Dev held up his knife as purposefully as he could, although he was unable to stop it from shaking. Dev swiped the blade towards the Janyilid's face, he didn't flinch, just smiled sarcastically and flicked out his large snake-like tongue as if tasting Dev's fear in the air.
The Janyilid struck again. It hit Dev's knife holding hand so hard that it sent the blade spinning high into the air, landing at the other side of the pit. Its own knife shot forwards, Dev did his best to spin out of its way but it struck his bicep hard, pinning his arm against the pit wall. The crowd above erupted in delight. The Janyilid pulled hard to retrieve his weapon, but it was stuck too tight.
Frustrated, the Janyilid reigned down blow upon blow on Dev. Punching his head and body with terrible force until he was reduced to his knees, held up dangling by his pinned arm. The Janyilid stopped, turned and walked to the other side of the pit to collect Dev's dagger. The crowd above began chanting in unison for the kill. Dev's head swam as he tried hard to remain conscious. Through blurred eyes he watched the Janyilid stoop and pick up the blade. He walked back across the pit towards Dev and held the blade up high to the crowd, they responded with frenzied approval, willing him on to make the killer blow. Dev regained a little more focus and scrabbled around on the floor with his free hand looking for something, anything to help.
His long pointy fingers ran across a smooth hard object, a pebble. He grabbed it, brought his arm back and threw it towards the approaching Janyilid with all his might.
Waking alone in Waking
Jack woke with a jump. He had been dreaming about climbing the cliff with his father when the pair of them both slipped and fell.
Bafflebod was still asleep on the other side of the now smouldering fire. Jack gingerly rose to his feet and stretched. He had slept well, but in a funny angle around the fire and his back was aching.
He checked his pocket. The stone had gone.
"Wake up! Wake up!" shouted Jack. Bafflebod's eyes sprang open and he sat bolt upright rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.
"What, what is it? What is the matter?" asked Bafflebod.
"The stone has gone. Clevan has stolen it, what the hell are we going to do?" said Jack with tears of anger beginning to well in his eyes.
The pair of them searched Clevan's tunnel from top to bottom; he had gone.
"I knew it! I knew we shouldn't have trusted him; no wonder he was banished from the Zephod kingdom!" raged Bafflebod.
They sat in silence for a while considering their next move when a sudden creak jolted them both back to reality. Jack dived across the room and retrieved his sword, Bafflebod quickly loaded an arrow into his bow. Footsteps approached towards them, they readied themselves for battle.
"Good morning, young sirs!" bellowed Clevan as he poked his head around the corner. The two friends immediately lowered their weapons and let out large sighs of relief.
"Sorry to have startled you, I had hoped to get back before you had awoken. Here Jack, this is yours," said Clevan handing the stone back to him. "It was quite bright this morning so I took it to the top of a hill to allow it some time in the sun, sorry to have taken it from your pocket, but I thought it was important and didn't want to wake you," he continued.
"We thought you had stolen the stone and fled," said Jack placing the stone back into his pocket.
"I am sorry young, sir; I did not intend anything but good. I figured that if I were to train you further in the use of the great stone, then we would need to charge it as much as possible," replied Clevan.
Clevan fixed the three of them some breakfast. It was a sticky tasteless porridge, but Jack didn't mind as it filled him up and even made his aching back feel better.
"What are we eating?" asked Jack.
"We call it Wort Fel, it is made from a grass-like plant. It doesn't taste of much, but it's filling and will make you feel better," replied Clevan.
"It has made my bad back go away," claimed Jack.
Clevan nodded while eagerly shovelling the last few spoonfuls of Wort Fel into his mouth. "It has healing properties," he said finally. "OK Jack, you get started with the cleaning up and Bafflebod and I will get started with the planning next door."
Jack set to work scraping the remains of the breakfast into the bin and washed the hand carved wooden bowls and spoons in the water trough, setting them to dry on a series of wall hooks Clevan had cleverly designed. Jack finished up and walked next door to join the others.
"What are you looking at?" asked Jack.
"We are looking for the best approach to Vassash. Clevan has been to the outskirts of the city many times and has mapped it, look," said Bafflebod, pulling a map from below the one they were studying.
Jack looked at the crudely drawn map as Clevan started to point out some of its key features.
"Our best chance of freeing those held as slaves, whilst remaining undetected, is to enter the city here," said Clevan pointing at the west edge of the city. "The slave pens are here and here, we will not be able to reach the ones near the Dark Tower, but these ones on the edge we can. It will be heavily defended and we cannot dig our way in as it lined with metal."
"So how can we get them out?" asked Jack.
"We will use the stone; I will show you how," replied Clevan.
The three of them studied the map for a further hour and agreed the route they would follow to Vassash. It was not a straight forward route and Clevan estimated that it would take them the best part of three days to reach the edge of the Brachanid city.
"OK young sirs, now we have agreed on the route, we need to prepare for what to do when we get there and how to deal with any problems we may encounter along the way," said Clevan. "There is a small cave about ten minutes away which is perfect for our needs. Bring your weapons and the stone. Hurry, for time is not on our side."
Stones, Swords and Arrows
Clevan, Jack and Bafflebod hurriedly packed their things, grabbed their weapons and set off for the small cave.
After ten minutes of walking through dark, thick forest they arrived.
"Can I please use the stone, Jack?" asked Clevan. Jack nodded, reached into his pocket and handed it over.
Clevan drew a simple symbol on the surface. The stone began to glow and a wind picked up around them channelling as it seemed into the stone. Jack noticed a tiny spark, then another and all of a sudden the wind stopped and a small ball of fire rose out of the great stone about the size of a golf ball and hung mysteriously a few centimetres above it. As Clevan's hand moved the stone, the perfect ball of fire stayed in exactly the same place, both Jack and Bafflebod found it incredibly hypnotic.
"Shall we go in, young sirs? There is much to do," said Clevan; instantly bringing the pair back to reality.
The three of them walked into the cave and Clevan set about lighting the many torches which lined the large chamber. After he was finished, he waved his hand through the gap between the ball of fire and the stone and it extinguished instantly.
"This is your first lesson," said Clevan, who suddenly looked very noble and proud in the flickering orange light of the torches. "This stone has many hidden powers, what you just witnessed was however its very essence. This stone, like the others, has the ability to transform one element into another. Fire, Earth, Air and Water. They are all interchangeable through this magnificent stone. These are the four symbols you need." Clevan proceeded to draw the four element symbols on the dusty ground and Jack was made to practise them over and over until he had mastered them.
"Next, young master, stealth is going to be our biggest ally if we are going to stand any chance of succeeding. Please pass me the stone, Jack, and I will show you," said Clevan and Jack did as he was asked.
Clevan skilfully moved his thumb around on the stone's surface, painting out what was clearly a very complicated series of symbols. As he finished the great stone began to glow with a silver shimmer.
"Now Jack, what would you like to hide?" asked Clevan with a subtle smile on his
face.
"How about the sword?" asked Jack pulling it from his belt.
"I was thinking of something a little bigger," replied Clevan looking directly at Bafflebod.
"I? I? Don't think that would be a goo?" Before Bafflebod could complete his protest, Clevan had brushed the silver shimmer from the stone on to him. As it struck, the shimmer grew around him in all directions and within seconds he had completely vanished.
"What? what has happened to me?" cried Bafflebod.
"Relax my friend, you are quite alright I assure you. I have used the stone to make you invisible. It is only a weak glow which I have created and it will soon wear off. But I will teach you, Jack, I will teach you how to do this and I will show you how to make it much more powerful. How do you feel, Bafflebod?"
"Very strange indeed. I can't really see my body, just a faint silver lining really. It would certainly take a bit of getting used to if we are going to walk around like this!" said Bafflebod, now from the other side of the cave.
Clevan spent the next few hours showing Jack how to harness the cloaking powers of the great stone. They each spent time being invisible as Jack perfected the complex symbols required.
After Clevan finally popped back into visibility, the three of them sat in the centre on the cave, ate and rested for a while. When they had finished eating their meal, Clevan showed Jack how to perform an energy blast from the stone, which Jack thought was tremendous fun.
"Try not to over use the energy blast, it will only render enemies unconscious and uses a vast amount of the stone's power. I will teach you some more soon, now we will spend a little time with the weapons. It is important that you can defend yourself with conventional weapons too, we can't always rely on the stone. We are going to have to set off tomorrow, it seems as if the ash in the air is getting thinner, soon the sun will return to its normal brightness. After we have practised with the weapons we will return to my home," said Clevan.
"Surely that's a good thing that the ash is clearing, isn't it?" asked Jack. "I mean, the stone will become fully charged and it will be much more powerful."
"It will, my young friend, but remember, the enemy too have a stone which will also become more powerful. I do not know how much the Brachanid scholars know of its powers, but they will know something and that's for sure. Besides, young Jack, one thing which is also for sure is that Siinjid Azzar knows of your world, and it will only be a matter of time until he finds a way to get there with his great stone. This world is as I'm sure you know, short on resources and it has been understood for a long time that Siinjid has had his eye on invading your world. Thankfully, until now he has lacked the one thing he desperately needed to see his great plan come alive. A Great Stone, sadly he now has one and we must do whatever we can to prevent him from using it. Let's get to work."
Although small, the swords were surprisingly very heavy. Jack had remembered a fair amount from his brief time training with Dev and after just a short while of training he was beginning to look like an accomplished swordsman. As much as the pair enjoyed the sword play, both Jack and Bafflebod were quite ready to stop after an intensive two-hour session.
After a short break which the young pair spent rubbing their sore biceps, it was time for some archery practice.
"Why you're a natural, Jack!" said Clevan following three solid, direct hits on the lump of wood they had hung from the wall as a target.
"Thanks," replied Jack. "It looks like the training with Dev is paying off."
"That is hardly surprising, Dev Pron is one of the finest archers this world has ever seen. Now, keep your concentration and do try to keep your left arm straight, Jack, you are bending a little at the elbow and losing power. Brachanid armour is quite thick, as is their skin. You need as much speed as possible if your arrows are going to have any effect."
After a little more practise Clevan was finally satisfied that Jack's technique was ready for combat. Bafflebod's archery skills were however, not quite up to standard and Clevan advised that he should just concentrate on using his sword if the need arose.
Before the three of them left to return to Clevan's home, he made Jack recall all of the stone symbols he had learned earlier in the day.
In all of Jack's ten years, he had never slept as well as he did that night, curled up round Clevan's roaring fire.
From the Pit to the Pen
The stone struck the advancing Janyilid hard in the middle of the forehead, rendering him unconscious immediately and sending him crashing down on to the floor of the pit.
The crowd fell silent and Dev rose unsteadily to his feet. He shook the dagger back and forth until it came loose from the pit wall. He held his breath and pulled the dagger back through his bicep, wincing with pain as he did so. Dev approached the unconscious Janyilid, dagger in hand.
The crowd began clapping in unison, cheering Dev on to make the kill. He stared down at the body of his opponent, blood ran freely down his injured arm and dripped on to the pit floor. He raised the dagger up high over his head and paused. The crowd clapped faster and faster, Dev's heart beat steadily. He moved his arm forward as fast as he could and released the blade.
The blade's target was not the Janyilid on the pit floor, but Siinjid, sat in the front row. Dev's aim was good, but his speed was not and Siinjid made easy work of it, swatting it away as if it were just an annoying fly. The crowd immediately fell silent; Siinjid rose to his feet and stepped towards the edge of the pit.
"For this outrage!" Siinjid blasted. "You shall both be executed! At dawn's first light, you will both be taken to the Karkan's pen and cast in!" Siinjid signalled to the guards on the opposite side of the pit and they immediately leapt in. A sharp blow to the side of Dev's head and he was unconscious.
Dev woke up back in his cell his wounded arm freshly bandaged and his brain still pounding from the heavy hit to his head. The Janyilid who he had fought was in the cell too and already awake pacing backwards and forwards impatiently within the narrow confines of the cell.
"Ahh, you're finally awake," hissed the Janyilid noticing that Dev had opened his eyes.
"Just about, I'm very dizzy though," said Dev gingerly.
"Here, drink this, it helps," said the Janyilid handing Dev a half empty wooden cup from the floor. "It's just water which has run down the wall from above, but it's clean."
"Thank you," said Dev gratefully. He sipped the water slowly, savouring the soft sting it brought to his parched lips and throat. He drank half of the offering and passed the cup back to the Janyilid, nodding in appreciation.
"So we are to be executed," said the Janyilid. "You should have killed me."
"Maybe," replied Dev. "Maybe not. But it is not my nature, it is not the nature of my people."
"I like that," said the Janyilid nodding in respect.
"Me too," smiled Dev. "So what is your name, friend? I am Dev Pron, once leader to the Zephods."
"I know who you are, Dev Pron," said the Janyilid bowing gently. "I am Sevvin Harsvel, I am no leader. I was born and raised in the slave pits of Vassash. My father died in the pits before I was born. I was raised by my mother and aunt who are slaves of the Brachanids, making swords and armour for the Midnight Army. As soon as I was old enough I was taken from my mother and trained as a pit warrior and once I was ready I was forced to fight until death brings me release from this cruel life."
"Have you been fighting for a long time?" asked Dev.
"I no longer know how many fights I have had, or how many souls I have sent onwards, but I have been in the pits for nearly ten years now. I am strong and fast and valued as a champion by the Brachanids, so tend to fight the new and weak," replied Sevvin.
Dev laughed. "So they consider me weak."
"With the greatest respect, sir, they would just consider you new," said Sevvin, bowing his head.
"So tomorrow we die, what is the Karkan's pen anyway? If I'm honest, it doesn't sound great," said Dev.
"It's not, si
r," replied Sevvin. "The Karkan is a foul beast, it is the size of ten of me, has six legs and a huge mouth covered in tentacles which it uses to help pull you in. Its mouth is full of razor sharp teeth, each the size of a hand. It is a terrifying and foul beast. The Brachanids caught this one years ago and use it as an entertaining means of disposing of enemies or those who step out of line."
"Like us," said Dev.
"Like us," said Sevvin.
"Tell me about the pen it is kept in, have you seen it?" asked Dev.
"I have seen it; the beast is kept in a large underground corridor with viewing windows and only one way in or out, a hole at the top. You stand on the edge, the doors open, you are shoved in and down you fall. Once you are in the Karkan's pen, there is no escape. I have seen many disappear down that chute, nothing but the blood curdling screams of those being eaten alive escape," said Sevvin.
"Have you ever seen them put two victims in at the same time?" asked Dev.
"Never, only one at a time," replied Sevvin.
"If they do decide to put us both in at the same time, we may have a chance to escape," said Dev, sitting up with purpose.
"Escape? That's impossible," said Sevvin.
"Maybe," replied Dev with a sly smile growing on his face. "Maybe not."
The Road to Vassash
Jack, Clevan and Bafflebod set off at dawn. The ash which had been raining heavily was now fall very slowly and the sun was beginning to make a valiant effort to cut through. Jack carried the stone in an effort to allow it to soak up as much of the sun's energy as possible.
They didn't talk much at all during the morning walk, all of them felt nervous and quietly reflected on the great danger they were deliberately walking towards.
Clevan led the way, skilfully using his weathered staff to silently brush branches and thorns out of his way. They walked through mile after mile of lush green forest, wherever possible steering clear of any well-trodden paths. At noon they chanced across a small hidden clearing in the forest and took a well-earned break. The three of them were sweating heavily, the combination of the warm sun beating down, the ash hanging in the air and the thick forest canopy left the air around them very humid. Jack thought to himself that the small supply of water that they had brought with them might not be enough.