FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (13 page)

     “Confused _ you are of this, Ray; for the knowing of truth and reality is important, therefore knowing is always better than not knowing; but love is an indulgence and is not reality, therefore you cannot miss what you have not known,” counter-argued Bloom.

     “Right _ you are of this, and I am confused, so please explain,” admitted Ray.

     “Reality _ of this and truth are what happens to us whether we like it or not; therefore these are not choices but are facts forced upon us by powers far more supreme than what we could ever imagine; therefore there is no choice but to
accept
; but we cannot accept if we do not know what it is, so no matter how, we must always try to know,” explained Bloom.

     “Love _ of this, on the other hand, is a
choice
, and with every choice there are prices to be paid, both known and unknown; and so it is not forced upon us, therefore why should we
not
choose the less painful road to travel
?
Road _ choose the less painful of this to travel, Ray; because it is really a choice and not an acceptance; and because the price to be paid, both the known and especially the unknown, is just too high
!
Know _ we do of this, Ray, for we are paying the price right now,” added Radiance.

     Ray was quiet again. He never thought of things that way before. What the twins had meant to say was that since truth and reality was what really happened, they were not choices. So since they were not choices, then acceptance was the only way. But since love was a choice, and not a reality or truth, then the less damaging choice should be made. Especially when the price to be paid for the choice came in both known and unknown forms, and the unknown forms being the more ‘expensive’ of the two.

     “Right _ the both of you are of this, and I was truly confused; for I was obsessed with my past,” said Ray.

     “Understand _ we do of this, Ray,” said the twins simultaneously.

     The children sat in silence for the rest of the afternoon. The Dellix twins were enjoying the view and the breeze. Ray, on the other hand, was trying to brainwash himself to
not
get too obsessed with his past, but without much success. He just hated not knowing
!

     When Ray was of the age eight, a sad event occurred. The High Elementhar of the Order of Fire Elementhars, Master Vision Skoll, passed away due to old age. Ray had seen Master Skoll only during meal times, and had hardly ever spoken to him. Master Skoll was a very busy man, and he was also sick, old and frail. A grand funeral was held for him. Some excerpts of his copy of the Vanguard Manuscript were read out loud to inspire the members of the order and for them to remember him by. His body was cremated in the empty field with the members of the order in full attendance. Master Skoll had, prior to his death, selected Master Santlyn to be his replacement. So with the death of Master Skoll, Master Ridge Santlyn became the new High Elementhar of the Order of Fire Elementhars.

     Three years later, Master Santlyn became the Grand Elementhar of the Grand Order of Elementhars upon the death of Master Current Waycress, who was of the Water Elementhars.

     When Ray was of the age 13, he began his training in Elemental Sorcery. The order had a policy that children younger than the age 13 should not begin their training as they could be too immature to fully comprehend and appreciate their lessons. However, for convenience sake, the Dellix twins, who were underaged by a year, were allowed to join in. So Ray and the Dellix twins were then garbed in black robes, to signify their status as novices. Only when they graduated would they be garbed in the orange-red robes of the Fire Elementhars.

     30 children arrived at Monune Ruby during this time. Amongst them was Scorpion Tannex, a muscular-looking boy of Aridyte ancestry. He was brought to the monune by his parents to receive a rudimentary education. His parents were too poor to send him to a conventional school, where he would have gotten a formal and complete education. Instead, they sent him here to learn basic reading, writing and craftsmanship skills. Upon graduating from Monune Ruby, he would likely leave the order and return to his parents’ farm and be a farmer.

     Then there was Stick Dugs, a skinny boy of Serpentian ancestry whose uncle was a former member of the order. His uncle had left the order to get married and start a family, just as Coal Dellix had done. Stick was expected to graduate and serve in the order as an Elementhar until such time he chose to settle down.

     At the opposite end of the spectrum was Cutter Merrin, a muscular-looking boy of Serpentian ancestry from a wealthy family in Fallsene City. He was here because he chose to be here. He had been fascinated with Elementhars and demon hunting for a long time and he wanted to make his dreams come true. He was most likely to stay on and serve as an Elementhar.

     Feather Wilzen, an average looking girl of Aridyte ancestry, was from a wealthy family in Timberstock. Like Cutter Merrin, she was here of her own choice so that she may achieve her ambition of being a demon hunter. She wanted revenge on demonkind because they had killed her elder sister.

     Ray was not just joined by children, but by a few adults as well. Slide Moltox was a young man of the age 18. He was of Aridyte ancestry. His parents were farmers, and so was he. Then one night a demon attacked and killed his entire family. He miraculously survived the ordeal, with some gruesome scars on his body as a souvenir.

     Thunder Humbold was an accountant from Fallsbay Town. He was also of Aridyte ancestry. He was married to a beautiful woman who bore him a beautiful daughter. His life was good, until one night a demon attacked his home and killed his wife and newborn child. He went insane, and found solace at the bottom of a bottle. It was with much help from his friends that he finally found his sanity and sobered up. The first thing he did when he had sobered up was to sell everything he owned and come to Monune Ruby.

     Last, but not least, was Funnel Polt. He was a man of the age 30, of Aridyte ancestry and a Master Elementhar as well. And being already a Master Elementhar, he was garbed in the dark brown robes of the Earth Elementhars. He was from a rich family in Fallsbay Town. His father was a sea-faring merchant, just like Senior Dencon’s. But his father was killed by a demon during one of his sea-faring voyages and Funnel, who was of the age 22 at that time, swore that he would get his revenge. So he joined the Order of Earth Elementhars to learn Elemental Sorcery. He had just graduated as a Master Elementhar of the earth element, and was sent to Monune Ruby to master the fire element. Unlike the others, he was the only one with prior knowledge of Elemental Sorcery, and he was looked upon to guide his classmates in their study of Elemental Sorcery.

     Play time was over for Ray and the Dellix twins. From that moment on it was study, study and more studying. And in between the sessions of studying there was the martial arts training. More often than not, all of the novices found themselves seeking advice and guidance from Master Polt.

     Senior Dencon taught the younger novices the rudimentary skills of reading, writing and mathematics. Master Santlyn taught Elemental Sorcery and craftsmanship skills. Master Matten served as the monune’s healer, and healed the scrapes and cuts that the novices suffered during their training.

     During lunch time on the second day of training, Ray and the Dellix twins were at the mess hall queuing up for food. When it was about Ray’s turn to get his food tray, Scorpion Tannex came up to him, grabbed him by the collar and the right shoulder, and threw him out of the queue.

     “Spot _ thanks for giving me yours of this, Ray,” said Scorpion.

     Ray was so shocked he did not know what to say or do. He had never been through anything like this before. The Dellix twins were equally shocked. Nobody did anything. Finally, Ray went to the back of the queue and got back in line.

     After getting his food, Ray joined the Dellix twins at their table.

     “Fine _ are you of this, Ray
?
” asked Bloom.

     “Fine _ I am of this, Bloom; but what was that all about
?
” replied Ray.

     “Bullied _ you are being done of this, Ray,” said Slide Moltox.

     “Bullied
?
” asked Ray and the Dellix twins simultaneously.

     “Bullied
!
Bully _ of him is a person who uses his physical advantage to manipulate and victimise people weaker than him so as to get what he wants, especially when what he wants is
not
what he deserves
!
” explained Slide.

     “Bully _ should no one stop of him
?
” asked Radiance.

     “Bully _ I can stop of him, Ray; but who will be there to stop the next bully, and the next and the next
?
Help _ I can do of this to you, but if I do, you will forever be weak and be a victim; therefore I am not actually helping you at all
!
” answered Slide.

     “Do _ then what I am suppose to of this, Slide
?
” asked Ray.

     “Do _ there is only one thing that you can do, Ray; and that is to fight back
!
Fight _ you must do of this even though you will lose, but fight back you must, otherwise it does not end, neither for you nor for the others who would be his victims. Fight _ you must do of this, Ray, no matter what happens, you must fight back
!
” answered Slide.

     Ray was in deep thought. The Dellix twins shook their heads in disagreement with what Slide had just said.

     “Fight _ why must Ray do of this
?
” asked Bloom.

     “Fight _ a victim must always fight back because a bully only victimises a person if that person is perceived to be weak and deemed an easy target; and when the victim fights back, it sends the message that the victim is not as weak or as easy a target as what the bully thought, and the bully will then lose interest in the victim and find someone else. Cases _ in the rare of these where the victim actually manages to beat the living daylights out of the bully, the bully will most likely quit being a bully, because now he knows how it feels like to be on the receiving end,” explained Slide.

     “Barbaric _ this sounds of it,” commented Bloom.

     “Uncivilised,” added Radiance.

     “Barbaric _ it is of this, and uncivilised as well, but unfortunately, this is how the world works, so you three better accept reality
!
” Slide advised.

     After lunch, the novices went back to class. They were asked a series of questions concerning Elemental Sorcery, and they noticed that not only could Stick Dugs answer them all, he insisted on answering them all
!
And after every question that he answered, he looked around the classroom and gave them a very proud and snobbish look, as though the rest of the class were nothing but maggots to him. The novices were shocked by Stick’s behaviour, except Scorpion, who was angry. He was just plain angry. Nobody bullies this class but him, as far as he was concerned. Especially not some skinny ‘Mr. Know-It-All’
!
He decided to make it his mission to bully Stick to the point of suicide, if he could. Stick’s behaviour, however, surprised none of the adults. They had seen it all before. And Master Santlyn, of course, knew what was happening; but he decided to let nature take its course.

     Dinner time was no better than lunch was for Ray. Scorpion stole his place again
!
Unsure of what to do, Ray did nothing but join back the queue once again.

     After Scorpion took his food, he walked by the table where Stick was sitting and upturned his entire tray of food on Stick’s head.

     “Smart _ you are not so much of this now, skinny boy
!
” said Scorpion.

     “Idiot _ you are of this, Scorpion
!
Complain _ I shall do of this of you, and make sure you are kicked out of the monune. Hear _ Master Santlyn will do of this of what you did to me
!
” yelled Stick as he stormed out of the mess hall.

     Scorpion just stuck his tongue out at Stick, went back to the food queue, snatched Cutter’s food tray and walked off with it. Cutter just stood there in shock, not knowing how to react
!
So in the end, he just did what Ray had done earlier. He rejoined the queue.

     A week had passed since Ray began his training. As usual, he was queuing for lunch. And just as usual, Scorpion came up from behind, grabbed Ray’s collar and his right shoulder; and threw him out of the line. Ray raised his voice to object and got punched in the eye by Scorpion. Ray fell backwards and landed flat on the floor. He felt so stupid. But it was not for speaking up and challenging Scorpion. He felt stupid because he was not prepared for Scorpion’s punch and was taken by surprise. He was actually ashamed of himself, for he had seen Master Santlyn and Senior Dencon teaching martial arts for years, and so he reckoned that he should have been able to anticipate Scorpion’s ‘sucker’ punch.