They Were Born Upon Ashes (2 page)

“That is what I am, yes.”

She smiled and nodded twice. Nick heard a slight rustling behind him in the tall grass. As he turned his head he was greeted with a giant blow to his face by a rock. A Reza man stood behind Nick and dragged his unconscious body behind the boulder that Nick had been sitting on. The girl joined the man and she pulled out a black blanket from her satchel. They wrapped Nick up in it and hoisted him up on their shoulders.

“One thousand gold each, Eva. That’s what they promised,” said the man. “Put your head down and do not make eye contact with any of the gold men.”

Tyler was standing on his own, a mere twenty feet away from where the man and woman were carrying Nick as they walked away.

Tyler ran towards them and said, “Hey! What do you have there?”

The man and woman did not respond and continued to walk through the grass with a bit more haste.

Tyler opened up his chest plate and pulled out a silver dagger. Without taking a second to aim Tyler threw his dagger in one motion and it landed in the back of the man in three seconds.

The man shrieked and fell to the ground. Nick fell to the ground as well.

The woman looked back and started to run.

Tyler took out another dagger. He tossed it from his left hand then back to his right hand. He smirked as his target got smaller and farther away. He gauged her path, pulled back his arm, and launched his dagger one hundred feet into the dead center of the girl’s back.

Tyler ran over towards the Reza man and the black blanket next to him. The Reza man had his hand up in attacking formation pointed at Nick.

“I have your boy Nick,” said the man. “If you come any closer I will incinerate him.”

“I’m staying right here,” said Tyler.

The commotion garnered the attention of Jeffrey, Andrew, and David. They ran over and stood by Tyler.

“I’m going to get up and drag this boy back into the city,” said the man. “If you do anything funny I will kill him, I swear it! I don’t care! Do you all hear me?”

The crowds of people started to look over towards the man.

“We won’t do anything funny, don’t worry,” said Jeffrey. “Take what you claim and be on your way.”

The man stumbled up in agony with the dagger sticking out of his back. With his right hand he grabbed hold of Nick’s arms and with his left he placed his palm inches above Nick’s face.

He walked backwards towards the city gate so he could keep an eye on the two king’s men watching him. He stumbled on a rock and lost hold of Nick while he tried to keep his balance.

A dagger drove straight into the man’s skull and he fell to the ground.

Jeffrey laughed and said, “You never cease to amaze me, my friend.”

“What can I say?” asked Tyler with a smirk. “I know what a body in a bag looks like. Can spot it a mile away.”

The two ran over to check on Nick. He was still breathing fine. He had a gash on his head from the rock.

Nick finally woke up to discover Tyler, Jeffrey, Andrew, and David huddled above him. He grabbed his head and winced in pain. He looked at his hand to find it covered in blood.

“What in the world just happened?”

“You were the victim of an attempted kidnapping,” said Andrew. “It’s a good thing our boy here is the self proclaimed Master of Daggers.”

“It’s not self proclaimed,” said Tyler. “The people gave me the name, but I am glad to be of service. Let’s get you up off that ground, Nick. You’ll be just fine.”

Tyler held out his hand and hoisted Nick up on his feet.

“You know, my mom always told me it’s good to be wanted,” said Tyler. “It proves that you are worth something. But, Nick, I reckon you are the most wanted man living today. You can decide for yourself whether that’s a good or bad thing.”

A few minutes later Reed and Jacob made their way through the gate with the second horse and carriage. Nick and the men looked out in the distance to discover that there were four bodies walking up towards the group instead of just the two. As they came closer a step at a time they realized who it was that was with them.

“Thank the heavens,” said Jeffrey. “Ron and Dani are still alive.”

The group of men walked down anxiously to greet their fellow king’s men. As they got closer they saw that Ron and Dani were not wearing their gold plated armor. Instead they wore white cloaks that exposed the tops of their chests. On their chests the following words were written in red: “Gold’s dead, sooner rather than later. 6.”

All of the men stared at the words written on their comrades’ chests. They were speechless for a moment, until Dani broke the silence by saying, “Let’s talk about it tomorrow. It means what it says.”

“What happened to you guys?” asked Jeffrey. “Tell me now. That is an order.”

Dani continued to walk past the group of men and ignored Jeffrey’s command.

Ron let out a sigh and then said, “They knocked both of us out. I don’t know how exactly but I remember standing by the king while he sat on his throne. He was tapping on the armrest with his fingers non-stop and didn’t say a word. Next thing I knew I felt a pinch in my neck and then blackness. I woke up chained in a holding cell. They brought in a bucket and told me it was the king’s blood. They painted the words on me. They looked me in the eyes and said that we had all failed him. They said we will die in due time; killing us now would be too easy. We must all suffer first. We must watch the kingdom in which we love burn to the ground, then we can die a painful death.”

Ron put his head down and walked up the path to join Dani and the others. The remaining king’s men, the Terrax brothers, and Nick had nothing left to say. Words could not heal the deep wounds everyone had received that day. There was nothing left to do in that moment. Jeffrey gathered the group, now three thousand strong, and started to lead them on the road to Ralton.

Chapter Two

The group that embarked on the journey set up camp a mere twenty miles north from Genold City. It was not much of a camp. Hundreds gathered around two dozen fire pits as they tried to stay warm through the rest of the night. The group was already hungry and thirsty. Many encountered a sleepless night as they were not acclimated to sleeping on the cold ground with just the clothes on their backs or a blanket brought from home.

The next day rose. The sun peaked over the nearby horizon of trees in the east and warmed the air. A few hundred feet to the north of the group was the start of the vast Cendon Forest. Birds started to sing from the forest in the distance and Nick opened his eyes. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep. Countless sleepless nights in the Vincot Arena had prepared his body to endure such extremes as a limited amount of sleep.

He got up off the ground. Nick had secluded himself from the majority of the group as he fell asleep the night before. When he got up he looked around at the masses of bodies lying down, huddled together, and fire pits turned to embers and ashes. He was amazed at the courage it must had taken for the civilians and Refect to simply throw away their old lives and begin new ones in a matter of hours. The six had really given them no choice, but Nick was still amazed at the courage they all displayed.

He heard a whistle and spotted Andrew Terrax waving at Nick to come towards him. Andrew was sitting at a fire pit with his legs crossed. Nick approached Andrew and realized just how bad his arched back really was as he sat in front of the dwindling fire.

“Take a seat, Nick,” said Andrew. “How was your sleep?”

“A decent night’s sleep, Andrew. And you?”

“Didn’t sleep for a minute. My mind runs a million miles a minute when so many things are going on. So many terrible things.”

“The world we know seems to be crumbling,” said Nick.

“Not just yet. We have hope. The six have a big plan, there is no doubt about that. It’s too bad we can’t see into the future and prevent them from prevailing. From what Jeffrey told me about what he encountered from Vicon’s speech before he killed the king is that they plot to make as many Rezas into supreme Rezas. Do you know why supreme Rezas were kept a secret?”

“To keep everyone safe,” replied Nick. “Supreme Rezas with bad intentions can take too many lives too easily. Humans, Paplons, and Rezas stand no fighting chance. I saw it first hand when I was in the arena.”

“Precisely. The last things this world needs are supreme Rezas.”

“Why did the crown elect to make you and the others into supreme Rezas then?” asked Nick.

“There had always been supreme Rezas, Nick. For over a thousand years supreme Rezas protected their kings and taught the new generation of the kings’ men the path to being a supreme Reza. The theory had always been that there are a million gifted individuals roaming Hentrio. They would need the most gifted and most loyal to protect the king.”

“I met one of the six in the arena as you might have heard,” said Nick. “His name was Poloski. He told me a tale of how two hundred years ago a king sent a war upon a dozen supreme Rezas who learned the gift themselves. He said the king sent thousands of men in his army to kill twelve supremes. Is that what it would take to defeat the six? Thousands?”

Andrew smiled at Nick. His long thin beard waved back and forth as a gust of wind swept through the lands.

“A false story, Nick. It was King Clinza and one of his king’s men betrayed him. The king’s man was a supreme Reza who taught the craft to six Rezas who were his close friends. Two of those friends could not handle the power. Their minds gave them the false impression that they were invincible. They destroyed parts of Genold City out of pure enjoyment. After the investigation the king found all six supreme Rezas and took their lives. He did the same for the king’s man who betrayed him. It was a small crack in a rather flawless history of the supreme Rezas protecting the king. It was handled swiftly and no civilians ever heard about it. Only those on the council over the centuries knew of the tale. Do you know why this story is important, Nick?”

“I’m not too sure on the importance,” replied Nick.

“It shows that we are not prepared for something like this. Never in the history of the world has becoming a supreme been public. As you know, I am a supreme. I understand how devastatingly dangerous it is to have these powers. An army of supremes, that is an idea that keeps my mind racing, Nick.”

“Shouldn’t we act now to prevent them from creating an army?” asked Nick.

“They already outnumber us in power, Nick. If we were to march into the city it would be a death wish. We have these thousands of innocent lives to look after and protect. Every city still needs us, we have to plan and strike when it is time. You might be the key to that Nick.”

“I am still willing to become a supreme Reza,” said Nick.

“That’s the best response you’ve given me yet. When we make camp tonight after our trek today we will go through the process.”

Nick nodded his head in agreement.

The sun rose higher in the sky. The sky started to fade from its orange hue and a blue sky started to emerge. One by one Nick watched the people around him roll over and awaken to the sight of the bright morning sun.

Jeffrey and Tyler walked over to where Nick and Andrew had been sitting.

Tyler smiled and said, “Come with us, Nick. It’s time for a morning hunt to feed the great masses of followers my handsome face helped gather. I’ve always wondered how well a Hetha can hunt.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never hunted before,” said Nick.

“What are you?” asked Tyler. “A child in a man’s body? Get up off your butt and come with us. It’s never too late to learn the craft of hunting. In fact, the world-class master of daggers is willing to give you free lessons. He would be offended if you wouldn’t accept such an offer.”

Nick let out a little laugh and said, “Alright, you guys, lead the way.”

The three men walked to the edge of the Cendon Forest. As soon as they walked in the sunlight disappeared as the thick forest canopy covered the early morning sunlight. There were trees and bushes in every direction. There were branches, leaves, vines, rocks, and dirt on the forest’s floor. The Cendon Forest was alive. Nick had never experienced such sounds in his entire life. There was buzzing from insects, the footsteps of small critters, the chirping of thousands of different types of birds, the movements of branches as animals moved across the trees, and the roars of big game in the distance.

“I’ve missed this place,” said Tyler. He took in a huge breath with his nostrils and exhaled. His face portrayed pure bliss as he took in the sights, smells, and sounds of the forest. “First rule, Nick, is to watch where you step. Stop stepping on every single stick on the ground. Animals have better hearing than we do.”

Nick looked down at his feet as he continued to walk. He tiptoed his way through the forest as he tried to avoid snapping more branches.

“As a Reza, you use ice to hunt,” said Jeffrey. “The last thing anyone wants is to burn down this beautiful forest.”

“Got it,” said Nick.

“Just in case you have no idea, which I’m assuming is true, right now we are tracking a pack of hogs,” said Tyler.

“How many?” asked Nick.

Tyler threw his hands in the air in disbelief. He turned around and held out his palm showing all of his fingers. “Five, Nick, we are tracking five.”

“Yes, five. Okay,” said Nick.

The three continued for a few more minutes in complete silence. They made their way past a few dozen giant trees. The huge tree trunks made it easier for the three to navigate through. There was a bush about half the height of the men coming up past the trees. Tyler put his hand up and proceeded to crouch. He waved his hand in a downward motion to signal Nick and Jeffrey to crouch as well. The three cautiously walked while crouching over to the bush in front of them.

Tyler peeked his head over the bush. He came back down and leaned in to whisper to both Nick and Jeffrey. He said, “There is an open space on the other side of this bush. All five hogs are lying down taking a quick rest. I’ll take the two on the right. Jeffrey, you take the two that are in the middle. And, Nick, you take the one that is by itself to the left.”