Chapter 18

The first thought that went through Emeric's head as the painful blows started falling without respite, was that his attackers were using thick, wooden canes to beat him.  They thudded dully with each blow, but the pain that swept through Emeric was far from dull...It was excruciating as hit after hit landed on his exposed body from every direction. 

"You think you're so good?" One of the tormenters spat, "You think you're the best?"  A different voice..."Well, news flash. You're NOT!" At the last words the beatings painfully continued, tearing painfilled cries from Emeric's throat.

Each time Emeric tried turning his back to his tormentors, blows seemed to fall from a new direction.  He blindly tried getting away, but a blow to the back, that hit harder than a battering ram, sent him sprawling to the ground.  A cry of total agony escaped his lungs, but it was muffled down by the gag...No one would hear Emeric's cries of a pain.

Blows rained down on him.  He grunted with each one as his attackers targeted areas that were particularly painful...His unprotected head, ribs and neck...

More cries of pain squeezed up Emeric's throat as the unrelenting pain only grew worse.  He tried getting to his feet to escape, but a boot to his torso sent him back to the ground, coughing and heaving for breath.

As an eternity of blows and pain passed, Emeric gradually started to feel himself fading as unconsciousness tightened its grasp on him.  He couldn't feel the blows anymore but by the unrelenting pain that crawled up and down his body, he was certain that the beating was far from over.

Emeric's mind started playing tricks on him and he was back in the dense forest.  Memories, good and bad alike, swept through his vision in a whirlwind.  He was loosing his senses.

The blows paused for a few seconds, and Emeric was drawn back to full consciousness.  A painfilled groan muffled from behind the gag as his body went into an immense spasm of pain.  He turned himself so that he lay face down, digging his forehead into the ground as he tried to ignore the pain that had claimed him.

A shout of pain, loud enough to pass right through the gag, was wrenched from Emeric's lips as one of his attackers kicked him in his side...There was a resounding snap as more than one bone broke under the blow.

Emeric whimpered as he curled up against the pain...He wished it could all just stop...That it would all just go away...that he could just die...

He vaguely registered the sound of laughter.  His tormenters' he knew.  The sound of their pleasure was faintly growing softer.  "That aught to teach him." He dimly heard a voice comment just before he heard the door open and close...And everything was silent except for the frequent groan of pain that involuntarily came from him.

Emeric wasn't sure how long he lay sprawled there on the cold floor in the dark room, 10 minutes?  30?  Or even hours...But he had fallen unconscious after his attackers had left...And now we lay stranded in the storeroom. 

He was writhing in pain and tugged desperately at the binds that uncomfortably tied his arms behind his back, but in his injured, weakened state his efforts were futile.

He tried calling for help, but the gag grabbed any words that he tried to utter.  He cried out harder, but in a blinding flash, pain hammered in his head and he fell back into a long, dark spell of unconsciousness.

*****

Calvert was busy examining reports by his desk when a knock at the door to his study echoed through the room. 

"Enter." He said without looking up from the document before him.  He finished reading through the last few lines before finally raising his eyes to the patiently waiting man who had stepped into the room.

Calvert raised a questioning eyebrow when he realised it was the captain of the guard, and also the physicians assistant.  "Captain Darius." Calvert acknowledged.  Darius nodded his head respectfully in the Dome Keeper's direction.  "Apologies for the interruption, my lord." Darius said meekly. 

Calvert shook his head at the apology, "You're not interrupting anything important.  What can I do for you?"  Darius swallowed nervously, knowing that the information he was about to give the Dome Keeper was going to send his calm, good natured manner far into the past. 

"It's about the man that the Rogue fought this morning." Darius started.  Calvert frowned slightly, "What about him?"  Darius took note of how dry his mouth had become over the past few seconds, nervousness, he knew, "Well, my lord, you see...He's not, well..." Darius scratched the back of his head and then concluded,  "dead." 

It took Calvert a few seconds to register what he had just heard and then his face turned a flaming red color as anger seethed through the man.  Darius almost expected steam to come from his flaring nostrils. He lifted his deranged eyes to Darius as he stood up from his seat, "Where is he?" 

Darius involuntarily took a step away from the raging Dome Keeper.  "In the infirmary, my lord." He replied in the steadiest voice he could manage. Calvert frowned, "The Rogue?" He questioned.  Understanding dawned on Darius as he realised that they were talking of two different people.

"No my lord, sorry for the misunderstanding.  The defeated Domer is in the infirmary.  The Rogue, I believe, is in the training square at this hour."  Darius did his best to right the incorrect words without stoking the fire of rage that was already burning up in Calvert.

"Then that is where we'll go." Calvert replied curtly.

Calvert and Darius were walking across the training square towards Marven and the group of trainees when they heard the booming voice of the trainer, "Well, one of you better tell me where he is right now or you'll all be doing twenty laps over the obstacle coarse!" The trainees all stood with their heads down, none of them giving the answer that Marven was demanding.

"I'll count to three.  If one of you doesn't speak up now, I swear, you're all in for a day you won't forget soon." Marven threatened.

"One..."

Silence

"Two..."

Still none of the trainees said anything. 

Marven was about to call out the third number, but Calvert interrupted him, "Marven.  I'm looking for the Rogue."

Calvert hadn't left any room for greetings or formality.  He had things to do and he wanted to get done with them as soon as possible.

Marven turned around with a baffled, somewhat surprised look on his face. "Uhm, my lord, quite frankly, so am I."  Calvert  frowned, "What do you mean?" Marven shared a nervous look with Darius who only shrugged.  "He was supposed to come here with the other group after the noon meal, but the Rogue is the only one who hasn't shown up yet." Marven hastily explained.

Calvert frowned at the sudden, unexpected news.  "So he's missing?" Marven hesitantly nodded his head.  Calvert, on the verge of becoming the likes of a raging bull, did his best to contain the fury that was boiling up inside of him.  His eyes traveled over the other trainees, hoping to find any clue of where the Rogue could be from one of them.

His frown deepened when he saw one of the trainees share a smirk with one of his comrades.  Calvert stormed forward and in three brisk strides he stopped in front of the juvenile.  The young man, startled by the sudden appearance of the Dome Keeper just barely withheld a shout of terror. 

"Name." Calvert commanded.  The Domers looked around frantically, like a fox trapped in a corner.  "I said, give me your name!" Calvert bellowed in the boy's face.

"N...Nedes, sir."  The trainees stuttered.  Calvert nodded slowly, "So...Tell me, Nedes.  You seemed to know where the Rogue is.  Why don't you share that bit of information with the rest of us."  Nedes swallowed dryly as he fearfully looked up into the tall Dome Keeper's threatening gaze.

"Now!"  Calvert yelled, spittle flying from is mouth.  Nedes cringed away as he desperately said, "In the cafeteria, that's where I saw him last after training.  But I don't know where he went off to from there."  The words left Nedes's lips almost desperately.

Calvert examined the juvenile's face, trying to gauge if he knew more, but the fear in the boys eyes masked any other emotions.

Calvert stepped back and turned to Darius.  "Get the guard and sweep this whole premises from top to bottom.  Leave no stone unturned until you find that blasted Rogue."

Two hours...

That's how long it took the guards to cover the whole property and check every room for any sign of the Rogue.  They had found nothing. After the first hour, nearly the whole guard had joined the search, but none of them had found any trace.

Darius had told Aire of the wild goose chase and she had joined without a second thought. 

Everyone's hopes were sinking a they started considering the fact that the Rogue could have escaped and was probably long gone by now, but none of the guards who were on duty outside the cafeteria had seen anything. 

That was the problem, after the cafeteria, no one, had seen the Rogue...It was as if he had just vanished off into thin air.

"What do you think happened?" Aire asked Darius as they walked between the tables and benches in the mess eating area, where the Etreshian had been seen last.  They were looking for any clue that might point them in the right direction to continue the search.

Darius shook his head, "I don't know.  He might as well have sprouted wings and flown away." Darius's tone of voice was disheartened. In all honesty, he was just about ready to give up on the hopeless search.

He spotted two guards at the far end of the cafeteria who were examining something on the ground.

Darius briskly headed their way to see if they had found anything that could be of any use.  They looked up at him on his approach and stepped sideways to allow him to get a clearer view of what they'd found. 

"Anything useful?" He asked, but frowned when he spotted the carelessly discarded bowl, it's contents splattered all over the floor.  "That's strange." He mused, almost to himself and he bent down to further examine the utensil.

That was when he heard it, a soft moan...Almost inaudible.  He stood up while sweeping his gaze across the room, but he couldn't see anything...that was until his eyes landed on the door a few feat away...

With a worried frown on his brow he slowly walked towards the door.  The guards seeing what he had in mind stood closer in case they were needed.

Darius stopped in front  of the door and then heard another dragged out moan, but now that he was listening more carefully, he realised that it was more like a muffled cry.  "Did you hear that?" One of the guards asked.

Frowning deeply, Darius grasped the door handle and threw the door open.

*****

Emeric, for the first time in hours, heard voices outside the door.  He tried calling for help, but any attempt was muffled by the gag in his mouth.  The thing nauseated him and he just prayed that he wouldn't throw up.  Choking on his own puke wasn't something he ever wanted to try. 

Summoning the last ounce of energy and will power inside him, he let out the loudest cry for help that he could, but it too wasn't much more than a muffled moan to a listening ear.  He doubted that anyone could have heard him.

He just prayed that someone would find him soon.  He knew himself well enough too know that he wasn't in a good state.  He had received the worst beating of his life and knew that he had wounds that needed treating.  Laying in a cold, dusty storeroom did little to comfort him.

He let out another feeble cry, but he was already fading and knew that unconsciousness would soon claim him once more...He almost wished that the dark oblivion would claim him, that he could escape the horrid pain that only seemed to grow worse as time passed, but he also knew that it would be hours before anyone would come to the cafeteria again...Who knew, he might even be dead by that time, if he didn't get the help he so desperately needed.

He cried out, the desperation of the moment and the anger he felt towards his tormentors put the needed volume behind the cry...because a few seconds after it left his aching lungs, he heard a soft, muffled voice from outside the door, "Did you hear that?"

Emeric heard the door open, but unconsciousness was gripping at him...He vaguely registered someone yelling, "I think we got him."

The sound of distant footsteps, all of them running, was swiftly approaching...But it was all a hazy blur in his clouded, hastily fading mind.  Emeric was jerked back to reality when he felt someone grab him by his ankles and dragged him out of the room.  He cried out in pain as his whole body screamed in complaint.

He felt hands ripping and tugging at the cord that was wound around him to keep the sack over his head.  He groaned each time a hand touched his agonised side, where he was certain that some of the ribs had broken.

With relief, he felt the bag being dragged clear from his head, fresh air hitting his nose and he sucked in a welcome breath...The first clean one he had had in hours. 

He heard shocked exclamations from all around him as the guards who had gathered took in his beaten up state.  They quickly cut the binds and released Emeric's wrists from behind his back.

The injured Rogue slowly rolled so that he lay stomach up and weakly tried getting the gag out of his mouth, but his arms felt as if they weighed a ton each.

One of the guards were kind enough to notice his struggle and helped him. 

Emeric now raised his hands to his blinded eyes to remove the blindfold, but with terror he realised that there was none.  Both his eyes were swollen shut the extent that he had zero vision.

The rest of his face was swollen just as badly and in many areas the skin had burst under the vicious blows, leaving Emeric with a swollen, blood covered face...And the worst past was, most of his body was in a similar state.

"Oh my goodness."  Emeric heard the soft exclamation as an equally soft hand was placed on his shoulder.  Emeric realised that it had been the first time he hadn't heard Aire use any absurd form of exclamation. 

'It must really be bad.' Emeric thought sadly...He felt himself begin to drift into oblivion...back to the comfortable release of pain...Where his mind was able to rest form all the tormenting thoughts.

He vaguely heard Aire say, "Hang in there Emeric..."

And then, everything faded to darkness...And Emeric prayed that he would never have to wake up from it again...