The pit. Havila.
"It should be of great benefit to you if you pay attention to what I'm about to say."
The Emperor's voice was firm but you could that his face was a contradiction of his stare. He had been at odds with Jim all along though Tzu had been trying to set things right but Jim really didn't bite off the cake.
"And why should we take after you or believe what you have to say?"
Jim shot at the emperor. He was seated by Tzu while the Emperor was seated opposite them. They were seated on the floor in the pit.
"You have no idea who you're talking to. If not for the odds, you should still be a cleaner by now."
The chief seated by the Emperor hurled at Jim. The chief was opposite Jim. Jim felt like grabbing the nape of the chiefs and crashing it against the pit.
 
An open space. A great feast. Havila. "How do we take out the guards?" Tzu asked looking through the three people. The emperor had been quiet since a while as usual while the chief did more of the comments. "The emperor holds an answer to that." The chief gave up his position. He obviously didn't have an answer to that. They were all following the instructions of the emperor. Whatever he said to them was the dough. Jim had been unusually quiet. The emperor had cast a spell on him. Not such spell that made a fool of someone. But such spell which would make him do whatever the emperor bade him. Tzu didn't have a contention with that. Having Jim charmed was even a ease of things for Tzu. Jim only stared at the three of them, picking each person at a time. The four of them ha
The feast. Havila. "It's quite a wonder that you thought you had it all planned but you forgot to watch your back." Aojen watched in surprise as his brother stood towering over him. He couldn't explain how it had all happened, but there was he was spitting blood and foaming, lying helplessly on the floor. He wished he could explain but he lost track of words. "What did you think of us in the first place? That we are dumb and do not know how to make a choice? That you were the only one blessed with power. It's a wonder how you could be so forgetful of what we were sent to do. Even if you would be mad, was it to the Emperor? The emperor we all held our lives to." The third warrior of the group preached. He had one of his feet on Aojen's face, squeezing his jaws with the hard sole of his sandal. "Brother... You too?"
In a scanty forest. Havila. "What did you remember?" Lailah asked the seemingly broken man who was beginning to gain his life gradually. Ja Lia. Ja wasn't sure if he did remember his identity. When he tried to make meaning of things, he was always lost in the labyrinth of the complexity of it all. He was something close to a walking dead. He dumbed the thought. He was bare-chested and had only a brown furry skirt on. He was barefooted too but his eyes were sharp and his void sense of reasoning resounding. If only his skull could hit the dough. "I remember you changing from a raven to a lady almost every passing day. Since like the past few days." She grabbed him suddenly by the neck and pushed him to one of the trees by the path. She pressed his back to the hard bark of the tree. Her hold on him was very strong and
The King's Castle. Havila. "What are the tidings you brought from Poseidon?" The Emperor's authoritative voice flooded the throne hall. Everyone seated was hit by its wave. Every new time he spoke seemed to canvass another level of the mystery in his voice. Probably it could be owed to another token of black magic. Pretty hard to judge. He had addressed the question to the brother of Aojen and the third warrior. Both seemed to cherish the implication of their names so much that they wouldn't let it out. The two were seated opposite each other. The emperor was seated at the edge of the table to the North. Jim and Tzu were opposite too, next to the two warriors respectively. While the remaining seats were occupied by the chiefs. They were having a royal lunch amidst which the emperor had birthed a wave of discussion.&nbs
The search party. Still Havila. "Here's what we are going to do." Started the leader of the search group designated with the search for Ja Lia by the Emperor. His face smooth but rude. His gaze was stern as he picked each of his men haughtily. He seemed to had been doing that task all his life. "We are going to have the group of five. Five men in each group." He paused again. Just like the emperor would do whenever he was talking. Twas prettily hard to tell if he was taking after the emperor or building his own fortress of shenanigans and nuances. "Some would go to the market square. Some to where the helmet of Jin is being kept. Some to the place where he was dumped in the sea. And some would come with me to the forest." He stopped talking as he watched the group divide themselves into the halves he had
A shore. Havila. "Brrrrrrrrrr." The sound was swallowed by the crashing waves in distance. The horizon seemed to be swelling to the call of the reefs as the sun splattered its rays on the lips of the water. The torrent had ranged and the blueness of the sea was endangered. From the waves of the sea, one could hear the chittering of birds in distance. The calls of the birds in the scanty forest. The sharp sand which occasionally was soaked in the pride of the waters had nested some of the birds. Between these two elements, the sea and the forest, was a heap of ruins caused by fire. Ashes from the ruins were carried around by the whooshing winds. It could be said that the winds were in delight of such task. They skipped in gay around as they bore with them handful of the ashes. At the sp
The Market square. Havila. "Oh boy, that's some beauty." The rough man attending to the man in cloak got distracted by the strange lady walking through the market. He had filled the coconut oil to brim that he didn't notice that twas already overflowing. "Concentrate, retard." The man in cloak cussed. He didn't seem to be moved by the lady. Aside him, every other men who looked in the direction of the half-naked lady were enthralled by her curves and walk steps. "I won't have you insult me on my commodity. Be gone, you dog." The rough man shot in rage. The man in cloak grabbed the gallon of coconut oil and emptied it on the rough man. A struggle was birthed. A struggle which was soon to graduate into chaos. The lady looked back in the direction of the chaos and smiled at what she had caused. If s
The shade of a Sorcerer. Havila. "I have no idea who she thinks she is." He started, his eyes hurriedly ransacking the inn of the sorcerer. He didn't know whether or not to trust the man. Though he had never seen him before. But he was hoping and believing that the man would be the end of their problem. That he would put a stop to the terror of the crazy lady, Lailah. After the death of Aohen two days ago, they had commenced another search for Lailah again. They had been inspired by the emperor that twas the doings of Lailah. The emperor had said, "She's too dumb not to leave a track behind." And during the search had they found that sorcerer who said to had come from Kula in search of Lailah. Twasnt so hard to believe. The king of Kula was killed by Lailah, so the sorcerer had come to avenge. He should do anything to stop Lailah. He looked s