The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  “You’re not wrong about that, Reingle.” Major General Solbrig smiled. “You know, I’ve grown to like you, you’re a good companion.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  Major General Solbrig chuckled. “Thanks for a laugh. I’ve been told I’m a little rough around the edges.”

  “A little?! Who told you that?”

  “Don’t make me laugh, Reingle it hurts to laugh.” Major General Solbrig grinned.

  J’uhleesa stopped in front of the cave entrance and turned around to talk to the Snargde. The Major Generals walked to the side of the cave as they watched J’uhleesa and the Snargde. J’uhleesa raised his hands slightly and began to speak again. “New Snargde, would you kindly step forward and follow me into this cave?” J’uhleesa smiled and waited to see the new brown Snargde emerge from the group and stood in between the blue Snargde and J’uhleesa. “I will give you the new redemption that is needed to become part of the true Snargde.”

  He looked over at the Major Generals watching and noticed them. “Ah, would you two come here, too?” The Major Generals nodded and walked towards him. Major General Reingle was supporting Major General Solbrig as they walked. When they got closer, J’uhleesa turned his back and walked into the mouth of the cave, The Major Generals followed him, and the Snargde followed behind them. The original Snargde followers stood there, motionless, waiting for J’uhleesa to come back. As they walked in the cave, J’uhleesa asked. “Do you know why I called you two in the cave?”

  “Nope.” Major General Solbrig replied.

  “There’s something in here that I think will help you, Solbrig,”

  “Since this cave exploded, I don’t think it is going to go much further, J’uhleesa.” Major General Reingle added.

  “You’re right about that. Although, if you recall what I told you, the Azuard changes forms in the heat. The cave is still cool enough that the Azuard is a different form.”

  Major General Reingle turned to look at Major General Solbrig with a muddled expression on his face. “What do you mean, J’uhleesa?”

  “You’ll see, it’s not too much further.”

  They continued walking inside the cave as J’uhleesa stopped abruptly and moved his hand and placed his palm on the side of the cave. He moved his head and placed his ear on it and hit the wall three times with his palm, then he backed up a few feet and moved his tail back and forth, gaining momentum, and then he pummeled it at the same spot. The wall began to break apart, and then he moved closer and grabbed some rocks that were broken and tossed them aside. He continued to move more rocks, and they uncovered a small shining blue light. J’uhleesa struck the wall again with his tail, and more rocks fell down, making the hole bigger and easier to access. J’uhleesa turned around and motioned with his hand as he spoke.

  “Come here, Solbrig,” J’uhleesa told him to come closer.

  Major General Solbrig nodded and slowly walked forward.

  “Turn around.”

  As Major General Solbrig turned around, J’uhleesa turned around and grabbed a handful of the Azuard and then placed it where he saw the wounds on Major General Solbrig Major General Solbrig closed his eyes from the relaxing feeling that the Azuard produced on his back and arm. The Azuard also produced a coolness that allowed the pain to instantly cease from his wounds.

  Major General Solbrig let out a sigh of relief. “That is soothing, J’uhleesa.”

  “Good, I’m glad it helps. M’leezenah got you pretty bad, but the Azuard will heal you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  J’uhleesa walked in front of him and turned around in a circle as he spoke. “Look at me, am I hurt at all from the fight?”

  Major General Solbrig opened his eyes and looked at J’uhleesa up and down. “No, you’re not.”

  “You’re right. Without it, I would have been the one that’s dead.”

  “Wow.” Major General Reingle exclaimed.

  “That’s something else.” Major General Solbrig stated.

  “The Azuard is the key for the Snargde.” He smiled. “Would you step aside, please?”

  Major General Solbrig walked towards Major General Reingle and stood beside him. J’uhleesa spoke. “Would you all step forward, one by one?” he asked. The Snargde was curious. J’uhleesa turned towards the Azuard and grabbed a handful of the Azuard and covered it on the Snargde closest to him. “With this restoration, you are a new creature. Step into it and become forever changed.” The Snargde listened and stepped into the hole as J’uhleesa had made.

  “Kneel down in it and submerge your head under it.”

  The Snargde listened to J’uhleesa as he placed his hand on the Snargde’s head and helped submerge its entire body in it. The Snargde stood up and crouched down as it walked back to its spot. The next Snargde in line followed the same instructions as the previous one did, and so on until all the Snargde were immersed in the Azuard. J’uhleesa raised his arms up as he spoke.

  “My fellow Snargde, you are now one of us. You will start to feel the effects of the Azuard soon. Follow me outside so we can join both sides of Snargde together.”

  J’uhleesa walked towards the entrance, and the Snargde moved to both sides of the cave to allow J’uhleesa to pass through, following him was the Major Generals once again then the rest of the Snargde.

  “The Azuard feels amazing, J’uhleesa.” Major General Solbrig complimented, “No wonder why you have it all over your body.”

  J’uhleesa smiled. “Now, you understand! The Azuard allows you to feel and see things like never before.”

  “I understand what you mean now,” Major General Solbrig asked, “Reingle, why don’t you put the Azuard on yourself?”

  “Oh, I don’t need to.” Major General Reingle stated, “I have no need for it.”

  “Are you sure?” J’uhleesa asked.

  “I’m not hurt, am I? I feel perfectly fine without it. I appreciate the gesture, though.”

  “The Azuard is always available if you ever want it, Reingle.”

  “Thank you.” Major General Reingle smiled.

  J’uhleesa walked out of the cave and walked towards the Snargde, waiting for his return. He walked right up to them and turned around, waiting for the Snargde that were in the cave to come outside. The Major Generals followed J’uhleesa and stood on each side of him. The Snargde walked out of the cave and looked like a mirror image of the Snargde that was behind J’uhleesa and the Major Generals.

  As the Snargde walked closer, J’uhleesa smiled and turned his body as he spoke. “Snargde! You are all the same now! Now that the war is over, we may live our lives in peace!” J’uhleesa looked at the Snargde that just came out of the cave. “Until the next generation, when a new Snargde wants to be the leader, we will be waiting for it.” He looked around to his left and right.

  “I will go find some food with Reingle and Solbrig here.” J’uhleesa continued speaking. “Rest, here, Snargde, until I notify you.” J’uhleesa walked towards the cave, where the Azuard and he waved towards the Major Generals signaling them to follow him. They walked after him, and when they caught up, Major General Reingle asked him a question.

  “Will they be okay by themselves?”

  “Yes. All Snargde knows what happens if you disobey the leader.” J’uhleesa proudly stated.

  “Well, that’s definitely nice for the leader...where are we headed to anyways?”

  “We are in search of food.”

  “Where are we going to find food here?” Major General Solbrig inquired.

  “Wherever we can. Prey like to hide in the caves, but they are small, we need something bigger to feed all the Snargde,” J’uhleesa explained.

  “Where can we find something big on Snakardekus?” Major General Reingle asked, “There seems to be nothing in sight.”

  “Prey will appear by water, that is what always happens.”

  “Well, if that is always what happens, why don’t you send the Snargde to go hunt then?” Major Gener
al Solbrig asked.

  “As a leader, you don’t want to tire your Snargde out to the point of exhaustion. That is what M’leezenah did and look at what happened, most of them perished easily against my Snargde!”

  “That’s a pretty simple battle strategy, though, wouldn’t you say?” Major General Reingle asked,

  “That is right. I will teach the other Snargde how to hunt later, but for now, I will show you two how us Snargde hunt for food.”

  “Here, I thought Snakardekus was just a wasteland.” Major General Solbrig remarked.

  “Looks can be deceiving, Solbrig. I’ll show you that there is more to Snakardekus than it seems.” J’uhleesa turned to Major General Solbrig and smiled at him.

  They continued walking east, and then they turned left and saw a few rock formations leading upwards to a small hill. There were a few rock formations that they had to cross over. As they walked on top of them, they were able to peer over the side of the hill and saw the Drakdel and then looked beneath them saw the Azuard cave and noticed the Snargde still standing in the same formation as they had left them in.

  “Are you sure that the Snargde will be okay? It just seems odd that you would leave them alone after what they had just been through.” Major General Solbrig asked.

  “Since I am the new leader, the Snargde obey no matter what I tell them.”

  “Really? This is all the Snargde on Snakardekus? Just the few hundred here?” Major General Reingle asked.

  As they continued walking, something appeared in the distance, and J’uhleesa replied. “No. There are more scattered about, but the ones that care about the well-being of the Snargde follow a leader every generation.”

  “Really? How long is a generation?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “A generation varies, sometimes its ten years, twenty years,” J’uhleesa answered. “Whenever Snargde wants something new, then new leaders rise up.”

  “Wouldn’t the Snargde that don’t follow a leader have more freedom?” Major General Reingle inquired.

  “No, not at all. If a Snargde does not follow the rules by the leader, then it does not have the freedom. The leader orders what can and cannot be done, and if a Snargde disobeys, they suffer the consequences.”

  “That applies to Snargde that don’t even know what it is they are doing wrong?” Major General Solbrig asked, “That seems kind of wrong.”

  “Yes, it is the only way that Snargde is.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “That is how it has always been. This is what Snargde believes. You follow and have protection from the leader, or you live as an outsider.”

  “That sounds rather extreme.” Major General Solbrig replied.

  “Does it, Solbrig? Because I know of another instance like that.” Major General Reingle looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

  “What do you mean, Reingle?” asked J’uhleesa.

  “Oh, uh...well, that is pretty much what happens on Nuwurth with General Deschner, too.” Major General Reingle embarrassingly admitted.

  “Oh? How so?”

  “We have to listen to the General, and if we don’t well, the same consequences happen there that happen here.”

  “The General holds all the power and can do anything.” Major General Solbrig explained.

  “Same with being the Snargde leader.” J’uhleesa admitted, “You have to be careful though; if one Snargde wants to challenge the leader, they better win, or else bad things can happen.”

  “Bad things?” Major General Reingle asked, “Like what?”

  “Did you listen to me when I asked M’leezenah about the Battle of Sli’voria and Saroulzell?”

  “Yeah, but we assumed it had to deal with the Snargde somehow.” Major General Reingle answered.

  “We’re getting closer to the cave up ahead, so I’ll tell you the story and try to make it short.” J’uhleesa continued, “By the way, did you know that there are many caves here?”

  “What do you mean there are many?” Major General Solbrig asked, “Do they connect?”

  “You’ll find out soon. Sli’voria and Saroulzell both wanted to become leaders of Snakardekus, just like what M’leezenah and I wanted. Sli’voria was old, and Saroulzell was young. He was younger than me. In the history of Snakardekus, a much younger Snargde never challenged an older one. Sli’voria was the leader of Snakardekus for many years, she had a big group of Snargde and continued to grow as she and her group found more Snargde and lied to them. She knew that Saroulzell wanted to become the leader, and she told the Snargde that if they helped her continue being the leader, then she will allow those Snargde to live how they want.”

  The cave appeared before them and looked somewhat similar to other caves. The color of the rocks seemed lighter with more of a weathered look as if it had been there longer than the others. The ceiling of the cave was a little taller than J’uhleesa. They stopped in front of the cave as they had approached it, and J’uhleesa turned around to the Major Generals.

  “The story is longer than I had expected. I’ll continue while we explore this cave.” J’uhleesa held out his hands as he spoke.

  The Major Generals nodded in agreement. “Sure, it is interesting.” Major General Reingle agreed.

  J’uhleesa continued the story where he had left off as he started to walk inside of the cave. “As I mentioned, Saroulzell was a young Snargde, and Sli’voria was a much older Snargde. In fact, Sli’voria had been the leader for several generations, and she had fought off numerous Snargde that challenged her and defeated each one of them.”

  “Saroulzell was inexperienced and did not have many Snargde followers. Sli’voria, was just the opposite in all factors. Saroulzell did have something that Sli’voria did not have, and that was that he was agile. After many years of Snargde not wanting to be a leader, Sli’voria grew sluggish, and her age caught up with her and her followers. Saroulzell wanted to become the leader and wanted to think of ways that he could. He knew that Sli’voria and her followers would tire fast, but they were severely outnumbered.

  As they walked through the cave, the Major Generals' eyes changed to the blue light that allows them to see in the dark. The interior of the cave looked exactly like the other one had. J’uhleesa stopped talking for a moment as they reached a fork in the cave. “We go left. That’s right, I remember now.”

  “Wait, do we go left or right?” asked Major General Solbrig.

  “Right, Solbrig, we go left,” J’uhleesa replied.

  Major General Solbrig sighed. “Just walk, we’ll follow you.”

  J’uhleesa chuckled and walked left at the fork in the cave and continued to tell the story once again. “Saroulzell knew that his followers would not risk dying so easily, nor would he risk it. He had a plan, but it was risky. He told his followers to rest in the sun all day long and do not move. They were not allowed to use any energy and to save it until they needed it.

  They continued walking until they reached the cave split off into three ways. J’uhleesa walked towards the middle one, and it gradually had a slope going down deeper inside of the cave.

  “The next day, Saroulzell and his followers laid on the sand all day while the sun was shining down on them. They could feel the warmth surrounding their bodies as if they were becoming one. As it became night, Saroulzell and his followers began to move, they had soaked up enough energy to move throughout the night without growing tired.”

  J’uhleesa stopped talking as the slope became slippery. “Watch yourself and try not to fall down.”

  “Do you know how to get back up there?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “Of course!” J’uhleesa stated, “Now we must slide down. Follow my lead.” J’uhleesa moved his feet slightly and started to slide down the slope. Major General Reingle followed him, then Major General Solbrig. As they reached the bottom of the slope, they stood up and walked slowly. The cave opened up, and it was a sight to behold.

  The cave opened, and inside of it resemble
d a waterfall but looked like the Azuard on the far back left side of the wall, which flowed down and created a river that moved to the other side of the cave, near the edge. The flora was abundant with various colors of cacti, some producing flowers while others had thorns, some even had fruit growing from them that was new to the Major Generals.

  “Whoa...” Major General Reingle gasped.

  “What is this place, J’uhleesa?”

  “All of this is the sacred land that only Snargde leaders and their followers are allowed inside.” J’uhleesa admitted, “This place is called Snargadia.”

  “This is amazing.” Major General Reingle asked, “Why wouldn’t you live down here?”