I returned to where Dev and Karn were resting. They were just lazing around, lying down on the hay. As soon as I came back, Karn spoke up. “Hey there, old man. Where did you go? We were trying to figure out what to do about the thing you were thinking about. Any thoughts?”
I wondered how they were talking about it, without letting the Roma man know. But it was anyway settled. I waved it off. “I don’t think we need to worry. I convinced our friend to accept what we have. I trust you have that?”
Both of them sat up. Karn pointed to his head.
I told him via thought that I had negotiated with Grou and sweetened the pot with my horse. While he seemed upset, he didn’t say anything. He then asked me, “So, when do we depart this happy group and where?”
I thought about it. We all needed to heal and I needed a new leg. There was no way we could return to the walled city of Welehölla. We had to go somewhere more chaotic, easier to hide. I knew just the place. We were anyway heading in the right direction.
“We should be off to Khratosh. We can lay low there as we heal. We are right now in no state to fight. Khratosh would offer good refuge. The route is also quite crowded. It’ll be easy to hide.”
Karn agreed. Dev, as expected, had no idea what Khratosh was. I explained the nature and location of the city. It was a large trading city, where, unlike other cities, a diverse crowd lived in harmony. Somehow. One could find the rich and the poor living in houses right next to each other, one could find people of various ethnicities living and interacting with each other. A city where criminals and the Valantian troops got along as well. It would be easy for us to hide as we recovered in its amazing healing houses. We definitely needed them. Even though some of our major injuries were getting better, our skins were considerable burnt and injured, and Karn and I looked like two lepers. Dev had no such issues—he was just exhausted.
I continued. “We can leave right away. I feel ready to ride. What about the two of you?” Karn, who was the most burnt among us, didn’t seem sure, but agreed anyway.
We approached Grou with the rest of the coins and asked if we could leave. He said, in a worried tone. “Are you guys sure? You can rest for some more time with us.”
That was kind of him but we declined. He agreed, but he said he wouldn’t let us leave until we did one favor for him. We were curious about what this favor was. He led us to the last carriage. It smelt terrible there. When he opened the carriage, the contents made our skin crawl. It was full of maggots, wriggling around.
Grou said, “The favor is, allow me to put these maggots on your burn wounds.”
I was a little freaked out. Others more so. Karn retorted. “Those things! They make my skin crawl… You want them to crawl on my skin? Why? What have we done to deserve this?”
Grou smiled as he shook his head. “You misunderstand. We often have burns in our caravan, and the best way to allow for full recovery is to allow these maggots to eat the dead skin away, allowing fresh skin to grow and the body to heal completely.”
That was extremely kind of him. Despite our revulsion we agreed to it. We closed our eyes tightly as the maggots were poured on us. It felt extremely gross, but slowly I got used to it. After an hour, the maggots were removed. Grou asked us to rest in a different carriage. It was a nice clean tent, with a silk bed. He said, “You need to lie here for the next day, allowing for new skin to grow in a clean environment. Otherwise your wounds can fester.”
He was being exceptionally kind to us. In hindsight, we probably would have died of our burns were it not for his intervention. I didn’t mind giving up my weapons to him and his family. They had saved our lives, again.
In a couple of days, we were feeling our best since the explosion. Most of our burn injuries were just scabs. We no longer looked like lepers. But it was imperative that we left. The longer we stayed, the more danger the Romansh would be in. We bid an emotional farewell to the group as we set off on our separate way. Even in the end, they were kind enough to lend me a horse for no cost, so that we could travel comfortably.
We had achieved our objective. We had saved the village, taken our revenge, and survived. This was more than I could ask for. But I got something more. As we rode out, I noticed Karn carry an extra bag.
“What do you have there?” I asked him.
He just smiled, trotted towards me on Arion, and handed the bag to me. “Take a look.”
It contained all my hammers! He had somehow picked them up. Had he crossed the Romansh? Had he stolen from them? That wasn’t good, or wouldn’t be once they realized what happened.
“What did you do? Did you steal this from them?! You know how dangerous that can be?”
Karn seemed to mock me. “Do you really think so lowly of me?! I am a noble soul, who wouldn’t steal a copper from a rich man.”
I continued to stare at him. It was a serious matter.
Karn laughed. “Don’t worry, old man. It is all good. I took the hammers from them after offering them something of far more value.”
I didn’t think we had anything of value to offer them.
Karn saw, or maybe felt my skepticism. “It wasn’t something we owned. It was something they took. They had taken the Azmoq armor from the site without knowing it was Azmoq. I showed them its value and told them where they could fence something like that. It would be suspicious of them to sell large chunks of it, so I helped them break it down into easily sellable chunks.
That was great news! I had my hammers back and the Romansh got more than they had bargained for. I was extremely happy. Again, before I could say it, Karn said, “No need to thank me. I don’t do it for the thanks, or the glory. I do it for the children.” He looked at me and added, “and old men too.” I was too happy to be bothered by his comment.
As we travelled towards Khratosh, moving through smaller villages at first, I wanted to understand more about Dev’s story and his village. And he started to tell me. In complete detail.
Chapter 31: The shadow
Karn, Elbir and Dev continued their journey towards Khratosh.
Elbir suddenly broke the silence. “It is so nice to continue on the journey in silence, without someone continuously talk about themselves.”
Dev shot him a dirty look as both Karn and Elbir laughed. With the death of the two assassins and destruction of the Barracks, all three of them were relaxed. They had saved Villasboro from certain destruction. Elbir had managed to kill Azrial and Dev managed to kill the assassins, all in one swoop. They all looked forward to meeting Grim now, and hopefully learn from him the art of Azmoq smithing, persuade him to create weapons as amazing as Dhronari for them.
Kazena was watching the three ride up. She had followed them right from the Barracks. These people were responsible for such large-scale destruction of the Valantian army. They could only be revolutionaries. They could help her establish contact with and enter the revolution herself. But she had always been a wary one. She did not want to approach them without some sort of assurance that it wasn’t a trap. After all, the treasure she possessed was valuable enough for her to be a target. What she didn’t know was, how big a target she was, even before her break in into the chamber of philosophy.
She was one of the stealthiest people on the continent, but she couldn’t hide from Karn. After the events in the barracks, his mind was even more aware. During one of his meditation sessions, he could sense the presence of another, whose thoughts centered on the trio. After that, he started to search around with his mind for this person, often noticing that the person was still trailing them. There seemed to a mix of optimism and anxiety which dominated the person’s emotions. The person seemed to be under the impression that Karn, Elbir and Dev were revolutionaries.
Dev could also sense her presence, although in a different way. Kazena was carrying a fair bit of Azmoq in the weapons she had, and Dev was easily able to sense it. They both exchanged thoughts, along the way, to figure out what they had to do. They both signaled to Elbir that there
was someone following them. These exchanges were lost to Kazena. She had no idea that they knew that they were being followed.
They changed their direction and moved off the small road towards the Great Plains. They assumed that the person following them would find it difficult to pursue them on the open road. But that wasn’t true for Kazena. She could walk right beside them and they still wouldn’t see her. Karn and Dev realized the abilities of their tracker. Dev decided to act. He stopped his horse and got down. Kazena, still unaware that she had been spotted, stopped as well. And then suddenly, she was visible. Dev had pulled her swords away, the twin swords which created the lenses, as well as the spear that she had stolen.
Karn looked at her, smiling as he got down. “Well, well, well. Who do we have here?”
Chapter 32: Parallel events
Draconair…
As Vikraan was talking to his guards to check if they saw Anirved, Draconair was pacing slowly in his room, adjacent to the chamber of philosophy. It was the erstwhile chamber of deceased Titan. Draconair often thanked the deceased member of the Order. His death had set a lot of things in motion. He was thinking about the events of the morning. That’s when, he sensed a presence. A presence he had not felt since… a time that he had long forgotten.
The power emanating from this presence made him sweat. He had sworn to himself that he would never feel fear after the events of his youth. But this power, made him break that promise. He rushed out to the place where he felt this presence. He had to see it for himself. The presence, here… It wasn’t possible.
Anyone who knew Draconair, would be surprised see him run. Those who had seen him hurry were no longer alive. Most of them had been killed by him. The corridors would have been chaotic even if there was a single witness, but miraculously there was no one to see him run. As he reached the outer levels of the Imperium member’s homes, he slowed down. He realized what he was doing. The guards would be able to see him soon. But he didn’t care. He was close to the presence. He would soon see the person. He kept hurrying, until he felt the power right in front of him.
But in front of him, was an empty corridor. He felt the presence moving away. He followed it, but could see nothing. Was the power invisible? He contemplated using his sword. But there was no point. He tried to follow the presence, but it was moving rapidly. It was soon out of his range. This was not good. Something this powerful, this familiar moving in these corridors without his knowledge… wasn’t good. Hopefully Meyhella hadn’t noticed the presence.
***
The old major…
As the Imperium got the message about the barracks’ destruction, Major Morgan was regaining consciousness for the first time after the blast. He could feel each part of his body on fire, as he was surrounded by darkness. There wasn’t much he could do. His jaw was broken, preventing him from shouting out. He had lost considerable amount of blood. He felt like he was going to lose consciousness again. But he willed himself awake. He was going to be awake till he was rescued. If he lost consciousness, he knew he would die. The source of his will was his rage. No one had tricked him till then. They had hurt his pride, he was going to destroy everything they loved.
He focused on the faces of the terrorists. He imagined what their beloved village would look like. And then, he imagined destroying it. Torturing and killing each and every villager himself. These images and memories kept him going. He wished the three weren’t dead, so that he could have killed them too. This focus kept him up and ready for rescue, until much later, when he felt the rubble shifting. With a herculean effort, focusing all the rage he could muster in his broken, starving body, he shifted a large piece of rubble. This attracted the rescuers who found their most famous save, the legendary Major Morgan, broken, but, very… much… alive.
***
Vikraan…
When I heard the news, I almost lost my composure out of happiness. Major Morgan was alive. The man took the full blast of the explosion, had layers and layers of rubble on top of him, and still survived. The man was one of my favorite from the Final 100. Although at number 12, he was easily as strong as the top five. The only reason he was ranked low was because he chose to lead the Round lotus barracks instead of carrying out solo missions under our direct orders.
He was in critical condition when he was found, with a jaw that was completely broken and most bones in various states of fracture. We held back the expedition till Morgan and the assassin recovered completely. Morgan was fitted with various, state-of-the-art Azmoq limbs, but he seemed to have lost his ability to speak. He recovered almost fully, but sat quietly like a man possessed. When someone suggested that he sit the expedition out, Morgan crushed that man’s skull that instant. There were no further protests.
Once he was ready, we gave the orders to find this hidden village, capture all its inhabitants and secure the reserve. Apparently, Morgan was furious with the command. With a lot of effort, he spoke five words, which was sent back to us. “Not capture… torture and murder.”
***
The temple and the priest...
The ceremony was approaching. The priest was excited. This is what he prepared for, the entire year. He always looked forward to the ceremony.
The temple was one of the oldest in the land, and yet was almost completely unknown. Unlike the Eldurian temple of Azmoqshthaal, or the Omokian temple in Azon’s capital, this one was neither in a major religious center, nor did it belong to any of the world’s current religions. It belonged to a religion that predated even Omokism, followers of which, had long since left the world stage, preferring to stay away from what the world had become.
It was a colossal structure, as large as the halls of Welehölla. But most of it was located under the ground. For many millennia, the structure had been neglected, resulting in all of it being broken down and covered by trees. In fact, it was in a forest so dense, that no man would ever say that there was anything remotely man made in those forests, let alone such a massive temple.
The priest and his family, for generations, had maintained the temple. A small part of it. They maintained a specific set of rooms. The main one they preserved was where the idol was placed. It was an oddly shaped room. The floor layout was triangular, with one of the edges being curved. The walls were slanting, rising into a conical shape, joining at the top to form a small ellipse, which was located almost above one of the vertices of the triangular base, the one opposite the curved side. The room was about 50 feet wide and over 80 feet high.
The idol was located at one of the vertices, right opposite the entrance to the room. But the idol was hidden behind a screen. One of the duties of the priest was to maintain the screen in optimal condition. No one was to see the idol, not even the priest and his family. They were all waiting for the right person to come and lift the screen. The person responsible for cleaning and worshipping the idol had disappeared over a millennium ago. Since then, no priest had opened the screen to look at the idol. It was forbidden.
Maintaining the screen was a secondary task for the priest. The primary task was preparing for the ceremony. The ceremony was a prayer, a smana for the idol. It was held once a year, where the priest would conduct a five-day continuous prayer with many offerings made to the god, with a holy fire, or Ahuti, burning the entire time. It culminated in the priest lighting a mega lamp, lifting it in his hand and circulating it in front the idol. The lamp had 1001 different wicks located at 27 levels, which had to be lit. It was over 50 kilos in weight, and the priest had to circulate it 1008 times in front of the idol, after five days of prayer, in a room that heated up due to the fire, without eating or sleeping for the whole duration.
The preparation for this ceremony took the whole year. The priest had to gather all the ingredients for the offerings to be made, and the oil for the lamp, the Ahuti had to be made. The priest also had to be physically fit for the ordeal. He had to exercise and fast, in severe heat, preparing for the big event.
The current priest was Sh
ukra. He was the pride of the family. There hadn’t been a priest as strong and dedicated as him for generations, even centuries. He was pacing around, excited. The hour of the ceremony approached. It was his 18th time, something few had achieved before him. He felt confident. And yet, he felt something was different this time. It wasn’t necessarily bad. It just felt like something was going to happen this time. And he wasn’t sure what.
Chapter 33: The new member of the group
Kazena is stunned that the group was able to discover her…
“These are really nice Azmoq weapons,” said the young one. I was surprised that they were able to find me. No one had ever been able sense me before. Not even when I had entered the Imperium Chambers and stolen the spear. I was wondering how they did it, and thought, “What do I do now?”
The handsome one spoke, as if he could read my mind. “Well, dear. You just need to tell the truth… and you are right. I can read your mind. And that’s how I found you. My friend here, as you can see, can move Azmoq with his mind. My name is Karn, my friend has no name. Well, he is known by many names, but you can call him Dev. That is Elbir, known as Eric of the Five Hammers. Now you know us. Care to share who you are?”
I had heard of Eric. He was a mercenary for hire. Always against the Valantian Imperium, which was perfect. Karn… that name did ring a bell. Not sure how. I had never heard of the other guy. He was clearly powerful though.
“If you can read minds, then you should already know,” I said. I was trying to maintain my composure, but I was terrified. This was the first time in my adult life that the swords were away from me physically.
Karn smiled. “Well, I don’t usually like to do that, but…” he paused and frowned. “You are Kazena. You are a thief. You have stolen many precious items in your life, this spear being the latest. Does that sound right?”
Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium Page 35