FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (46 page)

     “Surely _ of this, it should be you who deserves this honour instead of me, senior,” said Ray to Senior Dencon.

     “Surely _ of this, it is
you
who deserves this honour, not me, for I am too close to our master to be considered neutral. Congratulations _ I say of this now to the new Prime Guardian, congratulations and good luck
!
” said Senior Dencon as he stood up and bowed.

     “Congratulations _ I say of this to you and good luck
!
” said Master Santlyn as he too stood up and bowed.

     Ray was shocked. He did not know what to do, except to stand up and bow in return.

     The three of them left the office with Ray holding the cloth-wrapped manuscript in his hands. Master Santlyn and Senior Dencon had smiles on their faces, for they were happy that the manuscript was in good hands. Ray, however, was frowning because of the immense burden he had received on his shoulders and he had doubts on whether he could fulfil his responsibility properly or not. He was still contemplating this issue when he suddenly began to feel dizzy. His head began to hurt, the world around him began to spin and his steps became uneven. He thought that there was something wrong with just him, until he saw Master Santlyn stumble and fall.

     Flames fly across the air from a nearby bonfire, and as they do so, take shape into a silhouette of a knight on horseback. Cart draws more flames from the bonfire and shapes them into a silhouette of a giant snake. Feather and Cutter draw flames from the bonfire and shape them into many frightened peasants fleeing for their lives. The young novices watch in awe as the two flame silhouettes battle each other while Bloom and Radiance narrated their stories. Then suddenly, the flames fade. Bloom and Radiance seem puzzled by this. They turn to look at Cart. His face is contorted in pain. Then blood drips from the corner of his mouth. As he slumps backwards, Bloom and Radiance see shadows running towards them. Then there are flashes in the darkness. The flashes of steel blades caused by reflection from the light of the bonfires. Bloom yells out one word, ‘
Intruders!
’

     Star-shaped spinning metal objects soar through the air. Master and Novice Elementhars scream in pain as these objects stab into them. Black-clad figures plunge their sharp, shinny blades into the soft delicate flesh of the shocked, dizzy and confused crowd. Metal meets flesh. Screams fill the air. Blood sprays like fountains. Lifeless bodies slump to the ground. The massacre begins
!

     Bloom tries to rise to her feet but stumbles and falls. Radiance shoots off a Heat Burst at an oncoming assassin, who comes to an abrupt stop while giving out a terrible scream of pain and then collapses to the ground. Feather clutches her throat and coughs out blood. There is a star-shaped metal object embedded in it. Cutter jumps to his feet and shoots of a series of Heat Bursts. He manages to kill five assassins before a dagger flies through the air and embeds itself into his heart. He collapses instantly to the ground, dead.

     Radiance tries to get up but manages to do so only barely. She executes a Heat Burst at an oncoming assassin but misses as the assassin has run in a zigzag fashion. The assassin reaches the crowd of panicky young novices and slashes away. Three novices die within a few heartbeats. Bloom finally manages to get to her feet. Radiance sends another Heat Burst at the assassin as he slashes his fourth novice. Finally, this assassin, too, slumps to the ground, lifeless. Then a cold sensation cuts across Radiance’s body. An excruciating pain follows as her legs give way and she falls to the ground. Bloom executes a Heat Burst at the face of the assassin who has just cut her twin sister down and sends him falling backwards. Mentally, she knows her twin sister is dead but she cannot allow herself to grieve, for there is just no time for it. Bloom shoots off another Heat Burst, but this time, the spell faded out mid flight. She realises what has happened. Her soul energy is being depleted. Then she feels a cold sensation in her throat and a warm sensation dripping all over her body. She falls to her knees, with both hands clutching the wound that was made by a star-shaped metal object. Summoning up all that is left of her soul, she sends one last Heat Burst at the nearest assassin and sends him to meet his maker. Then the world goes dark for Bloom Dellix, just as how it had gone dark for her twin sister, Radiance.

     Slide’s head spins like a tornado. He sees chaos all around. He gathers up his energy and sends out a Heat Burst, instantly killing one assassin. But this act has depleted him so badly that he falls to his knees. He realises his mistake. He had used up too much of his soul energy performing tricks earlier. He, just like everybody else, does not have his Reserver with him. And just like everybody else, he does not have any weapons with him as well, seeing that they are at home and they are,
were
, in the middle of a celebration. And before he can think of what he should do, the cold, sharp edge of an assassin’s blade puts him out of his predicament; permanently.

     Thunder runs towards an oncoming assassin, screaming at the top of his lungs. He shoots off a Heat Burst straight into the assassin’s face and sends him to the netherworld. But his soul energy level is low, too. Fumbling like a drunk, he picks up a piece of rock with his right hand and runs toward the next assassin. Using his left hand, he manages to grab the handle of the assassin’s sword before the assassin can strike down, and smashes the assassin’s face with the rock. Then a cold sensation cut across his back and he knows that his end has come. His only comforting thought is that he is going down fighting. Then his head stops spinning and the pain in his back fades. And so, too, does the world around him fade.

     One by one, Master Elementhars fall at the blade of the assassins. The young novices are slaughtered like farm animals. Screams of pain and anger pervades the air. And within a matter of several heartbeats, the Order of Fire Elementhars is no more, except for three. Three very shocked and horrified survivors, watching the complete extermination of their kind.

     Senior Dencon grabs Ray’s hands and pulls Ray away from the massacre, instead of towards it.

     “Run _ we must do of this now
!
” says Senior Dencon.

     “Run _ of this, we must be going forward
!
” argues Ray, shocked at Senior Dencon’s words and action.

     “Run _ we must do of this away from here, for Rock is right
!
” explains Master Santlyn.

     “What
!?
Why
!?
” asks Ray, surprised.

     “Original Vanguard Manuscript _ of this, it is more important
!
Elementhars _ it is too late to help our brothers and sisters of them, for by the time we get…,” Senior Dencon stops in mid-sentence, too horrified to continue.

     The last Master Elementhar falls to the ground lifeless. The assassins begin stabbing each corpse twice to make sure that they are dead.

     Senior Dencon recovers from the shock. He grabs Ray’s arm with one hand and Master Santlyn’s arm in another and pulls them out of their shock and puts them into motion.

     Then one of the assassins spots the running trio. He calls out to his comrades. In an instant, almost 150 surviving assassins begin their pursuit. Spinning metal objects soar towards the trio, but miss them by a finger’s length.

     The trio gets to as far as the front gate when suddenly Senior Dencon turns around and stops.

     “Safety _ get the Original Vanguard Manuscript and our master to a place of this
!
Go
!
” instructs Senior Dencon while pointing his finger to the darkness of the forest below.

     Ray cannot even develop a thought. He does as instructed by his senior, grabs Master Santlyn’s arm and starts running into the forest away from the pathway.

     Master Elementhar Rock Dencon watches as Ray and Master Santlyn disappear into the dark forest. It is a lunar eclipse, and he is grateful for that. It will make tracking the duo more difficult for the assassins. Then the first dozen assassins arrive…

     Drawing deep into his already depleted soul, Senior Dencon executes an Intermediate Level Spell. With a loud yell, he stomps his right foot onto the ground and the ground shakes like an earthquake. Then suddenly, the ground beneath the dozen approaching assassins explodes and a huge fountain-flow of flames and hot, molten lava erupt from below. It is the Volcano Strike Spell. The assassins are flung into the air and are burnt by the flames and the spray of lava. They do not yell out in pain, for they are already dead even before they can do so. Senior Dencon collapses to one knee, exhausted. But he forces himself to get up and stumbling forward, bends down and picks up a pair of assassin’s swords. And he waits…

     The rest of the assassins arrive. A few have fearful looks in their eyes. They begin to circle Senior Dencon, but he will not allow this. He charges forward, parrying away an assassin’s sword with his left hand and executing a Right Downwards Diagonal Cut with his right. Blood sprays from the torso where Senior Dencon’s blade had sliced through, accompanying the assassin’s horrible scream of death. Then he turns to his right and repeats the manoeuvre again, despatching another wretched soul to the ‘other side’. Then continuing his turn to what is originally his left flank and ducking just in time to evade an assassin’s Horizontal Cut, he slices the stomach of this assassin with his right hand in a Left Horizontal Cut and smoothly stands up, follows through with his left hand executing a Left Downwards Diagonal Cut on the arm of the adjacent assassin. On and on he manoeuvres, parries and cuts, but never leaving the front gate; and never allowing a single assassin to get through.

     But as spirited as he is, he begins to weaken. His movement slows down. His footwork becomes clumsy. His alertness drops. Then a cold assassin’s blade penetrates his torso. And another. And another. He feels extremely weak. He drops a sword and grabs at an assassin’s torso in a desperate attempt to remain standing. But the weakness overtook him and he falls to his knees. The other sword drop from his hands. He knows this is the end. He welcomes it. He has killed 32 of them. He is grateful. He is satisfied. And with one last effort, he draws all of his already depleted soul energy, thus killing himself even before the assassins’ blades can finish their work; and as his lifeless body collapses and touches the ground, another Volcano Strike Spell is unleashed. In the resulting explosion, flames and molten lava fling into the air the corpse of Master Elementhar Rock Dencon along with ten nearby assassins and burns them instantly to a crisp.

     Ray and Master Santlyn run wildly in the darkness of the forest. Their only thought is to head downhill and deeper into the forest. Master Santlyn struggles to keep the pace. Ray slows down and helps him along, supporting him in one arm and cradling the Vanguard Manuscript in another. Half an hour into the escape, Master Santlyn asks Ray to stop.

     “Pursue _ master, the assassins still do of this of us,” reminds Ray.

     “Pursue _ Ray, I know they still do of this of us, but I am old and weak, and I am exhausted; therefore fleeing is no longer a choice and we have to hide instead,” says the Grand Elementhar.

     “Hide
?
How
?
Where
?
” asks Ray, confused.

     “There
!
Earth Elemental Sorcery _ use your mastery of this to create a shallow trench for us to hide in, and then cover us up with earth except for a two small opening so that we can breathe,” answers Master Santlyn, pointing at a large mound nearby.

     Using his soul energy, Ray manipulates the earth at the mound by parting it to form a trench, and hardening the walls so that it will not collapse. Then he feels a pain at the back of his head and the world goes dark and silent around him.

     “Survive _ it is you who must do of this, Ray, not me,” says Grand Elementhar Ridge Santlyn as he drops a large stone from his hand and drags the unconscious Ray into the trench.

     Master Santlyn places the Original Vanguard Manuscript in Ray’s arms in a cradling position. Then with great effort he sweeps the earth, dirt, dried leaves and fallen tree branches to ‘bury’ Ray, except for a small hole that encompasses Ray’s nose and mouth.

     Master Santlyn backtracks uphill while sweeping away all of their tracks with a tree branch that he has picked up. After judging that he was far away enough, he runs downhill in a direction that goes away from where he had ‘buried’ Ray. Turning to look behind him, he sees some movements in the distance. Breathing in and gathering his energy, he sends a Heat Burst into the shadows where he suspects the assassins are to be. A single scream of pain confirms that he has hit an assassin. He turns around and continues running. The Heat Burst Spell has served its purpose. He does not plan to battle them all. He just wants to attract their attention.