FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (58 page)

     Master Elementhar Ray Iddell looked up from behind his desk. He could hardly contain his surprise. There she was, reporting to him for the very first time, his military liaison officer, Minvian Serene Genox, hair undone and face badly bruised, standing before him. Without any delay, Ray asked her to sit down and offered her a cup of tea. Seconds later, Master Elementhar Clover Genox walked in, hair undone and face badly bruised as well. Ray asked Clover to sit and offered her tea as well. Ray shook his head slightly, guessing what had happened between the two Genoxes. The Cousins Genox turned their faces away from each other, nostrils flaring and held up high. Then Ray poured himself a cup of tea and all three sipped their tea in silence.

     The bread bun was stale. Spots of fungus were growing all around it. Thorn Sayvion examined it briefly, and then gobbled it down without hesitation. Under normal circumstances, he would have rejected such food, for it would have given him diarrhoea, but these were not normal circumstances and his stomach had adapted to the bad food. His hair had become long and messy. His face was blackened, hollow and skinny. Cuts and congealed blood were a normal feature of his body. The crack of a whip on the cold stony floor signalled that breakfast was over. Cupping some water from the same stone water trough that they had used for washing up, he quenched the thirst in his dry throat. The outside sky was still dark except with a small yellow-orange tinge on the horizon. Step after lifeless step, he headed out to the mine.

     What day was it
?
What date was it
?
Thorn could not tell. There was no real notion of time here except for the difference between day and night. Yesterday looked the same as today which would then look the same as tomorrow. This was what he felt. Free Falls, Fort Eastguard, and Eastgush Village, he could hardly remember any of these places. Only the image of Caramel remained in his mind. Caramel Verance, whom Thorn had vowed to protect, and had failed miserably to do so. With cold familiarity, Thorn picked up a pickaxe and started smashing away at the walls of the mine.

     A fat Serpentian overseer walked by. Then he stood for a while and watched Thorn work.

     “I like you, slave. You work good
!
Not weak and feeble like the others,” said a fat Serpentian overseer.

     “I live to serve the Kingdom of Serpentia,” replied Thorn hollowly.

     This was not true, of course. It was just a line slaves were trained to utter to make things slightly more pleasing to the Serpentian overseers. Neither Thorn nor the Serpentian overseer had any doubt as to the artificiality of this line.

     “I heard that you were a soldier. But you deserted your post. Are you a coward
?
” asked the Serpentian overseer.

     “Yes, Fightlord Forktongue. I am but a coward, in the humble service of the Kingdom of Serpentia,” said Thorn meaninglessly while smashing parts of the mine wall to bits.

     “Yes, you are. And don’t forget that, slave
!
You are a cowardly slave in my prison-mine and you will
work
and
work
and
work
to make me rich, do you understand
!?
” said Fightlord Forktongue as he slapped Thorn hard at the back of the head, knocking Thorn slightly off-balance.

     Fightlord Forktongue laughed as Thorn stumbled forward slightly and then he walked away. This was now the daily ritual for him and Thorn. The Serpentian overseer was under the impression that an occasional insult coupled with physical abuse would break his slaves’ spirit, thereby preventing them from thinking of escape.

    
Think
, Thorn Sayvion
!
Think
!
You are a
warrior
of the Kingdom of Free Falls. You
must
think
!
Slowly, Thorn pulled his mind back from drifting off. He analysed the layout of the mine. The entrance of the mine was in a deep wide pit. The prison where the slaves were kept was at ground level and to the south of this pit. Slaves walked down into this pit via a winding pathway cut out off the earth. There were watch towers around the pit. About a thousand paces to the north was a small lake from which the prison sourced its water. Thorn knew about this as he was occasionally tasked with collecting water from it, which he and his fellow slaves did under heavy guard by filling large wooden barrels loaded onto a horse-driven cart. All around them was the wide, slightly undulating grassland.

     Thorn had initially thought of overpowering the overseers on the way down into the pit, or while in the mine itself; and then making a run for freedom. But then he had ruled these out because he realised that the guards in the watch towers would shoot him down before he could even get 100 paces away. He had to think of another idea. He refused to give up on the idea of escaping.

     Day in and day out Thorn slaved away at the prison-mine, smashing away chunks of rock and watching his fellow slaves drop dead, one by one. Since his arrival, Thorn had refrained from speaking to any of the other prisoners on a personal level. He had wanted to be detached from them. If he had found a way to escape and had many ‘friends’, it would be difficult for him to decline them the chance to escape with him. The opportunity for escape from this place was rare and its execution would be difficult. If and when the opportunity should arise, he would have to move secretly and speedily to seize it; and this would be impossible to do if he had to ‘drag’ his ‘friends’ along.

     The sun had settled down beneath the horizon. It had not rained this night and for this Thorn was grateful. The chill of the stone floor was biting into his slightly frail, dwindling body. His eyes were dark and sunken. His hands were blistered. His torso had begun to hollow and his ribs were surfacing. His legs were stiff and cramped. He knew that he had to escape soon. He had to do it before his strength left him, and before his hope abandoned him. He did not even know if Caramel was still alive. Could he save her before her Serpentian captors got bored with her and set upon her a cold, horrible fate from which there was no return
?

     Thorn lay still on the stony prison floor. His mind was abuzz with difficult questions and wild ideas. If he had managed to escape, how would he survive
?
Which way would he go and how would he hide to avoid recapture
?
He would definitely need food, medicine and more importantly, water. Weapon was the only consideration that he did not worry about. He could easily overpower a Serpentian and seize his weapon or he could make a crude one using stone and wood. He began to organise his ideas. He did not set them in sequence, as in what to do first, second or third; but rather, he catalogued them according to potential situations, as in if he saw
this
then he would do a certain thing or if he saw
that
then he would do something else. He required a loose, flexible and adaptive plan. Overwhelmed by extreme exhaustion, Thorn finally tuned off his mind and surrendered himself to a night of short, cold and dreamless sleep.

     The
1
st
Morning of Fourth Month of Wet Season
saw a parade of 314 soldiers standing at attention in the city square in the middle of Fallsene. The crowd that surrounded the square were in the thousands. Minvian Ray Iddell of the Royal Elementhar Pond stood forward of the formation of soldiers. Minvian Clover Genox stood to his left side. Minvian Serene Genox stood to her cousin’s left. Convian Rod Sayson stood to Serene’s left. Together, they formed a short line in front of five columns of soldiers. Facing this formation was a sheltered dais. The formation bowed in salute when King Fulmar Patrum, Queen Rose Soll Patrum and Prince Eagle Patrum arrived and stepped onto the dais. The crowd cheered and called out repeatedly ‘Long Live the King
!
’ in unison.

     The queen and the prince took to their seats at the back of the dais. The king stepped forward to the front and centre of the dais and stood before several cone-shaped objects.

     “Citizens of Free Falls,
long
have this kingdom been
plagued
by demon attacks.
Long
have we been living in
fear
and
constant harassment
by these fiendish beings.
Long
have we
suffered
the loss of friends and relatives to death of the most horrible kind
!
For many generations the kings of Free Falls have struggled with this problem and met with little success. But here,
today
, kind citizens; I show you hope
!
Today
, kind citizens; I show you
safety
,
security
and a way to fight back
!
Today
, kind citizens, I present you the
pioneer group of soldiers
who will be trained in the ways of the Elementhars
!
Today
, kind citizens, with great honour and pride, I
present
you… the
Royal Elementhar Pond!
” said King Fulmar Patrum.

     The crowd erupted into joyous cheer. Lance, seated in a tent by the side of the square which also sheltered Prime Minister Trex, the Council of Ministers and the Provincial and Oceanic Guard Commanders, was overwhelmed by the loud reaction and covered his ears. Spirit, seated next to Lance, looked around curiously and wagged his tail.

     King Patrum waited for the crowd to settle down. Then he continued with his speech.

     “Citizens of Free Falls, the Royal Elementhar Pond will be
trained
and
led
by Master Elementhar Ray Iddell. Elementhar Iddell is a highly experienced and well-trained Elementhar. His has mastered
two
of the
five
elements of Elemental Sorcery. He has a lifetime’s worth of experience hunting demons. He has travelled the entire realm of Farhayven. He brings with him a
fresh
perspective,
deep
knowledge and
valuable
experience. Assisting him will be Master Elementhar Clover Genox. Elementhar Genox also masters
two
of the
five
elements of Elemental Sorcery. She is
wide-read
and
rich
with insightful knowledge and creative ideas. She also hails from a
long
line of patriots and I am
sure
, the
reputation
of the Genoxes speak for themselves
!
Also assisting Elementhar Iddell is another patriotic Genox, Minvian Serene Genox
!
Minvian Genox is a
battle-proven
officer and her recent,
exemplary
defence of Fort Eastguard reflects accurately on her military
skills
and bravery
!
Also assisting Elementhar Iddell is Convian Rod Sayson, who brings with him decades of military experience and knowledge
!
Kind citizens, I
assure
you that in due time, the presence of demons in our beloved kingdom will be a matter of history. Kind citizens, I
assure
you that in due time, demons would
fear
the name of the Kingdom of Free Falls, would
shiver
at the mere presence of our citizens for the fear of retaliation and that demonkind will be as
extinct
as the giant lizards that had once roamed our lands
!
” said the king.

     The crowd went wild again. Many were clapping hands. Some shouted out ‘finally
!
’ and ‘it was about time
!
’

     King Patrum looked directly at the formation in front of him.

     “My dear soldiers
! Brave
men and women of Free Falls,
loyal
patriots and
honourable
defenders who stand before me right now; it is
not necessary
for me to
remind you
of
your duties
to the kingdom, your responsibility to
protect your society,
the requirement to
strive for success
and the need to
loathe the consequences of failure
. It is
not necessary
for me to
remind you
of the
difficult
and
vital task
that lies ahead of you, or that the kingdom’s
hopes
and
expectations
rest on
your shoulders
. It is
not necessary
at all, for
I know
that
you
are
fully aware
of these things; and that you will
rise
to this challenge
nobly
and
bravely;
and with
full
and
complete conviction
.
Warriors
of Free Falls,
I salute you!
” said King Patrum as he bowed in salute and the formation almost instantaneously bowed lower to return the king’s salute.