FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (76 page)

     “Convian Sky Proest, Commander, 2
nd
River, Three, Three, 1
st
Ocean,” said the lead cavalryman.

     “Designation _ of this; mine is Minvian Ray Iddell, Commander, Royal Elementhar Pond, 1
st
Ocean,” replied Ray.

     Ray’s reply stunned Sky a little. Obviously he had never spoken to an Elementhar before and was unfamiliar with their method of speech.

     Ray noticed that Sky’s river formation was not standard. 2
nd
River, 3
rd
Pond, 3
rd
Lake, 1
st
Ocean was supposed to be a cavalry archer river and was supposed to be made up of four cavalry archer streams and one Light Catapult stream. Apparently, their formation was changed to suit the mission at hand, which was to serve as an escort and protection team.

     “Report please, Minvian Iddell,” asked Sky in a respectful manner.

     Although he was clearly in-charge of the royalty’s personal security and this position overrides Ray’s position as the officer-in-charge of site security, however, Ray still outranked him and Sky had no intentions of being disrespectful.

    “Site _ of this is secured, Convian Proest, with swordsmen forming the perimeter and archers in support position on the second and third floors,” replied Ray.

     “Report understood, Minvian Iddell, proceeding with escort,” replied Sky.

     The Royal Guards river proceeded into the site with the Royal Carriage. The Royal Carriage doors opened and Prince Eagle Patrum and his mother, Queen Rose Soll Patrum, stepped out. Rod guided the royalties, who were closely encircled by Sky and his subordinates, into the hall.

     The crowd stood up and broke into a thunderous applause. Rod looked around cautiously. So did Sky, but he did so more discreetly. Ray entered the main hall and stood guard next to Rod. Prince Patrum approached the podium.

     “Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the fair people of Fallsgreen Town; I bid you good morning
!
It is a
great
honour for us to be here with you today,” said the prince through a conical voice amplifier.

     The crowd broke into a thunderous applause again.

     “This project was started 2 years ago based on the recommendations of your district governor, Governor Moss Chartyn. The case that he argued so moved my father that a
larger
than normal budget was approved. So here we are today,
two years
and
ten
thousand gold coins
later, all together to witness this historic event
!
I believe there is no need for me to remind you of the amount of labour involved.
Thousands
of man hours, a
multitude
of excellent problem solving skills and a
little
imagination have brought this concept to life and made it whole. This fine facility consists of a triple storey building surrounded by a lush, green compound inclusive of a garden and a small pond. The ground floor of this triple storey building, where we are now, shall be the reception area and the emergency ward. The first floor will house the normal wards and a number of small clinics. The second floor is where the administration of this fine facility will be done and where the medicines and equipments will be stored. When it begins operation shortly after this little ceremony, you will have at your disposal
fifty
of Free Falls
finest
healers
!
” said the prince.

     Another round of thunderous applause broke out. Ray had never realised that there was such a strong support for the royalties in Free Falls. But then again, what did he know about politics. He reminded himself that he was an Elementhar, not truly a soldier and definitely
not
a politician
!

    
“
Long
have the people of Fallsgreen and its surrounding outskirts suffered from the unavailability of healers.
Long
have the good men, women and children of this place been deprived of medicines and treatment. But
no more,
I say
!
No
more
!
For I
present
to you, the fine people of Fallsgreen, the Fallsgreen Citizen Healing
Centre
!
” announced Prince Patrum.

     Thunderous applause filled the main hall again, this time far louder than before. Prince Patrum smiled and waved at the crowd.

     Meanwhile, just outside the building and on its green grassy compound, square patches of grass and the earth underneath them start to move. These patches form square holes in the ground and expose a network of tunnels under them. Black-clad figures jump out of these holes and start throwing Airblades at the Sollenthars guarding the perimeter. The screams of shock and pain fill the air as the Sollenthars are caught unaware and fall victim to the barrage of Airblades. An Airblade flies right by Clover’s neck, nearly killing her. She spins around on reflex and executes a series of Frozen Dart Spells at her assailants. Several conical pieces of solid ice fly through the air and drive into the flesh of a few of the assassins like nails driven into wood. They give stifled groans and fall lifeless onto the ground.

     More assassins appear out of the ground and jump into the main hall through its windows while a few storm-in through the main entrance.

     “Shadow Deathmerchant Clan
!
Engage _ 1
st
, 2
nd
and 3
rd
Stream, do of this to them and do not let them enter the main hall
!
” commands Serene from the main gates as she leads some of her subordinates into battle.

     4
th
and 5
th
Streams, 3
rd
River stay behind to keep the gate secured.

     Meanwhile, Clover and her subordinates jump over the short wooden picket fence and charge at the assassins. The Sollenthars send Heat Burst after Heat Burst at the assassins while trying their best to close the distance. The assassins duck and roll to evade the spells while trying their best to reach and enter the main hall. One Heat Burst slams into the back of an assassin’s head and knocks him lifeless onto the ground. Another manages to slam into an assassin’s back and sends him to the underworld. But a fair few miss their mark. The Sollenthars send another barrage of Heat Bursts, but it is too late. All of the surviving assassins, numbering approximately 150 from the original figure of 210, are now in the main hall and the main doors and windows are now being shut, barred and barricaded.

     Inside the main hall, Sky and some his subordinates rush to surround the prince and the queen, forming a human wall around them. They draw out their swords in unison and wait for the imminent engagement. Prince Patrum draws out his sword as well and gently pushes his mother behind him. Pressing his palm against the ground, Ray causes a thick wall of rocks and stones, the height a man, to rise up from the ground and encircle the podium, thereby adding another layer of protection for the royalties just in the knick of time as a few Airblades slice through the air at them.

     Meanwhile, Rod yells for the innocent crowd to dive down and take cover. He and a few Sollenthars then send a barrage of Heat Bursts at the assassins. Nearly half a dozen assassins have flames exploding out of their torsos as the Heat Bursts made contact. While raising his finger to execute another barrage, Rod stops as he suddenly realises it is too late. The assassins are mixed with the Sollenthars now, fighting in extremely close proximity, with many innocent civilians getting killed in the process. Rod also observes many Sollenthars falling in the hands of the assassins. Through years of battle experience, Rod knows the reason why. The assassins are using short blades to enhance their manoeuvrability in this close proximity battle while the Sollenthars are using their long swords, which makes their movements slow and clumsy when compared to the assassins.

     “Daggers _ employ of them now,” commands Rod as he pulls out his own dagger and rushes into the thick of the fight.

     Ray pulls out his hunter’s knife with his right hand and while clutching his silver staff with his left, follows Rod into the chaos of battle. Clearly, in this type of fighting, Rod is more experienced than Ray. An assassin tries to stab Ray in the gut, but Ray parries with his staff and slashes the assassin in the neck and torso and ends it with a stab into the rib cage with his knife. Barely has the body of this assassin touched the ground before another assassin lunges forward with an attack and engages Ray in the dance of death.

     Rod, meanwhile, manages to grab the neck of one of the assassins from behind with his arm and stabs the black clad figure repetitively in the torso. This action gives the opportunity for the Sollenthar who was engaged with this assassin to drop his sword and pull out his dagger. This Sollenthar now turns around and does the same favour for his comrades. The chaos is unimaginable, with as many as 150 assassins engaging 40 surviving Sollenthars and eight of Sky’s soldiers in a hall packed with innocent civilians.

     The female assassin slices and cuts her way through the flesh of numerous Fallsian soldiers as she advances towards the wall of rocks and stones. Ray stands in her way. Her eyebrows frown in a show of fierce determination. Ray gives her a stern look in return. Then blades cut and slice in all directions accompanied by punches, kicks, throws and all other manner of physical combat. Some of the male civilians decide to pick up a few of the fallen daggers and join their Fallsian comrades in this chaotic battle.

     The Sollenthars who were assigned as archers on the first and second floors rush down to the main hall to assist their comrades. They approach the stairway to the ground floor.

    
Boom!!!
A huge ball of flames engulfs the Sollenthars who are near the stairway. Debris flies off everywhere, turning into shrapnel and projectiles that embed into human flesh. Clearly, one of the assassins must have placed and activated a bag of explosives under the stairway. The stairway collapses in the explosion and the surrounding areas catch fire. A significant number of the Sollenthars on the upper floors lie injured, burning or dying. The rest of them are knocked unconscious from the blast.

     The Sollenthars from the perimeter try to kick down the doors to the main hall.

     “Aside _ do of this now
!
” commands Serene, and the Sollenthars hurry to get out of her way.

     A short moment passes, just enough for the Sollenthars to get clear, and then Serene sends a Heat Burst into the doors. The doors burst asunder and the door frame catches fire. But a huge and tall barricade of chairs and benches block their way. Serene prepares to send another Heat Burst but Clover grabs her hand.

     “Fire _ the doorframe is on of this now and another Heat Burst will make things worse,” says Clover to her cousin.

     “Barricade _ how do we get through of it
?
” asks Serene in return.    

     “Heat Bursts _ we execute many of these at this point now, and make our own door
!
” answers Clover as she points to a point on the wall five paces to the side of the doorframe.

     The Sollenthars back away to a reasonable distance and send a huge barrage of Heat Bursts at the point on the wall. A loud explosion ensues and debris flies in all direction. Then the smoke and dust clear, revealing a large, gaping hole in the wall.

     “Attack
!
” commands Serene.

     The Sollenthars rush in to rescue their comrades while Clover stays back momentarily to put out the fire on the doorframe using her skills in the water element. Inside the main hall, an even fiercer and more chaotic battle ensues. The blades of daggers and swords clash. Metal meets flesh and blood soils the ground. Fire and smoke choke combatants and non combatants alike. Shouts of commands echo through the air in the midst of screams of pain and agony. Elemental Sorcery clashes with physical might. Bodies of men and women fall like autumn leaves.

     There were many puffs of smoke and mild explosions. Then just as suddenly as it had started, the fight was now over. Dead bodies were strewn all over the bloodied floor. Ray looked out through one of the opened windows. He saw vague shadows disappearing into the green thickets of the forest. Rod, Serene and most of the surviving Sollenthars spread throughout the hall checking each of the assassins’ corpses to see if they were really dead. They hoped to find a few survivors for interrogation. Clover and some of her subordinates tended to the wounded Fallsians, both soldiers and civilians alike. The surviving healers, who were meant to serve at the healing centre to begin with, joined in.