Prelude to a War
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
A cold winter wind whipped through the town. Ishod clasped his freezing hands together and blew into them in a futile attempt to keep them warm. "Wish I would have brought my gloves" he thought to himself. Ishod picked up the shovel and continued clearing the street of snow. He had gone to Jolk's tavern, hoping to relax a little and talk to his friends, only to find out that Kitmus, the boy who usually shovels the street, had broken his leg and needed a replacement. Since Kitmus was his cousin, everyone volunteered Ishod for the job.
Ishod slipped on the ice and fell in the snow. He got up and brushed himself off with his numb hands. "Ishod" called a voice behind him, "what happened to Kitmus?" Ishod turned around to see Dosut. Dosut was second in power only to the king. He was also the commander of the army. Since Ishod was a soldier, he knew Dosut well.
"He broke his leg" answered Ishod. "I wasn't there but they tell me he fell of his horse."
"And so your filling in for him" teased Dosut. "Ishod you look miserable! Don't tell me a job meant for a child is so hard for you." Ishod opened his mouth to defend himself, but Dosut stopped him. "I'm only kidding of course," he said smiling. "Here, take my gloves. Your hands look redder then Tomaz's chest."
"Thanks a lot" Ishod replied, putting on the gloves. The chill began to rapidly leave his hands. "Speaking of Tomaz, have you seen him?"
Dosut thought for a moment. "Not since this morning. He and the king have been talking all day."
The smile on Ishod's face quickly left. Dosut's expressions also became more somber. "They're not talking about social matters I trust."
Dosut let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid not" he said.
"Tomaz always takes a break this time of day, always," pointed out Ishod. "What could possibly be wrong that they've been talking about it all day?"
"You know I can't tell you that Ishod. If the king wished it to be public knowledge, he would have told the people. Besides, you'll find out soon enough. It's hard to keep something like this a secret for long." Dosut turned and walked into the Tavern, leaving poor Ishod extremely curious.
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Dosut returned to the king's palace an hour later. Tish, one of the king's servants, rushed to take his coat and hat. "The king and Tomaz are in the meeting room" he told Dosut as he hung the coat up. "Did you lose your gloves?"
"I let Ishod borrow them" answered Dosut. "Did much change since I left?"
"Dosut, I don't even know what their talking about much less what they've decided, but it looks like Tomaz has reached a plan."
"I'll guess I'll just have to find out" Dosut said, giving Tish a valort, the current unit of money. Dosut raced down the hall to a small room that the king liked to call his meeting room.
Dosut was short, about 5 foot 5, with red hair. His father had been prince of Rammes, a far away country. When his brother had tried to take the throne Dosut, not eager for power, had let him have it. Knowing his brother would want to eliminate all dangers to his throne, Dosut had fled to Dishon.
Dosut was twelve at the time and he decided his future lay in becoming a soldier. He conditioned himself until he was fourteen, old enough to join. Dishon was a small country with a weak army, so peace was the only way the people survived, being most accommodating to other countries demands. However war did eventually break out. A tribe of lizard men, looking for a home, thought Dishon an easy target.
Lizard men have a body shaped like a man, but covered with scales like a lizard. They have two fangs like a snake which carried deadly poison. Their hands have no fingers, but rather five long claws, each half a meter. The claws acted like small swords. Fortunately for Dishon, however, their lack of fingers made it impossible for them to make or use weapons.
The war was a relatively easy one for Dishon. They stayed far away and cut down the lizard men with arrows and spears. In fact, Dishon only suffered major causalities from one battle, and Dosut was at that battle.
The Lizard men ambushed a battalion of Dishonites going back to the base after a hard day of fighting. The commander of the battalion had been incompetent and his men were not prepared. All at once, lizard men began leaping out from behind every tree and rock. Some even climbed the tree and pounced down on the army below. Before the army knew what had happened they where half licked. Most men didn't have time to even draw their sword before they were bitten by the fangs or stabbed by the claws. Dosut was one of the lucky ones who was able to get his sword, at which point he began cutting down lizard men left and right. The leader of the lizard men army himself had leapt down from his tree to combat Dosut. He landed on the ground and struck Dosut across the cheek with his massive claws, leaving Dosut's face a bloody mess. Dosut fell to the ground from the force of the blow, dropping his sword in shock. The leader leaped on him ready to inject his deadly poison. Blood flowed into Dosut's eyes, making it impossible for him to see. The leader's feet landed on Dosut's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The leader's hands came down on Dosut's shoulders. The head came down to bit Dosut's chest, but Dosut, able to see a little bit, grabbed the leaders neck and held him back. The leader took his hands off Dosut's shoulders in order to use his claws to shred Dosut's wrists. But before he could, Dosut pushed the leader off, and ran to his sword. He turned to see the leader leaping toward him. Dosut plunged the sword into the leader's chest. The leader fell down and writhed in agony, screaming loudly. Lizard men have a loud, frightening scream, causing everyone to look at the leader. Eager to avenge their leader, lizard men attacked Dosut from everywhere. Dosut, who was in no condition to fight, stood his ground and became an inspiration to his fellow soldiers. Eventually Dishon won the battle, and Dosut was honored with a major promotion. That was the beginning of a lot of promotions for Dosut, which eventually led to him being second only to the king at age 25. Dosut was now 27.
Dosut opened the door to the meeting room to see the king, Recab, and the king's most trusted advisor, Tomaz. Tomaz was a robin. In Fabulae animals possessed the same intelligence as humans.
"Sit down Dosut" invited Recab, motioning toward a chair.
"I heard Tomaz has found a plan" said Dosut, taking a seat.
"Not much of one I'm afraid" Tomaz answered.
"Tomaz is always very humble about his ideas" said Recab. "However this time, I think he's right. The strategy is really a last resort."
"While, what is it?" asked Dosut.
"Let's start from the top, shall we?" said Recab beaming. Recab was a history buff, and he loved showing it off. He cleared his throat and began. "The empire of Marram began about, oh, one thousand years ago in the region of what is now called Ninthinia. Ninthinia, as you probably now, is famous for it's rocky, desert like land. The empire was founded by some wandering barbarians who were too weak to conquer any sort of land what so ever and had to take part of Ninthinia because no one else wanted it. The origin of the barbarians can be traced back to the empire of Calet. The Emperor Cerazerer, in an effort to make his power supreme, began killing off all opposition. A small group fled from him and eventually, through the generations, became barbarians. It's quite an interesting story actually." Recab looked up to see exasperation on the faces of Tomaz and Dosut. He quickly added "but we won't get into that right now.
"Anyway, it took a while but the people of Marram were hard working and industrious. Before one hundred years had passed, they had established a thriving civilization. Then they went to the next step: conques. And conquer they did. Before the country of Egiot knew they were fighting a war, they had been conquered. Gracram also met a similar fate."
"And nine hundred years later" cut in Tomaz, eager to end the history lecture. "Marram is a huge empire, who is obviously preparing to conquer Dishon."
"Right" said Recab, showing no annoyance at being interrupted. (He was used to this kind of thing when he was talking about history). "They're positioning their troops and everything."
"Dishon is a very small country!" Exclaimed Tomaz. "We'd be conquered in a day."
"So what is Tomaz's plan then" asked Dosut, who had been trying to get a word in edgewise for quite some time.
"Why, to bribe Calet" answered the very talkative Tomaz. "Well have to scrape to the very bottom of our royal treasury to get enough money, but the king of Calet, Shallum, will do anything for the right price. We'll simply ask him to defend us from Marram."
"Calet," began Recab, "Now that was an empire."
Tomaz, who was always a talker and never a listener groaned, but Dosut was beginning to become interested. "Why Marram is a tiny village compared to what Calet once was!" he exclaimed.
"Calet had conquered almost the whole world" said Recab. "But then they fell, due to one disaster after another. First their capital burned down. Then an accomplished assassin began picking off their leaders one after another. As if that wasn't bad enough, a group of revolutionaries began trying to revolt. At the same time, most of the remaining countries left banded together and attacked. All this Calet could probably have handled, had not famine struck in Nomar, the empire's bread basket."
"And under these pressures, Calet was crushed like an egg shell" put in Dosut, trying hard to keep up with Recab by remembering what he had once learned during his brief education as a prince.
"Calet never recovered from the blow history has called the year of many disasters" said Recab, clearly more then a match for Dosut, or for that matter most everyone when it came to remembering history. "Falsely named however for the disasters spanned about ten years. They began a long, and painful for the citizens of Calet, decline in power. However, call it miracle if you will, Calet seems to be rising to it's old power again."
"Thanks to the help of Perez" said Tomaz, eager to regain domination of the discussion, and, being the king's advisor, was well informed about current events. "Perez is a military genius. A saying has developed in Calet, 'If Perez is put in charge of a war, he will bring victory'. So far the saying has not been proved false. Of the ten wars he's been put in charge of, he's won every one of them."
"Calet will hold Marram off for a little while at least" summed up Recab. "And I can see no other choice." Tomaz and Dosut nodded in agreement.
A weak knock was heard at the door. "Come in" called Recab.
Tish entered the room. "My king," he said, "your meal is ready."
Recab turned to Tomaz and Dosut. "You gentlemen can help yourselves if you want. I do not fell like eating with my country in such peril." Tomaz and Dosut were about to leave, when Recab called out to them. "You know what will happen if Marram conquers us."
Dosut shuddered to think about it, for he knew only to well what would happen. All males would be killed, girls made slaves, and women to be divided among the soldiers for the most vilest of purposes. The same would happen if Dishon surrendered. Recab left, leaving Dosut and Tomaz with the horrible thought still stuck in their mind.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Dishon Chapter 2
The Others
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"I'll have to agree with Polad on this one" said the king, Shallum. "The Man should be put to death."
"Right" mumbled Miktesh, jotting down the king's decision. "One more item of business here. The country of Dishon wants us to help them fight against Marram."
"Dishon?" questioned the king. "Never heard of them."
"They're a small country located about right here" said Miktesh pointing to the map.
Recognition filled the kings face. "Ah yes, I remember now." After a pause he added "What's in it for us?"
"Excuse me" Perez cut in "but you can't possibly be considering fighting against Marram. May I remind you that Calet is not as powerful as it once was."
"Perez is right" agreed Polad. "I'm with him all the way."
"I'll hear your opinions after I hear the facts" said Shallum, a note of irritation in his voice. "I'll repeat my question: what's in it for us?"
"Dishon is offering us," Miktesh paused "a little gold."
"Give me that" said Shallum, grabbing the letter Dishon had sent. His face showed a little surprise. "Dishon must have done a lot of penny pinching to get this much. I would have never thought there was that much gold in a kingdom that small." He put down the letter. He tried to hold an emotionless face, but it was clear he was quite interested in the gold. "I'll hear your opinions now," he announced.
"I retain my initial feelings," Perez declared. Polad nodded his agreement.
The King turned to Miktesh, expecting an answer. Miktesh believed it was foolhardy to attack Marram, but he hated to agree with Polad. He and Polad were the two most powerful people in the kingdom and always at each others throats. "Well" said Miktesh, trying to look sincere, "I think we can easily defeat Marram, and for that much money...well, you know." Shallum looked very pleased with the advice and Miktesh realized in horror how little persuading the king actually needed in order to attack. He make up his mind to sacrifice his honor and lose the argument to Polad on purpose. "After all," he thought to himself, "What is my personal honor compared to the welfare of Calet."
"And why do you think we can defeat Marram," asked Shallum, eager to receive affirmation.
"I'll tell you why," blurted out Polad, like Miktesh knew he would. "Because he's a traitor. He wants to see the king die in battle so he can assume the throne himself."
Miktesh swallowed his fury with great difficulty and kept his cool composure. "The lord my king knows that is not true."
"But in fact it is true" continued Polad. "Everyone knows how little Miktesh knows about war, or anything for that matter, but I think he knows clearly what a great risk this is to your life, O king."
Miktesh was having difficulty controlling himself, but he was able to not break out into his own string of arguments by reminding himself that he was doing this for Calet.
"If I was the king I would execute the scoundrel for treason."
"I wonder how long it will be before be stops attacking me and starts attacking my plan," thought Miktesh.
"Why Miktesh isn't even fit to clean up after my horses" Polad cried, with a look in his face that showed he was enjoying this too much.
That did it! Miktesh simply couldn't take it anymore. "Polad says my plan is foolish, but in all this time he's been blabbering he hasn't pointed out one fault in it. He just doesn't want the king to win glory." Miktesh paused for a minute as he realized what he was doing. Then he kept on talking. Polad had left him no choice. He would just have to gamble that Calet would win. Then he could rub it into Polad's face. "Why I have complete confidence that the king could wipe out the armies of Marram completely."
Shallum looked at Miktesh with renewed faith. Perez, knowing how serious the situation was, knew he had to act. "Oh great king, for almost ten years now I have been your official military advisor" he began. Shallum nodded and he continued. "During all that time have I ever given you bad advice about anything."
"No, you haven't" answered Shallum with out even bothering to think.
"Then listen to my words carefully. Calet was once greater then any other kingdom was, or any kingdom shall be again. We will someday return to our old glory, and even surpass it. A wise ruler, like yourself, will make that day come soon. But right now, Marram is the world power. If we tried to stand against them, they would destroy us. We must not fight them."
The king thought for a moment, and then replied. "Perez, I understand your concern and it has not gone unnoted, but never once have you failed me when I put you in charge of a war. I don't expect this time to be an exception." Perez opened his mouth to argue, but Shallum stopped him. "Enough. I have spoken." The king then walked out, leaving a room filled with tension.
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A frightened slave girl hurried quickly to her master, Azom, emperor of Marram. The girl was originally from the country of Higmash, which had been conquered by Marram. Her father had died in battle, and so was spared the pain of seeing his family destroyed. Her brother had been killed with the rest of the males, and she had not seen her mother since the day her country fell. She had been five when all this had happened. Now she was nearly thirteen, but she had not yet manage to leave those memories behind. I will not even go into the brutal treatment she had suffered at the hands of her Marramiane masters.
She quickly cleaned up after Azom, who had just finished eating. Azom watched her silently as he stroked his vulture, Azet. She deeply hated Azom for what he had done to her.
Having gathered all of Azom's plates on her tray, she hurried back towards the kitchen. "Girl" Azom called out to her. "Girl come here!" She froze, overcome by a mixture of fear and rage. Her heart beat rapidly and she broke out into sweat.
"I zaid come here!" shouted Azom, and she knew she would be punished for not answering immediately. As she began to walk toward him, the tray slipped from her sweaty fingers. She watched with horror as several of Azom's dishes were shattered. She looked at Azom's face to see what he would do, but his face betrayed no emotion. The girl thought of what punishment awaited her, and could not help but cry. However, she was totally unprepared for what really happened.
"Feed her to the zharks" said Azom calmly, motioning for two guards to come forward. The girl stood still, shocked for a moment, and then bolted for the door in terror.
Although even if she would have escaped the room, the whole palace was filled with guards.
But the guards caught her before she got far. She screamed franticly and struggled against them. One of the guards began violently striking her in the face, but Azom stopped him. He wanted her to be fully conscious when the sharks got her. "Mind if I watch?" asked Azet. Azom shook his head and Azet flew off, following the guards.
Azom didn't usually kill his own people. After all, for Marram to become great the people must be loyal to him, and who would be loyal to a guy who might kill them at any minute. The slaves though, were a different story. All the slaves in the Marramiane empire were women from conquered countries. "That'z one of the reazonz Marram haz become zo great" thought Azom to himself. "They left no remnant of people to rize againzt them later." All the children that slave women produced were immediately snatched away, and made Marramianes. Because of all the killing Marram does, it has more then enough territory for all its people. But, like many other nations before it, Marram seeks to conquer the whole world.
Marram conquers one nation after another after another. Finding soldiers for these wars hasn't been a problem yet. Because of all the captives, each man had many wives, and these wives were used to make many children. Right now Marram was getting ready to conquer... Azom tried to remember the name of the country they were going to war against, but could not. He usually took command of the armies in war, but this country was so small he was just letting his generals take care of everything. "One week max," they had assured him. "And the country will fall."
Azom decided to take a walk to his shark tank, and ask the sharks about their dinner.
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"I'll have to agree with Polad on this one" said the king, Shallum. "The Man should be put to death."
"Right" mumbled Miktesh, jotting down the king's decision. "One more item of business here. The country of Dishon wants us to help them fight against Marram."
"Dishon?" questioned the king. "Never heard of them."
"They're a small country located about right here" said Miktesh pointing to the map.
Recognition filled the kings face. "Ah yes, I remember now." After a pause he added "What's in it for us?"
"Excuse me" Perez cut in "but you can't possibly be considering fighting against Marram. May I remind you that Calet is not as powerful as it once was."
"Perez is right" agreed Polad. "I'm with him all the way."
"I'll hear your opinions after I hear the facts" said Shallum, a note of irritation in his voice. "I'll repeat my question: what's in it for us?"
"Dishon is offering us," Miktesh paused "a little gold."
"Give me that" said Shallum, grabbing the letter Dishon had sent. His face showed a little surprise. "Dishon must have done a lot of penny pinching to get this much. I would have never thought there was that much gold in a kingdom that small." He put down the letter. He tried to hold an emotionless face, but it was clear he was quite interested in the gold. "I'll hear your opinions now," he announced.
"I retain my initial feelings," Perez declared. Polad nodded his agreement.
The King turned to Miktesh, expecting an answer. Miktesh believed it was foolhardy to attack Marram, but he hated to agree with Polad. He and Polad were the two most powerful people in the kingdom and always at each others throats. "Well" said Miktesh, trying to look sincere, "I think we can easily defeat Marram, and for that much money...well, you know." Shallum looked very pleased with the advice and Miktesh realized in horror how little persuading the king actually needed in order to attack. He make up his mind to sacrifice his honor and lose the argument to Polad on purpose. "After all," he thought to himself, "What is my personal honor compared to the welfare of Calet."
"And why do you think we can defeat Marram," asked Shallum, eager to receive affirmation.
"I'll tell you why," blurted out Polad, like Miktesh knew he would. "Because he's a traitor. He wants to see the king die in battle so he can assume the throne himself."
Miktesh swallowed his fury with great difficulty and kept his cool composure. "The lord my king knows that is not true."
"But in fact it is true" continued Polad. "Everyone knows how little Miktesh knows about war, or anything for that matter, but I think he knows clearly what a great risk this is to your life, O king."
Miktesh was having difficulty controlling himself, but he was able to not break out into his own string of arguments by reminding himself that he was doing this for Calet.
"If I was the king I would execute the scoundrel for treason."
"I wonder how long it will be before be stops attacking me and starts attacking my plan," thought Miktesh.
"Why Miktesh isn't even fit to clean up after my horses" Polad cried, with a look in his face that showed he was enjoying this too much.
That did it! Miktesh simply couldn't take it anymore. "Polad says my plan is foolish, but in all this time he's been blabbering he hasn't pointed out one fault in it. He just doesn't want the king to win glory." Miktesh paused for a minute as he realized what he was doing. Then he kept on talking. Polad had left him no choice. He would just have to gamble that Calet would win. Then he could rub it into Polad's face. "Why I have complete confidence that the king could wipe out the armies of Marram completely."
Shallum looked at Miktesh with renewed faith. Perez, knowing how serious the situation was, knew he had to act. "Oh great king, for almost ten years now I have been your official military advisor" he began. Shallum nodded and he continued. "During all that time have I ever given you bad advice about anything."
"No, you haven't" answered Shallum with out even bothering to think.
"Then listen to my words carefully. Calet was once greater then any other kingdom was, or any kingdom shall be again. We will someday return to our old glory, and even surpass it. A wise ruler, like yourself, will make that day come soon. But right now, Marram is the world power. If we tried to stand against them, they would destroy us. We must not fight them."
The king thought for a moment, and then replied. "Perez, I understand your concern and it has not gone unnoted, but never once have you failed me when I put you in charge of a war. I don't expect this time to be an exception." Perez opened his mouth to argue, but Shallum stopped him. "Enough. I have spoken." The king then walked out, leaving a room filled with tension.
********************************************************************************
A frightened slave girl hurried quickly to her master, Azom, emperor of Marram. The girl was originally from the country of Higmash, which had been conquered by Marram. Her father had died in battle, and so was spared the pain of seeing his family destroyed. Her brother had been killed with the rest of the males, and she had not seen her mother since the day her country fell. She had been five when all this had happened. Now she was nearly thirteen, but she had not yet manage to leave those memories behind. I will not even go into the brutal treatment she had suffered at the hands of her Marramiane masters.
She quickly cleaned up after Azom, who had just finished eating. Azom watched her silently as he stroked his vulture, Azet. She deeply hated Azom for what he had done to her.
Having gathered all of Azom's plates on her tray, she hurried back towards the kitchen. "Girl" Azom called out to her. "Girl come here!" She froze, overcome by a mixture of fear and rage. Her heart beat rapidly and she broke out into sweat.
"I zaid come here!" shouted Azom, and she knew she would be punished for not answering immediately. As she began to walk toward him, the tray slipped from her sweaty fingers. She watched with horror as several of Azom's dishes were shattered. She looked at Azom's face to see what he would do, but his face betrayed no emotion. The girl thought of what punishment awaited her, and could not help but cry. However, she was totally unprepared for what really happened.
"Feed her to the zharks" said Azom calmly, motioning for two guards to come forward. The girl stood still, shocked for a moment, and then bolted for the door in terror.
Although even if she would have escaped the room, the whole palace was filled with guards.
But the guards caught her before she got far. She screamed franticly and struggled against them. One of the guards began violently striking her in the face, but Azom stopped him. He wanted her to be fully conscious when the sharks got her. "Mind if I watch?" asked Azet. Azom shook his head and Azet flew off, following the guards.
Azom didn't usually kill his own people. After all, for Marram to become great the people must be loyal to him, and who would be loyal to a guy who might kill them at any minute. The slaves though, were a different story. All the slaves in the Marramiane empire were women from conquered countries. "That'z one of the reazonz Marram haz become zo great" thought Azom to himself. "They left no remnant of people to rize againzt them later." All the children that slave women produced were immediately snatched away, and made Marramianes. Because of all the killing Marram does, it has more then enough territory for all its people. But, like many other nations before it, Marram seeks to conquer the whole world.
Marram conquers one nation after another after another. Finding soldiers for these wars hasn't been a problem yet. Because of all the captives, each man had many wives, and these wives were used to make many children. Right now Marram was getting ready to conquer... Azom tried to remember the name of the country they were going to war against, but could not. He usually took command of the armies in war, but this country was so small he was just letting his generals take care of everything. "One week max," they had assured him. "And the country will fall."
Azom decided to take a walk to his shark tank, and ask the sharks about their dinner.
Dishon Chapter 3
For the Love of Money
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Recab sighed with relief as he looked at the letter. "Calet accepted" he said. "We're safe for a while." Tomaz flew a couple of loops in joy, while Dosut smiled. "Assemble the people this afternoon" Recab continued. "I'm going to have to tell them about the danger we are in."
"Actually, most of them already know" commented Tomaz.
"I'm not surprised" said Recab sitting down. "But I have to officially tell them anyway."
Dosut nodded and left. Tomaz flew to the king's shoulder. "How do you think Calet will do?" he asked.
Recab picked up a broken piece of pottery that had been lying next to his chair and started toying with it. "Oh they'll buy us time. That's about it."
Tomaz nodded. "Marram will beat them as if they were dogs, but when they get to us, we will be crushed like beetles." Recab let the piece of pottery slowly slide from one hand to the other as he grunted his agreement.
A cool wind flowed in from one of the windows. Tomaz turned to look outside, and saw a hot summer day. "I'll see you later" he called as he flew off. Tomaz went to Jolk's Tavern. In it he found his best friend, Ishod. Jolk's Tavern was where everyone visited. Tomaz saw his other friends: Nolli, who loves alcohol, Mazus, who would always run during a battle, Gotaz, the quiet one, and many others. Tomaz landed on a table, at which Ishod and Mazus were seated.
"So what's new" asked Ishod, not looking up from the card game on the table.
"Dosut's announcing a public meeting today" Tomaz answered.
"Yeah, and we now what it is about too" Mazus remarked making his hands into two fists and putting them together, the symbol for Marram.
"I figured you would" said Tomaz.
Mazus slowly laid down a card, then looked up at Ishod grinning. "Don't you ever get tired of winning?" asked Ishod.
"How about another game?" Mazus said as he shuffled the cards.
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Azom looked at his generals. His face was full of anger. "Calet what!?" He hurled one of his dishes, which he actually cared very little for, against the wall.
"D-Dishon bribed them sir" the general stammered nervously. "Shall we forget about Dishon for a while and conquer Calet instead?"
Azom clawed at the air with his scaly hands. "Punizh Calet for thiz" he screamed. "Punizh them zo that they will be zorry they ever looked at the letter Dizhon zent them."
The general nodded and started leaving. "And then" Azom called after him, "deztroy Dizhon zo that not one ztone remainz in place.
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"Where are you going Dad?"
Shallum turned around to see Seled, his eight year old son, standing behind him. "I'm going to battle son," he answered.
Seled suddenly looked concerned. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"I'm going to be alright" Shallum said, feeling a pain of guilt for thinking of his wallet before his son. "It will be an easy battle." He tried to convince himself the words were true, but deep down he knew they weren't.
His son saw right through him. "Dad don't take the money" he pleaded.
Shallum new it was useless to keep up the pretense. "We need the money" he said. "Calet is not as great as it once was, and we need to build forts, repair roads, and all that kind of stuff." Shallum strapped on his helmet and walked out the door. His son hurried after him.
Perez meet him at the door. "The battle plan is finished my lord" he said, gesturing towards a table on which lay a rolled up piece of paper. Shallum nodded, and Perez unfolded it. "I'll have Polad lead an attack from the left." Perez indicated with his finger where the soldiers would be. "And Miktesh from the right. Then you, my king, will lead the main army right in the middle. Between you and Polad, I have your trusted general Dabine leading a small army. Likewise between you and Miktesh, I have stationed Hikol." Perez then pointed out several different points in his strategy. The king nodded from time to time, understanding very little of it. Finally, when Perez finished, the king double checked things.
"All I have to do is lead the middle army?" he asked. Perez nodded and rolled up the plans. "I can handle that," Shallum said as he handed the plans to Perez.
Polad came running to the king, his right hand man Dabine close behind him. "My lord" said Polad kneeling, "I beg you to reconsider. Marram is ready to destroy us. Rumor has it that Azom himself will command the army."
"The rumor is false. Our spies tell us otherwise" Perez informed. "However Polad is right, we must not show an act of aggression against Marram. They could conquer us."
"There is to be no more discussion" Shallum said angrily. "Polad! Dabine! Get your troops ready! Now!" Both men scurried off.
Seled looked at his father with tears in his eyes. "Dad don't go!" he pleaded. "Something terrible is going to happen. I know it!"
"Oh cheer up" Shallum said. "I've been to lots of battles before and nothing ever happened. I'll be alright."
Seled nodded, but did not look convinced. Perez gently pushed the boy in the direction of the door leading outside. "You better go and play. Your father and I have lots to work on."
Seled slowly walked away. The king watched him until Perez tapped him on the shoulder. "We must hurry," he said. "There is much to be done."
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Recab sighed with relief as he looked at the letter. "Calet accepted" he said. "We're safe for a while." Tomaz flew a couple of loops in joy, while Dosut smiled. "Assemble the people this afternoon" Recab continued. "I'm going to have to tell them about the danger we are in."
"Actually, most of them already know" commented Tomaz.
"I'm not surprised" said Recab sitting down. "But I have to officially tell them anyway."
Dosut nodded and left. Tomaz flew to the king's shoulder. "How do you think Calet will do?" he asked.
Recab picked up a broken piece of pottery that had been lying next to his chair and started toying with it. "Oh they'll buy us time. That's about it."
Tomaz nodded. "Marram will beat them as if they were dogs, but when they get to us, we will be crushed like beetles." Recab let the piece of pottery slowly slide from one hand to the other as he grunted his agreement.
A cool wind flowed in from one of the windows. Tomaz turned to look outside, and saw a hot summer day. "I'll see you later" he called as he flew off. Tomaz went to Jolk's Tavern. In it he found his best friend, Ishod. Jolk's Tavern was where everyone visited. Tomaz saw his other friends: Nolli, who loves alcohol, Mazus, who would always run during a battle, Gotaz, the quiet one, and many others. Tomaz landed on a table, at which Ishod and Mazus were seated.
"So what's new" asked Ishod, not looking up from the card game on the table.
"Dosut's announcing a public meeting today" Tomaz answered.
"Yeah, and we now what it is about too" Mazus remarked making his hands into two fists and putting them together, the symbol for Marram.
"I figured you would" said Tomaz.
Mazus slowly laid down a card, then looked up at Ishod grinning. "Don't you ever get tired of winning?" asked Ishod.
"How about another game?" Mazus said as he shuffled the cards.
************************************************************************
Azom looked at his generals. His face was full of anger. "Calet what!?" He hurled one of his dishes, which he actually cared very little for, against the wall.
"D-Dishon bribed them sir" the general stammered nervously. "Shall we forget about Dishon for a while and conquer Calet instead?"
Azom clawed at the air with his scaly hands. "Punizh Calet for thiz" he screamed. "Punizh them zo that they will be zorry they ever looked at the letter Dizhon zent them."
The general nodded and started leaving. "And then" Azom called after him, "deztroy Dizhon zo that not one ztone remainz in place.
*************************************************************************
"Where are you going Dad?"
Shallum turned around to see Seled, his eight year old son, standing behind him. "I'm going to battle son," he answered.
Seled suddenly looked concerned. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"I'm going to be alright" Shallum said, feeling a pain of guilt for thinking of his wallet before his son. "It will be an easy battle." He tried to convince himself the words were true, but deep down he knew they weren't.
His son saw right through him. "Dad don't take the money" he pleaded.
Shallum new it was useless to keep up the pretense. "We need the money" he said. "Calet is not as great as it once was, and we need to build forts, repair roads, and all that kind of stuff." Shallum strapped on his helmet and walked out the door. His son hurried after him.
Perez meet him at the door. "The battle plan is finished my lord" he said, gesturing towards a table on which lay a rolled up piece of paper. Shallum nodded, and Perez unfolded it. "I'll have Polad lead an attack from the left." Perez indicated with his finger where the soldiers would be. "And Miktesh from the right. Then you, my king, will lead the main army right in the middle. Between you and Polad, I have your trusted general Dabine leading a small army. Likewise between you and Miktesh, I have stationed Hikol." Perez then pointed out several different points in his strategy. The king nodded from time to time, understanding very little of it. Finally, when Perez finished, the king double checked things.
"All I have to do is lead the middle army?" he asked. Perez nodded and rolled up the plans. "I can handle that," Shallum said as he handed the plans to Perez.
Polad came running to the king, his right hand man Dabine close behind him. "My lord" said Polad kneeling, "I beg you to reconsider. Marram is ready to destroy us. Rumor has it that Azom himself will command the army."
"The rumor is false. Our spies tell us otherwise" Perez informed. "However Polad is right, we must not show an act of aggression against Marram. They could conquer us."
"There is to be no more discussion" Shallum said angrily. "Polad! Dabine! Get your troops ready! Now!" Both men scurried off.
Seled looked at his father with tears in his eyes. "Dad don't go!" he pleaded. "Something terrible is going to happen. I know it!"
"Oh cheer up" Shallum said. "I've been to lots of battles before and nothing ever happened. I'll be alright."
Seled nodded, but did not look convinced. Perez gently pushed the boy in the direction of the door leading outside. "You better go and play. Your father and I have lots to work on."
Seled slowly walked away. The king watched him until Perez tapped him on the shoulder. "We must hurry," he said. "There is much to be done."
Dishon Chapter 4
Disaster
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Perez gaized out on the fearsome army of Marram. The weapons were most impressive, and the sheer size of the army was enough to make one dizzy. The huge army dwarfed the size of Calets forces, but Perez had complete confidence in his battle plan. With his plan he knew that Calet could win, but he shuddered when he thought of the lives that would be lost.
"This is it" said Shallum. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck" Perez replied. "Here, keep this with you," he said, handing Shallum a small rock. "It is Nathor tradition to keep a pebble with you when going into war." Perez was a Nathorite. Nathorites can be identified by their eyes, which are completely black. Perez was well known for always following Nathor traditions.
The king smiled. "And where did this tradition come from?" he asked, as he put the pebble in his pocket.
"No one knows anymore," Perez replied. "It's meaning was lost a long time ago.
Shallum thoght for a moment, and then said "Perez, in case I don't make it back, please take good care of Seled for me."
"As long as I live, Oh king, not one hair on your son's head will be damaged."
Shallum gave Perez a thankful glance, mounted his horse and then rode to the front of his army. Perez, with one of his servants, ran to a little hill where he could watch the battle.
At the front of the army, Shallum looked out at his commanders. Each raised their hand to show that they were ready. Shallum then raised his sword up: the signal to attack.
Calet's army charged forward, and once the generals of Marram saw the charge, they too ordered their army to charge. The battle had scarcly begun when Marram was taking some heavy blows. Perez's plan was ingenius, as were most of his plans. I will not risk confusing the reader by trying to explain it, but I will say that it was superb.
"And now" thought Perez from his hill "here comes Polad to deliver the final blow." But Polad's army did not move forward. In fact, it even began moving back a little. "What's wrong with them" Perez wondered. "Attack! Attack!" Perez knew his plan would bring victory even without Polad's army, but it would take a lot longer.
Suddenly, out of every forest, from behind every tree, came trolls. They ran into the battle from behind the mountians, and the winged trolls swooped down from the sky. There were more trolls then Perez would have thought possible. It seemed like an infinate number were now already on the battle field, and they were still pouring in by the hundreds. The trolls fought on the side of Marram, and within minutes, Calet's army was crushed. The Soldiers fled in panic.
Perez stood devestated. "How could this have happened?" he said aloud. "Where did those trolls come from?"
"Sir" his servant shouted. "We must get out of here quickly." Perez nodded and the two of them ran. Soon they saw the river where the army of Calet had crossed to get to the battle field. The river was very narrow, about four meters wide, but it was deep, very deep. It was had big banks on each side that dropped down like a cliff. Calet's army had to build a bridge in order to cross it.
The bridge the army had used was burned. About ten or twelve Marramiane soldiers stood guard by the bank. Perez saw more soldiers off in the distance that were coming his way. Perez realized with horror that soon Marram would have many soldiers here, and they would destroy the fleeing army of Calet.
"Were going to have to charge them if we have any hope of escaping," Perez said to his servant. "Are you armed?" His servant unsheathed his sword and held it up. "Good, lets go."
The two of them ran forward. Perez carried his spear in his hand. His sword hung by his side. The soldiers shot several arrows. Perez leaped to one side to aviod being hit. In doing so he tripped over his feet and fell in the dirt. Out of the corner of his eye, Perez saw his servant fall, with an arrow piercing his chest.
Perez threw the spear as hard as he could, and it killed a Marramiane soldier. Perez picked up a rock with his right hand and held his sword with his left. He resumed his charge. The soldiers did not have time to refit another arrow, but a couple of them threw spears. Neither of them struck Perez. Perez threw a rock at one of the soldiers, knocking him into the river. Perez thrust his sword into the chest of another soldier before he leaped to the other side.
Perez barely made the jump. His fingers had a tight grip on the edge of the bank, while his feet struggled for a hold. The bank was not as stable as he had thought. Most of the dirt was loose, unpack, and gave way easily to him. The bank quickly crumbled around where he had his fingers, and Perez soon found himself slowly sliding down the bank, clawing away at it the whole time in hopes of getting a hold. At four feet away, saying he was an easy target for the soldiers on the other side of the bank would be an understatement, but Perez didn't have time to notice that they never tried to finish him off.
With a splash Perez entered into the murky, but suprisingly warm water. He surfaced to see dead body of the soldier he had stabbed. Perez removed his sword from the corpse, and placed it in it's sheath. The other soldier, that Perez had knocked into the water, was being helped out by his comrades. Perez heard many splashes, and suddenly realized he was being attacked by several crocodiles. Since these animals had not been here earlier, he concluded that they must be part of the Marramiane army.
Perez quickly drew his sword. A crocodile swam towards him, it's mouth wide open as if to swallow him whole. Perez thrust his sword as far into the open mouth as he could, until he saw the end of it come out of the crodile's back. Perez withdrew his sword, leaving his enemy to flounder in agony.
A second crocodile approached, but opun seeing what had happened to his comrade, he dove down into the water. Since the water was dirty, Perez immediatly lost sight of his antagonist. Before he had time to think, Perez felt strong jaws clamp down on his lower leg. The next thing he knew, he was dragged under water and surronded by crocodiles. Perez swung his sword wildly, stabbing every where he felt movement. The crocodiles left him momentarily, but just when he was about to go up to get a breath, they were upon him agian. The same crocodile that dragged him under tried to get another hold on his leg, but with strength he didn't know he had, Perez put his sword through it's skull. He whirled around to see another croc swimming towards him. The creature soon felt cold steel through his belly. A third crocodile suddenly made a dart for him, but Perez, swinging wildly, gave it a painful cut on it's side. The crocodile retreated to another part of the river.
Perez surfaced and took a big gulp of air. He then relaxed as he saw that all of the crocodiles were either dead or had fled. Then he quickly submerged himself into the water when he remembered the soldiers on the bank above him. The soldiers had not yet been able to perceive that the crocodiles had been defeated, as the water was hard to see through. Since they didn't want to waste any arrows, they had been planning to just let the crocodiles finish Perez off.
Perez swam under water as long as he could. He swam until his lungs felt like they were going to burst, and then he remained swimming. Finally, when Perez could wait no longer, he came up for a quick breath. He would have liked to stay long enough to take a big gulp of air, but a quick breath was all he was able to take. Perez continued swimming, but this time he wasn't able to go as long before he needed to breath again. On the bank above the soldiers watched for his head to emerge so they could see where he was, then shoot a couple of arrows in his direction.
One impatient soldier drew his sword, and leaped into the water after Perez. He landed on Perez's back. As soon as he felt the impact, Perez immediatly perceived what was happening. His opponent promptly fell of his back, and before he could swim to the surface, Perez was on him, swinging his sword rapidly. The soldier barely had time to parry many of the blows, and ended up with a few cuts on his chest as a result of being one second to slow. Once he got his senses back, the other soldier fought just as valiently as Perez. Both fought under water, trying to stab the other and protecting themselves from the enemys sword. Neither dared to go up for a breath, fearing that his opponent would do him in the moment he left his guard. Perez, however, was worn out and could not hold his breath for long. Soon he kicked heartily, allowing his head to rise up to the air. No sooner had his head broken the surface, then the soldier charged him. He barely had time to parry the oncoming sword, when the soldier delivered a punch to his stomach with his left hand, knocking the wind out off him. Since the blow had been at a downward angle, the force it had carried Perez under. Perez, desperatly needing air, would have shot right back up to the surface, but the soldier was on top of him now, grabbing his throat and keeping Perez's head submerbeged.
Perez raised his sword out of the water and was about to bring it down on his foe, when the soldier dropped his own sword, and grabbed Perez's arm with his free arm. Immediately Perez's left arm flashed out and landed square on the jaw of his adversary, knocking him off. Perez came to the surface and drank in the sweet air. For a moment he forgot the danger he was in, and just sucked in the surrounding vapors.
The familiar sound of an arrow in flight came to the ears of Perez, followed by the sharp pain in his left shoulder where the arrow struck. Perez suppressed the urge to express his pain in a howl, and quickly returned to the safety of the water.
Up on the bank, the Marramiane soldiers forgot about Perez in order to attend to more pressing matters. The army that Perez had seen in the distance was supposed to attack Calet's army from the rear. However Marram had not anticipated defeating Calet so soon, and so that army had already missed the battle. It would still be effective though, just as a means to sandwich the retreating soldiers of Calet and destroy them. The Marramiane soldiers on the bank had been posted as some what of a look out, to make sure things ran smoothly. Now the fleeing Calet soldiers where headed right toward the river, with only the ten to stop them. The soldier who had gone after Perez was told of the situation by his associates, and was pulled up to help them at once.
The ten of them bravely stood their ground, as they shot arrows into the oncoming army. The Caletians, wild with fear, simply charged on, and the ten Marramiane soldiers were quickly killed. The Caletians all leaped into the river and proceeded to claw away at the opposite bank until they had climbed it. It was chaos like you wouldn't believe, and many soldiers drowned from jumping in the river and then have others jump on top of them, and still others, on top of the person who was on them. The river was very deep too. No one had yet found it's bottom.
In the commotion Perez surfaced and began to try to climb the bank, but he could not. His leg was badly injured from when the crocodile had clamped down on it, for crocodiles have a very strong bite. His left arm was almost totally imobalized by the arrow. He called to his countymen for help. If he had been any other man, he propably would have been left to his fate, but since everybody knew what his military genius had done for Calet, they helped him out.
Two men from on top of the bank grabbed Perez's arms, while two men below pushed him up. When he got to the top of the bank, two men helped him keep up with the other men by pratically dragging him the whole way.
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Perez gaized out on the fearsome army of Marram. The weapons were most impressive, and the sheer size of the army was enough to make one dizzy. The huge army dwarfed the size of Calets forces, but Perez had complete confidence in his battle plan. With his plan he knew that Calet could win, but he shuddered when he thought of the lives that would be lost.
"This is it" said Shallum. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck" Perez replied. "Here, keep this with you," he said, handing Shallum a small rock. "It is Nathor tradition to keep a pebble with you when going into war." Perez was a Nathorite. Nathorites can be identified by their eyes, which are completely black. Perez was well known for always following Nathor traditions.
The king smiled. "And where did this tradition come from?" he asked, as he put the pebble in his pocket.
"No one knows anymore," Perez replied. "It's meaning was lost a long time ago.
Shallum thoght for a moment, and then said "Perez, in case I don't make it back, please take good care of Seled for me."
"As long as I live, Oh king, not one hair on your son's head will be damaged."
Shallum gave Perez a thankful glance, mounted his horse and then rode to the front of his army. Perez, with one of his servants, ran to a little hill where he could watch the battle.
At the front of the army, Shallum looked out at his commanders. Each raised their hand to show that they were ready. Shallum then raised his sword up: the signal to attack.
Calet's army charged forward, and once the generals of Marram saw the charge, they too ordered their army to charge. The battle had scarcly begun when Marram was taking some heavy blows. Perez's plan was ingenius, as were most of his plans. I will not risk confusing the reader by trying to explain it, but I will say that it was superb.
"And now" thought Perez from his hill "here comes Polad to deliver the final blow." But Polad's army did not move forward. In fact, it even began moving back a little. "What's wrong with them" Perez wondered. "Attack! Attack!" Perez knew his plan would bring victory even without Polad's army, but it would take a lot longer.
Suddenly, out of every forest, from behind every tree, came trolls. They ran into the battle from behind the mountians, and the winged trolls swooped down from the sky. There were more trolls then Perez would have thought possible. It seemed like an infinate number were now already on the battle field, and they were still pouring in by the hundreds. The trolls fought on the side of Marram, and within minutes, Calet's army was crushed. The Soldiers fled in panic.
Perez stood devestated. "How could this have happened?" he said aloud. "Where did those trolls come from?"
"Sir" his servant shouted. "We must get out of here quickly." Perez nodded and the two of them ran. Soon they saw the river where the army of Calet had crossed to get to the battle field. The river was very narrow, about four meters wide, but it was deep, very deep. It was had big banks on each side that dropped down like a cliff. Calet's army had to build a bridge in order to cross it.
The bridge the army had used was burned. About ten or twelve Marramiane soldiers stood guard by the bank. Perez saw more soldiers off in the distance that were coming his way. Perez realized with horror that soon Marram would have many soldiers here, and they would destroy the fleeing army of Calet.
"Were going to have to charge them if we have any hope of escaping," Perez said to his servant. "Are you armed?" His servant unsheathed his sword and held it up. "Good, lets go."
The two of them ran forward. Perez carried his spear in his hand. His sword hung by his side. The soldiers shot several arrows. Perez leaped to one side to aviod being hit. In doing so he tripped over his feet and fell in the dirt. Out of the corner of his eye, Perez saw his servant fall, with an arrow piercing his chest.
Perez threw the spear as hard as he could, and it killed a Marramiane soldier. Perez picked up a rock with his right hand and held his sword with his left. He resumed his charge. The soldiers did not have time to refit another arrow, but a couple of them threw spears. Neither of them struck Perez. Perez threw a rock at one of the soldiers, knocking him into the river. Perez thrust his sword into the chest of another soldier before he leaped to the other side.
Perez barely made the jump. His fingers had a tight grip on the edge of the bank, while his feet struggled for a hold. The bank was not as stable as he had thought. Most of the dirt was loose, unpack, and gave way easily to him. The bank quickly crumbled around where he had his fingers, and Perez soon found himself slowly sliding down the bank, clawing away at it the whole time in hopes of getting a hold. At four feet away, saying he was an easy target for the soldiers on the other side of the bank would be an understatement, but Perez didn't have time to notice that they never tried to finish him off.
With a splash Perez entered into the murky, but suprisingly warm water. He surfaced to see dead body of the soldier he had stabbed. Perez removed his sword from the corpse, and placed it in it's sheath. The other soldier, that Perez had knocked into the water, was being helped out by his comrades. Perez heard many splashes, and suddenly realized he was being attacked by several crocodiles. Since these animals had not been here earlier, he concluded that they must be part of the Marramiane army.
Perez quickly drew his sword. A crocodile swam towards him, it's mouth wide open as if to swallow him whole. Perez thrust his sword as far into the open mouth as he could, until he saw the end of it come out of the crodile's back. Perez withdrew his sword, leaving his enemy to flounder in agony.
A second crocodile approached, but opun seeing what had happened to his comrade, he dove down into the water. Since the water was dirty, Perez immediatly lost sight of his antagonist. Before he had time to think, Perez felt strong jaws clamp down on his lower leg. The next thing he knew, he was dragged under water and surronded by crocodiles. Perez swung his sword wildly, stabbing every where he felt movement. The crocodiles left him momentarily, but just when he was about to go up to get a breath, they were upon him agian. The same crocodile that dragged him under tried to get another hold on his leg, but with strength he didn't know he had, Perez put his sword through it's skull. He whirled around to see another croc swimming towards him. The creature soon felt cold steel through his belly. A third crocodile suddenly made a dart for him, but Perez, swinging wildly, gave it a painful cut on it's side. The crocodile retreated to another part of the river.
Perez surfaced and took a big gulp of air. He then relaxed as he saw that all of the crocodiles were either dead or had fled. Then he quickly submerged himself into the water when he remembered the soldiers on the bank above him. The soldiers had not yet been able to perceive that the crocodiles had been defeated, as the water was hard to see through. Since they didn't want to waste any arrows, they had been planning to just let the crocodiles finish Perez off.
Perez swam under water as long as he could. He swam until his lungs felt like they were going to burst, and then he remained swimming. Finally, when Perez could wait no longer, he came up for a quick breath. He would have liked to stay long enough to take a big gulp of air, but a quick breath was all he was able to take. Perez continued swimming, but this time he wasn't able to go as long before he needed to breath again. On the bank above the soldiers watched for his head to emerge so they could see where he was, then shoot a couple of arrows in his direction.
One impatient soldier drew his sword, and leaped into the water after Perez. He landed on Perez's back. As soon as he felt the impact, Perez immediatly perceived what was happening. His opponent promptly fell of his back, and before he could swim to the surface, Perez was on him, swinging his sword rapidly. The soldier barely had time to parry many of the blows, and ended up with a few cuts on his chest as a result of being one second to slow. Once he got his senses back, the other soldier fought just as valiently as Perez. Both fought under water, trying to stab the other and protecting themselves from the enemys sword. Neither dared to go up for a breath, fearing that his opponent would do him in the moment he left his guard. Perez, however, was worn out and could not hold his breath for long. Soon he kicked heartily, allowing his head to rise up to the air. No sooner had his head broken the surface, then the soldier charged him. He barely had time to parry the oncoming sword, when the soldier delivered a punch to his stomach with his left hand, knocking the wind out off him. Since the blow had been at a downward angle, the force it had carried Perez under. Perez, desperatly needing air, would have shot right back up to the surface, but the soldier was on top of him now, grabbing his throat and keeping Perez's head submerbeged.
Perez raised his sword out of the water and was about to bring it down on his foe, when the soldier dropped his own sword, and grabbed Perez's arm with his free arm. Immediately Perez's left arm flashed out and landed square on the jaw of his adversary, knocking him off. Perez came to the surface and drank in the sweet air. For a moment he forgot the danger he was in, and just sucked in the surrounding vapors.
The familiar sound of an arrow in flight came to the ears of Perez, followed by the sharp pain in his left shoulder where the arrow struck. Perez suppressed the urge to express his pain in a howl, and quickly returned to the safety of the water.
Up on the bank, the Marramiane soldiers forgot about Perez in order to attend to more pressing matters. The army that Perez had seen in the distance was supposed to attack Calet's army from the rear. However Marram had not anticipated defeating Calet so soon, and so that army had already missed the battle. It would still be effective though, just as a means to sandwich the retreating soldiers of Calet and destroy them. The Marramiane soldiers on the bank had been posted as some what of a look out, to make sure things ran smoothly. Now the fleeing Calet soldiers where headed right toward the river, with only the ten to stop them. The soldier who had gone after Perez was told of the situation by his associates, and was pulled up to help them at once.
The ten of them bravely stood their ground, as they shot arrows into the oncoming army. The Caletians, wild with fear, simply charged on, and the ten Marramiane soldiers were quickly killed. The Caletians all leaped into the river and proceeded to claw away at the opposite bank until they had climbed it. It was chaos like you wouldn't believe, and many soldiers drowned from jumping in the river and then have others jump on top of them, and still others, on top of the person who was on them. The river was very deep too. No one had yet found it's bottom.
In the commotion Perez surfaced and began to try to climb the bank, but he could not. His leg was badly injured from when the crocodile had clamped down on it, for crocodiles have a very strong bite. His left arm was almost totally imobalized by the arrow. He called to his countymen for help. If he had been any other man, he propably would have been left to his fate, but since everybody knew what his military genius had done for Calet, they helped him out.
Two men from on top of the bank grabbed Perez's arms, while two men below pushed him up. When he got to the top of the bank, two men helped him keep up with the other men by pratically dragging him the whole way.
The Watchers Chapter 1
Yesterday is Tomorrow
ONE THOUSAND THIRTEEN YEARS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
The Iceler stood above the fallen body of Haket, reviling in it's victory. "Get up and fight, you coward" it screamed out. Haket struggled to his feet, his muscles aching from endless battery, his head swirling. No sooner had he gotten to his feet then he was too weak to keep his balance, and fell back into the snow. The Iceler laughed, "You pathetic creature. I'll show you who is master of the mountains." With that, the Iceler picked up Haket, and tossed him effortlessly down the slope.
Haket had grown up as a prince in his father's castle. His father, also named Haket, was the king of Gowron, a rather large kingdom by the Appien Ocean. The elder Haket was a kind ruler, who genuinely sought to keep all his people happy and provided for. However he was rather naive when it came to ruling, and ended up making things harder for the people through his blundering decisions. Finally he was assassinated by his own brother, who sought to take control of the throne. His brother tried to kill any possible rivals, and young Haket, only seventeen, was forced to flee with a small band of friends.
As they were fleeing the country, they found it necessary to cross the Coler Mountains, a largely unexplored and totally unsettled range of mountains which formed the barrier between Gowron and it's neighboring country Durant. The mountains were cold and harsh. It was thought that nothing could survive in its brutal climate. Haket and his friends found otherwise.
The journey across the mountains was one Haket was obviously unprepared for. In his hurry to leave, he had neglected to bring many supplies, among them food, mountain climbing gear, and although they had some clothing, not nearly enough to combat the temperature. In particular they lacked gloves, and warm footwear. He and his companions would almost certaintly have been killed by the elements, but they were never given the chance.
They were hardly two hours into the mountains when they were attacked by Icelers. Icelers are creatures which resemble humans but are made completely of ice. Although it was well known that these creatures existed in parts of Fabulae where snow and ice stretched on seemingly forever, few had expected them to be in a place like Coler, where the mountains where only about five kilometers wide, and a length of 100 kilometers.
Several Icelers had leaped out of hiding, and before Haket could react his band was scattered, and he himself received several blows which left him sprawled in the snow. It is here we joined him, at the beginning of this tale.
After being thrown, Haket allowed himself to slide slowly down the mountain for about two or three dekameters, at the end of which he was gently stopped by a large boulder. He forced himself to stand up, and began to run away from his rapidly approaching foe. The Iceler was used to the mountain, and bounded down effortlessly after Haket. By comparison, Haket was moving slow and awkwardly. The Iceler soon caught up.
Haket unsheathed his sword and turned around to face his foe. As the Iceler ran towards him, he swung his sword at its head. The Iceler's arm flew up to take the force of the blow. Haket was expecting the arm to shatter or be cut in half, but instead only a dent was made in it. A large dent, but just a dent nevertheless. What's more, the Iceler was unfazed by his wound, and proceeded to hammer Haket with its fists. The first blow sent Haket flying through the air, and he landed on surprisingly compact snow. Before Haket could regain his orientation, the Iceler grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. Haket struggled violently against the icy hands. It was then that the snow beneath them gave way, they fell a couple meters through a tunnel, and tumbled out into a warm underground room.
It felt like a blazing hot summer's day in midafternoon. The Iceler immediately started to melt, and tried frantically to climb back up the tunnel. This was impossible since it was three meters wide and built straight up and down, with sides as smooth as glass. Haket waited about five minutes as his enemy was reduced to a puddle of water. Then he collapsed with relief and lay on the floor several minutes, until he had completely caught his breath.
Finally he sat up and looked around him. The room was filled with switches, buttons, monitors and lights. He lay down again and for the first time became aware of how warm it really was. It had taken time for his body to warm up, but now he was actually beginning to sweat. "Deka, its Hot"
"Temperature adjustment required?"
Haket leaped up. "Who said that?"
"It is I, the teacher."
Haket tried to discern where the sound was coming from, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "Who?"
"The teacher. I am part of the information network. I will teach you how to use the equipment. Temperature adjustment required?"
"Uh, yeah, could you bring it down about fifteen degrees Celsius." Immediately the room cooled off to a pleasant temperature.
"Is there anything else you require? I can tell you anything you want."
"Could you tell me where my friends are?" asked Haket in a hesitant tone. He was sure the teacher would not know what he was talking about.
One of the largest monitors clicked on. It was about three meters tall and four meters wide. It showed Haket's friends beaten, bound with rope, and tied together in a group. They were surrounded by Icelers. A couple of his friends even looked dead. Beside the monitor, a separate screen displayed a map which showed where they were on the mountain, and also where they were in relationship to where Haket was. They were actually just a few dekameters away, not counting the five meters Haket was underground.
"I've got to help them," shouted Haket.
"Rescue mission is in planning." The voice that answered this time was different from the teacher's voice.
"Who is this?"
"This is the Executer. Specify method of rescue to be used."
"The quickest one." Haket was not sure what was happening, but he was eager to help his friends.
As Haket watched on the monitor, the ground under which each individual Iceler was standing became red hot with heat. The Icelers fled in terror. As soon as all the Icelers were gone, the ground underneath Haket's friends opened up and swallowed them. The next thing Haket knew, the ceiling opened up and his friends landed beside him.
"Deka, what just happened?"
Haket looked at the friend who had spoken. "I'm as confused as you are," he said. Suddenly, Haket's attention was grabbed by Daved. Daved lay lifeless on the ground. His face was blue, and dried blood was caked around his mouth. "Is he alright?" he asked.
One of Haket's friends opened his mouth to answer, but shut it as soon as he heard the voice of the teacher. "He is badly damaged, but still alive."
Then came the executers voice. "Repair injured?"
Haket would have answered with a vocal response, but he forgot himself and just nodded his head. To his surprise, the executer was able to understand him anyway. A small sphere came out of the wall and hovered over Daved. The sphere seemed to absorb all of his injuries. When it was done, it vanished, and Daved sat up, stunned but completely healed.
****************************************************************
"Hans! Hans, wake up." Hans head shot up with a jerk. "Hans you idiot, you fell asleep at the computer."
Hans sheepishly looked around him. "I must have fallen asleep while reading history last night."
"What where you reading ?" Asked Rodens, trying to make conversation.
"I was just reading how this place was discovered one thousand years ago."
"No kidding. Not a very exciting story, is it?"
"No, I guess not, but I like it anyways. You remembered to turn the heat down?" Rodens nodded, and the two walked in silence as Hans thought. That had been one thousand and twenty three years ago to be exact. Since that time, Haket and his friends had been taught many things by the teacher. Although the room Haket was in stretched on for as far as the eye could see, the teacher told them of a secret passageway which led into a huge underground city, big enough to rival any of today's Metropolises. The artificial light and environment made many parts of it look and feel like a forest, or a grassy field. There were plenty of giant buildings also. The whole city was filled with computers and other technology. A ceiling existed about half a kilometer above the ground, and the artificial environment made it look just like the sky. The computer was able to make food, weapons, and in fact it could synthesize just about anything. Haket and his friends, (of whom incidentally there was an equal number of men as women) never left the city from the day they came into it. Their descendents followed suit. The Coler mountains remained unsettled and so nobody else discovered the city.
(Although now the Coler Mountains were no longer part of the country of Gowron. They were ceded after to a war to Durant, and Durant in turn was conquered by Grarap.)
The teacher had taught Haket and his descendents everything, from how to work the computers, to astronomy, geography, history, and everything else. Unfortunately, the dwellers of this underground fortress were somewhat Xenophobic, and although they watched the whole world through the monitors, they avoided contact. That is why they gave themselves the name, "The Watchers".
ONE THOUSAND THIRTEEN YEARS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
The Iceler stood above the fallen body of Haket, reviling in it's victory. "Get up and fight, you coward" it screamed out. Haket struggled to his feet, his muscles aching from endless battery, his head swirling. No sooner had he gotten to his feet then he was too weak to keep his balance, and fell back into the snow. The Iceler laughed, "You pathetic creature. I'll show you who is master of the mountains." With that, the Iceler picked up Haket, and tossed him effortlessly down the slope.
Haket had grown up as a prince in his father's castle. His father, also named Haket, was the king of Gowron, a rather large kingdom by the Appien Ocean. The elder Haket was a kind ruler, who genuinely sought to keep all his people happy and provided for. However he was rather naive when it came to ruling, and ended up making things harder for the people through his blundering decisions. Finally he was assassinated by his own brother, who sought to take control of the throne. His brother tried to kill any possible rivals, and young Haket, only seventeen, was forced to flee with a small band of friends.
As they were fleeing the country, they found it necessary to cross the Coler Mountains, a largely unexplored and totally unsettled range of mountains which formed the barrier between Gowron and it's neighboring country Durant. The mountains were cold and harsh. It was thought that nothing could survive in its brutal climate. Haket and his friends found otherwise.
The journey across the mountains was one Haket was obviously unprepared for. In his hurry to leave, he had neglected to bring many supplies, among them food, mountain climbing gear, and although they had some clothing, not nearly enough to combat the temperature. In particular they lacked gloves, and warm footwear. He and his companions would almost certaintly have been killed by the elements, but they were never given the chance.
They were hardly two hours into the mountains when they were attacked by Icelers. Icelers are creatures which resemble humans but are made completely of ice. Although it was well known that these creatures existed in parts of Fabulae where snow and ice stretched on seemingly forever, few had expected them to be in a place like Coler, where the mountains where only about five kilometers wide, and a length of 100 kilometers.
Several Icelers had leaped out of hiding, and before Haket could react his band was scattered, and he himself received several blows which left him sprawled in the snow. It is here we joined him, at the beginning of this tale.
After being thrown, Haket allowed himself to slide slowly down the mountain for about two or three dekameters, at the end of which he was gently stopped by a large boulder. He forced himself to stand up, and began to run away from his rapidly approaching foe. The Iceler was used to the mountain, and bounded down effortlessly after Haket. By comparison, Haket was moving slow and awkwardly. The Iceler soon caught up.
Haket unsheathed his sword and turned around to face his foe. As the Iceler ran towards him, he swung his sword at its head. The Iceler's arm flew up to take the force of the blow. Haket was expecting the arm to shatter or be cut in half, but instead only a dent was made in it. A large dent, but just a dent nevertheless. What's more, the Iceler was unfazed by his wound, and proceeded to hammer Haket with its fists. The first blow sent Haket flying through the air, and he landed on surprisingly compact snow. Before Haket could regain his orientation, the Iceler grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. Haket struggled violently against the icy hands. It was then that the snow beneath them gave way, they fell a couple meters through a tunnel, and tumbled out into a warm underground room.
It felt like a blazing hot summer's day in midafternoon. The Iceler immediately started to melt, and tried frantically to climb back up the tunnel. This was impossible since it was three meters wide and built straight up and down, with sides as smooth as glass. Haket waited about five minutes as his enemy was reduced to a puddle of water. Then he collapsed with relief and lay on the floor several minutes, until he had completely caught his breath.
Finally he sat up and looked around him. The room was filled with switches, buttons, monitors and lights. He lay down again and for the first time became aware of how warm it really was. It had taken time for his body to warm up, but now he was actually beginning to sweat. "Deka, its Hot"
"Temperature adjustment required?"
Haket leaped up. "Who said that?"
"It is I, the teacher."
Haket tried to discern where the sound was coming from, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "Who?"
"The teacher. I am part of the information network. I will teach you how to use the equipment. Temperature adjustment required?"
"Uh, yeah, could you bring it down about fifteen degrees Celsius." Immediately the room cooled off to a pleasant temperature.
"Is there anything else you require? I can tell you anything you want."
"Could you tell me where my friends are?" asked Haket in a hesitant tone. He was sure the teacher would not know what he was talking about.
One of the largest monitors clicked on. It was about three meters tall and four meters wide. It showed Haket's friends beaten, bound with rope, and tied together in a group. They were surrounded by Icelers. A couple of his friends even looked dead. Beside the monitor, a separate screen displayed a map which showed where they were on the mountain, and also where they were in relationship to where Haket was. They were actually just a few dekameters away, not counting the five meters Haket was underground.
"I've got to help them," shouted Haket.
"Rescue mission is in planning." The voice that answered this time was different from the teacher's voice.
"Who is this?"
"This is the Executer. Specify method of rescue to be used."
"The quickest one." Haket was not sure what was happening, but he was eager to help his friends.
As Haket watched on the monitor, the ground under which each individual Iceler was standing became red hot with heat. The Icelers fled in terror. As soon as all the Icelers were gone, the ground underneath Haket's friends opened up and swallowed them. The next thing Haket knew, the ceiling opened up and his friends landed beside him.
"Deka, what just happened?"
Haket looked at the friend who had spoken. "I'm as confused as you are," he said. Suddenly, Haket's attention was grabbed by Daved. Daved lay lifeless on the ground. His face was blue, and dried blood was caked around his mouth. "Is he alright?" he asked.
One of Haket's friends opened his mouth to answer, but shut it as soon as he heard the voice of the teacher. "He is badly damaged, but still alive."
Then came the executers voice. "Repair injured?"
Haket would have answered with a vocal response, but he forgot himself and just nodded his head. To his surprise, the executer was able to understand him anyway. A small sphere came out of the wall and hovered over Daved. The sphere seemed to absorb all of his injuries. When it was done, it vanished, and Daved sat up, stunned but completely healed.
****************************************************************
"Hans! Hans, wake up." Hans head shot up with a jerk. "Hans you idiot, you fell asleep at the computer."
Hans sheepishly looked around him. "I must have fallen asleep while reading history last night."
"What where you reading ?" Asked Rodens, trying to make conversation.
"I was just reading how this place was discovered one thousand years ago."
"No kidding. Not a very exciting story, is it?"
"No, I guess not, but I like it anyways. You remembered to turn the heat down?" Rodens nodded, and the two walked in silence as Hans thought. That had been one thousand and twenty three years ago to be exact. Since that time, Haket and his friends had been taught many things by the teacher. Although the room Haket was in stretched on for as far as the eye could see, the teacher told them of a secret passageway which led into a huge underground city, big enough to rival any of today's Metropolises. The artificial light and environment made many parts of it look and feel like a forest, or a grassy field. There were plenty of giant buildings also. The whole city was filled with computers and other technology. A ceiling existed about half a kilometer above the ground, and the artificial environment made it look just like the sky. The computer was able to make food, weapons, and in fact it could synthesize just about anything. Haket and his friends, (of whom incidentally there was an equal number of men as women) never left the city from the day they came into it. Their descendents followed suit. The Coler mountains remained unsettled and so nobody else discovered the city.
(Although now the Coler Mountains were no longer part of the country of Gowron. They were ceded after to a war to Durant, and Durant in turn was conquered by Grarap.)
The teacher had taught Haket and his descendents everything, from how to work the computers, to astronomy, geography, history, and everything else. Unfortunately, the dwellers of this underground fortress were somewhat Xenophobic, and although they watched the whole world through the monitors, they avoided contact. That is why they gave themselves the name, "The Watchers".
Dishon Chapter 5
Fall Down
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"The king was killed in battle, because of the surprise attack of the Trolls. General Hikol also perished. Several of my scouts were murdered, and someone took great pains to make sure the existence, not to mention the location of the Trolls were kept a secret. The only people with enough power and influence to do that are in this room." Perez stopped to let his words sink into the ears of his three listeners, Polad, Miktesh, and Dabine. "On top of that, Seled was found murdered this morning, and the only motive I can think of is to grab power."
"If you're looking for the culprit, look no further Perez. Miktesh was never loyal. He convinced the king to fight in this war because he knew it would cause the king's death." Polad had risen from his seat and was all but jumping up and down.
Perez's face grew scarlet and he forced himself to stand up, even though his leg was in a brace, and his arm in a sling. With the help of his cane he moved to Polad, making an effort to control his anger. "That reminds me Polad, what the hell were you doing? You backed your army out when you were supposed to attack. Deka, what were you thinking? What were you-." Perez forced himself to stop, and waited, red faced, for an answer.
"I had sent out some of my own scouts as a precaution. They reported back that many trolls were waiting to attack. I thought it best to retreat. There was no opportunity to share my knowledge with anyone else."
"That's a lie." Miktesh joined those standing. "Polad never sends scouts out. He backed away because he had known about the trolls before the battle began. He was the one who murdered your scouts to keep the trolls hidden. He sold us out to Marram."
Polad drew his sword and walked toward Miktesh in anger. Miktesh began to draw his sword, when Perez yelled out for them to stop it. Dabine stepped between the two, but quickly moved out of the way when he saw Polad's eyes. Nevertheless Dabine was successful in stopping blows from coming, if only for a few minutes. Perez looked at Polad. His face showed his grief. "It was you, wasn't it? You murdered my scouts, you murdered Seled, and now you plan to take power for yourself, in order to help Marram and to help your own pockets."
"Seize him," shouted Polad. Dabine grabbed Perez and violently hurled him to the ground. A loud thud was heard as Perez smashed into the marble floor.
"That's enough," said Miktesh. He held his sword out and gestured towards Perez. "He's free to go."
Polad laughed. "I'm not taking orders from you! From now on, you'll take orders from me!"
"Like hell." Nothing further needed to be said before the two clashed swords. Perez heard the clanging of metal as he picked up his aching body from the floor. Dabine allowed Perez to sit up, but pointed his sword at Perez as a warning against trying to escape. Perez and Dabine watched as the two enemies duelled around the room.
During the course of the fight, Miktesh grew tired and fought carelessly. Consequently, Polad was able to knock his sword out of his hand, with a powerful, well timed swing. Miktesh's sword flew through the air and then slid along the floor. It finally came to a stop about a couple meters from Dabine. Dabine cautiously picked the sword up, while keeping an eye out to make sure Perez didn't attack him when his back was turned. If Perez had been in perfect health, he probably would have seen this as his break, but with his injuries, he decided to only watch Dabine.
Polad dashed forward to finish Miktesh off. Miktesh ran for his life. He jumped on to a table, leaped off in the same motion, and then quickly turned around. Polad was close behind, so Miktesh pushed on the table with all his strength. The table slid surprisingly easy, and rammed into Polad before he had a chance to stop his momentum. Polad's inertia caused his upper body to keep moving forward, even though his lower body was completely stopped, ultimately resulting in his face slamming against the table. Before he could regain his senses, Miktesh had leaped up on the table and kicked Polad's head, hard. Polad's body jerked backwards, and he ended up lying down on his back. He attempted to get up, but Miktesh stomped down hard on his right hand, which held his sword. His other foot kicked Polad in between the legs. Polad moaned, and didn't try to stop Miktesh as he removed his sword.
"Let him go!" Miktesh spoke with authority as he advanced toward Dabine. Dabine looked defiantly at Miktesh, sword ready.
Polad stood up, attempting to save what dignity he had left. "Let him go," he said to Dabine. "For Deka's sake, let him go!" He stared at Miktesh for a long time, then spit in his face and limped away, saying "This isn't over yet. When I'm through with you, you'll rue the day you ever met me."
"I already do" Miktesh retorted, as he helped the injured Perez out the door. "I already do."
After Miktesh had shut the door, Polad turned to Dabine. "Make sure Miktesh is assassinated before he leaves the palace."
Dabine nodded. "What about Perez?"
"He'll have to go too. He'd tell the people I was working for Marram. But you can't assassinate him here. The people love him too much. If they even suspected I was behind his death, I'd be out of power quicker than you could wink your eye. Oh we'll get him alright, not right here but soon. Move quickly now." Dabine bowed and left.
**************************************************************************
"So it's going to be civil war?"
"I'm afraid so," answered Miktesh as he helped Perez down the steps. "Polad has his supporters, and I have mine, and we each have our own armies. Polad is determined to help Marram, and I am against it."
"So who do you think will when?"
"Why, we will of course."
"Uh-uh. Not we. You."
Miktesh looked Perez straight in the eyes, his face had a look of horror on it. "You are on my side, aren't you?"
Perez sighed. "Twenty five years ago I left my homeland of Nathor, because it was a corrupt country I wanted nothing to do with. I came to Calet, where I served eleven years under Shellun. Never did a more noble king ever live. Unfortunately, Shellun was old, and died, so I served under his son, Shallum. Shallum may have had a weakness when it came to money, but over all he was still a noble soul. I would have enjoyed serving under Seled. Though young he was also noble. Miktesh, you just saved my life, and I am grateful for that, but you are not noble. You want power, but show little concern for the responsibility that comes along with that power."
"I can learn responsibility. I'm becoming more responsible all the time."
"Miktesh, I can't imagine you ever becoming responsible or noble. I wish you the best of luck, but my service in Calet is over. I'm going to find a place where nobility still exists." Perez continued slowly down the steps, leaving Miktesh stunned.
***************************************************************************
"No luck sir" Dabine reported. "Miktesh was given the fight of his life, but he still escaped our assassins."
Polad grimaced. It had been three hours since he had given the order to kill Miktesh. "Damn! Damn it Dabine, now we're going to be in the middle of a civil war." He calmed himself down. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault. You're my most loyal aid ever. What about Perez?"
"His location is unknown, but my men are searching everywhere for him."
"Deka! Dabine, so help me, I don't care how loyal you have been, you mess up like this one more time and I'll have you replaced. I'll do worse then that."
"Yes sir," Dabine replied, his composure unchanged by the threat.
Dabine left the room, and Polad pounded hard on the table. "You got away this time Perez, but I'll get you eventually, and when I do, even Deka couldn't help you."
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"The king was killed in battle, because of the surprise attack of the Trolls. General Hikol also perished. Several of my scouts were murdered, and someone took great pains to make sure the existence, not to mention the location of the Trolls were kept a secret. The only people with enough power and influence to do that are in this room." Perez stopped to let his words sink into the ears of his three listeners, Polad, Miktesh, and Dabine. "On top of that, Seled was found murdered this morning, and the only motive I can think of is to grab power."
"If you're looking for the culprit, look no further Perez. Miktesh was never loyal. He convinced the king to fight in this war because he knew it would cause the king's death." Polad had risen from his seat and was all but jumping up and down.
Perez's face grew scarlet and he forced himself to stand up, even though his leg was in a brace, and his arm in a sling. With the help of his cane he moved to Polad, making an effort to control his anger. "That reminds me Polad, what the hell were you doing? You backed your army out when you were supposed to attack. Deka, what were you thinking? What were you-." Perez forced himself to stop, and waited, red faced, for an answer.
"I had sent out some of my own scouts as a precaution. They reported back that many trolls were waiting to attack. I thought it best to retreat. There was no opportunity to share my knowledge with anyone else."
"That's a lie." Miktesh joined those standing. "Polad never sends scouts out. He backed away because he had known about the trolls before the battle began. He was the one who murdered your scouts to keep the trolls hidden. He sold us out to Marram."
Polad drew his sword and walked toward Miktesh in anger. Miktesh began to draw his sword, when Perez yelled out for them to stop it. Dabine stepped between the two, but quickly moved out of the way when he saw Polad's eyes. Nevertheless Dabine was successful in stopping blows from coming, if only for a few minutes. Perez looked at Polad. His face showed his grief. "It was you, wasn't it? You murdered my scouts, you murdered Seled, and now you plan to take power for yourself, in order to help Marram and to help your own pockets."
"Seize him," shouted Polad. Dabine grabbed Perez and violently hurled him to the ground. A loud thud was heard as Perez smashed into the marble floor.
"That's enough," said Miktesh. He held his sword out and gestured towards Perez. "He's free to go."
Polad laughed. "I'm not taking orders from you! From now on, you'll take orders from me!"
"Like hell." Nothing further needed to be said before the two clashed swords. Perez heard the clanging of metal as he picked up his aching body from the floor. Dabine allowed Perez to sit up, but pointed his sword at Perez as a warning against trying to escape. Perez and Dabine watched as the two enemies duelled around the room.
During the course of the fight, Miktesh grew tired and fought carelessly. Consequently, Polad was able to knock his sword out of his hand, with a powerful, well timed swing. Miktesh's sword flew through the air and then slid along the floor. It finally came to a stop about a couple meters from Dabine. Dabine cautiously picked the sword up, while keeping an eye out to make sure Perez didn't attack him when his back was turned. If Perez had been in perfect health, he probably would have seen this as his break, but with his injuries, he decided to only watch Dabine.
Polad dashed forward to finish Miktesh off. Miktesh ran for his life. He jumped on to a table, leaped off in the same motion, and then quickly turned around. Polad was close behind, so Miktesh pushed on the table with all his strength. The table slid surprisingly easy, and rammed into Polad before he had a chance to stop his momentum. Polad's inertia caused his upper body to keep moving forward, even though his lower body was completely stopped, ultimately resulting in his face slamming against the table. Before he could regain his senses, Miktesh had leaped up on the table and kicked Polad's head, hard. Polad's body jerked backwards, and he ended up lying down on his back. He attempted to get up, but Miktesh stomped down hard on his right hand, which held his sword. His other foot kicked Polad in between the legs. Polad moaned, and didn't try to stop Miktesh as he removed his sword.
"Let him go!" Miktesh spoke with authority as he advanced toward Dabine. Dabine looked defiantly at Miktesh, sword ready.
Polad stood up, attempting to save what dignity he had left. "Let him go," he said to Dabine. "For Deka's sake, let him go!" He stared at Miktesh for a long time, then spit in his face and limped away, saying "This isn't over yet. When I'm through with you, you'll rue the day you ever met me."
"I already do" Miktesh retorted, as he helped the injured Perez out the door. "I already do."
After Miktesh had shut the door, Polad turned to Dabine. "Make sure Miktesh is assassinated before he leaves the palace."
Dabine nodded. "What about Perez?"
"He'll have to go too. He'd tell the people I was working for Marram. But you can't assassinate him here. The people love him too much. If they even suspected I was behind his death, I'd be out of power quicker than you could wink your eye. Oh we'll get him alright, not right here but soon. Move quickly now." Dabine bowed and left.
**************************************************************************
"So it's going to be civil war?"
"I'm afraid so," answered Miktesh as he helped Perez down the steps. "Polad has his supporters, and I have mine, and we each have our own armies. Polad is determined to help Marram, and I am against it."
"So who do you think will when?"
"Why, we will of course."
"Uh-uh. Not we. You."
Miktesh looked Perez straight in the eyes, his face had a look of horror on it. "You are on my side, aren't you?"
Perez sighed. "Twenty five years ago I left my homeland of Nathor, because it was a corrupt country I wanted nothing to do with. I came to Calet, where I served eleven years under Shellun. Never did a more noble king ever live. Unfortunately, Shellun was old, and died, so I served under his son, Shallum. Shallum may have had a weakness when it came to money, but over all he was still a noble soul. I would have enjoyed serving under Seled. Though young he was also noble. Miktesh, you just saved my life, and I am grateful for that, but you are not noble. You want power, but show little concern for the responsibility that comes along with that power."
"I can learn responsibility. I'm becoming more responsible all the time."
"Miktesh, I can't imagine you ever becoming responsible or noble. I wish you the best of luck, but my service in Calet is over. I'm going to find a place where nobility still exists." Perez continued slowly down the steps, leaving Miktesh stunned.
***************************************************************************
"No luck sir" Dabine reported. "Miktesh was given the fight of his life, but he still escaped our assassins."
Polad grimaced. It had been three hours since he had given the order to kill Miktesh. "Damn! Damn it Dabine, now we're going to be in the middle of a civil war." He calmed himself down. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault. You're my most loyal aid ever. What about Perez?"
"His location is unknown, but my men are searching everywhere for him."
"Deka! Dabine, so help me, I don't care how loyal you have been, you mess up like this one more time and I'll have you replaced. I'll do worse then that."
"Yes sir," Dabine replied, his composure unchanged by the threat.
Dabine left the room, and Polad pounded hard on the table. "You got away this time Perez, but I'll get you eventually, and when I do, even Deka couldn't help you."
The Watchers Chapter 2
Foreign Policy
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Hans opened the door to the observation room.
In the underground city, food was replicated by computers, as well as anything else someone might desire. Therefore, there was no need for anyone to work, but many did anyway. For those who loved science, like Dabrow, there was simply no substitute for the joy of finding out something through experimentation that the Teacher did not know. Some liked to write stories, and add them to the vast files of literature. Many of the people who chose to work were like Hans however. They were simply fascinated by the outside world. The observation room was filled with monitor screens from which many things could be observed.
At first, there had not been enough monitors for everyone who wished to observe, but then the Executor simply replicated more. Many of the rooms in the underground city had been turned into observation rooms.
Hans took a seat by his monitor. "Display a list of all wars going on now," he commanded. The monitor displayed a list of ten wars going on across the planet of Fabulae. Hans's jaw dropped in surprise when he noticed Calet was involved in a civil war. "Show events that led to the civil war in Calet." Hans watched fascinated as his monitor showed Polad and Miktesh arguing.
Hans had soon seen enough to guess why the war had started. "Display Miktesh at present time," he commanded. The monitor showed Miktesh marching with his troops. A map showed that they were heading to Agriola, Calet's official storehouse of food grown by the farmers. Each farmer in Calet had to give up five percent of their harvest as taxes. His interest growing, Hans asked to see the forces of Polad. Several of Polad's armies where also in a march to Agriola. Having the teacher compare speed and distance of the opposing armies, Hans saw it was very likely Miktesh would get to Agriola first.
Hans then told the computer to display Polad. Polad was discussing strategy with his generals. Hans smiled at his luck in being able to see Polad at such an opportune time and leaned back in his chair to watch. "Finally," said Polad, "Dabine will lead the-." The picture of Polad faded off the screen. It then reappeared briefly, before it faded away again.
"What's going on?" Hans wondered aloud.
"Unknown" the Teacher replied.
Hans turned to look at his good friend, Rodens. His screen was also blank. "Are you having the same problems I am?"
"If you mean your monitor suddenly went blank for no reason, yes," answered Rodens.
"Well what could have caused it?" Hans asked.
"The only thing I can think of would be the satellite malfunctioning," speculated Rodens. "The only monitors in this room that went blank were those displaying current events."
The satellite orbited Fabulae, and it was from this satellite that The Watchers were able to see everything on the planet. Rodens instructed the computer to show the satellite's activity for the last ten minutes.
The first two minutes were rather boring, as it just showed the satellite sitting out in space. Then, a blue light appeared briefly, and then vanished. Hans opened his mouth to ask the Teacher a question, but Rodens quickly reached over and placed his hand over Hans's mouth. "Wait until the whole thing is done." The blue light returned one minute later, then it came again thirty seconds after that. All too quickly it developed into a steady flow of blue light starting from the satellite and going to Fabulae. Then, about a minute before the monitor was supposed to stop, the picture faded out.
"What caused the blue light?" Rodens asked. The monitor showed a large meteor hitting the satellite. The satellite spun around several times, as the meteor went straight on its course unaltered. The satellite eventually corrected itself, and maneuvered back into its original position. A small blue light flashed across its exterior. Then the monitor displayed two maps of the satellites interior, before and after it was hit, and the changed parts were highlighted in red.
Across the city, hundreds of others were discovering the same thing.
*****************************************************************************
"By now, all of you have heard about the meteor." Bakes spoke at a meeting of all The Watchers. The teacher had taught The Watchers about many different forms of government, and The Watchers had agreed to use democracy. When Bakes was done explaining the problem, they would debate it for a while, and then vote on a solution. Bakes had dedicated his whole life to studying the computers, and was able to describe the problem most intelligently.
"I won't bore you with the details, but essentially the information from the satellite is being sent in a slightly different form. A small adjustment on our receptors could easily allow us to receive the information again just like we did before. The problem is that the new form the information is sent in unfortunately causes the mountains to heat up. With in weeks, the temperature of the Coler mountains will become fifty degrees Celsius. Obviously, all the Icelers are going to die much before them."
A small tinge of panic went through Hans. The Icelers were far from the savage warriors Haket had encountered one thousand years ago. Since that time, they had evolved into a peaceful culture that was bursting with creativity.
"As you know, the temperature in the Colers is usually around negative forty, with a record high of negative thirty in the past one hundred years. When the satellite was damaged, the temperature was negative forty four. Since then the temperature has gone up at roughly one degree every four hours. The temperature right now is negative thirty nine. We have until the temperature gets to Zero to save all the Icelers."
"Our options, gentlemen, are limited. As you know, the teacher has hidden some information from us for an unknown reason. The two we've found out about so far are: The origin of this city, and space travel. Therefor we obviously can not fly up to the satellite and repair it. It is also impossible to fix the satellite from the city."
A voice shouted out from the crowd, "Couldn't we develop space travel without the teachers help?"
"Undoubtable, however not much research has been put into space travel because," Bakess paued to think, "while we have no need of it. We Watchers seldom leave the city. In retrospect, that was obviously a mistake, however, with the time we have until the Icelers are destroyed, we can not possibly develop space travel to the point where we could fix the satellite from our ship."
"We can, however shut off the satellite completely from our city. If, someday, we develop to the point where the satellite can be fixed, we can turn it back on again." The were several angry shouts from the crowd. "Please, please, remember I'm only listing off all the options, I have yet to endorse any of them." The crowd quieted down, and Bakes continued.
"We also can transport the Icelers to a colder climate, via ships the executor can replicate. Of course, if we did this, we would try to fly the ships through mostly unpopulated areas, but it would be impossible to avoid detection completely."
"One final option has been proposed. We give half of the city to the Icelers. The artificial temperature can be lowered to accommodate them, and we would be co-citizens with them."
Bakess left the platform, never one for making conclusions, and the President for that year, Jistap, went to the podium. "After a time of debate, we will vote on the presented options. As always, new options may be introduced at this time too."
"In that case Mr. President, I have another option for you." All eyes turned to Rodens as he stood up out of his seat.
"You may speak."
"Thank you." Rodens, standing near the front of the crowd, turned around, as the majority of people where behind him. The computer stopped amplifying the voices from the front, and instead turned on Rodens' voice. Since most of the population was at the meeting, the room was the biggest in the city, and so few could see Rodens, but all could hear him. "I like the Icelers, and wish the best for their safety." Rodens began. "However, before we help others we must look out for ourselves first. This meteor incident was in no way," Rodens paused for emphasis, "no way our fault. We have absolutely no responsibility for helping the Icelers. Now I'd like to help them as much as anybody, however our first duty is to care for ourselves before we start messing in the affairs of others. We can't play world policeman, and do what we think is right in every situation. We have to let the Icelers look after themselves. I propose we don't risk detection, we don't turn our city into snow land, and we don't shut off our only link to the outside world. We are in no way responsible, and I propose we simply don't interfere."
Hans could hardly believe his ears. Not that Rodens would say something like that, Hans new Rodens well and he knew his views. The fact that they had completely different political beliefs had failed to stop their friendship. No, what Hans couldn't believe was the vigorous applauding Rodens had received.
Jistap looked out uneasily at the crowd. It was clear he was not in favor of the idea. "Your option will be added to the list. Thank you." Rodens nodded and sat down. "Any other comments." There where hundreds of thousands of people in the city, and they all wanted to get their two cents in, so after a long night of debate, the meeting was adjourned. It would ordinarily have been scheduled at the same time tomorrow, but because of the urgency of the issue, it was scheduled in the morning, barely long enough for everyone to get eight hours sleep. Fortunately, thanks to super elevators, travel time back and forth to the meeting hall was not a factor.
Rodens was getting ready for bed when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me" Rodens recognized the voice of Hans, and pressed a button, causing the door to swing open.
"Hello Hans, what do you want?"
"Oh I just came over to talk. You were quite popular at that meeting."
"Ideas that look out for the common man are always popular. This city needs to focus on it's own, not worry about every thing that goes wrong in the world."
"While I can't say I didn't expect you to stand up and say what you did, but I still don't understand how you could just sit back and relax while all those Icelers are killed."
"Hans! Hans! Let me reiterate. It grieves me that the Icelers are in there present condition, but theres just nothing we can do about it."
"There's plenty we can do. We can-"
"Yes, yes I know. I heard the proposed options. But Hans, think about us. No matter what we do, whether we shut off the satellite, turn half the city into a frozen land, or let the whole world investigate the Coler mountains to see why these flying machines are coming out of it, life in the city is never going to be the same." Rodens could see that he was failing to convince Hans. "Hans, listen to me. We have to put the Watchers first. There's nothing wrong with that."
"What about the Icelers. They are sentient beings too. Their brains are almost identical to ours in function. We have the ability to save them, shouldn't we?"
"Ideally yes, but it isn't just as easy as snapping our fingers and their safe."
"Alright then, lets undergo a little hardship to help them, it's worth it."
"No, it's not. They're not our responsibility. There's nothing wrong with putting the Watchers first. It's them or us."
Hans took deep breath and blew it out. "I've never been able to understand your thoughts."
"Nor I yours. Have a good nights sleep."
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Hans opened the door to the observation room.
In the underground city, food was replicated by computers, as well as anything else someone might desire. Therefore, there was no need for anyone to work, but many did anyway. For those who loved science, like Dabrow, there was simply no substitute for the joy of finding out something through experimentation that the Teacher did not know. Some liked to write stories, and add them to the vast files of literature. Many of the people who chose to work were like Hans however. They were simply fascinated by the outside world. The observation room was filled with monitor screens from which many things could be observed.
At first, there had not been enough monitors for everyone who wished to observe, but then the Executor simply replicated more. Many of the rooms in the underground city had been turned into observation rooms.
Hans took a seat by his monitor. "Display a list of all wars going on now," he commanded. The monitor displayed a list of ten wars going on across the planet of Fabulae. Hans's jaw dropped in surprise when he noticed Calet was involved in a civil war. "Show events that led to the civil war in Calet." Hans watched fascinated as his monitor showed Polad and Miktesh arguing.
Hans had soon seen enough to guess why the war had started. "Display Miktesh at present time," he commanded. The monitor showed Miktesh marching with his troops. A map showed that they were heading to Agriola, Calet's official storehouse of food grown by the farmers. Each farmer in Calet had to give up five percent of their harvest as taxes. His interest growing, Hans asked to see the forces of Polad. Several of Polad's armies where also in a march to Agriola. Having the teacher compare speed and distance of the opposing armies, Hans saw it was very likely Miktesh would get to Agriola first.
Hans then told the computer to display Polad. Polad was discussing strategy with his generals. Hans smiled at his luck in being able to see Polad at such an opportune time and leaned back in his chair to watch. "Finally," said Polad, "Dabine will lead the-." The picture of Polad faded off the screen. It then reappeared briefly, before it faded away again.
"What's going on?" Hans wondered aloud.
"Unknown" the Teacher replied.
Hans turned to look at his good friend, Rodens. His screen was also blank. "Are you having the same problems I am?"
"If you mean your monitor suddenly went blank for no reason, yes," answered Rodens.
"Well what could have caused it?" Hans asked.
"The only thing I can think of would be the satellite malfunctioning," speculated Rodens. "The only monitors in this room that went blank were those displaying current events."
The satellite orbited Fabulae, and it was from this satellite that The Watchers were able to see everything on the planet. Rodens instructed the computer to show the satellite's activity for the last ten minutes.
The first two minutes were rather boring, as it just showed the satellite sitting out in space. Then, a blue light appeared briefly, and then vanished. Hans opened his mouth to ask the Teacher a question, but Rodens quickly reached over and placed his hand over Hans's mouth. "Wait until the whole thing is done." The blue light returned one minute later, then it came again thirty seconds after that. All too quickly it developed into a steady flow of blue light starting from the satellite and going to Fabulae. Then, about a minute before the monitor was supposed to stop, the picture faded out.
"What caused the blue light?" Rodens asked. The monitor showed a large meteor hitting the satellite. The satellite spun around several times, as the meteor went straight on its course unaltered. The satellite eventually corrected itself, and maneuvered back into its original position. A small blue light flashed across its exterior. Then the monitor displayed two maps of the satellites interior, before and after it was hit, and the changed parts were highlighted in red.
Across the city, hundreds of others were discovering the same thing.
*****************************************************************************
"By now, all of you have heard about the meteor." Bakes spoke at a meeting of all The Watchers. The teacher had taught The Watchers about many different forms of government, and The Watchers had agreed to use democracy. When Bakes was done explaining the problem, they would debate it for a while, and then vote on a solution. Bakes had dedicated his whole life to studying the computers, and was able to describe the problem most intelligently.
"I won't bore you with the details, but essentially the information from the satellite is being sent in a slightly different form. A small adjustment on our receptors could easily allow us to receive the information again just like we did before. The problem is that the new form the information is sent in unfortunately causes the mountains to heat up. With in weeks, the temperature of the Coler mountains will become fifty degrees Celsius. Obviously, all the Icelers are going to die much before them."
A small tinge of panic went through Hans. The Icelers were far from the savage warriors Haket had encountered one thousand years ago. Since that time, they had evolved into a peaceful culture that was bursting with creativity.
"As you know, the temperature in the Colers is usually around negative forty, with a record high of negative thirty in the past one hundred years. When the satellite was damaged, the temperature was negative forty four. Since then the temperature has gone up at roughly one degree every four hours. The temperature right now is negative thirty nine. We have until the temperature gets to Zero to save all the Icelers."
"Our options, gentlemen, are limited. As you know, the teacher has hidden some information from us for an unknown reason. The two we've found out about so far are: The origin of this city, and space travel. Therefor we obviously can not fly up to the satellite and repair it. It is also impossible to fix the satellite from the city."
A voice shouted out from the crowd, "Couldn't we develop space travel without the teachers help?"
"Undoubtable, however not much research has been put into space travel because," Bakess paued to think, "while we have no need of it. We Watchers seldom leave the city. In retrospect, that was obviously a mistake, however, with the time we have until the Icelers are destroyed, we can not possibly develop space travel to the point where we could fix the satellite from our ship."
"We can, however shut off the satellite completely from our city. If, someday, we develop to the point where the satellite can be fixed, we can turn it back on again." The were several angry shouts from the crowd. "Please, please, remember I'm only listing off all the options, I have yet to endorse any of them." The crowd quieted down, and Bakes continued.
"We also can transport the Icelers to a colder climate, via ships the executor can replicate. Of course, if we did this, we would try to fly the ships through mostly unpopulated areas, but it would be impossible to avoid detection completely."
"One final option has been proposed. We give half of the city to the Icelers. The artificial temperature can be lowered to accommodate them, and we would be co-citizens with them."
Bakess left the platform, never one for making conclusions, and the President for that year, Jistap, went to the podium. "After a time of debate, we will vote on the presented options. As always, new options may be introduced at this time too."
"In that case Mr. President, I have another option for you." All eyes turned to Rodens as he stood up out of his seat.
"You may speak."
"Thank you." Rodens, standing near the front of the crowd, turned around, as the majority of people where behind him. The computer stopped amplifying the voices from the front, and instead turned on Rodens' voice. Since most of the population was at the meeting, the room was the biggest in the city, and so few could see Rodens, but all could hear him. "I like the Icelers, and wish the best for their safety." Rodens began. "However, before we help others we must look out for ourselves first. This meteor incident was in no way," Rodens paused for emphasis, "no way our fault. We have absolutely no responsibility for helping the Icelers. Now I'd like to help them as much as anybody, however our first duty is to care for ourselves before we start messing in the affairs of others. We can't play world policeman, and do what we think is right in every situation. We have to let the Icelers look after themselves. I propose we don't risk detection, we don't turn our city into snow land, and we don't shut off our only link to the outside world. We are in no way responsible, and I propose we simply don't interfere."
Hans could hardly believe his ears. Not that Rodens would say something like that, Hans new Rodens well and he knew his views. The fact that they had completely different political beliefs had failed to stop their friendship. No, what Hans couldn't believe was the vigorous applauding Rodens had received.
Jistap looked out uneasily at the crowd. It was clear he was not in favor of the idea. "Your option will be added to the list. Thank you." Rodens nodded and sat down. "Any other comments." There where hundreds of thousands of people in the city, and they all wanted to get their two cents in, so after a long night of debate, the meeting was adjourned. It would ordinarily have been scheduled at the same time tomorrow, but because of the urgency of the issue, it was scheduled in the morning, barely long enough for everyone to get eight hours sleep. Fortunately, thanks to super elevators, travel time back and forth to the meeting hall was not a factor.
Rodens was getting ready for bed when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me" Rodens recognized the voice of Hans, and pressed a button, causing the door to swing open.
"Hello Hans, what do you want?"
"Oh I just came over to talk. You were quite popular at that meeting."
"Ideas that look out for the common man are always popular. This city needs to focus on it's own, not worry about every thing that goes wrong in the world."
"While I can't say I didn't expect you to stand up and say what you did, but I still don't understand how you could just sit back and relax while all those Icelers are killed."
"Hans! Hans! Let me reiterate. It grieves me that the Icelers are in there present condition, but theres just nothing we can do about it."
"There's plenty we can do. We can-"
"Yes, yes I know. I heard the proposed options. But Hans, think about us. No matter what we do, whether we shut off the satellite, turn half the city into a frozen land, or let the whole world investigate the Coler mountains to see why these flying machines are coming out of it, life in the city is never going to be the same." Rodens could see that he was failing to convince Hans. "Hans, listen to me. We have to put the Watchers first. There's nothing wrong with that."
"What about the Icelers. They are sentient beings too. Their brains are almost identical to ours in function. We have the ability to save them, shouldn't we?"
"Ideally yes, but it isn't just as easy as snapping our fingers and their safe."
"Alright then, lets undergo a little hardship to help them, it's worth it."
"No, it's not. They're not our responsibility. There's nothing wrong with putting the Watchers first. It's them or us."
Hans took deep breath and blew it out. "I've never been able to understand your thoughts."
"Nor I yours. Have a good nights sleep."
Dishon Chapter 6
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Recab entered the meeting room to see the downcast faces of Tomaz and Dosut. "Well, it looks like were going to fall back on plan B" he said cheerfully.
Dosut looked carefully at Recab, trying to determine the source of his new found cheerfulness. "We don't have a plan B." He spoke cautiously. "Calet was our only hope."
"We do now" Recab opened the room's door to reveal Perez standing there, accompanied by Tish. Perez limped in, as Tish bowed, closed the door, and left. Once in the room, Perez found a chair and collapsed in it, taking all the weight off his cane. He took a minute to regain his breath, then nodded to Dosut and Tomaz.
"What happened to your leg?" asked Tomaz
Not used to Tomaz' straight forward, uneloquent style, Perez was taken back a bit, but quickly recovered to answer. "It was bitten by a crocodile, and then I slammed my knee against a marble floor."
Recab, trying to preserve the formality of the event, put in, "Perez has left Calet to join us. I am confident that with his help, the future looks much brighter."
Tomaz flew onto Perez' shoulder, saying "don't get me wrong, I'm glad that your here, but your decision to move to Dishon isn't exactly what you would call a good career move. Why did you come?"
"In the pursuit of what is noble, and what is just. I wanted to go some place where I wasn't fighting for money or power, but for freedom and life."
Dosut, who had been starring at the ground in thought, looked up. "Even with Perez' genius, I still don't see how we could win this war. The numerical figures are just dizzying."
"I agree" said Perez. "Even Calet didn't have much of a chance against Marram numerically, and Dishon is not even comparable to Calet." Perez paused, and sighed. "Now Calet is doomed. To think that the death of a heir is all it took to send it hurtling into civil war." Perez' face suddenly brightened up. "Does Azom have a heir?"
"I've already thought of that. Although we know little about his command structure, it doesn't matter anyway. Azom stays in the capital city, Marret, heavily guarded." Tomaz walked back and forth on Perez' shoulder as he talked.
"Just how do you plan to win this war?" Dosut asked.
"I don't. I really don't see any way we could win." Perez paused. "Are you sure killing Azom isn't an option."
Tomaz replied jokingly "Not unless he decides to lead his army into battle himself."
"In that case, I don't see any way we can win. However, that isn't going to stop me from trying. The pursuit of what is noble is seldom a profitable journey. The goal here is to stay alive as long as possible, and hope something, some miracle, will force Marram to give up."
"Deka help us." Dosut said, as he slowly sat down into a chair. "We won't last a day."
"I'm hoping, in fact I'm counting on it, that Marram will send a small force against us. Supplies for soldiers cost money, and Marram didn't get to be powerful by wasting money."
Dosut remained uncheered. "Now that your here, you can bet Marram will send their full force against us."
"Marram doesn't know I'm here."
"I wouldn't count on it." Dosut said. "Don't under estimate their spy network. Anybody could be one of their agents."
"I know, I know. I learned the hard way. But fortunately, I have a very powerful friend who was able to completely cover my tracks. Besides my friend, you three and Tish are the only ones who know I'm in Dishon."
"And we'd like to keep it that way" put in Recab. "Perez is to be kept top secret. No one is to find out about him."
"We can tell Ishod can't we?" chirped out Tomaz. "Ishod can be trusted." Ishod, though only an ordinary soldier, had an uncanny connection with these three most power figures in Dishon. He was best friend to Tomaz, and Recab had married his sister, Ishite.
"No one else is to know about this. Not Ishod, not Mazus, not Gotaz, and not Nolli. Not even my own wife is going to know about this," said Recab. Calming down a bit, he added "We'll meet early tomorrow morning to discuss strategy. Until then, you gentlemen are dismissed."
Dosut nodded and walked out the door. Tomaz flew out the window. He headed straight for Jolk's tavern. The ground all around the tavern was covered with mud, do to the rain of spring. Tomaz flew in an open door to see Kitmus cleaning up the mud inside. Tomaz flew passed Kitmus to a table where Ishod was sitting with Mazus, and Nolli.
Tomaz landed on the table and looked around. "Where's Gotaz?" he asked.
"He went to get us another round of drinks" said Nolli.
"So what have you been doing this morning Tomaz?" asked Ishod.
Tomaz smiled, or at least as close to a smile as a Robin can get. "I can't tell you that. It's top secret."
"Ishod's eyebrows went up. "Oh really?"
"It's too bad I can't tell you, because it really is quite fascinating. If you knew, you wouldn't believe it.
"To bad you can't tell me then."
"Do you want to know about it?"
"Not if I'm not supposed to."
"I could tell you if you didn't tell anyone else."
"No, no, I'm a loyal soldier, and if the king doesn't want me to know, I won't find out."
"Are you sure you don't want to know?"
Ishod studied Tomaz' face for quite some time. "It never ceases to amaze me why the king would make you his advisor."
"The king doesn't know me like you do. Listen, if you really want to know, I can tell you. Just keep it a secret."
"I don't want to know" Ishod said strongly.
"I'd like to know" said Mazus.
Gotaz arrived with four drinks, which he distributed to Ishod, Nolli, Mazus, and himself without a word. Then he took his seat at the table.
"Well I can tell you then" said Tomaz, after Gotaz had sat down.
"Not here you don't" said Ishod. "I'm not finding out."
"Well go outside" Tomaz called out as he flew toward the door. Mazus followed him.
Ishod looked at his mug of beer. "I'm sorry Gotaz, but I've had enough."
"I'll finish yours then" said Nolli, who was already done with his drink. "Just pass it down." Ishod slid the drink across the table to Nolli, who grabbed it greedily. Ishod watched as Nolli gulped down the beverage.
Tomaz flew back in the room, with Mazus following behind him. Mazus sat back down at the table. "Boy, is Tomaz right. That really, really was amazing. Are you guys sure you don't want to know?"
Recab entered the meeting room to see the downcast faces of Tomaz and Dosut. "Well, it looks like were going to fall back on plan B" he said cheerfully.
Dosut looked carefully at Recab, trying to determine the source of his new found cheerfulness. "We don't have a plan B." He spoke cautiously. "Calet was our only hope."
"We do now" Recab opened the room's door to reveal Perez standing there, accompanied by Tish. Perez limped in, as Tish bowed, closed the door, and left. Once in the room, Perez found a chair and collapsed in it, taking all the weight off his cane. He took a minute to regain his breath, then nodded to Dosut and Tomaz.
"What happened to your leg?" asked Tomaz
Not used to Tomaz' straight forward, uneloquent style, Perez was taken back a bit, but quickly recovered to answer. "It was bitten by a crocodile, and then I slammed my knee against a marble floor."
Recab, trying to preserve the formality of the event, put in, "Perez has left Calet to join us. I am confident that with his help, the future looks much brighter."
Tomaz flew onto Perez' shoulder, saying "don't get me wrong, I'm glad that your here, but your decision to move to Dishon isn't exactly what you would call a good career move. Why did you come?"
"In the pursuit of what is noble, and what is just. I wanted to go some place where I wasn't fighting for money or power, but for freedom and life."
Dosut, who had been starring at the ground in thought, looked up. "Even with Perez' genius, I still don't see how we could win this war. The numerical figures are just dizzying."
"I agree" said Perez. "Even Calet didn't have much of a chance against Marram numerically, and Dishon is not even comparable to Calet." Perez paused, and sighed. "Now Calet is doomed. To think that the death of a heir is all it took to send it hurtling into civil war." Perez' face suddenly brightened up. "Does Azom have a heir?"
"I've already thought of that. Although we know little about his command structure, it doesn't matter anyway. Azom stays in the capital city, Marret, heavily guarded." Tomaz walked back and forth on Perez' shoulder as he talked.
"Just how do you plan to win this war?" Dosut asked.
"I don't. I really don't see any way we could win." Perez paused. "Are you sure killing Azom isn't an option."
Tomaz replied jokingly "Not unless he decides to lead his army into battle himself."
"In that case, I don't see any way we can win. However, that isn't going to stop me from trying. The pursuit of what is noble is seldom a profitable journey. The goal here is to stay alive as long as possible, and hope something, some miracle, will force Marram to give up."
"Deka help us." Dosut said, as he slowly sat down into a chair. "We won't last a day."
"I'm hoping, in fact I'm counting on it, that Marram will send a small force against us. Supplies for soldiers cost money, and Marram didn't get to be powerful by wasting money."
Dosut remained uncheered. "Now that your here, you can bet Marram will send their full force against us."
"Marram doesn't know I'm here."
"I wouldn't count on it." Dosut said. "Don't under estimate their spy network. Anybody could be one of their agents."
"I know, I know. I learned the hard way. But fortunately, I have a very powerful friend who was able to completely cover my tracks. Besides my friend, you three and Tish are the only ones who know I'm in Dishon."
"And we'd like to keep it that way" put in Recab. "Perez is to be kept top secret. No one is to find out about him."
"We can tell Ishod can't we?" chirped out Tomaz. "Ishod can be trusted." Ishod, though only an ordinary soldier, had an uncanny connection with these three most power figures in Dishon. He was best friend to Tomaz, and Recab had married his sister, Ishite.
"No one else is to know about this. Not Ishod, not Mazus, not Gotaz, and not Nolli. Not even my own wife is going to know about this," said Recab. Calming down a bit, he added "We'll meet early tomorrow morning to discuss strategy. Until then, you gentlemen are dismissed."
Dosut nodded and walked out the door. Tomaz flew out the window. He headed straight for Jolk's tavern. The ground all around the tavern was covered with mud, do to the rain of spring. Tomaz flew in an open door to see Kitmus cleaning up the mud inside. Tomaz flew passed Kitmus to a table where Ishod was sitting with Mazus, and Nolli.
Tomaz landed on the table and looked around. "Where's Gotaz?" he asked.
"He went to get us another round of drinks" said Nolli.
"So what have you been doing this morning Tomaz?" asked Ishod.
Tomaz smiled, or at least as close to a smile as a Robin can get. "I can't tell you that. It's top secret."
"Ishod's eyebrows went up. "Oh really?"
"It's too bad I can't tell you, because it really is quite fascinating. If you knew, you wouldn't believe it.
"To bad you can't tell me then."
"Do you want to know about it?"
"Not if I'm not supposed to."
"I could tell you if you didn't tell anyone else."
"No, no, I'm a loyal soldier, and if the king doesn't want me to know, I won't find out."
"Are you sure you don't want to know?"
Ishod studied Tomaz' face for quite some time. "It never ceases to amaze me why the king would make you his advisor."
"The king doesn't know me like you do. Listen, if you really want to know, I can tell you. Just keep it a secret."
"I don't want to know" Ishod said strongly.
"I'd like to know" said Mazus.
Gotaz arrived with four drinks, which he distributed to Ishod, Nolli, Mazus, and himself without a word. Then he took his seat at the table.
"Well I can tell you then" said Tomaz, after Gotaz had sat down.
"Not here you don't" said Ishod. "I'm not finding out."
"Well go outside" Tomaz called out as he flew toward the door. Mazus followed him.
Ishod looked at his mug of beer. "I'm sorry Gotaz, but I've had enough."
"I'll finish yours then" said Nolli, who was already done with his drink. "Just pass it down." Ishod slid the drink across the table to Nolli, who grabbed it greedily. Ishod watched as Nolli gulped down the beverage.
Tomaz flew back in the room, with Mazus following behind him. Mazus sat back down at the table. "Boy, is Tomaz right. That really, really was amazing. Are you guys sure you don't want to know?"
The Watchers Chapter 3
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"The five hundred twenty six thousand, six hundred seventy second meeting of The Watchers will come to order. I am president for the year, Jistap. The purpose of this meeting is to vote on the prediscussed options for handling the Iceler situation. Option one is to convert our city so the Icelers can also inhabit it. Option two is to transport the Icelers to a colder climate via our ships. Option three is to shut off the satellite. Option four is to," Jistap grimaced, and read the last option with a disgusted tone, "do nothing, and let the Icelers die." Jistap had changed the wording of the last option, which originally read, "Let the Icelers handle this themselves." Many of The Watchers applauded for option four. "The choices will remain displayed on the many monitors located around the room, while each of you types in your vote on your ballet."
It had been two days since the memorable meeting where Bakes had first introduced the Iceler problem. Since then, debates had raged furiously in the lengthy meetings that were to follow. Only the fact that people were so sick of talking about the subject after the meetings kept it from splitting the city. During those days, Hans had even made two speeches at the meeting, both in favor of helping the Icelers by any means necessary. To his frustration, however, he felt like the message had fallen on deaf ears. The mind of the people seemed to be to let the Icelers die.
"All the votes have been sent in" said Jistap. Hans put his head down in frustration. He knew how the people felt. For the first two days he had hoped he might be able to change their minds, but he had given up all hope now. For the first time in his life, he felt ashamed to be a Watcher. "Option two has won. The Icelers will be transported to a colder climate." Amidst the boos and hisses, Hans stared at the front of the room in disbelief. Slowly, a broad smile broke over his face. Next he began to laugh with delight, he tried to stop himself but he could not.
Rodens who was sitting next to Hans, at his left, said quietly in disbelief "That's not right. That can't be right." He revoiced his opinion with more volume. "That can't be right!" He wasn't heard over the commotion present. He stood up and shouted "Mr. President, it's not right! Something is wrong, that's not how the vote went!" A hush went over the crowd as they stared at Rodens in amazement at his audacity. Everyone waited for Jistap to answer.
"Rodens, I can assure you that is indeed how the vote went. You are acting out of order. Please sit down." As the look on Rodens' face changed, Hans could tell he was slowly realizing what he was doing, having before acted just out of impulse. He slowly sat down, still looking somewhat confused.
"Now," said Jistap, "on to the business of a leader. I nominate Hans to lead the mission, based on his reliability, honesty, virtue, and the fact that he is one of the most vocal supporters of this idea."
Hans broke out in cold sweat. He had never expected anything like this to happen before, and the stares of everyone around him made him feel somewhat self-conscious. "I accept your nomination," he hoarsely replied.
It took another half a day before the nominations were completed. When the vote came through, Hans won. Again Hans was surprised by the outcome, since he wasn't as popular or as well known as many of the people nominated.
"Hans has won." Jistap voice boomed over the speakers. "Anyone who wishes to volunteer, please meet Hans at the front of the room. This meeting is officially dismissed." The shock of winning caused second thoughts to fly through Hans' mind. Could he make all the decisions necessary? Could he take all the pressure? Hans waved the thoughts away, not allowing himself to get worried by thinking about them.
As Hans made his way to the front of his room, he was starred at by about everyone he passed. A few people congratulated him, others just gave him hateful looks.
At the front of the room, Hans was introduced to many volunteers, two hundred and thirty seven all together. Hans didn't bother writing their names down, because he knew the Teacher would remember them for him. To his surprise, one of the volunteers was Rodens.
"I never expected to see you volunteer. Have you changed your mind?"
"Hardly," grunted Rodens, as he and Hans walked through the city. "I'm going to be watching you. I'm going to make sure you don't jeopardize our city any more then you have to. I'm going to make sure you don't do anything the rest of the city wouldn't approve of, because if you do their going to hear about it."
Hans smiled. "It almost sounds like you don't trust me."
Rodens stopped walking and turned to face Hans, his face an accurate mirror of the anger inside him. "The vote was wrong, something went wrong. Do you honestly think that a majority of the people voted to save the Icelers? Almost everyone I talked to was against it."
"Oh now lets not be sore losers. Your proposition was defeated in the good old democratic way. You just-"
"Hans the vote was rigged. It was fixed. It was fake, phoney, pretend, mock, meaningless! Are you so conceited to believe you actually were voted leader? There were many more qualified people running. There were scores of people who were more popular. You're just an unknown guy who happens to favor shipping the Icelers all over the whole damn planet to save them." Rodens face was bright red with anger, but he quickly calmed down to his normal color after he finished talking. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe this is happening. That vote can't be right."
"It's okay. I understand your frustration." Hans answered without really thinking about what he was saying. His mind was racing through all sorts of possibilities.
Jistap sipped a cup of tea, as he watched leaned back in his chair and read a book. He was quit comfortable when Hans burst through the door. "Hans," Jistap said as he rose to his feet. "What can I do for you?"
"What the hell is going on?"
"I beg your pardon."
"The vote, it was fixed wasn't it. Option four really won didn't it. You lied to us."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're-"
"I'm not done yet," growled Hans. "I didn't win the vote either. That part was also fixed wasn't it."
"Hans calm down! Have you lost your senses? What is this nonsense your spouting?"
Hans looked straight into the eyes of Jistap. "Don't even try that. I'm in no mood for your games." His voice had an unusual hardness to it.
Jistap sighed and shook his head in frustration. "All right then, shut up and follow me." Jistap pressed a button on his wall before he left. Hans was about to ask him what he was doing, but before he could, Jistap said, "Don't ask. Just shut up and follow me."
Jistap lead Hans to the super elevators. He instructed the Executor to send both Hans and him to location seven. Hans was very curious as to what location seven was, since when people wanted to be taken, they usually identified their destination by name, not by code. The super elevator zoomed Hans and Jistap to a room Hans had ever seen before. Several other people were in the room.
"Alright Hans, you want answers, I'll give you answers."
Hans looked at Jistap. "Where are we?"
"Were in a secret meeting room. By pressing that button on my wall before I left, I summoned my team here. Your right, we did alter the vote. Originally it was overwhelmingly for option four, letting the Icelers die."
"You can't do that," stammered Hans. "This is a democracy. The opinion of the public must be the law."
One of the members of the "team" stood up. Hans recognized him as Bakes. "Are you saying you would rather let all the Icelers die then deceive a few people. Hans were talking about hundreds of lives here. The Icelers in these mountains number about two thousand."
Hans felt dizzy. He slowly sat down in a chair, and held his head in his hands. "There's got to be another way."
"There's not," Jistap replied. "You know as well as I do, our people want to wash their hands of the Icelers."
"But where do you draw the line?" Hans asked, looking up. "Once you start doing this, you could twist the vote every time, to make sure your will is always implemented."
"Damn it Hans," Bakes shouted, "We're not talking about drawing a line. We're talking about saving two thousand innocent lives."
"Listen, Hans," said Jistap, "We made the vote so you would win. We did that because we knew you could trust you. We knew that you would do everything you can to save lives, to save the honor of your people. We've taken a lot of risks to bring you here, to tell your our secret. You realize if you tell anyone about this the vote will be redone, and you know as well as I do, that would result in the death of every single Iceler in these mountains."
Hans lowered his head in thought. If he joined up with Jistap and his team, he was essentially destroying the democracy he loved so much, but if he exposed them, the Icelers would die. "Alright", he said, "alright, I'll join you, on one condition. After this Iceler problem is solved, we go back to being a democracy."
"You've got a deal" said Jistap as they shook hands. "You've got a deal."
"The five hundred twenty six thousand, six hundred seventy second meeting of The Watchers will come to order. I am president for the year, Jistap. The purpose of this meeting is to vote on the prediscussed options for handling the Iceler situation. Option one is to convert our city so the Icelers can also inhabit it. Option two is to transport the Icelers to a colder climate via our ships. Option three is to shut off the satellite. Option four is to," Jistap grimaced, and read the last option with a disgusted tone, "do nothing, and let the Icelers die." Jistap had changed the wording of the last option, which originally read, "Let the Icelers handle this themselves." Many of The Watchers applauded for option four. "The choices will remain displayed on the many monitors located around the room, while each of you types in your vote on your ballet."
It had been two days since the memorable meeting where Bakes had first introduced the Iceler problem. Since then, debates had raged furiously in the lengthy meetings that were to follow. Only the fact that people were so sick of talking about the subject after the meetings kept it from splitting the city. During those days, Hans had even made two speeches at the meeting, both in favor of helping the Icelers by any means necessary. To his frustration, however, he felt like the message had fallen on deaf ears. The mind of the people seemed to be to let the Icelers die.
"All the votes have been sent in" said Jistap. Hans put his head down in frustration. He knew how the people felt. For the first two days he had hoped he might be able to change their minds, but he had given up all hope now. For the first time in his life, he felt ashamed to be a Watcher. "Option two has won. The Icelers will be transported to a colder climate." Amidst the boos and hisses, Hans stared at the front of the room in disbelief. Slowly, a broad smile broke over his face. Next he began to laugh with delight, he tried to stop himself but he could not.
Rodens who was sitting next to Hans, at his left, said quietly in disbelief "That's not right. That can't be right." He revoiced his opinion with more volume. "That can't be right!" He wasn't heard over the commotion present. He stood up and shouted "Mr. President, it's not right! Something is wrong, that's not how the vote went!" A hush went over the crowd as they stared at Rodens in amazement at his audacity. Everyone waited for Jistap to answer.
"Rodens, I can assure you that is indeed how the vote went. You are acting out of order. Please sit down." As the look on Rodens' face changed, Hans could tell he was slowly realizing what he was doing, having before acted just out of impulse. He slowly sat down, still looking somewhat confused.
"Now," said Jistap, "on to the business of a leader. I nominate Hans to lead the mission, based on his reliability, honesty, virtue, and the fact that he is one of the most vocal supporters of this idea."
Hans broke out in cold sweat. He had never expected anything like this to happen before, and the stares of everyone around him made him feel somewhat self-conscious. "I accept your nomination," he hoarsely replied.
It took another half a day before the nominations were completed. When the vote came through, Hans won. Again Hans was surprised by the outcome, since he wasn't as popular or as well known as many of the people nominated.
"Hans has won." Jistap voice boomed over the speakers. "Anyone who wishes to volunteer, please meet Hans at the front of the room. This meeting is officially dismissed." The shock of winning caused second thoughts to fly through Hans' mind. Could he make all the decisions necessary? Could he take all the pressure? Hans waved the thoughts away, not allowing himself to get worried by thinking about them.
As Hans made his way to the front of his room, he was starred at by about everyone he passed. A few people congratulated him, others just gave him hateful looks.
At the front of the room, Hans was introduced to many volunteers, two hundred and thirty seven all together. Hans didn't bother writing their names down, because he knew the Teacher would remember them for him. To his surprise, one of the volunteers was Rodens.
"I never expected to see you volunteer. Have you changed your mind?"
"Hardly," grunted Rodens, as he and Hans walked through the city. "I'm going to be watching you. I'm going to make sure you don't jeopardize our city any more then you have to. I'm going to make sure you don't do anything the rest of the city wouldn't approve of, because if you do their going to hear about it."
Hans smiled. "It almost sounds like you don't trust me."
Rodens stopped walking and turned to face Hans, his face an accurate mirror of the anger inside him. "The vote was wrong, something went wrong. Do you honestly think that a majority of the people voted to save the Icelers? Almost everyone I talked to was against it."
"Oh now lets not be sore losers. Your proposition was defeated in the good old democratic way. You just-"
"Hans the vote was rigged. It was fixed. It was fake, phoney, pretend, mock, meaningless! Are you so conceited to believe you actually were voted leader? There were many more qualified people running. There were scores of people who were more popular. You're just an unknown guy who happens to favor shipping the Icelers all over the whole damn planet to save them." Rodens face was bright red with anger, but he quickly calmed down to his normal color after he finished talking. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe this is happening. That vote can't be right."
"It's okay. I understand your frustration." Hans answered without really thinking about what he was saying. His mind was racing through all sorts of possibilities.
Jistap sipped a cup of tea, as he watched leaned back in his chair and read a book. He was quit comfortable when Hans burst through the door. "Hans," Jistap said as he rose to his feet. "What can I do for you?"
"What the hell is going on?"
"I beg your pardon."
"The vote, it was fixed wasn't it. Option four really won didn't it. You lied to us."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're-"
"I'm not done yet," growled Hans. "I didn't win the vote either. That part was also fixed wasn't it."
"Hans calm down! Have you lost your senses? What is this nonsense your spouting?"
Hans looked straight into the eyes of Jistap. "Don't even try that. I'm in no mood for your games." His voice had an unusual hardness to it.
Jistap sighed and shook his head in frustration. "All right then, shut up and follow me." Jistap pressed a button on his wall before he left. Hans was about to ask him what he was doing, but before he could, Jistap said, "Don't ask. Just shut up and follow me."
Jistap lead Hans to the super elevators. He instructed the Executor to send both Hans and him to location seven. Hans was very curious as to what location seven was, since when people wanted to be taken, they usually identified their destination by name, not by code. The super elevator zoomed Hans and Jistap to a room Hans had ever seen before. Several other people were in the room.
"Alright Hans, you want answers, I'll give you answers."
Hans looked at Jistap. "Where are we?"
"Were in a secret meeting room. By pressing that button on my wall before I left, I summoned my team here. Your right, we did alter the vote. Originally it was overwhelmingly for option four, letting the Icelers die."
"You can't do that," stammered Hans. "This is a democracy. The opinion of the public must be the law."
One of the members of the "team" stood up. Hans recognized him as Bakes. "Are you saying you would rather let all the Icelers die then deceive a few people. Hans were talking about hundreds of lives here. The Icelers in these mountains number about two thousand."
Hans felt dizzy. He slowly sat down in a chair, and held his head in his hands. "There's got to be another way."
"There's not," Jistap replied. "You know as well as I do, our people want to wash their hands of the Icelers."
"But where do you draw the line?" Hans asked, looking up. "Once you start doing this, you could twist the vote every time, to make sure your will is always implemented."
"Damn it Hans," Bakes shouted, "We're not talking about drawing a line. We're talking about saving two thousand innocent lives."
"Listen, Hans," said Jistap, "We made the vote so you would win. We did that because we knew you could trust you. We knew that you would do everything you can to save lives, to save the honor of your people. We've taken a lot of risks to bring you here, to tell your our secret. You realize if you tell anyone about this the vote will be redone, and you know as well as I do, that would result in the death of every single Iceler in these mountains."
Hans lowered his head in thought. If he joined up with Jistap and his team, he was essentially destroying the democracy he loved so much, but if he exposed them, the Icelers would die. "Alright", he said, "alright, I'll join you, on one condition. After this Iceler problem is solved, we go back to being a democracy."
"You've got a deal" said Jistap as they shook hands. "You've got a deal."
Dishon Chapter 7
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Miktesh stood on a platform, overlooking his many soldiers. "Tonight" he shouted "We have achieved victory. We have captured Agriola, the storehouse of Calet's surplus, food, and it's food taken by tax. We are now in control. Nothing can stop us." His army cheered him wildly as Miktesh stepped down from the platform and walked toward his tent.
As he entered his tent, he was met by his military advisors, Jole, Kile, and Kirtten. They all stood up when he came in. Miktesh waved his hand for them to be seated, before sitting himself. "How do things look?" he asked.
"Excellent. This year produced a bad crop, and without Agriola, Polad will not be able to adequately feed his army. He will undoubtably try and force us out of Agriola, but if we can hold our position, we've essentially won the war." Jole shuffled through papers as he answered.
"What about the populace? Will there be enough food for the common people?"
"Unfortunately not," answered Jole. "Food will be scarce. If Polad decides to tax the people to get food for his armies, and you can bet he will, we might be looking at a man made famine."
"A famine I would have caused," said Miktesh.
"This will work to your advantage," continued Jole. "The people will become angry with Polad for not supplying them with food, and will join you against him once they find out you have food."
"In other words, we will create a society in which people will do anything for food. No, I can't let that happen. We will give Polad as much food as he needs to keep his people alive, and not one bit more."
Jole's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. Do you know what an opportunity you're giving up?"
Miktesh starred off into space, thinking for a time before he looked at Jole and said, "I do, but this is hardly my last alternative. I've got quit a lot of tricks up my sleeve." Miktesh smiled broadly as he talked.
"You must be completely mad. Your insane."
Kile and Kirtten cringed when they heard those words. Miktesh had a reputation for dealing harshly with those who questioned him. Miktesh simply leaned back in his chair, and began chewing on a piece of grass. "I value your opinion Jole, but I've learned a lot in the past few months. One of the things I've learned is that a leader has to be responsible. He has to look out for his people first. You can't just want power, you have to take the responsibility that comes with that power." Miktesh stared off into space, lost in thought.
"You-you've changed!" stammered Jole.
"Have I?" Miktesh was still absorbed in his mind. Then he quickly came back to earth. "Any luck yet on the location of Perez?"
"No sir. My men are searching everywhere, but we can't find him yet" Jole said.
Miktesh shook his head. "I'm afraid Polad got him. He's probably dead by now. Damn it, I could have helped him but I just ran from Polad's men. Damn it! When I get my hands on Polad I'll-I'll," Miktesh settled down a little bit. "I'll do the responsible thing, and let him keep his wretched life, which is more then he deserves." Miktesh looked at his advisors, all wide eyed. He could tell they were questioning his sanity. "Your free to go," he said. "I have no need of you anymore."
Kile and Kirtten quickly left, Jole stayed behind. "A word with you, My lord?" he asked, the respect of his words where said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"You may speak."
"Sir, your newfound obsession with responsibility is admirable, but Polad is playing by his own set of rules. If you want to win this war, your going to have to do it by any means necessary. If you want to be truly responsible, think of your men. Don't lead them to their death so that you can protect the comfort of our enemies. The people need a strong leader."
"Trust me Jole, I have no intention of losing this war. I've got quit a few tricks still up my sleeve."
"Most excellent king, your mighty armies have defeated Calet. Calet is now in civil war."
"And one of the participantz in the civil war iz a man who haz been known to be on the zide of Marram?" asked Azom.
"Yes sir," answered his general. "He has helped Marram on numerous occasions. He was responsible for Marram's victory against Calet."
"Then make zure he winz thiz civil war."
"What do you mean sir? How?"
"You did not become one of my top generalz without being rezourceful. Do the job any way you want, juzt make zure it getz done."
Azom's general nodded in obedience.
"Now," continued Azom, "on to thiz buzinezz about Dizhon. "You told me that you only need one week to deztroy the nation. When you zaid that, how many of my zoldierz were you planning on uzing?"
"Pretty much all of them," answered his general.
"That waz foolizh. Uze only az many men az you need, I will give you two monthz to conquer Dizhon."
"Yes sir." Azom's general nodded and left.
"Oh Dizhon," contemplated Azom, "if Calet fell before Marram'z power, what chance do you have?"
Miktesh stood on a platform, overlooking his many soldiers. "Tonight" he shouted "We have achieved victory. We have captured Agriola, the storehouse of Calet's surplus, food, and it's food taken by tax. We are now in control. Nothing can stop us." His army cheered him wildly as Miktesh stepped down from the platform and walked toward his tent.
As he entered his tent, he was met by his military advisors, Jole, Kile, and Kirtten. They all stood up when he came in. Miktesh waved his hand for them to be seated, before sitting himself. "How do things look?" he asked.
"Excellent. This year produced a bad crop, and without Agriola, Polad will not be able to adequately feed his army. He will undoubtably try and force us out of Agriola, but if we can hold our position, we've essentially won the war." Jole shuffled through papers as he answered.
"What about the populace? Will there be enough food for the common people?"
"Unfortunately not," answered Jole. "Food will be scarce. If Polad decides to tax the people to get food for his armies, and you can bet he will, we might be looking at a man made famine."
"A famine I would have caused," said Miktesh.
"This will work to your advantage," continued Jole. "The people will become angry with Polad for not supplying them with food, and will join you against him once they find out you have food."
"In other words, we will create a society in which people will do anything for food. No, I can't let that happen. We will give Polad as much food as he needs to keep his people alive, and not one bit more."
Jole's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. Do you know what an opportunity you're giving up?"
Miktesh starred off into space, thinking for a time before he looked at Jole and said, "I do, but this is hardly my last alternative. I've got quit a lot of tricks up my sleeve." Miktesh smiled broadly as he talked.
"You must be completely mad. Your insane."
Kile and Kirtten cringed when they heard those words. Miktesh had a reputation for dealing harshly with those who questioned him. Miktesh simply leaned back in his chair, and began chewing on a piece of grass. "I value your opinion Jole, but I've learned a lot in the past few months. One of the things I've learned is that a leader has to be responsible. He has to look out for his people first. You can't just want power, you have to take the responsibility that comes with that power." Miktesh stared off into space, lost in thought.
"You-you've changed!" stammered Jole.
"Have I?" Miktesh was still absorbed in his mind. Then he quickly came back to earth. "Any luck yet on the location of Perez?"
"No sir. My men are searching everywhere, but we can't find him yet" Jole said.
Miktesh shook his head. "I'm afraid Polad got him. He's probably dead by now. Damn it, I could have helped him but I just ran from Polad's men. Damn it! When I get my hands on Polad I'll-I'll," Miktesh settled down a little bit. "I'll do the responsible thing, and let him keep his wretched life, which is more then he deserves." Miktesh looked at his advisors, all wide eyed. He could tell they were questioning his sanity. "Your free to go," he said. "I have no need of you anymore."
Kile and Kirtten quickly left, Jole stayed behind. "A word with you, My lord?" he asked, the respect of his words where said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"You may speak."
"Sir, your newfound obsession with responsibility is admirable, but Polad is playing by his own set of rules. If you want to win this war, your going to have to do it by any means necessary. If you want to be truly responsible, think of your men. Don't lead them to their death so that you can protect the comfort of our enemies. The people need a strong leader."
"Trust me Jole, I have no intention of losing this war. I've got quit a few tricks still up my sleeve."
"Most excellent king, your mighty armies have defeated Calet. Calet is now in civil war."
"And one of the participantz in the civil war iz a man who haz been known to be on the zide of Marram?" asked Azom.
"Yes sir," answered his general. "He has helped Marram on numerous occasions. He was responsible for Marram's victory against Calet."
"Then make zure he winz thiz civil war."
"What do you mean sir? How?"
"You did not become one of my top generalz without being rezourceful. Do the job any way you want, juzt make zure it getz done."
Azom's general nodded in obedience.
"Now," continued Azom, "on to thiz buzinezz about Dizhon. "You told me that you only need one week to deztroy the nation. When you zaid that, how many of my zoldierz were you planning on uzing?"
"Pretty much all of them," answered his general.
"That waz foolizh. Uze only az many men az you need, I will give you two monthz to conquer Dizhon."
"Yes sir." Azom's general nodded and left.
"Oh Dizhon," contemplated Azom, "if Calet fell before Marram'z power, what chance do you have?"
The Watchers Chapter 4
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Hans looked at the fifteen men he had handpicked from the two hundred thirty seven volunteers. They were going to be the ambassadors to the Icelers. They were the ones who were going to explain to the Icelers who The Watchers were, what the problem was, and how The Watchers were going to help. Overcoming the language barrier between the Icelers and The Watchers was somewhat of a problem, but by no means difficult to overcome. At the time of Haket, both the Icelers and Haket's group spoke Caletian, but since each had been in isolation since that time, each developed their own offshoot of the language. Needless to say, both dialects were extremely similar, and with the help of the Teacher, little time was needed to learn the Icelers language.
"Alright, you all know your job," said Hans, "lets go." They began proceeding towards one of the many exits from the city. They were all dressed in appropriate clothing to combat the temperature.
"Hans, could I talk to you for a moment?"
Hans turned to see Rodens pushing his way through the ambassadors to get to him. Hans could guess what Rodens wanted. Rodens was angry about not being picked as an ambassador, claiming it was time Hans was not being observed by him. Hans had been very gentle in explaining the sensitivity of the project, which could only take the most enthusiastic and the best qualified, but Rodens didn't seem to understand. With the knowledge that Rodens' option really should have won the vote, Hans had treated what seemed to him like uncontrolled bigotry, with out getting upset.
"Hans, I need to talk to you," Rodens repeated his request.
"We've been through this before Rodens. Your not coming."
"No, it's not about that. It's about the vote."
"What?"
"May I see you in private to discuss the vote?"
"Rodens, now is not a good time. Can't you see we're about to start delicate negotiations here?"
"Hans I'm not waiting for you. You either talk to me now or your regret it. I will inform the people."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about."
Hans heart beat rapidly. Could Rodens possibly know about the vote conspiracy. It was a chance Hans couldn't afford to take. The negotiations could wait five minutes.
Hans motioned with his hand for Rodens to follow him, and the two went down the hall and around a coroner, well out of sight and hearing of the fifteen. "What do you want to say?" Hans voice demanded an answer, a tone that was unnecessary since Rodens was more then willing to tell his story.
"Hans, you and I agree on very few things. The Iceler situation is no exception to that, but it is an issue that has created some strong feelings. I know what you are like when you feel strongly about something, and among other things you are very vocal and tend to be somewhat close minded." Hans did not view himself as being close minded at any time, but he decided not to say anything. The definition of an open mind was yet another thing that Hans and Rodens did not agree about.
"Lately, for the couple days you have demonstrated a tolerance unlike you. You no longer argue with me about the Icelers, but simply accept my view and even sometimes admit I might be partially right. Hans you look almost," Rodens paused as he searched for the right word, "guilty when we talk about the Icelers."
"At first I didn't think anything of it. Hans is just becoming a more well-rounded person, I told myself. Then one day I remembered that the last time you acted like you knew you were right was just before I yelled at you because I had been convinced the vote was fake. Just for fun, I had the monitor display that argument, and I noticed some things I hadn't before. When I was talking to you, I had been so involved in my little speech, I failed to notice how the expression on your face changed when I dictated my logic. Watching it on the monitor, I saw you lose your confidence. I didn't know what I'd find, but I decided to have the monitor track your movements after we parted. Well you made a beeline for Jistap's room, burst open the door, and everything after that has been classified by someone."
"You can imagine my surprise. After all, even though someone with the computer know how, such as Bakes, could classify something, it is forbidden by Watcher law. This allows little privacy, but it is a price we must pay to ensure that nothing dishonest is being done. That is the only reason I can think of to classify your conversation, to hide something dishonest. When I asked the teacher to display the next unclassified footage of you, you had just parted company with Jistap at the super elevator, looking more confused then you did before."
Hans looked straight at Rodens, fearing the inevitable complication to his plans, one that he now realized he should have seen coming. Rodens, after taking a deep breath, announced his fear was true. "You were talking about the vote, weren't you? The vote was fake, wasn't it?" Rodens voice rose as his face grew scarlet. "You knew the vote was fake, and you didn't do anything about it. Your in league with Jistap and his little henchmen aren't you?" Rodens stamped his foot down hard on the ground. "Damn it Hans! Damn you to Hell! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Your destroying our democracy! Your destroying our fucking democracy to help those damn Icelers!" Hans opened his mouth to defend himself, but Rodens hand flew out across his face in rage. "Don't even talk to me Hans. You can go rot in hell." Rodens walked off, still talking. "Your through, I'm exposing you, Jistap, and every single other damn conspirator. If your cause was truly just, you wouldn't have to accomplish it by deceit."
"Rodens, I understand your frustration. It's so hard to know what's right sometimes, but if your work with me we can solve this problem together." Rodens kept walking, without giving the slightest indication that he had heard a word. "Rodens, I don't want to fight. Don't do this, we can work it out." Rodens walk broke into a run as he disappeared down the hallway. Hans sighed. "Executor, let me talk to Jistap."
After a minute, Jistap's voice came through the wall. "This is Jistap, what do you want?"
"This is Hans, are you alone?"
If Hans needed to talk in private, Jistap could guess why. His voice became very concerned. "Yes, why."
"Jistap, we've got a problem."
Rodens raced through the hall. He was in a maze of empty metal hallways, that led to several different exits from the city. A few more turns and he would be out of the exit wing, which incidentally was one of many in the city. Once he was out of the exit wing, there would be people everywhere and he could tell them all about the conspiracy.
Rodens felt betrayed. He had always considered Hans a friend, and never thought Hans would betray him like this. All along Hans had known what was really happening. Hans knew the injustice being done to him. His right to vote and to have his vote count had been snuffed out. He had been violated by the government. But now those who tried to kill democracy in favor of their own views would be punished.
Rodens rounded the next turn, to see Jistap standing there. Two guards were on each side of him, four in all. "Rodens we need to talk. I can't let you-"
Jistap's words were broken off. Rodens screamed in rage, "You! You did this!" Rodens pulled back his hand, curled it into a fist, and with great speed it headed towards Jistap's face. Rodens punch never connected, two of the guards tackled him.
Rodens struggled furiously against his opponents, but they held him to the ground. "Let me go!" he demanded. "I'm a private citizen! You can't do this to me! I've committed no crime!"
Jistap stepped forward. "No one's going to do anything to you Rodens. None of your rights will be violated, I just want to talk."
"Like hell they won't be, they already have been. You violated my rights when you fixed that vote. By all the rules of democracy my proposition should have won!"
"What I had to do was most unfortunate, but you and your kind forced me to do it. I couldn't let the Icelers die."
"Damn you man, who's more important? You were elected president of The Watchers, not the Icelers. Your first and foremost responsibility is to protect us, and you've destroyed us."
"I assure you Rodens, no permanent damage will be done to our democracy. Once the Icelers are safe, I and my compatriots will turn ourselves in."
Rodens, who had been dormant for some time now, tried once again to free himself, but to no avail. "Don't you see, the damage will already be done. For the first time in our history, you will have bended the will of the people for your own use. Your only opening the door for others to follow in the footsteps. You'll destroy us." Rodens said his last sentence desperately, hoping he could somehow convince Jistap.
"Rodens, I don't want to do this, but I'll do whatever it takes to save lives. You can either shut up about this or you can be locked up."
"You can't do that to me. I'm a private citizen."
"After what I've already done, do you think that's going to stop me?"
"If I figured it out, others will too. You can't imprison us all."
Jistap leaned forward until his face was inches away from Rodens'. For the first time in their conversation his expression became menacing. "Watch me."
Rodens spit in his face. "I'll never, never help you. If your cause was just, you wouldn't need to use dishonesty and trickery to accomplish it."
"It's easy to say that when your only looking out for yourself. When the only life you care about is your own, then you can say that. But we only had six and a half days to save the Icelers. Right now their are only two days left. We didn't have time to do much, and even less time to think. Looking out for yourself is always easy. It's looking out for others that's hard."
This short speech obviously had no effect on Rodens. His face became angrier then ever. "Go to hell, and take your self-righteousness with you. If you want to help others, then look at what your doing to me."
Jistap nodded to his four guards. "Take him away." He looked at Rodens compassionately. "You'll be released once this is all over."
As he was being dragged away, Rodens screamed back, "and Deka help you when I am!"
Rodens was taken by the super elevator to what was identified as location three. He found it to be a secret prison. No one was there except-
"Hans," stammered Rodens, "what are you doing here?" After he had recovered from his initial shock, he asked, "if time is so short, why aren't you leading that ambassador mission."
"There aren't that many of us, Rodens. I was the only one Jistap could reach whom he knew was alone."
"And why did he know you were alone? Because you warned him about me you fucking traitor. Hans, I was shocked when you betrayed me about the vote, but I'd never thought you'd do this to me."
Hans nodded to the guards, who threw Rodens into a cell. An energy field immediately materialized, trapping Rodens inside.
"Hans, I'm your friend. Don't do this to me. Hans, you can't do this to me."
"I'm sorry Rodens. You leave me no choice."
As Hans walked into the super elevator, Rodens said quietly, in a barely audible tone, "not you too Hans. Not you too."
Hans looked at the fifteen men he had handpicked from the two hundred thirty seven volunteers. They were going to be the ambassadors to the Icelers. They were the ones who were going to explain to the Icelers who The Watchers were, what the problem was, and how The Watchers were going to help. Overcoming the language barrier between the Icelers and The Watchers was somewhat of a problem, but by no means difficult to overcome. At the time of Haket, both the Icelers and Haket's group spoke Caletian, but since each had been in isolation since that time, each developed their own offshoot of the language. Needless to say, both dialects were extremely similar, and with the help of the Teacher, little time was needed to learn the Icelers language.
"Alright, you all know your job," said Hans, "lets go." They began proceeding towards one of the many exits from the city. They were all dressed in appropriate clothing to combat the temperature.
"Hans, could I talk to you for a moment?"
Hans turned to see Rodens pushing his way through the ambassadors to get to him. Hans could guess what Rodens wanted. Rodens was angry about not being picked as an ambassador, claiming it was time Hans was not being observed by him. Hans had been very gentle in explaining the sensitivity of the project, which could only take the most enthusiastic and the best qualified, but Rodens didn't seem to understand. With the knowledge that Rodens' option really should have won the vote, Hans had treated what seemed to him like uncontrolled bigotry, with out getting upset.
"Hans, I need to talk to you," Rodens repeated his request.
"We've been through this before Rodens. Your not coming."
"No, it's not about that. It's about the vote."
"What?"
"May I see you in private to discuss the vote?"
"Rodens, now is not a good time. Can't you see we're about to start delicate negotiations here?"
"Hans I'm not waiting for you. You either talk to me now or your regret it. I will inform the people."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about."
Hans heart beat rapidly. Could Rodens possibly know about the vote conspiracy. It was a chance Hans couldn't afford to take. The negotiations could wait five minutes.
Hans motioned with his hand for Rodens to follow him, and the two went down the hall and around a coroner, well out of sight and hearing of the fifteen. "What do you want to say?" Hans voice demanded an answer, a tone that was unnecessary since Rodens was more then willing to tell his story.
"Hans, you and I agree on very few things. The Iceler situation is no exception to that, but it is an issue that has created some strong feelings. I know what you are like when you feel strongly about something, and among other things you are very vocal and tend to be somewhat close minded." Hans did not view himself as being close minded at any time, but he decided not to say anything. The definition of an open mind was yet another thing that Hans and Rodens did not agree about.
"Lately, for the couple days you have demonstrated a tolerance unlike you. You no longer argue with me about the Icelers, but simply accept my view and even sometimes admit I might be partially right. Hans you look almost," Rodens paused as he searched for the right word, "guilty when we talk about the Icelers."
"At first I didn't think anything of it. Hans is just becoming a more well-rounded person, I told myself. Then one day I remembered that the last time you acted like you knew you were right was just before I yelled at you because I had been convinced the vote was fake. Just for fun, I had the monitor display that argument, and I noticed some things I hadn't before. When I was talking to you, I had been so involved in my little speech, I failed to notice how the expression on your face changed when I dictated my logic. Watching it on the monitor, I saw you lose your confidence. I didn't know what I'd find, but I decided to have the monitor track your movements after we parted. Well you made a beeline for Jistap's room, burst open the door, and everything after that has been classified by someone."
"You can imagine my surprise. After all, even though someone with the computer know how, such as Bakes, could classify something, it is forbidden by Watcher law. This allows little privacy, but it is a price we must pay to ensure that nothing dishonest is being done. That is the only reason I can think of to classify your conversation, to hide something dishonest. When I asked the teacher to display the next unclassified footage of you, you had just parted company with Jistap at the super elevator, looking more confused then you did before."
Hans looked straight at Rodens, fearing the inevitable complication to his plans, one that he now realized he should have seen coming. Rodens, after taking a deep breath, announced his fear was true. "You were talking about the vote, weren't you? The vote was fake, wasn't it?" Rodens voice rose as his face grew scarlet. "You knew the vote was fake, and you didn't do anything about it. Your in league with Jistap and his little henchmen aren't you?" Rodens stamped his foot down hard on the ground. "Damn it Hans! Damn you to Hell! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Your destroying our democracy! Your destroying our fucking democracy to help those damn Icelers!" Hans opened his mouth to defend himself, but Rodens hand flew out across his face in rage. "Don't even talk to me Hans. You can go rot in hell." Rodens walked off, still talking. "Your through, I'm exposing you, Jistap, and every single other damn conspirator. If your cause was truly just, you wouldn't have to accomplish it by deceit."
"Rodens, I understand your frustration. It's so hard to know what's right sometimes, but if your work with me we can solve this problem together." Rodens kept walking, without giving the slightest indication that he had heard a word. "Rodens, I don't want to fight. Don't do this, we can work it out." Rodens walk broke into a run as he disappeared down the hallway. Hans sighed. "Executor, let me talk to Jistap."
After a minute, Jistap's voice came through the wall. "This is Jistap, what do you want?"
"This is Hans, are you alone?"
If Hans needed to talk in private, Jistap could guess why. His voice became very concerned. "Yes, why."
"Jistap, we've got a problem."
Rodens raced through the hall. He was in a maze of empty metal hallways, that led to several different exits from the city. A few more turns and he would be out of the exit wing, which incidentally was one of many in the city. Once he was out of the exit wing, there would be people everywhere and he could tell them all about the conspiracy.
Rodens felt betrayed. He had always considered Hans a friend, and never thought Hans would betray him like this. All along Hans had known what was really happening. Hans knew the injustice being done to him. His right to vote and to have his vote count had been snuffed out. He had been violated by the government. But now those who tried to kill democracy in favor of their own views would be punished.
Rodens rounded the next turn, to see Jistap standing there. Two guards were on each side of him, four in all. "Rodens we need to talk. I can't let you-"
Jistap's words were broken off. Rodens screamed in rage, "You! You did this!" Rodens pulled back his hand, curled it into a fist, and with great speed it headed towards Jistap's face. Rodens punch never connected, two of the guards tackled him.
Rodens struggled furiously against his opponents, but they held him to the ground. "Let me go!" he demanded. "I'm a private citizen! You can't do this to me! I've committed no crime!"
Jistap stepped forward. "No one's going to do anything to you Rodens. None of your rights will be violated, I just want to talk."
"Like hell they won't be, they already have been. You violated my rights when you fixed that vote. By all the rules of democracy my proposition should have won!"
"What I had to do was most unfortunate, but you and your kind forced me to do it. I couldn't let the Icelers die."
"Damn you man, who's more important? You were elected president of The Watchers, not the Icelers. Your first and foremost responsibility is to protect us, and you've destroyed us."
"I assure you Rodens, no permanent damage will be done to our democracy. Once the Icelers are safe, I and my compatriots will turn ourselves in."
Rodens, who had been dormant for some time now, tried once again to free himself, but to no avail. "Don't you see, the damage will already be done. For the first time in our history, you will have bended the will of the people for your own use. Your only opening the door for others to follow in the footsteps. You'll destroy us." Rodens said his last sentence desperately, hoping he could somehow convince Jistap.
"Rodens, I don't want to do this, but I'll do whatever it takes to save lives. You can either shut up about this or you can be locked up."
"You can't do that to me. I'm a private citizen."
"After what I've already done, do you think that's going to stop me?"
"If I figured it out, others will too. You can't imprison us all."
Jistap leaned forward until his face was inches away from Rodens'. For the first time in their conversation his expression became menacing. "Watch me."
Rodens spit in his face. "I'll never, never help you. If your cause was just, you wouldn't need to use dishonesty and trickery to accomplish it."
"It's easy to say that when your only looking out for yourself. When the only life you care about is your own, then you can say that. But we only had six and a half days to save the Icelers. Right now their are only two days left. We didn't have time to do much, and even less time to think. Looking out for yourself is always easy. It's looking out for others that's hard."
This short speech obviously had no effect on Rodens. His face became angrier then ever. "Go to hell, and take your self-righteousness with you. If you want to help others, then look at what your doing to me."
Jistap nodded to his four guards. "Take him away." He looked at Rodens compassionately. "You'll be released once this is all over."
As he was being dragged away, Rodens screamed back, "and Deka help you when I am!"
Rodens was taken by the super elevator to what was identified as location three. He found it to be a secret prison. No one was there except-
"Hans," stammered Rodens, "what are you doing here?" After he had recovered from his initial shock, he asked, "if time is so short, why aren't you leading that ambassador mission."
"There aren't that many of us, Rodens. I was the only one Jistap could reach whom he knew was alone."
"And why did he know you were alone? Because you warned him about me you fucking traitor. Hans, I was shocked when you betrayed me about the vote, but I'd never thought you'd do this to me."
Hans nodded to the guards, who threw Rodens into a cell. An energy field immediately materialized, trapping Rodens inside.
"Hans, I'm your friend. Don't do this to me. Hans, you can't do this to me."
"I'm sorry Rodens. You leave me no choice."
As Hans walked into the super elevator, Rodens said quietly, in a barely audible tone, "not you too Hans. Not you too."
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