THE LOST GOD OF CHAOS

Chapter 12 – Orb Hunters

KAFLE was amused to see him rant. "I'm surprised you don't know about it."

Shock crossed Jie’s face. “Is there such a thing? I knew that guy did something nasty!” He remembered the commander who kidnapped Nyssa.

“It seemed you had no idea how magic works.” Kafle appeared puzzled. “Every citizen of the Learaf Archipelago can wield magic. However, it isn’t as strong when you’re a royal. Since they possessed the mother orbs.”

“Learaf Archipelago?” It caught Jie’s attention. Now would be the perfect time to know more about this world. Kafle surely knew many things that the Ardhians did not.

Kafle did not conceal how perplexed he was. “Tell me, young boy. Are you from an isolated tribe since you seemed shocked to learn about the Shackle Curse?”

“If I told you I came from another world, would you believe me?” Jie chuckled.

Kafle shook his shoulders. “Anything is possible.”

Jie gaped at the elf. “Seriously? Do you know how I can travel back?”

The elf tapped his arm. “I’m just kidding. But I wasn’t joking when I told you I had never heard of the place where you came from. You see, I’m old enough to know every corner of this archipelago.”

“How old are you?” He asked with genuine curiosity.

“I’m past three hundred years old, and I’ve traveled far enough on every island in this world.”

“Whoa!” He paused digging and focused on the elf. “Please tell me more about these islands. I came from a village underground, and my people’s knowledge about the surface is limited.”

Kafle fixed his gaze on him momentarily. “A village underground? That’s interesting.”

“Yeah, there’s a handful of monsters around the village that caused the annihilation of my people.” He continued plowing his pickaxe and harrowed slimy mud using his shovel when two guards strolled near them.

“That’s depressing.” Kafle’s expression hardened, as if he were reminiscing about something.

Jie waited until the guards were gone before he asked again. “How big is the Learaf Archipelago?”

“It’s massive. A human lifespan wouldn’t be enough if you explored every island.”

“I see,” he dug hard. Jie felt hopeless with Kafle’s information. He thought of the seven continents of the world where he came from. “I don’t care how big this world is. My priority for now is to save my sister. We were captured by the dragon riders, but I have no idea where they brought her.”

“Sorry to hear that. The dragon riders usually came from the Idhair Guild, which is the strongest in Vatre. But why would they be interested in your little sister?”

The lashing and screaming around them went wild. Jie pretended to be deaf. He didn’t want to put himself in a tight situation. If he died, who would save Nyssa?

“Because she possesses an extraordinary power. Where do you think a child with strong magic can be held?”

“Probably in Ankhe, the capital city of Vatre.” Kafle took a little break from digging and glanced intently at the young man, as if deciphering his inner thoughts. “Ethros, listen to me. If you think of escaping, forget about it. Your death is certain if you do.”

“Do you know where Ankhe is?” Jie ignored the elf’s warning.

Kafle took a deep sigh. He let his daughter doze off beside him, and he paused for a while to answer.

“We are here at Dreqin Mines; it’s an island located on the western side of the empire. No one escaped here alive, Ethros.”

“Probably because no one tried,” he mumbled.

Kafle hardly shook his head. “Without magic, we can’t fight the guards. Do you see the people waiting to die at the entrance? Some of them attempted to escape, and they were tortured by burning slowly.”

Jie gritted his teeth. “I will do everything to save my sister. I can’t let them use her power.”

“What kind of orb does your sister possess? The empire is collecting magical orbs to strengthen their power.”

“I heard it was called... the creation orb. It’s so powerful that even though she didn’t know how to wield it, she created a forest and befriended a dragon—”

“Did you just say Creation Orb? The Luominen?” Kafle was so stunned that he stopped digging as his eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yes, that sounds like that. What’s the creation orb, by the way?”

“If you’re telling the truth, there’s only one creation orb. It is one of the four mother orbs where earth magic originated. But you must be joking because the Luominen is in the possession of the Terra Kingdom.”

“I know nothing about it. All I know is she acquired it by accident when we ran away from our village.”

“There must be a mistake. Mother orbs can’t be inherited by commoners. It is passed down to the next holder.”

“Mistaken or not, my sister is in danger. The more I stay here, the chance of saving her gets slimmer. I need to break out as soon as possible.”

“But how can you fight without magic? The impeding shackle cannot be undone. Only a powerful mage with water affinity is capable of removing it.”

Jie tightly held his pickaxe and dug deeper. There was a long silence until Kafle finally got a small orb.

“I got one!” Kafle blew up the dirt and cleaned it thoroughly using his almost torn robe. An orb became visible in his palm. It was smaller than the size of a coin, glowing red and blue.

“Let me see.” Jie moved to have a closer look. “So, this is what an orb looks like. How do you know which magic it possesses?”

“Well, I’m not an expert. But usually, you can determine which elements this is made of. I bet this orb can give a minor ability of either fire or water magic. This is common.”

“Really?” Jie couldn’t break his eyes off it. “Does the creation orb look like this?”

“No, mother orbs are big yet compressed, probably like the size of a human head.” He kept the orb in his pocket and asked, “Did you see how your sister acquired the orb?”

“Unfortunately, no. I have lost my memories since that night.” He gazed down. What if everything was just a mistake? Kafle probably wouldn’t lie about the Creation Orb being in possession of a certain kingdom.

They halted talking when one man came running while shouting. “Veris died!”

Jie paid no attention. Until Kafle explained the gravity of his situation.

“You must find an orb, Ethros. If you can’t give them one for this day, you’ll be flogged or you’ll have to fight to entertain the guards, like Veris did.”

Jie smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll get one.”

Jie’s optimism went down the drain after he worked nonstop but ended up not finding even a single orb. He thought the guards would be lenient for a newcomer like him, but he was wrong.

“Hey, kid! Come over here!” The guards called Jie. He was forced to fall in line with the other orb hunters who failed to obtain the magical spheres.

Kafle couldn’t do anything to help him while carrying his sleeping daughter. The elf tried to find another orb, yet it was indeed very hard to mine. He often succeeded because he used his strong sense of smell, but since he was under a curse, he could not overdo it.

“Whip or fight?” asked the guard when it was Jie’s turn.

“W-Whip,” he clenched his jaw. If only Kafle hadn’t warned him, he’d choose to fight. However, he didn’t want an instant death since he possessed no magic.

“Fifty lashes!” The captain of the guards commanded. The infamous Captain Revie was known as the Heartless Punisher.

Jie was dragged toward a dimly lit room and was restrained. They made him hug a wooden column while his wrists were tied.

“Start!” Captain Revie’s voice echoed.

“One! Two! Three!” The guard counting was different from the one holding the whip. It was no ordinary scourge because there were small spikes attached to the tip.

He bit his lower lip hard, nearly bleeding, when the flogging began. Jie made sure that no agonizing scream would come out of his mouth, no matter how excruciating the pain he felt.

I will endure this.

Jie believed that with proper mental conditioning, he could make it. But his consciousness was fading as his body went numb from bleeding too much.

“Forty!” The fortieth lash hit his back hard.

Nyssa, wait for me.

Jie’s body was shaking. Ten more, and it would be over. Yet his breathing started to become heavy. Was he dying?

I can do it!

He pushed himself to the limit, even though his eyes were getting blurred. Jie had to remain focused as the playful image of Nyssa came to his mind. Then he suddenly saw a black figure shrouded in smoke. He concluded it might be the Grim Reaper.

Please, not now. I can’t die yet. He pleaded in silence. Surely, it was not just a hallucination.

“I’ll take the remaining ten!” a familiar voice shouted.

“Kafle…” The elf’s face was the last thing he saw before his vision darkened.