The Destiny of Amalah (90 page)

‘I will kill him,’ Rakan said quietly.

‘Ensure that you do,’ Adriel said, smiling to himself and then at Rakan and the rest of the men. ‘I suppose now would be a good time to tell you,’ Adriel began, as he stared at Waldon; ‘that what Kalon spoke of was not particularly untrue.’

‘Then I follow you no more,’ Waldon, said rising to his feet and walking away from Adriel.

‘Really?’ Adriel asked in mock surprise. ‘Are you willing to watch your friends suffer an eternity of torment and torture because you are having yet another attack of morality?’

Waldon turned and glared hatefully at Adriel. ‘One day old man, Salwar will not be around to protect you and you will have to face us one and all.’

‘I don’t envisage that day coming any eon soon,’ Adriel replied. ‘Come back Waldon,’ Adriel teased. ‘Please come back, I’m not sure how Rufus will cope with torment.’

‘Carry on Adriel,’ Waldon replied, his eyes shining with anger. ‘When you fall, I hope I am there to watch.

Adriel said nothing for a change; he knew he was playing a dangerous game. He didn’t care about upsetting the six; he cared about incurring Salwar’s wrath. The six of them arrived back at the mountain where they had been, before Adriel had come and taken them to Amalah. Daybreak was not far away in Equer and the sky was between morning light and darkness. Adriel did not speak to any of the six young men when they were back in the place that he had found them, he simply looked each and every one of them in the eye and then he disappeared with the blue flame. When he was gone, the six men remained out in the open and looked at each other.

‘We cannot be beholden to Salwar for an eternity?’ Rufus said emphatically.

‘I agree,’ said Rakan. ‘You do not know the pain I endured – every second I wished that death would come to me.’

‘But we are bound to him,’ Bryce replied. ‘Each and every one of us is bound to Salwar, by our blood and only if our blood stops flowing, will we be free.’

‘There must be a way to loosen the bond,’ Luxor said stubbornly.

‘There is,’ Bryce said, and as he spoke, the others looked at him. ‘Death is our only escape.’

‘I will not take that escape,’ Waldon said. ‘Nor will I be bound for an eternity to Salwar.’

‘If we do as he asks, we will fare well,’ Bryce retorted.

‘And if we do not wish to do as he asks, how will we fare?’ Rufus asked.

‘Very badly,’ Kenaz answered.

‘We’ve come this far and so far, we have done things how we have wanted to do things; yes we may have to do things we do not want to do –but in this life – who doesn’t?’ Bryce said trying to reason with the group.

‘I don’t,’ Luxor said. ‘Not until I found myself bound to Salwar and saw the pain he caused Rakan.’

‘Rakan could have saved himself same pain,’ Bryce said simply.

‘Really?’ Rakan asked, raising his voice slightly.

‘Yes you could Rakan and you well knew it.’

‘I do not want to kill Maddox.’

‘I am sure you did not want to kill your own brother – but you did, Bryce said and as he uttered the words, the six froze on the spot and all eyes were on Bryce and Rakan.

‘No, I did not,’ Rakan said as an edge appeared in his voice and he glared at Bryce.

Rufus, Waldon and Kenaz heard the anger in his voice and they knew that Rakan was doing all he could to remain in control.

‘But I
had
to kill Kalon; there is no need to kill Maddox.’

‘No reason that you can see,’ Bryce said, correcting him.

‘So I should do their bidding at all times, not question what is being said or done?’ he said angrily.

As his anger came to the surface, he felt surges of energy run through his hands and the others watched as electrical sparks came out from his fingertips.

‘You’ve already chosen sides Rakan, you chose this path and this is what comes with those choices,’ Bryce told Rakan testily.

‘Perhaps Bryce but if Salwar tells me to kill you, then I shall remember that you approve,’ he replied, as he moved closer to Bryce in a menacing manner.

‘It would not come to that.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘They would not have made us swear allegiance to each other, if they wanted us to then turn on each other and kill each other. We are strong together and they see it and as you well know; if Salwar wanted us dead, he could do it himself, he would not require us to do it.’

‘That maybe,’ Rakan said. ‘But I am not happy or willing, to go a lifetime being bound to Salwar if that is the pain he is willing to inflict on us.’

‘Nor I,’ said Kenaz.

‘I am not willing to suffer such pain,’ Luxor said.

‘A lifetime could be a long time to go through, especially when it is spent in pain, that is why I do not wish to be bound that way to Salwar,’ said Waldon.

‘I think we need to consider how many enemies we are willing to make and how many we can fight at the same time. Not forgetting to consider if our enemy is one we can win against – and I wager it is not,’ Bryce said, as he looked at his friends before he turned and retired to his cave.

The remaining five men stayed out in the open for a while.

‘What fools we are one and all!’ Waldon said bitterly.

‘What do we do now?’ Luxor asked.

‘We have no choice but to continue,’ said Rakan.

‘Until?’

‘Until the end, or until we find a way out,’ Rakan answered.

‘The taste of regret is bitter indeed,’ said Waldon, choking on his words, as he turned and walked away.

Waldon walked down the mountain and Rufus followed. It was not until he was in the woods that Waldon turned around, his eyes burning with anger.

‘From our days in Qomo when you and Rakan used your magic, I never worried where it might lead,’ Waldon said, as he stared at Rufus, his eyes still ablaze. ‘But Kalon did, he worried and he feared. I saw the looks on his face. I used to reassure him but how wrong was I?’

‘Waldon please…’

‘No!’ Waldon said, cutting Rufus off. ‘You were corrupted at magic school. You let Adriel in and then, well then you decided to convince me and Kenaz.’

‘Do you lay the blame for our fate at mine and Rakan’s door?’

‘Oh Rufus, we are well past blame and I am a man who makes his own decisions.’

‘Do you hate me?’

Waldon let out a small bitter laugh. ‘I wish I could hate you,’ he said shaking his head. ‘A god lied to us all and probably for his own ends. He knew there was no return and that is why, I wager, we had to come to him willingly.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Rufus said, with a rare display of humility as he moved closer to Waldon. ‘I’m truly sorry,’ he whispered, as he stroked Waldon’s shoulder and then touched his cheek. ‘You saved my life and I corrupted yours.

Waldon brought his hand up to where Rufus’ was and then he pulled his friend’s hand away.

‘A god lied to us, we cast the world into despair, betrayed and killed our brother and now we are blood bound to him for life. From the time we left Amalah to the Henge, I did not look back, or feel guilty. Then
we
happen.’

‘Do you regret…? Rufus asked, quite afraid of the answer.

‘At this time Rufus, I know nothing,’ Waldo admitted to Rufus, who didn’t hide his hurt. ‘I just know I need to be alone,’ he said as he turned and stalked off into the woods, leaving a desolate Rufus behind.

As the new day dawned the six rose and set out to do a full days work. When it was time to rest, Waldon found Rufus sitting alone at the rivers edge.

‘I don’t regret us,’ he said gently, as he sat by Rufus’ side.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rufus whispered. ‘I should never have…’

‘Don’t say it,’ Waldon said quietly. ‘Just be with me now,’ he said, his voice softening.

The weeks passed by very quickly for the soldiers in Equer for it was nearly time for them to begin marching towards Amalah. They trained, hunted, tracked and organised food, weapons and other supplies. Rakan spent time with Maddox and it pained him to know that he would have to kill him, for he had truly grown fond of the old man.

Time passed by and the time grew near for the soldiers to march through Equer to Amalah. They would begin at night and move right through to sunrise. The evening before they were to begin, Rakan went into Maddox’s cave and the two of them talked for most of the evening. The two men drank wine and sat by the small fire in Maddox’s cave.

‘Your father must be proud of you Rakan,’ Maddox said, out of the blue. ‘A man as young as you, being able to lead an army and lead it well.’

‘I wish he were proud of me Maddox, but I know he is not.’

‘Why ever not?’

‘My father has two sons,
had
two sons. I was not the one he was proud of, Kalon was; but he was right to be.

‘Rakan sometimes…’ Maddox began, but Rakan interrupted him.

‘Sometimes we choose a path in life and even if we choose wrongly, we are stuck with the path we chose, we can’t get off. Not only are we stuck with the path but everything that is on that path.’

‘You are wiser than your years Rakan.’

‘I chose the wrong path Maddox and I cannot get off,’ Rakan said with a tone of regret and desperation.

‘Sometimes Rakan, you choose the path and sometimes, the path chooses you but often, it is a mixture of both.’

‘Maddox I walk in darkness, I am not a good man; in fact I would even go so far as to say I am evil.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because even though I am evil, I want you to know that I like you Maddox, we grew close and I like the man I met. You taught me a lot, and I thank you, but I did nothing for you in return and now I must return the favour by doing you harm, but know this – I am truly sorry,’ Rakan said in a genuinely remorseful tone.

Maddox looked at Rakan and tried to understand what Rakan was talking about; he went to pat him on the back to reassure him but before his hand reached Rakan’s back, Rakan had grabbed Maddox by the throat and began squeezing. Maddox’s eyes widened in surprise, and because Rakan was cutting off his blood supply, his eyes bulged even more.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rakan said, as he crushed Maddox’s windpipe and Maddox’s eyes became still and fixed as his body became lifeless.

Rakan released his grip of Maddox’s throat and then he suddenly took hold of his head and snapped his neck before he lay him down on the ground. Rakan looked at Maddox’s lifeless body and his eyes filled with tears; some of those tears were for Maddox but most of them were for Kalon. He had not been able to think of Kalon for a long time, but now he was here in Maddox’s cave, alone with another who had died by his hand and it had given Rakan time to think and thoughts of Kalon came rushing into his mind and the thoughts hurt him deeply.

‘Oh god Kalon, what have I done?’ Rakan cried.

Thoughts of happier times came to mind and thoughts of how much he missed his brother and thoughts of what he had really done and what he had become sprang to his mind and he say contemplating them all.

‘I’m sorry Kalon,’ Rakan said as he looked at the old lifeless body of Maddox and saw his brother.

Rakan sat and thought about Kalon and the old man and as he remembered him and what he had done, the tears fell freely down his cheeks. He patted Maddox’s chest and then reached over and covered him with a blanket.

‘Don’t feel sorry for me,’ Rakan heard a voice say.

The voice startled him and Rakan turned around sharply to see who was speaking to him.

‘You can’t see me now Rakan,’ the voice said.

‘Maddox?’ Rakan asked completely surprised.

‘Yes it’s Maddox,’ the voice in the air said. ‘Don’t feel sorry for me, this was the favour you did, that you wouldn’t know you were doing at the time.’

‘But I killed you.’

‘I know but I lived longer than I should have had to – life had no more surprises for me. Don’t try to understand yet Rakan you can’t. But I promise you one day, when you need me most, I will return.’

‘Did you know what I was all along?’

‘My human side didn’t,’ Maddox replied.

‘Your human side?’

‘You are not ready to know that Rakan, but in time you will. In time, you will learn much and grow even more powerful than you are now; fear not though because you will have much time – so much more than most humans.’

‘I am sorry I killed you Maddox.’

‘Be sorry – but not for me. I must leave you now Rakan, know this though, your destiny is more in your hands than you think – yours in particular,’ Maddox said and with that, he was gone.

Rakan knew Maddox had truly gone so he sat there in silence and as he sat, he only had more questions now. “Who was Maddox and what was he? And what did he mean by my life being in my hands?” He wondered if he knew about Adriel and Salwar and he also wondered if there was life beyond this plane and if so, would he ever see it or live in it.

Rakan wiped the tears from his eyes and rose to his feet. He took one last look at Maddox and left his cave; he then went in search of the others and told them that the deed had been done. They offered words of condolences to Rakan and said a little about Maddox and then they went on with their evening.