Paths to destiny.

Chapter 1. Stay with me.

Five men walked into a neighborhood which had just been savaged. The inhabitants of the place have all been killed. Also there were dead bodies of not only civilians. The soldiers that had attacked the place were also killed in a great number.

The men were led by Byron Haas and Kevin Hodge. They were on mufti but their appearance told anyone who saw them that they were trained soldiers. Mighty men in battle.

As they saw corpses littered all over the neighborhood, Byron said to the others. "Ceevah soldiers were here before. Check for survivors. There should be someone who would give us news about Ronald Rodgers."

At once they all began to check the corpses for either a survivor or even Ronald who they were looking for.

As they searched coming close to a tent, a young, angry youth came out holding tight onto a sword. He was about twenty years of age and did not look much like a warrior, but the manner in which he held the sword told them that he had just killed one or two soldiers and was willing to slay another.

"Look here kid, we are not here to hurt you. I'm Byron from Mayca in Tadeas. If you could give us some info then we shall be on our way." Byron tried to calm him.

The young man rolled his eyes around and saw the other four holding on to their swords which they had drawn the moment he came out with his. They were looking friendly to the youth for not attacking him at once. But for the fact that they were holding on to their weapons, he knew that anything and everything was possible.

While he rolled his eyes, monitoring the movement of the other four men. Byron noticed the movement of his eyes and then he signaled the others with his hand, instructing them to put back their swords. And they did as instructed.

Then Byron continued to the young man, "We are looking for a man by the name Ronald Rodgers."

"I don't know anyone by that name. Now you can get on your way." The youth answered. Even though their weapons had been kept back into place, he knew that if they attacked him with their bare hands, they would still beat him because they were trained fighters and he was not. So he was still quite afraid.

Byron turns to Kevin by his right, "What name did you say he went by here in Gytle?"

"Newton Ken."

"The man we're looking for goes by the name Newton Ken. You should know him?" Byron turns again to the youth.

Now the name he had mentioned was known to him, and it was pretty much the same person who the other soldiers were looking for but failed. They had come to kill him, and for that, the young man knew that if he told them where Newton was, then they too might just kill him.

"He was taken captive by those who came before you."

"You mean the soldiers of Ceevah?"

"I guess that's what you call them. You should leave now. Maybe you'll catch up with them on the way. It's not been long since they left."

"Thanks for your help." Byron signaled the others and they left the neighborhood.

Afterwards, the young youth dropped the sword and ran back into the tent whence he came.

Inside the tent was a dying man, who was in his late forties. It was his father. He was the one looking more like a warrior, and a very strong one for that matter. From his looks, one will know that he was the one who did the most damage to the soldiers that attacked the surrounding. 

This was the same man who the men were looking for but the youth by name Gabriel Newton never knew him as Ronald Rodgers as the men claimed.

"Father… Father…. Please stay with me."

"Who were those out?"

"Some soldiers from Mayca in Tadeas. They were looking for you. They say your name is Ronald Rodgers. Is that true?"

"Yes son… They're right… my real name is Ronald Rodgers, but I had my reason for keeping it from you all these years." Newton coughed, as blood flowed from his mouth. Life was gradually leaving his body and Gabriel could notice it. "Promise me one thing…."

"Whatever it is."

"Promise me that you will never trust anyone from Tadeas, nor even think of going there."

"I promise." Gabriel was quick to make the promise as he thought that would cause his father to recover strength to fight the death which was coming.

But immediately he declared those words of promise, his father drew his last breath like one who was satisfied with life. Little did Gabriel know that that promise was the thing that caused Newton to die satisfied.

"Father… father… Please don't leave me." Gabriel cried as he shaked the corpse of Newton, expecting him to come back to life.

He stayed there crying for so long, until he had the sound of soldiers coming again. The sounds alone told Gabriel that they were greater than the once who had attacked and they were there for war and nothing else. So Gabriel quickly and quietly ran into a farm in the neighborhood as he watched the soldiers approach. Their uniform was different from those responsible for the massacre. So there was no doubt that they were different.

"Search the whole area. Make sure there were no survivors. Find his body and then burn this place down." The captain of the army instructed his men and they acted accordingly.

Soon, they brought out the body of Ronald and the place was set ablaze while they took the body with them.

Gabriel knew for sure that the body was not in good hands because of the order of the captain. But what could he do? He can not reclaim the body because they were no match to him.

He just trailed them to see what they would do with the body or where they were taking it to. He soon stopped following them since they almost caught him. So he returned.

Two weeks later after the death of his father, another entirely different army from Tadeas came to Gytle searching for him since they received news about someone surviving the attack. Through their questioning of the people, he realized that they were asking after the son of Ronald, and that was who he was. He knew for sure that since soldiers from Tadeas had all come to kill his father, then they would also do the same to him once they learnt who he was.

But their desire to find him was troubling in his spirit. This desire of theirs pushed him to wanting to know about his father. Why he hid his identity. Why he was killed and why the soldiers were now looking for him for the same purpose. So Gabriel spoke to himself as though he was with his father's spirit. "Forgive me father. But I must go to Tadeas. I have to learn about myself, why you were killed and why your killers are now looking for me."