FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE Page 5

  “See!? We told all of you that action needed to be taken. How could any of you have even considered Councilman Sellon’s suggestion of not doing anything!? Even that 13 year-old boy had more sense in him than our so-called distinguished councilman. We’re both disgusted with the fact that such a cowardly and self-centred man is serving on the town council. He must be removed!” exclaimed the two men who had advocated for action during the earlier town meeting as they stood up in unison and spoke as one.

  The crowd broke into another uproar. They started chanting ‘Remove him! Remove him! Remove him!’ Mayor Conell called for the crowd to calm down yet again. He then turned to Councilman Sellon and informed him that he was terminated from the town council. ‘Ex-councilman’ Sellon stormed out of the town hall in both shame and anger. Mayor Conell thanked both Ray and Spirit for their service and handed Ray a pouch containing 100 gold coins. With this deed done, the town meeting was adjourned.

  A few hours later, Ray and Spirit went to the market place. There, Ray negotiated with a trader for some jewels. He had managed to purchase a ruby for 60 gold coins, which was a bargain. The standard price for such an item was 75. He felt very happy. He then produced a metal pendant from a pouch on his waist and showed it to the trader. The pendant had the design of what appeared to be a silver sword set vertically inside a black circle, which in turn, was set inside a larger, golden circle.

  The trader gave a sudden shudder and his face turned pale as he realised what the symbol meant. But before Ray could ask him anything, the trader told Ray that he knew what the pendant symbolised but did not know anything else beyond that. He stared Ray straight in the eyes, giving Ray no reason to doubt his words. Ray nodded his head in slight disappointment and bade the trader farewell. Meanwhile, Spirit gave Ray a straight look while licking his nose with his tongue. Ray understood all too well what that meant. He felt that way too. They were both hungry and it was time for lunch. Ray and Spirit made their way through the crowd towards the food stall of their choice and relieved their hunger. After their meal, they took one last look around Greentown and began their walk out towards the next town.

  Suddenly Ray and Spirit hear shouts and screams of pain coming from behind an alley. Normally, Ray ignores such things, however, the screams sound like they are coming from a boy in trouble. He turns into the alley to investigate and Spirit follows beside him. As he reaches the back of the alley, he sees four men pushing and punching a boy, whom he recognises as Lance Arman. Ray stands there silently for a moment, observing the event. Lance has bruises all over his face and blood flows from his nose and mouth, but he continues to struggle against his attackers and manages to land a few punches of his own. These punches, however, are feeble and have hardly any effect on his attackers. However, Ray is impressed with the boy’s fighting spirit. As one of the attackers raises his hand to deliver another punch towards Lance, Ray raises his silver staff like a spear and with careful aim, throws it straight at the back of the man’s head. The man falls down unconscious.

  “Boy _ you will cease the harming of him immediately!” demands Ray.

  Spirit pulls his face, exposing his sharp teeth and fangs.

  One of the men turns around and speaks to Ray.

  “The boy has embarrassed our employer, Councilman Sellon, in the town meeting earlier. He has even gotten him fired! He must pay for this mistake! Don’t interfere!” he says.

  “Listen _ you are to do of this carefully, release the boy now or I shall have to hurt you!” warns Ray.

  Lance tries to draw his grandfather’s sword out of its scabbard but is slapped hard by one of the men. Lance slumps to the ground, his vision blurring and his head spins in circles. Meanwhile, the unconscious man awakens and gets clumsily to his feet, rubbing the back of his head all the while.

  “Very well, if that’s the way you want it,” says one of the men to Ray while all four of them begin to surround him.

  Ray looks at Spirit and gives a smiling nod. Spirit looks at him inquisitively. Ray gives him the same nod again. Spirit nods and walk towards where Lance is and sits down beside him, his tail wagging in excitement. The men are so confused with what they have just seen that they did not stop Spirit walking past them. Besides, who in his right mind would want to pick a fight with a wolf?

  The four men surround Ray on all sides. The first man stands in front of him, the second one to his back, the third is to his left and the fourth is to his right. They stare at him. He stares back at each of them, noting their distances and body language. Then the fight begins. As the man in front of Ray races forward to punch him, Ray does a cross-step slide to his left and lands a kick on the third man’s chest with his left leg, avoiding the attacking punch in the process. The third man falls to the ground with a very loud thump. Ray then kicks towards his right and sends the first man sprawling towards the ground next to the fourth man.

  Now Ray faces the fourth man, with the second man standing to his right. Ray shuffles his feet so that he stands sideways with his left shoulder facing the middle point between the two remaining men. With a sudden burst, Ray slides toward the fourth man and delivers a kick to his knees. The fourth man collapses to the ground with a dislocated knee, screaming in agony. Now, only the second man faces Ray. He races forward with a right hand punch and Ray blocks it off with his left hand, steps forward and delivers an elbow strike to the jaw with his right arm. The second man staggers backwards a few steps, falls down to a sitting position, and ends up looking dazed and confused. Then Ray notices the first man trying to get up, and wasting no time at all, Ray moves toward him and delivers a hard punch to the back of his head, knocking him out for good. The fight is over within a few seconds. Spirit wags his tail a few times more and walks towards Ray. Obviously the white wolf finds the entire fight quite entertaining.

  Ray and Spirit turned away and began walking out of the alley. Lance, though his face was bruised and swollen, ran out towards them.

  “Master Iddell, could you teach me?” asked Lance.

  “Teach _ of what do you request me to do of this?” replied Ray as he turned around.

  “Teach me how to be an Elementhar. Teach me Elemental Sorcery!” answered Lance.

  “Elemental Sorcery _ to learn of this is not an easy task, as it requires commitment, discipline and perseverance; and why would you require such knowledge anyway?” enquired Ray further.

  Lance was silent for a while. Then he looked at Ray with the most honest expression that he could muster.

  “A demon killed my family, my entire family! I’ve no one left. I’ve nothing left. That thing took everything away from me! I don’t want the same fate to befall anyone else. I want to dedicate my entire life to hunting and eliminating these evil things. So I need you to teach me. Please, sir! I beg of you, teach me so that I can cleanse this realm of all demons,” explained Lance.

  “Opportunity _ of this, I shall give to you, but only one; should you waste it, there will not be another, do you understand?” stressed Ray.

  “I understand completely, sir,” confirmed Lance.

  “Possessions _ gather all yours of these and meet me in front of the town hall in an hour, we shall be leaving this place,” instructed Ray.

  “That’s not necessary, sir. The only possession I have left is here with me. My grandfather’s sword and a few clothing items, that’s all that I have to my name. We can leave now, if you wish,” said Lance.

  “Leave _ then we shall do of this now,” said Ray.

  Ray, Spirit and their new found travelling companion walk down the main road and follow it out of Greentown. Lance turns his head and glances behind, looking at the town for one last time. Overhead, the clouds begins to thicken, ensuring another evening of torrential downpour that is so characteristic of Wet Season.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE JOURNEY EASTWARDS

  Howling winds drown the ambient noises on this gloomy night, the Second Night of Second Month of Wet Season. Torrential rain lashes agai
nst every available surface in Eastern Falls Province. In a small cave not too far off the main road leading out of Greentown, three figures sit solemnly around a small bonfire. The dancing flames create a play of shadows on their faces. Master Elementhar Ray Iddell stares blankly into the flames. Novice Elementhar Lance Arman, as he is now known, stares up into the sky in deep thought. Spirit the White Wolf, looks ahead, his ears twitching ever so slightly at the faintest of sounds.

  The trio had been travelling on the main road in an easterly direction since they left Greentown and every night they were forced to seek shelter from the lashing rains and freezing winds. During these moments of rest and refuge, Lance was taught the basic concepts of Elemental Sorcery. He had learned of the origins of Elementhars, Ordered Elementhars and Elemental Sorcery. He had also learned of the five orders that formed the Grand Order of Elementhars, which was administrated by the High Council of Elementhars; and a brief description of each Elemental Sorcery discipline that these orders practiced. He was told that most Elementhars mastered only one of the disciplines, with the rare gifted ones mastering two at best. Each discipline took a lifetime to truly master. The mastering of more than two disciplines was forbidden, for this was the law that was set down by Pioneer Elementhar Nova Vanguard who founded the Grand Order 700 years prior.

  “Master Iddell, why is it that Pioneer Vanguard has set the law that forbids any Elementhar to master more than two of the disciplines?” enquired Lance.

  “Law _ the reason why she had set of this was to ensure that no Elementhar becomes too powerful lest he turns renegade and uses his powers for tyranny, domination and other such evils,” explained Ray.

  Lance nodded his head to signify that he understood. He remembered his grandfather saying that power was like a double edged sword, in the sense that it gave one the ability to do things but it could also corrupt and destroy one at the same time. In this example, if there was an Elementhar who became too powerful, he would be tempted to abuse his power and enslave the common people for his own pleasure. After all, if he was so powerful, who could possibly stop him? So at first, the corrupt Elementhar would succeed. But his corruption and tyranny would lead to rebellion and retribution against that very Elementhar himself, and this would, in the end, lead to his own destruction.

  A question came to Lance’s mind based on a curiosity that occurred when he had first met Ray and Spirit.

  “Master Iddell, why do you speak in a different way from others?” asked Lance.

  “Speaking _ our way of this is the ways of the Elementhars, so as to pay tribute to Pioneer Vanguard and our seniors; and to keep our tradition alive and to honour our history of 700 years,” said Ray.

  “I understand, master. I shall… um... I mean… Speak _ I shall do of this in the same way also, so that I too may pay tribute to Pioneer Vanguard and the seniors; and also to continue the tradition and if possible, to add to the honour of this history of 700 years,” declared Lance.

  Ray nodded in approval.

  Lance was in deep thought again. He was thinking of what Ray had told him earlier. In the beginning of time there were only animals (including the human species) and plants in Farhayven; then in the Year 200 of the Known Era, the first demon appeared. This demon, Lord Desolator, was categorised by the Elementhars as a Prime Demon and was deemed to be the most powerful of demonkind. The Prime Demon caused unimaginable destruction to human society, killing many and converting the rare few into Secondary Demons. These Secondary Demons were not as powerful, but were still very evil and almost as destructive. Lance was glad that only one Prime Demon had existed in the past, for if there had been more, human society may not have survived. Those who had been converted by Secondary Demons became known as Tertiary Demons. These demons were significantly weaker than Secondary Demons and were not limited by conversions from humankind; they included conversions from other animal kind as well. The demon that had slaughtered Lance’s family was a Tertiary Demon and it was destructive enough, how had the people in the past survived the terror of the Prime Demon?

  Lance massaged his arms absentmindedly. His arms were sore and painful, as were the rest of his body. He had been practising martial arts every evening since they left Greentown. He had learned that martial arts training was required of all Elementhars as their Elemental Sorcery powers were not limitless. These powers could easily be depleted if their usage was not properly managed. Therefore, in between clear opportunities to attack their opponents with Elemental Sorcery, Elementhars would have to sustain the battle with their martial arts skills.

  The first thing in martial arts that Lance had learned was how to stand in the various stances. Ray had explained that the various stances existed so that the exponent could choose the level of mobility versus stability that he needed in any given situation.

  Then Lance was taught the various movement techniques, called ‘footwork’, which were used for distance management. The term ‘sliding’ meant moving without changing the direction that the torso was facing. This was done when standing in a side-facing stance by moving the front leg first and ‘dragging’ the back leg after it if one was moving forward and moving the back leg first and dragging the front leg after it if one was moving backwards. The term ‘stepping’ meant moving with the changing of the direction that the torso was facing. So in a side-facing stance, the back leg would move forward if one was moving forward, thus turning the torso at the same time, and the front leg would move backward if one intended to move backwards which would also cause the torso to turn.

  Then came the blocks. The Low Block was done by moving the fist of the blocking hand up to the opposite side at jaw level, with the elbow bent and the palm of the fist facing the face while the non-blocking hand was crossed over to the hip of the blocking side; and then the blocking hand would be swung hard downward and outward towards its own side while the non-blocking hand would be simultaneously retracted to the waist. The wrist of the blocking hand would then be twisted at the last moment to stop the momentum of the swing, with the fist stopping in front of the knee and the palm facing down. The High Block was executed by way of moving the fist of the blocking hand to the opposite shoulder with the elbow bent and the palm facing upward while the non-blocking hand was raised to the blocking side shoulder with the elbow bent, forming a slightly slanted cross; and then the blocking hand would be raised up snappily while retracting the non-blocking hand to the waist. The movement would be ended by the twisting of the blocking hand wrist, with the fist stopped slightly above the head and forward of the opposite eye, and with the elbow still bent. The Inner Block required one to place the blocking arm at the opposite side of the torso with the fist just below the rib level, the palm facing down and the elbow bent while the non-blocking arm was brought up to the blocking side shoulder and with the elbow bent; and then the blocking hand would then be swung hard upwards and back towards its own side while the non-blocking hand would be retracted to the waist on its respective side. The ending twist of the blocking wrist would then result in the palm facing toward the torso in the end and the elbow was to be kept bent. The Outer Block was performed by raising the blocking fist to the back of the ear on the same side with the elbow bent and the palm facing forward while the non-blocking arm was raised in front with the elbow bent; and then the blocking arm would then be swung in a slightly downward arc across the front of the face while the non-blocking hand would be retracted to the waist. The movement ended with the twisting of the fist, whereby the fist would be stopped in front of the opposite shoulder and the palm of the fist would be facing the face and the elbow was to be kept bent.

  As for the kicks, Lance had managed to learn several basic ones. The Front Horse Kick was done by raising the knee up in front and snap-extending the lower leg upwards. The Front Alligator Kick was executed by way of raising the knee up, and then pivoting the body to the opposite side on the ball of the foot on the standing leg and simultaneously snapping the lower leg of the kicking leg in a horizontal
arc. The Side Horse Kick required one to raise the kicking knee towards the opposite hip while pivoting the body forward and in the same direction of the movement of the raised knee. The pivoting action was to be done on the ball of the standing foot. Then the kicking leg would be thrust out straight at the intended target. The Back Horse Kick was performed by turning the torso towards the back, bending and then lifting up the kicking knee to the back and thrusting the kicking leg straight out at the opponent torso. The Axe Kick was done by swinging the kicking leg straight up high and then slamming the heel downwards at the opponent’s head. Finally, The Reverse Alligator Kick was done by spinning the torso towards the back, lifting the kicking leg and swinging it out and backwards in a horizontal arc.

  Lance had also learned an assortment of hand techniques which included punches, jabs, Back-fist Strikes, Elbow Strikes and Knife-hand Strikes. A punch was a fisted strike that originated from the waist or the mid rib level and was executed using the fist that was further away from the opponent while a jab was a similar strike but was done using the closer fist. The Back-fist Strike looked like a total opposite of a slap, and used the back of the fist and the top portion of the knuckles to hit instead of the palm. For this technique, the fist was closed tight just like it was for a punch. The Elbow Strikes were strikes using the elbow that were employed at a variety of angles. The Knife-hand Strikes were strikes that use the side of the palm to hit the opponent but the fingers were kept straightened out with a slight curve at the tips, much like how the blade of a knife looked. Lance had to practise all these movements over and over again until he got them right, and he had to keep practising them over and over again to keep them right, every evening.