“Come on!” She yelled at the orcs.
D’rmas was already engaged with a few of the Middle Kingdom warriors. They had come with the orcs and the ship was in disarray. They moved about, trading blows and evasive manoeuvres with alarming speed. An orc dashed towards where Siem stood, and she shot an arrow straight through his head and expertly notched another. While she attacked Siem changed into a living fireball and killed another orc by burning his flesh from his face.
Hermon began to scream in pain. Blood streamed down fresh cuts appearing over his body as he began to transform.
Suddenly, a mage in a dark hooded robe, and a staff in hand, jumped onto the ship and stood in front of him. Shouting words of forbidden magic, he slammed Hermon with a wave of energy. Hermon flew backward and crashed on the floor and screamed as his body began to shrink back to its normal size.
“Boy!” the man in the dark robe yelled. He climbed onboard and pulled down his hood. Lord Taboon stood with daring confidence on board Eldana’s ship, a victorious smile on his face.
“Mikko! I see you, you ungrateful little bastard!” Lord Taboon snarled.
“Continue,” Siem said to him, barely turning back. She whispered a strengthening spell on her arrow and sent it flying towards Lord Taboon. Just then, another man jumped in front of him, plucking the arrow from thin air.
Siem stared wide-eyed as Sinto stared back at her, pinching the arrow between his fingers. They came prepared.
“Where is she? The Princess!” Sinto demanded.
“You cannot have her,”Siem said, standing over Eldana’s form, and sheltering the mumbling, incanting Mikko.
“I do not see how you are going to ensure that,” Sinto said.
“Look around you. You are grossly outnumbered.” Lord Taboon said. “You are an excellent mage, Siem, but not even you can stand against two master mages, as well as our elite warriors of the Middle, and our orcish allies, too.”
“Try me,” Siem growled back, her eyes steely.
“You just have to hand the girl over.” Lord Taboon said. “We have no wish to harm you.”
Siem smiled. “Who said anything about you harming me?” she asked.
“I gave you a chance,” Lord Taboon said.
Lord Taboon and Sinto sprinted forward at the same time. It was like they shared one mind.
“Now, Mikko, get her away!” Siem screamed and exploded in a ball of fire.
Mikko yelled and with all his energy disappeared with Eldana in a flash of light.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Shewit, the Life of the First
There was no one person more integral to the continuation of Toas existence than the being of Balance and Chaos. Since their birth of time, each being of Balance and Chaos had through their ultimate sacrifice ensured that the doors of chaos were kept firmly shut, so the legend goes.
But one thing most people did not know was that the birth of a being of Balance and Chaos was as much a thing of sorrow and pain as it was a thing of joy. Of course, the majority of the people in the cities that made up Toas would rejoice and jubilate. Their messiah, the means to their continued existence had just been brought into the world. They were once again safe. Their future was safe. But if they would pause and listen attentively, they would pick out the cries of pain and sorrow. They would know that the being of Balance and Chaos were not children plucked out of trees – indeed, that they belonged to parents, and had siblings, families...
It was with such pain that a peasant farmer and his wife gave out their newly born daughter. The people who would oversee the training of the girl stood outside their farmhouse, waiting, their faces devoid of any trace of emotion. The father’s eyes were moist with tears. The mother held her baby and wept uncontrollably, as she stepped out of the house to meet the people who would take her away. But they were both helpless. Everyone that had visited them the night before had made them see that. Other families had let a child go for the good of the entire world. Why could they not do the same? To refuse their child to fulfil her destiny was to go against the whole world. They had no choice but to give in and do what was right. It had never happened like this before; beings of both Balance and Chaos were usually of royal blood, but when he found the mark of chaos on the child’s body, the peasant knew it was only a matter of time.
Their leader, a strong stout man stepped out from the rest of the group.
“You put her to sleep using what I showed you?’ the leader asked.
“Yes,” the man replied.
“Good,” the leader replied. “She should sleep peacefully throughout the length of the journey.”
The father narrowed his eyes. An idea had just come to him; an idea that would assure him that his girl was going to be properly taken care of.
“What is your name, sir?” the father of the being of Balance and Chaos asked.
The leader of the group stared at the father for a while before he replied:
“Lull. My name is Lull.”
The father stepped forward so he could stare Lull clearly in the eyes.
“Promise me,” the man said. “as one man to another man, that you will take care of my daughter.”
Lull sighed.
“We take care of all the being of Balance and Chaos,” he replied. “We’re employed for this very purpose, to see the growth and happiness of them. Why else do you think they live in the King’s palace? They stay there to receive everything they could ever ask for. All the care they need, no matter how minute, we supply them. It is the small price we pay for their ultimate sacrifice.”
The father and Lull stared into each other’s eyes for some three seconds before they broke eye contact. The father went back to
