FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE (79 page)

     Thorn slashes a Serpentian across the throat and knocks away the sword of another Serpentian next to the first one, thus creating an opening for him to run through. He sidesteps and delivers a Horizontal Cut to clear the stairway of a Serpentian sentry. Sprinting up the stairway, Thorn finds himself on the top landing of the wooden wall, face to face with a dozen angry and embarrassed Serpentian sentries. Down below, a few dozen angry, sleep-deprived savages have their swords drawn out and hearts intent on killing this Fallsian intruder. The sentries begin to smile, thinking that they have this intruder cornered. But Thorn has other ideas. In a flash, Thorn leaps over the wooden wall and disappears into the darkness. There are no screams of pain to be heard, just silence. A few Serpentians toss torches over the wall into the darkness below. But all they see is brown earth and green Serpentian grass. Thorn Sayvion is gone
!

     Battlelord Constrictor looked over the parapets. Blood veins bulged from beneath his skin. His face was filled with anger and embarrassment. His eyes were red and blood-soaked.

     “Who is it who dares to breach my stronghold in the middle of the night
!?
” he demanded.

     “Thorn Sayvion, sir
!
He was the combat leader of one of the Fallsian villages that we raided the last time. My Jaw was sent in to investigate Eastgush Village when the initial raiding party didn’t return. When we arrived, he gave us a fierce battle and killed many of my Jaw-mates. The last I saw of him was at Battlelord Doomrattle’s metal ore mine, where we delivered him and a few other slaves as the battlelord’s portion of the bounty. Thought he’d be dead by now, though,” answered a highminion-ranked sentry.

     “Well, apparently he’s not
!
That useless worm Doomrattle
!
Not even man enough to keep a grip on his slaves
!
Hah
!
I’m giving you a temporary promotion
!
I’m putting you in charge of your Fang
!
Send your Fang out. Hunt this Thorn Sayvion down
!
I want him dead, understand
!?
Dead
!
I want him killed and left hanging at the main gate
!
If you succeed, you will be promoted to Duellord
!
This is your opportunity to advance, so don’t screw it up
!
Now go
!
” yelled the battlelord.

     The highminion bowed and scurried away to execute the battlelord’s orders. Battlelord Constrictor’s yell of frustration echoed throughout the grasslands.

     Thorn Sayvion scrambled in the darkness, tripping and falling. His heart was pumping erratically. His breaths were heavy and dry. His left hand was rested on his scabbard with the thumb pressed against the hand-guard of his sword while his right hand paddled through the air frantically. His body was focussed on running, but his mind was lost in thought. Only one conclusion came to him. He should not have killed those two sentries. All that time he spent in the metal ore mine had blinded his judgement
!
He was so full of hatred and anger at the Serpentians that he had lost his wits
!
If only he had not killed those two sentries, perhaps now he would be running with Caramel by his side, if only
!
....
Stupid
!
Stupid
!
Stupid
!

     With all hopes lost and a horse-mounted Fang of angry and embarrassed Serpentians in hot pursuit, Thorn turns west to try for the Fallsian border. But in his mind, he is resolute to return
!
He fully intends to salvage his pledge to Salmon and keep his promise to Caramel. And so with the guidance of the stars, Thorn Sayvion runs across the Serpentian grasslands, trying his best to disappear into the darkness of night.

THE GAME OF HUNTERS AND PREY

     The sunlight breaks though the thick forest canopy, but just barely. On this day, the
26
th
Day of Third Month of Dry Season
, Spirit the White Wolf walks on wearily in this thick, forbidding forest. The Sollenthars follow behind, just as wearily. Shadow Forest, as this forest is known, is more unwelcoming and hostile than Windswept Forest. It is also the forest that lies in between North-western Falls and Southern Falls. And in this forest, a deadly game is being played between the Sollenthars and the assassins of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. It is the game of hunters and prey.

     The Sollenthars were tired and sleepy. They had not had proper rest for five days. A pond of soldiers from a nearby fort had joined in the hunt, much to their relief. Minvian Clover Genox and Convian Rod Sayson were to arrive soon with a river of Sollenthars to relieve Ray, Serene and 3
rd
River. Ray estimated that there were only 10 assassins left. Of the 150 assassins who made it into the main hall of Fallsgreen Citizen Healing Centre, approximately 120 had been killed. And over the past five days, Spirit had sniffed out 20 of them. Unfortunately, they all fought back and had to be killed. Ray was hoping to catch at least one of them alive for interrogation.

     Serene looked at the number of dead bodies piled on horsebacks, a pair on each horse. She counted ten pairs of assassins and three pairs of Sollenthars. Suddenly, Ray raised his hand. The soldiers stopped. Ray looked around.

     “Break _ we shall have of this now, with our camp set up here. Sentries _ Serene, please arrange of this now,” commanded Ray.

     Serene bowed and proceeded to give orders to her subordinates. Ray dismounted and patted Spirit on the forehead. He took out a bowl from a pouch on his saddle and poured some water into it. Spirit drank from it hastily. Then the Fallsian soldiers set up tents and built campfires while Spirit took a long deserved nap nearby.

     Dinner was short. Then the campfires were hastily put out and those who were not on guard duty went to sleep. Spirit was already in deep sleep after his well-deserved meal. Amongst all of the Fallsians, he had worked the hardest and was the most exhausted. Ray crawled into his tent and snuggled up to sleep. His head spun a lot from the lack of sleep and sheer exhaustion, but soon, he was dead asleep.

     His mind floated back to the days that he had spent as a child at Monune Ruby. He took pleasure in the memories of his mentor, Masters Matten and Dencon, the Twins Dellix, Slide and Thunder. Then that fateful night replayed itself over and over again. He saw them, those evil assassins, slaughtering his brother and sister Elementhars. And his brothers and sisters were fighting in a dazed manner. He felt drowsy himself. Why did he feel so drowsy
?
Why was he so unfocussed
?
Was he drunk
?
Was it because of the grape juice
?
Could the juice have ended up being accidentally fermented somehow
?
Or was it
something
in the juice
?

     Ray opened his eyes in horror and shock. The sharp tip of a blade and the pain that it had caused had woken him. He had no illusions as to who the owner of this blade was.

     “Want _ what do you of this, assassin
?
” asked Ray firmly, not the slightest notion of panic in his voice.

     He had gotten over the shock of the whole situation.

     “Stop hunting us,” whispered a female voice.

     No doubt this was the voice of the female assassin who had always managed to elude capture or termination. She had his right wrist locked in a wrist-lock manoeuvre and her right foot was pressed down firmly on his left wrist. She also had the tip of her dagger pressured into the base of his throat.

     “Impossible _ it is of this so you can go ahead and kill me,” retorted Ray.

     “Brave words for a brave man, but who’ll take care of your wife and children when you’re dead
?
What will happen to your family when you’re dead
?
” asked the female assassin.

     At this, Ray broke into a giggle, so much so that blood started oozing from the base of his throat.

     The female assassin pressed the dagger tip deeper into Ray’s throat. Ray’s giggle died down a little, but the hatred in his eyes did not.

     “Family _ I have none of them left, or have you forgotten that your kind had murdered all of them 15 years ago
!
” he pointed out.

     “Impossible
!
You lie
!
We were told that that mission was a complete success. No survivors were left behind. Our clansmen had killed them all. There were no survivors. This can’t be
!
” exclaimed the female assassin.

     “Survivor _ of this, there was one, me, so you can go ahead and finish the mission your clansmen had failed to complete 15 years ago,” corrected Ray.

     “Uncle Rake was right. It was not a success, but a double failure instead,” whispered the female assassin absent-mindedly to herself.

     “Failure _ what do you mean that it was a double of this
?
” asked Ray curiously.

     The female assassin shook her head, as if to wake herself up. She gave Ray a fierce stare with her eyes. She began driving the tip of her dagger deeper into Ray’s throat.

     Suddenly, she stopped, withdrew her blade and disappeared. Ray could not understand why. He did not care for the answer actually. He was too busy coughing blood while trying to plug up the gaping wound with his finger. Something furry brushed by him and it was then that he knew that Spirit had sensed the female assassin and had manoeuvred to attack when he, in turn, was sensed by her. Ray’s violent coughing alerted the other Sollenthars. Serene came in and was horrified to see Ray drenched in blood. The next thing she did surprised Ray, although perhaps it should not have. Serene began using her Elemental Sorcery skills to manipulate Ray’s blood and force it back into the wound. Apparently she had learnt a thing or two of the water element from her cousin Clover, much to Ray’s relief.

     Spirit came to a sudden stop. He had lost his quarry. He scanned the scenery of darkness before him. His eyes were opened wide. His nose took in short and controlled breaths of air. But there was nothing. Not a single sight or smell. The female assassin was gone.

      On
27
th
Morning of Third Month of Dry Season
, a female assassin kneeled down by the side of a deep, fast-flowing stream. She gently removed her mask, revealing a slightly oval face with a mildly square jaw, fair skin and dark hair. She dipped a handkerchief into the stream and pressed it against her tired eyes and lips. She filled her bamboo water container from the stream and took a sip from it. Then there was an odd owl-like birdcall. She cupped her hands and blew a reply in the same odd sound.

     Three male assassins came out of the bushes. They kneeled facing her with their faces uncovered.

     “Dawn, the others are dead. Joy is dead,” said one of the male assassins in a solemn tone.

     “I know, Dart. I saw their bodies. I saw
her
body,” said the female assassin, barely containing her emotions while a single teardrop flowed down her right cheek.

     “What do we do now
?
” asked another male assassin.

     “We uhh
!
We … we plan for the next attack, Forge. The prince is scheduled for another opening ceremony in three days time,” answered Dawn.

     The eyes of the second male assassin, whose name was Forge, bulged in surprise. His jaw dropped slightly and he was speechless for a while.

     “Are you crazy
!?
Do you still want to try
!?
In case you don’t know how to count, there are
only
four of us left
!
We couldn’t get this mission done with 210 of us, what makes you think we can do it now with only four
!?
”  he exclaimed.

     “Dawn is right. We have to try. We can’t go back with another failure. Three failures on the same mission bring the death penalty, or have you forgotten
?
” Dart pointed out.

     “I still say it’s crazy,” protested Forge.

     The last male assassin shook his head.

     “I agree with Forge. It’s just suicidal. I say we go back and explain to Clanmaster Collart. He’ll understand. He’ll forgive us. Besides, there were Elementhars protecting the prince. That wasn’t what we were told. We shouldn’t be blamed for failing the mission,” he said.

     “Clanmaster Collart would understand, but he’ll still kill us for failing, Hatchet. As the ‘Chosen of the Clan’, we should have been able to accomplish the mission regardless of whether there were Elementhars or not,” explained Dawn.

     “Then I say we abscond. Run off and start our lives anew. The Clan will think that we’ve all been killed. They wouldn’t be looking for us,” said Forge.

     Dart shook his head in disagreement. So did Dawn.

     “No, that’s not correct. The Clan have spies everywhere. Once they’ve figured out that the number of bodies don’t tally, they’ll know we’ve absconded. They’ll hunt us down like animals and kill us slowly and painfully,” explained Dart.

     “What if we leave the continent
?
They can’t find us so easily if we did that, right
?
” suggested Hatchet.

     “Wrong
!
They’ll get you in the end. They always do, Hatchet. The only correct decision is to try for another strike. And if that doesn’t work, try again and again and again. It’s the only way,” stressed Dawn.

     Forge crouch walked a few steps backwards.

     “I’m leaving. I’m not committing suicide
!
” declared Forge.

     “I’m with you, Forge,” agreed Hatchet.

     Forge and Hatchet turned to look at Dart.

     “I’m not. I
cannot!
My family is still with the clan
!
” said Dart.

     Dawn rose up and drew out her sword.

     “Nobody’s leaving. Have all of you forgotten my authority
?
I’m still Lead Assassin and all of you
will
obey my command, understand
!?
” she insisted.

     “Would you kill us
?
” asked Hatchet.

     “She would,” answered Forge.

     “Don’t test me
!
” warned Dawn as she slowly tighten her grip on the handle of her sword.

     Suddenly, they heard a voice speaking to them.

     “Conflict _ so even amongst you cold, heartless creatures there is one of this
!
” exclaimed Clover.

     The male assassins jumped to their feet, obviously shocked. Dawn was caught by surprise too. They turned toward the direction of the voice. And there they were, Clover, Spirit and a stream of Sollenthars, standing amongst the trees on the same side of the stream as Dawn and her fellow assassins.

     “How’s your friend
?
” asked Dawn sarcastically.

     “Alive _ he is more of this than what you will be, assassin,” replied Clover.

     “I’m the assassin here, the expert killer, so I’ll be the judge of that
!
” corrected Dawn.

     “Number _ yours of this is only four, against 14 of us; so I think you are too cocky, assassin
!
” Clover pointed out.

     “When my blade is in your body, we’ll see who’s cocky
!
” retorted Dawn.

     “Blades _ what if ours of these are in your body instead, assassin
?
” said Convian Rod Sayson sarcastically, who together with another stream of Sollenthars had just appeared out of the trees slightly downstream.

     The assassins turn and look downstream, and see Rod and his subordinates there. Forge and Hatchet betray a slight expression of panic on their faces. Dart’s face wears the expression of acceptance. Dawn’s face betrays no emotions at all.

     “Then I’ll see you in hell
!
” yells Dawn as she throws Airblades at Clover, Spirit and her subordinates.