FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (59 page)

     The crowd broke into thunderous applause. Tears streamed down the proud Genoxes cheeks. The banners and flags of Free Falls furled and swayed with the blowing of the strong midday wind and cotton-white clouds sheltered the Fallsians below from the hot sun above.

     Two days later, Elementhar training started for Minvian Serene Genox. She found the training to be strange. She was used to sit-ups, push-ups, running, climbing and jumping over obstacles and all manner of tough physical activities; but to sit stationary, silent, calm and tranquil; this was unthinkable
!
To search for energy within her body, to make contact with a force from deep within her soul, this type of training was so unfamiliar that it intimidated her
!
But she gritted her teeth and tried her best. The other soldiers of the Royal Elementhar Pond felt the same way as she did.

     What came after the meditation session was even more foreign to them. Energy Discharge Practices were extremely scary but exciting in a certain way. To see flames erupting from their fingertips was very unsettling to them, but at the same time, felt empowering. Serene’s fingertips felt hot and raw. No doubt she had accidentally singed them a few times.

     After an hour’s practice, Serene felt disorientated. Her body wobbled and she dropped to one knee. Her vision blurred. There was a low rumbling sound. She thought that she was exhausted and was about to faint, but when she looked around, she saw many others on their knees as well. Then it became apparent to her. It was another earthquake. It was the second earthquake this season. This was very unusual. Looking at Ray’s facial expression, she suspected that Ray felt the same way as well. There were some murmured words between Ray and Clover, but Serene could not make out what was said between them. Finally, Ray ended the training session and all the new novices rushed to the water filled wooden pails nearby and immersed their fingertips into them.

     Spirit the White Wolf looks on. He gives a slight wag of his tail, apparently pleased with the progress of the 300 odd new members of his now very large pack. And as Ray pats Spirit on the head and looks at his new students, he realises that despite being cousins, Clover and Serene have not spoken to each other for the past two days. Ray senses a great animosity between the two and wonders what the issue really is between
the Cousins Genox
.

THE COUSINS GENOX

     It is the
4
th
Dawn of Third Month of Dry Season
in the
Year
1176 of the Known Era
. A woman’s scream pervades the air. In a small, hastily setup tent on a small field of clover plants, great beads of sweat drenches the minvian-ranked soldier who is her husband. His wife is in the process of giving birth at this large roadside clearing in the middle of Windswept Forest. After many long, intense moments, a baby’s cry fills the air.

     A young convian-ranked soldier delivered the pot of freshly boiled water to the tent. The minvian took the pot from his second-in-command and gave him a blank stare. The convian returned an equally blanked stare.

     “Minvian Genox, I need the water, sir
!
” said the amateur midwife, who was actually an exevian who went through two childbirths herself.

     The two men woke up from their trance-like state. The convian went away while the minvian entered the tent and handed the pot to the exevian, but she refused to take it. She was busy cleaning the mucus and blood from the newborn’s nose and mouth with balls of cotton. Not knowing what to do, he laid the pot down beside her. She dipped a fresh ball of cotton into the pot, gave it a firm squeeze and started wiping the baby clean with it. The minvian decided to back out of the tent so as to give the exevian space. But he made sure that he was close enough should his help be required.

     The woman who had given birth had managed to recover some of her strength.

     “Hammer, is it a boy or a girl
?
Where is my baby
?
I want to see my baby
!
” she cried out.

     The midwife cradled the newborn baby, wrapped with a clean towel, and brought it to the woman. Minvian Hammer Genox stepped into the tent, crawled up behind his wife and supported her to a sitting position.

     “Oh
!
Hammer
!
She is so tiny
!
She looks so fragile
!
” expressed the woman.

     “Congratulations, sir, madam
!
What will you call her
?
” asked the midwife, looking more relieved than happy.

     This was her first childbirth assist
and
the
last
, she hoped.

     “Clover Genox
!
What do you think about that, Fragrance
?
” said Minvian Genox, thinking of the clover field that they were in.

     “Clover
!
It is a pretty name. So be it then. Clover
!
Mommy loves you
!
” said Fragrance.

     “Mommy
!
Daddy
!
Is it over
?
Is it done
?
Is it a boy or a girl
?
Can I come in
?
” said a young voice outside the tent.

     “Come in, Chrys
!
Meet your baby sister
!
” invited Hammer.

     A young girl of the age of four rushed into the tent and saw her younger sister for the first time.

     “She is so small
!
What is her name
?
” she asked.

     “Chrysanthemum Genox, this is your younger sister, Clover Genox
!
” said her father in a formal tone.

     “Hello, little sis
!
Hello, Clover
!
I am Chrysanthemum and I shall take care of you
!
” the young girl promised.

     In the evening a campfire had been started. The hastily setup tents were never dismantled from the night before. Hammer Genox was just promoted to the rank of minvian and was leading a river of fresh servians and some replacement officers from Fallsene City to Fort Eastguard, which was where they were newly assigned. They were behind schedule. Two evenings prior, a heavy downpour had made the road muddy and had slowed their journey down significantly. Hammer had tried to make up for lost time by travelling for longer periods and making camp only when it got dark, thus resulting in the hastily setup tents and flimsy camp defences.

     Hammer had brought his pregnant wife and young daughter along on this move to Fort Eastguard, thinking that his wife was a month away from delivering. But in the early hours of the morning she began developing labour pains. The entire river had woken up, pale faced and bearing arms, thinking that they were under attack. But when they had realised the wife of their commander was going into labour, their faces went paler than before. Most of them were young men and women who were clueless about childbirth. Thankfully, their exevian was there to rescue the situation.

     The scene could not have been any more different twenty days prior, thought Hammer. At Mansion Genox in Fallsene City, there were at least three professional and seasoned midwifes attending to his sister-in-law, Velvet. His younger brother Castle had just graduated from Fallsian Guards Academy and was commissioned as a convian in the Royal Guards, in keeping with the Genox tradition. The family had a long history of military service and was as close to the royal family as any family could possibly be, sharing a common history that dated back to the founding of Free Falls. Castle was undoubtedly nervous during the delivery, as it was his first child, but he did not secrete the giant beads of sweat that Hammer did. He had family and friends to comfort and support him; and Velvet had a comfortable environment to bring forth their child and expert hands to assist in the delivery. The event was so smooth and serene that his brother named the newborn girl just that, Serene Genox. It was the
14
th
Noon of Second Month of Dry Season
, Hammer remembered.

     Six months had gone by. The two Genox babies met for the first time when Hammer brought his family back to Fallsene during a period of leave. And so the bond of the Cousins Genox was born. A few months later, Castle brought his family to Fort Eastguard for a visit. This routine went on for eight more years. Arrow and his family dropped by at Fort Eastguard too, but not as frequently. And during these years, Clover became a big sister to Pike Genox while Serene welcomed two siblings to her family, Halberd and Axe Genox. Together, they also welcomed two cousins from their uncle Arrow, Delta and Ford Genox. Serene was also to become the big sister to Iron Genox when she was of the age 11.

     Clover’s life in Fort Eastguard was monotonous. There were only so many children she could play with, it being a fort after all. The only game she and the few children there could really play was ‘hide and seek’. One day, though, when she was six, Fragrance brought her to Timberstock on a shopping trip. A caravan of travelling merchants had arrived and they had set up stalls at the town square. Clover was overwhelmed. She never saw such a vast amount of merchandise before, or such variety either. There were all sorts of clothes, precious stones and an infinite number of food stalls. The square was extremely crowded. And before she knew it, she was lost and alone.

     Clover tried to look around for her mother, but all she saw was a sea of unfamiliar faces. A sense of panic began to consume her. She called out for her mother, but got blank stares from strangers instead. She started running wildly through the crowd, calling out for Fragrance as loud as she could. But she received not the response that she required. The stylish clothes, shiny gemstones and delicious food had lost their appeal and the crowd of people had made her feel that she could never be lonelier in her whole life.

     Somehow, Clover found herself crying in a back alley. She had no idea how she got there. But at least she was alone and this gave her the calmness to think. She tried hard to fight the hollow feeling of hopelessness that she felt and she desperately tried to destroy the numbing fear that the panic had induced. She kept reminding herself that she was a Genox, a family steeped in history of bravery and heroism, and that she would not allow herself to be defeated so easily. She was a
Genox!
She was a
Genox!
She was a
Genox!

     Then a man stepped into the alley. He was shabbily dressed and had rotten teeth and soiled skin. He stank of trash. But what caught Clover’s attention were his eyes. They stared at her too intently and there were no kindness in them.

     “Hello little girl, what’re you doing here alone
?
” he asked.

     “I …I am lost,” she answered naively.

     “Lost
?
Well, let me help you, little girl,” he said, in a sinister tone and then broke out into malicious laughter.

     “Why are you laughing
?
” she asked curiously.

     “Cause I’m about to be rich
!
The Serpentians will pay handsomely for a young girl like you
!
Yes, you’ll fetch a good price in the slave market. And I know just who to bring you to. Smugglin’ Sam
!
Smugglin’ ‘Sam’ Sampan
!
” he answered, speaking more to himself than anything else.

     Clover did not know who Smugglin’ Sam was. But she knew what the words ‘Serpentia’ and ‘slave’ meant. Her father goes to war with the ‘Serpentians’ every day. That was why they lived in the giant stone house in the middle of a mountain range. That was why there were many men who wore shiny metal shirts all day long and walked around with long, pointy sticks and long, sharp knives. Her father killed Serpentians. The other men helped him to get the job done. And they all hated the Serpentians
!
And the word ‘slave’ meant that she would be forced to work for free, do things that she did not like and be hurt by evil people. She was sure of it, that this rotten teethed man was indeed evil
!

     The shabby, rotten teethed man moved closer to her. Clover backed away. He moved closer still.

     “Go away
!
” she yelled.

     “Come with me, little girl
!
” he enticed.

     “No
!
Go away
!
” she insisted.

     “Go _ let her be of this, bum, or lose your life
!
” said another man who had just appeared behind the first.

     “What’s it to you, Elementhar
?
” the stinky man said, turning around to face the other man.

     “Justice _ of this, it is to me and also important to me is the protection of the innocent, bum, so get lost
!
” replied the other man, the one who was called Elementhar.

     “Justice
!?
The hell with that
!!
I want food in my stomach, damn it
!
” said the bum.

     Clover did not understand what was going on. She did not like this Elementhar person any better. He was fierce looking and he was dressed weird. And he spoke strangely. She had never heard this type of speech before.

     The bum pulls out a knife. Then comes a loud bang and flames burst out of his ears. The bum falls down backwards like a log. His face is blackened and burnt.

     She did not understand what was going on, but she suspected the bum was dead. People became stiff and unmoving when they were dead. She had seen dead men before. They were dead Serpentians killed by her father and brought back home to their giant stone house.

     The Elementhar eyed her curiously.

     “Home _ go back of it, little girl
!
” he instructed.

     “I am lost. I do not know how to get back,” she answered.

     “Live _ where do you do of this
?
” he asked.

     “A big stone house in the middle of the mountain range, with many men wearing shiny steel shirts and carrying long knives,” she answered.

     “Fort Eastguard
!
Follow _ do of this of me and I shall help you get home,” he offered.

     She nodded her head.

     Clover followed the strange man to a ‘big wooden house’ with ‘steel shirted men’. The men were much like the ones who lived in her ‘big stone house’. But this house was considerably smaller, and the men fewer.

     “What is this house
?
” Clover asked.