Zachania (14 page)

Krustov’s next
engagement was to play host to three wizards from the Emperors
guild. Krustov along with the majority of Imperial army hated
wizards, and this next meeting was one did not relish.

The General sat
mentally rehearsing what he was going to say when the wizards
arrived.

It had been six
months since he last spoke to them where he was ordered to quietly
recruit a secret army and assign them to the holy town of Zanlia
with orders to infiltrate the community and await for further
orders. The wizards had explained to Krustov that there was a
growing resentment against the Emperor in Zanlia; the Generals task
was to assign his men to discover the source and kill the leaders
before it grew into a problem.

Krustov had
given this matter the highest importance, as the wizards were the
only ones who ever got to see the Emperor; they spoke with the
Emperor’s tongue.

Krustov hated
speaking to wizards, it angered him deeply in the manner in which
he was treated by them, the Emperors wizards had been given total
power from the Emperor to do as they wish, they were beyond any
questioning by any servant or rank within the Empire, if a wizard
wanted something done then there was no alternative but to follow
his instruction.

Krustov also
hated their annoying habit of speaking amongst themselves in their
own wizard dialect, an ancient language that only wizards seemed to
know.

When Krustov
heard the door being knocked he breathed a gasp of resentment
before pulling himself up to open it.

“Welcome holy
wizards of the Emperors guild.” Krustov humbly mouthed as he bowed
his head in respect to them.

The wizards
entered the room without replying or even acknowledging the
Generals greeting, the wizards were all dressed the same, long
flowing gowns coloured only in black. Their facial hair was long
and they looked old yet they moved with a youthful grace and
finesse. Krustov moved back to behind his desk as he noticed that
two of the wizards remained by the door, The third wizard who had a
red tattoo on the side of his forehead moved closer to the
General.

“Tell us of
your progress.” The wizard demanded in a low and gritty voice.

“The army is in
training holy one, it shall soon be completed and they will be
ready.”

“Be sure that
they are Krustov, the Emperor wants peace in Zanlia, there will be
no tolerance for failure!”

“May I be so
bold Holy one, as to ask what these rumours or uprising in Zanlia
consist of, it could only help in my preparations.” Krustov asked
coyly.

“That is none
of your concern General, but I will reveal to you that our crystals
have foreseen unrest in Zanlia, you must obey our orders to the
letter, other matters are beyond your reasoning, only the Emperor
has the power see and know all.”

General Krustov
quickly lowered his eyes away from the wizard and bowed his head in
a gesture of obedience, he knew all too well the severe
consequences that followed a wizard’s anger, he had asked a wizard
a question and that was something wizards disliked.

“My life is to
obey and serve my holy Emperor.” Krustov answered.

As the General
remained bowed he heard one of the other wizards speak in the
wizard’s tongue, the first wizard turned to listen before turning
back to Krustov.

“What is your
concern for a soldier in the Palace guard; we have been
intercepting all correspondence entering and exiting Zanlia.”

“You have been
reading my letters!” The General suddenly snapped back slightly
agitated.

“Hold your
tongue General, what we do is beyond your authority.” The wizard
snapped back. “You asked your colleagues in Zanlia to give you
information on a Talon of Tallasian, once again General, what are
your concerns for this soldier” the wizard added.

“He intrigues
me.” Krustov replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

“How does he
intrigue you General?” the wizard suddenly demanded consciously
making sure that Krustov noticed the turn in his voice

“I met him at
the Festival of Pass, he was a fine cadet and he intrigued me with
his presence. He had a confidence, or self-belief that made him
stand out from the rest, it left an impression on me so I wanted to
find out more about his past, I gave no importance to It.” replied
Krustov as he suddenly realised now why he had not received any
letters lately from Zanlia.

“And you wrote
to Zanlia!” the wizard said in a tone that it was more of an
accusation rather than a question.

“Well, yes!”
Krustov replied unable to fathom why the wizards were so
interested.

“Zanlia has the
largest census library in all of Kratos,” the General added in
self-defence.

Abruptly the
wizard moved his shoulders and leant forward slightly to look
deeply into General Krustov’s eyes; it sent a shiver down the spine
of the General.

“Have I done
wrong?” Krustov asked as he directed his eyes away from the
wizard’s intense stare.

“SILENCE!” the
wizard growled before looking over his shoulder to one of his
wizard colleagues, who in turn silently walked over and passed him
a large purple crystal. The first wizard took possession of the
crystal in his right hand and then turned quickly back to the
General, with the speed of lightning he thrust the crystal into the
face of Krustov just stopping barely before it struck his brow.
General Krustov tried to move away but his body just froze, he had
no control of his muscles, the wizard then raised his other hand in
front of Krustov’s face as if he was pulling the thoughts out of
his mind. This ritual lasted a few moments until the wizard
withdrew the crystal away from the General’s face and Krustov
collapsed onto the desk sweating and gasping for air.

“How dare you
use the truth crystal on me? Krustov yelled, clearly outraged at
the wizards action. General Krustov was the highest-ranking soldier
in the entire Empire. This action with the truth crystal was a
great insult to his loyalty.

“So I see this
soldier Talon unnerves you Krustov, you suspect he has powers and
you seek proof.”

“How dare you
question my loyalty? The Emperor will surely hear of this outrage,”
Krustov shouted.

Krustov’s rage
in an instant soon turned to fear as the wizards face seemed to
change immediately into the most fearsome scowl the General had
ever witnessed.

“Be silent you
fool! This is a time of great caution, the Emperor has given us
absolute power to fulfil our tasks, we must stop what cannot happen
and you General are merely a pawn in what we want, you will
complain to no one, you have only one action and that is to
obey.”

“I did not
understand the size of the Emperors concern.” replied Krustov now
with a feeling of terror, lowering his head as he hoped that the
wizard would lower his voice with his reply. A wizards raised voice
was terrifying to the beholder, it was not just the words that
Krustov felt but the feelings behind them, it was like being
stampeded by a group of rampaging horses, it felt like his lungs,
his heart, ears and eyes were beginning to burst. Krustov tried to
regain his breath.

“You have no
need to understand General.”

Krustov cowered
in his chair he genuinely felt in danger for his life; he could see
the other wizards moving in snake like actions as if ready to
pounce upon him.

“You are
replaceable General, just remember that.” the wizard added as if
reading his thoughts.

“Instruct me
holy one.” Replied the General with his head bowed.

“I want you and
your secret army in Zanlia in fourteen days, you must travel in
stealth, and once you are on the outskirts we will contact you with
further orders.”

“I give you my
word as an Imperial General that these orders will be obeyed.”

“You will give
me your life if they are not.” the wizard replied giving him a
sinister look

Krustov nodded
his head in understanding.

The wizard’s
voice then turned softer as he asked one last question.

“One more thing
Krustov, we wish to test the soldier Talon with the truth crystal,
arrange this for us immediately.”

“He is in the
Palace lands, I will send word.”

“See it done,
we will return in seven days, have him here.”

“Yes holy one,
I understand.”

After one more
sinister look from the wizards the door shut and Krustov sighed in
relief, the sweat was still upon his brow and his heart was still
racing, he had never seen the wizards so obviously concerned, this
matter must be of the highest importance he thought.

The three
wizards after leaving the Generals room dwelled in the corridor for
a moment speaking amongst themselves.

“We must see
this Talon,” one said.

“Could he be a
piece in the jigsaw.” another said.

“Our test will
reveal all.”

The wizards had
foreseen a great unrest that would soon be upon the Empire. Their
future crystals had warned them that chaos was soon to come. The
Emperor had sent all of his wizards across the whole of Kratos to
quash any unrest before it began. Now was a time of great
importance, the wizards crystals had also foreseen that a soldier
in the Empire, a soldier whose roots come from a civilian
background would cause them great harm. Talon was now very much a
suspect, and in this matter all suspects in the protection of the
Empire were surely going to be killed.

When Talon and
his party crossed through the great wall on their journey to
Kallick Town, Talon felt immense relief.

He knew that
his plan to escape still had a long away to go but he was now out
of the fortress like Palace lands and back into the open landscape
of Kratos. Once the gladiator party reached Kallick Town they rode
into the city’s great coliseum. The men were shown their quarters
and Talon felt happy that they were not dormitories. The men were
given a couple of hours to wash and unpack their belongings before
they had to report to Savarta.

Savarta
arranged for them to meet in the arena so that his men could wet
their appetites to the surroundings and get a feel for the soon to
be battles they would compete in.

“My brave
gladiators!” Savarta began his speech “tomorrow you shall fight in
this great arena, I am satisfied in all of your conditions, come
what may remember your teachings. Be mindful of all those hard days
of blood and sweat that have brought you here for this moment, your
schooling will stand you in good stead, but it will be your heart
that will spur you to victory, remember all of this and pay caution
to the thought, that one mistake could lead to your death. Focus
you thoughts, concentrate your determination, use your skill and
your strengths and you will be victorious!”

The men were
standing around Savarta in a circle concentrating on their mentors
words, when he finished speaking, Dreevus a three times Golheck and
the most experienced gladiator in the party replied.

“We are all
well prepared Savarta, this is our time to give thought for the
contest but I also pay thought to you, once again you have prepared
us and I praise you like I praise no other, HAIL SAVARTA!”

“THE GREATEST
INSTRUCTOR IN ALL OF KRATOS!” another gladiator added as all the
men raised Savarta’s hand in the air.

Two hours later
Talon and his fellow gladiators were all in their rooms mentally
preparing themselves for the oncoming battles. However Savarta
acting under orders of General Koolga was on his way to see General
Krustov to give him the letter Koolga wrote regarding Talon.

General Krustov
was taken by great surprise when he read Koolga’s letter, he was
stifled to learn that Talon was here and that he was going to fight
in tomorrow’s contests.

“What the damn
is Talon doing fighting in the arena? Has Koolga lost his mind!” he
snapped at Savarta clearly bemused how a festival of pass candidate
would want to risk his life as a gladiator.

“Well sir, I
requested it.” replied Savarta rather coyly.

“We send this
man to the Palace lands to join the guard and he returns here as an
entertaining gladiator, by damn his arrogance is offensive.”
snapped back Krustov.

“Sir he is an
exceptional fighter and he comes from a family that has excelled in
the gladiator arena.”

The Generals
thoughts returned to his previous meeting with the wizards and how
they had asked Krustov to bring Talon to them to be tested with the
truth crystal. Krustov had already sent word for Talon but now
before his command could be answered he found out Talon was here.
The General then quickly realised that he could not permit this
fighting to take place, the wizards wanted to speak with him, if
Krustov allowed Talon to fight and he was killed then the wizards
would not be pleased with the General.

“Talon will not
be permitted to fight in the arena; you will have to alter your
schedule.” Krustov snapped turning to Savarta and speaking very
sternly.

“But sir he
has.”

Savarta was
bluntly interrupted from saying that Talon had Koolga’s
permission.

“I have made my
decision, Talon will not fight and that is Final!”

“He will be
very disappointed Sir” Savarta uttered back as he lowered his
head.

General Krustov
then rose to his feet.

“Is he
outside?”

“No sir he is
in his room.”

“Take me to
him!”

Once the two
men arrived outside Talon’s door, General Krustov asked Savarta to
remain outside.

“Sir!” Talon
loudly said jumping to attention from his bed as the General
entered.

“Sit down
Talon.” the General said as he pulled over a chair.

“What are you
doing here Talon?” he added.