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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
Everything Begins Chapter 96
“I can when Yisu gives me the strength,” Frank said as he yanked his sword free, spun in a circle, and neatly cut off Mai Dabo’s head. It flew into the crowd of men standing behind him, and the huge body crashed to the ground. There had to be at least a hundred of them staring wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at the head. Then they turned their gazes to Ga’briyel, and he knew he was about to die. He would take as many of these men with him as possible, though, and without a pause, he let out a wordless cry and threw himself into the crowd, swinging his sword with precision as he did so. He felt it cut deeply into flesh as he heard the accompanying screams, but there were too many men. As he brought his sword back to drive it into a man in front of him, his arm was grabbed, twisted, and he dropped the sword, crying out as his wrist broke. Around him lay more than thirty corpses, but there were twice that many men surrounding him, and he was quickly overcome with men holding his arms and legs
Everything Begins Chapter 97
Frank sighed as he sat down on a large boulder. “Yes, it could be. You are right, Telantes. I am sorry.” During the trek to the mountains, Telantes had been subjecting the Anmah to the things that had killed him over and over again. Ga’briyel, over the last four sennights, had been stabbed by a sword, shot with an arrow, and beaten nineteen more times. There hadn’t been enough water for him to drown that many times, and they had not encountered any of Sayatan's minions, but he knew that the next night Telantes would start with the burning and crushing and suffocating. “Thank you, my friend,” he said, standing and holding out his hand. “Thank you for being willing to do this for me.”“You are welcome, Frank Mistri el’Adama,” the spirit said, clasping the Anmah’s forearm tightly. Then he smiled grimly. “I do not think anyone in your company would be as willing.”“No, definitely not. If they knew what I did away from camp, they would probably tie me up as soon as we stopped for the night
Everything Begins Chapter 98
"No, Frank, you cannot hurt yourself. It would be the same as killing yourself." Telantes sighed and sat down on the ground next to his friend. "But I do not like doing this, Sainika. For the rest, could you not wait until it happens naturally?""No! That could take hundreds of years, Debaduta, and I do not wish to wait that long!" The Anmah dropped his head and exhaled sharply. "Please, my friend, please do this for me.""Of course I will, Ga'briyel, if that is your desire, but I do not have to like it."Frank stood up and stared at the clear black sky, the stars sparkling brighter and bigger the higher up the mountains they climbed. "Where is Yisu, Telantes?"Perplexed by the question, the Debaduta stood as well. "Why do you ask, Sainika?""Is He up there in His heaven somewhere? Is He on Duniya? Where is He? Does He truly care what happens to me or anyone down here?""Yes, Ga'briyel, He cares. He cares deeply for what happens to His creation. He grieves every single time you or any
Everything Begins Chapter 99
First light came faster than he had expected, and he stared east at the volcano as it drifted out of the darkness into the light. The sun rose just to the south of the mountain, so there were no shadows to block the rays from warming him the moment the orb rose fully above the horizon. He stood where he was, staring at the mountain and hoping his newly-found protection would indeed hold true. It was not that he doubted Yisu, but he was not quite ready to believe something blindly just because the Creator said it was so, or because Telantes said it was so. Frank trusted the Debaduta with his life, but the Anmah would be skeptical of everything from now on until he proved it to be accurate.After ten minutes, he sensed the others coming up behind him, and he stood a bit taller, his sword in his hand. “Half a league, Dinton, and no closer.”“As you command, Mistri.” Dinton’s voice was tight, but he was a soldier of the crown, and Frank knew he would obey no matter how much he wanted to d
Everything Begins Chapter 100
"Let her go!" he shouted as he rushed the creatures. "Torture her more, and I will make sure your babies are tortured as well! Let her go, and I will kill them quickly!""Foolish Sainika!" the Dirack said softly, his claw burrowing closer to Ga'briyel's child. "You cannot kill us all before burning. You will be in more pain than she is, boy!" The creature flung Sophyra to the side where she lay whimpering and sobbing, her hands clenched around the wound that still bled heavily. Frank glanced at her once, and she shook her head at him, her eyes blazing with fury as she stared at the Dirack and then back again at her husband. He wanted to go to her, but then he heard her voice in his head."Ga'briyel, help me, please! Save our baby, my love!"He shuddered, knowing that he could not stop to check on her. Instead, he raced toward the Dirack, and as one, they released a torrent of flames in his direction. He just grinned and ran through the fire, none of it touching even a single hair on h