They Were Born Upon Ashes (3 page)

Nick and Jeffrey nodded in agreement.

Tyler put his fingers up to the count of three. As his third finger rose all three men jumped up simultaneously.

Tyler quickly released two daggers. One from each hand.

Jeffrey put both of his hands in the air.

Nick shot ice from his hands.

The daggers landed in the heads of the two hogs on the right. The two hogs in the center levitated in the air some twenty feet. Jeffrey had a hold on them and pulled his hands down quickly and the two hogs fell to the ground with such extreme force they died on the spot. The last hog was frozen solid but it was not dead yet.

A dagger flew through the inches of ice surrounding the hog’s face and pierced its skull.

“Freeze its feet first, then kill him quickly,” said Tyler. “There’s no reason to make the hog suffer and suffocate in a block of ice, Nick.”

Nick scratched his head.

Could’ve told me that before hand.

Nick looked over at Jeffrey with his eyes wide open. “You are a supreme Reza, Jeffrey,” said Nick. “I could have guessed that you were one.”

“I am indeed, Nick,” said Jeffrey. “You should have called it while you had the chance.”

“Overall grade I give you, Nick, is a six out of ten,” said Tyler. “Jeffrey gets a nine out of ten. And your returning and still undefeated champion, Tyler, with an astounding ten out of ten.”

The three men walked over the bush to collect their kills. They placed the dead hogs over their backs and headed back towards the camp.

“Won’t we need a lot more hogs to feed the thousands of people with us?” asked Nick.

“Of course, we will,” said Jeffrey. “There’s about a dozen teams hunting at this very moment. We are just one team that has been successful.”

“Nick, tell us how you ended up in the Vincot Arena,” said Tyler.

“It’s a bit of a story,” said Nick.

“Please tell us, said Tyler. ”Our king briefed us on you a few nights ago. However, I’d like to hear the story from the man himself, and not from a file folder with pages of who you are, Nick Bint.”

“Well, one night my father and I went for dinner at a local tavern in Vincot. We sat at an empty table in the back corner where nobody else was sitting. We liked our privacy, and on that night my father had important matters he wanted to discuss. Out of nowhere a man who appeared to be drunk came to our table. After a few minutes of him annoying us my father asked him to leave. He said my father’s name. He knew him somehow. After that he stabbed my father and slit his throat. I reacted and stabbed the man, over and over.”

Nick felt chills creep up his back as he remembered the horrific scene.

“Someone saw and you got tried for murder?” asked Tyler.

“Yes, sentenced to two years in the arena.”

“A sad story,” said Tyler. “Sad indeed. Now tell me, Nick; how did you like the arena?”

“When I first got there I hated it. I was terrified. I was sure I was going to die. I nearly did a few times in my first few matches. I still hated the idea of killing someone for a crowd like it was a sport. Everything changed, though, when they discovered that I was a Hetha. I was on cloud nine. I was unbeatable and the crowd adored me. I convinced myself sometimes that I was doing the world a good deed by ridding it of horrible people. But deep down I always knew that these people who I fought to the death with weren’t all terrible people. Surely some of them were and they deserved to die, but others just made a few horrible choices that didn’t equal the punishment of death.”

“It is known that everyone in the arena system does not deserve to die but that fact is supposed to scare off the public and prevent others from making a horrible mistake,” said Jeffrey.

“I understand that,” said Nick. “For a few weeks I was happy with where I was in the world. The feeling I got in the arena while the crowd cheered me on was incomparable. Though the living situation was always terrible. The food was bad, the sleep was even worse, I was malnourished, and mentally it was terribly depressing. But when I stepped on those sands as a Hetha, I had never felt so alive.”

He paused for a moment as he pictured the grand spectacle of the arena. If there was one small thing he missed about the arena it was being adored by thousands of fans. Even if it came at the expense of killing others. He snapped out of his daydream and looked back towards the king’s men.

“However, everything changed when I met Poloski,” said Nick. “He used his powers against me and I was put in my place. He threatened the king and spoke of a new era born of darkness. That is why I did everything I could to reach the king. In that moment I no longer wanted to please the crowds, I knew I had to do something to warn the king of the threat.”

“We knew of the threat the six posed for a long time before you ever reached out,” said Jeffrey. “I just wished we would have protected our king with more precaution last night. He was a great and noble king. He knew the inmates released from the arena were bloodthirsty savages. Some might have been so messed up in their head that they would’ve killed anything in their path. That surely might have happened last night, and it might be happening this very moment, considering they are free men. Sending all the Refect to protect the citizens was the right thing to do from his position. Unfortunately, it was also the predictable thing to do.”

“I know why I came to the capitol,” said Nick. “Even though you all might still see me as some sort of criminal still I wish to become a supreme Reza and help take a stand against the six.”

The group reached the edge of the forest and walked out from the dark canopy. They were greeted with the sun higher in the sky. All of their eyes squinted as they became acclimated to the bight sunlight.

“Well, I was all for you becoming a supreme Nick,” said Jeffrey. “However, after hearing that you enjoyed the power so much over your combatants of the arena when you became aware of being a Hetha, I second guess my original thoughts.”

“This will be nothing like the arena,” said Nick. “I know what I will be doing is for Hentrio. The power will not get to my head, I promise.”

“I don’t know if you can promise such a thing, Nick,” said Jeffrey. “You could become our greatest ally by being a supreme, or our greatest foe. I will let you know our answer soon.”

Nick stopped in his tracks and let the two men walk in front of him. He truly wanted nothing more than to help Hentrio. He just had no idea at the moment on how he could prove that to the king’s council.

The remaining hunters came back from the Cendon Forest. All of them carried the bounties of their hard work. The majority carried hogs, while the rest carried rabbits. Collectively it was enough for everyone to have a few scraps of protein before venturing off on the journey to Ralton for the rest of the day.

Nick secluded himself and had a few bites of meat for first meal. He was worried that his actions in the arena would shape his entire future. With the way Jeffrey spoke to him, it might just be so.

***

The day of travel came to a close. Nick kept his distance from the king’s council. He knew that they were debating on whether or not to give Nick the chance to become a supreme Reza.

They set up camp along the main road. The main road twisted and bent its way through the giant Cendon Forest. It was the only true way to get from Genold City to Ralton.

Men, women, and children sat on the cold ground and stretched their tired limbs. They passed around canteens of water and loaves of bread as others gathered firewood for the cold night ahead.

Nick proceeded to walk into the forest to gather up some useable firewood. He had to walk a ways in, in order to find some wood that was not damp from the cold and wet forest ground.

He liked being in the forest. The sights and sounds gave him peace of mind. It gave him a feeling similar to that of which he experienced when he would sit in his cell in the arena and meditate.

After Nick had gathered up a large amount of wood that filled up both of his arms, he turned around and started to walk back to camp. He was only a hundred feet or so away from camp. As he turned a corner past an arched tree he was startled to find a little Reza girl standing there looking right at him.

“Hey there, princess, what are you doing all the way out here? Let’s get you back to camp.”

“I followed you. I think I’ll be a good hunter one day.”

“Yes, you will. I didn’t even hear you follow me.”

Nick smiled and put the bundle of wood down onto the forest floor.

“What’s your name?” asked Nick.

“Penelope,” she said.

“Penelope. What a pretty name. How old might you be, Penelope?”

“I’m six.”

“You are a brave girl coming out here,” said Nick. “Take my hand and let’s go back to camp. We can warm up by the fire.”

Penelope nodded and took Nick’s hand. The two walked through the forest avoiding sharp rocks and prickly bushes. The forest got darker by the minute. Almost all of the small threads of light that passed through the thick canopy were gone. Penelope held onto Nick tighter as darkness crept up on them.

Nick made it back to camp successfully. As soon as Penelope and Nick walked back into camp he heard a scream from a woman by the nearby fire pits followed by her yelling, “Penelope! Oh my gosh, Penelope!”

She ran over and hugged the young girl.

“Where did you go?” she asked. “I was worried sick.”

“I followed him, Mommy. I’m going to be the best hunter in all the lands just like Daddy.”

“Thank you for keeping her safe,” she said as she looked at Nick.

“You’re welcome. Quite the stealthy one here. I had no idea I was being followed until I turned around.”

“I take my eyes off of her for one second,” she said. “Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome,” said Nick. He smiled and turned back to walk back into the forest. Just as he was about to take a step in he heard his name being yelled behind him.

It was Jeffrey. All of the king’s men and the Terrax brothers were surrounding a fire pit at the front of the masses of people. Jeffrey waved Nick over. Nick took a deep breath and made his way over to greet the king’s council.

“We’ve discussed the proposition of whether or not to let you become a supreme Reza,” said Jeffrey. “It was a split vote but we have made our decision. We just have one question for you.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Do you swear to the laws of the crown?”

“Yes, I do.”

“If you break any laws while you are with us you will be held to the highest penalty,” said Jeffrey.

“Yes, okay, I agree.”

“The king’s council grants you the right to become a supreme Reza, Nick,” said Jeffrey. “Do not make us regret this decision.”

“I will not make you all regret this decision,” said Nick with a smile. “However, if you remember, I had my conditions as well with the king. Will those still be agreed upon even though he has passed? At the end of the day I will be risking my life. I only wish for those two things in return.”

“Yes, Nick, we will be fulfilling your requests,” said Jeffrey. “Not because you are risking your life to do this, but because we like you well enough.”

“Thank you. Will I be doing this tonight then?”

“Yes, with my supervision and instruction we will do it tonight, Nick,” said Andrew. “Let’s get some food in your stomach, and then we will proceed from there.”

There was a huge sigh of relief followed by a chill up Nick’s spine. He understood that there was no easy way to trust a man who was sentenced to serve in the arena. He knew in his heart that he had every intention to serve Hentrio. It was something that he felt he was destined to do. When he was younger he thought he was destined to become a Refect and protect the realm. Now the waves of life have set him on a new course.

Nick sat down for a moment and looked at the fire before him and took the time to think about life. He felt the warmth of the fire, then closed his eyes. He pictured Penny Goldstem and all of her beauty. He could picture her wide and beautiful smile and remembered her loving personality that spread across all aspects of life. He missed her dearly.

He knew that his childhood best friend Thomas was doing well as a Refect in Vincot, although at the same time he worried about the threat the six posed to the Refect. He wondered if Thomas was stationed in Genold City if he would have stayed to fulfill his oath or gone with the group he was with now. He felt glad that his friend did not make a choice like that. But he also knew that if the six decided to spread across every city, then Thomas would have to make that choice in due time.

Nick felt happy in that moment. He did not have everything in the world. He missed his parents dearly and the home in which he grew up. But he was thankful for the opportunities that had been presented to him in what is turning out to be a cruel world. He knew nothing in life would be perfect. He had stopped hoping for perfection a long time ago. He had been given a second chance on life and now an opportunity to serve Hentrio in the past few days. He knew he had to make the best of his opportunities.

Chapter Three

Nick lay down on a bed of leaves along the main road. Andrew, Jeffrey, and Jacob surrounded him. The moon was fully up in the night sky by now. It was not quite a full moon; it had begun to undergo the waning phase. The night was still not as dark as it could be. The moon shined down brightly and there was a cold breeze that seemed to come along with it.

“Do we have to do this tonight?” asked Nick.

“Yes, we do not have time to spare,” said Andrew.

“I would feel more comfortable doing this when Phillip arrives,” said Nick. “I just need to know that he will make it here.”

“Nick, you have to take it now,” said Jeffrey. “We understand if you’re nervous; you’re risking your life here. I was nervous when I went in too.”

Nick looked at Jacob, then back at Jeffrey and asked him, “So what does Jacob do to help in this process?”

“I’m here to watch someone undergo the process. I’m not here to help,” said Jacob. “I’m interested, to say the least.”

“There won’t be much to see,” said Andrew. “It’s going to appear that Nick is sleeping. At least for the most part. He will jerk around a bit, but what he sees is what he sees. We will never fully grasp what Nick will see or go through when he eats the shango plant.”