FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE

by S. K. Ng

  “Sorry _ I am of this,” offered Ray.

  Clover nodded her head. She was too sad to speak, for fear of crying.

  A long moment of silence ensued. Finally, Clover placed Elementhar Soltude’s copy of the Vanguard Manuscript into her backpack.

  “Features _ yours of these are similar to a soldier we met in Fort Eastguard whose name was Serene Genox,” said Ray, changing the subject.

  “Cousin _ Serene is mine of this, and unfortunately, I have not seen her in six years. Doing _ how is she of this?” asked Clover.

  First, Ray assured Clover that her cousin was fine. Then he proceeded to describe the battle at Fort Eastguard. He also described Serene’s injuries and once again assured Clover that her cousin was fine. The conversation only made Clover feel worse, instead of better. Ray had regretted bringing up the topic, but he figured that she would have wanted to know. In the end, Clover concluded that what was done was, unfortunately, done; and since Serene was not seriously harmed, she saw no reason to race off to Fort Eastguard after her cousin.

  Another long moment of silence ensued. This time, Clover was the first to speak.

  .

  “Follow _ I shall do of this with you to Monune Grand. Request _ one of this do I have. Train _ do of this to me in the fire element,” said Clover.

  “Companionship _ yours of this is welcome with us. Train _ however, if I were to do of this to you, it would mean a breach of the Law of Elementhar Conduct,” answered Ray.

  “Dying _ Elementhars are of this, and not only the Water Elementhars, but the Earth Elementhars and the Wind Elementhars as well; so there is a dire need for Elementhars to master more than two elements if we are to survive and defeat demonkind. Situation _ based on ours of this now, it would not be a breach of the law,” insisted Clover.

  Clover’s last statement caught Ray by surprise. What did she mean when she said that the Earth Elementhars and the Wind Elementhars were dying as well?

  “Explain!” demanded Ray.

  “Demonkind _ of them, they are growing stronger than before, and more organised, somehow. Killed _ many more Ordered Elementhars were of this in recent years than they were a decade ago. Dwindled _ our numbers have severely been of this since you left Free Falls 15 years ago, Ray,” explained Clover.

  Ray was silent for a long time. He was reminded of something his mentor had told him 15 years ago. But he had forgotten about it over time. He was so obsessed with seeking vengeance that he forgot about the war against demonkind, which was the Elementhars’ sworn duty. If what Clover said was true, then there was a bigger problem at hand. And Ray’s focus would have to go beyond seeking vengeance for his order.

  “True _ if what you say is of this, I shall agree to your request,” said Ray finally.

  The next morning the quartet set out on their journey in a south-westerly direction. The gusting wind made the journey a little unpleasant as dust and dried leaves were sent flying into their faces. Ray walked steadily on, but in his mind a swirl of thoughts was occurring. He never knew the motive behind the massacre of his order, and from what Clover had told him, the Water Elementhars faced a similar fate as well. He somehow felt that the entire Grand Order was being targeted and eliminated slowly, very slowly. Many things remained unknown! Who is trying to eliminate the Ordered Elementhars? Why would he or they want to do so? What have the Ordered Elementhars done to trigger this? There was some sort of conspiracy going on, but he was at a lost as to what it was or who was behind it.

  Clover walked with squinted eyes in an attempt to keep dust out of them. Her mind was swirling with thoughts as well. She had chosen to follow Ray, if he would accept her. But she knew that this choice had consequences. Ray was an outcast, unofficially. And since he was going to force his ultimatum on the High Council, they would be sure to cast him out officially. And she knew that she would be cast out alongside him. She would no longer be accepted by her order. Her brother and sister Elementhars would treat her like as if she had never existed.

  The other choice for Clover was an easier path. Return to Monune Sapphire with her updated copy of the Vanguard Manuscript. With the updated knowledge and skills, the Water Elementhars could be at their full potential again. But this choice would not solve two problems. The first problem was that Ordered Elementhars were getting killed at a far higher rate than usual, and this would not change even if the Water Elementhars were back at their full potential, for even the Earth Elementhars and Winds Elementhars were getting killed at a very high rate. The second problem was that whoever it was who was responsible for the massacre of Ray’s order and the sabotage of her order would not be dealt with. And this meant that Ordered Elementhars would continue to be sabotaged, or even massacred, in the future.

  In summary, the choice of Clover following Ray offered a bleaker future but with a glimmer of hope, whereas staying with the Grand Order offered a brighter future in the short term but with no hope at all in the long term. In truth, there was only one real choice for her and that was to follow Ray.

  Lance made long strides against the howling wind. He too had thoughts of his own. The events of the past few days had confused him. The Elementhars’ ways were strange to him, but he was beginning to understand them. The mentality of soldiers was another thing altogether. The ones whom he had met were not like his grandfather. The soldiers at Fort Eastguard were cold and ruthless. Then there was the issue of war, a stupid and meaningless act to which humans engaged themselves in, and although they knew of the stupidity of it, they could not help themselves in avoiding it.

  Elementhars and soldiers, so different and yet so alike! The ultimate paradox, these two ways, and perhaps, the ultimate irony as well. Lance knew that Elementhars were isolationists, preferring to keep to their monunes or to their lonely travels. Soldiers, he realised, were the complete opposite, preferring to congregate, socialise and be part of a larger community. Elementhars lived modest lives, and tried not to draw any attention to themselves. Soldiers tended to parade around. They tended to make their authority felt, regardless of whether they have such authority or not. Yet both were protectors of society, in their own way. Elementhars protected societies from demons whereas soldiers protected their society from other societies. Elementhars killed to protect, as did the soldiers. So how could these two walks of life be so different and yet, so similar?

  Spirit walked alongside Lance. So another human had joined his pack. This new human seemed different, smelled different too. The new human had a slightly passive demeanour, so she must be a female. He knew she was a fighter! He had seen her fight! But were her powers adequate? She controlled water. But can water be deadlier than his fangs? Maybe, maybe not? But since Ray had accepted her, so would he. Anyway, the bigger the pack, the easier the hunt.

  A sudden thunderous sound of galloping horses forced the quartet to move aside from the forest road. Moments later, a stream of Fallsian cavalrymen galloped past them, escorting a black carriage. Clover’s eyes opened wide momentarily as she saw the Royal Symbol on the carriage door. Several moments later, the cavalry stream and the carriage had past well clear of them.

  Suddenly, the sound of explosions reach their ears. About 300 paces ahead, two huge tree trunks collapse onto the road, trapping the galloping horses and the black carriage between them. Shouts of command reverberated through the air, as the twelve cavalrymen try to form a protective circle around the carriage. Suddenly, a cavalryman falls to the ground, blood spraying forth from his neck where a star-shaped metal object had embedded itself. The remaining cavalrymen raise their shields in cautious defence. Waves of star-shaped metal objects and flying daggers cut through the air and strike into the circle of cavalrymen. Several moments later, another cavalryman falls to the ground dead. The ten remaining cavalrymen try to close the gaps created by their fallen comrades. The glass windows of the black carriage shatter as several of the spinning metal objects crash into them. The two carriage drivers raise their shields and draw their swords. A spinni
ng metal object cuts into the cheek bone of one of the drivers, causing him to fall off the carriage and break his neck.

  Ray, Clover, Lance and Spirit race forward to the scene of the attack. Approximately 100 paces away, Ray stops them from advancing further and leads them to hide behind some bushes.

  “Stay _ Lance, you are to do of this here, and hide. Interfere _ you are not to do of this of the battle, do you understand?” commands Ray.

  “Fight _ but, master, I can and want to do of this,” objects Lance.

  “Fight _ no, you are too young to do of this and besides, you are lacking the sufficient skills and experience, so you will stay and hide!” stresses Ray.

  “Stay _ I will do of this, master; and hide as well,” says Lance dejectedly.

  Clover turns to speak to Ray

  “Interfere _ of this, I intend to do of the attack, even though I should not as it breaches the Law of Elementhar Administration. Elementhars _ we are of them and that is a royal carriage, so it is none of our business to interfere in government matters, but my cousin Serene could be amongst the cavalrymen,” she says.

  “Elementhar _ we are of them and by right, shall not interfere in this matter, however, the attackers are of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan and they are also my business. Capture _ try to do of this to at least one of them, for I need to interrogate him,” explains Ray.

  “Understand _ I do of this, Ray,” acknowledges Clover.

  A final wave of spinning metal objects strike into the circle of cavalrymen. There are now only seven of them left alive. In a blink of an eye, approximately 30 assassins jump out of the surrounding trees or spring forth from the adjacent bushes. The cavalrymen charge forward on their horses and engage the assassins in battle.

  A few moments later, one of the assassins throws a chain, tangles it around a cavalryman’s neck and pulls him off his horse. Several assassins close in and stab this cavalryman to death. Another cavalryman charges toward the assassins. He gets knocked off his horse by an assassin swinging from a tree. This cavalryman meets his end the same way his comrade did, stabbed to death. One of the cavalrymen screams out in pain as a small packet of pepper powder is thrown at his eyes, blinding and disorientating him. The assassins then pull him down from the back and stab him right through his breastplate.

  Clover gets very concerned. The cavalrymen are getting killed before she, Ray and Spirit can get there to help them. She hopes that her cousin is not one of them.

  The remaining assassins, numbering approximately 20, converge on the carriage after finishing off the last of the cavalrymen. Ray signals Clover and Spirit to attack. The assassins surround the carriage and with a sudden burst of aggression, force the carriage doors open and thrust their swords inside.

  But something is wrong. The carriage is empty! The wide-eyed looks of surprise on the assassins’ faces suddenly turn into expressions of pain as a blade cut at their legs from under the carriage. A warrior wearing a shiny silver armour and a crowned battle helm rolls out from under the carriage and engages the assassins in battle. He slides forward, parries an assassin’s blade to the side and slashes the assassin’s sword wrist. This assassin cries out in pain. Then suddenly, a Heat Burst slams into the back of an assassin who tries to stab the warrior from behind. As the warrior turns around to engage another assassin in battle, a trident made of solid ice impales yet another assassin from the back, killing that assassin instantly. The warrior manages to slash yet one more assassin across the torso. And as one of the surviving assassin tries to cut him, a Heat Burst slams into the side of this assassin’s face, killing him instantly.

  Some of the injured assassins run off into the forest. Eight assassins now remain, with four still facing the warrior and the remaining four turning to face Ray, Clover and Spirit. Spirit sprints forward at one assassin and at the last possible moment, leaps sideways straight into the throat of the adjacent assassin. Clover pulls her left arm back as though she was holding a spear. As she does so, an ice trident appears in her hand. Then she swings her left arm in a throwing motion and the trident soars through the air and embeds itself deeply into an assassin’s body. Ray sends a Heat Burst soaring through the air and slams it right through the assassin’s sword and into his chest. This assassin falls backwards as though he has been slammed by a heavy log. Seeing an opening, Clover runs over to be by the side of the warrior. Then they stand back to back, facing their foes.

  There is a sudden whirling sound, and Ray rolls to the ground just in time to avoid one of the spinning metal objects. A female assassin jumps out of a nearby tree and points her sword at Ray. Ray has seen this assassin before. She looks familiar to him, and him to her. Ray stares into her cold eyes, which return the stare ever so sharply.

  The five remaining assassins now face Clover, Spirit and the warrior. The female assassin faces Ray. With the speed of lightning, the female assassin pulls out another star-shaped metal object and throws it at Ray, who has no choice but to dive onto the ground and roll sideways to avoid it. Immediately, Ray counterattacks by thrusting his finger forward to execute a Pebble Dart Spell, and an arrowhead-shaped pebble soars towards the female assassin’s leg, which she manages to avoid by rolling sideways as well. As she recovers to a side standing posture, she gives Ray another cold stare, to which he returns with matching iciness.

  A fierce battle goes on involving Clover, Spirit, the warrior and the five remaining assassins. Ray is concerned for the safety of his wolf companion and for Clover, but cannot afford to help them at the moment. The female assassin is too skilful of an adversary to be dealt with quickly. With a sudden rush forward, the female assassin executes a Vertical Downwards Cut at Ray. Ray raises his staff to block the cut, but manages to do so only barely. In a surprise move, the female assassin swings the handle of her sword forward, smashing Ray’s nose. He stumbles backwards from the attack. She follows up with a Right Horizontal Cut that misses Ray by a finger’s width. Ray trips as he stumbles backwards and slams onto the ground. The impact knocks the wind out of him. The female assassin follows up by stabbing down at Ray, who once again just barely manages to avoid the attack by rolling sideways and thereafter regaining his footing.

  As the female assassin runs forward to attack Ray with a Diagonal Upward Cut, Ray waves his hand and a sudden ball of flames erupted right in front of the female assassin’s faces, shocking her with its intense heat and brightness. She stumbles backwards, temporarily blinded and disorientated. Seizing his opportunity, he rushes forward to attack but the sudden sight of her blade cutting horizontally towards him forces him to block instead. The female assassin takes a few of steps backwards, her vision and senses returning to normal. She rushes forward at Ray in a stabbing motion, causing him to prepare a blocking move, but suddenly she turns around and rushes at the warrior instead. The warrior, who is engaging one of the other assassins, is taken by surprise by the sudden attack and barely manages to block the stabbing attack. As the female assassin follows up with a Diagonal Downwards Cut, Clover, while engaging an opponent of her own, thrusts her finger at the female assassin and a sudden powerful gust of wind blows forward and knocks her off balance, of which she regains by rolling onto the ground and smoothly getting back on her feet again. Ray rushes in to engage the female assassin again.

  There are now three male assassins left. Ray’s nose is bleeding. Crimson liquid of life drips from the open cut on Clover’s left arm. The warrior has several breaches in his armour, his royal blood fertilizing the soil below. Spirit is the only one unharmed. Lance, from behind the bushes, grips his grandfather’s sword, his sword now, ever so tightly.

  Ray knocks the female assassin’s sword sideways, and then pulls the forward end of his staff back so that he can follow up with a jabbing movement. The female assassin moves sideways and kicks away the jabbing end and cuts down on the other end as Ray swings his staff horizontally to follow up. Following up with a Diagonal Downwards Cut, the female assassin sends her sword crashing down towards Ray. Ray
blocks the cut with his staff, but can hardly contain the power of her cut. The female assassin raises her knee and executes a Front Horse Kick to Ray’s chest and sends him staggering backwards. She runs towards the warrior once again.

  Ray bends down and touches the ground. Suddenly a wide wall of solid stones emerges from the ground, obstructing the female assassin’s path. To his surprise, she stops, takes a step back and quite unexpectedly, jumps forward and executes a 360 degree Back Horse Kick, shattering a large part of the stone wall and sending debris flying at the warrior. She then jumps over the remains of wall. In Ray’s mind, this female assassin is one very determined individual, not to mention very skilled and very intelligent because she knew that the wall that he had conjured up was too wide and therefore could not have been sufficiently thick.

  Clover, seeing what the female assassin has done, thrusts her finger forward to execute another spell, but before she can do this, the female assassin sends a star-shaped metal object soaring into her right arm. Clover screams out in pain and drops her sword. Ray, upon seeing this, sends a Heat Burst slamming into the back of the male assassin who was engaging Clover. Spirit, having just killed the assassin he was facing, charges toward the female assassin. Just as Spirit is about to leap for her throat, she turns around and points her sword straight at him, stopping him cold. By this time, the warrior manages to kill the last of the male assassins. Slowly, Ray and the warrior close in on the female assassin. Sensing that her defeat is imminent, she edges slowly away and then in a sudden move, she throws several small black spheres onto the ground. Bright flashes and loud explosions occur, and she is gone. Even Spirit’s sensitive nose and ears cannot detect her.