FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (44 page)

Thunder stood up in defiance.

     “True _ I still believe what Slide said is of this, for no one supports his proposals
!
Welfare _ if he truly thinks of this of ours, then why did High Elementhar Dulcet Calnen of the Earth Elementhars not support those proposals,” he argued.

     “True _ it is not of this, Thunder; for as you know, I have just come back from Monune Sapphire and the Water Elementhars seem to support High Elementhar Shay’s proposals,” corrected Cart.

     “Lying _ you are of this, Cart Dirrell
!
” accused Thunder.

     “Lying _ I am not of this, Thunder,” replied Cart.

     Grand Elementhar Santlyn started coughing again.

     “Enough
!
Worse _ you are making master of this, for all your bickering only serves to worry him unnecessarily,” said Senior Dencon firmly.

     Thunder opened his mouth to say something, but held it back out of respect for the Grand Elementhar. He then sat back down.

     “Worry _ you need not do of this about me, Rock. Speak _ let them do of this, for we need to hear their honest opinion,” said Master Santlyn.

     “Wish _ as you do of this, master,” replied Senior Dencon.

     But everyone remained silent. No one intended to argue against Senior Dencon and certainly they did not mean to aggravate Master Santlyn’s condition.

     “Support _ why do the Water Elementhars do of this of High Elementhar Shay’s proposal
?
” asked Ray, breaking the silence finally.

     “Support _ they do of this because the advantages are enormous. Recognised _ we will be of this as a government entity, and given authority and mandate to enforce certain laws and demand public co-operation; and we shall receive funding. Recruitment _ we can also afford a massive drive of this by using government funded incentives and this will swell our ranks to the tens of thousands. Incentives _ the government funded of these are fixed salaries, a pension scheme, free treatment at Citizen Health Centres, tax exemptions, insurance coverage in case of injury, handicap or death; and maybe, free land ownership if we perform well. Support _ why should we not do of this of the proposal
?
” answered Cart.

    
Bang!
Slide’s fist slammed on the table. He stood up. His face was red and contorted with rage and his nostrils were flaring. His eyes were blood-shot.

     “Dare _ how of this of you
!?
Sacrifice - you would do of this of our nobility in purpose, our beliefs, our traditions, our values and all that we hold dear, just for the sake of money or land ownership
!?
Forgotten _ have you done of this of the fact that every single one of us has chosen to become Elementhars because we have, in one way or another, suffered from the existence of demons and their attacks; and that by becoming Elementhars, we hope to prevent others from suffering as how we have suffered
!?
Forgotten _ have you done of this, Cart
!?
” yelled Slide.

     “Forgotten _ I have not done of this, Slide
!
On
_
but we have to move of this, for we must think of the future, not sulk in the past
!
” said Cart, trying to justify himself.

     Thunder stood up and shook his head at Cart.

     “Agree _ I do of this with Slide, for as you know, Cart, I was about to leave the order to get married and whatever government incentives I could get before leaving would be a great help to me; but the Grand Order was created by Pioneer Vanguard as an organisation of volunteers to combat demonkind; and although we charge a token amount for every demon that we kill, that money goes to our monunes for our basic upkeep and to finance our expenses; the money was never intended as a profit to the Grand Order and was never accepted as payment, salary or personal gain to any of us Elementhars. Incentives _ to accept the government funded of these would invalid the charity that we have done for our society, cheapen our sacrifices and basically ‘prostitute’ our services
!
Understand _ do you of this, Cart
?
” he said.

     Cart sat silent. He had never thought of it that way before. He, like Ray, came to the monune when he was just a baby. He never really knew his parents. An investigation by Master Santlyn revealed that his parents were killed by demons and a neighbour had somehow managed to rescue him and left him at Monune Ruby. When he was old enough, though, he was told who they were and how they died. Since that day, he had hated demonkind for stealing from him the happiness of family and a normal childhood that should had been his to experience. So in that sense, he had never received a ‘normal’ upbringing, being brought up in the way of the Elementhars. As such, he had no understanding of the complexities and intricacies of ‘normal’ life, societies, governments and politics.

     But Slide and Thunder were different. They were already working adults when tragedy struck them. Thunder’s wife and newborn baby were devoured by the same demon that killed Slide’s parents and siblings. Therefore, their outlook in life and towards society and its norms were very different from Cart and Ray, who were both raised by the order.

     “Point _ I think Cart gets of this now,” said Senior Dencon as he made a hand gesture for Slide and Thunder to sit back down.

     Both Slide and Thunder sat back down and took sips of water to calm themselves. Senior Dencon looked at them sympathetically and at Cart even more so. Unlike the rest of them, Senior Dencon was the only Elementhar who had never lost anybody he cared for to demonkind. When he first showed up at Monune Ruby, he was already a well-educated adult of the age 18 who was looking to break away from his family tradition of being seafarers. He was smitten by the ‘glamour’ of being a demon hunter and had chosen the Order of Fire Elementhars based on someone’s recommendation. So he just showed up one day at the monune asking to be trained and had been with the order ever since.

     Grand Elementhar Ridge Santlyn took in a deep breathe and shook his head.

     “True _ it is of this that we have all suffered and we have all lost someone or something to the demons; and that the true nature of our organisation is rooted in charity and service; however, Cart is
not
totally wrong, for we are now possibly facing a danger far greater than that which we can handle, and we shall be needing a vast number of recruits to swell up our ranks; otherwise the whole Kingdom of Free Falls, perhaps even Farhayven itself, will perish,” he said in between bouts of heavy coughing and throat clearing.

     “Back _ but master, if we choose to integrate, there will be no going of this for us anymore; and we shall forever be changed and deviated
!
” objected Ray.

     Slide and Thunder nodded their heads in agreement. Senior Dencon and Cart sat still so as not to contradict Master Santlyn.

     “Choice _ it is of this between survival and purity, is it not
?
” pointed out the Grand Elementhar.

     Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

      “Choice _ there is none of this, for it is purity that is more important even if it is at the risk of death and total destruction; so my answer is still
no!
” said Slide.

     “Answer _ of this, as is mine,” expressed Thunder.

     “Agree _ I do of this with Slide,” said Ray.

     “Error _ I concede that my judgement is of this, and I shall tread the same path as my brother Elementhars,” said Cart.

     “Think _ what do you do of this, Rock
?
” asked Master Santlyn.

     “Answer _ mine of this has always been as theirs, master, but I must admit that it is a close call either way and I am not confident that we are right,” answered Senior Dencon.

     Master Santlyn looked at Ray.

     “Right _ do you think that we are of this, Ray; and why
?
” he asked.

     “Right _ I am sure that we are of this, master. Allow _ if we of this of ourselves to deviate or become impure, then the original purpose of our existence will be lost; and the problem which we were meant to control and solve will be unhindered and it will grow worse than ever before,” replied Ray.

     “Elaborate _ please do of this, Ray,” requested Senior Dencon.

     “Elaborate _ of this, I shall say that the Grand Order was created to hunt and kill demonkind, and that this is the
original
and
only
purpose; and that if we integrate into the government, we shall be distracted from killing demons, so in the end, the demon population will increase again. Effort _ all of ours of this throughout the centuries will be undone,” explained Ray.

     Master Santlyn nodded his head. As did the others. But Senior Dencon pursued the matter further.

     “Survive _ but what if none of us do of this after we engage this demonic society in battle, then how can our original purpose be still served
?
” he queried.

     “Survive _ even if none of us do of this, our original purpose can still be served by the Independent Elementhars who will be inspired by our deaths, in particular, the purity of our deaths; and thus, by the example of our martyrdom, we shall give birth to a new generation of demon hunters who will fill the void we leave behind,” explained Ray.

     Senior Dencon clapped his hand, obviously impressed.

     “Spoken _ well of this, Ray,” he said.

     Everyone nodded in agreement again. The rest of lunch was eaten in silent contemplation.

     Teardrops of the heavens patted Ray lightly on his head and shoulders. The light drizzle was a welcome change to a hot afternoon and a hard day’s work. Ray had always liked it when it rained. The air seemed to feel fresher somehow. Many of his fellow Elementhars were already indoors, but not Ray. He sat on the giant boulder. The wind had begun to pick up. The trees below the hill began their gentle swaying. Then a lightning flashed across the sky and the loud boom of thunder announced the arrival of the heavy downpour. The first blast of the icy cold shower was invigorating. Ray felt awakened. He felt alive. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He listened to the loud patter of raindrops hitting the boulder surface. He absorbed the gentle massage of the raindrops that hit his body. It was the
28
th
Day of Fourth Month of Wet Season
, and he was at peace.

     Turning and looking behind him, Ray could see two female Elementhars walking towards him. He recognised them immediately. He shifted his position so as to give them some room.

     “Nature’s wisdom _ may you have of this, Twins Dellix
!
” greeted Ray.

     “Nature’s wisdom _ may you have of this, Ray Iddell
!
” replied the female Elementhars.

     “Hunt _ how was yours of this, Bloom, Radiance
?
” asked Ray as the Dellix twins sat next to him.

     “Hunt _ of this, it was a difficult one this time, Ray,” answered Bloom.

     “Hunt _ it was a difficult one of this indeed. Killed _ ten villagers were of this by the demon before we got there, and two more were taken alive as the demon tried to flee. Save _ we eventually killed the demon, but we could not do of this to the two villagers that it had taken,” confirmed Radiance.

     “Oh
!
” Ray expressed in a tone of sadness.

     The three Elementhars stared out at the forest below. The trees swayed from side to side as though they were tides in the ocean. The rain had lightened up a bit.

     “Strange _ it is of this,” said Ray.

     “Strange _ why is it of this
?
” asked Radiance.

     “Taken _ the two villagers were of this, which was not normal for a demon to do,” Ray elaborated.

     “Taken _ they were of this for the purpose of livestock,” answered Bloom.

     “Livestock
!?
” exclaimed Ray in shock.

     Demons taking people for livestock was unheard of until then. As far as Ray knew, they only kill for food and pleasure, whenever their evil urges commanded them to do so. It was always spontaneous. They had never kept livestock before.

     “Livestock
!
” affirmed Radiance.

     “Livestock _ it called the two dead villagers of these when we finally managed to kill it. Said _ it did of this, ‘you two will be dead just like these livestock of mine, for when my Lord comes, all will die’. Livestock _ of these, they were only children, Ray; a little boy and a little girl not older than the age of ten
!
” elaborated Bloom.