Zachania (15 page)

“I am going to
fight in the arena tomorrow sir,” added Talon in a slightly proud
tone to his voice.

“No you are not
Talon, I cannot allow it, you are a soldier in the Palace guard,
I’m sorry but this nonsense has come to an end.”

“But sir, I am
already here, the fight has been scheduled, I cannot let the
Savarta down now.” pleaded Talon.

“Then it will
have to be rescheduled!, you will not be fighting.” replied Krustov
as he noticed the disappointment on Talon’s young face and Talon in
turn could not help noticing the secrecy in his.

“Talon, do you
not realise that you could have been killed!”

“Of course
sir!”

“Yet you still
wanted to fight!”

“I have always
wanted to fight sir.”

Krustov shook
his head and sighed loudly as a sign of his disappointment.

“You are a
soldier in the Palace guard, your career must come first and not
your desires, frankly I find it offensive that you look on your
position with such disdain. Many cadets in your old school would
shed blood to be in your position, I find this whole episode
preposterous and your arrogance in this is almost punishable!”

“My intention
was not to offend anyone sir.” Talon replied.

“Of course not
Talon, but your lack of thought in this is below you, quite frankly
I expected a whole lot better from you!”

Talon lowered
his head as his mind began to race, he was now mindful of his plan
to escape, would he be sent back to the Palace land immediately he
wondered.

“What will
happen to me sir?” he asked hesitantly.

“In normal
circumstances I would punish you for your total disregard of your
duties but this time I am only going to give you a warning that any
more behaviour like this, and you will be on a charge.”

Talon listened
to the General’s words, he felt anger at what he was hearing, He
looked up and caught the Generals eyes as he felt that Krustov was
hiding something from him.

“Talon, tell me
something” (hear it comes) Talon silently thought.

“You come from
Tallasian don’t you Talon, but what of your family have they always
lived there.”

“My family sir”
answered Talon trying to sound confused.

“Yes, your
family, tell me of them.”

Talon hesitated
for a slight moment “he knows something, but what, why is he
probing me” Talon thought before answering.

“Yes sir my
family were all from Tallasian.”

“And your
Grandfather too?”

“Yes sir.”
Talon replied as an uncomfortable silence fell between them where
both their eyes met. Krustov held the stare and gazed deeply at the
soldier before him, Talon consciously made sure he would not flinch
as he held back the stare. “Does he know?” Talon thought as the two
men silently gazed at each other “I must not show weakness, I must
keep my secret hidden.” Talon thought.

The game
continued for a few further moments, it was like a game of Kess
where both men were locked in stalemate seeing who would surrender
first. Talon silently felt relieved when the General finally broke
away and got to his feet. Talon noticed a bead of sweat falling
from the Generals brow down to the corner of his mouth; it
embarrassed the General as he wiped his face.

“We will speak
more tomorrow.” he uttered before walking out the room.

Talon lied back
onto his bed and sighed loudly, he felt anxious and he felt sure
that the General’s knew something that he was hiding from him,
there and then he decided that his escape could wait no longer; he
was beginning to feel deep concern for his life “I go tonight” he
said silently to himself.

Nightfall was
only a short time away and he knew that the blanket of night would
aid him best; he readied himself a small bag in which he packed a
few pieces of bread and an assortment of throwing knives and a
sling that he had made. Talon then thought about the reality that
he might have to kill someone, he had never killed a man before yet
he was skilled in numerous killing arts “I will not seek it but if
it is them or me then it will be them” he whispered.

Later that
evening General Krustov was sitting in his office, awaiting the
return from a soldier who he had sent earlier to tell the wizards
that Talon was in Kallick Town.

“Come!” Krustov
shouted as he heard a knock on his door.

“Beg my pardon
sir but I could not deliver your message.” the soldier said.

“Explain
yourself!” Krustov angrily snapped.

“Upon arrival
at the wizards’ temple sir, I was told by their aid that the
wizards were in a state of meditation and that they could not be
disturbed until tomorrow.”

“How dare you
disobey me?” Krustov snapped.

“But, sir.”

“Get back there
and deliver my message.”

“But sir, you
will be sending me to my death.”

Krustov subdued
his anger as he knew that the soldier was speaking the truth. So
instead he told him to report back to the wizards and deliver the
message the moment they woke.

When night
finally fell Talon summoned up all of his courage, he took a deep
breath as he picked up his bag and stood silently and in the dark
behind his door, he reached for the handle at least a dozen times
before he finally walked into the corridor. Two candles lit the
hall but it still seemed dark as Talon crept along the wall, Talon
knew that there would be guards so he carefully watched his steps,
his heart was racing and he could hear his own breathing which he
tried to control.

Suddenly there
were footsteps coming, he froze as the steps got louder, he felt
panic, quickly glimpsing over his shoulder he realised that his
room was too far for him to return so he pushed himself into the
shadows and tried to remain still.

Talon noticed a
figure walking towards him, it was too dark to see who it was until
the figure passed under a candle and he saw that it was Savarta,
Talon tried to make himself as small as possible as he hoped
Savarta would not see him, Talon held his breath as Savarta passed.
Savarta passed him then suddenly stopped.

“Who’s there?”
Savarta snapped.

Talon walked
out from the shadows.

“Talon!”
Savarta said in shock and then alarm when he saw Talon’s bag.

Talon noticed
Savarta looking at the bag he was carrying and then felt the tense
atmosphere between them.

“Talon what are
you doing?” Savarta asked.

“What are you
doing?” he repeated only this time louder.

Talons heart
began to pound, he could feel himself tensing. In an instant he
realised that he was going to have to get through Savarta to
escape, Talon pounced and lunged at Savarta, Savarta tried to evade
the attack but Talon’s desperation was too great, and his speed too
swift. Talon secured an arm lock around Savarta’s neck and within
moments Talon had rendered him unconscious. “I did not seek this my
friend, sleep and be no further part of this.” Talon whispered in
his friends ear.

Talon dragged
Savarta back into his room where he tied and gagged him before once
again walking into the hall. Talons determination now seemed
fiercer than ever, the anxiety had gone. Maybe it was because of
what he had just done to Savarta meant that there was no turning
back but one thing was sure, he felt that nothing now was going to
get in way.

He made his way
along the corridor until he reached the open air of the arena. His
plan was to make it to the far end of the arena and climb over the
smallest wall. He was dressed in his uniform and he knew that when
he left the arena he would be able to walk the streets without any
attention being drawn to him. Once he had scaled down the wall
Talon walked quietly away from the arena trying to remain in the
shadows and avoiding any kind of eye contact. His confidence began
to grow as he mingled with all the other soldiers in the street and
nobody seemed to notice him but he knew he was running out of time,
Savarta would wake soon and surely raise the alarm.

There were
three roads out of Kallick Town and Talon knew that from his days
of studying at the military school that all three roads would be
heavily guarded with the strictest rules on access.

He had decided
that his only way out would be to swim across one of the vast
rivers that circled the town like a natural moat. Talon headed for
a quiet spot where he used to sit and study. It took him nearly an
hour to find the spot, as he looked out onto the river he thought
about how strong the currents looked, to a swimmer it would be
insane to swim in such a river but to Talon it was his only option
for escape. He lowered himself into the river and began to swim; he
could feel the cold chilling his bones, which made it difficult for
him to draw breath. The strong current was also making it difficult
for him as he felt himself being sucked under from time to time.
Talon pulled his head out from under the water and gritted his
teeth “I can do this!” he mouthed in determination as he felt his
limbs begin to tire.

“I can do it!”
he repeated as the icy chill began to numb his concentration
“SWIM!” he said to himself “SWIM” he shouted frantically as another
large current began once again to drag him under. Talon tried with
all of his strength to stay afloat, he began to fear for his young
life as his arms d legs began to go limp, then just as Talon was
going under he caught sight of the moon. It felt strange to him
that in all this confusion and his struggle for life he felt drawn
to the moon. Suddenly Talon calmed himself and began to regulate
his breathing then he heard a strange voice that filled him with
warmth, a warmth that flowed through his body “return to your home
Talon” “return to the home of your heart.”

Talon
recognised the voice as the strange Zachanian who he had previously
dreamt off, suddenly Talon caught sight of the riverbank lighted by
the moons light, he felt a rush of energy fill his body as he swam
powerfully over to it. He reached the bank and pulled himself half
out of the river before collapsing in exhaustion.

He lay
motionless as he felt relief that he had made it, he banged the
soil with his fist before pulling himself fully from the river. In
the light of the moon he saw the open countryside laid out before
him.

Almost
immediately he began to walk, he felt his legs ache from the
previous exploits in the river but he knew he had to put enough
distance between himself and Kallick Town before dawn.

As Talon
walked, he thought that ideally it would be best to steal a horse
for his very long journey, but this barren landscape, void of
civilisation would not present that opportunity, nether the less he
would keep looking for it.

His plan was to
return home to Tallasian where he would have to warn his father of
his escape “Did Krustov know I was Zachanian?” he thought to
himself as he relived the conversation with the General.

All he could
think of was that if the Empire suspected that he was Zachanian
then his Zachanian family would also be punished.

“I must warn
them!” he mouthed as he increased his speed.

Talon kept up a
brisk pace all through the night and as dawn broke he found himself
thinking what would be the reactions of Krustov and Savarta.

He had done
well in his walking and had covered at least forty miles through
the night, he felt exhausted and his body needed sleep yet he knew
he could not afford such luxury.

“I will not
rest until I have warned my family.” he sighed.

The morning
that broke across the skies of Kallick Town brought with it an
atmosphere of gloom. The skies were dark and thunder could be heard
in the distance but the black skies of Kallick Town were merely an
appetiser for what was to come on this dark day.

Savarta had
instructed his gladiators the night before to meet him in the arena
at first light. The gladiators waited for Savarta for over an hour
and grew increasingly curious by every passing moment as to why
their instructor had not arrived. Savarta’s lateness was totally
out of character, he was always meticulous when it came to
procedure and preparation. The gladiators also noticed that Talon
was missing, finally one of the men decided to go and investigate.
He walked into the corridor and banged gently at first on the door
of Savarta’s room, he banged again only this time louder, pushing
his ear up to the door he thought he heard a muffled sound. The
gladiator suddenly burst the door open and stopped in mid step at
the sight that he was met with, Savarta was tied and bound to his
bed which was upturned and the instructor was struggling to free
himself. The gladiator rushed over and tore off the gag that was
round his teachers face.

“It was Talon,
Talon did this.” Savarta sighed as the gladiator freed him.

“Have you seen
him?” Savarta sighed.

The gladiator,
feeling confused shook his head.

“No, what’s
happened.” he asked.

Ignoring him,
Savarta once freed quickly rose to his feet and rushed from the
room, he barged into Talon’s empty room and started throwing things
around, frantically he threw the bed into the air, he looked at the
empty spot beneath it then picked up a table, the gladiator who had
freed him joined him and placed a hand on his teachers arm to calm
him.

“Where is
everyone?” Savarta shouted.

“In the arena,
waiting for you.”

Savarta turned
instantly and hurriedly walked away, as his men saw him enter the
arena they stood up and walked to meet him.

“Has anyone
here seen Talon!” he demanded angrily.

“What has
happened, my friend” Arnel, Savarta’s most senior fighter asked him
sincerely noticing his teachers rage.

“Has anyone
seen him?” Savarta again shouted.