bright and sunny day, while staring into the huge fireball that is before him, Novice Elementhar Ray Iddell learns first-hand the true hazards of demon hunting. And also, on this day he learns that evil need not have a shape or form to kill. On this day he learns that even after a demon is killed; part of its essence, its soul, is still deadly and destructive. On this day he learns that evil can be either object or subject, but its lethality is ever potent. This is his first direct dealing with death at the hands of evil, and it will be the first of many.