by Thandi Ryan
‘He is of no threat to us.’
‘Yet!’
‘Adriel, you do not even know the man I talk of. He is an old man who lives on a mountain in a cave. He remains there most hours of every day.’
‘Even though he is a man who keeps much to himself, I am sure a man who knows such secrets and secret magic’s and makes incarnate things is very powerful; and is a man who could jeopardise whatever plans you intend to execute.’
‘I doubt that,’ Rufus said dryly.
‘Even if he is not threat, consider this, the cloaks you wear wield great power,’ Adriel began. ‘They give you a great advantage, but I wonder, will you have the same advantage if such cloaks fell in to the hands of the palace and the guard? I think not.’
‘What do you suggest we do?’ Rakan asked.
‘Kill him, it is the only thing you can do.’
‘I will not,’ Rakan said vehemently objecting.
‘You have to,’ Adriel said; ‘and Salwar agrees with me. It is so commanded.’
Rakan gave Adriel a murderous look. ‘He is an old man who lives in a cave, what could he possibly stop us from doing? The armies have left for Parades and Lansten and we will be leaving for Amalah shortly; he could not possible stop any of us.’
‘Salwar agrees with me, it is to be done Rakan and you are to be the one to do it,’ Adriel said, with a small self-satisfied smile.
‘No,’ Rakan said, with the same defiance.
‘No?’ Adriel said curiously.
‘No!’ Rakan replied.
‘You still dare to defy Salwar?’
‘There is no need to kill the old man.’
‘Need is irrelevant,’ Adriel said flatly. ‘What is relevant is that you will not do as Salwar has asked. I will tell you one more time Rakan and think very carefully before you answer – kill the old man.’
‘No,’ Rakan replied instantly.
‘I was hoping you would have come to your senses by now. You may not have to do my bidding but you have to do the bidding of the mighty Salwar. You say that you will accept no consequences of defying him, that in the end your will is your own, but it is not and you must understand that,’ Adriel told him. ‘All of you must understand that.’
Adriel stared at Rakan and Rakan stared back, but his train of thought was broken by a feeling of discomfort. Rakan shook his head and wondered where the feeling had come from – it was coming from everywhere within him and as he realised that, his discomfort grew and then, as suddenly and intensely as it could have been, the discomfort turned into pain – mind numbing, excruciating and nauseating pain. Rakan’s friends looked on with grave concern as Rakan fell to the floor groaning in agony and his body turned red and then a deep purple. Everywhere in his body was screaming in pain and there was nothing he or any of his friends could do to stop it.
‘What are you doing to him?’ Luxor spat.
‘I am doing nothing,’ Adriel said, smiling a cold smile as he looked down at Rakan. ‘This is Salwar’s doing.’
‘How?’ Rufus asked.
‘You gave him your blood and he holds it within him.’
‘So?’ said Waldon.
‘You offered it to him and he took it, that blood may not be in your body anymore but as your blood flows through Salwar, it remains connected to you. You see Rakan’s blood is quite literally boiling. His blood boils in Salwar, therefore it boils in him.’
‘Stop this,’ Bryce shouted.
‘It is not for me to stop, it is for Salwar to stop; when he is convinced that all of you – especially you Rakan; understand that as far as he is concerned – choice is not a word that you may use, or something that you have the luxury of.’
Rakan was now writhing in agony as his blood boiled throughout his body. His skin became dark red now and the whites of his eyes were covered with bulging blood vessels that were boiling and ready to burst.
‘You will kill him!’ shouted Luxor
‘No – Salwar will not kill Rakan this time, but I am sure Rakan wishes he would.’
Rakan could not move now, any movement he made was an involuntary one. He was aware of Adriel’s voice talking at him and he was aware of his friends but above all, he was aware of the pain that he was in. To him the pain was indescribable; he had never known pain like it in his life and it grew worse, as each long second passed.
Rakan knew his blood was boiling, he could feel it bubble inside of him; he did not need Adriel to tell him what was going on inside of his body. He felt the agonising pain and he wished for death every single second but death would not come to him and he knew it.
“I am truly bound to Salwar,” he thought to himself.
The pain continued for a short time after, although to Rakan it seemed like an eternity. Although his blood had eventually stopped boiling, Rakan still needed time to recover and so he lay on the floor, his arms now still and by his side. He took a few deep breaths in and tried to focus, it hurt him to look anywhere, which made him constantly close his eyes. His friends, who had been by his side, gave him enough space to gather himself together.
After a while, he turned on his side to rise to his feet and Luxor and Rufus helped him up. Rakan faced Adriel and saw that the old man was clearly enjoying himself. Adriel was smiling at Rakan and his blue eyes glinted and shone brilliantly.
‘I taught you much when you were at Lansten – you and Rufus, and I also taught you when you went back to Amalah, but this is the most important lesson you had to learn and I truly hope for your own sake – that you did. So tell me Rakan – will you kill the old man?’
Rakan looked at Adriel and remained silent, he simply stared at him. Rakan was thinking; he could not go through the pain that he had just suffered but he did not want to kill the old man and more than anything –he did not want to be bound to Adriel, or Salwar, if this was the power they had over him. Rakan could not think of a way out and so he continued to stare at Adriel with his own cold hard stare, until Adriel challenged him once again.
‘Well?’
Once again, Rakan did not answer; he continued to stare back at Adriel. Thoughts rushed through his mind and none presented the answer. Rakan knew he was stuck for now but be vowed to one day find a way to free himself from Salwar’s power and he vowed that one day, he would get even with Adriel for deliberately putting him in this situation. Adriel was about to ask Rakan for the last time when Rakan spoke.
‘I will kill him,’ Rakan said quietly.
‘Ensure that you do,’ Adriel said, smiling to himself and then at Rakan and the rest of the men. ‘I suppose now would be a good time to tell you,’ Adriel began, as he stared at Waldon; ‘that what Kalon spoke of was not particularly untrue.’
‘Then I follow you no more,’ Waldon, said rising to his feet and walking away from Adriel.
‘Really?’ Adriel asked in mock surprise. ‘Are you willing to watch your friends suffer an eternity of torment and torture because you are having yet another attack of morality?’
Waldon turned and glared hatefully at Adriel. ‘One day old man, Salwar will not be around to protect you and you will have to face us one and all.’
‘I don’t envisage that day coming any eon soon,’ Adriel replied. ‘Come back Waldon,’ Adriel teased. ‘Please come back, I’m not sure how Rufus will cope with torment.’
‘Carry on Adriel,’ Waldon replied, his eyes shining with anger. ‘When you fall, I hope I am there to watch.
Adriel said nothing for a change; he knew he was playing a dangerous game. He didn’t care about upsetting the six; he cared about incurring Salwar’s wrath. The six of them arrived back at the mountain where they had been, before Adriel had come and taken them to Amalah. Daybreak was not far away in Equer and the sky was between morning light and darkness. Adriel did not speak to any of the six young men when they were back in the place that he had found them, he simply looked each and every one of them in the eye and then he disappeared with the blue flame. When he was gone, the six men remained out
in the open and looked at each other.
‘We cannot be beholden to Salwar for an eternity?’ Rufus said emphatically.
‘I agree,’ said Rakan. ‘You do not know the pain I endured – every second I wished that death would come to me.’
‘But we are bound to him,’ Bryce replied. ‘Each and every one of us is bound to Salwar, by our blood and only if our blood stops flowing, will we be free.’
‘There must be a way to loosen the bond,’ Luxor said stubbornly.
‘There is,’ Bryce said, and as he spoke, the others looked at him. ‘Death is our only escape.’
‘I will not take that escape,’ Waldon said. ‘Nor will I be bound for an eternity to Salwar.’
‘If we do as he asks, we will fare well,’ Bryce retorted.
‘And if we do not wish to do as he asks, how will we fare?’ Rufus asked.
‘Very badly,’ Kenaz answered.
‘We’ve come this far and so far, we have done things how we have wanted to do things; yes we may have to do things we do not want to do –but in this life – who doesn’t?’ Bryce said trying to reason with the group.
‘I don’t,’ Luxor said. ‘Not until I found myself bound to Salwar and saw the pain he caused Rakan.’
‘Rakan could have saved himself same pain,’ Bryce said simply.
‘Really?’ Rakan asked, raising his voice slightly.
‘Yes you could Rakan and you well knew it.’
‘I do not want to kill Maddox.’
‘I am sure you did not want to kill your own brother – but you did, Bryce said and as he uttered the words, the six froze on the spot and all eyes were on Bryce and Rakan.
‘No, I did not,’ Rakan said as an edge appeared in his voice and he glared at Bryce.
Rufus, Waldon and Kenaz heard the anger in his voice and they knew that Rakan was doing all he could to remain in control.
‘But I had to kill Kalon; there is no need to kill Maddox.’
‘No reason that you can see,’ Bryce said, correcting him.
‘So I should do their bidding at all times, not question what is being said or done?’ he said angrily.
As his anger came to the surface, he felt surges of energy run through his hands and the others watched as electrical sparks came out from his fingertips.
‘You’ve already chosen sides Rakan, you chose this path and this is what comes with those choices,’ Bryce told Rakan testily.
‘Perhaps Bryce but if Salwar tells me to kill you, then I shall remember that you approve,’ he replied, as he moved closer to Bryce in a menacing manner.
‘It would not come to that.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘They would not have made us swear allegiance to each other, if they wanted us to then turn on each other and kill each other. We are strong together and they see it and as you well know; if Salwar wanted us dead, he could do it himself, he would not require us to do it.’
‘That maybe,’ Rakan said. ‘But I am not happy or willing, to go a lifetime being bound to Salwar if that is the pain he is willing to inflict on us.’
‘Nor I,’ said Kenaz.
‘I am not willing to suffer such pain,’ Luxor said.
‘A lifetime could be a long time to go through, especially when it is spent in pain, that is why I do not wish to be bound that way to Salwar,’ said Waldon.
‘I think we need to consider how many enemies we are willing to make and how many we can fight at the same time. Not forgetting to consider if our enemy is one we can win against – and I wager it is not,’ Bryce said, as he looked at his friends before he turned and retired to his cave.
The remaining five men stayed out in the open for a while.
‘What fools we are one and all!’ Waldon said bitterly.
‘What do we do now?’ Luxor asked.
‘We have no choice but to continue,’ said Rakan.
‘Until?’
‘Until the end, or until we find a way out,’ Rakan answered.
‘The taste of regret is bitter indeed,’ said Waldon, choking on his words, as he turned and walked away.
Waldon walked down the mountain and Rufus followed. It was not until he was in the woods that Waldon turned around, his eyes burning with anger.
‘From our days in Qomo when you and Rakan used your magic, I never worried where it might lead,’ Waldon said, as he stared at Rufus, his eyes still ablaze. ‘But Kalon did, he worried and he feared. I saw the looks on his face. I used to reassure him but how wrong was I?’
‘Waldon please…’
‘No!’ Waldon said, cutting Rufus off. ‘You were corrupted at magic school. You let Adriel in and then, well then you decided to convince me and Kenaz.’
‘Do you lay the blame for our fate at mine and Rakan’s door?’
‘Oh Rufus, we are well past blame and I am a man who makes his own decisions.’
‘Do you hate me?’
Waldon let out a small bitter laugh. ‘I wish I could hate you,’ he said shaking his head. ‘A god lied to us all and probably for his own ends. He knew there was no return and that is why, I wager, we had to come to him willingly.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Rufus said, with a rare display of humility as he moved closer to Waldon. ‘I’m truly sorry,’ he whispered, as he stroked Waldon’s shoulder and then touched his cheek. ‘You saved my life and I corrupted yours.
Waldon brought his hand up to where Rufus’ was and then he pulled his friend’s hand away.
‘A god lied to us, we cast the world into despair, betrayed and killed our brother and now we are blood bound to him for life. From the time we left Amalah to the Henge, I did not look back, or feel guilty. Then we happen.’
‘Do you regret…? Rufus asked, quite afraid of the answer.
‘At this time Rufus, I know nothing,’ Waldo admitted to Rufus, who didn’t hide his hurt. ‘I just know I need to be alone,’ he said as he turned and stalked off into the woods, leaving a desolate Rufus behind.
As the new day dawned the six rose and set out to do a full days work. When it was time to rest, Waldon found Rufus sitting alone at the rivers edge.
‘I don’t regret us,’ he said gently, as he sat by Rufus’ side.
‘I’m sorry,’ Rufus whispered. ‘I should never have…’
‘Don’t say it,’ Waldon said quietly. ‘Just be with me now,’ he said, his voice softening.
The weeks passed by very quickly for the soldiers in Equer for it was nearly time for them to begin marching towards Amalah. They trained, hunted, tracked and organised food, weapons and other supplies. Rakan spent time with Maddox and it pained him to know that he would have to kill him, for he had truly grown fond of the old man.
Time passed by and the time grew near for the soldiers to march through Equer to Amalah. They would begin at night and move right through to sunrise. The evening before they were to begin, Rakan went into Maddox’s cave and the two of them talked for most of the evening. The two men drank wine and sat by the small fire in Maddox’s cave.
‘Your father must be proud of you Rakan,’ Maddox said, out of the blue. ‘A man as young as you, being able to lead an army and lead it well.’
‘I wish he were proud of me Maddox, but I know he is not.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘My father has two sons, had two sons. I was not the one he was proud of, Kalon was; but he was right to be.
‘Rakan sometimes…’ Maddox began, but Rakan interrupted him.
‘Sometimes we choose a path in life and even if we choose wrongly, we are stuck with the path we chose, we can’t get off. Not only are we stuck with the path but everything that is on that path.’
‘You are wiser than your years Rakan.’
‘I chose the wrong path Maddox and I cannot get off,’ Rakan said with a tone of regret and desperation.
‘Sometimes Rakan, you choose the path and sometimes, the path chooses you but often, it is a mixture of both.’
‘Maddox I walk i
n darkness, I am not a good man; in fact I would even go so far as to say I am evil.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because even though I am evil, I want you to know that I like you Maddox, we grew close and I like the man I met. You taught me a lot, and I thank you, but I did nothing for you in return and now I must return the favour by doing you harm, but know this – I am truly sorry,’ Rakan said in a genuinely remorseful tone.
Maddox looked at Rakan and tried to understand what Rakan was talking about; he went to pat him on the back to reassure him but before his hand reached Rakan’s back, Rakan had grabbed Maddox by the throat and began squeezing. Maddox’s eyes widened in surprise, and because Rakan was cutting off his blood supply, his eyes bulged even more.
‘I’m sorry,’ Rakan said, as he crushed Maddox’s windpipe and Maddox’s eyes became still and fixed as his body became lifeless.
Rakan released his grip of Maddox’s throat and then he suddenly took hold of his head and snapped his neck before he lay him down on the ground. Rakan looked at Maddox’s lifeless body and his eyes filled with tears; some of those tears were for Maddox but most of them were for Kalon. He had not been able to think of Kalon for a long time, but now he was here in Maddox’s cave, alone with another who had died by his hand and it had given Rakan time to think and thoughts of Kalon came rushing into his mind and the thoughts hurt him deeply.
‘Oh god Kalon, what have I done?’ Rakan cried.
Thoughts of happier times came to mind and thoughts of how much he missed his brother and thoughts of what he had really done and what he had become sprang to his mind and he say contemplating them all.
‘I’m sorry Kalon,’ Rakan said as he looked at the old lifeless body of Maddox and saw his brother.
Rakan sat and thought about Kalon and the old man and as he remembered him and what he had done, the tears fell freely down his cheeks. He patted Maddox’s chest and then reached over and covered him with a blanket.
‘Don’t feel sorry for me,’ Rakan heard a voice say.
The voice startled him and Rakan turned around sharply to see who was speaking to him.
‘You can’t see me now Rakan,’ the voice said.