FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE

by S. K. Ng

  Dinner began casually enough and soon the dinner table sounded busier than a market place as conversations and discussions evolved as steadily as the dinner courses that were being served.

  Clover exchanged seating positions with Lance and Spirit, so that she could sit next to the recavians. Recavians Hammer and Anvil Genox swapped places with the other recavians so that the Genoxes could sit next to each other.

  “I heard that you are a master of two elements now, Clover. Is it true?” asked Hammer.

  “True _ it is of this, father,” answered Clover.

  “Six years for two elements! I was told that this is fast. Are you ready to come home?” asked Hammer.

  “Welcome _ am I of this, father?” asked Clover.

  “Of course you are! You are my daughter, Elementhar or not! Your mother misses you a lot. She cries almost every day. You could have written to us. Half the time we did not know whether you were alive or dead,” said Hammer.

  “Sorry _ I am of this, father! Forgive _ I thought you would never do of this of me, so I tried to distance myself. Hate _ I thought you do of this of me for life and that I have been disowned,” said Clover.

  “Do not be silly, girl! You are my daughter and I will always love you! How could I ever disown you!?” said Hammer as he hugged Clover.

  King Patrum turned to speak to Ray.

  “Elementhar Iddell, I have heard that you were there when the Serpentians attacked Fort Eastguard and that you have fought nobly and bravely. Should you agree to it, how long would it take for you to train a pond of my soldiers to be Master Elementhars?” asked the king.

  “Laws _ ours of these forbid me to do such a thing for you, King Patrum; so I apologise deeply,” said Ray in a casual tone.

  King Patrum was slightly taken aback, unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the Elementhars’ way of status indifference. The king was used to being addressed as ‘Your Highness’ all his life. But he kept in mind that Elementhars have never pledged allegiance to the throne, so no allegiance was owed to him; and that they had always provided an essential service to the wellbeing of Free Falls.

  “But if innocent people are getting killed and you can do something to stop it, will you still cling on to your laws? Should you still cling on to your laws!?” argued King Patrum.

  “Yes,” was Ray’s simple answer.

  “But what about people’s lives!? Do you think that it is right for you to do nothing and let them get killed?” argued King Patrum further.

  “Yes,” was Ray’s simple answer yet again.

  King Patrum shook his head. Ray’s answers were downright shocking. The king decided to rephrase his original question. He was hoping to get a better answer this way.

  “How long does it take for an Independent Elementhar of sufficient quality to train a pond of my soldiers to become Master Elementhars, Elementhar Iddell?” he asked.

  “Time _ of this, it may take five years at best, but with Independents, it will most likely take ten years; provided that you managed to find a high quality Independent who is willing to do the job,” answered Ray.

  King Patrum shook his head in disbelief. It takes three months for a Provincial Guard to be trained to the rank of servian and approximately one and a half years for a recruit to be trained to the rank of convian. Why would it take 10 years to master Elemental Sorcery?

  “Can my soldiers be good Elementhars as they are, or would they be required to have a significantly different quality and mindset?” enquired the king as he retained his composure, despite the fact that his curiosity of the strangeness of the Elementhars’ way was growing stronger.

  “Qualities _ of these, that which are required to be a good Elementhar are not any different from what are required to be a good soldier. Mindset _ of this, some changes would be required of your soldiers, so as to harmonise with nature as it is a requirement in Elemental Sorcery,” replied Ray.

  “Do you know of any Independents who are of sufficient quality who could help us?” the king asked further.

  “Know _ unfortunately, I do not of this of any Independent at all, King Patrum. News _ however, we have received of these that there are some of the Independents who are of sufficient quality, although they could never be as good as Ordered Elementhars. Independents _ there are also some of them who were former Ordered Elementhars, and they would be of equal quality to Ordered Elementhars,” answered Ray.

  Both King Patrum and Prime Minister Trex nodded their heads and smiled. Ray had given them an idea of how they could get what they wanted.

  “I certainly do hope that we can find an Independent whose skills and quality are equal to yours, Elementhar Iddell, and who is willing to help us. It is very hard to administrate and take care of Free Falls when we are constantly harassed by the Serpentians and the Aridytes. Therefore, the sooner our soldiers are trained in Elemental Sorcery, the sooner we can defeat them. And the sooner we defeat them, the better it is for us,” said Prime Minister Cayman Trex.

  “Ah! That is enough hassling our guest for this evening. Come, let us finish our meal and turn our attention to more pleasant topics,” said the king candidly.

  Lance stared at his plate silently. Suddenly, he stood up and looked at the king.

  “Demons _ King Patrum, why do you and your government not protect the people of Free Falls from the threat of them? Abandon _ why have you and your government done of this to the people who live in the outskirts and in the villages?” he said in an outburst.

  Prime Minister Trex was shocked at Lance’s rather rude and direct questions. He stood up from his seat and stared down at Lance, and was just about to speak when King Patrum raised a hand and stopped him. Seeing the king’s gesture, the prime minister sat down. King Patrum looked sympathetically at Lance. Prince Patrum had mentioned to him about Lance’s history and the king acknowledged the legitimacy of Lance’s question.

  “Lance Arman, I know of your history and of the reason why you have asked me these questions. The answers that I am going to give you will not be pleasant but rest assured, they shall be the whole and complete truth,” said the king.

  King Patrum paused momentarily, sipped some wine, cleared his throat and then looked Lance straight in the eyes.

  “It is true that the solemn duty and function of the king and the government is to take care of and to protect the people, as well as to administrate and to provide justice for them. However, these are truly massive responsibilities that require tremendous resources such as soldiers, healers, craftsmen and also a multitude of equipment and supplies. Unfortunately, these are the resources that we do not have much of. I would like to station a river of soldiers in every village if I could. I would like to place at least three healers in every village if the kingdom had that many of them. I would like to build a fort in every village if our treasury could afford them. But the truth is that I do not have sufficient amount of these resources. Our kingdom is fighting confrontations on two fronts. We face the Serpentians in the east and the Aridytes in the west. Every soldier that I have is needed to protect our borders. Every healer that I can find is sent to the front where they are needed the most. And the least of all, we are not qualified or knowledgeable enough to fight demons. The fighting of demons has always been the role of the Elementhars and against demons, the military has always been proven to be ineffective. I hope you understand our limitations,” explained King Patrum.

  Lance just could not accept King Patrum’s explanation. Surely, a king who commands an entire nation is not as helpless as this.

  “King _ but you are of him, surely there must be some steps that you can take to mend these problems?” argued Lance.

  “What is a king, Lance, but a man with a metal band on his head and a heavy burden on his shoulders? A king is just a man, he is not The Creator. We, the government and myself included, can only do the best that we can; but the best that we can do, we shall do! That is our pledge to you and we shall honour this pledge as if our souls depended on it. But r
emember, the best that we can do, is actually very limited. I cannot perform miracles, Lance,” replied King Patrum.

  Lance glanced at the king and gave him a slight nod of understanding, then sat back down and was lost in his own thoughts. The loss of his family still haunted him.

  Many other topics were discussed at the dinner table, but these things mattered not to Spirit the White Wolf. Spirit sniffed the aroma of the food in front of him. Saliva gathered at the corner of his mouth. He had already finished his first course but the second one looked and smelled so much better. As soon as the servant’s hand left the plate, Spirit dove his mouth straight into it. He had never tasted this particular food before. It was several lumps of warm, soft substance that was slightly sweet and salty. He had heard Lance refer to it as ‘mashed potatoes’ but he cared not what it was called, only how it smelled and tasted; and it smelled and tasted good. Life in this new place was nice and comfortable, as far as Spirit was concerned. He did not mind the strange people seated around him just as long as the delicious food kept coming his way. Spirit’s tail was the perfect mirror of his heart, wagging side to side in a spirited frenzy.

  Later that night, Clover took a walk in the palace garden. The breeze that was blowing was cooling to her body and soothing to her soul. She had not expected to meet her father and cousin uncle, and this event brought out a lot of repressed emotions in her. She had not seen or spoken to her family for the last six years and she did not expect to do so for the rest of her life. She had accepted the fact that she had been disowned. But earlier in the evening, everything had changed. Her father had forgiven her. Her cousin uncle welcomed her with open arms. Or so they had said and so they had done. But was it all sincere? Did her father truly love her and forgive her for abandoning their family, or did he do this just to ‘give face’ to the prince? Or perhaps he did not want to embarrass the Genox family in front of the king? She missed her family, but she would not want to set foot in Mansion Genox if she was not truly welcomed.

  Clover sat on a bench in the garden. She was still in deep thought. Her doubts were great. She had walked away from her family once. If she returned to them and be forced to walk away again, she might just lose her mind.

  “What troubles you, Clover?” said a voice from behind her.

  Clover turned around to see Minvian Javelin Farhan standing behind her.

  “Standing _ how long have you been doing of this over there?” asked Clover.

  “Long enough to see that you are troubled,” Minvian Farhan replied as he approached and sat down beside her.

  Minvian Farhan smiled at Clover. He knew her well enough to sense her emotions.

  “Something troubles you. Tell me what it is. Maybe I can help,” offered Minvian Farhan.

  “Understand _ you would not have of this,” resisted Clover.

  “Try me,” responded Minvian Farhan.

  After a few moments of hesitation, she explained her doubts to him. His response made her angry.

  “Ha! Ha! Ha! You are a silly girl, Clover Genox!” he said while laughing.

  “Help _ if you do not truly want to do of this to me, then go away,” she said in an agitated voice.

  “No! That was not what I had meant! Of course your father loves you. And your whole family truly misses you! Except for Serene! I am not too sure about her. But the rest of the Genoxes miss you a lot. Embarrassed by what you did, surely, but they love you still the same,” said Minvian Farhan.

  Clover gave a serious stare at Minvian Farhan. She was not sure if she could believe his words. It could just be another cruel prank that he planned to play on her.

  “Know _ how do you of this?” asked Clover.

  “Clover, I am a shadow-archer. To be a shadow-archer, I have to undergo and complete the training at Camp Misery. Camp Misery is near Monune Sapphire, just about a day’s ride away. Part of shadow-archer training is to gather intelligence on the enemy. For practise, we were assigned to infiltrate Monune Sapphire and set up observation posts inside it. We would sneak in during the dark of night, dig a large hole in the monune’s empty field, camouflage it and stay in it for a week. We would record all of the Elementhars’ activity during this time. Occasionally, when the night was really dark, we would sneak out of the observation post and creep up to the living quarters and eavesdrop on your conversations. Guess who was the one who gave us such an assignment?” said Minvian Farhan.

  Clover could have guessed who it was, but she had rather not.

  “Who?” was her simple response.

  “Your father! We would get extra points if we managed to gather intelligence on you! Any information regarding you was to be reported immediately to him! He knew of your life at Monune Sapphire. He knew that you nearly drowned during a training session. He knew you saved one of your sister Elementhars from robbers when you went to town for groceries. He knew about your graduation. He knew that you went off to Monune White Diamond. Then the trainees at Camp Misery started to switch over to Monune White Diamond instead. He kept up with your development the whole time,” explained Minvian Farhan.

  Clover was shocked at this revelation. Then she was furious.

  “Spied _ he did of this on me! Spied _ you did of this on me!” she reacted angrily.

  “Yes, we spied on you, but only because he cared! He was only a father who wanted to know how his daughter was doing. A daughter who chose not to speak to him or write to him! How else was he to know that you were safe and well!? You promised to visit Mansion Genox when you could, but you never did! What else could he have done!?” Minvian Farhan pointed out.

  Clover was dumbfounded. She did not know what to think.

  “Of the knowledge of the elements, you have become an expert; but not the hearts of men, Clover. A true warrior, like your father, never shows weakness in front of the ones he loves and has sworn to protect, but he suffers in silence instead. His heart bleeds just like any other human. What you did was so unimaginable that it shocked him, so he could not support you the way you needed him to. But that does not mean he does not love you. You should not doubt him, or any of your family, for that matter. Did you know what he said to me when he found out you killed your first demon? He said ‘Javelin, my little girl is not my little girl anymore! She has grown to be a fearsome warrior!’ You should have seen the pride on his face that day!” said Minvian Farhan.

  Clover was speechless. Then she broke down in tears. Minvian Farhan could not be sure whether they were tears of joy or sorrow. He patted her on the shoulder to comfort her. She lifted her head up and gave a nod of gratitude. Then Minvian Farhan got up, smiled, bowed and walked away.

  Clover spent an hour in the garden, enjoying the gentle breeze and the beautiful scenery. Her heart felt as light as air. She was happy. All doubts in her heart had been removed.

  As the sun began to set the next day, Clover stood at the entrance of Mansion Genox with Ray, Lance and Spirit. Her heart was beating faster than a galloping horse. She rummaged through her canvas pouch and finally produced a key. She looked at Ray and Lance. Her expression was a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Ray patted her on the shoulder and nodded his head. Lance gave her a ‘thumb’s up’. She proceeded to unlock the doors of the front gate and walked through. Ray, Lance and Spirit followed behind.

  As Clover was about to reach the main door, it opened. From behind it emerged a slender woman in her fifties. She froze in shock. Her jaw dropped and her mouth was wide opened. Then tears began welling in her eyes. She struggled to let out a word. Finally, after much effort, she managed to utter one single word … ‘Clover!’

  “Mother!” said Clover as she ran and hugged the woman.

  Pretty soon, the entire Genox family were engaged in one big group hug. Ray, Lance and Spirit were invited into the mansion, although they did get quite a few stares. The stares were more inquisitive, rather than disapproving. Then the Genoxes and their guests had dinner and caught up with each other on the events of the past six years. Ray and Lan
ce had then realised something. Other than the time when they were at Fort Eastguard, they had never been in the presence of so many people in Fallsian Military uniforms. There were Provincial Guards, Oceanic Guards and Royal Guards. It seemed that almost every Genox, male or female, was a soldier of some sort. Ray and Lance realised that Mansion Genox was not just a home to the Genoxes, it was a mini barracks!

  The waning gibbous moon of the 18th Night of Third Month of Wet Season was obscured by huge, sinister-looking, dark cumulonimbus clouds. In a hidden room inside Castle Cobra, King Fangstrike confronted the elegantly dressed character known only as Lord Destiny.

  “You failed! It was all for nothing! You wasted my resources for nothing!” yelled King Fangstrike.

  “It was not for nothing! Now, calm down, before we are discovered!” said Lord Destiny.

  King Fangstrike calmed himself a little. But the look of contempt never faded from his eyes.

  Lord Destiny adjusted the collar of his silk shirt. From behind his golden mask, his eyes gave an expression of detachment.

  “The assassins I hired were competent and they should have gotten the job done, if not for the interruption of some nosey Elementhars! I have to admit, that was something I did not expect to happen, but it did. No sense in crying over spilt milk, King Fangstrike. But it was not all for nothing. Their 3rd Lake is nothing but decimated and Strike Force 3 is tied down repairing and manning Fort Eastguard. You have weakened Free Falls sufficiently for the next phase of our plan. So the plan is still on. The next phase, Operation Serpent Smoke, will succeed. Learn to have faith, King Fangstrike,” said Lord Destiny.