FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (66 page)

     Serene shouts out her command and 1
st
and 2
nd
Streams send their volleys of Heat Bursts to the legs of the fleeing assassins. Several Heat Bursts slam into the legs of two assassins, causing them to collapse to the ground in agony while the third one leaps into the air and manages to avoid getting hit. At this point, the remaining assassin has no further interest in retaliating. His sole interest lies in getting away. With careful aim, Serene thrusts her finger and sends out a Heat Burst. The flaming sphere soars across the top of the grass and finds its mark. The last assassin falls sideways to the ground. He gets up and limps on, groaning in pain with every pathetic step. A final Heat Burst from Serene shatters the bone in his good leg and takes him out completely.

     The Sollenthars secured their prisoners and they did so by searching the unconscious assassins for weapons, equipment and the most important item of all, suicide pills. Each assassin had kept a suicide pill in a small pouch on his belt. At the moment of defeat, the assassins could easily place these pills into their mouths and bite down on them. The resultant release of poison would end their shame as well as help them avoid unknown, cruel tortures from their enemies. The Sollenthars were lucky that none of the assassins were dedicated enough to take this final measure.

     After the assassins were searched, they were tied up. Ray had sent a runner to Garrison Fallsbay to bring back stretchers and carts. Ray inspected one of the unconscious assassins. Pulling aside the lapel of the assassin’s black shirt, he found exactly what he was looking for, the pendant that had the symbol of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. He snapped the pendant off the unconscious assassin’s neck. He approached Serene, gave it to her and punched the air victoriously.

     “Caught _ finally I did of this to them. Gratitude _ you have mine of this for helping me achieve this victory,” said Ray to Serene, smiling widely for the first time in 15 years.

     “Gratitude – you owe us nothing of this as it is our job to capture these criminals and I do so gladly, for a Fire Elementhar is what I am now and your loss is now my loss,” replied Serene humbly.

     Ray gave Serene an approving nod. The normally quiet and lonely forest area became a bustling hive of activities as more soldiers arrived from Fallsbay to help with the transport of the captured assassins. But in actual reality, they came to satisfy their own curiosity about these mysterious murderers.

     The midday sun bore its great heat onto the column of horseback Sollenthars who were heading north. Ray looked back at the middle of the column. There they were on the horse-drawn carts, the prize of his hunt, five semi-conscious Shadow Deathmerchant Clan assassins. He knew that this catch was due to just pure dumb luck. But he cared not, for he had waited 15 years for this opportunity. The opportunity to interrogate these assassins. To find out the location of their base. To discover their hierarchy. To discover their secrets and inner workings. More importantly, to know who their clientele were, for it was they who were the real criminals. And most importantly, to find out who ordered the massacre of his order 15 years prior.

     In the short distance, the many white buildings of Fallsene City began to take shape. They had left Fallsbay Town four days prior and soon, they would arrive at the palace. Suddenly, one of the Sollenthars yelled. Ray turned around to see that one of the assassins was shaking violently on his cart. Blood was pouring from his mouth. Ray jumped off his horse and hurried back towards this assassin, but it was too late. The vacant stare and motionless torso signalled to Ray that the assassin was dead. Apparently, the assassin had bit out his tongue and bled to death.

     Ray kicked down hard on the dirt, angry and frustrated. He then ordered his soldiers to tie a short stick between the upper and lower jaw of each of the remaining assassins, thereby preventing them from committing suicide in this manner. Ray cursed himself silently. This was not the first time he had dealt with them. He should have known better
!

    
The palace dungeons were dark and humid; and the air in there was stale. It was a gloomy place and a befitting home for the four surviving assassins.  Ray sat silent in the interrogation room. One of the captured assassins, bound in chains, sat across him. The interrogation room Ray was in was situated near the stairway that led up to ground level, thus it had better ventilation than the rest of the dungeons. From the small barred window high above the wall, Ray could see that the sky had darkened.

     Ray stared into the eyes of his adversary. His adversary stared back at him. Then Ray asked his name. The assassin was silent. Ray asked his name again. And yet again, the assassin was silent. Ray offered the assassin a glass of water. The assassin refused it.

     “Name _ of this, what is yours
?
” asked Ray.

     Again, there was silence.

     Ray decided to move on to the next question.

     “Reason _ what was yours of this for camping at the forest outside of Fallsbay
?
” asked Ray.

     The assassin just kept silent.

     “Waiting _ who or what were you doing of this for
?
” asked Ray.

     The assassin just gave Ray a defiant stare.

     “Name _ I know why you are unwilling to tell me of this. Reason _ of this is because you are a coward and a failure and you are afraid the rest of your clan will laugh at you, I know I would, as a matter of fact, I am laughing at your pathetic fighting skills right now. Disown _ your parents probably have done of this to you, and I believe so will your clansmen when they find out what a pathetic assassin you turned out to be,” said Ray sarcastically with a cold, disgusted laugh.

     “What my parents think of me is none of your business
!
” yelled the assassin angrily, his eyes bulging and his veins rising under his skin.

     Ray let out a silent cheer in his heart, for he had managed to get a response from the assassin.

     “Business _ true that yours of this is none of mine, but I am curious as to what manner of a parent would raise a child to be an assassin, or what manner of a son would repay his parents’ love by bringing shame to their names
?
” he enquired.

     “My parents are dead
!
They’re
dead
because of
you
and your kind
!
All you soldiers of the government are nothing but murderers
!
It’s my greatest
duty
to avenge them. The more Fallsians I kill, the more my parents are avenged
!
The more soldiers I kill, the more will my parents rest in peace
!
Especially if I kill your politicians
!
Those filthy, corrupted leeches
!
” explained the assassin furiously.

     Ray afforded the assassin a smile. The politicians
were
filthy, corrupted leeches as far as he was concerned. But justice would come to them on justice’s own terms, not an assassin’s.

     “Death _ of this, how did this come to your parents
?
” asked Ray.

     “What does it matter to you
?
” asked the assassin in return.

     “Matter _ it does of this to me, for you accuse me of murder,
so
present your
case!
” insisted Ray.

     “Your kind came for them in the middle of the night. Both my parents and thirty of my kinsmen were dragged from their homes into the darkness of the Fallsian landscape. They fought back and were killed. I ran out just in time to see a curve steel blade, just like that of your subordinates, pierce my father’s heart. My mother was already dead, lying in a pool of her own blood. There, are you satisfied, murderer
?
” explained the assassin.

     Ray shook his head. There were many details missing from the assassin’s story.

     “Satisfied _ I am not fully of this, for you have not explained why we ‘
murderers
’ came for your parents in the first place,” said Ray in a matter of factly tone.

     “My parents and my kinsmen were treated unfairly. Through no fault of their own, they were accused of not paying taxes to the government. The government had then forcefully evicted them from their lands. My parents and my kinsmen resisted. They fought back
!
They wanted freedom
!
They wanted independence
!
Most of all, they wanted to survive
!
But your kind killed them. You soldiers massacred them in cold blood
!
The
promise
of the Kingdom of Free Falls is a lie
!
There’s no
freedom
in
Free
Falls
!
Well, too bad for you and your king, not all of us died that night. Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, nephews and nieces of The Ten Betrayed Villages survived. We’ll
have
our independence and we’ll have it with a dose of
vengeance!
” clarified the assassin.

     “Independence _ of this, why did your parents and your kinsmen seek it
?
” asked Ray.

     “Why not
?
Why shouldn’t we
?
When the king continued to collect taxes even if the farmland that we lived on was flooded and all our crops ruined, why shouldn’t we seek independence
?
What’s the point of being a part of a kingdom if the kingdom doesn’t protect us, or care for us, but victimises us instead
?
” answered the assassin.

     Ray shook his head, partly in disagreement and partly in sympathy.

     “Assassins _ so you and your kinsmen became of them just so that you can gain independence. Right _ what of this have you to kill innocent people just for the sake of your independence
?
” stressed Ray.

     “What do
I
care
?
Why should
we
care
?
Those people didn’t care for me, or my kinsmen, so why should we care for them
?
Their lives aren’t important to us because
ours
were
never
important to them
!
” said the assassin.

     “Cause _ yours of this is the reason why you kill people, but how does killing people help you gain independence
?
” enquired Ray.

     “Stupid question
!
Obviously you’re not an experienced soldier or else you would’ve known. To fight for independence, we needed money to buy food, equipment, weapons and medicine. So we kill you Fallsian garbage for money so that we can conduct a war against your king and win our independence,” explained the assassin.

     Now Ray was beginning to understand. So everything boiled down to money. It always boiled down to money
!

     “Money _ so surely by now you have plenty of these, at least a room full of gold coins,” guessed Ray.

     “More than that
!
3 rooms full of gold coins. Enough to buy all the supplies we need. Soon, we’ll be ready to take what is rightfully ours,” corrected the assassin.

     “Mission _ and yours of this at Fallsbay would have added more gold coins to your treasure rooms, would it not
?
” asked Ray.

     “Of course, you idiot
!
600 gold coins is a lot of money
!
” answered the assassin.

     “Coins _ 600 gold ones of these
?
Life _ whose of this is worth that much
?
” asked Ray.

     “Some stupid merchant’s. He swindled some of his business partners and now they want revenge. Unfortunately he wasn’t home when we arrived at Fallsbay. So we decided to wait until he comes home. But you interfered with our plan. Damn you, soldier
!
” answered the assassin.

     Ray was silent for a while. He saw no reason to pursue the matter of the cheating merchant, for it could be pursued later. There were more pressing matters at hand.

     “Concern _ we should be of this, I suppose, for your comrades are well trained for the rebellion. Chance _ we do not stand one of this, do we
?
” asked Ray.

     “No, not a chance in hell
!
We have almost 1000 warriors, all of them well trained by our clanmaster and superbly conditioned by the thin air of the mountains. We’re stronger than your kind. We can outrun you and we can outfight you. And we have plenty of allies, too. Allies who supply us with essential items and training. We’ll cut up Free Falls and distribute the land amongst ourselves. Soon, we’ll get back what is truly ours and maybe even more,” expressed the assassin spiritedly.