FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE

by S. K. Ng

  “Gratitude – you owe us nothing of this as it is our job to capture these criminals and I do so gladly, for a Fire Elementhar is what I am now and your loss is now my loss,” replied Serene humbly.

  Ray gave Serene an approving nod. The normally quiet and lonely forest area became a bustling hive of activities as more soldiers arrived from Fallsbay to help with the transport of the captured assassins. But in actual reality, they came to satisfy their own curiosity about these mysterious murderers.

  The midday sun bore its great heat onto the column of horseback Sollenthars who were heading north. Ray looked back at the middle of the column. There they were on the horse-drawn carts, the prize of his hunt, five semi-conscious Shadow Deathmerchant Clan assassins. He knew that this catch was due to just pure dumb luck. But he cared not, for he had waited 15 years for this opportunity. The opportunity to interrogate these assassins. To find out the location of their base. To discover their hierarchy. To discover their secrets and inner workings. More importantly, to know who their clientele were, for it was they who were the real criminals. And most importantly, to find out who ordered the massacre of his order 15 years prior.

  In the short distance, the many white buildings of Fallsene City began to take shape. They had left Fallsbay Town four days prior and soon, they would arrive at the palace. Suddenly, one of the Sollenthars yelled. Ray turned around to see that one of the assassins was shaking violently on his cart. Blood was pouring from his mouth. Ray jumped off his horse and hurried back towards this assassin, but it was too late. The vacant stare and motionless torso signalled to Ray that the assassin was dead. Apparently, the assassin had bit out his tongue and bled to death.

  Ray kicked down hard on the dirt, angry and frustrated. He then ordered his soldiers to tie a short stick between the upper and lower jaw of each of the remaining assassins, thereby preventing them from committing suicide in this manner. Ray cursed himself silently. This was not the first time he had dealt with them. He should have known better!

  The palace dungeons were dark and humid; and the air in there was stale. It was a gloomy place and a befitting home for the four surviving assassins. Ray sat silent in the interrogation room. One of the captured assassins, bound in chains, sat across him. The interrogation room Ray was in was situated near the stairway that led up to ground level, thus it had better ventilation than the rest of the dungeons. From the small barred window high above the wall, Ray could see that the sky had darkened.

  Ray stared into the eyes of his adversary. His adversary stared back at him. Then Ray asked his name. The assassin was silent. Ray asked his name again. And yet again, the assassin was silent. Ray offered the assassin a glass of water. The assassin refused it.

  “Name _ of this, what is yours?” asked Ray.

  Again, there was silence.

  Ray decided to move on to the next question.

  “Reason _ what was yours of this for camping at the forest outside of Fallsbay?” asked Ray.

  The assassin just kept silent.

  “Waiting _ who or what were you doing of this for?” asked Ray.

  The assassin just gave Ray a defiant stare.

  “Name _ I know why you are unwilling to tell me of this. Reason _ of this is because you are a coward and a failure and you are afraid the rest of your clan will laugh at you, I know I would, as a matter of fact, I am laughing at your pathetic fighting skills right now. Disown _ your parents probably have done of this to you, and I believe so will your clansmen when they find out what a pathetic assassin you turned out to be,” said Ray sarcastically with a cold, disgusted laugh.

  “What my parents think of me is none of your business!” yelled the assassin angrily, his eyes bulging and his veins rising under his skin.

  Ray let out a silent cheer in his heart, for he had managed to get a response from the assassin.

  “Business _ true that yours of this is none of mine, but I am curious as to what manner of a parent would raise a child to be an assassin, or what manner of a son would repay his parents’ love by bringing shame to their names?” he enquired.

  “My parents are dead! They’re dead because of you and your kind! All you soldiers of the government are nothing but murderers! It’s my greatest duty to avenge them. The more Fallsians I kill, the more my parents are avenged! The more soldiers I kill, the more will my parents rest in peace! Especially if I kill your politicians! Those filthy, corrupted leeches!” explained the assassin furiously.

  Ray afforded the assassin a smile. The politicians were filthy, corrupted leeches as far as he was concerned. But justice would come to them on justice’s own terms, not an assassin’s.

  “Death _ of this, how did this come to your parents?” asked Ray.

  “What does it matter to you?” asked the assassin in return.

  “Matter _ it does of this to me, for you accuse me of murder, so present your case!” insisted Ray.

  “Your kind came for them in the middle of the night. Both my parents and thirty of my kinsmen were dragged from their homes into the darkness of the Fallsian landscape. They fought back and were killed. I ran out just in time to see a curve steel blade, just like that of your subordinates, pierce my father’s heart. My mother was already dead, lying in a pool of her own blood. There, are you satisfied, murderer?” explained the assassin.

  Ray shook his head. There were many details missing from the assassin’s story.

  “Satisfied _ I am not fully of this, for you have not explained why we ‘murderers’ came for your parents in the first place,” said Ray in a matter of factly tone.

  “My parents and my kinsmen were treated unfairly. Through no fault of their own, they were accused of not paying taxes to the government. The government had then forcefully evicted them from their lands. My parents and my kinsmen resisted. They fought back! They wanted freedom! They wanted independence! Most of all, they wanted to survive! But your kind killed them. You soldiers massacred them in cold blood! The promise of the Kingdom of Free Falls is a lie! There’s no freedom in Free Falls! Well, too bad for you and your king, not all of us died that night. Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, nephews and nieces of The Ten Betrayed Villages survived. We’ll have our independence and we’ll have it with a dose of vengeance!” clarified the assassin.

  “Independence _ of this, why did your parents and your kinsmen seek it?” asked Ray.

  “Why not? Why shouldn’t we? When the king continued to collect taxes even if the farmland that we lived on was flooded and all our crops ruined, why shouldn’t we seek independence? What’s the point of being a part of a kingdom if the kingdom doesn’t protect us, or care for us, but victimises us instead?” answered the assassin.

  Ray shook his head, partly in disagreement and partly in sympathy.

  “Assassins _ so you and your kinsmen became of them just so that you can gain independence. Right _ what of this have you to kill innocent people just for the sake of your independence?” stressed Ray.

  “What do I care? Why should we care? Those people didn’t care for me, or my kinsmen, so why should we care for them? Their lives aren’t important to us because ours were never important to them!” said the assassin.

  “Cause _ yours of this is the reason why you kill people, but how does killing people help you gain independence?” enquired Ray.

  “Stupid question! Obviously you’re not an experienced soldier or else you would’ve known. To fight for independence, we needed money to buy food, equipment, weapons and medicine. So we kill you Fallsian garbage for money so that we can conduct a war against your king and win our independence,” explained the assassin.

  Now Ray was beginning to understand. So everything boiled down to money. It always boiled down to money!

  “Money _ so surely by now you have plenty of these, at least a room full of gold coins,” guessed Ray.

  “More than that! 3 rooms full of gold coins. Enough to buy all the supplies we need. Soon, we’ll be ready to take what is rightfully ours,
” corrected the assassin.

  “Mission _ and yours of this at Fallsbay would have added more gold coins to your treasure rooms, would it not?” asked Ray.

  “Of course, you idiot! 600 gold coins is a lot of money!” answered the assassin.

  “Coins _ 600 gold ones of these? Life _ whose of this is worth that much?” asked Ray.

  “Some stupid merchant’s. He swindled some of his business partners and now they want revenge. Unfortunately he wasn’t home when we arrived at Fallsbay. So we decided to wait until he comes home. But you interfered with our plan. Damn you, soldier!” answered the assassin.

  Ray was silent for a while. He saw no reason to pursue the matter of the cheating merchant, for it could be pursued later. There were more pressing matters at hand.

  “Concern _ we should be of this, I suppose, for your comrades are well trained for the rebellion. Chance _ we do not stand one of this, do we?” asked Ray.

  “No, not a chance in hell! We have almost 1000 warriors, all of them well trained by our clanmaster and superbly conditioned by the thin air of the mountains. We’re stronger than your kind. We can outrun you and we can outfight you. And we have plenty of allies, too. Allies who supply us with essential items and training. We’ll cut up Free Falls and distribute the land amongst ourselves. Soon, we’ll get back what is truly ours and maybe even more,” expressed the assassin spiritedly.

  Now Ray felt troubled. It seemed that the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan was very well connected.

  “Allies _ of them, who are they?” asked Ray curiously.

  “Serpentians, certain Aridyte tribes and some of the pirate clans,” replied the assassin.

  “Alliance _ what an unholy of this! Hire _ who does of this to you?” enquired Ray curiously.

  “All sorts of clients. We work for the highest bidder. But only our clanmaster knows the identity of our clients. Whoever they are, one thing for sure is that they are rich, richer than all you pathetic government scum,” replied the assassin.

  Now came the most important question of them all. It was Ray’s most personal question.

  “Identity _ of this, who is the one who hired your clan to massacre the Fire Elementhars 15 years ago?” asked Ray.

  “That clown!? He calls himself Baron Chessmaster! He didn’t pay us in full! Claims that we botched up the job! I don’t know if the clanmaster had sent someone to ‘give him a permanent rest’, if you know what I mean!? No one double-crosses the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan, especially if that someone is a soft-spoken bureaucratic worm who likes to litter after himself. He pretends to be rich, that one, but we’re sure he’s not. His clothes are flashy, but made of cheap materials. Haven’t seen him for a while. I’m sure he’s dead,” answered the assassin.

  ‘Baron Chessmaster’, so that was the title of the true murderer of Ray’s order. But he doubted that Baron Chessmaster was a true ‘baron’, for such a title was no longer used in Fallsian society. It was no longer used even in Serpentian society. The Aridytes never bothered with titles. So the word ‘baron’ was just an expression of ego. It was a fake belief of grandeur that gave comfort to a small, pathetic criminal mind.

  Ray forced his mind back to the business at hand. He looked at the assassin. The assassin was starting to look very cocky. Things were working well for Ray.

  “Baron Chessmaster _ of him, what else can you tell me?” he asked.

  “Nothing much. He’s a loser! Like I said, he didn’t pay us in full, so I would like to kill him myself! The trouble is, he always had his hood on, so no one could really see his face. Why do you bother about him? … You’re the one, aren’t you? You’re the survivor, aren’t you? Yes, you are! No wonder you are interested in that worm! Well, sorry, I can’t help you! I don’t know anything else about him!” answered the assassin.

  Ray remained calm. But deep down inside, his heart sank like a rock in a pond. He did not show this to the assassin, though. He needed to hide his emotions from his opponent.

  “Lair _ yours of this, where is it?” asked Ray.

  “Go to hell! You’ll never find it. You’ll never find The Lair!” answered the assassin.

  “The Lair _ of this, tell us its location, so that we may be there and face your great number of assassins and your allies; for the sooner we meet them, the sooner we shall be killed and you shall be free and your vengeance quenched and satisfied!” Ray pointed out logically.

  “No, we’ll kill you when we are good and ready, and your death shall be a painful one,” promised the assassin.

  Ray took a deep breath and paused for a while. There was still one aspect that had to be investigated.

  “Prince Patrum _ you people failed miserably to kill of him. Upset _ I am sure your client was of this when your clanmaster told him of your failure. Punished _ were any of you of this by your clanmaster to ‘appease’ this disgruntled client?” asked Ray.

  “I wasn’t part of that operation. I wouldn’t know anything about it, especially not about any punishment. I never saw the client. I don’t even know if or when he was ever in The Lair. This client, Lord Destiny or whatever he called himself, was stealthier than us. He must have sneaked into The Lair when we were all sleeping or something. The only thing I know is that he paid us well. 3,000 gold coins for the prince’s head. When that operation failed, the clanmaster became furious. I’ve never seen the clanmaster so furious in my entire life! But I never saw anyone getting punished. Why are you so bothered if anyone got punished or not?” answered the assassin.

  Ray smiled at the assassin, but did not bother to answer his question. Ray just tapped his fingers on the table while he organised his thoughts. Finally, he decided that he had no more questions to ask.

  “Agree _ the only thing that I do of this with you is that politicians are filthy, corrupted leeches,” said Ray as he got up, turned around and left the room.

  The rhythmic sound made by crickets was the only thing that killed the cold silence of the interrogation room as the assassin sat there bounded in chains and all alone, wondering what fate would befall him next.

  Clover, who was in an adjacent room, listened to the entire course of the interrogation and recorded down on paper the assassin’s answers. She then proceeded with Ray to the pond’s administration building, which had been officially named ‘Sollenthar Command’. The administration building was a single storey wooden building made of thick, sturdy logs. Within it was a general workspace connected to three small offices and a storeroom. They went into the middle office, which was Ray’s. Clover’s office was to the right of Ray’s while Serene’s office was to the left, when viewed from the back of the offices to the front. Inside the office, they found Serene seated in front of Ray’s desk. Spirit, together with Lance, was seated on the floor in a corner of the office. Lance was reading a story book, a habit that he had picked up from Clover.

  Clover sat down next to Serene, facing Ray.

  “Learn _ what can we do of this from the assassin’s answers?” asked Ray.

  Serene paid close attention to Clover as she was not present during the interrogation.

  “Learn _ master, we did of this of several things. Firstly _ of this, the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan were originally a clan of farmers whose land was flooded and crops were ruined and who chose to rebel against the government when they were taxed. Secondly _ of this, they do have a political agenda of their own, thus they are highly motivated and far-sighted in their plans. Thirdly _ of this, they are frustrated and angry, thus their lack of guilt in carrying out assassinations. Fourthly _ of this, they have strong finances and are well stocked in supplies. Fifthly _ of this, they are well-trained and well prepared and could soon launch an open rebellion. Sixthly _ of this, their lair is somewhere in a mountain or mountain range. Seventhly _ of this, they have many strong but evil allies. Eighthly _ of this and lastly, only their clanmaster knows who their clients are and their clients are rather wealthy,” replied Clover.

  Ray leaned back in his chair. What was t
he significance of all this information?

  “Check _ I shall do of this with the Agriculture Ministry and with our own records to find out about the flooding and its related protests, and hopefully we shall be able to ascertain the true identity of this clan and the location of the Ten Betrayed Villages, for they would have established The Lair near there or at least within the same province,” said Serene.

  “Agree _ I do of this. Check _ do of this also for the name of the related Provincial Governor and his deputies, for their mismanagement of that situation had brought this trouble upon us and King Patrum may want to take disciplinary action against them,” instructed Ray.

  “Do _ I shall of this,” acknowledged Serene.

  A thought occurred to Clover. It was more of a concern, actually.

  “Training _ master, we should also step up ours of this because the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan is bigger and stronger than we thought,” Clover pointed out.

  “Agree _ I do of this, Clover,” said Ray.

  “Training _ I shall advice King Patrum and the recavians to increase of this and of military recruitment as well,” added Serene.

  “Proceed _ do of this as soon as possible. Reports _ all the ones of these which concerns the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan, their victims and the nemesis or rivals of these victims, particularly the wealthy ones, Serene, I would like for you to retrieve them from the military records and hand them over to Clover and her subordinates for analysis, for these could give us a list of suspects who could have been the clan’s clients,” instructed Ray.

  “Understand _ I do of this, Minvian Iddell,” replied Serene.