FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (15 page)

     ‘Right _ it is mine of this to dominate all of … Argh
!
’ was all Scorpion could say before Ray’s fist landed on his jaw.

     And a long and loud fist-fight broke out in the empty field in the dark of night. Came morning, and both boys were lying on their backs. They were not asleep. They were just too sore to move. They were all swelled up, bruised and bleeding. Master Matten was shocked when she saw the both of them, and fell to her knees speechless. Master Santlyn looked at them and shook his head. Senior Dencon, however, gave Ray a ‘thumb’s up’ sign when the two other masters were not looking. Ray afforded a feeble smile, and it was as much of a smile as his swollen face could afford him. Senior Dencon then called for some novices to bring a pair of stretchers.

     Ray and Scorpion were given a few days off to recover. They were ordered to recuperate at their respective rooms to prevent them from fighting each other again. During this time, the Dellix twins brought food and homework for Ray. Scorpion had to go the mess hall to get food, and he usually went very early so that no one could see him. He did not want to be seen in his weakened condition.

     On the morning of the third day after their last fight, Ray queued up for breakfast in the mess hall. Scorpion, as usual, came up to him from behind. Ray raised his fists to prepare for a fight. Scorpion stood still. He tried very hard to control his urge to beat Ray to a pulp. Suddenly, to everybody’s amazement, Scorpion backed away and joined the queue from the back. Everyone thought that Scorpion had come to his senses, until they saw him pour what was left of his breakfast onto Stick’s head. As usual, Stick stood up, made a bunch of threats and walked off in anger. Scorpion just pretended that nothing had happened. But he avoided looking at Ray. He did not want to spend another cold night in the empty field, lying on the grass all bruised and starving.

     Lunch time was pretty much the same. Scorpion stayed away from Ray, but made it his personal mission to harass Stick. And Stick responded the same way he usually did. Ray had thought to give encouragement and advice to Stick, but then he realised that Stick himself was no better than Scorpion. He was
different
, but he was not
better
. So Ray just ignored the both of them, just like how everybody else did.

     A year had gone by, and now Ray was of the age 14. He was doing well in his studies, and so were the Twins Dellix. The top spot for academic achievement, however, still belonged to Stick. He was as arrogant as ever. Scorpion was ranked the worst in the class, and was barely passing his examinations.

     One afternoon, the class was at the empty field. They were practising the Heat Burst Spell. They were taught the spell a few months before, but on this day, Master Santlyn wanted them to practice the accuracy of their spells. So he had set up a bunch of fist-sized wooden target boards. The novices all took turns trying to hit the tiny little targets. They had lined up into three columns, and when it came to their turn, Master Santlyn would yell out a number and the novices up front would have to hit the targets that had the associated number painted on them. Ray and the Dellix twins were doing very well, hitting most of the targets that they were aiming at. Stick was also doing well, scoring one or two hits more than Ray. Scorpion’s score was just a hit or two below Ray’s. The rest of the class were also doing rather well. Slide Moltox, however, was missing most of his.

     Master Santlyn shouted the command ‘seven’. Two out of the three targets that had the number seven painted on them exploded. One did not. Slide went to the back of his column and rejoined the queue. He was shaking his head and he looked really confused.

     “Relax _ you need to do of this more, Slide. Accuracy _ it is about of this, and not about power; and too much anger would create a powerful Heat Burst, but not an accurate one,” Ray said to Slide.

     “Relax _ right, I have to do more of this, because more anger means more power means less accuracy; and so I have got to cool down a bit,” acknowledged Slide.

     “Yes,” said Ray.

     Slide stepped up front. It was his turn again. Then he heard Master Santlyn shout the number ‘ten’. Slide drew in a deep breath, summoned up his feeling of anger and focused it on his fingertips. But he summoned up only three quarters of what he usually did. A Heat Burst had formed in his hands. He threw it at three quarters of his usual strength. He thought he had thrown it too feebly, and was afraid that the Heat Burst would fizzle out before it reached the target. But to his surprise, he saw the target explode. A smile broke on his face.

     “Thanks,” he said to Ray.

     Ray just smiled and nodded his head.

     The next morning, Ray was seated at his favourite spot, which was atop the boulder at the end of the empty field. It was an off day. To his surprise, Slide climbed up the boulder and sat next to him. He had brought two bamboo water containers filled with orange juice and offered one to Ray.

     “Advice _ thank you for yours of this, Ray, for I was really having trouble with the Heat Burst yesterday,” said Slide.

     “Welcome _ you are of this, Slide,” said Ray.

     “Feel _ how does it of this to grow up here, Ray
?
” asked Slide.

     “Feel _ of this, it is lonely but at the same time it is not; I suppose; but I do not know because I cannot compare the life here with a normal upbringing outside the monune,” answered Ray.

     “Understand _ I do of this, but I think you do not miss out much as compared to the normal upbringing outside the monune,” said Slide.

     Ray took a sip of orange juice. Slide did the same. A gentle breeze blew and both novices took a few moments to appreciate the scenery of the forest below.

     “Feel _ how does it of this to grow up and live outside the monune
?
” asked Ray finally.

     “Different _ it is of this, but not necessarily better; for I grew up with parents who were too busy working to care for me, but I had my grandparents to do that for me, and I had my younger brother and sister to take care of; and also there were always house chores and farming to do, but we occasionally
do
get to spend time as a family; and I guess we were happy together, until a centipede demon killed them all. Loved _ I never got to say that I felt of this for them before they were all killed, and that was my one true regret,” answered Slide.

     “Demon _ of it, now you want to learn how to hunt it down and kill it,” said Ray.

    “Yes. Vengeance _ of this, it is all that I have left, Ray. Incidentally _ of this, the demon that killed my family was also the same demon that had killed Thunder’s wife and daughter; so he and I have made a pact to hunt down this demon together, and that we would torture it as much as we can before we kill it
!
” confirmed Slide.

     “Understand _ I do of this, but as for me, I want to sail across the ocean one day and look for my parents,” expressed Ray.

     “Luck _ I wish you the best of it, and may you gain the family that I have lost, and may you not lose your family the way I lost mine,” wished Slide.

     “Luck _ may both you and Thunder have the best of this in hunting down and killing the centipede demon, Slide,” reciprocated Ray.

     Both novices took another sip of juice.

     “Elementhar _ will you stay on and remain as one of him after you have killed this centipede demon, Slide
?
” asked Ray.

     “Know _ I do not of this, Ray, for I have not planned that far ahead
!
Elementhar _ will you stay on after you have found your parents
?
” asked Slide in return.

     “Elementhar _ I shall stay on and remain as one of him, for this is all that I really know in life, Slide,” answered Ray.

     “Choices _ there could be of these later on,” said Slide.

     “Choices _ indeed there could be of these later on, but this is my identity and it is a part of me, so how can I ever part with it
?
” said Ray.

     “True _ what you say is of this, but the future does not necessarily go as what we have planned. Plan _ I did not do of this of having my entire family killed by a demon, and yet it happened. Luck _ but maybe, yours of this would be better than mine,” said Slide.

     Ray sat silent. He had to admit that Slide was right. Ray would want to remain an Elementhar, but he did not know what the future had in store for him. So he decided that in life, he could only plan for things to happen; but he must never put hope that things would happen as how or what he had planned them. This way, he would not be disappointed if things did not work out.

     One night, when Ray was of the age 15, he heard a knock on his door. He opened it, and was surprised to find Scorpion standing there. Not only that, but the Dellix twins, Slide and even Stick were with him.

     “On_ what is going of this
?
” asked Ray.

     “Come _ do of this with us
!
” instructed Scorpion.

     “Why
!?
” questioned Ray.

     “Come
!
” said Scorpion as he turned and marched away.

     Partly confused and wholly curious, Ray decided to follow Scorpion and his classmates. Scorpion led them out the main gates. They walked on quietly as they entered the forest.

     Half an hour later, Scorpion stopped. Ray looked around. He could not make out exactly where in the forest they were, only that they were a long walk away from the monune. Then Scorpion gave them a hand signal to lie down, and all of them did so instinctively; but none of them knew why. Then they saw three figures approaching. In the vague moonlight, it looked like they were Masters Santlyn and Matten, and Senior Dencon as well. And to everyone’s surprise, except Scorpion’s, of course, the three Master Elementhars began digging a hole in the ground with shovels that they had brought with them.

     In the vague moonlight, Ray could see that Scorpion was smiling. Scorpion could see the surprise on the faces of his classmates, and he was enjoying it. He was relishing every moment of it, particularly the confused expression on Stick’s face. Finally, he got to show Stick that Stick did not know everything and that he, Scorpion, knew something that Stick did not. He smiled an insincere smile at Stick just to rub it in.

     It took about an hour for the three Master Elementhars to finally finish digging. Then Master Santlyn and Senior Dencon pulled out a large wooden chest from the ground. Master Santlyn produced a key and unlocked the chest. Master Matten put on a pair of thick canvas gloves, far too thick to be ordinary gloves. Senior Dencon produced a pouch from his pocket and carefully opened it. Master Matten then put a hand into the pouch and pulled something out. The novices could not see what it was. But when Master Santlyn opened the chest and Master Matten put the item in, they managed to catch a glimpse of it. It was a diamond. But strangely enough, the colour of the diamond was black
!

     The look of total confusion on the face of his classmates, especially Stick’s, was pure joy for Scorpion. The three Master Elementhars left the place half an hour later after having relocked and reburied the wooden chest. Scorpion waited another half an hour before he started laughing out loud.

     “Item _ what is of it that the masters had buried, Scorpion
?
” asked Bloom.

     “Know _ how did you do of this that they would come here and bury whatever that thing was
?
” asked Radiance.

     “Crazy _ are you of this, Scorpion
!
Spying _ why are you doing of this on the masters
!?
” yelled Stick.

     “Diamond _ why is the colour of it black, and is there suppose to be such a thing
?
” asked Ray.

     Scorpion said nothing and did nothing but laughed
!
He pointed at each of them, and in between his bursts of laughter, he shouted the word ‘stupid
!
’ over and over again. Ray and the rest had no choice but to stand there looking stupid and wait for Scorpion to finish laughing, and this took quite a while. But finally, Scorpion stopped laughing.

     “Diamond _ why is the colour of it black
!?
Spying _ why are you doing of this of the masters
!?
Crazy_ you people are of this
!
See _ do you not of this that there is a chest full of diamonds buried there in the ground
!
Dig _ if we do of this of that chest, we can all be rich
!
Stay _ and we do not have to do of this anymore here in this stupid place
!
Kings _ we can live like of them
!
” said Scorpion finally, in the most sarcastic manner imaginable.