FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE
Page 84
Daybreak did not bring welcomed news to Serene. She had gathered with her subordinates as planned, hoping that one of them had returned with some answers but all they got were blanks. No one had managed to find out where Dawn had disappeared to. Frustrated and desperate, Serene ordered her subordinates to storm The Spot and arrest its owner. There was hardly any tussle as Pebble Dart Spells penetrated the shoulders and knees of the two well-built guards and sent them collapsing onto the ground like puppets with their strings suddenly cut off. And a simple Heat Burst Spell smashed the lock on the wooden door to Gust’s office and flung it wide open. Gust just sat calmly. He knew it was pointless to resist. He was sent to the local garrison, along with all the weaponry that he had stock-piled in his office.
In the interrogation room at Garrison Eastsands, Gust sat with his feet and wrists tied to the heavy chair he was sitting on. Serene sat herself down facing him.
“Name _ what is yours of this?” asked Serene.
“What? Name _ what is mine of this? Hah! Hah! Hah! No one speaks like that anymore! Where have you been the past few hundred years?” giggled Gust.
Serene’s Back-fist Slap came so fast and hard that it knocked Gust to the ground along with chair he was tied to.
“Name _ what is yours of this?” she asked again after her subordinates had set Gust back upright.
“G… Gust Smullon,” came Gust’s fearful response.
“Occupation _ what is yours of this?” she asked.
“Tavern owner… and weapons dealer,” answered Gust, who had then decided coming forth truthfully was a better option than receiving another slap from her.
“Dawn Breven _ do you know of her?” Serene asked, getting straight to the point.
“Only vaguely. Lead Assassin of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan. Bought a sword, clothing, rations, medical kit and three small sacks of explosives. That’s all I know!” answered a very frightened Gust.
“Destination _ where was hers of this?” asked Serene.
“I don’t know,” answered Gust.
Another Back-fist Slap landed on Gust’s cheeks, this time from the other direction. As he was set upright again, he spat out two teeth that Serene had knocked off.
“I swear, I don’t know! She doesn’t tell me these things. And I don’t ask. That’s how I survived all these years. I just sell weapons. I’m just a minor detail, not even part of her plan. I don’t know anything!” pleaded a scared-looking Gust.
“The Lair _ where is it of it?” asked Serene.
“No idea! I swear! I don’t know! Rumour has it that it’s located somewhere in the forest nearby, but I’ve lived here for sixty years and have never seen the place, not even once! The Shadow Deathmerchant Clan seek me out when they want weapons, not me going to their doorsteps selling to them! That’s just not how it’s done!” pleaded Gust.
Finally, Serene had Gust taken to his cell. Her face was painted with disappointment. She had caught a weapons dealer. She had made Free Falls slightly safer by removing an infrastructure that helped support the criminals of her society, but it was not the same as capturing Dawn Breven!
Dawn felt like a thousand hands were squeezing her head all at once. Her eyelids weighed a tonne and the rest of her body felt like jelly. She was conscious. She could hear people talking in a distance, but she could not move. She just laid there with a mind that was awake but a body that was asleep. Half an hour later, she managed to get herself up to a seated position. The world still spun around her, but not too badly.
Dawn recognised where she was. The solid metal bars all around her was a dead giveaway. She was in a small chamber that served as The Lair’s prison cum interrogation room cum torture chamber.
“So, you’re finally awake!” said Clanmaster Venom Collart as he strode into the small cavern with a few of his henchmen.
Dawn just gave him an empty stare.
“You silly girl! You think you can sneak in without me knowing? Tell me, why did you come back? You know our laws! You failed in your mission thrice! Three times! That warrants the death penalty! Why didn’t you commit suicide as per what our laws dictate!? I thought at the very least you would’ve run away just like some of the others. But no matter, you saved us some time in hunting you down and killing you. So before I execute you in public, tell me why you’ve decided to come back!” asked Clanmaster Collart.
Dawn just stared at the chamber walls.
“Ahh! So you’re trying to play minds games with me! Me, the person who had taught you all that you know! Come on, Dawn! You know there’s the easy way and then there’s also the hard way! But either way, you know you’re going to end up dead. So why bother? Why suffer!? Tell me what I need to know and you can die quickly and less painfully!” Clanmaster Collart pointed out.
Dawn continued to stare at the chamber walls.
“Very well, Dawn. Have it your way!” said the clanmaster.
The clanmaster had his men tie Dawn up on a metal chair with ropes. One of them took a metal brand that was glowing red from a small pit of burning coals and pressed it to Dawn’s lap. Dawn’s scream reverberated off the chamber walls and echoed throughout The Lair. The clanmaster repeated his questions. Dawn stared arrogantly at the walls, though she was shivering with pain and fear. Venom Collart gave the signal and his henchman pressed the red-hot brand on her other lap. Another heart-wrenching scream echoed throughout The Lair.
There was a loud knock on the chamber wall. Clanmaster Collart turned around and saw Rake standing at the chamber’s entrance with a few men.
“Came here to free your niece, Rake?” asked the clanmaster sarcastically.
“On the contrary, Venom; you can torture her all you want. I’ve no heart for traitors, even if it’s my own brother’s daughter. No, I’ve come to see you regarding another matter,” answered Rake in a casual tone.
“Can’t it wait? I’m busy here!” said Clanmaster Collart.
“No, it can’t. We’ve strong reason to suspect that this new recruit was stealing from us. We haven’t managed to catch him red handed but whenever he was left alone at the recruits’ chambers or at the supply storage chamber, items began to disappear. As clanmaster, you’re required to ascertain guilt and dispense justice immediately. The list of the missing items I’ll leave on this table,” said Rake as he pointed to a teenager whose hands were tied behind his back and the back of his collar was held tightly by two other men; and then he produced a cardboard folder and put it on a table nearby.
Clanmaster Collart let out a sigh of frustration. Rake Breven was just plain irritating to him.
“Is that it? Just a simple matter of thievery? You made it sound as though the whole world was going to explode! Leave him in the other cell. I’ll deal with him when I have the time,” said Clanmaster Collart sarcastically.
“I’m afraid it’s not such a simple matter! We’re honourable assassins, not thieves or common criminals. This recruit puts us at ill repute. I’ve informed the other ‘Founders’. They take this matter as seriously as I do; however, seeing that you are the clanmaster, it’s your responsibility to tend to this matter immediately. I’ve taken the liberty to call an impromptu hearing of this case in one hour. The other Founders and I will be waiting for you in the main chamber. The rest of the clan have been notified!” said Rake as his men threw the recruit into one of the cells.
“You must be joking, Rake! Aren’t you overreacting?” questioned Clanmaster Collart.
“I’m afraid it’s you who is under-reacting, clanmaster! So obsessed are you with my niece that you would neglect your duties! We expected more diligence from our leader-elect!” said Rake as he walked by Dawn and stroked her hair in a sympathetic manner.
Venom was clearly furious. And he was also frustrated. He wished he could just stomp this irritating ‘cockroach’ with the ball of his feet, but he could not. Rake was one of the Ten Founders of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan, and to kill a Founder would be to invite open rebellion against himself.
“Of course, I’ll keep you no more,” said Rake as he bowed.
The clanmaster just nodded his head. He did not even return Rake’s bow.
Instead of leaving the interrogation chamber immediately, Rake went up to Dawn, kneeled and clasps her hand.
“It’s a mistake for you to have come back. Goodbye Dawn! I hope never to see you again!” he said.
Dawn felt something small, thin and oblong slipped into her palm. She closed her hand at once, hiding the object from view. Her uncle had passed her something in front of the clanmaster without being detected. She played along with the plan.
“My father would be tossing in his grave to see you abandon me like this!” said Dawn in pretence rejection.
“Goodbye!” said Rake as he got up and walked out of the chamber.
Clanmaster Collart slapped Dawn across the face, more out of spite for her uncle than anything else.
“Your uncle is just downright irritating! I liked you, Dawn! I truly did! You were one of my best students. But now, I feel like killing you just so that I can spite your uncle! He was right about one thing. You shouldn’t have come back!” he said.
Venom Collart knew that he had no choice but to suspend Dawn’s interrogation so that he could interrogate this troublesome new recruit. Clan laws dictated that only physical evidence could be used to confirm guilt, so he had to make this recruit tell him where he had hidden the stolen items. So Dawn was left tied up on one chair while Clanmaster Collart and his men tied up the recruit on another and began questioning him. Then they began torturing him for answers. Two hot brands and several fingernail-pulls later, the recruit confessed and revealed the location of the stolen items. Then it was time to shift him to the main chamber for his hearing.
At the main chamber, a crowd had gathered in front of a raised platform. In the middle of this platform there was a very large chair and a desk and on either side of the desk there were two rows of large chairs, five on one side and four on the other. At the front end of the platform, there were two heavy chairs set in the manner whereby they faced each other.
A gong was sounded and the crowds took their seats. The gong was sounded again and six surviving members of the Ten Founders of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan each took a seat on the platform. Clanmaster Collart sat at the seat behind the desk. Four of the seats remained empty, as a show of respect for the Founders who had passed away. Then the gong was sounded again and two guards tied the recruit to the heavy chair on the right side of the platform.
“Members of the Shadow Deathmerchant Clan! My fellow clansmen! We’ve gathered you here to witness the trial of Recruit Ash Saggot. The trial is now in session. First we call upon the accuser, Founder Rake Breven, to make the formal accusation,” announced Clanmaster Collart.
Rake got up and took the seat opposite Recruit Ash Saggot.
“I, Founder Rake Breven, do hereby accuse you, Recruit Ash Saggot, of thievery!” he said.
The crowd broke into a loud buzz. It had been many years since they encountered a case of thievery in the clan. The Shadow Deathmerchant Clan was a clan of assassins, not thieves! The clansmen felt that the act of stealing was cowardly and ignoble, but for one to steal from one’s fellow clansmen was just downright despicable and unforgivable. The crowd started to call for the death sentence.
Meanwhile, back in the prison chamber, Dawn opened her fist and examined the object her uncle had given her by feeling it with her fingers. It was a thin folded blade normally used as stationery. She unfolded the blade and began cutting her bonds.
Out in the main chamber, Recruit Ash Saggot’s trial continued.
“Founder Rake Breven, you may vacate the accuser’s seat,” said Clanmaster Collart.
Rake got off from the accuser’s seat and sat back amongst the Founders.
“Now Recruit Saggot, you may be given the opportunity to deny the accusations and plea your innocence,” said the clanmaster.
The crowd began booing. Apparently they had judged Recruit Saggot guilty even before he had a chance to say anything. This development worried Rake a little, for he had wanted this trial to last as long as possible so as to give Dawn time to escape.
In the prison chamber, Dawn gets up from her chair. Her whole body trembles with every step that she takes. Her legs feel weak. Yet she persists to step forward. She cannot not afford not to. This is her only opportunity to escape. She takes the red hot metal brand from the small pit of burning coal and advances slowly to the chamber’s entrance. She sees a guard there, but he stands turned away from her. She draws in a deep breath and strikes him in the head with all her might. There is a soft cracking sound as the guard’s skull fractures and he slumps onto the ground lifeless. Dawn takes the guard’s sword, dagger and Airblades.
In the main chamber, the trial continues.
“Clansmen! Now see for yourselves the evidence that we’ve gathered!” says the clanmaster.
Two of Rake’s men carry out a wooden frame on which the stolen items are hung for display.
“Hang the thief” shouts a lady in the crowd.
“Chop off his head!” shouts another.
“Give him a second chance!” says a man in the crowd.
“Over my dead body!” retorts another.
Dawn limps her way out into the main chamber, trying to act as casually as she can while staying in the shadows. She uses the guard’s sheathed sword as a walking stick, leaning against it for support. Everyone’s attention is on Recruit Ash Saggot on the platform. No one notices Dawn slowly making her way towards the entrance tunnel.
Clanmaster Collart hits his hammer on the desk and calls for silence.
“And now, clansmen! I shall pronounce judgement! I, Clanmaster Venom Collart, after due consideration and proper investigation, hereby pronounce Recruit Ash Saggot guilty of thievery! Do the Founders concur!?” announces Clanmaster Collart as he looks left and right.
One by one, starting from the left side of the platform, the Founders stand up and say out loud ‘I concur!’
Dawn sees it. She cannot believe that it is still there. There it is, just where she had put it, Panic-solver Number Two. She wastes no time. She slings the sword that she is leaning on across her shoulder. Then she grabs a torch, lights the fuse of Panic-solver Number Two, throws away the torch and then makes a pathetic run out through the entrance tunnel.
“Stop her!” yells Clanmaster Collart when he finally notices Dawn.
The crowd in the main chamber goes silent. Looks of confusion are painted on their faces.
BOOM! Panic-solver Number Two explodes and seals up the mouth of the entrance tunnel. Half the torches in the main chamber extinguish, causing the chamber to become extremely dim. Dawn gets knocked to the ground by the shockwave of the blast.
A few moments later, Dawn picks herself up. In the darkness of the entrance tunnel, she makes out two silhouettes moving towards her. The silhouettes belong to two guards who are guarding The Lair’s entrance. Without hesitation, Dawn sends Airblades flying towards them. Groans of pain tell Dawn that she has hit her targets. She limps by the two dead guards as fast as she can. Finally, she reaches the ledge at the mouth of the entrance tunnel. An Airblade flies past her ear. Turning around, she sees that one of the guards is not yet dead. Hardly having the energy to pick a fight, she takes the only option available to her. She jumps!
Splash! Dawn landed in the pool below, barely conscious. The sun’s ray was blinding but the water was chilly. And her ears were ringing from the blast. So she knew she was still alive, but just barely. She tried to swim, but her arms felt heavy. So she just floated and allowed the current to carry her downstream and away from The Lair.
An enraged Clanmaster Collart slammed his fist on his desk and gave Rake an accusing look.
“Your niece has just sealed us in! She has entombed us!” he shouted at Rake
.
“Relax, Venom! We can still get out through the escape exits. It’ll take us a week or so to clear this rubble, but we’re not entombed!” responded a cool Rake Breven.
The baboons call out loudly on this hot, sunny morning as a dreary figure pulls herself out of a fast flowing river and crawls up a sandy bank. Dawn Breven un-slings her sword from her shoulder. Then she turns around and lies on her back, facing the burning sun. Her body shivers from the cold. The warmth of the sun brings her comfort. But she covers her eyes. She does not like the glare. So here in Southend Forest, Free Falls most wanted criminal lie half dead, shivering, with her spirits broken and her heart hollowed. Then the exhaustion consumes her totally and she loses consciousness, drifting into a comfortable, well-deserved sleep….
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
TREACHERY
The thundering hooves of about 90 galloping horses kick up a huge dust-cloud along the main road leading towards Eastsands Town on the 6th Day of Fifth Month of Dry Season. Minvians Ray Iddell, Clover Genox and the 2nd and 3rd River, Royal Elementhar Pond, do not exactly make a ‘subtle’ entry, galloping into the town in full battle armour. Spirit the White Wolf rides along with the Sollenthars on his special war chariot.
Minvian Serene Genox had set up an ‘operations base’ at The Spot. The tavern’s compound had been fenced off with barbed wire, courtesy of the local town garrison; and fortified with huge logs and tree trunks. Tents and canvas beds had been set up in the huge backyard to serve as temporary quarters while the tavern itself was made the ‘Command and Control Centre’. The cellar now served as a store room and armoury.