A week was up, and there was no village in sight. Linth spoke to them all about how they should at least see it by now. He said that he hadn’t seen the city since the time of Ashmir, and something seemed a little off to him. He thought they had been going in circles. They all agreed to confront Verdom. He had been standoffish and kept to himself most days. There were moments they all spent around the campfire and shared some laughs. When they were all prepared to confront him, they couldn’t find him. The Master said they should split up to look for him, and Fulch agreed, but it was Linth who objected.
“This could be his plan; we don’t know what his real orders are,” Linth said. The Master wanted to object, but it was Lunae who stopped him.
“We should listen to Linth, he’s experienced, and I trust his gut,” Lunae said. The Master thought about fighting her, but then realized his judgment hadn’t been the best of late. Fulch was the one who pushed back.
“We could handle anything he could throw at us. Let’s separate so we can find him faster. I know you are a good fighter, Linth, and I can handle myself, and he can’t do anything to the Master and Lunae. We need to find him!” Fulch explained, Linth was hesitant, and Lunae just glared at him.
“We’re splitting up Lunae, and there’s nothing you can do about it. We need to find him. Linth as your king, I demand this of you,” Fulch said as he grabbed a sword and walked off. The rest of them had no choice but to follow Fulch’s lead. Linth looked over at Lunae with a worried face, and she returned the same look. They all went their separate ways, hoping to find the missing soldier. Lunae had to admit to herself that she was afraid for Fulch; he seemed like the obvious target. She then decided that she would follow him to make sure he would be okay. She had never followed someone before, so she was hoping she didn’t mess it up. She spotted him and started tailing him from a further distance. When she thought she would lose him, she sped up her pace. That’s when the water chose to chime in.
“Hold back,” It said, and the hairs on Lunae’s skin stood up. Why was the water getting involved? Lunae thought. She then decided to try to look at the water in the ground. She had no idea how to turn on the sight, but she took a deep breath and focused on water. Next thing she knew, she could see the water in everything. What fascinated her the most was that she could see how sound travels from the ground to the tree and so on. It was as if you skipped a stone across the water and watched the ripple effect. She wanted to stare and get lost in it, but quickly grounded herself in her reality. She needed to protect Fulch, and she needed all her senses ready for when the time came. With the help of the water, Lunae was able to stay far enough away to not be heard and close enough if anything happened.
***
Fulch was trying not to be scared; his ego got the better of him. Fulch thought about ever since they got there, all he wanted to do was prove himself. He had never thought that the pressure of this world would get to him like this. He then realized that he was going into thought and needed to bring himself back to the now. He stopped in his tracks to take a deep breath, and that’s when he realized that he was being followed, but by who was the question. He readied himself for a fight and continued on, all the while not knowing his follower was his protection.
***
Lunae could tell there was a difference in the way Fulch was acting. Either he knew he was being followed or something was amiss. She decided to be more vigilant of herself. She didn’t want him to know she was following him. As Lunae was using the water's sight, she saw something in the distance coming loudly and fast. She knew it was Verdom, and she wanted to take off towards Fulch, but the water told her to stay. She held back and watched with normal eyes.
Verdom was coming up to Fulch and trying to kill him. The sword was being thrashed around as if his own life depended on it. Fulch had more precision, but Verdom was stronger. They exchanged blow after blow, and Lunae was afraid of who would actually win. Verdom then laid a blow that the pure force pushed Fulch back, and he tripped on a rock and fell over. Verdom hit Fulch’s sword out of his hands, and right as he was about to strike, Lunae came up and held his water still. Fulch quickly got up before he realized it was Lunae who saved him. At that moment, Lunae came out of the shadows, and that is when Fulch realized what had happened.
“I didn’t need your help, Lunae, I had him,” Fulch said. Lunae raised her eyebrows and gave Fulch a look.
“Sure you did,” Lunae said. Fulch then went for his sword and was going to strike. That’s when the water chimed in,
“Mercy,” that’s all it said, and Lunae yelled at Fulch to stop. Fulch’s face looked as if he were being betrayed.
“But why, he tried to kill me, he deserves to die!” Fulch said with anger in his eyes. Lunae came up to him and grabbed the sword.
“The water wants us to show mercy,” Lunae said. Fulch threw his hands up in the air and screamed as he walked off. His screams brought the Master and Linth, where they saw Lunae holding Verdom.
“What happened?” Linth said, pulling his sword up, ready to strike.
“Ask her!” Fulch yelled, still fuming. Linth and the Master looked at Lunae for some answers. Lunae didn’t like being put in this position.
“He tried to kill Fulch, but the water wants us to show mercy,” Lunae said, hoping the Master would take control, but sadly, he would not. The water had told him to take a step back. Linth looked visibly upset and uncertain about what to do next. They all stood there in silence for a while; no one was sure what to do. The Master then realized he had to take control, or just show the way.
“Lunae, have you talked to the soldier? There must be a reason the water wants us to show mercy,” The Master said. Lunae found this interesting; she wasn’t sure how to go about this, but she had a feeling she was the one who needed to do it. That is when she looked at the silent soldier, who looked absolutely petrified.
“Please listen to the water,” begged Verdom. Fulch was even angrier now that Verdom spoke.
“Why should we?” Fulch said, and in return got a look from Lunae. She wanted to be in control this time. Verdom, still terrified, was afraid to answer.
“I can make this easy for you, or I can make this painful. Which one will you decide?” Lunae said, which seemed to put into perspective of his current circumstance.
“I don’t know why the water wants you to show mercy, and truthfully, I have never seen someone ever use mercy; it’s a foreign thing to me,” Verdom said. This made Lunae think what if they could use this man.
“Did the Lord send you to kill our king?” Linth asked, Verdom seemed even more worried.
“Yes, he wanted me to kill Fulch and blame it on the Rhudons. I didn’t want to do it, but the Lord had threatened my family if I didn’t succeed.” This is when Lunae got a thought.
“If you succeed, what were you to do?” Lunae said, Verdom sighed.
“I was supposed to leave you guys in the night and return home, leaving you lost in the wilderness. The Lord hoped you guys wouldn’t make it back,” Verdom said.
“How far are we from the village of the Porpura people?” Lunae asked. Verdom was afraid again.
“You’re about a week away. I have been making us go in circles. I can show you the way, but I fear for my family,” Verdom said. She then realized they had probably been living with a tyrant.
“How often does he threaten the families of those who follow him?” Fulch asked.
“The Lord is a cruel man; he rules with fear, but the people are blinded by what he has done for us. To tell you the truth, he’s only getting worse,” Verdom said. This seemed to soften Fulch’s heart, and the anger slowly subsided. Fulch motioned for Lunae to come close, and she asked the Master to hold him. Fulch and Lunae went off into the distance away from earshot.
“We could use him,” Fulch said
“That’s what I was thinking,” Lunae said. They both smiled at each other and thought the same thing.
“How will we be able to trust him?” Lunae asked. Fulch was quiet for a while, then he had a thought.
“If the Lord rules out of fear, that’s easy to persuade away from; he’s a tyrant, and that I can be the voice of grace,” Fulch said. Lunae thought it sounded good, then she came up with a plan. They talked about how they will let the soldier go, and they’ll act as if Fulch is dead, and then, when the time is right, he’ll come back from the dead again. In the meantime, the soldier would spread word and start the rebellion off right. Once they finished their talk, they walked back to the others. The Master looked tired from holding him, and Lunae told him to let him go. Lunae could tell he thought about running, but she told him that wasn’t a wise decision. He listened and stayed put. They told them all their plan, and it fell silent. That’s when Verdom spoke up.
“What makes you guys believe I would do this for you?” He asked, Lunae looked to Fulch, these were his people, and he must be the one to subdue them. Fulch came over and put his hand on his shoulder.
“Because my friend, I am no tyrant, I am here to free our people from tyranny and give hope for our kind,” Fulch said. Verdom was still not convinced.
“What is your name?” Fulch asked, Verdom stood up straight.
“Verdom,” he said, and Fulch smiled.
“Well, Verdom, we have a lot of work to do to free our people. The real question is, are you willing to take it upon yourself to be the match before the flame hits?” Fulch said. Verdom thought about it, and he really didn’t have much to think about.
“If you truly mean to set our people free, I’ll follow you, but beware you try anything, I’ll finish what I’ve started,” Verdom said. Fulch nodded in agreement, and then they started to talk about how to instigate a rebellion. Lunae was pleased and looked over to the Master, who also seemed pleased. When Lunae looked over to Linth, she then realized he had a look of concern.
“What’s wrong, Linth?” Lunae asked, which pulled Linth back to reality, and he was shocked that anyone noticed his facial expressions.
“My lady, I’m sorry I have two concerns…One, I don’t trust this man, and second, what was he supposed to do with me?” Linth said, This brought up some valid points. Lunae was no longer pleased; she was about to yell out to Fulch, but Linth beat her to it. Once Linth got his attention, he spoke.
“My king, I have some reservations about this plan. How do we know we can trust Verdom, and what was he supposed to do with me after he killed you?” Fulch took his words and mulled them over.
“Verdom, Linth makes good points, please answer freely,” Fulch said. Verdom was not as nervous as Linth would have expected.
“I was supposed to convert you or kill you. I was going to leave you alone and pray the Lord would show mercy towards me since I killed the king,” Verdom said, knowing he was no match for Linth in a fight. This gave Fulch an idea.
“We shall say he converted you that way we can get the radicals on our side and Linth you can keep on eye on him if he falters you’ll be there to reassure him,” Fulch said, Verdom was actually happy for the company and to not be doing this all by himself, and this made Linth happy to be behind the liar ready to strike if needed. They spent the rest of the day getting their stories straight and coming up with the plan. Verdom gave the Master the way to the Porpura village, and they all ate around the fire and were happy, because who knew what tomorrow would bring.