1. MAN IN CHAINS

EASTERN COAST OF HYUVARE (AD 191)

The dungeon was dark, and there was this smell of filth in them. As he moved closer and closer towards the cell a voice hidden deep inside him found its way out. His eyes faded, his vision blurred, but he kept saying those words. There was a torch burning about twelve feet away from him. As he kept glaring at the ray from torch, which he found divine at that moment, it eventually scattered his will to move any further. The ember scorched his spirit, and made him descend into a flame of insatiability and further pulled him towards a inevitable downfall. A notion of a devil, a fragment of his past which he thought he lost a long time ago crawled up beneath him. The shades of his golden eyes grew brighter, forging his destiny and the will for his cause. But he kept saying those cursed words.....again and again.

His eyes found it way out of the rays, resisting the allure and peered at the man who was holding the keys of the cell. He nodded as a sign of approval. And behemoth knew what to do next. He opened the cell for him but he didn't find the courage to look what's inside. Behemoth kept his eyes away from the one bounded in chains.

How many have fallen? He asked gently. "three men...three good men sacrificed their life to capture him" said behemoth in a dull voice. Behemoth didn't saw any remorse in his face, yet it didn't surprise him. The sound of his chains of the man inside the cell whispered in his ears, as if it was calling him. Behemoth stepped aside and let his liege through.

And as he enter the cell, the time stopped around him.....he stared at a old man lying there. Fragile and weak. There was chains around his neck and his hand which dragged him towards the mud ground of the cell.

"Out now!. Wait for me outside the dungeon, and don't let anyone through. Seal the ports and man all gates". He commanded Behemoth.

"Yes sire". Behemoth replied in a sense of dismay. He didn't want to leave him alone there but he can't defy his liege. On his way out his saw the flames burning brighter than before. The flames deepened his guilt of leaving him there. Yet he headed toward the end, scattered and scared. Once outside he instructed the guard to do as the liege said.

The liege was left alone in the cell with the man. He always wanted to burn him alive the moment he saw him, but at the very moment he felt blank, he wasn't his enemy anymore. For him he was just another man in chains. He sat beside him and he looked at the old man, lying there in his own blood.

"Father". The liege whispered. A moment of silence grew deep within those walls.

"So it's you, Never thought you would be the one who will bring an end to this". Replied the old man while glaring at the wall. Even though the rusted iron chains around his neck weighed him down, he put all his might to stand up. His feet trembled yet he stood. He turned his back to see him. For a moment he felt like he was back there where this all began. His will silenced him while his notion wept. But when he looked at his eyes the old man scattered to a pool of his own fear. He kept staring at his eyes questioning the gods and heavens. Those golden eyes faded his soul. The answers he searched all his life was right there in his eyes. His golden eyes showed him something which he never saw with his own eyes, an accord with one's own consciousness.

"Is that!? So its true, Those eyes, you possess his eyes? The eyes of Tytus. The all seeing eye!" Screamed the man in disbelief.

"sometimes the most precious things can be found in the oddest of places. We just have to keep looking. No matter how deep your scars, they eventually heal. And when they do, they leave you with something. something more precious than the pain itself". He answered.

"You have become a man of wisdom I see. But to acquire those eyes you have to endure far worse than pain. You are not the first one to attain mayhem. But you are indeed the first one since him to be blessed with that eyes".

Blessed? That what you call it? They say a man only die once. But a man who dies within, dies a thousand deaths. I've been dying since that day. Every day.

"What do you seek abrahim?" The old man asked.

"Nothing. I just want to sleep, But I can't. It hurts like a fire devouring me. I scream, I cry. Every day I think of putting a dagger into my own heart, But this eyes won't allow me to do that. We all are born free, we are bound to no one, yet we all suffer". He replied

"The man who yield the eyes which once made this world kneel weeping like a little girl. Strange isn't it?

There is an essence of eternity beyond that godly eyes of yours. Hundreds of cities burned to ashes , thousands of people died in the quest for that eyes. Yet it choose you. Yield yourself to those eyes, let it take over. Be the king you were meant to be".

"I don't want this cursed world. I was never meant to be a king. Even my own people once despised me. I have no enemies".

"so you don't consider me as an enemy? I'm pleased my lord". The old man laughed.

"I never considered you one. But I would still like to watch you burn, scream as the flames take you apart from your soul slowly, and you cursing your life itself".

So you are an evil man, aren't you? And an evil man always has plenty of enemies. I had plenty, but most of them died in a very unpleasant manner. But I don't consider myself an evil man. All those deaths served a purpose". The old man said.

"And what purpose did my mother served?" His eyes Pierced through the old man's heart.

The old man sat there. Silent. Cursing his own resolves. Tears started to flow down his cheeks. "I didn't kill your mother". He cried.

Are you certain? Are you certain that you didn't cast a shadow? Abrahim questioned the old man.

"your mother died protecting her people, your mother died protecting you!. Even when she had a sword above her neck, she stood by her oath, she sacrificed herself for the cause".

"was it your sword?" Asked Abrahim, while his golden eyes kept staring at the flames

The old man nodded with a teary eyes. "It was mine. It was mine". He didn't find the courage to look at him.

"what was she like?" Abrahim voice stumbled and his heart veiled.

She...sh....she was kind. The old man stumbled, finding himself bound in a chain heavier than the one around his neck. He kept his head down, away from his golden eyes.

"Eva named you Abrahim after some old scripts in her land. The God among men...that's what your names means. She always believed that you will the one who bring peace to this world. She adored you, for her you was everything she could ever ask for. You made her smile".

"Stop!. Just stop!. It doesn't concern me anymore. She is dead". Abrahim stated.

"So is Mayy. She is dead too". Sayed the old man, keeping his eyes away from Abrahim.

"Say her name one more time and I will take your head myself". Abrahim fumed in anger. His grip on his silver dagger grew tighter. He breath grew faster and more denser. The leather handle of his dagger began to wore off, exposing its rooted wooden core.

"Let it be. I couldn't ask for more. Be a man. Do it. Unlike you your mother was brave. She always stood by her word. Stop hiding behind those eyes, come out. I want to see the real you". The old man let his eyes Pierce through his heart, let him breathe through his golden glare.

"I'm the one!, I always been". Abrahim replied.

The old man laughed. He sat down and as he looked toward those young eyes a tinted soul of his past smiled at him. "you know when man is in brink of his death he shit all over himself, he cry, he scream, and more over he begs for mercy. And their face don't lie, and I have seen hundreds of such faces. So don't lie to me boy. Behind those eyes you are just a scared little boy and I fucking know that".

After hearing this Abrahim became furious. He took his dagger and place it right on the old man's throat. " I may be the boy you think I'm, but what's stopping this boy from taking your head off"

The old man smiled. "It reminds me of someone. Someone dear. You are fierce, just like her. She too held knife against my throat when we first met. And what good is a weak girl against a man like me? But boy she was beautiful....but fierce like wild cat. She was wet, she was shivering, yet I could feel her heat. And I like that!. For a moment I forgot who I was and why I was there in the first place. Boy your mother...she was divine".

Abrahim took his dagger off his throat. "I don't care about her anymore. She left me when I was child. I don't remember her face or what was she like. And why would I mourn for someone I don't know?"

"No matter what you, A part of her will always remain in you. You are her prophecy, you are the figment of her imagination".

Abrahim took his waterskin and gave it the old man. "Drink" he commanded. The old man refused, " I won't, I won't until you give me what I want".

"And what do you what?" Abrahim asked.

"Mercy....Mercy my lord" the old man said scornfully.

"all those years of crime and yet you beg for mercy"

"Every man deserves justice. And justice without mercy is merely vengeance. I know I'm the reason you're what you are today, I don't give a shit about that". The old man emphasized.

"I want the girl, I want the mayhem" said Abrahim.

"Greed destroys a man. you already killed the previous mayhem, and if I'm not wrong she gave you those eyes, right?

Yet you want to hunt down another one?" The old man asked.

"I don't give a damn about this cursed eyes. I lost something .....something very precious to me and I don't care if I have to endure all the pain this world has to offer, I don't care if I have to kill the very last man in this cursed world. I will get what I want!"

"This is madness! You cannot revive the dead. It is will take you down and all others with it. You have to accept the fact that Mayy is dead. She has no place in this mortal world. I went through the same pain when I lost your mother. But I didn't grieved because I knew she died protecting the one she loved. So did Mayy. She gave her life away for you, embrace their life and their truth".

"She didn't gave her life away, I took it...with my own hands. I killed her. I took the life of the only one who considered me a human..... she gave me a purpose, she gave my life a meaning.....and what did I do? I took her fucking lifer away"

"Don't blame yourself. You didn't had any other choice nor did I. The old man Sayed with a remorse on his face. Have you ever heard about black death? Asked the old man.

"Black death? The jewel?"

"Yes, the jewel. The most precious treasure of the gods. Some say its a legend. Some say it's still hidden out there in the mist. Your golden eyes and black death are like two sides of a coin. Never meant to meet each another yet always together like hate and love".

"I don't have time for legends. I don't have time something that isn't there". Abrahim said.

"Then why do you seek Mayy. There is still a hope right. Hope is always good. It is one of the pillar that supports mankind. But don't let hope kill you. Find your purpose, I failed to find mine".

The old man took a ring from his hand and kept staring at it. He looked at abrahim right in his eye. "when I was your age, I always had this notion that what's my purpose in this world. Does my life ever meant anything? To anyone? My father always believed that me and my brother together will restore our family to it's old glory. He believed that we will restore the ARACTUS blood line. And he made sure that me and my brother will become the greatest warriors this world has ever seen. He taught us how to fight, he taught us how this world works, the politics, the religion, the law, and everything there is. He made sure that we were brought up wise and strong. He always adored my brother. And my father was right, he was the great warrior I had ever seen. Brilliant yet fierce."

"I know him. No, he knows me..... to be precise. Luther. Right?" abrahim asked.

"Luther, Luther Aractus".

"Is he alive?"

"More than alive". The old man smiled.

"When my father was at his deathbed, he called us. He wanted to see his sons for the last time. He asked to us to fulfil his dreams. He passed his crown to my brother. After his death my brother took command of the kingdom and he named me the commander of his army. He surrounded himself with the greatest minds in the whole world. He knew that brut force may help him win the battle, but to win a war you should focus on all fronts. A man of people he was, loved and respected. He was a Victor in all front".

"Did you betray?"

"what?"

"Did you betrayed him too?"

The old man turned his head away. "With a considerably large army behind his back, he was one of most powerful man in the entire world. But his desire for power grew stronger with each battle. I stood with him during all those conquests. We marched together, we killed together. We slaughtered almost every man, women and child who stood in our way. I started to find a certain happiness in all deaths. It made me feel like I achieved something big. But unlike me Luther didn't any happiness in them. It didn't made him grieve yet it didn't gave him joy too.

He always said that it was his purpose to liberate this world from all the pain and suffering. He indeed did that by becoming death himself.

"Did you ever tried to stab him in his back and take the throne for yourself?" abrahim asked.

"stab him in the back? That's not my kind of fight. If I wanted him dead I will go head to head. Even though I know I won't succeed, but I would still go down as a man. I was never to rule. I was never good at it, all those politics and shit. But I was fucking good at killing people. It made me happy nevertheless".

"And you called me evil? Abrahim said.

" I only killed people who stood against me. What you are trying to do is an entirely different thing. You willing to sacrifice every soul in this world to bring back a girl you liked. Now that's evil".

The old man sat beside him and hold his hand. His breath stumbled. "When my brother asked me to take your mother's life my hands didn't shook. Deep down I was dying. I promised her I will be always there for her. Was I? She died protecting you. You were the reason she died. You took her away from me. Sometimes I wished I could kill you, But I can't. She won't be happy". He smiled.

"But I wished things could just end there. But it didn't. I was entangled. I was entangled by my own sheer desire for revenge. I pledged to hurt him like no one ever could do, and I indeed did that. He had a son, a boy of six. He was not like him. He was kind, a good lad. But my will for vengeance blinded me.

The old man paused. " I could hear his little heart pounding when I stabbed him again and again and again. He didn't hurt me, he was innocent, yet I killed him. I had no regret of killing anyone still that very moment. I thought killing him would bring me peace. It didn't. Vengeance is just a reason. A reason for you to inflict pain on other without ever having to regret about it".

"I won't ask you again. Where can I find the girl?" Abrahim commanded.

"I don't know you must wait till the girl bleeds. A red star will appear in the dark sky , brighter than any thing you have ever seen."

"I've seen the star. I know it better than you. But I can't wait till the girl bleeds. Once she does, the star will emerge and so does the people seeking mayhem with it. But the last time you were there years before mayy bled. How did you find her?"

can ask you something? Am I the one bonded in chains? No one can stop the fate, even I can't. So let it be. Head east to Gravetown. find the widow. Give her this ring. She will lead you to mayhem."

"I will end this. Once and for all, father". Abrahim whispered.

"You can't end it son, no one can. Mayhem is not a curse. Mayhem is a loop. A Loop of time and dreams. A loop which destroys the one engulfed in it. Wake up. Wake up my child before it's too late. I suffer because of it. And I won't let it take you too."

Abrahim stood up and walked toward the iron doors of the cell. He watched him as the old man's gaze softened. The weight of his guilt may have brought him down. He turned his head away and kept on walking when suddenly the man called him from behind. "I know I cannot make amend for the things I've done. I promised your mother that I will always keep you safe. I failed. I'm afraid you might have turned into the very thing your mother swore to destroy. So be it".

"I never got the chance to live my life with honour. I am of a noble blood. I'm the blood of Tytus Aractus. I don't want a rope taking my life. I don't want you to kill your own father. I will carry you with me, even in my death. I hope my legacy is worth writing in the dark tales of history. Let this be the end. Let me bear my death in honour. May my death bring you the peace you seek". Old man smiled with a eyes full of tears.

Abrahim took his dagger and placed it on the cold rock floor. He unlocked the chain which bounded the man. He looked in his eyes from the one last time. He stood up and walked toward the iron doors. He kept the doors open. As he left the cell he saw the flames grow dimmer and he watched as it vanished. He kept moving toward the end of dungeon.

" Am I the one bonded in chains?" His father's voice echoed through the dungeon as he was walking away.

When he got out, the beams from the setting summer made his face glow. He saw a crowd of thousand waiting outside for him. They all seek the same answer. He kept his head away from all those stares. But there was a boy among that crowd who didn't seek any answer. The boy smiled at him. But his glare pierced through his heart.

"Arthur Aractus is dead" someone screamed from behind. A hum ripples through the crowd, growing louder with each passing moment. The crowd erupts into a mix of disbelief and jubilation. Some wept in joy. Some stood silent. And that child vanished in that rabble. His golden eyes scorned through every face in that crowd but failed to find the child.

"What happened?" behemoth asked.

"Nothing"

"The horses are ready, we have to get back to the castle before Half light". Behemoth passed his robe to him and made way through the crowd so that his liege could pass. And as Abrahim made his way through the crowd, he saw thousand faces staring at him. The faces which once saw him as a devil now consider him as the instrument of their liberation. And as he rode his horse back to the castle, the winter breeze comforted him. There were many smiles along the path to the castle which made him nervous. "Why are they all smiling at me?" He asked.

"They all admire you my lord." behemoth replied.

"Strange".

Though he saw a thousand faces along his way, the face of that child stayed out. As if it mirrored his dark past and demons within him.