Chapter 42

The sun had sunk low beyond the horizon and vanished completely with night taking dominion in its place. Highlord Cebru emerged from his grey walled fortress with several guards wielding torches. He was dressed in a black robe that brushed the dust ridden ground he trod upon as he made his way to stand before the Thirty Seventh Legion at the gates of the North Local. "What is the meaning of this?" Cebru asked as he approached the tall man illuminated by the gate's torches who sat perched on a brown horse. "Why have you declined to enter the comfort of my fortress?"

"I am not in command here neither am I obligated to speak on behalf of she who is in command." Rehny replied, his eyes fixed on the Highlord of the North Local.

"She?" Cebru asked after a moment of stunned silence. Dahli seeing her cue leaned on the reins of her horse and the white steed moved to stand just a step ahead of Rehny's horse. Cebru's sunken eyes widened. "Where is Desan?"

"You mean the Prince who followed your advice to the latter?" Dahli asked, her soft tone carried with it a hint of humor.

"Where is Prince Desan?" Cebru repeated with his voice quivering with fright. Rehny turned his face to Dahli and she nodded without meeting them. Rehny turned around on his horse to face the 4200 men of the Thirty Seventh Legion and motioned with his right hand, circling it once with the palm extended then curling it into a first. The Legion parted and four men marched to the front cohort carrying a stretcher on either of its four ends. On the stretcher lay Desan.

"By the Gods!" Cebru exclaimed as he saw the mangled state of the Prince. Cebru forced himself to turn his eyes from Desan to study the Legion before him. "Where are the other casualties? Does the King know of this? "

"A raven has been sent to Binoria with word of what has happened and is destined to arrive before King Vayin departs on his crusade to Remu. As for further casualties, there are none." Princess Dahli answered. "He was the only major casualty, he made as if to kill King Gans but a Kolotian intervened and-"

"A KOLOTIAN? A MBENGO?" Cebru interrupted. Princess Dahli closed her eyes, disquieted by Cebru's interruption. "You let a stinking armored bug harm the Prince?" Cebru asked while turning to face Rehny.

"He wasn't in armor neither did he wield a sword." Rehny said. He fought to hide the sudden urge to smile at Cebru's confused face. Serves you right you piece of shit. He thought. "Desan took him on and ordered everyone to stand down, he lost the fight as you can see by his current state. He was confident in himself provided you'd practically told him he had the Jojoh Meena."

"Did Desan strip himself of his armor too?" Cebru asked, ignoring the latter part of Rehny's statement. The Highlord took a step towards Desan's immobile form while taking note of the bits and pieces of the Prince's golden armor that were missing.

"They were ripped off of him." Rehny replied. The Commander of the Legions took note of how Cebru had cut off Dahli from the conversation, facing and referring to him as if he was the senior most member of the Legion which he had already stated that he wasn't.

"Where is the mbengo? He has to pay for this! He must pay for what he has done." Cebru declared to Rehny while shaking a fist in the air.

Rehny maintained silence as if unaware of Cebru. The Highlord seeing himself totally ignored by the Commander turned to address The Princess. "Forgive me Princess Dahli for my informality for I am overcome with rage and grief at the sight of our beloved Prince." Cebru said while shaking his head from side to side in lament. "I am second only to the King in knowledge regarding the Kolotians, they are a savage and backward people and only respond to one form of communication."

"He is destined to participate in the Nula Anyl hence he is required to be whole." Dahli responded with her chin sticking out of the oval crest of her face at Cebru.

"A fitting end for anyone who'd dare raise a hand to strike a Royal of Binoria. I just wish, my lady, to see the face of the mbengo before he is to perish." Cebru replied with a forced smile that flashed his yellow teeth.

Rehny turned his eyes to Dahli and the Princess nodded once more. Rehny motioned with his hand and said. "Bring the Kolotian." The Legion parted once more and a sepia colored lanky young man a few inches short of six feet emerged on the path created by the legionnaires. Several soldiers tailed him with their hands on the hilts of their swords. The Kolotian swung his hands about as he walked forward while whistling a tune.

"Why is he not in chains?" Cebru asked as the Kolotian approached.

"He has willingly volunteered to come to Binoria to participate in the Nula Anyl. No need to chain him." Dahli replied. Rehny stiffened at her words, the Kolotian was indeed willing to travel with them and several legionnaires were on high alert with their weapons close by and ready to strike him down at a moment's inconvenience. But that did not negate how dangerous the Kolotian was. The state of Desan was testament to this.

"Is this the Nula Anyl? Is it to start now?" The Kolotian asked while casually taking a peek at the body he'd demolished that was lying on a stretcher.

"SHUT UP MBENGO!" Cebru screamed. He took in the young man before him dressed in nothing but swirling red robes. The Kolotian seemed startled but unperturbed by the sudden outburst from the Highlord.

"My name is Ishar." The Kolotian replied. Rehny tilted his head to observe the Kolotian, his stance assumed indifference yet there was a fluidity to the way his body moved. He was without a doubt capable of implementing a Form smoothly without the knowledge of an opponent as he had done to Desan. But who trained him so?  Rehny wondered.

Highlord Cebru took several steps towards Ishar with his guards following him but with a motion of his hands the guards stayed behind. Cebru obviously saw the kid as no threat and with a motion from Rehny the Legionnaires tailing Ishar took a step back too. Cebru stood before Ishar with his face contorted in blatant hatred but the Kolotian faced the taller man with the hint of a smile on his face. "It is customary for an insect to kneel before his superiors." Cebru said.

"My name is Ishar, can you not see that?" Ishar asked.

"You're a Mbengo! A stinking thing whose only destiny is to unveil a stench upon the realm with every passing." Cebru glanced at Ishar's blue tipped fingers before turning his attention back to his face. "Useless, stupid Mbe-" Highlord Cebru did not finish his statement. One second the Kolotian was standing still with a ghost of a smile upon his face, in the next second his hand had shot out faster than the eye could track.

The Kolotian's hand raced towards Cebru's right eye. Ishar's middle finger dug into the edge of the socket of Cebru's eye, curled around the eye ball and yanked it out of its socket. It all happened within a breath. Cebru stood with anger riddled upon his face in one moment and in the next his eyeball was hanging out of his head, dangling from several tissues that had followed the eye out of its natural position. Cebru screamed and fell to the ground and his guards moved but Rehny withdrew his sword and aimed it at the guards.

"He is destined for the Nula Anyl. No harm shall befall him." Rehny said. The Highlord's guards took a step back but their tension didn't ease. They watched as their master writhed on the ground while screaming, his hands moving all over his face clearly unsure as to whether to insert the dangling eye back in its socket or to leave it swaying across his face.

Ishar squatted until his face was level with Cebru's who'd sat amidst his thrashing and howling. "My name is Ishar." Ishar said, he reached out and plucked Cebru's eye completely free of the tissues holding it. "Can you not see?" Ishar asked while smiling and holding out the screaming Highlord's eye to his face.

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