by S. K. Ng
Venom’s hands were trembling. His breaths were short and hurried. He found no satisfaction whatsoever in the killing, which surprised him a little. But he knew that if the situation presented itself all over again, he would have made the same choices. The essence of his hatred was towards Deputy Governor Greel and none other than his death could quench the fire of anger and hatred that burned within him. The mayor’s death was just an ineffective appetiser. It was absolutely clear in Venom’s mind, this kill was purely for the money. 400 gold coins was a lot of money!
Venom drew out the blood-soaked dagger and looked at it. He knew from that moment on that he had crossed a line from which there was no return. He wiped the blood off the dagger, sheathed it and returned it to his pocket. He then went to the window ledge and jumped out the window with one arm still holding on, letting go only at the last moment after his body had straightened out. He landed on his feet and made it a point to blend in with the crowd as soon as possible. Although he attracted a few curious stares, but these faded away within moments. Strangely, no one was bothered about the blood on his right arm and shirt. Or was it that they chose not to be bothered? So he walked away casually, just as one would if he were to take a stroll down the park.
That very evening Venom collected the final instalment of his payment. The stranger then left without saying a word, but with a very obvious smile on his face. Venom left without saying anything as well, but he did not smile.
What was he going to do with the 400 gold coins? Buy a piece of land and build a home? Whilst his fellow villagers scrape a living in the mountains? No! How can he? Besides, what guarantee had he that the same thing would not happen to him again? He knew he needed a proper ending to this problem. This only meant one thing, Deputy Governor Greel in a coffin! And it had to be done in a way that sent a message to the other government bureaucrats. ‘What goes around comes around!’ This was not something that he could do alone, but it was something that the ten villages could do, if they worked together as one. But he needed to control them. This was his plan and only he knew how to carry it out. He could not afford to let anyone interfere with its execution. So he needed to be their leader. He needed absolute control, or the plan would not work. He was going to need support. He was going to need help to get him elected as leader! Then it dawned on him. Rake Breven was still in prison at the local garrison. Rake was a fairly respected headman. His support would increase Venom’s chances tremendously.
It was approximately midnight when two soldiers dragged a weakened but conscious Rake to the front gate of the local garrison. Venom was waiting for him with two horses. The soldiers mounted Rake on one of these horses. Then the garrison commander, a minvian by rank, stepped out towards Venom. Venom handed him a pouch containing 100 gold coins. This was the agreed price of the bribe. 100 gold coins for the minvian to ‘accidentally’ lose the report containing Rake’s alleged transgression; because the man with 10 children sells his soul to the highest bidder on a daily basis and the highest bidder for this day was Venom Collart and not the Kingdom of Free Falls. As it was with the stranger earlier on, the minvian walked away smiling while Venom did not. He merely mounted the other horse, told Rake to follow him and rode off towards the mountains.
They rode at a moderate pace under the illumination of moonlight. Venom was in the lead while Rake followed closely behind. Then Rake sped up to come alongside Venom when they were a fair distance away from the garrison.
“Thanks for getting me out. How did you manage to do it?” asked Rake.
“You’re welcome. I got you out with blood money. Someone hired me to kill the mayor, which I did,” answered Venom.
Rake was silent, still trying to digest what Venom had said.
“Did you hear about what happened at the protest rally?” asked Venom.
“Yes, I did. My jailers were quite talkative. Is my brother all right?” asked Rake.
“Don’t worry! He’s fine. But all of us aren’t! I need your help!” answered Venom.
“How can I help?” asked Rake.
“I’m going to call for a rebellion. I expect that the others will agree. And I have a plan, but it may not sit well with them. I need you to support me. I need to be the leader. I need for you to help me be the leader! The others lack the iron will to see this through, you know this! I’m the only one brutal enough, cruel enough to do what’s needed to be done; but I can’t do anything without their support, and yours! Will you help me?” said Venom.
“Guess I’ve no choice! I’ll support you, only so long as what you do is in the best interest of all of us and not for your personal gain,” said Rake.
“Fair enough!” said Venom.
“Then my support is yours!” declared Rake.
Two nights later, Venom Collart called for an emergency meeting. Once again, in the dark caves of the mountains, citizens and headpersons of the ten villages gathered under the chairmanship of Tiller Breven. His brother, Rake, represented their village of Wheatparadise. Headman Oak Nomell represented Whiterapids Village. Headman Bud Swerrell and Assistant Headman Root Swerrell represented the combined villages of Greensoil, Sunbright and Leafdreams. Headperson Aroma Bronnell represented Farmhaven. Headman Speck Pitten represented Gentlefalls. Headperson Eclipse Menox represented Forkwater. Headperson Blue Groven represented Greenflow. And finally, Headman Venom Collart himself represented Hopecreek. These ten people were the future Ten Founders of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan.
Initially the crowd was a buzz with surprise when they saw that Rake was amongst them. Then everyone became silent when Venom stood up and started to speak.
“Headpersons, my fellow village people, brothers and sisters of our tragic fate; I thank you for coming tonight! I’ve always had the best interest of our villages in my heart and it’s still so as I speak today, so hear me well and consider my proposal fairly. The storm that had ruined our crops, destroyed our homes and killed our relatives and friends was no one’s fault. It was a random act of nature, therefore couldn’t be foreseen and avoided, so no one can be blamed. But when the citizens of a country suffer poverty, sickness and untimely death, the government is to be blamed! The government is to be blamed! Why!? Because poverty, sickness and untimely death can be avoided. Should be avoided! And if the government had put in place proper support facilities and structures to help its crisis-stricken citizens; poverty, sickness and untimely death would’ve been avoided. But this wasn’t so with our government. The government of the Kingdom of Free Falls has failed us. The kingdom has failed us, abandoned us and then,… attacked us! Attacked us! We, the people of The Ten Betrayed Villages, need to avenge ourselves. We, the people of The Ten Betrayed Villages, need to rebuild our lives on a land independent of this evil, corrupt government. The promise of the Kingdom of Free Falls is dead! Rebellion is the only way!” he said.
The entire cave erupted into a roaring cheer. Everyone stood up and clapped. Venom allowed his fellow village people to settle down before he continued.
“Brothers and sisters of our tragic fate, I’ve designed a plan with which we’re to carry out this rebellion, if it’s to your choosing. To properly carry out a rebellion, as it is with any type of warfare, we require money, training and the willingness to die for our cause. I’ve no doubt about our willingness to die, for either which way, we’re all dead people anyway! As for training, our brother Oak Nomell will be our source of knowledge, if he’s willing. So that leaves the final factor, money! And I have a solution for that. Now bear with me, the answer that I offer is bitter, but practical…. The answer is to kill for money. Assassinations! The service of assassination will provide us with sufficient income to finance our rebellion and at the same time sharpen our combat skills. It’s a win – win situation!” he said.
The entire cave went into an uproar. There were angry statements for and against Venom’s ‘answer’. Finally Rake Breven stood up.
“My fellow village people! Brothers and sisters! Listen to me, please. I’ve suf
fered as you’ve suffered. Then I’ve suffered more than you’ve suffered. I was in prison for two whole weeks. The government showed no concern or care for me. No one came to see me and asked me about what had happened! No one had bothered to find out my side of the story! No one! And if it weren’t for Venom Collart, I’d still be rotting away in that prison. Venom freed me with blood money. He assassinated the mayor for it, but it got me out. So I say to hell with ethics! I say to hell with morality! Let us do what we need to get the job done! And the job is to avenge our dead relatives and friends! The job is to live free from the tyranny of this evil government! My brothers and sisters of The Ten Betrayed Villages, ignore not the truth that you yourselves know deep in your hearts. The promise of the Kingdom of Free Falls is dead! Rebellion is the only way!” he echoed.
The entire cave went into another uproar, but pretty soon they all began to chant ‘the promise of the Kingdom of Free Falls is dead! Rebellion is the only way!’ Finally someone asked Venom to name their rebellion.
“Ours is the rebellion of the poor. Ours is the rebellion of the oppressed. Ours is the rebellion of the ones who were victimised. And we’ll strike back! We’ll come silent and hidden, like a shadow moving in darkness; and we’ll be the sellers of death! We’ll be the sellers of death that comes from the shadows, and our blades will be sharp and merciless! We’ll be the ‘Shadow Deathmerchant Clan’!”
The entire cave thunders with the sounds of cheer and excitement. The survivors of the tragic fate sing and dance and celebrate the embracement of their path, their destiny! And it is so that the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan is born.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE STORY OF DAWN
It is the Wet Season in the Year 1181 of the Known Era. A long caravan of approximately 700 men, women and children arrive at the base of a mountain range somewhere in Southern Falls Province. The leader of this caravan is none other than Clanmaster Venom Collart, and this caravan is none other than the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan.
Scouts sent out by the clan had indicated that this place was a potentially good hideout. They had discovered a huge cave that was well hidden behind a huge waterfall which could serve as their new home. It was also well hidden because it was formed at the end of a long, winding tunnel. Founder Rake Breven had named this place ‘The Lair’.
So with the promise of a new home that was more secure than the caves near Southverge Town, the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan had packed up and began their journey here. This journey was not just a relocation exercise. It was a severance of painful memories and a new beginning. They could no longer stay near their former homes and see other people build houses and work the earth at the farms which used to be theirs. They needed a new home to give them new hope.
Over the next few months, the clan worked ceaselessly to transform The Lair into a liveable environment. Under Rake’s leadership, the cave was cleaned out, dangerous areas were marked and cordoned off, torch holders were inserted into the cave walls and living areas were divided and assigned. The clan then embarked on a decade long project to carve out a system of tunnels and small chambers to create living spaces for their families. Ventilation shafts and even a plumbing system of sorts were carved out to make it more liveable.
Venom, meanwhile, chose to stay out of the way. He recognised that Rake was actually the better leader. He chose instead to concentrate on running the assassination operations and left the daily administration of the clan to Rake. Business was picking up so much that Venom himself was surprised. The clan was executing up to 30 assassinations a month.
Three months after the clan had arrived at The Lair, tragedy struck. As per their usual practice, Fragrance Breven and a few clanswomen went out to the forest to pick wild mushrooms, fruits and vegetables. As Fragrance reached out to pick a fruit, she stepped into a bush and was bitten by a cobra. Her companions ran back to The Lair to get help. Rake rode out to where Fragrance was, put her on his horse and raced to the nearest town. But it was too late. She was already dead even before they were halfway there. The only thing left for Rake to do was to turn around and return to The Lair. The Brevens rode out the next day in an easterly direction, and when they were about a day’s ride away from The Lair, they dug a hole in the middle of the forest and buried Fragrance there. Her grave was left unmarked. Rake was consumed by grief and was not able to work for weeks. Tiller stepped up to handle Rake’s responsibilities during this time.
Four months later, Drizzle Breven woke up in the morning and started vomiting. Tiller became very concerned and wondered if his wife had caught a dangerous infection. But she assured him that she was not sick. She was just pregnant. Tiller’s jaw dropped and he sat frozen. Then he got up, kissed his wife on the forehead and ran out to tell his brother, Rake. Rake shook Tiller’s hand and congratulated him, and with the good news, the gloom in Rake’s heart lifted slightly. He had lost a wife, but now he was to gain a niece or a nephew.
Eight months later, Dawn Breven was born into the world of Farhayven. Her time of birth was right at the crack of dawn, or so it was as indicated by the calibrated candles. As such, Tiller named his newborn infant just that, Dawn. She was a silent baby, and did not cry much. Tiller was overjoyed at first, before he realised that Drizzle was pale and unconscious. The midwife and the clan’s healers tried their best to save her life, but she had lost too much blood during the delivery. So yet again, the Brevens rode out to bury one of their own. Drizzle’s unmarked grave lay near Fragrance’s.
The Brevens were not the only ones struck by tragedy. Pearl Collart had also died. In the darkness of The Lair, she had slipped and hit her head on the rocky floor. Venom just stood frozen when he discovered the body of his wife. Internally, he was full of grief. Externally, he could no longer show it. He had tried to cry, but no tears came out from his tear ducts. He had, over time, lost all ability to express his sorrow. Hay Collart, on the other hand, cried for three weeks. Pearl was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the forest. And just like the Brevens, her funeral was a private affair. Only Venom and his son were in attendance. And only they knew where her grave was.
Tiller raised Dawn with the help of Rake. She was a joy to the both of them. The Brothers Breven alternated between themselves when they went for missions so as to make sure that one of them stayed back to take care of her. Occasionally, there were missions that required both brothers to participate, and in such cases Founder Eclipse Menox, who was a spinster, played nanny to Dawn.
On the 30th Night of Fourth Month of Wet Season of the Year 1185 of the Known Era, Dawn’s world changed. Both her father and her uncle had gone on a mission. They had left The Lair two weeks prior, and she was left in the care of Eclipse. Her uncle returned two weeks later, badly injured in the left leg. Her father returned lifeless, strapped onto the back of a horse. She was just of the age three, but she understood enough about death to cry over him. Then her uncle rode out carrying her and her father’s corpse to where her mother and her aunt were buried. There she sat down and watched her uncle dig a deep, rectangular hole in the ground and put her father in it. This was her first true encounter with death, and it was to be the first of many.
From that moment on, Rake no longer went out on missions. He stayed back so that he could take care of Dawn. Besides, the injuries that he had sustained were serious enough that he ended up with a permanent limp. And he was removed from the ranks of the ‘Chosen of the Clan’, after a dispute with Venom.
At the age of six, Dawn was required to attend training on how to become an assassin. She, along with a dozen other children, reported themselves to the clanmaster, who had taken over the teaching of the assassination arts from Founder Oak Nomell. Oak retired from teaching because he was getting too old, and he was sickly. He died a year later.
The first thing that Dawn was taught in assassin training was to run. They ran throughout the entire system of tunnels in The Lair, and then outside in the forest, and finally, back again in The Lair. Then they would get an hou
r’s rest after which they would start running again. Dawn’s feet were full of blisters; and her legs and chest ached terribly. She cried and cried. So did all the other children. Venom was a cruel and strict teacher. Any disobedience by Dawn or the other children was punished with severe whippings.
Dawn limped back to her family chamber after her first day of training. Rake had saved dinner for her. She ate heartily, and then limped to the bathroom to take a sponge bath. When she was done, she sat on her bed. Rake applied a medicinal paste to the bottom of her feet. He had expected for her to have injuries and had prepared the paste in advance. He explained to her that although the assassin’s training was tough and painful, it was necessary for her to undergo it. He explained that they were the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. They were the people of the Ten Betrayed Villages and that the government had treated them badly. He explained that Fragrance’s and Drizzle’s death were indirectly due to the government, so she needed to avenge them one day.
Rake kissed Dawn on the forehead and wished her ‘goodnight’. Dawn fell asleep almost immediately. She was exhausted from all the running that she had to do.