FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (41 page)

     There is a sudden whirling sound, and Ray rolls to the ground just in time to avoid one of the spinning metal objects. A female assassin jumps out of a nearby tree and points her sword at Ray. Ray has seen this assassin before. She looks familiar to him, and him to her. Ray stares into her cold eyes, which return the stare ever so sharply.

     The five remaining assassins now face Clover, Spirit and the warrior. The female assassin faces Ray. With the speed of lightning, the female assassin pulls out another star-shaped metal object and throws it at Ray, who has no choice but to dive onto the ground and roll sideways to avoid it. Immediately, Ray counterattacks by thrusting his finger forward to execute a Pebble Dart Spell, and an arrowhead-shaped pebble soars towards the female assassin’s leg, which she manages to avoid by rolling sideways as well. As she recovers to a side standing posture, she gives Ray another cold stare, to which he returns with matching iciness.

     A fierce battle goes on involving Clover, Spirit, the warrior and the five remaining assassins. Ray is concerned for the safety of his wolf companion and for Clover, but cannot afford to help them at the moment. The female assassin is too skilful of an adversary to be dealt with quickly. With a sudden rush forward, the female assassin executes a Vertical Downwards Cut at Ray. Ray raises his staff to block the cut, but manages to do so only barely. In a surprise move, the female assassin swings the handle of her sword forward, smashing Ray’s nose. He stumbles backwards from the attack. She follows up with a Right Horizontal Cut that misses Ray by a finger’s width. Ray trips as he stumbles backwards and slams onto the ground. The impact knocks the wind out of him. The female assassin follows up by stabbing down at Ray, who once again just barely manages to avoid the attack by rolling sideways and thereafter regaining his footing.

     As the female assassin runs forward to attack Ray with a Diagonal Upward Cut, Ray waves his hand and a sudden ball of flames erupted right in front of the female assassin’s faces, shocking her with its intense heat and brightness. She stumbles backwards, temporarily blinded and disorientated. Seizing his opportunity, he rushes forward to attack but the sudden sight of her blade cutting horizontally towards him forces him to block instead. The female assassin takes a few of steps backwards, her vision and senses returning to normal. She rushes forward at Ray in a stabbing motion, causing him to prepare a blocking move, but suddenly she turns around and rushes at the warrior instead. The warrior, who is engaging one of the other assassins, is taken by surprise by the sudden attack and barely manages to block the stabbing attack. As the female assassin follows up with a Diagonal Downwards Cut, Clover, while engaging an opponent of her own, thrusts her finger at the female assassin and a sudden powerful gust of wind blows forward and knocks her off balance, of which she regains by rolling onto the ground and smoothly getting back on her feet again. Ray rushes in to engage the female assassin again.

     There are now three male assassins left. Ray’s nose is bleeding. Crimson liquid of life drips from the open cut on Clover’s left arm. The warrior has several breaches in his armour, his royal blood fertilizing the soil below. Spirit is the only one unharmed. Lance, from behind the bushes, grips his grandfather’s sword, his sword now, ever so tightly.

   Ray knocks the female assassin’s sword sideways, and then pulls the forward end of his staff back so that he can follow up with a jabbing movement. The female assassin moves sideways and kicks away the jabbing end and cuts down on the other end as Ray swings his staff horizontally to follow up. Following up with a Diagonal Downwards Cut, the female assassin sends her sword crashing down towards Ray. Ray blocks the cut with his staff, but can hardly contain the power of her cut. The female assassin raises her knee and executes a Front Horse Kick to Ray’s chest and sends him staggering backwards. She runs towards the warrior once again.

     Ray bends down and touches the ground. Suddenly a wide wall of solid stones emerges from the ground, obstructing the female assassin’s path. To his surprise, she stops, takes a step back and quite unexpectedly, jumps forward and executes a 360 degree Back Horse Kick, shattering a large part of the stone wall and sending debris flying at the warrior.  She then jumps over the remains of wall. In Ray’s mind, this female assassin is one very determined individual, not to mention very skilled and very intelligent because she knew that the wall that he had conjured up was too wide and therefore could not have been sufficiently thick.

     Clover, seeing what the female assassin has done, thrusts her finger forward to execute another spell, but before she can do this, the female assassin sends a star-shaped metal object soaring into her right arm. Clover screams out in pain and drops her sword. Ray, upon seeing this, sends a Heat Burst slamming into the back of the male assassin who was engaging Clover. Spirit, having just killed the assassin he was facing, charges toward the female assassin. Just as Spirit is about to leap for her throat, she turns around and points her sword straight at him, stopping him cold. By this time, the warrior manages to kill the last of the male assassins. Slowly, Ray and the warrior close in on the female assassin. Sensing that her defeat is imminent, she edges slowly away and then in a sudden move, she throws several small black spheres onto the ground. Bright flashes and loud explosions occur, and she is gone. Even Spirit’s sensitive nose and ears cannot detect her.

     Clover pulled the metal object out of her arm. A spray of blood spurted out of the wound. Ray wrapped his hand around the wound and exhaled. A sudden flash of flames appeared around the wound and she gave scream of pain. He removed his hand. Her bleeding was stopped.

     “Scar _ this wound will have of this,” he said Ray.

     “Scar _ it is better to have of this than dying,” she replied.

     The warrior walked up to Ray and Clover.

     “Kind sir and madam, it seems I owe you my life,” said the warrior.

     Spirit growled in disgust.

     “My apologies, wolf, I am indebted to you as well,” added the warrior.

     “Gratitude _ you need not give us of this, for we were only interested in capturing an assassin of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan and not specifically to save your life,” replied Ray.

     Ray’s words shocked the warrior.

     “I apologise, then. But the fact is that you
did
save my life, and I owe you my gratitude whether you wish it or not. Please, allow me to introduce myself…,” insisted the warrior.

     “Identity _ yours of this is Prince Eagle Patrum, Crown Prince of Free Falls, Your Highness
!
” interrupted Clover before the warrior could finish his sentence.

     Ray showed no emotion. Clover, meanwhile, was excited.

     “Yes, madam, I am who you say I am; and I shall ensure that you are justly rewarded for your brave deeds, all of you, even your wolf friend,” assured Prince Patrum.

     “Elementhars _ we are of them, and do not require any reward from you, so thank you anyway; we shall be on our way soon and so should you,” expressed Ray.

     The prince was somewhat taken aback by Ray’s coldness. Then it dawned on him as to the reason why.

     “Ah
!
Yes
!
The cold, apolitical view of the Elementhars
!
I have heard of this. You do not recognise the legitimacy of any king or form of government and you see not yourselves as citizens of this or any other kingdom, instead, you see yourselves as the citizens of a wider universe. Very well, I shall have to
respect
this, seeing that you
did
save my life
!
Well then, may I enquire as to where you are going
?
” said the prince.

     “Fallsene City,” answered Ray.

     “Fallsene City
!
Why do you not travel with me, for I am returning to the capital as well? Do you have a place to stay in Fallsene
?
  You are most welcome to stay at the palace for as long as you wish,” offered Prince Patrum.

     “Travel _ perhaps it is a good idea that we do of this together, for there are many bandits in this forest and your offer of lodging is highly appreciated and accepted,” said Ray, signalling for Lance to join them.

     Clover twitched in nervousness. Her next few words were difficult to say.

     “Forgive _ please do of this to me as I am not able to treat you with the full respect befitting royalty, Your Highness; for although I come from a military family and I am compelled to acknowledge your royalty, I am now an Elementhar and I am supposed to be apolitical,” said Clover.

     “Yes, there is something familiar about your face. Let me guess, you are a Genox. Your grandfather is Retired Orgavian Boulder Genox, hero of the 3
rd
Liberation War.  Your father is Recavian Hammer Genox, hero of the Pridejoy Siege. Your uncles are Orgavians Castle and Arrow Genox. And you have a cousin who serves at Fort Eastguard, Minvian Serene Genox, am I right
?
” guessed Prince Patrum.

     “Right _ you are of this, Your Highness,” said Clover, slightly nervous.

     “Do not worry, Elementhar. I understand,” said the prince.

     Clover felt relieved. It was easy for Ray to be apolitical for he never had dealings with the government or royalty, but Clover’s family shared a deep history with the Patrums dating back to the founding of Free Falls, so it was not easy for her.

     At that very moment, a thunderous sound of horses echoed in the forest as a pond of war chariots and cavalrymen appeared from the opposite direction.

     “Your Highness, are you harmed
?
  Are you injured
?
” said the leader of the pond as he leaped from his chariot and kneeled before the prince.

     “I am fine, Minvian Farhan. A few cuts, but I shall survive,” said the prince to the charioteer.

     “With all due respect, Your Highness, why did you not wait for us
?
  We would have arrived at Fort Eastguard in two days and would have been able to give you safe escort back to the capital. Pardon me, Your Highness, but I must be blunt, for it is part of my job
!
  I have a responsibility to keep you alive
!
You have a responsibility to stay alive
!
You should have waited for us
!
” voiced Minvian Farhan.

     “Yes, you are right, minvian
!
I should have waited. But everything turned out all right, anyway. These fine people saved me from the assassins,” said the prince as he gestured to Ray, Clover, Lance and Spirit.

     Minvian Farhan turned to look at Ray. He was surprised to see that Ray was an Elementhar. He eyed Ray from head to toe in a disapproving manner.

     “I disagree with your choice in life, but I thank you for saving the prince. I owe you a great debt, Elementhar,” said Minvian Farhan as he bowed at Ray.

     Ray returned the bow silently and with neutral expression.

     Then the minvian took a good look at Clover. Clover tried her best to look casual.

     “I know you
!
I know your family, Clover Genox
!
It has been a long time, but, yes, it is you
!
” said Minvian Farhan, apparently recognising the rebel daughter of the commander of 4
th
Ocean.

     “Well _ I hope you have been of this, Javelin, since the last time I saw you at school,” said Clover.

     “I have been well, Clover. Thank you
!
It would have been better for all of us if you had joined us at Fallsian Guards Academy. Your cousin cried for half a year because you were not there with her, did you know that
?
You caused her a lot of embarrassment and grief, Clover. And you shamed our school greatly. But I guess now you have made up for it. You helped save the prince. When I tell our headmaster and teachers back at the school of what you have just done, then they can be proud again. I think they will forgive you. I certainly will. But I do not know if your family will. What you did to your family was ‘unimaginable’, to say the least,” said Minvian Farhan.

     Clover put her head down and tried to contain a tear. Minvian Farhan’s word cut through her like a knife. Ray was getting upset with the minvian’s behaviour.

     Minvian Farhan gave Lance the same look he gave Ray. But he said nothing to him. Then he walked over to Spirit. Spirit growled. The minvian smiled.

     “This is a cute dog
!
” said the minvian to Ray.

     “Wolf _ he is of him,” corrected Ray.