by S. K. Ng
“Negative! This is not acceptable, Convian Sky Proest! You are a junior officer of the Royal Guards. The Royal Guards are an elite force, and as a member of this elite force, you are privileged to many of our military secrets. You also have full knowledge of our deployment capabilities. If you are captured, the enemy may obtain much vital information from you which they could use against us,” objected Convian Genox, who also had the same markings on her breastplate.
Convian Proest stared at Convian Genox with an irritated expression. Being of an elite force, he was not used to a regular soldier questioning his decisions.
“I acknowledge your concerns, Convian Genox. However, time is of the essence. We cannot afford to send for a group of trained spies from Fallsene City. That would take days. Amongst the four of us here, I am the only one qualified for this type of mission. I have made my decision. If he does not show up in one hour, I shall be going into Serpentia to complete the mission,” expressed Convian Proest.
“With all due respect, Convian Proest, the eastern border falls under the jurisdiction of 3rd Ocean and Fort Eastguard, therefore I shall decide who goes into Serpentia,” stressed Convian Genox.
“With all due respect, Convian Genox, though we are both of the same rank; but I am a member of the Royal Guards, so I outrank you! So, unless you are a Minvian and you have four Silver Dove Symbols on your breastplate, or if you are an Orgavian or a Recavian and you have a Golden Hawk Symbol or three Golden Hawk Symbols respectively; this decision is mine to make, not yours!” insisted Convian Proest.
“You may be a member of the Royal Guards, Convian Proest, but this is my operation to begin with. It was my informant who told me of the increase in Serpentian military activities and I was the one who was ordered to investigate them further. So it is not necessary for me to outrank you. This mission was delegated to me by our superiors, therefore, I am in command,” argued Convian Genox, who had left out the fact that she was once offered the opportunity to be a Royal Guard herself, but had refused it for personal reasons.
Convian Proest showed very clear signs of irritation. Convian Genox’s composure was not very calm either.
“You are wasting my time!” insisted Convian Proest.
“With all due respect, Convian Proest; though I acknowledge the authority of the Royal Guards to overrule others of equal rank, I am inclined to agree with Convian Genox, sir. An officer of the Royal Guards falling into enemy hands could be disastrous,” said the male soldier who wore the dark brown collar.
Unlike the two convians, who were in their early twenties; the brown collared male soldier was in his late forties. Etched and painted on the left side of his breastplate was a different symbol. This symbol had of a pair of crossed swords below the Royal Symbol, and the Royal Symbol was an image of half of a dove, from the frontal view, on the left side connected to a waterfall on the right side, and with a crown on top of the two halves.
Convian Proest tried hard to keep his emotion in check. The other yellow collared soldier had a similar expression on his face.
“I respect your wisdom and experience, Verallvian Rod Sayson. To have served long and well enough to rise to the rank of a verallvian, a third level non-commissioned officer, is truly awesome. Most soldiers stay as a ‘servian’, unranked and without markings on their breastplates. The occasional ones may get promoted to ‘suvian’, with two black stripes. Some experienced suvians may get promoted to exevian, proudly bearing the markings of three black stripes. But it takes great courage, skill, experience and leadership to be ranked verallvian. Your reputation on the battlefield has reached our ears and it was such a waste that you rejected the offer to be transferred to the Royal Guards. We could have learned so much from you. It is not my place to disagree with one such as experienced as yourself, but I have my orders too; and military doctrine dictates that we must always send the most suitable person for this type of mission. I am well qualified, for I had graduated first placing in my batch with maximum scores on all disciplines. I am the person most suited for this mission. Besides, if they catch me, I shall cut my own tongue off. That way they can never extract any information out of me,” said Convian Proest proudly.
Verallvian Sayson’s composure was calm in response to Convian Proest’s words. Convian Genox, however, sniggered.
“What brave words you speak, sir, but I would not want to find out if you really meant them. Please reconsider, sir,” replied Verallvian Sayson reasonably.
“I have complete faith in Convian Proest’s words, Verallvian Sayson. I have served under him for the past three years. I have seen the level of conviction and drive that he possesses with my own eyes. I assure you that the convian meant what he said,” said the other yellow collared soldier, who had three black stripes etched and painted on the left side of his breastplate.
“I do not question the convian’s conviction or his drive, but merely the necessity of the risks he intends to take, Exevian Meteor Staven. The same objective can be accomplished with far less risk if it was done by Convian Genox instead,” explained Verallvian Sayson.
“With all due respect, gentlemen… and lady; I believe this conversation is no longer necessary, for our contact has arrived,” said Exevian Staven while pointing to a moving figure in the trees.
The four soldiers rode their horses towards the shadow they saw moving amongst the trees.
“Chief Green Frell, we did not expect to see you here! Where is Suvian Panther Renox?” said Convian Genox to an elderly man of the age 60, mounted on a donkey.
“That soldier you sent us, Renox, you say? I’m afraid he’s dead. I received a message from my contacts in Nestland Royal via homing pigeon. It seems that the poor boy was shot in the back with a poisoned arrow when he tried to escape from Castle Cobra. He was almost incoherent when he reached them. They managed to get the time and location of this meeting and a few details of King Fangstrike’s plan, but not much. They buried him in an unmarked grave just on the outskirts of Nestland Royal. Tell his family that he died a hero,” said Chief Frell as he handed a folded piece of paper to Convian Genox.
Convian Genox unfolded the piece of paper and read it contents. The expression on her face was grave. She passed the paper to Verallvian Sayson. His expression transformed into a mirror image of hers.
“How bad is it?” asked Convian Proest.
Verallvian Sayson passed Convian Proest the paper. He shook his head after reading it.
“This cannot be correct! It says that they are sending an entire ‘serpenest’ to raid Eastern Falls. This is not possible! Normally, they would just send a ‘jaw’ to sneak past our defences, raid a village or two and then escape back to Serpentia. Just approximately 300 Serpentian soldiers, not 7,800! This is not like them at all!” refuted Convian Proest.
Convian Genox shook her head and gave Convian Proest a grave expression.
“The report is correct. We have heard rumours that the Serpentians are planning something big this time. This was the reason why we had requested for this mission to be carried out in the first place. All of our contacts have reported massive activities throughout Serpentia, especially in Nestland Constrictor. Battlelord Constrictor is a new battlelord. He killed his former master, Battlelord Coldscales, in a Trial of Worthiness for control of his nestland. He is young and eager to prove himself, and this makes him unpredictably dangerous. I am not surprised that he was chosen to execute this raid,” she said.
Convian Proest passed the paper to Exevian Staven.
“Grand Catapults! Why would they be bringing Grand Catapults?” asked Exevian Staven as he read the contents of the paper.
“To tear down walls!” answered Convian Genox and Verallvian Sayson simultaneously.
“You mean they plan to attack Fort Eastguard?” commented Exevian Staven in an unbelieving manner.
“Yes, exevian. If this report is true, they mean to attack Fort Eastguard,” surrendered Convian Proest.
Meanwhile, Convian Proest had a blank look
on his face. Clearly the magnitude of the impending Serpentian attack was very hard for him to mentally accept.
“We are not prepared for this! This is not a raid! It is almost like an invasion! This attack is too big! We will need at least a ‘lake’ to reinforce Fort Eastguard! And if they get through, then the entire Eastern Falls will most likely be lost. We would then have to send an ‘ocean’ to stop them. But they will have a clear line of reinforcements from Serpentia. They can have a steady flow of Serpenests come in to reinforce them. This will push us back to the Windswept Forest, at the very least. We shall lose an entire province, and we shall never get it back!” he concluded.
All four soldiers sat silently, contemplating the implications of this discovery.
Finally, Convian Proest shook his head and mentally forced himself to accept the reality of things.
“When will they arrive?” he enquired.
“My contacts say they’re moving rather slowly. Probably due to these Grand Catapults you’re talking about. Their best guess is that they should reach the border in four or five days,” answered Chief Frell.
“Four or five days? That’s not enough time for reinforcements to arrive at Fort Eastguard from Fallsene City. There is no time to waste! The exevian and I shall ride back to the palace and inform the king. Along the way, we shall spread the word to the local garrison commanders to send to Fort Eastguard whatever resources they can spare. Convian Genox and Verallvian Sayson, you will need to rush back to the fort and make the necessary defence preparations,” delegated Convian Proest.
“Agreed!” said Convian Genox.
The four soldiers bid the elderly man goodbye and rode away as fast as their horses could carry them. The elderly man turned his donkey around and casually rode off, disappearing entirely into the shadows of the forest.
The next day, Ray, Lance and Spirit stopped for lunch at a bank of a small river. Ray looked up at the sky. There was no cloud. It was hot and sunny. There would be no rain that night, he predicted. After lunch and a short rest, he began training Lance in Elemental Sorcery.
Elemental Sorcery, as Lance was to find out, was much more difficult and complicated than it seemed. Lance had to do what Ray termed as ‘Energy Discharge Practices’, in which he had to stand with his feet approximately two shoulders’ width apart, stare at an imaginary point five paces away to his centre and front, and after drawing deep breaths and focusing on his rage, shout out as loud as he could while forcing his soul energy forward through his fingers by simultaneously thrusting his arms and fingers forward. The first time Lance did this, nothing had happened. Half an hour later, still nothing had happened. Lance was beginning to think that he was being cheated!
One whole hour had passed. Lance was about to give up when he felt a tingling in his fingers as he shouted out and thrust them forward. He tried again with more enthusiasm and saw tiny bursts of flames emanating from his finger tips. Thus encouraged, he continued for another half an hour while Ray took a nap under a shady tree. At the end of the session, though, Lance had to dip his fingers in the cool waters of the small river as he felt that they were on fire. Ray walked over and told him not to worry. He said that it was normal for beginners to accidentally burn their fingertips because they did not yet know how to control the soul energy that they had brought forth.
Ray sat down beside Lance and began to explain the nature and limitations of Elemental Sorcery. Elemental Sorcery, Ray explained, was the knowledge of drawing raw energy from the soul and shaping that energy into one of the five elements of nature; namely fire, water, earth, wind and mind. As the drawing of energy from the soul would have weakened it, a normal human being could only draw enough energy to execute the equivalent of nine ‘basic spells’ in a day without harming himself. A Heat Burst Spell, which was the flaming sphere that Lance had seen Ray execute, was one such basic spell. If an Elementhar has used up too much soul energy, he would experience what was called ‘soul depletion’, which could eventually lead to death. Lance was a little shocked to find out that Elemental Sorcery had such a restrictive limit. He was under the impression that it was limitless. Ray then said to him that nothing in the universe was ever limitless.
Ray then explained to Lance that an ‘intermediate spell’ was equivalent to three basic spells and an ‘advanced spell’ would require the same amount of energy as three intermediate spells or nine basic spells. If an Elementhar was in direct physical contact with the natural element of his sorcery, he would be able to extract a small amount of energy from it, thereby making him stronger or increasing his energy recovery rate.
Ray then said that Elementhars could store their excess soul energy into gemstones by touching them and wilfully transferring their energy into them. Therefore the gemstones acted as storage devices for excess soul energy. The Elementhars could then draw the stored energy from these gemstones when they needed them. Normally, an Elementhar would have these gemstones set into bracelets, headbands, necklaces or vambraces which they wore. These items were then known as ‘Reservers’. Rubies were used to store the fire element form of soul energy while brown diamonds, white diamonds and sapphires were used for the earth, wind and water elements respectively. The golden beryl gems were used for the mind element.
Ray then mentioned that gemstones were also used to create what was known as a ‘Sorcerised Item’. A Sorcerised Item was an object that could absorb soul energy, therefore it was used like a shield. The Sorcerised Item would require all five types of gemstone to be set into it using Elemental Sorcery. Each gemstone would function by absorbing the form of soul energy it was associated with, with the exception of the white diamond, which also absorbed ‘dark energy’. Dark energy was the soul energy of demons. Demons would normally condense their dark energy into black, shiny energy spheres, called Dark Orbs, and ‘shoot’ them at their enemies or prey.
Finally, Ray explained that Elementhars could extract and reuse the soul energy that had been absorbed by the gemstones in a sorcerised item. However, he stressed that if a white diamond has absorbed dark energy, an Elementhar must never try to extract energy from it; otherwise he would be possessed by the dark energy and would either lose his sanity, transform into a demon or both. A white diamond, upon turning completely black from the saturation of dark energy, must be carefully removed and buried. Any physical contact with a saturated ‘black diamond’ could lead to dark energy possession. Lance contemplated with utter seriousness Ray’s explanation as he dipped his superficially burnt fingertips into the icy cold water yet again.
Later during the evening, Ray had once again retrieved the Vanguard Manuscript of Master Wave Soltude. Reading its pages, a drop of tear flowed down his cheek. Master Soltude had not only written down the accords of his progress, but his mistakes in life as well. A very wise practice, noted Ray. At the back of his mind, Ray could almost hear the favourite advice that his own mentor, Grand Elementhar Ridge Santlyn, always gave, ‘Mistake _ never make the same of this twice’. Obviously Master Soltude had recorded all his mistakes so as not to repeat them again. But there were certain mistakes which must never be made; for these mistakes were unforgivable or unforgiving. Apparently, Elementhar Soltude had made such a mistake, or else Ray would not be in possession of his copy of the Vanguard Manuscript at the moment. As unpleasant an experience as it was, Ray was determined to finish reading the manuscript; it was the only decent way to honour the deceased Elementhar.
The chirping sound of crickets soothes the ensuing silence. Spirit stretches and yawns. Then he lies down next to the campfire and falls asleep. Lance gets into his tent and falls asleep as well. Ray sits alone next to Spirit, reading and learning about the life of the lost, fallen comrade who was Master Elementhar Wave Soltude. And he reminisces back to the time of his own childhood at Monune Ruby…
CHAPTER FOUR
THE STORY OF RAY, PART I
The sky is still dark. He looks up. The heavens are obscured with thick, overcast clouds. But he knows it will be mor
ning soon. He looks at the infant one last time, this man with a scar across his face. He loves this infant as much as its own parents did. He wants to take care of it, to raise it as his own. But he knows he cannot. He is a wanted man. And the infant is wanted as well. The infant is in as grave danger as he is. To keep it safe, he must keep its identity safe. To do so, he must leave it here. He must leave it here at the front gate of the monune of the Fire Elementhars. Here, at Monune Ruby, is where he will part ways with it, perhaps forever. Only two items he shall leave as a clue to the infant’s true identity, a blanket with a surname embroidered on it and a silver short-staff. And with that, he is gone…
The infant slept in silence in a large basket. It was warm and comfortable. Then the rooster crowed. The infant awoke, crying loudly. And the infant cried and cried and cried, on this day, the 15th Day of Fifth Month of Wet Season in the Year 1160 of the Known Era.
A Master Elementhar, of the age 50, rushed to the front gate of this monune that was atop a very large hill, with a group of novices following behind him. At that moment the cloud cover broke slightly and the mid-morning sun shone its rays on the basket and the infant in it. The rooster was late in crowing, for the sun was obscured by the thick cloud cover earlier. So the time was actually mid-morning instead of dawn.
“Basket _ what is in of it, Master Santlyn?” asked one of the novices.
“Basket _ not what, but who is in of it, Cart Dirrell,” corrected Master Elementhar Ridge Santlyn as he examined the infant in the basket closely.