The priest on the pillar wildly brought six women before Khafish and shrieked "Choose!" His movements were obnoxious and forceful.
Will could hear one of the women crying and struggling to back away from Khafish, but the Sahk-Behk were behind her, holding her hands.
Khafish stood and stared at her and laughed loud enough for the whole cave to hear.
Kellin was behind Will again, whispering in his ear in fear of the Sahk-Behk. "Use the staff."
Will realized he had been gripping the staff, and had it not already been crooked, his grip would have bent it.
"Na tak lugan!" a voice screamed from the other side of the bowl.
Will paused, thinking it was an outcry identifying who would be the sacrifice. Who in their right mind could present a girl to die at the hands of this beast, he thought. What a vindictive, evil people!
Khafish turned toward the voice and furled his brow, concentrating on where the voice came from.
"I am no good, you say?" he growled, looking for the protester. The whole crowd on the other side shifted, as if trying to find the perpetrator to please their master.
"I am no good?" Khafish laughed uproariously.
"I saved these people, O follower of Amshel! What did you do?"
Will and Tripp looked to Kellin, confused, but his face was tilted to the side as if trying to understand as well.
"I am here to save them now," the voice cried again from another part of the bowl.
A small figure could be seen running in and out of the crowd.
"Save them from what?" The thohg peered around, shifting quickly.
"From you," a different voice said solidly from the fifth floor. Will looked up, trying to see who was speaking, and caught a glimpse of someone falling. For a moment, Will saw who was falling. It was the second boy he had seen in his room the previous night. In his hands as he fell over the thohg was a sword, half the length of his body, glowing bright white amidst all the blues. In a flash, the boy toppled the giant over, and both slid into the hole from whence Khafish came.
From the second floor, the first boy slid down with a satchel on his side, elbowing a confused Sahk-Behk on his way down.
The whole cavern roared with fury at the interruption and the attack on their master, as they stared down into the hole.
The wild man on the pillar began panicking and flailing around on the ground. He yelled something indiscernible, and a person from the crowd threw him a knife. He turned and faced the girls. "Blood must be spilt to save our savior!"
Before Will could think, he realized that he had pounded the staff on the stone.
The whole cave lit up with a blinding light and a rushing wind spun around the hole, slowly moving downward. Everyone, even Will, had to cover their eyes because of the immense heat and light. Halfway down the bowl, the priest shrieked, then disappeared from view. The light spun quickly toward the bottom, as if flushing out all the evil. At the end, the lights disappeared down the hole, and everything went quiet and black.
The crowd began screaming and rushing toward the main cavern. Will and Tripp ran as well. Kellin was not far behind, but it was hard to tell amidst the chaos.
As they rounded the corner into the blue lit chasm, the king yelled "STOP!"
Will slowed and turned to see a furious king staring and pointing his hand at them.
"You have come to kill our savior, Hiktar? The one who stole us from our graves and gave us life abundant?"
Will stood, not knowing what to do, as this large man closed in on him.
"No!" Tripp appeared next to Will and stared down the approaching king.
"Then why did the lights come out of your rod, O betrayer of Khafish?" the king asked sarcastically, closing in on them.
"He was not your savior!" Will cried even louder. "He was a demon thohg."
"He spared our lives from the doom we faced on that beach so many generations ago! He has provided for us, keeping us alive in the mountain!"
"Translate for me," Tripp said to Will.
Will had almost forgot that they weren't all just speaking the languages of Earth.
"The true Lord has come, not to enslave you in darkness, but to bring you into the light."
Will repeated.
"He is a righteous and loving God, who would not stand for such atrocities! You were going to give your daughters joyfully to that thohg for a half-given freedom! Our savior, Jesus Christ, calls you to give only yourself to him, to live for him and abandon this wickedness."
Will realized while repeating that the whole city was listening, as the acoustics of the cave perfectly allowed anyone to be heard from anywhere inside.
"I will never abandon my savior, and I would gladly give all our daughters to keep surviving here!" the king yelled back.
"This is not living," Tripp continued. "Our God created the heavens and the Earths, and he cares for those that call themselves His. He would not force you to survive in darkness, but rather come to the light."
The king stood flabbergasted, staring at the traitors of his god. "No, no, I will never abandon my god, and I will have revenge." The king’s eyes widened, as a crazy man’s might. He reached to the guard next to him and pulled his sword. Tripp and Kellin stood in front of Will, as Will pulled a dagger of his own.
Makur saw the dagger, paused and screamed "Kill them, guardians of Dom!"
The guards started inching forward. Each of them drew a knife or a sword fashioned from bronze-like metals.
"Stop!" Kohnar emerged from the crowd.
"How dare you, Kohnar!" Makur said, spitting his words out with hate.
Kohnar walked toward the king, drew his sword, and abruptly ended Makur’s life.
A long period of silence fell. Will stared at Kohnar and the fallen body of Makur. The collective jaws of the city dropped as they stared in disbelief. Truly, their king of darkness was dead.
"I believe you," Kohnar said, finally turning to Will.
"It was my daughter who stood on that pillar, and even though I begged the king several times to beg for mercy instead of sacrifice, he refused. He was filled with blood lust, and the selfish need to survive. I will do anything to repay you for saving my daughter."
A door to Will’s right opened, and a sleep deprived Rya emerged rubbing her eyes. Everyone stopped and looked at her. Rya looked up, noticing the large gathering and the dead king.
"What happened?" Rya asked, shocked by the scene.
"Heh," Will laughed awkwardly.
18 Another Hiktar
Awad sat upon the throne that Will once stood in front of, wearing a tan and bright red robe. Rika sat to his left, a sign that Awad had control. Awad liked that.
"What are we to do, Hiktar? Tareen says we are to make for the South and wage war with the Thohg in Thohg Rine."
"We will do none of the sort. Will has led these people astray, to their deaths."
"How do you know, O Hiktar?"
"I consult with Djinn, the messengers of the true God, and they have told me that we are not to follow Will’s evil ways."
"The Thohg have attacked our people. Only a few have remained loyal to us."
"Those few are also followers of the only true God. We cannot tolerate the actions or words of Will. We will stay here until I am told otherwise."
"What of Tareen and his people? They make camp in our part of the island, and they wish to follow after Will to the Rine."
Awad thought about this for a while, looking up as if he was speaking to God himself.
"What would you do to a snake that slithered toward you?"
"A snake?"
“Bad example. What would you do if a wild beast was running toward you with the intent of killing you and your friends"?
"I would kill it," Rika replied.
"Exactly."
Will, Tripp, Kellin and Rya had all returned to their rooms, weary after a long day of debate. The people of Mahfur had argued for most of the day over the events of the morning. Kohnar had
declared himself the King of Mahfur, and has essentially forced his declaration onto the people. Some hated being under Khafish, and were happy to no longer be under his reign of terror. Many families lost their children and loved ones to the sacrifices made at the Festival of Joeh. Others still believed Khafish was the only reason they had been allowed to live.
Will lay on the floor next to his bed, trying to get a grip on the whole situation. Thoughts kept popping up in his mind, most of all the words from the man on the Qarib: The choice to die alone, or with friends.
The concept echoed through his mind like a ricochet striking every nerve. He had been trying not to think about those words until now, but the thought was overwhelming to say the least.
He was going to die, or so the man had said.
Will’s eyes closed, and then opened again. He was once again on the ship, seated in the pilot’s chair with his face in his hands. He looked up and saw the man standing in front of the side window, staring at the planet. Will’s rage got the best of him, as he stood up quickly and thought about rushing the man.
The man stood there calmly, as if already aware of the impending altercation. Will paused, unsure of how to approach him, until he looked closely at his face. A single tear had made its way down the man’s cheek.
He was crying.
Will got even angrier at this strange sign of weakness. Disgusting, he thought to himself. He stood there, letting his anger build up in the silence. Why is this man crying?
"What do you mean, 'The choice to die alone, or with friends?'" Will asked, finally breaking the silence.
The man just stood there staring at the planet. He simply said, "this ship was not designed to land in water."
Will stared at him, hating him for being so cryptic with everything.
"What can I do about that?"
"Upon entering the atmosphere, you will only have enough power to use the afterburners, and not for very long. This will slow your descent, but not enough. If you don't detach your end of the ship, the crew will all die. If you do detach, the ship will be beyond repair and you will die on this planet."
Will’s mind raced. Was this time travel? Was his decision already made? Why did he keep returning to the ship?
"Haven't I already done this?" Will asked sarcastically.
The man finally turned toward Will, his tears gone.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean you don't still have a choice."
"I already know the outcome though."
"This is true."
"So what’s the point?"
"Will, you have choices to make in this life. You do not have to listen to Me. I am merely here to show you that I need you to willingly follow me, and to turn away from yourself. I have given you the answers, and in this situation the outcome is clear. In the future I will call on you to follow me again, but the outcomes will be uncertain. I need you to trust Me."
"Why me? Why not Tripp, or someone else?"
"I have known you since birth, Will, and since your conception I have had a plan laid out for you. A plan through which I need you to follow Me."
Will was done with all this nonsense.
"I'm not going to do what you say. I'm not going to blindly follow some man who says he has a plan that, for some reason, I'm not privy to."
"I am not some man."
Will looked into the man’s eyes. Then who was he?
"You need to travel to Thohg Rine alone, Will. Anyone who joins you on that island will perish. That is not what you or I want."
"What if I just don't go, drop the stick, and stay where I am?"
"This world is not safe, Will." The man looked concerned. "The forces here would consume you, as they have consumed most creations on this planet. Rya and all the others with you will perish in the shadows of darkness. Is this what you want?"
Do I even have a choice? Will thought.
"You always have a choice, Will, I have given you that. Though, as I said before, you know the outcomes of either scenario. Will you follow Me? Or perish?"
Tareen awoke to a noise outside his tent. Having lived in such close vicinity of the Sahk-Behk and the Thohg, his reaction time was quick. Ever since Will’s departure, his heart was heavy and his mind uneasy. He wasn't angry at Will; for some reason he trusted him. As a fighter against evil for all his life, he respected anyone who rose to vanquish darkness. That was part of the reason he had taken in Rya as a child.
He remembered that day, so long ago. He had become the head of the tribe, his father having died just the day before. In his father’s memory he dedicated a party of warriors to one simple task: Destroy the Sahk-Behk. All his life he had contested the evil that resided along the southwestern coast of the island. The loss of his father turned it into something more.
As they went through the village, the battle was fierce. The Sahk-Behk threw themselves onto the Algaer like mad men wanting to die. Such a waste. Such a pity. Blow after blow, they laid down Sahk-Behk after Sahk-Behk, relentlessly working their way from the northern tree line to the end of the village.
As one of the huts had caught fire, a young Tareen stood and watched it burn, wryly smiling. From out of the tent emerged something, it was moving fast. Tareen picked up a knife and ran toward the movement. A small girl had emerged. She must have been only four.
"Please! Save me!" she cried, longing for someone to pick her up and whisk her away. At first Tareen considered putting the child down. No Sahk-Behk should live.
The little girl looked up to his face and threw her arms wide, screaming and begging him to pick her up. He hesitated.
"Something in my mind broke that day," he always said. "And something in my heart was healed."
He picked up Rya from amidst the flames and carried her all the way back to the Algaer.
No one in the tribe understood why he would harbor such a villainous creature.
"She's just a child," he would scream at the protesters. "No more responsible for her parents than you or I."
Another noise, this time something dragging across his tent, ripped him away from his memories.
A scream came from the opposite end of camp.
"I will not lay down and die!" Tareen yelled as he stood and ran out of his tent, hoping to surprise his attackers. The blade of his foe hung at the door, quickly silencing his world. He fell to the right, gripping the middle of his torso as his body screamed. This was the end. Despite all his prior injuries, Tareen knew that this is what death felt like.
"God of the Hiktar, forgive me," his last words fumbled out. Awad stood above him, his face cold and dark.
19 To the Rine
Will had planned it out in his mind a dozen times. Telling Tripp, Kellin and Rya to stay back as he went to his death would not be easy. For some reason they seemed dedicated to him. Or were they dedicated to the man on the Qarib? Either way, he had his speech prepared.
Kohnar wanted to help Will go the Rine, but his people needed his help. Traveling from the darkness to the outside world would not be easy. Now though, they agreed it was necessary. One can only be blind to the truth for so long.
Will and the others had begun packing their things and were headed toward the entrance of the cave.
"Do you think they will leave this place?" Rya asked.
"That's their choice," Will said ominously.
"We will, I will make sure of it." Kohnar replied. The group hadn't realized he was there. "You have shown us that only the light can conquer the darkness. Not the other way around."
As they neared the entrance, Will looked around at the cavern. It truly was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Rya walked up, accidentally locking eyes with Will. Both turned away, embarrassed, and continued up the stone path.
All four stepped out onto the cliff face and stared at the ocean that lay in front of them. It was about midday, and they knew that they had to move quickly if they wanted to arrive soon. To be honest, Will didn't know what the rush was. The man on the Qarib never gave
him a deadline. Will paused, and chuckled at the irony of that last thought.
This was the first time that any of them had seen daylight in three days. It was a strange experience. Kellin squinted harshly at the water, as if trying to regain his focus.
"Well, let’s go," Will announced.
Their horses had been tended to by Kohnar’s guards and were waiting at the base of the cliff. The Mahfur had supplied Will with a new horse because the Rohk killed his.
Their trip would get them to the end of the island by nightfall, but getting to the next island, where the Rine stood, was still a mystery.
Will rode in the front, then Rya, then Tripp, and then Kellin in the rear.
Per usual, Kellin and Tripp stayed back and discussed language and history, leaving Rya and Will to travel in an awkward silence.
"Have you always been chosen, Will?" Rya said, breaking the silence.
"Ha, no. In fact, back on Earth, where we came from, I felt like I was forgotten."
"Why?"
"Well, things just didn't really... happen for me, I guess."
"How so?"
"I owed a lot of money to a bad man. I was homeless, practically penniless, and there was no hope in sight." Will realized he sounded pretty depressing.
"I know how that feels. I was shunned by my people since as far back as I can remember. As a child, I wondered if I would be better off going back to the Sahk-Behk. I didn't know it was worse over there with them. Tareen and Kellin were the only ones who were ever really kind to me."
Will thought about that for a minute, and realized that his circumstances looked pretty good compared to hers. Will looked back at her, catching her eyes and locking for a brief moment. She truly was beautiful. The thought of this amazing girl being the ugly duckling to a whole tribe was baffling to him.
The beach around the island began to curve, and the lay of the land between them and the ocean was now visible. Tan leather tents littered the beach, and fires were burning as men and women gathered waiting.
The Crooked Staff (The Chronicles of Will Book 1) Page 11