FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (75 page)

     “Can you track him
?
” asked Fightlord Forktongue.

     “Yes, fightlord, I can
!
” said the highminion.

     “Proceed
!
” instructed Fightlord Forktongue.

     The highminion set out on foot at a comfortable pace. Fightlord Forktongue followed on horseback, accompanied by a jaw of Serpentian warriors. A few riders galloped off in different directions, no doubt to raise the alarm for Battlelord Doomrattle’s other units.

     The sun was beginning to set. Thorn woke up with a start. He looked around for a while, feeling dazed and confused. Slowly, he got up and made his way to the nearby creek. He drank heartily from the creek using his leaf cups.  He then ate a few of the palm fruits that he had bundled up from the night before. He looked around carefully again. No one was in sight. It was time for him to move. And this time, he intended to follow the creek northwards as far as possible. He packed up, refilled his pathetic leaf cups and set out once again.

     Walking in darkness was a dangerous undertaking. Thorn could easily step on a venomous snake and get bitten or trip and fall because of the uneven ground. Yet he had to walk as fast as he could; for soon, he was sure, the Serpentians would realise that he had survived and would be hunting him down; if they had not come to this realisation already.

     In the dark hall of an unknown castle in a distant land, a winged demon flew in and bowed to a figure who sat on a throne. The dim flicker from a nearby torch revealed the demon to be none other than Lord Deathclaw.

     “Deathwings is dead, my lord
!
He could not control his hunger and decided to hunt at Southgust Town in Free Falls. The smell of death was strong, I have to admit, but he should have exercised self-control. He ran into a group of Sollenthars and was killed in the process,” it said.

     “That idiot
!
I told him to stay away
!
We have food here
!
Why the hell did he go hunting
!?
That Elementhar, Ray Iddell, has been a nuisance all these years. But now, he is real trouble
!
These Sollenthars that he has trained could potentially ruin us all. He must not discover that we exist
!
He must not know the location of our home
!
I gave explicit instructions for everyone to stay away from him until such time that he could be weakened and then be killed
!
Damn that fool of a demon, Deathwings
!
” expressed the figure who sat on the throne.

     Lord Deathclaw stood in silence. The figure calmed itself down and kept silent for a while.

     “Deathwings will be hard to replace,” said Lord Deathclaw.

     “I know. But we proceed as planned. Keep finding them, Deathclaw. See if you can find a replacement for Deathwings. If you cannot, then make one,” instructed the figure.

     “But my lord, the new ones are weak
!
They are not like us
!
Would they be worthy of being with us, part of us
?
” objected Lord Deathclaw.

     “We need a merchant, Deathclaw
!
We need the merchant’s skills if we are to remain hidden from the world of men
!
When we are strong enough and we are ready to make our existence known, then we can kill him if we find that he is unworthy of us
!
But in the mean time, we will have to make do with what little resources we have,” explained the figure.

     “Very well, Lord Bloodrage,” said Deathclaw as he bowed, turned around and flew away.

     Meanwhile, back at Palace Liberty, a carriage had gone through the gate and pulled up in front of the palace keep. Royal Secretary Verbena Romar and her guests stepped off the carriage. The carriage driver then brought the carriage to the stables. There, he tethered the horses and ran off towards the nearest toilet to ease himself. The stables was a poorly lit area. At that moment, there were no soldiers in the area.  As silent as a mouse, two Shadow Deathmerchant Clan assassins let go of the bottom of the carriage and dropped to the ground. They rolled sideways and came out from underneath the carriage and ran off to disappear into the shadows.

     The assassins moved from shadow to shadow. They headed to the barracks area, which housed the Royal Guards’ administration building. And in the underground part of this stone building was where the dungeons were located. And in these dungeons, four of their comrades awaited their arrival.

     Getting into the dungeons was surprisingly simple. None of the Royal Guards had ever expected their administration building, called Royal Guard Command, to be infiltrated. Therefore, the security in this building was lax. There were but a mere handful of soldiers in the offices.

     The assassins take aim from behind some large flower pots. They blow hard, and poisoned darts left their blowpipes, fly through the open windows and hit their targets. Two Royal Guards collapse to the ground. The assassins dash into the building, find the stairway and head downwards. The first assassin blows his blowpipe again, and the Royal Guard who is keeping watch at the dungeons collapses off his stool and hits the ground with a soft metal clang.

     The two assassins rush silently into the dungeons. They take aim and blow. They change blowpipes, take aim and blow again. Their four surprised comrades collapse to the ground, dead. The two assassins run back up the stairs and exited the building. They disappear into the shadows.

     The carriage driver drove his carriage and pulled it up in front of the palace keep. Royal Secretary Verbena Romar’s guests got on board. The carriage driver drove his carriage up to the main gate. The guests were thoroughly searched by the sentries there. But none of the sentries had thought to look underneath the carriage. The carriage driver then drove his carriage down the dark road to Fallsene City. Many long moments later, the two assassins let go of the carriage and dropped to the ground. A few moments later, they got up and disappeared into the night…

     The
15
th
Noon of Third Month of Dry Season
was the time the Sollenthars said their goodbyes to Higher Recipient Truthkeeper and the townsfolk of Southgust. Royal Elementhar Pond had been relieved by 3
rd
and 4
th
Pond, 1
st
Lake, 4
th
Ocean and was ordered to return to Palace Liberty. The ponds of 4
th
Ocean had brought with them an even larger supply of food and medicine, and several cartloads of building materials as well. The Sollenthars left Southgust with the feeling of pride for the rescue work that they had done, but at the same time, with great humility with regards to the greatness of Nature and the inferiority of humans.

     Ray thought about what Higher Recipient Truthkeeper had said to him earlier. The Receiver had said that humans were actually inferior creatures, and that it was the humans themselves who thought that they were superior. But the reality was that humans were indeed inferior. As usual, the bitterness of this truth did not sink well with Serene and Rod. This was because they were still new to the world of Elemental Sorcery. Ray and Clover understood that humans were a part of Nature, not the master of it. Serene and Rod had always though that humans were the masters of Nature instead of being a part of it. Higher Recipient Truthkeeper had then asked the two former defenders of Fort Eastguard to look around and see the destruction around them. It was at that point did they realise that they were wrong
!

     Higher Recipient Truthkeeper had also told the Sollenthars that even the angels were inferior when compared to Nature itself. This statement surprised even Ray and Clover, but they understood it and accepted it almost immediately. After all, the angels, just like humans, animals and all other living creatures, were a part of Nature and
not
the master of it. This was one of the logic that was easy to understand but seldom thought of and most bitter to accept. What Ray and Clover could not understand was the reason why Higher Recipient Truthkeeper kept on preaching The Light when it was clear that hardly anyone liked it
!
Most human beings love being ignorant. They wanted the bliss associated with it. But it seemed that the Receiver was firmly against this idea. He deemed this sentiment to be foolish and suicidal, spiritually suicidal. The Receiver had explained earlier on that it was the soul, and
not
the body, that
was
the true person. Therefore it was the salvation of the soul, not the survival of the body, which was of the utmost importance
!
What more to say of bliss and creature comforts
?

     As the Sollenthars journeyed back to Fallsene City, the words of Higher Recipient Truthkeeper played in their minds. Ray and Clover felt themselves a little ignorant after the encounter with the Receiver, but Serene and Rod felt themselves downright stupid
!
Of course the soul was more important than the body
!
It was the soul that would go on and on for all eternity whereas the body would rot away after 80 years or so
!
And that was if one was lucky enough to reach the ripe old age of 80
!
Most Farhayvenytes would probably die prior to the age of 80 due to sickness, accidents or wars. And war and death were subjects that Serene and Rod understood very well
!

     When the Royal Elementhar Pond finally arrived at Palace Liberty, they got the bad news. A minvian-ranked Royal Guard told them of it when they reached the stables. All four of their Shadow Deathmerchant Clan prisoners were dead, murdered through the means of poisoned darts. Ray was furious. Clover, Serene, Rod and Lance were disappointed. Ray punched a wooden pillar out of frustration, but kept silent. Then he walked off without saying a word. Spirit and Lance followed closely behind. Clover took over and gave instructions to the rest of the pond to secure their horses, unpack and clean their equipment and then she dismissed them once all the chores were done. They all knew how Ray felt. The only difference was, they had not felt it at the level that he did. They did not lose their ‘family’ to the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan and they had not hunted these assassins as long as he had.

     The
22
nd
Morning of Third Month of Dry Season
saw Ray and the Sollenthars setting up a security perimeter around a large triple storey building and its compound just at the outskirts of Fallsgreen Town, North-western Falls Province. A large crowd of people had already gathered in the main hall on the ground floor and more were coming. Rod and 1
st
River ensured that the crowd were seated appropriately. Meanwhile, at the main gates of the perimeter fence, Serene and 3
rd
River were checking the oncoming crowd individually for weapons. Clover took charge of 4
th
and 5
th
Rivers who were guarding the perimeter itself.

     Ray tried to coordinate the entire process as efficiently as he knew how. Soldiering was not truly his area of expertise and setting up the security perimeter made him feel like a fish out of water. On many matters of soldiering, he relied heavily on Serene’s and Rod’s advice and the occasion on this day was no different. Ray paced the perimeter with Clover, both of them looking for weaknesses in it. Thoroughly satisfied, he left Clover and went into the main hall and examined the situation there. Rod had everything under control. Ray went up to the first and second floors, where 2
nd
River was assigned, and found everything there to be satisfactory as well. Then he went down to the main gate where Serene was waiting and stood nervously.

     There was a distant rumbling noise from far down the road. The people whom Ray was waiting for had finally arrived.

     “Royal Guards _ one river of them approaching
!
” shouted one of Ray’s sentries.

     “Alert _ be of this, Sollenthars
!
” commanded Ray to his pond.

     On the long road leading in to where Ray was, first came two cavalry streams, which were then followed by a cavalry archer stream. Behind them came the ‘prized package’, the Royal Carriage and the royalties who were in it. Behind the Royal Carriage came another cavalry archer stream. Then last, but not least, came the final cavalry stream. The last two streams functioned as rear guards.

     Ray was concerned as to whether the number of personnel he had was sufficient for the task. But the river who escorted the Royal Carriage would add on to the ranks of his pond and that made him feel a little better.