Zachania (18 page)

“Never has
anyone resisted a truth crystal, what are you?”

Tallonus tried
to raise his head from his chest; he managed only a couple of
inches, it was clear that the wizards knew of his Zachanian
ancestry. Smiling to himself he accepted that he would be put to
death, from somewhere within he felt pride, “if death will become
me then all I have left is to decide how I meet it” he thought to
himself.

He summoned all
of his strength and raised his head so that he could look defiantly
at Grarlin.

“I am
Zachanian!” he snarled proudly, as soon as the words left his mouth
Tallonus thought of his father, he briefly thought of all the
arguments that he had had with him over the subject of Zachania,
yet here in the face of his death he proclaimed proudly who he was,
Tallonus smiled as he thought of how proud his father would be if
he could see him now.

“So finally you
speak the truth.” Grarlin replied “Now speak the truth of your
father and son.” he added coldly thinking that he had control of
him.

Tallonus
listened to Grarlin, it dawned on him that his father and son Talon
must still be free; otherwise why else would this wizard be asking
questions of them, he smiled to himself with relief of their
freedom.

“Both will seek
you wizard, they will avenge me.”

“Where is your
son Talon?”

Tallonus smiled
again.

“He’s in your
mind wizard, he visits you every day.” he smirked.

Grarlin
stiffened at the resolve that this man before him showed.

“Then you and
your family will suffer the worst deaths imaginable.” he added in a
terrifying voice.

Tallonus tried
to lash out with his feet; he just missed the wizard who jumped
back quickly

“You barter
with what you don’t have wizard, we are already dead.”

Grarlin smiled
again and then raised his hand, for the next hour he used all of
his magical powers and every conceivable means to torture Tallonus,
he boiled his blood, he severed his hands, his eyes were ripped
from his skull, he was flogged, cut, branded yet still Tallonus
barely alive resisted him.

“I am a
Zachanian.” was the only answer he gave, over and over again.

Grarlin grew
more and more frustrated by the moment, he realised that Tallonus
would soon be dead and in a last cry attempt he sent a guard to
bring one of Tallonus’s sons.

Tols was
dragged into the room and thrown at his father’s feet; the boy
broke down when he saw his father.

“Tols, Tols
it’s alright son, be strong.” Tallonus cried now showing his
emotion.

Grarlin
suddenly grabbed the boy and forced him to kneel before him; he
produced a sword and held it at the boy’s neck.

“Tallonus! Tell
me what I want or I shall sever his head.” screamed the exhausted
wizard

“Father.” Tols,
cried in fear.

Tallonus barely
awake raised his head; he swallowed hard and used all of his
strength just to speak.

“Be strong my
beautiful son, we will soon be together with the gods.” he cried in
agony.

As he finished
talking he heard the swishing sound of the sword and then a
thudding noise as something hit the ground, Tallonus screamed
“NO!!!”

Grarlin picked
up the boy’s head and pushed it into the face of Tallonus, warm
blood dripped on Tallonus’s chest.

“You can still
save your wife and other child, tell me where Talon is?” Grarlin
screamed and then threw the head across the room.

Tallonus choked
as he retched, physically he felt every last ounce of strength
drain from his body

“Will you spare
my wife and son?” he sighed delirious.

“They have no
importance in this, its Talon that I seek.”

“Will you swear
that they live.” Tallonus sighed.

“They will live
out their lives in a dungeon but they will not be slayed.” replied
Grarlin as he grabbed Tallonus’s face and lifted his head, Tallonus
nodded his head slightly.

“That’s it
Zachanian, there is no shame in saving the lives of the ones you
love, now tell me where is your father?”

Tallonus
coughed out some blood that was in his mouth

“He left years
ago; I know not where he is.”

“We made a deal
Zachanian!” snapped Grarlin angered by his reply.

“Where is he!”
he shouted.

“I can’t be
sure but I would guess he would be in Zanlia, he has friends
there.”

“Good, now tell
me of your son Talon.”

“He joined the
guard; I have not seen him since.”

“Does Talon
know that he is Zachanian?”

“No.”

Grarlin noticed
that Tallonus was drifting in and out of consciousness, the intense
pain he was in and the exhaustion had brought him to the brink of
death, Grarlin grabbed his face again as if to wake him.

“Concentrate
man, did Talon know of his heritage.”

“No, no, he
joined the guard.”

“Where is he
now?”

“I don’t
know.”

Grarlin slapped
him hard.

“Where would he
go?”

Tallonus
coughed before slumping, Grarlin lifted his head again and then let
it go it just slumped onto his chest.

“Tallonus,
Tallonus” the wizard called.

“Tallonus,
Tallonus” he repeated trying to wake him, he slapped him again and
again before realising that Tallonus had nothing left, he was
dying, frustrated Grarlin forcefully pushed his head against the
wall before turning back to face his fellow wizards.

“He can tell us
no more.”

“Then it seems
that Talon is unaware of his roots” replied a fellow wizard.

“That may not
be true, something has made him flee the Empire” replied
Grarlin.

The three other
wizards walked closer to Tallonus, one of them grabbed his face as
if looking to see if there was any life left in him.

“Never have I
seen anyone resist such pain, there is more than meets the eye here
Grarlin.” he said.

“His strength
was not that of a man, it was as if he had the mind of a wizard.”
he added.

“There is
nothing left here” Grarlin suddenly added as he handed one of the
wizards a sword.

“Take his
head.” he ordered him.

“What of his
wife and other son?” another wizard asked.

Grarlin paused
a moment.

“Have Krustov
ready them for travel, they will accompany us to the Palace lands,
they may have use as time goes by.”

Broken and
ravaged with grief, Talon wandered aimlessly into the wilderness of
the west, he knew from his days in the army the west was the safest
haven for him. He would head for the coast to the quietness of the
coastal towns, towns that were scattered along the west where only
fishermen, pilgrims and monks lived.

After a few
days in the wilderness he reached the fabled forest of Deceit, the
forest was surrounded by legends where the Empire and the civilians
of Kratos both never ventured within, Talon remembered the stories
that he heard about the forest and how beasts roamed the region and
tore anyone who trespassed into the forest apart.

Legend said
that the beasts lived there in vast numbers, scavenging anything
for food, never coming from the forest but waiting alertly for
anyone foolish enough to wander too close.

Around the
forest was open countryside, flat arid land where a man could be
spotted from miles away, eager to avoid any passing military patrol
Talon decided to walk closely to the forest, he would have to keep
his eyes open for both beast and the Empire but this seemed the
safest option for him.

He knew from
his days in the Empire and the studying of maps that it would take
him two days to pass the forest until he reached the camouflage of
the hills, Talon could not help feeling tense as he neared the
dense woodlands, he noticed how eerie it felt, almost sinister.

Looking inside
he could barely see ten yards within, he consciously noticed that
he could hear no birds; this made him walk a few more yards
away.

The forest
looked black inside “only evil can live in such a place” he mouthed
quietly to himself.

After walking
for a few hours his concentration was suddenly interrupted by the
sound of horses, turning over his shoulder he saw that it was an
Imperial patrol, instinctively Talon threw himself to the ground
and crawled swiftly into the bushes at the beginning of the forest,
slowly he lifted his head in the direction of the sound where he
saw around twenty horsemen galloping furiously around the forest,
he wondered if they were a passing patrol or if they were searching
for him, wisely he decided it best to remain out of sight.

After what
seemed like an age Talon sighed with relief as the soldiers passed,
relaxing he rose to his knees, then suddenly he heard a loud
crack!, Talon paused briefly before turning quickly towards the
forest where the loud noise came from, rising to his feet his first
thought was that someone was there, he anxiously eyed the forest
looking for any movement, then crack, a second sound was heard only
this time it seemed closer.

This time the
sound was more clear, it was definitely the sound of twigs being
broken underfoot, Talon froze and readied himself, he reached for
dagger to prepare against any swift attack “something is there, I
can sense it, I am being approached” he thought.

Slowly Talon
began to back away, slowly he moved his feet eagerly trying to
avoid the undergrowth and making any sounds himself, he barely
moved three steps when suddenly a small tree was effortlessly
ripped from the ground revealing an enormous figure, Talon dipped
swiftly to one knee not sure if the creature had spotted him, he
gazed over his shoulder looking anxiously for a safe route of
escape, his nose filled with the stench of the beast as it neared
ripping trees and bushes away, Talon had two choices remain still
and hope he would not be seen or flee and hope that he could outrun
such a beast, his mind raced then suddenly he felt the wind change
direction, the smell from the beast was gone and like a horror
Talon suddenly realised that he was now downwind, almost in slow
motion he saw the beast raise his head in his direction, he could
see and hear that the beast had smelt him then raising onto its
back feet Talon saw the true horror of this thing before him, with
a deafening roar this nine ft. creature pounced towards him,
Talon’s thoughts of silence suddenly disappeared as his instinct
for survival took over. He dived to one side avoiding the creatures
strike, getting to his feet Talon saw the creature tumble from the
ferociousness of its strike, he could see that its bottom half
resembled that of a large bear but the top half was that of a man,
a giant man, stocky and much more hairier than normal man, its
hands were massive with large claws, the creatures head was large
and bony with an enormous mouth and fangs.

They both
looked at each other as Talon ran, behind him he could hear the
sound of the ground being stamped on as the creature gave chase,
within a few steps Talon was knocked with such a force it threw him
several feet back into the forest.

Talon landed
heavily onto his back knocking the wind from him; instinctively he
reached for his dagger only to notice that it had been knocked from
his hand and now rested a few feet between him and the beast that
now approaching him slowly on all fours.

Talon tried to
move the dagger with his foot but this only made the creature speed
up and growl loudly towards him, Talon froze as he saw the beast
reach for his dagger, the beast smelt it then bit it into two
pieces, now unarmed Talon pulled himself back so that his back was
against a tree, the beast neared until Talon could feel the beasts
hot breath upon his face, Talon grimaced as he readied himself for
the attack, he could now feel spit hitting face as the beast looked
at him.

“What are you
waiting for?” Talon shouted.

The beast
roared loudly before stopping again and once again looking at
Talon.

“C’mon do it!”
Talon shouted in confusion as the beast seemed hesitant.

Talon suddenly
noticed that the beast was looking down towards his neck, Talon
looked down and saw to his surprise that the beast was looking at
his pendant which had been knocked outside his clothing when he had
been struck, looking up he saw that the beast seemed mesmerised by
it, tilting its head from side to side.

Talon reached
for the pendant and thrust it into the beasts face, the beast
backed off and rose onto its back feet, Talon not believing his
fortune got to his feet, he thrust the pendant towards the beast
and saw it back away, wasting no more time he made his escape.

Talon ran for
what seemed hours all the time thinking about the strange pendant
and the strange beast that had attacked him, only the fall of night
made him slow his step.

The morning
light brought with it a sigh of relief as Talon could see on the
horizon the sight of hills

“It must be the
hills of Varanasa.” he sighed.

Talon walked
for another day until he reached the town of Varanasa, Varanasa was
a holy town made up mainly from temples and monks. It also boasted
the largest temple in all of Kratos, the revered temple of
tranquillity, and for a very long time Talon began to feel at
ease.

Varanasa was
the spiritual centre of Kratos, pilgrims in their thousand would
flock to its numerous temples for a host of different festivals
throughout the year, and known as a peaceful town the Empire did
not concern itself with Varanasa.

Upon reaching
the town Talon was greeted by various monks and holy men, it seemed
that every street was lined with pilgrims celebrating and
congratulating everyone, Talon accepted the greetings but still
full of sadness for his family and his predicament he made his way
across town till he reached the coast.