FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (11 page)

     Verallvian Sayson’s composure was calm in response to Convian Proest’s words. Convian Genox, however, sniggered.

      “What brave words you speak, sir, but I would not want to find out if you really meant them. Please reconsider, sir,” replied Verallvian Sayson reasonably.

     “I have complete faith in Convian Proest’s words, Verallvian Sayson. I have served under him for the past three years. I have seen the level of conviction and drive that he possesses with my own eyes. I assure you that the convian meant what he said,” said the other yellow collared soldier, who had three black stripes etched and painted on the left side of his breastplate.

     “I do not question the convian’s conviction or his drive, but merely the necessity of the risks he intends to take, Exevian Meteor Staven. The same objective can be accomplished with far less risk if it was done by Convian Genox instead,” explained Verallvian Sayson.

    “With all due respect, gentlemen… and lady; I believe this conversation is no longer necessary, for our contact has arrived,” said Exevian Staven while pointing to a moving figure in the trees.

     The four soldiers rode their horses towards the shadow they saw moving amongst the trees.

     “Chief Green Frell, we did not expect to see you here
!
Where is Suvian Panther Renox
?
” said Convian Genox to an elderly man of the age 60, mounted on a donkey.

     “That soldier you sent us, Renox, you say
?
I’m afraid he’s dead. I received a message from my contacts in Nestland Royal via homing pigeon. It seems that the poor boy was shot in the back with a poisoned arrow when he tried to escape from Castle Cobra. He was almost incoherent when he reached them. They managed to get the time and location of this meeting and a few details of King Fangstrike’s plan, but not much. They buried him in an unmarked grave just on the outskirts of Nestland Royal. Tell his family that he died a hero,” said Chief Frell as he handed a folded piece of paper to Convian Genox.

     Convian Genox unfolded the piece of paper and read it contents. The expression on her face was grave. She passed the paper to Verallvian Sayson. His expression transformed into a mirror image of hers.

     “How bad is it
?
” asked Convian Proest.

     Verallvian Sayson passed Convian Proest the paper. He shook his head after reading it.

     “This cannot be correct
!
It says that they are sending an entire ‘serpenest’ to raid Eastern Falls. This is not possible
!
Normally, they would just send a ‘jaw’ to sneak past our defences, raid a village or two and then escape back to Serpentia. Just approximately 300 Serpentian soldiers, not 7,800
!
This is not like them at all
!
” refuted Convian Proest.

     Convian Genox shook her head and gave Convian Proest a grave expression.

     “The report is correct. We have heard rumours that the Serpentians are planning something big this time. This was the reason why we had requested for this mission to be carried out in the first place. All of our contacts have reported massive activities throughout Serpentia, especially in Nestland Constrictor. Battlelord Constrictor is a new battlelord. He killed his former master, Battlelord Coldscales, in a Trial of Worthiness for control of his nestland. He is young and eager to prove himself, and this makes him unpredictably dangerous. I am not surprised that he was chosen to execute this raid,” she said.

     Convian Proest passed the paper to Exevian Staven.

     “Grand Catapults
!
Why would they be bringing Grand Catapults
?
” asked Exevian Staven as he read the contents of the paper.

     “To tear down walls
!
” answered Convian Genox and Verallvian Sayson simultaneously.

     “You mean they plan to attack Fort Eastguard
?
” commented Exevian Staven in an unbelieving manner.

     “Yes, exevian. If this report is true, they mean to attack Fort Eastguard,” surrendered Convian Proest.

     Meanwhile, Convian Proest had a blank look on his face. Clearly the magnitude of the impending Serpentian attack was very hard for him to mentally accept.

     “We are not prepared for this
!
This is not a raid
!
It is almost like an invasion
!
This attack is too big
!
We will need at least a ‘lake’ to reinforce Fort Eastguard
!
And if they get through, then the entire Eastern Falls will most likely be lost. We would then have to send an ‘ocean’ to stop them. But they will have a clear line of reinforcements from Serpentia. They can have a steady flow of Serpenests come in to reinforce them. This will push us back to the Windswept Forest, at the very least. We shall lose an entire province, and we shall never get it back
!
” he concluded.

     All four soldiers sat silently, contemplating the implications of this discovery.

     Finally, Convian Proest shook his head and mentally forced himself to accept the reality of things.

     “When will they arrive
?
” he enquired.

     “My contacts say they’re moving rather slowly. Probably due to these Grand Catapults you’re talking about. Their best guess is that they should reach the border in four or five days,” answered Chief Frell.

     “Four or five days
?
That’s not enough time for reinforcements to arrive at Fort Eastguard from Fallsene City. There is no time to waste
!
The exevian and I shall ride back to the palace and inform the king. Along the way, we shall spread the word to the local garrison commanders to send to Fort Eastguard whatever resources they can spare. Convian Genox and Verallvian Sayson, you will need to rush back to the fort and make the necessary defence preparations,” delegated Convian Proest.

    “Agreed
!
” said Convian Genox.

     The four soldiers bid the elderly man goodbye and rode away as fast as their horses could carry them. The elderly man turned his donkey around and casually rode off, disappearing entirely into the shadows of the forest.

         The next day, Ray, Lance and Spirit stopped for lunch at a bank of a small river. Ray looked up at the sky. There was no cloud. It was hot and sunny. There would be no rain that night, he predicted. After lunch and a short rest, he began training Lance in Elemental Sorcery.

     Elemental Sorcery, as Lance was to find out, was much more difficult and complicated than it seemed. Lance had to do what Ray termed as ‘Energy Discharge Practices’, in which he had to stand with his feet approximately two shoulders’ width apart, stare at an imaginary point five paces away to his centre and front, and after drawing deep breaths and focusing on his rage, shout out as loud as he could while forcing his soul energy forward through his fingers by simultaneously thrusting his arms and fingers forward. The first time Lance did this, nothing had happened. Half an hour later, still nothing had happened. Lance was beginning to think that he was being cheated
!

     One whole hour had passed. Lance was about to give up when he felt a tingling in his fingers as he shouted out and thrust them forward. He tried again with more enthusiasm and saw tiny bursts of flames emanating from his finger tips. Thus encouraged, he continued for another half an hour while Ray took a nap under a shady tree. At the end of the session, though, Lance had to dip his fingers in the cool waters of the small river as he felt that they were on fire. Ray walked over and told him not to worry. He said that it was normal for beginners to accidentally burn their fingertips because they did not yet know how to control the soul energy that they had brought forth.

     Ray sat down beside Lance and began to explain the nature and limitations of Elemental Sorcery. Elemental Sorcery, Ray explained, was the knowledge of drawing raw energy from the soul and shaping that energy into one of the five elements of nature; namely fire, water, earth, wind and mind. As the drawing of energy from the soul would have weakened it, a normal human being could only draw enough energy to execute the equivalent of nine ‘basic spells’ in a day without harming himself. A Heat Burst Spell, which was the flaming sphere that Lance had seen Ray execute, was one such basic spell. If an Elementhar has used up too much soul energy, he would experience what was called ‘soul depletion’, which could eventually lead to death. Lance was a little shocked to find out that Elemental Sorcery had such a restrictive limit. He was under the impression that it was limitless. Ray then said to him that nothing in the universe was ever limitless.

     Ray then explained to Lance that an ‘intermediate spell’ was equivalent to three basic spells and an ‘advanced spell’ would require the same amount of energy as three intermediate spells or nine basic spells. If an Elementhar was in direct physical contact with the natural element of his sorcery, he would be able to extract a small amount of energy from it, thereby making him stronger or increasing his energy recovery rate.

     Ray then said that Elementhars could store their excess soul energy into gemstones by touching them and wilfully transferring their energy into them. Therefore the gemstones acted as storage devices for excess soul energy. The Elementhars could then draw the stored energy from these gemstones when they needed them. Normally, an Elementhar would have these gemstones set into bracelets, headbands, necklaces or vambraces which they wore. These items were then known as ‘Reservers’. Rubies were used to store the fire element form of soul energy while brown diamonds, white diamonds and sapphires were used for the earth, wind and water elements respectively. The golden beryl gems were used for the mind element.

     Ray then mentioned that gemstones were also used to create what was known as a ‘Sorcerised Item’. A Sorcerised Item was an object that could absorb soul energy, therefore it was used like a shield. The Sorcerised Item would require all five types of gemstone to be set into it using Elemental Sorcery. Each gemstone would function by absorbing the form of soul energy it was associated with, with the exception of the white diamond, which also absorbed ‘dark energy’. Dark energy was the soul energy of demons. Demons would normally condense their dark energy into black, shiny energy spheres, called Dark Orbs, and ‘shoot’ them at their enemies or prey.

     Finally, Ray explained that Elementhars could extract and reuse the soul energy that had been absorbed by the gemstones in a sorcerised item. However, he stressed that if a white diamond has absorbed dark energy, an Elementhar must never try to extract energy from it; otherwise he would be possessed by the dark energy and would either lose his sanity, transform into a demon or both. A white diamond, upon turning completely black from the saturation of dark energy, must be carefully removed and buried. Any physical contact with a saturated ‘black diamond’ could lead to dark energy possession. Lance contemplated with utter seriousness Ray’s explanation as he dipped his superficially burnt fingertips into the icy cold water yet again.

     Later during the evening, Ray had once again retrieved the Vanguard Manuscript of Master Wave Soltude. Reading its pages, a drop of tear flowed down his cheek. Master Soltude had not only written down the accords of his progress, but his mistakes in life as well. A very wise practice, noted Ray. At the back of his mind, Ray could almost hear the favourite advice that his own mentor, Grand Elementhar Ridge Santlyn, always gave, ‘Mistake _ never make the same of this twice’. Obviously Master Soltude had recorded all his mistakes so as not to repeat them again. But there were certain mistakes which must never be made; for these mistakes were unforgivable or unforgiving. Apparently, Elementhar Soltude had made such a mistake, or else Ray would not be in possession of his copy of the Vanguard Manuscript at the moment. As unpleasant an experience as it was, Ray was determined to finish reading the manuscript; it was the only decent way to honour the deceased Elementhar.   

     The chirping sound of crickets soothes the ensuing silence. Spirit stretches and yawns. Then he lies down next to the campfire and falls asleep. Lance gets into his tent and falls asleep as well. Ray sits alone next to Spirit, reading and learning about the life of the lost, fallen comrade who was Master Elementhar Wave Soltude. And he reminisces back to the time of his own childhood at Monune Ruby…

THE STORY OF RAY, PART I

     The sky is still dark. He looks up. The heavens are obscured with thick, overcast clouds. But he knows it will be morning soon. He looks at the infant one last time, this man with a scar across his face. He loves this infant as much as its own parents did. He wants to take care of it, to raise it as his own. But he knows he cannot. He is a wanted man. And the infant is wanted as well. The infant is in as grave danger as he is. To keep it safe, he must keep its identity safe. To do so, he must leave it here. He must leave it here at the front gate of the monune of the Fire Elementhars. Here, at Monune Ruby, is where he will part ways with it, perhaps forever. Only two items he shall leave as a clue to the infant’s true identity, a blanket with a surname embroidered on it and a silver short-staff. And with that, he is gone…

     The infant slept in silence in a large basket. It was warm and comfortable. Then the rooster crowed. The infant awoke, crying loudly. And the infant cried and cried and cried, on this day, the
15
th
Day of Fifth Month of Wet Season
in the
Year 1160 of the Known Era
.

     A Master Elementhar, of the age 50, rushed to the front gate of this monune that was atop a very large hill, with a group of novices following behind him. At that moment the cloud cover broke slightly and the mid-morning sun shone its rays on the basket and the infant in it. The rooster was late in crowing, for the sun was obscured by the thick cloud cover earlier. So the time was actually mid-morning instead of dawn.

     “Basket _ what is in of it, Master Santlyn
?
” asked one of the novices.

     “Basket _ not what, but
who
is in of it, Cart Dirrell,” corrected Master Elementhar Ridge Santlyn as he examined the infant in the basket closely.

     “Baby _ it is of it, Cart; just like how Master Santlyn found you ten years ago,” answered one of the elder novices.

     “Baby _ so it is an abandoned of it like me, Senior Dencon,” remarked the ten year old novice whose name was Cart Dirrell.

     “Baby _ unfortunately it is an abandoned of it like you, Cart,” confirmed Novice Elementhar Rock Dencon.

     “Basket _ Rock, pick up of it and bring it inside,” instructed Master Santlyn.

     Novice Dencon did as he was instructed. All of the other novices followed him.

     Master Santlyn picked up the silver staff and examined it. There were no distinguishing marks on the silver staff except one; an emblem was carved near one end of it. The emblem was in the shape of a shield with an image of a sun in the middle of it. Eight lines of rays were radiating from the image of the sun.
Rays
of the sun
?
Just like the rays of the sun that broke through the cloud cover and shone upon the infant basket.
Ray?
Yes, why not
?
And what of the surname
?
What was the name embroidered on the blanket again
?
It was Iddell, he remembered. And so the infant was named Ray Iddell.

     Master Santlyn walked along the main walkway from the gates inward towards the main building of the monune. Lush beautiful gardens lined either both of the walkway. The main building itself was a large, white coloured, rectangular, five storey building supported by a vast number of huge marble columns. It housed lecture rooms, laboratories, offices, a library, an archive and an infirmary, amongst other things. At the balcony of the topmost floor of the main building was a large bonfire. This bonfire had been burning since the formation of the order and was never allowed to be extinguished. It was a symbol of the fire element. And fire was the element that all Fire Elementhars held dearest to their hearts. For as far as they were concerned, fire was the manifestation of heat in its purest form, and without heat to fuel the movement of matter, nothing could exist. There would have been no life, human or otherwise. There would have been no universe.

     Behind the main building sat two other buildings which were smaller and simpler in design. One was the living quarters for the members of the order and the other served as the stables, storeroom, mess hall and workshop. Behind these buildings was the fruits and vegetable patch which fed the order. And finally, behind the patch was an empty field that served as a training area for the practical training sessions of Elemental Sorcery.

    Master Elementhar Autumn Matten walked into the main building to see what the fuss was all about. Immediately, this female Elementhar, of the age 40 and of Aridyte ancestry, put her maternal instincts to work. She shooed all the novices away and carried the infant Ray Iddell in her arms. Then she sang him a lullaby and he slowly fell asleep. All was quiet. No novice dared make a sound lest they wanted a Heat Burst straight in the buttocks.

     Novice Dencon stepped out of the main building to find his master there, still analysing the silver short staff.

     “Emblem _ do you recognise of it, master
?
” he asked.

     “Emblem _ no, I do not recognise of it, Rock; do you
?
” asked Master Santlyn in return.

     “Emblem _ I do not recognise of it, master; but if I were to venture a guess, I do not think that it originates from anywhere in Free Falls, or even on this continent, for that matter,” answered Novice Dencon.

     “Reason _ what is yours for saying of this
?
” asked Master Santlyn.

     “Reason _ master, mine of this for saying so is because Fallsian families do not use family emblems, and neither do the Serpentians nor do the Aridytes,” answered Novice Dencon.

     “Kingdoms _ it could still be from one of these on the continent, though,” said Master Santlyn.

     “Kingdoms _ I highly doubt that it came from one of these on the continent, for the person who brought the baby here would have to travel through Serpentia or the Arid Plains; both which are extremely dangerous and therefore, unlikely. Possibility _ there is a slight of this that they sailed along the coast from the northern kingdoms to get here, but why go through all that effort just to dump a baby
?
” said Novice Dencon.

     “Point _ you have a good one of this, Rock
!
Ocean _ they had probably come to Free Falls by the crossing of it from another continent, and making landfall at Fallsbay. Fugitives _ they are most likely of them, perhaps running away from a war or a natural disaster,” concluded Master Santlyn.

     “Agree _ I do of this as well, master, and this being so, would you like me to go and investigate
?
” offered Novice Dencon.

     “Unnecessary _ it is of this, Rock; for people have been leaving babies at our front gates since the time of Pioneer Vanguard herself, and if we investigated every case, we would not have any time left to hunt demons, which is our primary responsibility,” declined Master Santlyn, handing the silver staff to Novice Dencon.

     Novice Dencon accepted the silver staff from Master Santlyn and looked at it up close.

     “Baby _ of him, I think he is someone important, master; judging by the fine craftsmanship of this emblem,” concluded Novice Dencon.

     “Baby _ of him, I agree with you that he is someone important, Rock; but the question is, will it matter to us
?
” Master Santlyn pointed out.

     “No
!
Matter _ it will not be of this to us, master,” accepted Novice Dencon.

     Master Santlyn patted Novice Dencon on the back, smiled at him and nodded his head. Then the both of them went into the main building.

     When the infant Ray Iddell finally awoke, he started crying again. All of the novices began to panic, including Novice Dencon who was the most mature and experienced of the lot. They tried all sorts of things to calm him down, but nothing worked. They tried carrying him, making funny faces at him and even sang him a lullaby, but nothing worked
!
So they did the only logical thing they could do, which was to look for Master Matten. It was only when Master Matten arrived did they know that the baby was hungry and stinky. She fed him with some cow’s milk. The novices witnessed for the first time the process of diaper-changing. Some of the novices ‘ooh-ed’ and some of the novice ‘aah-ed’. But Novice Elementhar Cart Dirrell went ‘Oh, no
!
’ because he was tasked to deal with the dirty diaper.

     Three years later, a man arrived carrying a child in each arm. His name was Coal Dellix. He was a sailor and a former member of the order. He had left a decade earlier after deciding to get married and start a family. But alas, his wife had died due to an unknown illness and he was not able to take care of his children, a pair of identical twin girls. He begged his former mentor, Master Santlyn, to take the girls in and raise them in the monune. He promised to compensate the order for their upkeep and education; and that he would visit them whenever he was back in Free Falls. Master Santlyn took pity on his former student, and more so, on the pair of two-year old girls Coal was carrying. Reluctantly, Master Santlyn agreed, and so the twins of Bloom and Radiance Dellix became sisters to the three-year old Ray Iddell.

     When Ray was of the age four, he fell down when he was running around the main building of Monune Ruby. He suffered a serious cut on his right knee. Fortunately, he managed to limp his way to the infirmary, which was Master Matten’s office.

     “Done _ what have you of this to yourself, Ray
?
” asked Master Matten.

     “Fell,” answered Ray feebly.

     “Run _ you should not do of this so much, Ray; then you would not fall and hurt yourself,” advised Master Matten.

     “Understood,” replied Ray.

     “Good,” responded Master Matten.

     “Mother _ Master Matten, are you mine of her
?
” asked Ray suddenly.

     Ray’s question caught Master Matten by so much of a surprise that she froze momentarily. It took her several heartbeats of time to recompose herself. She was not sure how to answer him. She looked at his young, innocent, eager eyes and her heart just burnt with pain. How could anybody have been so irresponsible so as to abandon their own child
?
And now more importantly, how was she to answer Ray’s question
?
But honesty
is
the best policy, always
!

     “Mother _ I am not yours of her, but I care for you just as much as she would have. Found _ we had of this of you here one day at the monune, when you were just a baby. Parents _ we do not know who yours of them are, but we have always suspected that you were brought here from across the ocean; so maybe one day you will sail across the ocean and find out,” she explained.

     Ray kept quiet. He was a little disappointed. But he had his suspicions. He had noticed that most of the elder children went away from time to time with adults they called ‘parents’. Even the Dellix twins went away with someone they called ‘father’. But Ray himself never went anywhere and never called anyone ‘father’ or ‘mother’. Why this was so, he did not understand until now. So his parents were across the ocean somewhere. But why have they left him here
?
Why do they not come and take him away just like the parents of the other novices
?
Do they hate him
?
What is wrong with him
?
He did not know, but he swore that he would find out one day
!

     Ray limped out of the infirmary absent-mindedly. He was walking around without thinking. Then something large and both brownish and greyish appeared in front of him. It was only then that he realised that he had wandered onto the empty field behind the vegetable patch; and that he had stopped in front of a giant boulder. Just out of curiosity, he decided to climb it, despite his injury. When he finally got to the top, he felt his spirits lift. Right before him was a magnificent view of the forest below the monune. A soothing, gentle breeze was blowing, adding richness to the entire experience. So he decided to sit there and relax.

     Ray sat atop the boulder for hours, and enjoyed ‘not–thinking’ of anything. He just enjoyed the breeze and the view. Then he heard someone climbing up the boulder. To his surprise, it was Master Santlyn.

     “Feeling _ how are you doing of this, Ray
?
” asked Master Santlyn as he sat down next to Ray.

     “Fine _ I am of this, Master Santlyn,” Ray answered.

     “Question _ Master Matten told me of yours of this, and I am sorry that we could not give you a better answer, but the truth is the truth, unfortunately,” said Master Santlyn.