Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium

by Rajamayyoor Sharma

  “Captain. I felt there was something metallic in one of the coffins as I moved it. Should I quickly check it for weapons or some trap before we return?”

  The captain was wary. He didn’t want to spring any trap. “Go ahead,” he said, cautiously.

  Elbir quickly opened the coffin that had our weapons. I wasn’t sure what his plan was. True that they would be discovered as soon as the coffins were checked, but what was the advantage of us revealing them?

  The night patrol was surprised. There were four hammers and five swords in the coffin. The captain remarked. “My god. It seems like there are multiple assailants,” he said.

  Again, smart man. Thankfully, he did not conclude that there was one nine-armed man who could use all these weapons at once.

  I decided to butter him up a little. “My god, Captain! That is so smart! How did you figure it out?”

  The captain responded well to my appreciation. Everyone does.

  “It’s easy. Why would one assailant carry so many weapons, and leave it here? There must be multiple assailants, who after scouting their targets, will return to this room, collect their weapons and carry out whatever attack they plan.”

  I pretended to be impressed. “That is smart, sir! How can we help thwart this dastardly attack? We want to help you. Who knows, we might learn something.”

  He included us in his “plan.”

  “Sure, soldiers. Who knows what these people are planning? Here’s what we will do. Ten of my soldiers will stand guard here.”

  Turning to his men, he separated ten of them. “You are to prevent any of the assailants from getting away in case they turn up here.”

  Then he said to the others, “You three. Come with me. I need to personally wake up the central command to issue a barracks wide alert immediately.”

  Then he turned to us. “You three. You and two of my soldiers will take these weapons to the armory and lock it up in the high security area. Here is my authority key,” he said, handing over the key to his lieutenant.

  Saying that, he left with his three soldiers. The rest of us gathered the weapons and set out. Ten stayed back in the cold room, feeling sorry about themselves. Staying in a cold room with rotting bodies, waiting for an unknown number of assailants couldn’t have been a pleasant thought.

  We carried the bulk of the weapons, with Dev carrying my back sword and one of my left swords, I carried the rest of the swords, Elbir carried three of the hammers, and another guy carried the other two hammers. The lieutenant walked without any burden. He was excited.

  “The barracks hasn’t been infiltrated since I joined. There is finally going to be some action for us!”

  I felt bad for soldiers like him. He was clearly ambitious and smart. He was young for a lieutenant. He must have always wanted to become a soldier and serve his land. But often, kids like him who ache for battle, realize what they signed up for only when they actually see battle. Only then they understand that they are not meant for such violence. By that time, it is too late.

  We reached the armory soon. It was the largest building in the barracks. It seemed like they had a single central armory, which held all their reserve weaponry and armor. We reached the armory guard, and the super enthusiastic lieutenant spoke to the armory in charge to put the weapons in. We were ushered in, and led into the armory.

  The armory had a reasonably simple structure. The chambers for various melee weapons were on one side, while the other side was for all the ranged weapons. In the center, there was an oval chamber that was completely cut off from the rest.

  “What is that chamber?” Dev asked suddenly. I was worried. We couldn’t appear to be unaware of the structure as soldiers of the barracks.

  The armor guard was surprised at the question. “Are you new here? You seem young.”

  Dev nodded. Thankfully his youthful looks saved us.

  “That there, young man, is the super weapons chamber. That’s where the Final 100 keep their weapons, especially the newly forged ones we get from the High Seat. You would be wise to stay clear of that. Only the Final 100 members have access to it.”

  We kept our weapons in a chamber at the end of the armory, marked, ‘Enemy weapons.’ It was unused, as the garrison had never actually been attacked. Leaving the weapons there, we followed the guard out. I dropped back to ask Dev what he was thinking.

  “Just think about your plan. I’ll know,” I muttered. He just nodded.

  I read his mind. “Karn—nod twice if you can understand.” I did.

  “That chamber has multiple weapons of Azmoq in it. But I can also sense some Maktsten there. That is giving me an idea. Please nod twice if you follow,” I nodded twice again. If this plan was too long, the guard might think I have some mental difficulty, nodding twice every few seconds.

  “If you remember, Whakaaro told me something about the Maktsten. It absorbs energy. But he also told me, it has a limit. If it absorbs energy beyond that, it’ll start to give out energy at the rate it absorbs the excess energy. But what if it absorbed energy rapidly, till it maxes out? I had asked him this question, to which he had no answer as it hasn’t been tried out. I have a sense that it will release the energy, explosively. And when a Maktsten explodes, depending on the size, it could take out the armory or even the entire Barracks. Do you follow?”

  I was stunned. He wanted to create a weapon. But why? Our plan was to escape. It was our best option. I told him that under my breath.

  He thought about it. “I don’t think so. We are three, with a village of a thousand peaceful villagers. It is a long shot to think that we will be able to stop two thousand battle hardened soldiers. Here, if we can somehow destroy the army before they move out, we can save my village in its entirety. Do you follow?”

  I did. I did follow. Better than he realized. His plan was suicide. We could never get out of the way fast enough. He would die, I would die. It was just difficult for me to envision giving up my life. I had never faced the question of my own mortality before. I never thought I would be close to sacrificing my life for a greater cause. I definitely never thought that I would be doing it for a village that I had never seen, nor had I heard of till a couple of months ago. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t die here. For people I didn’t know. There was no cause which I believed in enough, to willingly die.

  Then there was the other problem—the massacre of all the people in the barracks. It was one thing killing warriors on a battlefield. It was quite something else to murder them when they were unarmed, unprepared, and mostly asleep.

  I had to discuss with Dev.

  As we exited, we saw a file of hooded figures heading to the armory. There were about 40 of them. I tried to read their thoughts as they passed me, to understand who they were. It was quickly clear to me who they were. The armory guard confirmed this with his under the breath grunt.

  “Bloody mercenaries… I know they are on our side, but the way they work, it pisses me off. They are not honest soldiers, facing the enemy in open battle.”

  They were mercenaries, hired by the High Seat to carry out various clandestine missions. All the mercenaries seemed to have been summoned for some reason. Again, reading their mind provided me with the answers.

  “Curse the Valantian army! Why at this time in the night… we anyway have to ride out tomorrow morning to this village for gathering Intel. No rest for the soulless I guess,” thought one.

  “Doyuncad! I hope we catch these intruders in time… I really want to head back to the cursed village and lop that man’s head off… I wish they would start already,” thought another.

  My mind was racing. This man was the Yerin assassin that Dev was searching for. He had killed Dev’s friend, the old man. It was highly probable that this man would be in this barracks, but I didn’t think we would come so close to him.

  The lieutenant exited the building with us. “You should proceed towards your quarters. Thank you for your assistance. I’ll be sure to notify the superiors about all the go
od work.”

  I didn’t bother pointing out that he didn’t even know our names. I wasn’t dying to get a recommendation anyway. As the night patrol moved away, it was time for the three of us to discuss what needed to be done.

  Dev first told Elbir about his theory and plan. Elbir was silent for a bit. He was completely taken aback.

  “Wow… you can really do something like that? Move Azmoq with your mind and use your sword to destroy this whole barracks?!”

  Dev nodded.

  Elbir let out a low whistle.

  “Well. I didn’t expect my death to be so close at hand. I do wish I could do it, kid. I would be happy to lay down my life for master Grim. But I have to kill Azrial. It is my goal, just as it is your goal to save your village and kill the assassins.”

  Dev didn’t seem deterred. “You misunderstand. I only wish for you guys to help me come up with a plan to enter the central armory. I will do the rest myself. We should come up with a way for you two to escape in parallel. I will wait for some time before I use the Maktsten to destroy this barracks, so that you both can get away.”

  The kid was so selfless. He didn’t even think about asking us to give up our lives. I felt ashamed.

  Dev continued, somewhat timidly. “I wish I could have brought Olmot to justice… Could I ask one favor of you both? Will you please pursue the men that killed Olmot and complete my revenge?”

  It broke my heart. This kid wanted not only to save his village, but was still sad about the fact that he couldn’t complete his prior promise. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Kid. You don’t even know if this will work. How will you even be able to provide so much energy to the stone? Even if you give your life energy, this Maktsten might just… absorb it and not explode.”

  Dev smiled. “I have thought it through. I will use my Maktsten to transfer energy rapidly. Whakaaro told me that my stone was the strongest he had ever seen. I am sure it is stronger than the stone inside. And so it will blow up.”

  I wasn’t going to give up. “But that is also predicated on the possibility of this happening. What if you touch the two stones and nothing happens? Or what if the stone inside does blow up, but only you die?”

  Dev shrugged. “I admit. That is a possibility. But I sense that there are stones that are large enough. I have to take this chance. If I fail… Could you travel to Villasboro and give Grim this?” He took off his medallion and gave it to me… There was sadness in his eyes. “I know it’s another favor, but… I have no one else to ask.”

  I was furious. This kid wanted to die, without even knowing if he would accomplish his task. I couldn’t allow it. I just couldn’t.

  “You can’t do this, you young fool!” I shouted under my breath, with my anger just pouring out. “You will die! For what?! Nothing in this world is worth dying for! Nothing… Everyone says they are right, they are the principled ones, but no one is. You are a good person. I am a good person. But dying is not worth it….”

  Dev smiled. “Believe me. My village is worth it.”

  I was going to knock this kid out. He couldn’t argue if he was out cold. As I lunged, Elbir stopped me and shook his head. I was pissed off. I couldn’t see this. I walked away from both of them.

  I walked and walked. Along the wall. I wasn’t going to see my friends get killed. I was leaving this place. I would continue my journey… Of course I would head to Villasboro to tell them what had happened. I would help them prepare for the assault that would come. There was no way this child’s hair-brained theories could work out. The army would still come. At least I would be there to warn them and save them. The kid would have…

  I stopped myself from rambling. I couldn’t do this. Destroying the army was something I was ok with – they were going to kill a whole village after all. My own life, well there wasn’t anything great I was going to do with it anyway. This way I could do some good. Plus, the kid. I had to help him. Even if it meant doing something drastic. Which is what I planned to do. A nebulous plan was forming in my head.

  I ran straight towards the central observation tower, shouting all the way, “I am the intruder! I am the intruder!” As I reached the tower entrance, I banged away at the entrance door shouting the same thing. The door guard opened up and looked surprised. I surrendered to him.

  “Take me to someone from the Final 100 or the barracks in charge. I am one of the intruders and my so called ‘friends’ are planning to destroy the entire barracks.”

  The guard was shocked and took me to the top of tower, where seven members of the Final 100 had gathered to assess the situation. They were all surprised when the door guards brought me in. The night patrol captain, who was also present, seemed the most surprised.

  Major Morgan asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

  This wasn’t the best of situations. Major Morgan, number 12 of the Final 100, was an extremely tough man. I had heard stories of his power during my time as a high potential. His presence intimidated even me.

  Before the tower guards could reply, I spoke up. “I am one of the intruders. The reason I have come forward is to prevent the destruction of this barracks.”

  The night patrol captain seemed annoyed. “I don’t know why this man has gone mad. He was one of the soldiers who discovered the six men trapped in coffins. I think he has just gone…” He fell silent as Major Morgan raised his hand.

  Morgan asked, “How is this barracks about to be destroyed? I don’t see any army for kilometers. And if you are the intruder, why tell me? Who are you?”

  “My name should convince you that I am one of the intruders. I am Karn, an erstwhile potential, who was captured in the Battle of the Bloody River, and subsequently declared a rogue agent. It is possible that some of you might recognize me. If not, you can see this.” I showed my shoulder tattoo, which they had branded me with, to distinguish me as a high potential. All of them had a similar one. One of the Final 100, a tall lean man, stepped up and saw my tattoo.

  “It is a genuine one. He is who he says. The coward who deserted the Imperium in the middle of a battle.” He then spat on me and moved back. “Pathetic.”

  Morgan remained impassive. “I accept that you might be an intruder. Why would you betray yourself and potentially your comrades to us, after carrying out the first ever successful infiltration of this barracks?”

  I was desperate. I had to get Dev and Elbir here before it was too late. “You fools. You can interrogate me as much as you want. But please catch my comrades first, before they carry out the plan. I don’t want to die!” I screamed the last bit, to drive the point home.

  Morgan stayed still for a second. Then he turned rapidly to the man who had spit at me. “Azrial. Go and get these other intruders. Describe them to me, Karn.”

  So this was Azrial, Elbir’s foe. I told him everything about them, what they looked like and where they were, including the fact that one of them was Elbir of the Cekic Ortaq. That brought a strange smile on Azrial’s face, and a certain spark in his eyes.

  “Good… Good… If what you say is true, I am indebted to you. I have to pay him back for what his brother and people did to me,” he licked his lips as he left. I could see why Elbir disliked him—who licks their lips in anticipation of meeting his enemy? Creepy sadists, that’s who.

  In some time, Azrial returned with six guards, and both of my friends tied up.

  Morgan asked him. “Any trouble?”

  Azrial shook his head and smiled. He then punched Elbir in the stomach before returning to Morgan’s side. Elbir bent down due in pain, but didn’t wince nor lower his head, to deny Azrial any satisfaction. Dev was staring at me, in apparent disbelief. I could have read his thoughts but I didn’t have to. He was finding it tough to believe that I had betrayed them. He was at a loss for words, with only his face and eyes trying to ask me. “Why?”

  I wished I could push thoughts into people’s heads. I wished I could have told him. “Trust me! It is for your own good!” But I couldn�
�t. I could just stand there and hope things would work out.

  Morgan sneered. “So, Karn. How did the three of you intend upon destroying the barracks?”

  I told him. My version at least. I couldn’t reveal too much about Dev, as he would become too valuable then to Morgan.

  “The boy here has an Azmoqian weapon he acquired under mysterious circumstances. Elbir and I met him on his journey to this barracks. He used the weapon he had to convince us that if he was able to enter this barracks, he could destroy its armory, disabling the barracks for months. Both of us, given our pasts, were tempted by this. Elbir had an elite archer unit after him. We used this to our advantage. We tricked and killed them.

  “With their bodies put in coffins, we managed to hitch a ride into the barracks on the same carriages. We then tried to enter the armory ourselves, but couldn’t. So we ‘saved’ the soldiers we trapped in the coffins, dressed as Valantian soldiers. Then we manipulated the night patrol into taking our weapons into the armory.

  “Our plan was to leave his sword in the armory. The power of this sword is that it can transfer vast amount of energy into any Maktsten nearby and make it explode. An exploding Maktsten can take out large areas, destroying anything in its path.

  “So when we entered the armory with the intent of destroying it, I was worried when I saw that all the weapons were kept in a separate chamber. When I asked Dev, he told me that his sword had identified the stone inside the chamber and that he would be able to remotely take out the barracks.

  “This is what worried me. He had suddenly spoken of destroying the entire barracks. When I pressed him, he apologized and said that his plan was never to destroy only the armory. It was to destroy the entire barracks.”

  As I told my story, I was reading Dev’s and Elbir’s thoughts as well. They were calming down and listening closely to my tale.

  I continued with my modified story. “I couldn’t continue with the plan. I protested vigorously, as I didn’t want to die. Because of my protests, he agreed not to execute his plan immediately, but wait so that I could create my escape plans. Elbir was happy with Dev’s plan, as it would involve your death, Azrial, so he didn’t say anything. But I want to live! My hatred of the High Seat is not as much as my love for my own life.