FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (35 page)

     Slowly, the Serpentians catch up with the verallvian. In a snap-like action, Verallvian Sayson stops, turns around, swings his shield onto the blade of the nearest Serpentian, thereby deflecting it, and stabs him firmly in the chest. The unfortunate Serpentian’s eyes open wide in shock and pain. Retracting his blade snappily, Verallvian Sayson turns and runs again, while his victim falls lifeless to the ground. Sweat stings his eyes as he tries to put as much distance as possible between him and his pursuers. A volley of arrows rain down behind the verallvian as his comrades covers his retreat.

     The sky darkens as the cumulonimbus clouds obscure the afternoon sun. Another snap-like turn by Verallvian Sayson and one more Serpentian falls onto the ground in a pool of blood. Verallvian Sayson swings his sword violently, knocking another Serpentian’s sword away, and then steps forward and slams the edge of his shield into the soldier’s face, following up with a Back Horse Kick to the chest of yet another Serpentian nearby. The first Serpentian collapses onto his knees with both his hands covering his swollen cheek and bleeding earlobe while the second Serpentian falls backwards, colliding with some of his comrades. A quick stab finishes off the first Serpentian. Verallvian Sayson turns and runs again.

     Several stabs and slashes come within a hair’s thickness of Verallvian Sayson’s torso, but the experienced Provincial Guard always manages to avoid injury and death. Again another snap-like turn and yet another Serpentian soldier falls victim to the sharp blade of the verallvian’s sword. Verallvian Sayson runs towards a small ridge and yells the word ‘approaching’ as loudly as he can. Reaching on top of the ridge, he jumps over it and lands in a crouch, then forces himself onto the ground. Dozens of arrows fly through the air, piercing the verallvian’s pursuers and sending them collapsing onto the grassy terrain. More Serpentians appear over the small ridge and receive the same fate. The few remaining Serpentians give up the chase and run back to the Serpentian columns.

     Verallvian Sayson orders the retreat. The sixth and seventh Grand Catapult are a sight of blazing infernos. Diversionary Force’s Light Catapults manage to destroy the eighth Grand Catapult, reducing it to a large bonfire. Seeing 5
th
Pond’s withdrawal, Minvian Eggle calls for a retreat as well, before Diversionary Force gets overwhelmed. The Fallsians free their horses of their carts and Light Catapults. Then they set fire to their own Light Catapults, carts and Shield Platforms. They mount up on horseback for a hasty retreat. The archers cover their comrades’ retreat by ‘leap-frogging’ amongst themselves. The swordsmen do a gradual fighting retreat towards the archers. The Heavy Catapult from the fort bombards the Serpentian swordsmen to keep them back.

     5
th
Pond disappears into an opening at the base of a mountain. Then a loud boom and a cloud of dust ensues from this opening as the retreating Fallsians collapse the tunnel behind them. The surviving members of 5
th
Pond, now a third of its original size, ride along the dark tunnel solemnly and quietly. Although they are immersed in grief, they have no time to mourn, for they must prepare their minds and bodies for the battle that they know is next to come.

     Spirit sat gloomily in his cage. Ray and Lance were both in meditation. Shouts of pain and agony came through the barred windows. Lance found it difficult to meditate, but Ray was already deep into it. Lance broke off his meditation and approached the window. He assessed the height of it. Then he backed away as far as he could. After a short sprint, he jumped as high as he could and grabbed the iron bars of the window. Climbing and pulling himself up, he looked out. What he saw horrified him. Many injured soldiers were left lying on the ground on blankets in front of a large stone building. Others were stiff and covered in blankets. Injured soldiers were being carried in and out on stretchers. Other stone and wooden buildings were either damaged or smashed to rubbles. Horses neighed nervously.

    
Boom!!!
Another wooden building was smashed to pieces, its flying debris injuring yet more soldiers. What is this madness
?
Who is more evil, demons or humans
?
Demons, Lance reasoned, attacked and killed humans because they needed to feed on human souls to survive. What excuse do humans have to attack and kill each other
?
Is material wealth really worth killing for
?
Or perhaps all this craziness is due to a difference in ideology, or a way of life, but is it
?
Fallsians were Serpentians once. They were Aridytes once as well. But now, they are different than their neighbours. Does this mean that they are truly any better
?

     Releasing the bars, Lance jumped back down. Ray was looking at him.

     “See _ what did you of this
?
” asked Ray.

     “Saw _ of this, I had of injured and dead soldiers, and of smashed buildings; and much pain and suffering of the needless kind, master,” replied Lance.

     “Needless _ indeed the pain and the suffering are of this, but not all sides are to be blamed, for the aggressors are the ones who make the choice and the defenders are the ones who have no other choice but to react or otherwise be destroyed. Survival _ of this, for the innocent and the righteous, it is a solemn right; and of the aggressors, they lose their right the very moment they develop the evil thought of killing,” explained Ray.

     “Needless _ it is still of this,” protested Lance.

     “Needless _ it is of this, I concur, but the pain and suffering of war will exist as long as humans do not know how to judge right from wrong, and as long as we humans choose to follow feelings rather than morality or chose to segregate amongst ourselves due to culture and appearances, then the suffering of war will forever be upon us,” explained Ray further.

     Lance sat down quietly for a while. Another loud explosion was heard through the window.

     “Do _ what are we of this when we are faced with war
?
” asked Lance.

     “Do _ of this we should first speak and discuss with our aggressors as to the true cause of the conflict so as to see if there is any misunderstanding or that the differences could be resolved; should this not work then due warning must be given in a final attempt to avert this madness and finally, to do whatever that is required to survive should our existence be threatened, especially if we are innocent. Aggressor _ we must never be of this, ever
!
” said Ray.

     “Demons _ of them, is it possible for us to speak and discuss with so as to avert their attacks on us humans
?
” asked Lance.

     “Evil _ of this are demons and even of some humans, and with these creatures discussions will never work and neither will warnings, therefore the only solution is to be forever prepared to defend oneself at all costs,” answered Ray.

     Lance did not like Ray’s answer at all. It was just a nice way of saying that war is inevitable. But perhaps Lance was too young or inexperienced to understand the true meaning of Ray’s words. Ray had meant to say that some wars should not be fought while others must be fought to the bitter end. And through morality, the correct choice could be determined.

     Crystal clear tears fell from the sky and splattered onto the roof of the village meeting hall in Eastgush. Caramel stared out the window, partially to scan for enemy presence and partially to enjoy the simple beauty of rainfall, one of the life essences of nature. Her otherwise plain and simple dress was soiled with dirt, sweat and blood. Her otherwise smooth and fair arms were stained with the crimson, life-bearing liquid of her enemies. A long hunter’s knife was tucked into her waist. She held an axe firmly in one hand and a mug of coffee in another. Thorn walked up to her.

     “Do you think they’ll come again
?
” asked Caramel.

     “Yes, I am sure of it. By now they would have raided the other villages and found some of them empty. They will keep looking until they find us, and enslave us,” answered Thorn.

     “I don’t want to be a slave. I don’t know what it’s like but I don’t ever want to find out. I’d rather fight and I’d rather die,” expressed Caramel.

     “I believe you
!
I have seen you fight. You fought quite well, even better than some of the men,” said Thorn.

     A smile appeared on Caramel’s face. Thorn nodded in response.

     “Thank you. We’re so lucky to have you protect us. To have you teach us how to protect ourselves. If you hadn’t come along, we’d all be slaves by now,” said Caramel.

     “It is my moral duty to do so. I have made a pledge to your brother a long time ago that I would protect you and your parents should you ever be threatened by the Serpentians. I requested the posting to Fort Eastguard so that I can fulfil this pledge. It is just that I had never expected that it would come to this. The Serpentians have rarely been this aggressive. When I realised the extent of their raiding force, I knew that Fort Eastguard could not protect this village. It could not protect you and your family. I am sorry I did not bring an army with me when I came. The best I could do was to get here myself. And I wished that you had gone with your parents to hide out in the caves. It would have made my task a lot easier,” said Thorn.

     “Sorry
!
” responded Caramel.

     Thorn gave Caramel a serious look.

     “Salmon told me you were strong-willed. Sometimes, it is not such a bad thing. But I need you to follow my instructions strictly. We may not win if the Serpentians attack again. So when I command you to run and hide, you must run and hide, understand
?
Your brother will haunt me for the rest of my life should anything happen to you,” insisted Thorn.

     “But can’t we defeat them
?
You led us to victory once, can’t you do it again
?
” asked Caramel.

     “No one wins all the time,” was Thorn’s simple reply.

     Brilliant flashes of lightning cut across the evening sky and loud cracks of thunder follow. The thunderstorm clouds obscure the sun and cast a shadow over Free Falls’ eastern border. The pouring rain washes the blood away from the stone floor of Fort Eastguard and also from the top of its eastern wall. Over the battlements and out on the plains below, Serpentian soldiers stand firm and buried ankle deep in mud. The two remaining Grand Catapults of the Serpentians send boulders crashing into the severely battered fort wall. Cracks and huge craters decorate the wall’s outer surface. The Fallsian Heavy Catapults, now only three remaining, try to return the favour but achieve little results as the Serpentian Grand Catapults are far out of range. Every now and again a Fallsian soldier falls to the ground with an arrow shaft protruding out of his body, no doubt the work of the ever elusive Serpentian shadow-archers.

     Suddenly, the first wave of attacks begins. The front column of Serpentian swordsmen and archers charge the eastern wall with as much speed as possible, carrying with them tall ladders and grappling hooks connected to lengths of rope. As they come within arrow range, archers from both sides exchange volley after deadly volley. Serpentian archers target Fallsian archers, who in turn target charging Serpentian swordsmen. Then the first of the ladders touches the eastern wall and the first of the grappling hooks latches onto its battlements. Scores of Serpentian swordsmen fall while trying to climb their way up, their fatality sealed by angry Fallsian arrows.

     Verallvian Sayson, who now commands the eastern wall, strikes his sword downwards and sends a Serpentian swordsman, who was climbing up one of the ladders, falling to his death. Turning around just in time, he raises his shield to block a Horizontal Strike by a second Serpentian swordsman who had managed to reach the top of the eastern wall just moments earlier. Thrusting his right hand forward, he stabs this Serpentian in the heart and sends him collapsing to the ground. Turning around towards the battlements again, he wastes no time in delivering the fatal strike to the third Serpentian, sending this soldier falling to the muddy grassland below. Swordfights occur all along the top of the eastern wall, while archers let loose as many arrows as they can and as fast as they can. Flashes of lightning illuminate the violence and gore of slashes, cuts, stabs, gashing wounds and splattering blood.

     Two little girls, both of the age nine, sit in a field of flowers. They both have blond hair, one wears a green dress while another wears a blue one. The sparkling morning sunlight shines down on the field as the two girls pick flowers of their liking, placing them in their own woven baskets. They laugh and giggle, then their eyes fall upon a single stem of carnation. The girl in the blue dress reaches out to pick it, but so does the girl in the green dress. The girl in the blue dress pushes the other girl’s hand away from the flower. The girl in the green dress pushes the girl in the blue dress down. Then they start throwing twigs at each other. The girl in the blue dress picks up a pebble and sends it flying at the girl in the green dress, but the pebble flies way off the intended path, smashing into a beehive nearby.