by S. K. Ng
Ray took out the Original Vanguard Manuscript and gave it to Clover. She took the book and laid it on the coffee table in front of her. The black Vanguard Jewel lay still in the centre of the book. Then the Channeller reappeared from the first floor, this time wearing a strange green robe.
“Please, eat and drink. This will take a while,” said the Channeller.
Ray and Clover nodded politely, but did not indulge. The Channeller lit the incense sticks. Sky began to feel sleepy. The Channeller then cut a lime fruit in half and squeezed the juice into the silver bowl. He then dipped his fingers into the bowl and with them, sprinkled drops of the mixture all around him. Sky’s head began to spin. Finally, the Channeller dried his fingers with the small towel and began to go into a trance of some sort. Ray began to go into the meditative state while Clover observed the Vanguard Jewel. The jewel did not move. Clover kept looking. The jewel still did not move.
Slump! Sky falls to the floor. Clover turns her head towards Sky. Ray wakes up from his meditative state. He sees something moving on the first floor. Instinctively he executes a Stone Wall Spell. A wall of solid stone springs up from the ground between the trio and the walkway on the first floor, sending a sofa flying to the ceiling. Clang! Clang! Clang! Arrowheads smash against Ray’s conjured wall. He and Clover roll away to avoid the falling sofa, which smashed against the floor and broke into pieces.
Clover instinctively turns towards the kitchen. Ray recovers to focus his sight on the first floor. He sends a series of Pebble Darts at their attackers on the first floor. Ray hits the first male servant in the chest and the second male servant a few times in the arms. They both yell in pain and collapse. The third male servant dives for cover. The kitchen door swings open and the fourth, fifth and sixth male servants come charging with swords in their hands. Clover executes her Horizontal Tornado Spell and blows the fourth male servant backwards against the wall. The force of the impact knocks him unconscious.
Breathing in to help summon her soul energy, Clover executes a frozen trident spell, sending the long shaft of frozen ice flying through the air and embedding it into the chest of the fifth male servant. He lets out a frustrated yell as he drops to the ground. As the sixth servant approaches Ray, he slams the end of his silver staff straight into the servant’s face, breaking the man’s nose and knocking him down. The third male servant on the first floor takes the opportunity to shoot another arrow at Ray from a kneeling position, but Clover sends a Liquid Gush Spell to knock the arrow off-target. Ray finishes up by touching the ground and executing the Stone Spike Spell, causing a bunch of long, sharp spikes to burst up from the stone walkway on the first floor and impales the last servant. He makes no sound as he dies, for the shock and intense pain of his injuries overwhelm his senses, signified by his bulging eyeballs.
Ray turns to search for the Channeller, but to no avail. He and Clover burst out the front door. They see the Channeller running towards the main gate. Ray sends a few Pebble Darts into the Channeller’s leg and sends him crashing to the ground. As they approach him, they can hear his puppy-like whimpers.
“Please…please don’t kill me!” begs the Channeller.
“Kill _ why did you try to do of this to us?” asks Ray.
“Why…why else? I’m a fraud, can’t you see? I knew you could sense nothing coming out of me. No pow… powers! Nothing! I… I didn’t want to be captured… or exposed! How am I going to make my living if I was!? You two rui... ruined everything! Everything!” wails the panicky Channeller.
Ray bound the Channeller with some cordage from the stables. Meanwhile, Clover recovered the Original Vanguard Manuscript and woke Sky up with a blast of water from her fingertips. First came the look of confusion on his face, then came the feeling of embarrassment and then came the profuse apologies. He was a seasoned soldier and he hated himself for falling for the oldest trick in the book. He should have known better than to accept food and drinks offered by a suspect, lest it was poisoned; or luckily in this case, only laced with sedatives.
The sun was close to setting below the horizon by the time the three soldiers and the bounded Channeller Styruss rode out from the mansion. A night at the local inn was called for, since there was no hurry to get back to Fallsene City. Sky had recommended to his comrades the ‘Gusthaven Inn’, which he described as the best inn in the whole of Southgust. The trio were weary and tired when they checked in at the inn with their prisoner. Deciding to have their dinner before going to bed, they headed straight for the in-house restaurant. They chose a table next to a pillar so that they could tie the Channeller securely to it. They left him with only one free hand to eat, tying his other hand and his whole torso to the huge wooden pillar. Then they sat down and ordered their meals. Ray ordered some bread and vegetables for himself and for the Channeller while Clover ordered salad and some mushroom soup. The Channeller quickly objected, but kept silent just as quickly when Ray gave him a cold stare. Sky then ordered the restaurant’s special.
He felt cold and scared. His skinny body shivered with every passing breeze. He had refused the food they offered to him. He knew what they were up to, these captors of his. There he was, trapped in a small rusted cage. Inside the building, there were many people eating, dining and laughing, but he was in this cold, dimly-lit backstreet outside. The tears in his eyes were all cried out to the point they formed crusts at the corners of his eyelids. He looked at his tail. It had been round and lively once, but now it was nothing but a skinny strip of flesh, covering a set of hollow bones, hollow just like his heart. Hollow just like his hope. He looked at his hind legs. The fur had long but shed off. That light-brown fur of his. The thick glorious light-brown fur that was the picture of better days.
He was careless. He got caught. He had been stuck in this small, rusty cage for days. He knew how this would end. He heard the screams of his fellow captives. Their cries for mercy that were ignored. Their prayers of salvation that were never answered. And what form of humanity is this? If this be the conduct of humans, what right do they have to call themselves humans? Humanity!? Phah! This very term is nothing but an elegant proof of human egotism. To have defined truth, justice, equality, compassion, morality and any form of righteous conduct as ‘humanity’ was truly an overstatement! Yes, he knew how it would end. It would end just the way it did for his friends.
He could remember like it was just yesterday. He remembered when he opened his eyes and first saw the world. How a gentle lick from his mother gave him the first sense of being touched, and being loved. How his brothers and sisters pounced on him in the games that they played for endless months. Yes, he remembered how it all started, this joy called life. Then his father came and taught him and his siblings how to scavenge. The garbage bin behind the butcher’s shop was the best source of food. But certain bones and meat were prohibited and would be left untouched. ‘We do not eat our own kind!’ was what his father had said to him. Soon the circle that he knew grew. It was not just his parents and siblings, but the group from their neighbourhood was whom he had also hung out with. Life was a great! It was spent from scavenge to scavenge and from game to game. They ran around like wild and free horses. They marked their territory and scared off potential trespassers with their barks and bites. But always, no matter how hungry they got, they never ate their own kind!
Then one day, his father carelessly crossed a busy road and was struck down by a carriage. His mother died of grief a few weeks later. His siblings had each found a mate and started their own families. Some had even left the town, preferring to take their chances in the wild. A few had stayed back. Now his nieces and nephews were part of his group. He taught them the games that he and his siblings used to play. And he taught them their golden rule, ‘We do not eat our own kind!’ They hunted and they scavenged together. And they moved together, like one big family.
But the humans had other plans! And one by one the ranks of his group perished, caught and trapped by these cruel, two-legged creatures. These vile c
reatures, who think that they were the master-supreme of The Creator’s good land! He had heard many a howling and a pleading for salvation and rescue from his captured friends and relatives, but had never seen a single escape. Once they were caught, they were doomed! He saw it all, the good of life and the bad of life. Somehow deep inside, he knew his time would also come. He just did not know when or how.
He sees the chef coming. This is it! This is his end! He will not go down without a fight! But he knows that to go down he will and in the most cruellest and torturous of ways, too. No sin or transgression has he ever done or could ever do could justify this treatment! But the end is the end. He barks and he tries his best to bite, but he is in the sack now. Then the first blow comes. He too, cries out. He too, prays for salvation. If truly there is a God out there, then where is the mercy? Where is the compassion? Where is the love? Where is the salvation? Or even the justice?
Ray’s order came first, followed by the Channeller’s. Just a few short moments later, Clover’s order was served. Just as Ray was about to take his first bite, he heard whimpering sounds coming from the kitchen. Then came the desperate cry of an animal in pain. Ray stood up. So did Clover. Something was wrong here. Very wrong!
Ray marched through the kitchen door, leaving behind his silver staff and everything else. Clover and Sky followed closely behind. Sky was curious to see where the two Elementhars were going. They followed the sound to the back door where, to Ray and Clover’s horror, they found that the desperate cries were coming from a sack suspended from a wooden beam that was supported by two steady posts. The sack was moving and wiggling and three men were beating it with clubs over and over again. And every stroke of the club produced the most pitiful, heart-wrenching cries that Ray and Clover had ever heard.
“Stop!” yelled Ray.
“What!?” replied one of the three men, whom Ray had just noticed, were all dressed up like chefs.
“Stop _ you must do of this!” insisted Clover.
The three chefs shrug their shoulders and pretended that Ray and Clover are not there. The first chef raises his club to strike again, but Ray catches hold of it and throws a punch straight into the chef’s nose. A clear and loud crack signifies that the first chef’s nose is broken. The first chef falls backwards and lands on his buttocks.
“What are you doing!? Are you crazy!? Get out of here!” says the second chef as he raises his club to strike Ray.
Clover intercepts the second chef by raising her elbow and slamming it straight into the man’s nose. The ensuing crack affirms the breakage of the man’s nose. He too stumbles backwards and falls flat on his back.
“Minvians Iddell and Genox, stop! What are you two doing?” says Sky.
“Doing _ what are we of this!?” replied an angry and disgusted Ray.
“Yes! What are you doing!?” said Sky in an accusing tone.
Ray ignored Sky and the third chef, who had already laid down his club. He took out his knife and cut the sack at the point where it was tied up. Down fell a medium sized dog, who was bleeding profusely. It was whimpering and yet it tried to growl and tried to bare its teeth, but the pain was just too overwhelming. Blood was oozing from it eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Its whole body was contorted and disfigured with massive swells. Ray tried to approach it, but it ran away. The pitiful creature ran but a few paces before it collapsed and died. The poor, pitiful light-brown furred dog. Its final yelp was not that of fear or pain, but of relief, for finally it had found some measure of mercy. It was not the salvation that he had prayed for, but it was salvation nevertheless.
Ray shed a tear for the dead dog. Clover shed many. But Sky just laughed. Ray turned around and slammed his fist straight into Sky’s face and sent him sprawling to the ground. The third chef just raised his hands and walked away. The innkeeper, meanwhile, had just arrived.
“What is wrong with you, Minvian Iddell?” asked Sky as he struggled to get back on his feet.
“Amusing _ of this, do you find it to be of the senseless murder of this innocent creature!?” replied Ray rhetorically.
“Senseless murder? They were just preparing my dinner! They were supposed to barbeque this creature after beating it up to tender the meat! What is the matter, do you not eat dogs?” asked Sky unassumingly.
Flames were being produced at Ray’s fingertips. A Heat Spear Spell was being generated and was about to be cast. Sky was seriously taken aback. Then Clover placed her hand on Ray’s shoulder and shook her head.
“Kill _ please, master, do not do of this to Minvian Proest; for he is still our colleague,” pleaded Clover.
Ray was trembling with rage. He stood still for several moments, unsure of whether to kill Sky or not. Finally, he decided to disperse the gathered energy harmlessly. But he gave Sky a look that sent shivers down Sky’s spine. It was the look of anger, disgust and vengeance all rolled into one. The look on Clover’s face was no less hostile.
“Dear sirs and madam, is there a problem?” asked the innkeeper.
“There is no problem, innkeeper. My colleagues are just unacquainted with our town’s culinary tastes. I shall endeavour to educate them. Everything is all right! Nothing to worry about!” assured Sky, despite his bruised eye.
The innkeeper bowed to Sky and walked away with his two injured chefs in tow.
Ray stood silently. A battle was raging on within him. He would feel no guilt whatsoever in striking Sky down where he stood. But he was a man of ethics. The Law of Elementhars required that of him. And he was bounded by this law.
“Leave _ we are doing of this now!” said Ray resolutely.
“Leave!? Ray, you are over-reacting! Calm down, will you not!?” insisted Sky.
Ray ignored Sky altogether. He stormed right into the in-house restaurant and gathered his belongings. Clover followed right behind him. Sky was left standing alone in the dimly lit backstreet. He shook his head in disbelief.
A few moments later, Ray and Clover emerged with their belongings and the tied up Channeller. Miraculously, the Channeller did not try to escape when the trio had left him alone. Ray took out a towel from his backpack and gently wrapped the corpse of the dead, light-brown furred dog with it. He slung his backpack, picked up the dog and cradled it like a baby. He then stormed through the kitchen door and through the in-house restaurant to the front entrance of the inn where their horses were. Clover dragged the reluctant Channeller along. The patrons of the restaurant seemed to ignore the Elementhars. Some even sniggered while a few laughed out loud and gave insulting remarks. But Ray ignored them. So did Clover. Their anger and disgust were too consuming to allow any sort of response.
Ray and Clover mounted their horses and galloped out of town. Sky dashed into the in-house restaurant to gather his belongings. He then mounted his horse and chased after them. He finally caught up to them as they reached the outer limits of the town. Sky rode along silently. He knew his two colleagues were upset, but he did not understand the reason behind their emotions. It was after all just a dog, no different than any other dog that he had eaten all these years.
Upon reaching the top of a very large and distant hill overseeing Southgust, Ray stopped and dismounted. So did Clover. She dragged the Channeller to a huge tree and secured him to its trunk. Sky dismounted and sat next to the tied up Channeller, watching the weird antics of his colleagues. Ray laid the body of the dog gently to the soft ground by the side of the road and took out his hunter’s knife and a small cooking pot from his backpack. Clover did the same with her military-issued dagger and cooking pot. Then Ray picked a spot in the clearing by the roadside and drew a rectangular outline on the ground. Ray began stab-gouging the ground with his knife to loosen the soil. Clover followed suit. Then the both of them started scooping the loosened soil with their cooking pots, effectively digging a grave. For some reason, neither Elementhar had chosen to use their Elemental Sorcery skills. Perhaps they were too enraged to properly control their powers. Sky shook his head in disbelief, but held his ton
gue.
Ray gently lowered the dead dog into the grave.
“Rest _ do easy of this, friend, for your troubles are over; and may you find peace and happiness in your next life and may it be that your next life is found in the higher planes of existence,” Ray expressed out as his hope and prayer.
“Rest _ do easy of this, friend, for your troubles are over; and may you never suffer such cruelty or be reborn in the lower planes of existence ever again,” said Clover as her hope and prayer.
Using their cooking pots again, Ray and Clover covered up the grave. They then sat by the roadside, staring emptily at the ground. Tears were streaming from Clover’s eyes.
After a long while, Sky finally summoned up the courage to speak to his two Sollenthar companions.
“Was what I did wrong?” he asked.
“Wrong _ it was absolutely of this!” replied Clover firmly.
Ray did not even bother to respond. Some forms of stupidity were so obvious that it deserved no explanation!
“All right! Why is it wrong?” challenged Sky.
“Kill _ you had no right to do of this to any living being, not even for food; let alone to kill in such a cruel and evil way!” replied Clover firmly.
“But why is this so?” asked Sky.
“Line _ there is one of this that divides good and evil, and it is divided based on the ‘live and let live’ principle verses the ‘kill and/or be killed’ principle; and you chose the latter, the path that causes other beings to suffer and in return, you too shall be made to suffer when nature’s law catches up to you,” explained Clover in an impatient tone.