Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
Everything Begins Chapter 88
"Yes, sir, I would, too," Kajal said with a return grin as he reached into the pouch at his waist. He pulled out two silvers and handed them to Ga'briyel. "Your boy earned them for you, Captain.""No, he earned them for himself. Zahin, come here.""Yes, Captain Mistri?" The boy was putting his arrows back in his quiver while Ipsit was still trying to pull his from the branches.Frank handed him the silvers. "These are yours. You earned them.""No, sir," the boy said, shocked. "It was your bet, sir, not mine.""Still, they are yours. I do not need them, nor do I want them. Take them, please.""Yes, sir," Zahin said as he slowly took the money, "but it is not right, sir.""Nonsense. Do not argue with me. Kajal, choose your seven men, and I will tell them what I want from them.""Yes, sir. Right away, sir."Moments later, Zahin and seven guardsmen were standing around Ga'briyel, listening to him tell them where he wanted them stationed. When they moved to their positions, Frank walked to
Everything Begins Chapter 89
"Do not talk to me about Yisu, Sekara! He is not the loving, caring Creator everyone says He is! He is vindictive and heartless and unconcerned with what happens to us!""You do not really mean that, do you, Frank?""With every fiber of my being, Dinton," the Anmah sighed. "I no longer believe that the creator of this world cares for its people. He certainly does not care for me.""You told me that you would never turn to the Evil One, Ga'briyel, and yet I feel as if you are halfway there already. Only one whose mind is open to Sayatan's influence would say such things.""Open to his influence? As if I would voluntarily turn to the being who created the creatures who killed me, not once but four times. Soon to be five or six or twenty." Frank let out another sigh and moved to his sword. It was buried in the trunk almost to the crossguard, and he began working it free of the tree. "Do not worry about me, Dinton. I may not blindly accept the stories about Yisu anymore, but I will certai
Everything Begins Chapter 90
Hours later, after more than five leagues through the deeper water, the ground rose gradually until it was again only knee-deep water they were slogging through. Frank heaved a sigh as Kumar shook his head to rid it of the water that clung to it. The Anmah’s relief was short-lived, however. Almost instantly after reaching the shallower water, he looked in front of him and saw something move through the water. A large body, scaled in metallic blue and green, slithered across the path they had to take, and it undulated for its entire length, which looked to be more than six paces. Perhaps even seven or eight paces. At the same time, he felt as if his head would explode with the sudden, severe pressure.“Bride of a troll!” Frank muttered as he waited for both the pressure and the creature to pass. Then he picked up his speed in an attempt to get his company out of the deep water before he had to fight the thing. He knew it was a Sarpa—it could be no other possible creature based on Ma’ik
Everything Begins Chapter 91
Dinton nodded, but he did not look convinced. Then he said, “Tero, we cannot take him back like this.”“No, we cannot, but we can at least get him out of this putrid swamp. Go back and tell Kajal that we will be sleeping outside the camp tonight. We can stay on the outskirts until first light.”“Right away, Tero,” Dinton replied before running back toward the camp that was already set up.Tero looked down at his friend’s body and heaved a sigh. “I am sorry, Ga’briyel,” he said, his voice catching and tears burning his eyes. “I am so sorry you must go through this again and again. I wish I could do something for you, but I cannot.” He reached down into the water, picked up Ga’briyel’s sword, and slid it into its scabbard. Then he hoisted the body over his shoulder and carried it out of the marsh onto dry land. He stopped several paces from the line of guardsmen on watch and gently laid Frank on the ground. Then he sat beside him, his back against a tree, and waited for Dinton to return
Everything Begins Chapter 92
“I will try, Telantes, but right now I need to hit something.”The Debaduta chuckled. “Another gacha tree?”“No,” Frank said with a grin. “I do not wish to break my hand again.”“All right, then, I will spar with you again. No weapons this time. Just hand to hand.”“Agreed.” Unbuckling his sword belt, Frank propped the scabbard against a tree. “Let us fight, Telantes.” He dropped into a low stance and circled the spirit as the other did the same.“I will not hold back, Anmah,” Telantes said with his own grin. “I apologize now for when I hurt you.”“You are very confident, are you not? Remember who wounded whom more last time we fought.”“It will not happen again,” the Debaduta said, and then he swept a foot out, barely missing Ga’briyel’s front foot. The Anmah laughed and danced out of the way.“Nice try, Telantes,” he chuckled, and then he ducked low, rolled to the left, and grabbed Telantes’ left foot as he passed, throwing the spirit to the forest floor. Telantes hit with a grunt,
Everything Begins Chapter 93
Frank turned in that direction and soon saw the man he was looking for. “Captain!” he barked, and Kajal spun toward him.“Yes, Captain Mistri?”“You wanted to talk to me?”“Yes, sir.” Kajal started to walk toward the perimeter of the camp, and Frank followed him. When they were away from everyone, Kajal turned toward the Anmah and frowned when he saw the cuts and bruises on Ga’briyel’s face. “Are you all right, sir?”“I am fine, Captain. What did you want to say?”Taking a deep breath, Kajal dropped his eyes. “I wanted to say that I am sorry for earlier, sir. I thought about what you said, and you were right. We should be grateful for what you did for us last night, and we were not. I have talked to the men, and most agree with me, but some are still afraid of you. They are afraid of what they do not understand.”“They want to understand? I can make them understand if that is what they want. I can make them understand what I saved them from, and if they do not believe me, they can ask
Everything Begins Chapter 94
“Can you dismount without your hands, Captain?” Kajal asked quietly. In answer, Dinton swung his right leg over the pommel and jumped to the ground. He glared at Kajal without speaking as the other man also dismounted. “I am truly sorry, Dinton,” Kajal said in an almost-whisper, “but Captain Mistri insists that you are bound to a tree. Hand and foot.”“Do not worry about it, Kajal. Captain Mistri will soon come to his senses. I hope. Just do what you must.”“Yes, Captain,” Kajal answered, his frown deepening. “He also insists that I put a guardsman on you. To make sure you do not try to run, he says.”“Fine. Just do it.”Kajal shook his head, but he grabbed the rope around Dinton’s wrists and led him to a tree near the center of camp.“The middle, Kajal? Not the outside?”“The middle, Dinton. Captain Mistri wants to make an example of you. I do not know why.”“It is all right. I know why.”“Will you tell me?” Kajal asked as he pushed Dinton to the ground and wrapped the rope around th
Everything Begins Chapter 95
“I know all this, Frank,” Telantes said, sitting down on the ground beside him. “You are strong, Anmah. Stronger than you think you are. You will survive this death just like all the others, and it will only make you stronger. You know that the more you suffer from a certain cause, the faster you will become immune to it, yes?”“Yes, but that is not much of a consolation right now. Being beaten to death is not going to be pleasant. It is going to be painful, and it is going to take a very long time.” Frank sneered at the Debaduta. “Yisu has apparently determined that I need to know these things ahead of time. If I cannot do anything to stop it, why do I need to know?”“So that you can prepare yourself for the pain you will feel,” Telantes said with a sigh. “If you know it is coming, perhaps it will not affect you as badly.”Frank stared at the spirit as if he were insane. “I knew the Sarpa were coming, Telantes, and the pain still affected me! It always affects me! There was no possib