FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE

by S. K. Ng

  “What are we to do now?” asked the leader of the five female Royal Guards, an exevian in rank.

  “Do _ of this, what can we now, except to report to the king that Royal Secretary Verbena Romar is dead,” answered Ray in a surrendered voice.

  Everyone turned to stare at the lifeless body of Verbena Romar. The dagger in her back was pulled out and she was placed lying on top of the defendant’s desk, with her body facing up. If one ignored the stain of blood from her lips, one could easily assume that she was resting in deep slumber. There was no frozen expression of pain or agony on her face. There was only a graceful serenity expressed on the lifeless face of the beauty who conspired to assassinate a prince.

  A gentle breeze sways the bushes and blows the leaves outside Courthouse Fallsene. A swirling pile of dust comes together and forms into the man in the brown long-coat. He turns around, takes a look at the courthouse, smiles in triumph, turns around again and walks away...

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  SKY’S DARK PRACTICES

  The cheerful Fallsian sky beckons the senses on this breezy morning of the 20th Day of Fourth Month of Dry Season. King Fulmar Patrum looks out a large open window in his study room, taking in the beautiful view of the distant green mountain range with its streaks of white waterfalls. Prince Eagle Patrum stands at the adjacent window, supported by a pair of crutches, and looks out at a river of Royal Guards executing marching drills. The left leg of his pants is cut and his heavily bandaged calf is clearly visible. Minvians Ray Iddell, Clover Genox, Serene Genox, Sky Proest and Convian Rod Sayson look at the pair of father and son, waiting for either one of them to speak.

  King Patrum turned around and sat on his favourite chair. The prince, however, continued to watch the soldiers below.

  “The assassin disintegrated into a pile of dust, Minvian Iddell, is that what you said?” asked King Patrum.

  “Yes!” replied Ray.

  “But that is impossible! No one can just turn into a pile of dust! Was it some kind of illusion? Or maybe a new form of Elemental Sorcery?” King Patrum asked disbelievingly.

  “Elemental Sorcery _ it was not of this, Your Highness! Power _ it was a new form of this that none of us were familiar with,” Ray answered firmly.

  “This is really unwelcome news!” said the king.

  Sky cleared his throat politely, not because he needed to but rather to grab everyone’s attention.

  “Your Highness! If I may, I would like to suggest engaging the services of a Channeller. Perhaps a Channeller could help us unlock the mystery of this new assassin,” he suggested.

  “A Channeller? This is a highly unorthodox method, Minvian Proest. I am sorry, father, but I must object! Channellers follow no Reception. They are neither familiar with the ways of nature nor are they morally righteous. At best, they are conmen and at worst, they are worshippers of demons!” expressed Eagle.

  “Concur _ I do of this with Prince Patrum,” supported Ray.

  Clover nodded her head in agreement. Serene and Rod, however, sat still because they were undecided on the issue.

  Sky looked at Ray, shook his head and smiled. Then he looked at Prince Patrum and lowered his head slightly. But he never gave the prince the same look that he gave to Ray. Finally, he turned to look at King Patrum

  “Baseless accusations! Pure, unfounded fears! Your Highness, I urge you to consider all available avenues while investigating the true identity of this mysterious assassin. This information is too valuable for us to be without,” he said.

  King Patrum sat in silence for a while, immersing himself in deep thought.

  “Do you know of any of these Channellers, Minvian Proest?” he asked finally.

  “I know of one, You Highness!” answered Sky.

  “Minvian Iddell, can you sense demonic powers?” asked the king.

  “Sense _ I cannot do of this unless it is very strong and very close, Your Highness, but the Vanguard Jewel can,” replied Ray.

  “Very well, since we have very little choice in the matter, I am willing to go along with it, but only this one time!” decided King Patrum.

  “Father! Are you sure?” asked Prince Patrum.

  “It is harmless to try, Eagle,” said the king.

  “But would we not stain ourselves with sin?” asked the prince, obviously showing signs of belief in Reception.

  King Patrum was silent. He stroked his beard in deep thought. All looked eagerly at him.

  “Very well, then. Minvians Iddell and Clover Genox, you will accompany Minvian Proest to engage the services of this Channeller person. Bring along the Vanguard Jewel. Should you feel that the Channeller is fraudulent, arrest him. If he calls upon demonic powers, kill him! But if by some chance he has some clean, unstained powers; then let him be. Pay him what is owed to him for the information on this so-called ‘Mystery Assassin’, this assassin in a brown long-coat; and the three of you report back to me as soon as possible, is that understood?” ordered the king.

  “Understand _ we do of this, Your Highness!” replied Ray and Clover.

  King Fulmar shook his head. He could not believe that he had authorised the engagement of a Channeller.

  Sky smiled smugly at Ray who gave him a cold stare in return. Clearly, Sky was getting to be annoying, as far as Ray was concerned. Clover felt the same way as well. She did not like his arrogant, elitist attitude.

  “Respect _ with all due of this, Your Highness, the situation is not all that bad; for we have actually made progress, although slow, but firm progress. Traitor _ we had found of her, and she has been removed before she could do serious damage. Information _ of this that we have, we are now aware that Your Highness has an enemy who schemes to steal the throne. Assassins _ of them, they are no longer a threat to us for at least another six months while they try to recover and recruit new members,” Clover said, trying to see the positive side of things.

  “Yes, I suppose you are right, Minvian Genox. But with this Mystery Assassin, we are dealing with an entirely new element, one which we have no understanding of. And this concerns me deeply. The saying goes ‘Better the devil you know than the devil you do not’. What if this assassin is not unique, and there is an army of them out there? They could pose a very serious threat to the kingdom’s security,” expressed King Patrum.

  “Opportunity _ Your Highness, may I suggest that we take of this to recruit and train more soldiers,” she suggested.

  Prince Patrum sat down next to the king and nodded his head in agreement.

  “This sounds like a good idea, father! We have lost quite a number of soldiers to the Serpentians. The Royal Elementhar Pond has lost a significant number as well. Let us take this opportunity to replenish our warrior ranks, before another crisis hits us,” he said.

  “Very well, Eagle, Minvian Genox. The recavians and I were discussing the same issue in our meeting yesterday. We came to the conclusion that we need to recruit 2000 soldiers, but now, I think we may need 3000 instead. Eagle, please make the necessary arrangements. Assign and transfer suitable candidates to replace the Sollenthars who were killed so far,” instructed the king.

  Prince Patrum gave a slight bow to acknowledge his father’s instructions.

  Serene shook her head slightly and wore an expression of confusion on her face.

  “Respect _ with all due of this, Your Highness, and I know it is not my place to say, but I was told that the actual figure was more like 9000, would 3000 be sufficient to strengthen our defences?” she questioned.

  King Patrum smiled. He was not surprised and neither was he offended. Both she and Clover had access to ‘privileged’ information after all, being daughters of an orgavian and a recavian respectively.

  “Well, you are actually right, Minvian Genox. The recavians did come up with a figure of 9000, but our treasury could only afford 3000 at best. With trade slowing down due to choppy seas and increased pirate activities, our economy has suffered slightly. And we are still spending a large amount of mon
ey to rebuild the towns and villages that the Serpentians had ruined in their raid. There is no point in recruiting 9000 soldiers if we cannot afford to pay their salary, is there, Serene?” replied the king.

  “Ignorance _ forgive mine of this, Your Highness!” apologised Serene.

  “There is nothing to forgive. I appreciate your efforts. It shows that you care. And more importantly, it shows that you are thinking!” the king pointed out.

  “Gratitude _ of this, I am full for Your Highness’ praise,” replied Serene.

  Seizing the opportunity, Rod spoke his heart. He had to anyway, for he did not want to see a close colleague die unnecessarily.

  “Respect _ with all due of this, Your Highness, and I too know that it is not my place to say, but there is a minvian in the dungeons here who has been convicted of insubordination and desertion. Pardon _ what if Your Highness do of this to him and reinstate him? Experienced _ he is extremely of this and brave too, for I can attest to that since I had served with him before at Fort Eastguard,” he said.

  “Ahh! You mean Minvian Sayvion, do you not, Convian Sayson?” asked the king.

  “Correct _ it is of this, Your Highness!” answered Rod.

  “I am sure that he is an excellent soldier and a brave warrior, but unfortunately my hands are tied in this case. Minvian Sayvion’s transgression is too public and too severe to pardon. A pardon would send the wrong message to the other soldiers, making them think that they too can behave like him and go unpunished. Military discipline would crumble. Chaos would ensue. No, Convian Sayson, I cannot pardon the minvian. We must show the masses that we abide by the codes of justice, and that no one is above the law,” explained the king.

  “Understand _ I do of this, Your Highness!” said Rod with a disappointed tone.

  The study room was silent for a while. It was as though the very room itself was mourning the death that would befall Thorn Sayvion.

  “Are there any issues left to discuss?” asked King Patrum.

  Clover nodded her head and cleared her throat.

  “Issue _ there is one of this, Your Highness! Compensation _ it is of this for the family and kin of our soldiers who died during the Serpentian raid and by the hands of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan,” she answered.

  “Thank you for reminding me, Minvian Genox. Yes, there will be compensation for the family of our fallen ones. Eagle, make arrangements to pay one year’s full salary to the dependants of our fallen soldiers, on top of the pension that they are already receiving,” instructed King Patrum.

  “With pleasure, father!” acknowledge Prince Patrum.

  “If there is nothing else, you are all dismissed!” said the king.

  Ray, Clover, Serene, Sky and Rod stood up, bowed and left the study.

  On that very night, somewhere near the eastern edge of Shadow Forest, Dawn sat exhausted behind the trunk of a huge tree. She was hungry, cold and wet from the downpour earlier on. She felt like collapsing and falling asleep. Her body shivered badly and her lips were bluish in colour. She knew that she was close to getting hypothermia. The temptation to give in to her exhaustion was very strong. But she fought against it. She forced herself to get up and went searching. After awhile, she found all the items she was looking for.

  With her hunter’s knife, Dawn dug a small trench in the ground. The width of the trench was approximately one and a half times the width of her fist, with its depth two and a half times and its length eight times. She made sure the two ends of the trench were shallowly sloped. Then she laid some waxy leaves and a few flat pebbles across the bottom of it to cover the damp soil. She broke all the deadwood that she has managed to find into short pieces, about half the length the trench she had dug. After that, she took out some dry kindling from her bag which she had collected several nights before. She had wrapped the kindling with some waxy leaves when she had collected them so that they stayed dry from the rain. Then she took out her flint rod and with her knife, she sparked a tiny flame. She placed the kindling into the middle of the trench and added wood to burn. She made sure that the deadwood were short and she placed them only at the centre of the trench. A few moments later, she had a small fire going that was burning in the trench and not exposed above the ground. This was what was called a concealed fire, something that she had learnt from her uncle a long time ago.

  Dawn placed her small cooking pot, which contained rice grains soaked in water, on top of the trench and waited patiently for it to cook. She then lay on the ground, staring at the flickering flames dreamily, letting the heat warm up her face. Occasionally she would put her hands near the flames to warm them up or she would switch body positions to warm up other parts of her body. But the warmth of her body was truly gained when the rice was cooked and she ate her first real and properly cooked meal in three weeks, using a pair of chopsticks fashioned from broken tree branches. She was cold, wet and hungry; and under these conditions, even simple and plain white rice was a godsend.

  There had not been any signs of Fallsian soldiers for the past two weeks. Dawn was sure that she had lost them. She closed her tired eyes. Within moments, she had gone to sleep, the first truly proper sleep in three weeks. Her sleep was deep and dreamless. Her mind was lost in the serenity of emptiness. She was at peace.

  The very next morning Ray, Clover and Sky set out of Palace Liberty on horseback. The three horses trotted along at an evenly pace.

  “Channeller _ where do we find of him, Minvian Proest?” asked Ray.

  “There is one in the town where I am from. It is called Southgust Town,” answered Sky.

  “Southgust Town _ we have been to of it, for we came to its aid when their dam burst during an earthquake,” said Ray.

  Sky gave Ray a humble and appreciative bow. It was probably the first time Sky had showed any form of humility in Ray’s presence.

  “Yes and for that, you have my eternal gratitude! My father’s house was reduced to rubbles in that quake, but luckily, none of my family members were hurt. They received the food and medicine that you brought. It made a big difference. I was devastated when I heard about the quake. I was extremely frustrated that I could not join you in the relief effort. You see, I was on a reconnaissance mission in the Arid Plains. By the time I got word of the quake, one whole month had already passed and the town was almost rebuilt. I felt so useless!” expressed Sky.

  “Blame _ do not do of this to yourself,” said Clover sympathetically.

  Ray was reminded of Higher Recipient Truthkeeper, the Receiver whom he had met in Southgust earlier on.

  “Higher Recipient Truthkeeper _ you know of him, do you not?” asked Ray.

  “That useless old fool!? Yes, I know him. He has been an irritant in my life for the past two decades. Does nothing good for our town. Just preaches those weird teachings,” said Sky.

  Ray understood Sky’s feelings, even though he did not agree with him. He knew that no one had ever found Reception to be pleasant and the doctrine of the Receivers of Light was as unpleasant of a doctrine as it got. But Receptions, being teachings of angels, were meant to educate mankind, instead of making them happy. And people like Sky just did not understand. They had mistakenly valued happiness, when instead, they should have valued righteousness.

  Ray kept quiet for awhile. He saw no reason to get into an argument with Sky. He reasoned that people such as Sky would just have to learn things the hard way.

  “Time _ how long of it has this Channeller been there?” asked Clover.

  “He has been there for at least thirty odd years. My mother told me that he had come to our town just after she married my father, and that was 33 years ago. He is a warm and friendly person. He gave our village a lot of good advice and pleasant ideas,” replied Sky.

  “Advice _ what sort of these had he offered your town?” asked Ray.

  “All sorts of advice. When to plant our seeds. When to harvest our crops. When to expect rain and drought. How to live our lives. How to enjoy the senses and have fun. How to
feel alive,” said Sky with a smile.

  Ray shook his head. So did Clover. Sky shook his head too, but at the both of them.

  “Sceptical _ I am of this,” said Ray.

  “Agree _ I do of this with you, master!” expressed Clover.

  “That is not fair! You do not know him. You do not know us or how we live our lives. What right have you to judge him, or us? He has given us plenty of good advice. We were sad and miserable people before his arrival, but now we are cheerful and full of life, all thanks to him,” defended Sky.

  Ray and Clover chose not to reply. The trio continued to ride on in silence. They rode all throughout the afternoon, skipping lunch and opting for short breaks instead to feed and rest their horses. Thick heavy clouds began to form during the late afternoon. The Fallsian sky began to darken prematurely. Then, a flash of lightning cut across the sky and the low rumbling of thunder followed. The wind had picked up too. Then, the sky opened up and poured its pearly tears.

  Nightfall saw the three wet and weary riders arriving at the riverside town of Clearcatch. They checked themselves into the nearest inn. After a hot shower and a change of clothes, the three soldiers met downstairs for their evening meal.

  “What is that?” asked Sky as the waitress delivered the meal Ray had ordered.

  “Contents _ of this, it is rice with vegetable curry; it is quite obvious, as you can see!” answered Ray as he began to eat.

  “That is not what I mean! Why is there no meat in it?” clarified Sky as the waitress brought a plate of barbequed pigeon.

  “Why should there be meat in it?” asked Clover rhetorically as she received her dish, which was a type of flat bread with the same vegetable curry that Ray was having.