by Mark Omodia
Chapter 12
Uprising
King Sett became aloof. He had dismissed his courtiers. He just sat on the floor, facing his throne. He gazed at his crown which he had removed and placed on his throne; downing jar after jar of wine. There were jars everywhere. Just then Oldric came in.
'Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown', King Sett said to Oldric. 'I had everything mapped out. Everything was going on fine with Eric, until now...'
'You must be strong your highness', Oldric said, trying to console the king. 'Sometimes life does not give us what we want. It does not saddle us with what we plan for. But for what it's worth, life never burdens one with something one cannot solve. It may take time, but once you find that inner strength, there is no problem you cannot surmount. Find clarity your highness.'
Just then, Egon ran in.
'Father', he said. 'There is a mob out... side...'
He stopped as he saw his father's state. He gave a faint smile as he walked towards his father saying; 'This is ludicrous father.'
'Can you not see your father is sombre?' Oldric said.
'...Over what happened earlier at court?' Egon scoffed. 'Frankly, I find it rather mawkish... Have you looked outside? There is a growing mob that is trying to make its way in here... There is nothing difficult in your majesty's situation. Simply do what ought to have been done - dispose of the human and his comrades.'
King Sett ignored Egon's advice and asked him; 'Why is there a mob outside?'
'Apparently I am not the only one put off by your majesty's antics lately', Egon started. 'The masses have gotten word of all that has been going on in this palace. First you refuse to kill the Morflon who killed your own brother as custom dictates. Then you harbour an inferior creature in this palace and give him the finer things of life that the masses have toiled to produce and yet even they cannot enjoy. And to make matters worse, you even wanted to release the Morflon in exchange for the human. Even today, some Morflon attacked and killed some of your guards and the same creature you harboured demands that you set them free... Quite frankly the masses are speaking my mind. They want to know who runs the fortress. Because from what they hear, it seems like Eric dictates to you.'
'I never yielded to Eric's demands', King Sett said.
'But you have not done anything yet', Egon replied. 'Surely you must be considering it.'
King Sett was silent. Egon drew closer to him, saying in a persuasive tone; 'The masses want a king, not some figure head. They want to see a strong leader who stands by his word and is not afraid to dispense justice as is due. A public execution of Eric and his comrades will put you in the masses' good books. The head that wears the crown must be ready to bear its burden.'
'Strong words for a misguided cause', King Sett said. 'Why are you so keen on putting them to death? Surely there must be another way.'
'The more time you waste the less patience the masses have', Egon said.
'A leader must not be in a hurry to please the masses...' King Sett said. '...No matter how impatient they are.'
King Sett was able to silence Egon, but he could not silence the masses who quickly lost their patience. The masses formed greater mobs and with time became violent. Riots began to spring up here and there. Within days, the masses began to push for the king to step down.
King Sett was at court when he got the news. He was stunned.
'This is nonsense!' he yelled as he paced about. The court was silent and every eye was on him.
'Political blackmail...! Propaganda! Who is responsible for this?' he continued.
'Your highness', Egon said. 'You cannot say you were not warned. You refused to dance to their tune when you could, now they have raised the tempo.'
'My enemies are behind this', King Sett said.
'And it seems they are succeeding', Egon said.
King Sett sat on his throne, his head bowed in thought.
'What do I do now?' he asked.
'Salvage your reign', Egon said. 'Do what you ought to have done a long time ago; execute Eric and his friends before the entire masses. Then they will consider that you are coming back to your senses. They will see that you still have a firm grip on the throne.'
After serious thought, the king obliged. He sent his soldiers to arrest me and take me to the hole.
I was bound and locked up on the fifth level in a cell. The cell was dark. The light from flame torches at a distance made it possible for me to see vaguely, though most of my cell was pitch black. I was tossed in by the guard that held me and the bars were shut. I was sweating profusely as the place was very hot. I was just cleaning off the sweat on my face when I heard a familiar voice say; 'Eric is that you?'
I was scared. I could hear the sound of chains hitting against each other and dragging on the ground as some creatures drew towards me. I was so shocked I could not move or say a word. I just stared into the darkness, afraid of what was coming from it.
To my relief it was Morriah and the other Morflon. We embraced each other and sobbed.
After an emotional reunion we sat on the ground and began to chat. Morriah recounted his ordeal to us.
'Ai! This is the pit of doom', he said. 'Ai...! Here, there is perpetual torture. Wailing and gnashing of teeth are the leisure activities one can get here. Every now and then I hear the lashes; whips peeling the bare flesh of the prisoners, their wailing and screaming all flowing in harmony with the sound of the whips... Ai! Down here, the wardens are the law. They viciously harass the prisoners who have lost their freedom, their identity and their self-esteem. All that they have going for them is the certainty of pending death. Yes death is the only way out of this misery. But I envy them. At least they get to see the sunlight; they get to move their limbs. I would give anything to get a lash on my back so long as I would take a breath of fresh air. I would rather carry out manual labour as long as I get to feel the wind against my fur. Ai! It is eternal damnation down here. Words cannot describe the horrors that go through my mind down here.'
As Morriah spoke we could hear screams and whip sounds. Scary thoughts filled my mind as I heard dreadful sounds. The mood in the cell was melancholy. When we were all tired each of us dozed off one by one. It was appropriate though as we could not tell night from day. From where I lay I idly scratched the ground in the hope of getting sleep. I didn't know how low I had scratched. I just kept tossing stone away from the spot I was scratching. Just then, I felt something like metal. I began scraping around it to get it out. I used my finger to feel it. The more I felt it the more it made sense, it seemed familiar. Suddenly it hit me. I got up in excitement. Everyone in the cell woke up to an ecstatic me.
'The transporter!' I yelled. 'I have the transporter!'
Everyone got up as I mentioned the transporter. They all came closer, taking turns to feel and admire it. The excitement was quickly replaced with tension. None of us knew what to do with it or how to use it. Amidst all the confusion, Morriah took the transporter and gave it back to me.
'Ai! You have used it before', Morriah said. 'Let your spirit guide you. You will know what to do.'
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I then slowly began to twist the cube. In split seconds the cube emitted a great light which overwhelmed us all. We all blanked out.
When I woke up, I found myself in a shallow stream. I was already drenched. As I looked around me I saw the others too just waking up. We were scattered around the stream. It was under the sunlight that I could see Morriah well. He had emaciated. He squeezed his eyes as he was no longer used to such bright light. He knelt down, shut his eyes and spread his arms as if trying to soak in the atmosphere. He gave a great sigh of relief. He did not have the energy to scream and run about like the others who splashed the water around in excitement.
After our lengthy jubilation we settled down to figure out where we were. We began to walk round in hopes of finding a nearby King Settlement. Our prayers were answered as we soon found ourselves in the Lambda tribe.
'You disobeyed me', Ozin scolded. 'I warned you of the perils of the journey. I told you that it was fraught with danger, but you wanted to see everything for yourself. Look at your father. How do you think he felt when he saw you walk into his very cell, to await the same fate? How do you think I felt when I found out you were Bilok...? How did you even escape? Think of your mother and your siblings. Think of Cylas who must be worried sick. I lack sufficient words to describe how you disgust me right now.'
All the while Morriah was silent. He did not have the energy to speak for long.
'I have only one question to ask you son', he finally said. 'You say you are sorry. But should a similar situation occur, would you do what you did again?'
Gaiel was silent.
'Ai...! Then you are not sorry', Morriah said as he got up and left. Ozin helped him up and escorted him out, leaving me and a sobbing Gaiel in the room. I stared at him as he broke down in tears, lying on the floor.