Chapter 2: A New Dawn

Chapter 2


         The wind whipped through Seth’s hair as he, Cass, and their horses sped across the arid desert sands. Seth was mounted atop a dark brown, almost black horse while Cass was hunched low over one that was nearly maroon. Seth had no idea where they were going. Or why. But Cass had been very clear that they had to leave immediately, that was for sure.


         Their conversation had been short. Clayton meant to hurt Seth badly for “running away,” and there was not much time before he came outside.

“Clayton is going to hurt you for ‘leaving’.”

“I guessed as much…I mean I am late,” replied Seth with a sigh, “what was he burning?”

“Your cottage!” exclaimed Cass and, seeing the stunned look on Seth’s face he added, “I knew you wouldn’t like that.”

“Why? I am only a few minutes late!”

“Aye, and that is what we were arguing about. It was an interesting reunion to say the least.”

         Seth’s throat was suddenly very dry, and he tried to grasp the beatings that awaited him. Now I don’t even have a cottage to go back to…to be by myself thought Seth.

“He’ll whip me for this wont he...” croaked Seth.

“Maybe, maybe not. But I desperately need to confirm something with you. I think I saw something…intriguing…on your left ankle last night. May I see it again?” asked Cass with a puzzled look on his face.

“Yes, I-I thought I saw you staring at it. It’s a scar. Don’t ask me where I got it, I don’t remember, its just been there as long as I can remember.”

“A silver teardrop. Ah, that is interesting. You do not know how happy I am to see that I was correct last night,” mumbled Cass, as though in a trance. Then, with much more energy he shouted, “We need to leave at once! You may be in great danger.”

“Why? What’s going on!”

“I cannot tell you all of it here, it is far to open and I fear you will not react well to the news. We must reconvene at a safer place. There are things in this world that wish to harm you if they ever saw that scar. Show it to no one. The only other thing I can tell you is that I am no sailor, not anymore anyways, but a ‘rebel’ of sorts.”

“So, what does this all mean? Someone wants to hurt me because of my scar?” Seth was very confused, but Cass would not take anything but yes for an answer.

“Yes! Now we must leave. I will take you as far as I can. Come, there are two horses waiting for us at the stables.”

         So they left. Seth was caught completely off guard. He was lost, why would someone want to kill him? He was just a slave! Seth refused at first, but then Clayton came out and that was that. Now here they were, running from everything, taking nothing, and knowing nothing. Most of it was a blur, and later he wouldn’t remember a thing.

* * * * * *


         The horses grew tired quickly in the intense heat, and they soon needed to stop for a rest. Cass had these parts of the desert etched into his mind. Seth couldn’t make heads or tails of where they were, though. Not long after the horses slowed to a trot, Cass, Seth, and the horses passed over the crest of a huge sand dune and abruptly entered a small oasis. While the horses drank from a pond, Cass and Seth sat down on a pair of rocks.

“You must have many questions,” said Cass quietly, “I’ve taken you from your home. From everything you know. All of your possessions, gone because of what I told you.”

“Yeah. I…don’t know what to do. Where are we going?”

“That will be answered in time. I cannot tell you now, you are not trusted enough.”

“By who?”

“Well, first thing is first. As I have told you I am not a sailor, but a rebel. The rebellion’s forces are mounting, and I was on a mission when I encountered you. Now I am to take you to headquarters.”

“But rebellion means….fighting…death…right?”

“Yes. I will teach you that. Right now would be a good time; while the horses are resting.” As he said this, Cass pointed a finger in the direction of the pond where both horses were drinking.

“Now?” asked Seth, completely taken aback.

“Yeah why not. The horses are fabulous creatures, but they are done for the day. You aren’t too tired are you? We can start sparring now.”

         Cass ran of towards the horses, leaving Seth with his mouth hanging open. A few minutes later the huge man came running back around a tree with two long, slender pieces of wood.

         Seeing Seth’s puzzled response, Cass exclaimed, “What, did you think we were going to start with the real thing!

“Now, this will be the blade,” Cass continued, “so let’s see what you’ve got.”

         Seth was not expecting this; some sort of instruction or something, but to just jump right into it seemed wrong. Not to Cass though. He was on Seth like a scorpions barb. What happened was reaction, pure and simple. Cass fought hard, that was for sure and he was not going easy on Seth. The wooden stick was a blur as it cracked Seth in the thigh, sending him crunching to the ground, numb. Cass swung again and again, with Seth blocking few of them; he seemed to be trying to hide behind the stick, not truly wield it.

“Defend yourself!” growled Cass, as he heaved another blow at Seth.

         They sat even with each other for a moment, a fire gleaming in Cass’ eyes, then he charged again swinging his stick. Seth tried to parry, but was too slow and yelped as Cass struck him on the ribs, knocking him backwards.

         Without thinking Seth lunged forward, swinging the stick at Cass’ head. At the last second he stopped and twisted, re aiming for the waist. A solid crack resounded throughout the oasis. “Improvisation! Excellent!” barked Cass. Redoubling his efforts, Seth swung again and again, once in a while landing a blow onto Cass. He was starting to feel good about this! Another swing, this time he missed, and everything went black.

         Seth awoke to water splashing across his face, rousing him from unconsciousness. He sat up; his head still ringing, sputtering water everywhere.

“Why did you do that!” said Cass angrily, hoisting himself up off the ground.

“Would a real enemy go light on you because you are so young? Try and make you feel better maybe? No. And neither shall I.” Cass recovered the sticks, and with definite authority he shouted, “Defend yourself!”

“Why? I am tired, and done with this,” said Seth, turning to leave.

“Fatal mistake number one, don’t turn your back to the enemy.”

         Seth grudgingly took up his weapon, and was back in the action. Cass was harsh with his stick, never giving Seth an inch of leniency. Eventually he just retreated behind a tree away from the onslaught.

“Pull your arms in! You look like a goose! And keep your knees bent!” shouted Cass. Seth was so excited to be getting help that he readily accepted the advice. Cass continued to give instructions, and even paused to show Seth a few moves.

“Good! Now again, but slowly this time.” They slid slowly through several moves, and returned to Cass’ assault. Seth learned quickly, but could only hold off Cass for a few blows.

         Bruises dotted Seth’s body before a half hour after the fighting. It wasn’t as bad as he had suspected, actually he had done well in the sense that blood swelled from Cass’ temple and there were a couple bruises scattered across his arms.

“Ah. That was interesting. I knew I had to go hard and see what we could do with you but I never expected anything like that my boy!”

“I did well?”

“You did fabulous, well for a first time anyways. You have a fire in your spirit, in your soul even, that is very rare. It would be unwise not to utilize it.”

         Without another word, despite Seth’s protests for more information, they went to sleep.

         The next day was no better for Seth. He was sore everywhere, Cass had not been light on him that was for sure. Standing was difficult, but by the time he hobbled over to the little campfire it was beginning to hurt less.

“How do you feel?” shouted Cass through a huge grin. Seth simply grunted, and ate the food Cass handed him.

“Well, no matter how you feel. You need to know though, that what you did last night was spectacular. I’ve never seen a quicker learner, and that is saying something.” Another grunt from Seth came through mouthfuls of egg and bread.
“Careful there. Don’t need you choking on something.”

         They finished breakfast, saddled up the horses, and left the small little oasis. Cass was careful not to push the horses today, and they moved at a fairly slow pace. This gave Seth plenty of time to ask questions.

“So where are we going?” asked Seth.

“Right now? Somewhere far out of the Emperor’s reach. Can’t tell you the exact place. Too risky. But right now we are headed to a small base camp for sand traders.”

         Sand traders were infamous tribes that ransacked many a traveler, took their equipment, and left them to die. “Why would we go to a sand trader post?” asked Seth, “they would just kill us.”

         There was a long pause, and finally Cass replied, “I think not.”

         The day was long and tiresome, even more so with the intense heat of the desert. Everything looked the same, dune after dune with the occasional silvery cloud winding its way through the sky. Days melded together, with the genera boredom that struck Seth. Before long on the third day of traveling, the sun was setting; though it seemed as though it had just risen. A great white moon hung low on the western horizon, standing aside the glowing red sun. Seth had not spoken much during the day, but now Cass outstretched a finger toward the horizon, where a column of black smoke was twisting and curling toward the sky. “Look. That would be the camp. Or what’s left of it anyway. We need to take a look.”

“What! Why? Whatever did this is probably still there, and if they can take out sand traders…” Seth trailed off, not wanting to think of what could happen to Cass and himself.

“There is a water hole on the other side of the camp. The horses need a rest; they’ve been at it all day hauling us around. Besides it will be fun! You can test your new skills with a blade,” said Cass, referring to numerous bouts of sparring the two of them had.

“Yeah. A stick isn’t going to hurt anything Cass,” retorted Seth.

“Don’t be stupid. I’ve got a sword for you.” With that Cass pulled out a beautiful blade from a pouch on the saddle. Slightly curved, the blade glinted in the sunlight. The hilt was of polished silver, and a good-sized ruby was set into it, matching the slight tinge of red in the blade. It seemed to call out to Seth while he stared, transfixed on it.

“Yeah it has that effect on a lot of people,” remarked Cass, noticing the look of awe on Seth’s face.

“It’s beautiful!” Seth exclaimed.

“And not yours. It will be soon enough, you can be sure of that, but not now.”

“So then, what do I get to play with?”

“Swords are not toys. But if you must know, you can fight with this little beauty,” said Cass, pulling out a silver short sword, “she’s a tough little piece of metal and should hold up to your, er, style of fighting. Now lets go.” Cass kicked his horse, Seth followed suit, and they began a slow trot towards the great pillar of smoke.

         The great dunes of sand began to diminish in size before long, bringing the wind that had been previously passing over Cass and Seth. Along with the wind came sharp flecks of sand that stung Seth’s face. Now I know why Cass covered his face, thought Seth while shielding his eyes from the winds.

“When are we going to get there?” asked Seth.

“Any time now, it should be coming up.”

“We’ve been riding towards it all day! How far away is it!”

“Not far, now calm down. It’s a large camp, so it probably has a large fire going in it right now.”

         I guess that makes sense, thought Seth, but I still don’t trust him. He must be friends with the sand traders. Pieces of sand were being sent up at his face much faster now, and Seth barely noticed the hills of sand parting to reveal a huge camp, most of it on fire. Thick smoke hung all around it, stinging Seth’s nostrils and making him gag even though he was still a league or more away.

“Welcome Seth, to Shanta-Ris.”

         The town, if you could call it that, was completely destroyed. The tents and shops were aligned in perfect rows, maybe 10 rows in all, and all of them were destroyed. Seth couldn’t believe his eyes; he had never seen anything so horrible. Bodies were everywhere, some piled together in the doors of shops and tents. The sheer amount of smoke made breathing difficult, sometimes impossible.

         Cass’ face was blank and he was muttering to himself, “Who did this…how…why…”

         Suddenly he was at full alert. Sword drawn, he marched his horse into the center of town, despite its pleas. Seth reluctantly followed.

         What is going on here? Who could possibly have done this? Questions were running through Seth’s mind so fast he couldn’t put them to words.

“Keep ready Seth, I think they might still be here.”

“How? We saw the smoke start hours ago, wouldn’t they have moved on by now?”

“Llendak aren’t the smartest creatures you will ever meet.”

“Llendak! Here?” Seth had never seen one, only heard of their deeds.

         Llendak were supposedly the Emperor’s private army, with the one seen normally compromised of men. Small greedy little vermin that loved the dark, fire, and killing. They were brutal and effective, but reckless; or so the stories went. Much of what Seth heard was from sailors that weren’t exactly, well, sober.

“Yes. You have only heard tales I presume?”

“Well, yes. Is it true they are the Emperor’s army?”

“As true as I am standing in front of you. They are ruthless little sacks of dung. Travel in herds, never leave a task until it is done, or they are all dead.”

“Wouldn’t they be finished here though?”

“Maybe. But look at your horse, it is nervous. It can smell them. They either just left, or are feeding.”

         Feeding! That last statement almost made Seth’s stomach revolt.

“They don’t feed on…”

“Oh yes. They do.” With this Seth turned, and threw up. Cass didn’t seem to notice. If anything he looked sicker then Seth did, but he wouldn’t show or tell it if he could help it. The burning! It is of human flesh then!

         Cass began leading his horse down the rows of tents, instructing Seth to do the same on the other side of the camp. “If anything goes wrong, just yell and I’ll be there to help you as fast as I can,” Cass had said. It still didn’t help how nervous Seth was. He couldn’t help it. Face to face with a soldier?

         The bodies were everywhere, all either burning or rotting. Several were missing parts, or were grotesquely misshapen. Tent by tent, Seth moved down the rows. The sun had set now, and the wind was beginning to chill him.

         Wonderful. Now I’m cold. thought Seth. The end of this row came, and he turned to his left and began another. The carnage wasn’t as bad in this row; then again most of it was on fire. He decided it wasn’t worth checking, and moved on to the next. Deep footprints barred to entrance. Small and fat, almost circular with 2 toe-marks jutting out at irregular intervals. None of the prints were the same.

“Cass! Footprints!”

         A sharp whinny came from Cass’ horse, and the maroon beast quickly arrived; with no Cass. “Cass!” called Seth. No answer. Where did he go? thought Seth.

“Where the…hey Seth you got my horse?” came Cass’ voice.

“Yeah. Where did you go?”

“What do you mean? I was in one of the tents. Why did you take my horse?”

“I called out for you and it came. But that doesn’t matter, look! Footprints!”

“Uh oh…these are pretty fresh…Seth keep your sword out at all times do you understand me? And do not leave my side. We don’t need you taken,” said Cass as he arrived and knelt to examine the prints.

         Taken? Wouldn’t they just kill me?

“Lets go.” said Cass as he leaped up onto his horse, and guided it into the trail of footprints. Seth was uneasy about this, but followed anyways. I don’t like it. It feels like we are walking into a…

“Seth get down!” shouted Cass, as maybe 10 figures leapt out into the open.

         They only came to Seth’s chest, but were armed to the teeth and were not happy about being called away from their meals.

         The leader of the Llendak called out to Cass and Seth in a strange tongue that sounded just like it was yelling at the air. Perhaps it was. As soon as he finished the pack split off into two groups, and charged for each Cass and Seth. Though they clearly judged Cass as the bigger threat, 4 still went to Seth.

         The first to reach let loose a screech and swung it’s scimitar at Seth’s head. He parried the first blow, and sent the Llendak careening off to the side. The second came in just as the first did, and Seth crumpled to the ground as he missed his block and was cut on the thigh. The third and fourth now came in. Seth was unprepared. Pain flooded his mind; he was seeing red. His grip on consciousness was slipping. He was going to die. This is how it ends…thought Seth. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a flash of blue light, and the two charging Llendak crying in agony, while the others skirted off in fear.