As I saw the procession, there were many from the Final 100 I could identify. Couple of them had been identified as high potentials with me. “Their success was really heartwarming,” I thought. Just the thought that I could ever feel like that made me chuckle.
But from our vantage point, I could something else. I saw that there were a group of elite archers positioned around the second level of the hall, around the pillars closest to the “Heart of Morgenia.” Although some security was expected for this ceremony, elite archers weren’t. They seemed to be tracking someone. I had some experience with them. This is where my mind reading skills might have been useful. But they were way too far for me to sense. But I also happened to understand how they tracked their target.
I was able to spot the man they were tracking. He seemed like a hunchback, harmless enough. But then I saw that his walking stick wasn’t a stick, it was a massive hammer disguised as a humble walking stick by putting a hat on the hammer head. It was a decent disguise for a random passerby, but someone like me could easily identify the hammer. For the elite archer unit, well, they would have seen through it in an instant.
I wasn’t sure what that man had done, but I knew if an elite archer unit was after him, it was my duty to save him. That was the least I could do as a fellow criminal. I moved towards him rapidly. I didn’t have time to tell everything to Dev, who was still looking for the right pillar. “Stay here, I will come back in sometime,” I told him.
I moved as fast as I could, while looking casual. I could see that the archers had a lock on the man, but they seemed to be waiting for him to do something. As I closed in on him, I told the man under my breath. “Hey Hammer man, I am a friend. Please don’t do whatever you are going to do. There is an elite archer unit waiting for you to make a move. They will kill you before you can move.”
He turned to look at me, and he looked furious. “I don’t care who is here. I will complete my task. Don’t you dare interfere!”
Saying that, he moved to the front of the crowd. As he got out in the open, he lifted his hammer, obviously to hit someone in the procession. With its size and range, it could have been any one of the dozen people in the front, including two of the Final 100. This is what they were waiting for. Him to carry out his attack so they could justify killing a terrorist. I had to stop it. I pretended to stumble and pushed the man as he raised his hammer. He seemed to be carrying a lot of heavy metal on his back. It really hurt to push him. But the shift in weight on his back was enough for him to topple over. That’s when the arrows hit the spot where he was standing a moment ago. No one saw him lift the hammer, nor the arrows buried at the spot where he stood.
I immediately bent down, picked up one of the arrows and hid it. I then shouted, “The poor hunchback! In his excitement to see the greatness of our army, he fell over.”
Kneeling beside the man with a metallic hunch, I pretended to help him. As my hand neared his shoulder for “support,” I deftly showed him the arrow and muttered, “Go along with what I say. This is proof that you can’t accomplish anything right now. See the spot where you stood.”
He quickly glanced at the floor and then nodded at me. The arrows were already buried under a sea of human feet, but they were visible enough. Then he said in a stuttering voice. “Please pardon this cursed fool. I can’t even worship the gods of our world without sullying their path.”
The leader of the procession, moved ahead, and not unkindly, said, “Please do not worry about it. But move out of the way now.”
Bowing really low, both of us moved out of the way. As we hurried back through the crowd, I was happy. Job well done. There was no way the elite archers would risk murdering a poor hunchback in front of so many people with their easily identifiable arrows. But I could see they were still tracking him. I knew he still wasn’t safe.
“Thank you, stranger,” he said. “Who are….”
“Don’t thank me yet. I am nobody. We are not out of hot waters yet. Follow me.”
We walked towards Dev, who was in the same spot as I had left him. But he seemed excited. He pointed to a pillar excitedly. “I found the pillar. I know the direction! I came back to this spot because you told me to, but I know where we need to go!”
“Great. Just in time. Let’s hurry. It’s time to go. Meet our new friend, metallic hunchback. Metallic hunchback, meet Dev.”
The man with the hammer seemed angry again. “I am not metallic….”
“Don’t care. Time to hurry,” I said. They didn’t realize the urgency. I did. We had to get to an isolated spot and get ready to face them. Elite archer unit weren’t going to quit in a hurry.
The three of us hurried out of the central area, as I could see the unit gaining on us. Given the procession, large sections around the “Heart” were empty. We turned around the smaller pillars, supporting an empty stand, meant for grocery sales. We reached a spot ideal for defense.
It looked like a terrible spot for defense against archers, as it was a funnel and we were on the narrow end. So they would get closer than necessary. And I was right. As they came nearer, the leader said, “You should not have interfered. Now three will….”
I launched two back swords in rapid succession, shutting the leader up permanently. The rest fired their arrows, as I knew they would. And my bet was accurate, they fired at me, as they saw me as the greatest threat. Dev was in front of our unnamed friend. Which was perfect. I blocked all incoming arrows with my four-sword X formation. Dev was able to use his glove to block the other shots.
As they fired, Dev launched Dhronari at one of them, killing him. Surprisingly the metallic hunchback launched what looked like two smaller hammers at two others, killing one of them, missing the other. The other seven started to retreat, to be out of the apparent range of Dhronari. But they were sadly mistaken to think the Azmoqian wire held blade had a limited range. As they retreated, he continued to throw it at them, reaching one each time. They tried to dodge it, but he used his new-found ability to bend the sword at the last minute, hitting one man each time.
In the meanwhile, I continued to block the reducing number of arrows as we moved forward. As I reached the place where dead leader lay, I picked up my swords while dodging the arrows, two of which managed to hit my forearm and hand. I did manage to throw the sword again, one at a time, but managed to hit only one.
We still had four opponents left standing, with seemingly endless number of arrows. I was hit twice, Dev and the stranger also seemed to have been hit at least a couple of times. The chances of them getting a fatal shot in increased every second they had to analyze our defense patterns. They were, after all, among the best archer units in the whole land, having managed to injure both legendary General Zastraax and Varishtan in the Battle of the Bloody River. We had to end this confrontation in the next few seconds.
Suddenly, the stranger dropped his cloak and charged at them. The cloak fell down with a large bang, as if a horse cart full of metal had been dropped. The sound and sudden movement distracted them long enough for him to rapidly gain on them. Dev continued and launched his sword again, killing one more. I changed tact and launched two of my blades at them. It hit one. There were two more left. The hammer man took them down in one shot. As soon as in range, he swung his massive hammer and it smashed through both of them.
That wasn’t too bad. We had eliminated an elite archer unit of the Valantian Imperium, with minimal injuries to ourselves. Looking at Dev, I saw he had been hit about three times. The guy we just saved looked more injured, having been hit about six times. But all seemed non-fatal. How did I know? For one, the guy turned around and removed all of them immediately as if he was dusting his tunic. As he turned, I got a better look at him. And the weapons which formed his metallic hunch. He had five hammers in total. And had the tattoo of one of them on his neck. There was no mistake. Jakob had himself told me about it. I knew who he was.
“You are Eric of the Five Hammers!” I exclaimed in excitement. I knew why th
ey were after him. He was one of the most wanted criminals in the empire, having smashed through hundreds of Valantian troops. He had also fought two of the Final 100 on separate occasions and survived. He was definitely a formidable opponent.
“Yes.” The man said seriously. “And you are Karn. I recognized you from your swords. I am honored to meet you. Thank you for saving my life.” He bowed to me.
“Young man. I don’t know you. But you fought bravely and aided your friend. Thank you,” he bowed to Dev also. Dev, who was so obviously younger, was clearly uncomfortable at someone older than him, bowing to him. He then added, “Your skill with your swords seems… beyond your age.”
It was true. Eric couldn’t have guessed the kid’s powers in a million years.
I told Dev, who fought without knowing why, about our situation. Then I told him what I knew about Eric.
“This man is one of the most notorious opponents of the Imperium, having killed many soldiers and fought two of the Final 100 and survived.” It seemed an interesting coincidence that we ran into Eric.
“Eric, is it true that you belong to the Yerin tribe? I had heard rumors.”
“It is true. Why do you ask?” Eric was confused at the sudden question.
Dev looked happy. I continued. “Well, it so happens, we are heading to the Yerin heartland, to meet the glorious Dag.”
Eric’s face darkened considerably. “It is well known that Yerin village is impossible for outsiders to access. Why would you two want to do something like this?”
I looked at Dev and asked him. “Can you tell him your story? He is completely trustworthy.”
Eric said, “Tell me as we move out. We can’t be standing here in the halls of Welehölla, around a dead archer unit, with arrows pointing out of our body.”
As we headed out, discarding our arrows and bandaging our wounds. Eric picked up his hammers and donned his disguise as hunchback. Dev told Eric his story, who seemed to be getting more and more despondent as it progressed. Then Dev showed him the maps and medallion given to him, as we exited the central hall, Eric stopped him. He seemed close to tears.
“Please do not continue. I cannot take it. My tribesman attacking Forresgrim’s village! And the one time our sword master Forresgrim is in need, the Yerins cannot help him. Dag cannot help him. The gods should take my life right now!”
Both of us were taken aback at this dramatic display of seemingly genuine remorse. “You know Grim?” asked Dev.
“Of course. I was with Dag, when master came to our village. I was there when he forged the Buuzmeq for him. These hammers,” he pointed to his five, “were created by him as well. I owe Forresgrim my life.”
He then seemed to get extremely angry. “Those fiends! How can Yerins attack the master?” He turned to Dev. “I promise you. I promise you that I will help you find them. I will help you avenge our master.”
This was a happy turn of events. To get Eric to join our little team drastically increased our chances of completing the task much quicker.
Dev bowed to Eric. “I thank you for your sentiment and your word. I would be honored to ride with you.”
I also chipped in, wanting to know the source of his emotions. “We both are. But tell me Eric, why did you say that Dag and the Yerins cannot help him? Why do you have so much passion for Grim? What happened?”
Eric said, sounding extremely sad again. “It is a long story. Perhaps we should get some cover.”
We headed towards the outskirts of the inner city as alarms bells started going off. The dead had been discovered. There would be a large man hunt, given the importance of the unit killed. I asked Eric to discard his current disguise. We all had to don new disguises to leave Welehölla now as the gates were being sealed.
In all this, Eric told us about what happened between the Yerins and Grim, and why they would not be able to help Dev’s quest.
Section III:
Chronicles of Dag Heyat
Chapter 18: Dag Heyat and the revolution
Some part of the story of the great Dag Heyat Eric knew, because those were the parts he witnessed or heard from others. However there were other parts which were unknown to him, or anyone else for that matter…
The Yerin Doyusculer, which meant “Warriors of the land,” in their own tongue, were the fiercest and the most secretive of the fifty tribes of Rokhumaan. They were an ancient tribe, with their own rules and way of life, almost completely unconcerned with the happenings of Valantia. They agreed to join Rokhumaan formally only about a hundred years back, when all other tribal leaders travelled in person to persuade their chief, Dag Sessiz.
While the Yerins were strong, they still held on to their old ways. Their weapons and warfare methods, which were the source of their strength, soon became their folly. As soon as the other tribes realized how far behind the times the legendary Yerins were, their prominence fell. Dag Sessiz was asked to sit as the head of the council of the fifty tribes when their heads had come to convince him. But the position was taken away from him by the time his rule over the Yerins came to an end.
The Yerins controlled almost a third of Rokhumaan hundred years back. They were slowly pushed back by the other tribes, no longer afraid of the legend of the Yerins. By the time Dag Heyat was born, the Yerins held onto only a few hundred square kilometers around their base. The difficulty of terrain, along with their continued excellence in guerilla tactics discouraged further aggression from other tribes. The Valantian Imperium was also satisfied just to get the annual tax from the remaining Yerin territory, which the Yerins had to give, to allay the threat of invasion by the larger and better trained Valantian army.
When Dag Heyat was eighteen, a traveler wandered into Yerin territory. Irrespective of the number of ambushes set up for him, he did not have even a single scratch on him. The Yerin leader then, Dag Cetin, personally confronted the man, but when challenged to one on one combat by the stranger, he lost. The man revealed himself to be Forresgrim, seemingly a mere blacksmith, who was searching for the Yerins. He offered his services to modernize the wooden and bronze based weaponry of the Yerins, which Dag Cetin readily agreed to.
Forresgrim spent the next five years getting the village, especially the best of the Yerins up to speed on their weapons. He personally created the weapons for Dag Cetin, Dag Heyat and all the important members of the tribe. He also trained them in modern war fare. He asked for nothing in return. He then left as he had come. Dag Cetin forced him to take with him the medallion of the tribe and assured him that Yerins would stand behind him during any time of need. Forresgrim got everyone to promise not to mention his existence to anyone.
Armed with these weapons and their training, the Yerins attacked. They attacked all the nearby tribes. In the first couple of years, they had to learn to adapt the military tactics that they had learned from Forresgrim and learn to manage multiple opponents. At the end of the third year after Grim left, Dag Heyat took over the helm.
Dag Heyat was a fierce warrior, the strongest of the tribe, one already known for its strength and ferocity. He was over six and a half feet in height, muscular with long hair and a beard. He never wore armor, as it reduced his maneuverability. His attire, whether to battle or at his home was a pair of comfortable pants, arm and leg bracers and his sheep skin shoes. And of course, his weapon. It was as much a part of him as his clothing. The Buuzmeq. An axe, that for everyone outside the Yerins, Dag Heyat had created himself. But in reality, it was Forresgrim’s creation. A massive double headed axe, its blades came almost till his knees and they were almost as wide as they were long. There was an opening in the middle of the blades along the handle for Dag Heyat to hold and use the blades as a shield. Buuzmeq weighed almost 100 kilos, and Dag Heyat was the one of the few men in the world who could lift it, let alone wield it.
Under Dag Heyat, the Yerins were unstoppable. They defeated one tribe after another, once even managing to defeat five of them, who attacked the Yerins together. The council of fifty eventual
ly offered Dag the position of the Head of the council, along with most of their former lands back as truce. Dag took the lands, refused the council position. He did not trust the body that had schemed against his predecessors. This rapid change in power dynamic in Rokhumaan caught the attention of the Valantian Imperium. But around the same time, the revolution had started. They were unable to spare any thought on how to cut the Yerins down to size.
What they did not realize was that Yerins were also dissatisfied with the Valantian Imperium, for having allowed others to steal their lands. To exploit this discontent, one of the most famous leaders of the revolution, General Zastraax, landed up near the Yerin’s headquarters, to convince them to join the revolution. The Yerin village was a well-hidden secret. But the revolutionaries had been in contact with Yerins for a long time, and given the General himself was coming, Dag Heyat allowed the revolution’s envoys to reach the village, under blindfold.
Though Dag was cordial to general when they met, he did not see the general as worthy of leading the Yerins, should they choose to join. He did not like the general.
The general was the most enigmatic individual in the revolution, despite being the most widely seen. He was a tall man, at least a foot taller than Dag. But he was always a little hunched, indicating that he was, perhaps, a little old. But there was no way to know, as he was always completely covered in a cloak. His face, arms and legs were completely armored. With a seemingly light metal, which was rumored to be Azmoqian. This made Dag suspicious. What sort of a man always hid behind a metal mask? Only a coward, according to Dag, a man who never wore any armor himself.
It was not the Yerin way, felt Dag, to be led by anyone he considered unworthy. “On the field, joining the revolution would mean coming under the command of this coward. That I can’t permit,” thought Dag.
Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium Page 21