FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (83 page)

     Meanwhile down stairs, both Ray’s and Clover’s hearts skip a beat. The explosion that they had heard only means one thing, that someone has gotten through their defences. The prince’s life is now in danger. The Sollenthars rush to the stairways as fast as they can, hoping beyond hope that they are not too late.

     Back at the secret chamber, Rod exerts his will on the dust particles and forces them to settle firmly on the ground, causing the chamber to clear up almost immediately. This simple manipulation of the earth element was all that Ray had managed to teach him in the short time that they had since leaving Southgust Town. He manipulates the fire element and a few unlit torches burst into flames. The sudden flash of brightness settles to reveal a body that he has encountered many times but a face that he has seen only once before. The assassin known as Dawn stands facing Prince Patrum and stares him straight in the eye.

     “In _ how did you get of this
?
” asks Rod.

     Dawn does not respond. Rod knows that there is something different this time. Previously, their encounters were professional; but this time, Rod feels that it has become personal, very personal for Dawn. A clear indication of this is that Dawn is unmasked
!
She does, however, have some cotton stuffed into both her nostrils.

     “Can I join in the fight
now?
” asks Prince Patrum rhetorically, the tip of his drawn blade points steadily at Dawn’s throat.

     “Choices _ are there
any
other
of these, Your Highness
?
” comes the unexpected answer from Rod.

     Dawn stares fiercely at Prince Patrum. Her eyes are bloodshot red.

     “I’m Dawn Breven, Lead Assassin of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. Prince Eagle Patrum, you’re hereby to be executed for crimes against the people of Free Falls, in particular against the innocent families of The Ten Betrayed Villages,” she declares.

     “You are welcome to try
!
” dismisses Prince Patrum.

     Suddenly, Rod’s vision begins to blur. Now there are two ‘Dawns’ standing before him, but they are distorted. He stumbles slightly. He shakes his head. He turns to look at Prince Patrum, who has the look of drunkenness on his face. The once steady tip of the prince’s sword begins to waiver.

     “Sorcery _ of this, which kind is it
!?
” asks Rod.

     “Hallucination Powder spread by the explosion, soldier,” replies Dawn casually.

     “Disgraceful assassin
!
Dishonourable criminal
!
You resort to poisons and chemicals, have you not the honour and courage to fight clean
?
” shouts Prince Patrum.

     “You die now
!
” announces Dawn.

     Dawn rushes towards Rod and sweeps his blade away with her own and kicks him in the chest with a push-like kick called a Jab Kick. Rod staggers back a few steps. She then brings her blade up to execute a Vertical Downwards Cut at Prince Patrum. Prince Patrum raises his sword to block Dawn’s cut, but just barely as he staggers backwards and nearly falls to the ground from the force of the cut and his own disorientated state.

     Rod yells at the top of his lungs and performs a desperate Right Horizontal Cut to which Dawn is forced to block. As Rod’s blade bounces away from hers, Dawn follows up with a Left Diagonal Downwards Cut. Rod barely manages to stumble backwards fast enough to avoid Dawn’s cut. Her blade slices across the surface of Rod’s breastplate, causing sparks to fly. Dawn is about to follow up with a Right Diagonal Downwards Cut when Rod instinctively points his fingers at the two Dawns in his vision and lets out a burst of flames. The flames barely miss Dawn’s face but she screams as she becomes temporarily blinded by it and she too, staggers backwards. Instinctively, she starts throwing Airblades in Rod’s and Prince Patrum’s direction. The Airblade meant for Rod flies past his head but the one meant for Prince Patrum manages to embed itself into the prince’s left arm. The prince shouts out in pain.

     Prince Patrum tries charging at Dawn again. He charges forward with the tip of his sword pointed at her throat, and at the last possible moment, lifts his sword up to perform a Vertical Downwards Cut. Dawn recovers her vision just in time to see his blade going up and then coming down towards her. She rolls to her right to evade and upon recovery to the kneeling position, slices at his calves from right to left, thus cutting his left calf from the back, where it is not protected. Prince Patrum yells out in pain as he falls to the ground.

     Seeing Dawn in a kneeling stance, Rod attacks her with a Right Diagonal Downwards Cut. She rolls sideways to her left from the kneeling position to avoid Rod’s cut, recovers to a kneeling position and counter-attacks with a Left Horizontal Cut to Rod’s right calf, nearly slicing his shin bone in two. Rod lets out a heart-wrenching cry of pain. Dawn’s eyes search for Prince Patrum as Rod falls to the ground. Locating her quarry, Dawn stands up and steps slowly towards the prince, the tip of her blade points firmly at his throat while his points at hers.

     Suddenly, a Heat Burst slams into Dawn’s hamstring, courtesy of the injured Rod Sayson. Dawn screams out in pain through gritted teeth, but she does not fall as Rod has hoped. As a matter of fact, Rod was aiming for her back, but he was still suffering from the effects of the Hallucination Powder. Instead of turning around to face Rod, Dawn charges clumsily at the prince with a Left Diagonal Upwards Cut to sweep the prince’s blade away and follows up with a Right Horizontal Cut to his neck. Prince Patrum staggers backwards and falls as he barely evades her decapitation cut. His sword slips off his hands. His vision blurs even further. His injured leg feels numb, as though it is not there. The world spins around him. Then Dawn Breven of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan looms over him, with the blood-soaked tip of her shiny blade pointed straight at his heart. He closes his eyes. He calms himself. He accepts his end…

    
Slam!
The torso of Dawn Breven falls next to him. Prince Patrum opens his eyes and looks to his side. There, just beside him, lies the female assassin with her eyes open wide and watery and her lungs gasping for breath. Her back is smoking. There is no doubt she has been hit by Rod’s Heat Burst.

     Dawn feels hollow
!
What she feels is beyond anger, beyond frustration
!
This is anger, frustration, hatred and hopelessness all rolled into one overwhelming emotion
!
Not again
!
She has failed again
!
She has failed the clan again
!
She has failed Joy and Dart
!
Joy and Dart
!!!

     Prince Patrum sees the emotional turmoil that is being reflected in Dawn’s face. It gives him a weird sense of satisfaction. He is satisfied that she is frustrated. In a way, it is a perverse sense of joy, but he does not care. He is enjoying it all the same. But the world still spins around him and he closes his eyes in surrender. He knows he is at his end. One thought comforts him, that is, he will not be dying alone. Dawn Breven, Lead Assassin of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan is dying next to him...

     The door of the secret chamber burst open. Ray, Clover and a few Sollenthars flood in to find two dead bodies and three barely live ones. Clover rushed over to Prince Patrum and after removing his greaves and cutting off part of his pants, began at once to manipulate his blood in order for it to cease flowing from his wound and clot up. Ray cauterised Rod’s wound using his Elemental Sorcery skills. Then, by means of Elemental Sorcery, Ray conjured up a cast made of hardened clay to secure and hopefully mend Rod’s shin bone. Ray then did the same for Prince Patrum. Two of the Sollenthars tended to Dawn, for she was too precious, too big a catch, to let die. Luckily for Dawn as well that Rod was weak when he had cast the Heat Burst, so it was not as destructive as it should have been. Several Sollenthars ran out to get stretchers and other medical aid.

     Minvian Beufall came running in. Then he saw the carnage before him. He froze, stared out with bulging eyes and a gaping mouth, took two steps backwards, turned around and regurgitated his dinner. Needless to say, Ray was not impressed with Minvian Beufall’s crisis handling capabilities.

     Clover felt slightly uneasy. She was still not used to seeing people trying to kill each other. She found it difficult to understand why people would want to do so, despite her family background. During her days at Fallsene Brightshield Educational, her teachers had given her a myriad of reasons why killings and wars happened. But none of her teachers’ explanations had ever made sense to her. She had always thought that humans were above such stupidity, that they were far more civilised than this. But apparently, they were not. And she did not understand why.

     Ray sensed Clover’s uneasiness.

     “Peace _ of this is never the choice available to those who choose to be good, instead, it is in the hands of those who choose to be evil,” he said.

     “Choice _ of this, what is available to those who choose to be good
?
” asked Clover curiously.

     “Choice _ of this to those who choose to be good is only between survival or total annihilation,” answered Ray.

     “Reward _ what is it of this then, for those who choose to be good
?
” asked Clover, obviously dissatisfied.

     “Reward _ of this, for those who choose to be good, is to know that righteousness has been fully practised, all duties performed to completion and their conscience is clear in life and also in death, and therefore, they are totally free from the torment of guilt and sin,” answered Ray.

     Unbeknownst to both Ray and Clover, Dawn overheard the entire conversation. Though in a semi-conscious state, she understood what Ray had said to Clover, and came to the conclusion that if she were to die now, she would die with a clear conscience; for she had helped to fight for the fate of her people, performed her duties in the righteous effort to fight and destroy an evil king and his government; and she had executed her missions with complete dedication. Her final thought before losing consciousness was thus, if only they had not been on opposite sides of the line; she, Ray and Clover would probably have been very good friends.

     Several long moments later, Convian Orchid Caren, commander of the Sollenthar’s 2
nd
River, arrived with several of her subordinates. They brought with them several stretchers and two of the castle’s healers. Convian Caren bowed to Ray and Clover, and had her bow reciprocated.

     “Send _ do of this of Prince Patrum and Convian Sayson to Fallsgreen Citizen Healing Centre when they are sufficiently stabilised, Orchid. Escort _ both your river and Spear’s river are to escort and guard the prince until you are relieved. Leave _ do of this of the assassin here at the castle’s infirmary,” instructed Ray.

     “Understand _ I do of this, Minvian Iddell,” acknowledge Orchid as she bowed, had her bow reciprocated, and then she turned away to carry out her orders.

     Ray stepped out into the hallway. He noticed a small, hinged panel that was slightly ajar. Upon closer inspection, he found that the panel was actual a very small door that lead into a secret passage. He called for Minvian Beufall.

     “This _ what is it of this
?
” he asked.

     “Oh
!
This
!
This is the entrance to the secret escape passageway. All the important rooms in this castle, such as the Throne Room, Treasure Room, Main Bedchamber and Secret Chamber, have a secret door nearby that opens into a secret escape passageway which leads out to the forest on the eastern side,” explained Minvian Beufall.

     “Passageway _ there is a secret escape of this
here
, in
this
very castle, and you
failed
to mention it to me
!?
” yelled Ray.

     Minvian Beufall’s face became paler. He began to sweat profusely.

     “Well, I… aah… assume that you knew. I… aah… forgot to aah... mention it,” stammered Minvian Beufall defensively.

     “Farhayven _
how
in the whole world of it would I be expected to know that there is a secret escape passageway in a castle that I have
never
set foot in before in my
entire
life
!?
” asked Ray rhetorically.

     “I… aah… well… I guess I should have briefed you on this when you first arrived, but I… ah…. It is old and probably collapsed, anyway,” said Minvian Beufall.