The Swords Of Darkness

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TSOD: Destined to Die - Prologue

 

  Kyle despised the kingdom of Gelariah from the darkest depths of his heart; so did the rest of the inhabitants. With every new sun came a fresh spell of terror and sorrow. The army forged to defend Gelariah was used to torment its own people. Bloodshed had become a tradition. And yet, Kyle – like all others: weak and craven – had learned to endure. But one day, it all changed. It was the day he swore to destroy Gelariah.

 

TSOD: Destined to Die - Chapter 1

 

  I was pacing through the swerving streets of Gorti – the biggest market in the city of Solistus – with a bagful of groceries, when I saw a huge crowd gathered around the backside of the town hall. As soon as I reached the crowd and made my way to the front rows, I wished I hadn't. It was a soldier threatening an old man dressed in torn and dirty rugs. Then I noticed the stars on his uniform, and realized with a shiver that it was an army elite. The elite had a huge ring of water floating on his back, creating an effect similar to that of a gigantic halo. And then it struck me: It was Bartholomew. The twenty-fifth of the twenty-seven elites of the army. He had the power to control water.

  ‘So, you want to pay up or what?’ Bartholomew shouted.

  ‘Can you not see that I have nothing? All you can take is but my life!’ replied the old man.

  ‘So I shall!’

  ‘What have I got to lose?’ muttered the old man and punched him hard in the face. ‘That was for my daughter, you piece of shit!’

  As if swatting a fly, Bartholomew swayed his hand and the old man went crashing into the wall beside. The ring of water behind Bartholomew expanded and then remoulded into a significant number of water-spears.

  The water spears whizzed through the air and into the old man. His shrieks echoed throughout the market as his blood stained the ground. It was a sight no man would ever wish to see.

  ‘Hell, yeah! Go Bartholomew!’ shrieked the guy right behind me. Bartholomew glanced at him and an arrow whizzed by my ear. There was a groan and a thud behind me and the next moment my feet were soaked with blood.

  ‘You unworthy cowards don’t deserve to have my noble name resting upon your filthy lips. Let this be a lesson.’ And he walked straight to me. ‘Move aside, peasant!’ Then I noticed that everyone but me had cleared a path for him. I was too shaken to understand the proceedings. ‘Y-ye-yes sir…Beg…Pardo–’ and with a backhand right on my face, I skidded across the platform and I, too, went crashing into the wall and everything blacked out.

  It was almost half an hour before I got over the splitting pain in my head and dared to move. My back was drenched in blood. Fortunately, it wasn't my own. As I pushed to get up, I felt something squishy under my hand. It was the old man. Or rather, his corpse. I vomited right there.

  I managed to get up with trembling legs and started making my way to my house. Every step felt as if rocks had been tied to my legs, and I left footprints in scarlet.

  

  I found my father home, and the house smelled of the usual: fish. Without even bothering to glance at me, he started speaking. ‘What perfect timing! Wash and chop 'em cauliflowers up and quickly hand them over.’

  I couldn't get myself to respond. My mind was still filled with the thoughts of the horror that I had just witnessed. In response to the unexpected silence, he looked up and saw me dripping in blood. In a sudden urgency, he dropped the ladle into the utensil and half-jogged to me.

  ‘What happened, Kyle? Are you alright?’

  Do I look alright? I thought to myself. ‘I'm fine. It's not my blood.’ Well, maybe some of it is. Thinking this, I ran my hand over my forehead to check if it was bleeding, but I couldn't determine whether the blood was my own.

  He hugged me tightly, which only made the soreness in my body worse. ‘You're going to be fine, Kyle. I'm right here.’

  I noticed, thought I. This isn't the time for sarcasm! Get over yourself, me.

  ‘Pull yourself together, Kyle. Be brave.’

  I wasn't exactly the kind of person that one would expect to be brave after what had just happened. I finally caught my breath, and breaking down, said, ‘It was Bartholomew, dad. The elite with the powers to control water. He shredded a man into pieces with his ability, and pierced another just for speaking his name. It was awful, dad. I hate the Kingdom.’

  ‘Don't worry, son. It's going to be alright. Those who use their strength only on people weaker than them are nothing but cowards. Someday, someone will stand up to them. And the Kingdom will fall, son. It will fall to the hands of its own people.’

  ‘I couldn't care less about Gelariah, dad. The one I'm worried about is you, dad. What if he comes for you next? What will I do then? He can just casually enter our house and shred us to pieces and we would be totally helpless. What will we do then? What can we do then?’

  ‘We can do more than you think, Kyle. And he won't come after us. You know we have no dues despite our conditions, right? He has no possible reason to come after us. And being afraid of a coward only makes us bigger cowards, doesn't it?’ 

  Though I wanted to believe what dad said, his stammering voice didn't help. It was almost as if he was hiding something from me. Or as if he was afraid of something.

  ‘And if he does, by any chance, promise me that you will be brave, Kyle. You will not lose your heart. You will not give up until the very end. Promise me.’

  I didn't know what to reply. Being the person I am, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep the promise. But I also couldn't just give up all hope. Not after what happened to mom. I clenched my fists and made the promise. To myself more than to dad.

  ‘I promise, dad. I will never give up, no matter what happens.’

  ‘Good. We're leaving tomorrow.’

  ‘What?! Leaving for where?’

  ‘Iquinos.’

  ‘The hell are you saying?’

  ‘I've been planning this for a long time. I have a few colleagues who might be able to help out.’

  ‘Help out with what?’

  ‘With earning a living. And by providing better shelter than this box of tin.’

  ‘Why all of a sudden?’

  ‘I said I've been planning it for some time now.’

  ‘Why didn't you tell me?’

  ‘It was a necessary measure.’

  ‘You're not into anything wrong, are you, dad?’

  ‘No, son. I'm only doing what needs to be done. It's all for your sake.’

  That wasn't all that convincing, but moving out of Solistus wasn't too bad an idea either.

  ‘It's not like I'm complaining, but tomorrow? Just like that? Is it because of what happened today?’

  ‘I don't yet know what happened today. Mind telling me?’

  

  I recalled the incident exactly as it was. ‘…so that's about it.’

  ‘That's some serious stuff you've gotten into. You're lucky to be alive. Be grateful for what you have. And this is all the more reason for us to leave this wretched city as soon as possible.’

  ‘It's not the city that is wretched, dad. It's the entire empire. Gelariah is a rotten existence. So what makes you think that Iquinos will be any better?’

  ‘The chief of Iquinos is on good terms with the elites stationed there. They don't just go around killing random people.’

  ‘Well, that's reassuring.’

  ‘It's better than being killed, isn't it?’

  ‘Sure is.’

  ‘Enough with your sarcasm. Go wash that stinking blood off yourself.’

  I had almost forgotten that I was still drenched in blood. The scenes started coming back to my head and I felt like throwing up. Dad was right. We had to leave Solistus. And the sooner, the better.

  

  I left the house with some clothes and a towel, and headed straight for the river. Shivering even before entering the water, I gathered my courage and took a dip. Within minutes, I was done bathing and washing the clothes.

  As I returned to my so-called house, I heard hurried whispers. I peered into the house through one of the countless holes in the fragile tin wall. I saw a girl my age holding what looked like a sack of rice.

  ‘Yes, sir. I will deliver the message and the package without fail.’

  ‘Be careful, dear.’

  ‘Yes I will, sir. Take care.’

  ‘You, too.’

  I entered the house right after she exited. ‘Who was that girl?’

  No one you need to be bothered about. It's just a private messenger. I'm sending word to my colleagues that I'll be reaching Iquinos in three days.’

  ‘Three days?! Just how far is it?’

  ‘It's not about the distance. We have to go walking.’

  ‘You have to be kidding me! A three day walk?’

  ‘It's actually a twenty hour walk. We'll be dividing that distance into three days. Now start packing. Take only the important things. We can't afford to carry excess baggage.’

  ‘Wait. You're telling me that we're going to leave stuff behind?’

  ‘We don't really have all that much ‘stuff’ to leave behind, do we? G'night, buddy.’

  I had no choice but to oblige. I went to bed after I finished packing. Once in bed, I tried to take in everything that had happened today. It gave me the chills. What the hell is happening? Could I really trust dad? If not, what other option did I have? What dad said about the girl seems to be true, so nothing there. But what he said about Bartholomew coming after him seemed suspicious. Get over yourself, Kyle! If you don't trust you own father, who are you going to trust?

  I tried to force away the thoughts, but they kept coming. Does this have anything to do with what happened today? If not, what other incident could be driving him away from this town? Was it what happened to mother? No, that was years ago. It's too late to think about it now. But what then could possibly be fuelling his decision to move all of a sudden? Does it have something to do with the girl I just saw? Not a chance. She was just some delivery girl. Hey! Why was she calling him sir?! Wait…Never mind. The hell am I thinking. If not sir, what else would she refer to him as? The conversation was perfectly normal. Nothing suspicious. The only suspicious thing was that he said that hiding the news about moving to Iquinos from me was a ‘necessary’ course of action. Why would that be? Arggh! This thinking business is getting to me. Thinking won't help me get answers! As if I have any choice other than to oblige to whatever dad says. Now get some frigging sleep, me. I've got a long day ahead.

  

   I took one last look at the place I had called ‘home’ for fifteen long years. It still felt a little too sudden to be leaving the only place I could come back to. But it wasn't like I had an option. Turning away from my past, I promised myself not to look back on what had happened and to focus on the future. Iquinos was awaiting my arrival.

  

  We kept walking and were soon beyond the areas of Solistus that I was familiar with. As we reached the outskirts, I could see the wired borders of Iquinos and the City Guard stationed there.

  ‘Halt! Where are you headed to?’ asked one of the guards.

  ‘Iquinos,’ replied dad. ‘Just going on a trip.’

  ‘Your identity?’

  ‘Bruce Branson and son, Paul Branson.’

  ‘What's in the bags?’

  ‘Travel gear – clothes, food and water.’

  ‘Fifteen grens travel tax.’

  ‘Here you go.’

  ‘Okay, you can pass.’

  

  By the latter half of the second day of our journey, we had just made our way to a little beyond the City Guard of Iquinos, when a heavy voice yelled from behind us. ‘Stop in your tracks!’

  Then dad's voice shouted ‘Run!’

  I didn't need to be told that, for that voice I would've recognized even in my sleep: it was Bartholomew.