Zachania (16 page)

“Savarta!”
shouted Arnel “calm yourself” he added quieter “no one here has
seen him, what has happened.”

Savarta raised
his hands to his face and sighed loudly, embarrassed he began to
tell his men what happened the night before, as he finished he
asked one of his men to notify the guard.

Shortly after
the gladiators turned as they heard footsteps marching quickly from
the direction of the corridor that led into the arena.

Savarta turned
and saw General Krustov accompanied by two Captains enter into the
sun. The General had a stern look upon his face as he hurriedly
walked towards him.

“What’s all
this about?” Krustov mouthed with authority and annoyance.

“It was last
night sir whilst retiring to my room I saw a man hiding in the
shadows, I confronted the man and saw that it was Talon, for no
reason at all he just attacked me, I was taken completely by
surprise.”

“And where is
he now?” Krustov barked.

“He is missing
sir, I was rendered unconscious, bound and gagged, my men freed me
this morning.”

General Krustov
stiffened as he looked across at his two captains; he was finding
this mysterious to say the least.

“One moment.”
Krustov said pausing Savarta.

“Last night you
saw a man hiding in the shadows, you discovered it to be Talon, he
attacked you, tied and bound you and now he is missing, is this
what you bare saying.”

“Yes sir.”

Krustov shook
his head in a gesture of disbelief.

“What was his
reasoning for doing this?”

“I do not know
sir, all I know is what I told you and that he is now missing.”

General Krustov
looked around at the other Gladiators.

“Does anyone
else have anything to add?” he asked them only for the men to gaze
emptily back at him.

“This is
astounding!” Krustov added.

“For no reason
at all Talon attacks you Savarta, you a seasoned gladiator, now he
is missing and no one knows anything, I find this highly
suspicious.”

“No more than I
sir.” replied a rather embarrassed Savarta.

General Krustov
then turned to one of his captains and ordered him to arrange a
search party.

“Search
everywhere, I want to get to the bottom of this within the hour.”
Krustov added as the captain walked away.

“I find it
unbelievable Savarta that you of all men were rendered so helpless;
you could not even alert the guards.”

“He moved so
fast General, I did not expect this.”

The General
once again shook his head.

“I will deal
with you later!” he growled ominously to Savarta before nodding to
the Captain standing beside him and walking away.

“Captain, Send
troops to every outpost on the towns bridges, I want to know if
anyone has seen someone matching Talon’s description” the General
said as they walked off.

Suddenly the
General stopped and turned back towards the gladiators, he motioned
with his arm for Savarta to come closer, once near he leaned close
and spoke quietly but sternly.

“If I discover
that you aided in his escape Savarta, I will have you skinned and
left to rot in the desert dust.”

“I knew nothing
of this sir; I am as bemused as you.”

“That will be
found out!” Krustov mouthed.

The General
returned to his quarters and sat troubled behind his desk.

“Damn this
Talon! Who the hell is he? What is he!” he said frustrated out loud
as he sat back in his chair.

Suddenly the
Generals door burst open, Krustov jumped to his feet angered and
was just about to lambaste the perpetrator of their arrogance when
he saw that it was the three wizards, he composed himself quickly
and invited them in.

“We are here
for Talon, we received word that he is here in Kallick Town, take
us to him immediately General.”

Krustov
swallowed hard, he racked his brains as to how to break the news
but before he could reply another wizard spoke.

“He must be put
to death, we have meditated on this. Talon’s destiny does not rest
with the Empire, we have foreseen a threat to the guard, and even
the Emperor is not safe from this”

Krustov once
again swallowed hard, he could not believe what the wizard had just
told him, and with baited breath he summoned up the courage to
reply.

“Talon has
disappeared holy one.”

“What do you
say.” hissed the wizard with a sinister tone.

“He is missing
Lord…last night he attacked a soldier and took him hostage, this
morning we discovered that he is missing; I have raised search
parties to scour the city.”

The wizards
face contorted as he listened to the General, suddenly the
atmosphere turned, Krustov could feel the wizard’s anger, it
engulfed him as he felt his pulse begin to race.

The first
wizard seemed just about to launch into the General when his
colleague spoke to him in wizards language. Krustov sat nervously
awaiting his fate as he witnessed the wizards talking amongst
themselves in what sounded like hisses and clicks, once they
finished the wizard turned back to him.

“We sensed that
this might arise, you must use every resource to see that this man
is found, stop at nothing or use no restrain, this matter has the
Emperor’s eye upon it.”

“The Emperor.”
Krustov replied shocked at the importance “why would the Emperor be
so concerned in the fate of a soldier.”

“You fool!”
snapped the wizard “This is not merely a soldier, if this man joins
with the resistance in Zachania then all our fates could be at
risk. This man has a destiny, and you fools are helping him fulfil
it. In Zachania they will know how to nurture him, he will grow,
his power will reach into every corner of Kratos, our whole
existence is threatened.”

“What
resistance?” replied Krustov now even more shocked at hearing the
words Zachania?

The second
wizard eased himself forth gazing at the General he spoke
slowly.

“Listen to me
Krustov, when the Empire occupied the realm of Zachania, we did not
just leave of our own accord, we were driven out, only the emperor
and a few know this. Zachania was guarded by strong magic, inside
their land they are invincible, they are protected by powerful
wizards.”

“I thought the
Zachanian’s were buried in history.”

“No one knows
for sure what is there, but we know that they exist, we also know
of an ancient Zachanian prophecy that foretells that a man born
outside of Zachania with Zachanian ancestors will one day return to
lead the Zachanian’s back into the land of Kratos, we believe that
Talon is this man.”

“You fear all
this because of an ancient poem my Lord.” replied Krustov.

“Do not mock
the arts General; these things have come to bear before.”

“What do you
want me to do Lord?”

“Time is now of
the essence, you must double our force in Zanlia, it is there that
the spirit still lives, send in your secret army now, penetrate the
people, we must know of everything that happens there, infiltrate
the smugglers, they will lead us to information.”

“Send three
legions to our outpost at Death Valley. And send a legion to
Tallasian, you must also capture the parents of this Zachanian,
lead this legion personally General, I will give you all the powers
that you need.” added the second wizard.

The General
nodded his approval; he was still not sure just what was going on
but knew he must obey.

“I will see to
it immediately Lord.” he said.

The first
wizard suddenly stiffened and straightened his robes.

“Now who was
the one who let this Zachanian Escape?”

“It was
Savarta, the teacher of the Palace lands gladiator school.”

“Send for this
man now.”

After a few
moments Savarta entered the room and cowered almost immediately he
saw the wizards, the first wizard walked towards him and placed the
palm of his hand upon Savarta’s forehead.

“Speak the
truth, or I shall burn your brain within your skull.” the wizard
hissed.

Nervously
Savarta began to explain everything that had happened, as he
finished the wizard pushed him forcefully against the wall, he then
reached out his hand till it was extended about a foot from the
gladiators face.

“Look into the
palm of my hand” the wizard ordered.

Savarta looked
up, he had a deep fear now showing on his face, then suddenly the
wizard swiftly closed his palm and pulled away his hand, Savarta
dropped screaming to the floor, Krustov rose to his feet as the
wizard turned towards him, opening his hand the wizard then threw
Savarta’s eyes onto the General’s desk.

“He who sees
and fails to tell shall not see at all.” the wizard said.

Krustov retched
at the sight before him.

Control
yourself General, you are a servant of the Emperor!” one of the
other wizards shouted.

“By the gods,
man!” Krustov shouted raising his hand to his mouth as if trying to
stop himself vomit.

“Be silent!”
the first wizard screamed in a voice that sent shivers down the
spine of the General.

“You will wear
those eyes around your neck General as a reminder to those who fail
the Empire.”

Krustov tried
to compose himself, he struggled with the nausea that he felt but
the fear and shock of the wicked act he had just witnessed seemed
to sober him upright.

“That’s better
General, before this saga ends you will smell death in their
thousands.” said the wizard who threw the eyes. He wiped his hand,
then reached into his cloak where he pulled out a round shaped
crystal that was on the end of a piece of leather twine, the wizard
then ordered the General to pierce Savarta’s eyes and add them to
the strap. Once done he instructed the General to place the crystal
around his neck, Krustov obeyed and retched once again as the
crystal and eyes rested on his chest, he could feel blood still
dripping from the eyes, they dripped down his tunic and onto his
leg.

“Does this
satisfy you holy one?” Krustov snarled only for the wizard to sneer
back.

“With that
crystal you will be able to communicate with us, never take it off,
do you understand.”

“I
understand.”

“You have your
orders General, we must all make haste, the Emperor must hear of
this immediately.”

As the wizards
left, Krustov shouted for one of his aids, two soldiers ran into
the room and stood in disbelief, they looked at Savarta now
unconscious covered in blood and looked up at their General, blood
down his uniform and wearing Savarta’s eyes.

“Pick him up
man, take him to the surgeon.” Krustov shouted.

The General
then slumped back in his chair and sighed loudly as the two
soldiers picked up Savarta, he just sat motionless for a few
moments trying to gather his thoughts of all that has just happened
and what he had just heard, he breathed deep as the shock began to
subdue, moments later he began writing out his orders.

By mid-morning
Talon had crossed marshlands that lay to the south of Kallick Town
and had already entered the wilderness of the valleys. He felt more
at ease walking across the forests than the stark landscape he had
crossed the night before. As he walked he purposely tried to
quicken his pace, he ran a few hundred yards then walked a few
hundred, he knew that there would be soldiers looking for him, but
he was unaware that General Krustov along with a legion of men was
behind him on horseback. Talon was already beginning to tire but
his determination pushed him along, he was at risk and his family
could be in danger, rest was a luxury he could not afford.

General Krustov
whipped his horse fiercely; along with three Imperial captains he
led the soldiers from the front. He pushed his horse to the limit
while he could not help thinking of the young soldier Talon, all
along he knew that this man was different, from that very first
meeting he could feel the strange aura that surrounded him. It
quickly crossed his mind that he could have prevented this by
taking more notice in Talon but reason quickly snapped that thought
away as he told himself that he had no way of knowing the gravity
of the situation.

Talon crouched
behind a tree that lay on a small hill hidden by the undergrowth;
he was looking at three soldiers resting their horses in the small
valley below.

“I must take
one of their horses.” he silently said to himself, he looked up to
the sky and saw that the sun was still in its highest position,
there was no time to wait till nightfall, he would have to make his
move now.

Suddenly he
realised again that he may have to kill, he had never taken a man’s
life before and thought unnerved him. He thought of his family’s
lives in danger, he thought of his own life in danger, silently he
convinced himself that he must do whatever was necessary in order
to survive. Slowly Talon crawled towards the soldiers hiding
himself in the long grass, he noticed that the first soldier was
asleep, whilst the other two were feeding their horses a few yards
away, Talon reached for his dagger and pressed the sleeping
soldier, he crawled to the side of him and placed his dagger at the
man’s throat, he readied himself for the kill but something inside
him prevented him from pushing the blade, Talon gritted his teeth
but somehow he could not bring himself to kill.

“I cannot kill
this man in cold blood,” he thought silently.

Taking great
care Talon crawled around the sleeping soldier till he positioned
himself between the horses and the other two soldiers, slowly he
rose to his feet and began to advance hidden by the horses, he
decided that he would pounce with all his might, if his stealth and
technique was correct then he would be able to render both men
unconscious.