“Here what—”“Shush,” Gen shushed as her ears studied the wind, “Wait here.” She said and trotted into the dark. She was just a few paces away from Ginika when her body disintegrated into different thousands of bats and flew away. Ginika bite his lips, but released them when he felt the pain. At least I am not in some kind of dream.He collected his bag from the floor and threw the wooden sword into it. He had other weapons in the bag and was still working on his skill to master them. The bag belongs to Balak; it was the one thing that reminded him of the man. Even though there was no love lost between them, a tiny voice in his head still wished that the man was here. Balak had been the one that had taught him the first art of swordsmanship. Let your courage speak when fear tries to raise its voice. The man had always said. Even though they had spent a short time together, he was sure that he learned a great deal from the WatcherBetty and Gabriel were fast asleep now. The way their

They were circling him now, and the more they engulf him, the now Ginika clinched to his wooden staff as though it was his lifeline.A shadow covered him. Ginika could not describe his face from the darkness. The man raises his fist, and the others who had been circling him stopped. Perhaps he was their Commander or something, for he jumped down his horse and removed the dark metallic helmet he wore.The light of the burning buildings flickered with the heavy wind, and Ginika could see in a passing moment, the clean shaved mustache. The man’s armor also glinted with the fire, revealing the mighty chest and the abs and the long sword that hung on his side.Ginika swallowed and shifted his weight uneasily as the man stopped some paces away from him, with those lofty eyes which at the moment was impossible to see.“Who are you?” Came the hoarse voice of the man.“Depends who is asking.” Ginika heard himself saying, before he could even think about it. Even now, he regretted ever saying th

Ginika heaved and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. His blue eyes studied the whole environment, which were still lying in total desolation. The stench of burnt flesh also covered his nostril, churning his stomach. He shifted his weight to the other foot when he heard the footfalls that came carousing the voice of the burning buildings.“Gini,” Betty sobbed and ran into his open arm, “What happened?” she asked.“It’s over, Betty. Those barbarians will not hurt anybody again. It’s over.” “But how did you…?” She stammered. Ginika followed her squinted eyes, noting the frown that covered the glowing skin. “You did all this?” Betty asked.Ginika wanted to laugh. Smokes were still popping out from the body of what should have been the cavaliers, only that now the ashes and the ascending were the only testimony of what should have been. Standing here now, he couldn’t imagine that he was responsible for the catastrophe. It was hard to imagine.“It’s a long story, Betty,” He said when the

“A Drudge who is a scholar?” Bola couldn’t believe his ears. The Emperor had banned the slaves from getting any formal education. Any Drudge that was caught reading or writing was bound to be executed.“Yes, I was shocked when I find out. I never knew the Drudge had the capacity to recognized letter.”“That’s so nice of you,” Bola grunted.“Sorry, that was what I was taught. The scholars taught us to believe that the Drudge did not have the capacity to read or write. Anyway, that’s not the gist. The main deal was that the old scroll gave a detailed story on how the power of Gini came about and how the Emperor had usurped power for himself,”“So, you believe it then?” “Like I said before, believe is a strong word. I will rather say I agree with whoever wrote the scroll.”“I that’s the case, then I guess you must have heard about the child of promise?”“Yes, the one born with the power of Gini.”I think I know who he is. Bola wanted to say but swallowed the words. It was too early to sa

“I can’t believe you have been betraying us all this while” Cassandra turned her disbelieving eyes to the man who was still groaning on the floor.“He is a cavalier Cassy. He had always been. Just that he pretends no to know how to use the sword.”“No, it’s not pretense.” Gareth said. He was struggling to sit up now. After several failed attempts, he decided to lean his back on the wooden wall. His nose was till bleeding.“I actually don’t know how to use a sword. That was why I was chased out from the cavalier in the first place.”“It all mak