Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium

by Rajamayyoor Sharma

  Ayasiddh was exceptionally happy that day. He almost told my grandfather details about the sword, but not quite. However, he did tell my grandfather about his plan. He had broken the master sword into multiple pieces. Each piece was to be fit onto each sword. Then, they had to wait for a year before the piece incorporated the energy signature unique to the sword. At this point, Ayasiddh could activate the central piece which he held and bring all the swords together to him. But it was necessary that all the swords had his pieces and that they were within a few kilometers of him.

  Being in the center of power now helped him. He was close to all the swords. Once summoned, the master sword would be complete, exhibiting a power unseen so far. What he wanted to do with this power, Ayasiddh revealed to no one. He probably didn’t care. Just like the seven great swords, he never thought about the consequences of his creations.

  Ayasiddh, over the next few months, got the pieces of the master sword incorporated into the seven, saying they were “improvements” or that they were vital for the sword’s stability. Although initially viewed with suspicion, the seven kings allowed it, and soon, seeing that nothing untoward happened, forgot about it. But fate intervened.

  As the sword was being used, Rudra was getting increasingly worried about the power of the Anzelmen. So, to prevent its power from falling into the wrong hands, he got the sword buried deep in the ice in the river Valkian. The sword itself did the rest. Its Maktsten was so powerful, that it absorbed heat even from the near frozen river, freezing the entire section in a matter of months, preventing anyone from even doubting that the sword was hidden there.

  Rudra told Ayasiddh about this only when he was done, as he knew the master smith would not be happy. But he had no idea how distraught he would get. Ayasiddh got the news just days before his one-year timeline was up. He was heartbroken. He spent the next few years trying to figure out where the weapon was. This time was also spent by my grandfather slowly separating the various pieces from the swords and trying to learn more about Ayasiddh’s final creation and his final piece. He wasn’t particularly successful. He did separate the pieces from the seven swords, but no one parted with the pieces, keeping them close to their respective swords.

  Ayasiddh was completely broken by the loss of his sword and of his plan. He did not reveal a lot that was helpful about the master sword. However, he did reveal how the central piece worked to combine all the swords in a moment of weakness, and the fact that he would carry the central piece with him always, till his death. But he was becoming suspicious of everyone, including my grandfather. He soon cut himself off from the world completely, till the time he died. Even after he died, he was buried and not cremated, with the central piece with him. Despite being a virtual god, he chose to be buried in an unmarked grave, in an undisclosed location, known to none, not even the kings.

  My father, during his last days, handed me the piece connected to the Varta blade and told me this story. He also told me of a way that he had devised to track all the other pieces, so that I could, whenever ready, collect them to use in my fight with Valantian and his legacy… Come with me.”

  Grim got up and started walking towards the smith shop. All of them followed him. He entered the shop and moved straight towards the forge. In the middle of the forge, Grim put his hands in the coal, to extract, what looked like another piece of coal. But as he dusted it, everyone realized it was metallic. It was a hexagonal box.

  It looked like two-smooth sided hexagonal metallic plates joined at the sides by rectangular pieces of metal, with their lengths equal to the length of one hexagonal side. It was small, just wider than Grim’s sword. Grim then picked up his sword, and inserted it into the hexagonal box. When the small cross guard of the sword entered the box, something clicked into place.

  Grim held up the combined piece for everyone to see. “This is the piece of the master sword for the Varta blade. It transforms the sword when attached. Wait for it.”

  They all waited to see what happened. The change was slow, but perceptive. It started with a soft yellow glow. The Varta blade was getting even smaller, and was reducing in width as well. Within half an hour, it reduced to less than to half its length and width and was glowing red hot. The hexagonal box was a continuous part of the sword, now circular in shape and a part of the guard. Its edge had become completely blunt. The sword was now a large blunt knife with a long handle.

  Karn seemed the most excited. “This is so awesome! Now the sword is a large buttering knife! I am sure the man who wields the master sword would need his bread well buttered.”

  Grim smiled. “That is the thing. The pieces of master sword transformed each sword into something that fits onto the central piece. Independently, these pieces enhance the salient properties of the swords. What this sword can do, is essentially heal me even faster. As soon as my skin is pierced, before I can even bleed, I have healed. In my experiments with this sword, I have seen it heal extreme injuries, almost as soon as they happen, sometimes even before the pain registers. But the piece does this enhancement at a cost—I can’t use this blade for fighting at all. Which means in the final weapon, this will function more for protection of its wielder than offense.”

  Karn seemed even more excited. “That’s even more amazing! I was mock excited at first, but I am excited for real now! When can we start? Where is that tracking mechanism for the other pieces of the master sword?”

  The excitement was palpable in everyone’s face. Grim seemed relieved. “Relax. You all need to decide amongst yourselves as to when you want to leave. The mechanism is something I need to embed into your weapons. It’ll take me about a month. In the meanwhile, we need to prepare the village’s defense, especially think about what we have to do about the path. I am not quite sure when, but there is sure to be a massive assault launched soon on us.”

  That realization cut into the jubilant mood everyone had gotten into. We all contemplated what needed to be done.

  After a few hours of discussion and revelation about swords and kings, which happened almost immediately after a long battle. Everyone decided to rest and absorb what they had just committed to and what their role was going to be in the upcoming events that would change their world.

  Chapter 47: The five fingers of a fist

  The man with an unknown name spends his time in the village, getting ready for his mission, which will take him away from his village… again…

  After committing to a monumental mission, we started to walk back in silence. There was one more pit stop I had to make before I could commit myself to this journey. I had to visit an old friend.

  All of us, guided by the moon light, walked towards the mound marked by white marbles. The grave of Olmot. The man whose death I had just avenged. I knelt beside his grave as the others looked on.

  “Hi there Olmot, my friend. Your true name forever will be unknown to all of us. I have brought the men who killed you to justice. I know you came here to find peace. I never got to know your troubles, nor could you find real peace here. I hope you find peace wherever you are.”

  And so my quest for justice came to an end. My new journey could now begin. But as I thought about it, I realized something. I had merely killed the pawns on the chaturunkh board. The assassin was right—he was merely a cog in the machine. The prime mover was something else. The assassin was replaceable. His death meant nothing. He didn’t care if Olmot lived or died. The Imperium did.

  As soon as the assassin left the Yerins, he became a part of the society controlled by the Imperium. He did what he had to do to survive. The Imperium truly wanted Olmot dead. They had created a society where Olmot was destined to die, be it at the hands of this assassin or some other. My new journey, which would hopefully culminate in a revolution, would remove the Imperium from power. That would truly be justice for Olmot. I felt even better about the new journey I was going to take. I couldn’t believe someone I knew barely for a few days, would become such a big part of me.[12]

 
We all went to my house, and fell asleep for more than a day. I was completely exhausted from the use of Dhronari’s two handed mode, although I was extremely proud of the fact that I didn’t collapse straight away from exhaustion. Karn had apparently received some treatment from Florence, who left by the time I woke up. Both his legs were completely wrapped in bandages, along with four of his ten fingers. His left arm was in a sling. It was a surprise that he had sat through the entire discussion with Grim and Kazena with so many injuries. He seemed to be happy though.

  “So, kid, it’s finally done. Your revenge is over, you have returned now.” I nodded.

  “I am so glad for you… It is rare that people are able to complete quests as difficult as yours as fast as you have…” he sighed wistfully.

  “Now that it’s done, I realized I never asked you your name. What is your actual name, Devrath?”

  I smiled and told him. He suddenly got very serious.

  “I am glad I hadn’t asked you till now. Grim was smart to ask you to keep your name to yourself. I’ll tell Elbir and Kazena never to ask your name… you are Dev to us.”

  It was confusing to see his reaction, but before I could pursue his line of questioning, he changed the topic. It was an important enough topic to make me forget his reaction to my name.[13]

  “Forget all this. Tell me, what’s the deal with your physician? She is so… beautiful… Is she married?”

  “Well, no… but she might be a little old for you,” I said, with a smile. Now, the fact that there was a significant age difference between the villagers and people from outside occurred to me easily. Or perhaps it was easier to recall because someone was interested in Flora.

  “Really? I would have never guessed…” he said dreamily.

  Then with a sly smile, he added, “But you know what… age is just a number.”

  I really did not know what he implied. But I didn’t care. I had to see and meet Flora. It had been a while.

  “So how do you feel?” I asked.

  “Definitely better than when I was in that forest. It was a brutal journey. I would have never imagined the kind of effect the Blue Haze has on people.” He seemed quite shaken by the experience. I also felt a hint of wonder creep in, as he continued.

  “But I also discovered the potential of Blue Haze. Especially when combined with what we found in the cave. It was… something else…. The ability of the mind, when properly motivated and supported… seems limitless…” by the end, he seemed genuinely overwhelmed with amazement. The sense of wonder was infectious. I was carried away with the sentiment that he had, imagining what a mind with limitless potential could do. I was surprised with my own sentiments, especially given how I felt about Blue Haze, post my disturbing visions all those months back.

  “I can imagine how awe-inspiring it must be, for the mind to feel as yours did,” I added. Karn nodded.

  “I have been thinking… once I recover, if you are up for it, we can go into the forest again, and gather some of that Blue Haze I experienced… it’s abilities are extraordinary and I feel we would be amiss in not exploring its potential.”

  I was a little less excited about this trip, given my experience the last time. But I felt it was worthy enough a cause to take Grim’s help and go into the forest again. The drug and its benefits were worthy of exploration, especially given the journey we were going to take.

  When we went out, we found Kazena and Elbir already out and about. Their roles in the battle, though difficult, hadn’t been as physically draining as ours. So they had some time to explore the village.

  When they saw us approach, both walked up, happy to see us on our feet.

  Kazena looked at Karn, with all his bandages. “How do you feel?”

  Karn had the same sly grin. “Much better, thanks to Villasboro’s physician.”

  Elbir didn’t seem to sense Karn’s playful tone from that statement. “Great to know. Everyone is healing well in the village. The physician seems to really know her craft well.”

  “You can say that again,” Karn added, in the same coy tone. Elbir missed it again.

  “Given everyone is feeling better, I think we should head up to Grim and Parshtel to discuss what needs to be done for the village’s defenses. Karn—do you feel up to it?”

  Karn lifted both his hands above his head, even his left hand, in the sling. “Let’s do it. I’m the king of the world!”

  Sometime Karn’s reactions were so refreshingly funny, it helped us move away from the seriousness of the situation. The threat to the village was still real. We had just postponed it.

  I was eager to head out as well. For all we knew, there was an army ready to march upon us right now. We crossed my fields, to travel to Parshtel’s hut. Looking at them, I realized how long it had been, since I left. The fields didn’t have anything growing in them anymore, a state I had never seen them in. They were still in great shape. That was because of the village policy. No one was to allow anyone else’s field to fall into disarray as it was common for a person to go into the hills for weeks.

  We arrived at Parshtel’s place. The place was like any other house in the village. It was a combination of seven cylindrical structures, each being a room. The central structure was the main hall, a large circular room with a separate dining and sitting area. The other cylindrical rooms were connected with the hall through just the doors. The house had four bedrooms, and one kitchen. The only additional room there, was the conference chamber. Typically, the village meetings were held in that room. It was also a large circular room, connected to the hall through a door. It also had an external entrance. It had a small central, round table, and had a seat that ran along the edge of the entire room. Unlike the rest of the world, this room had no specific designated seat for the leader in the room.

  We entered the village conference chamber directly. We were in luck. Parshtel, Johotei, Fred and Grim were deep in conversation. Looking up, Fred noticed us first. He welcomed us in. “Hey guys! Come join us. Maybe you can help.”

  Grim, waved us to sit down beside him. “I agree. Good time. We are trying to figure out the best way to close the path to Villasboro, beyond the northern exit. Parshtel and Johotei are suggesting we create spiked trenches all along the path. I feel I can work in some decent traps along the path, making it difficult for them to approach. Fred is suggesting that we just drop a bunch of trees along the path, making it unnavigable. What do you guys think?”

  I was in favor of all of them. “Why don’t we do all?” I asked naively.

  Fred took the question. “Well, we could do all. But that’s going to take time. We need to set up something fast before any army progresses down the path. We might have just weeks, if not days.”

  Karn was nodding. “I agree that we need to do something quickly. But I think you are looking at this the wrong way. What is our objective here?”

  Everyone was attentive. Karn was someone with actual battle experience. Parshtel answered first. “To protect the village! Kill any soldier before they reach the village.”

  Karn shook his head. “That is a part of it.” He grimaced as various parts of his body ached. He waited for other responses.

  Grim took the next shot. “Prevent all those we don’t want from reaching the village.”

  Elbir nodded as well. He seemed to be clearer than the rest of us, about what Karn was implying. Elbir spoke up, as if continuing from Karn. “Again, part of the answer. What we really want is no one knowing that the village exists.”

  That statement was met with confused looks.

  Karn took over. “Exactly. Let me explain. Look, if we keep killing everyone that comes in, the Valantian Imperium will just send more troops. With more warriors like Azrial and Morgan. We can’t keep fighting the incoming troops to defend the village. We will lose. We need to make the Valantian Imperium think that the assassin’s information was incorrect. There was no Azmoq reserve anywhere.”

  Johotei seemed a little unconvinced. “That is co
rrect. We cannot keep fighting. But how can we hide? The path exists. How can we cover it up? The assassins saw the village. How can we convince anyone otherwise? And what about the entire army that we defeated here? Wouldn’t the Imperium notice that a complete battalion, with Major Morgan, just disappeared?”

  Karn stood up, grimacing in pain, but his face brightened up. “I know what can be done. We need to convince them of three things. One, there is no village at the end of the path. The other is that people who came in here died or got lost in the forests. Even if they see some bodies, the reputation of Deliganti Verde would convince them. The last is an explanation as to why someone saw a village.”

  Everyone was amazed with his clarity of thought. With a few words, he clarified for everyone in the room, what they should be working towards. But I still didn’t know what had to be done. Karn and Elbir did. So they were assigned the responsibility of carrying out the deception. They asked for three hundred villagers for help. Almost the entire village turned up to help.

  The plan they laid out, was elegant. Many of the villagers who volunteered for it, got to work immediately. The rest of the villagers were divided into various tasks. One set trained with the village guard and Fred to improve their fighting and battle skills. Others worked with Grim to create more and more weapons, many of them with the Azmoq that they had started to mine from the soil of Villasboro. Given that the land was completely untouched, it was easy to get small quantities of the rare metal relatively easily. Another group worked with Flora to continue treating all the critically injured people, villagers and soldiers alike. Another set worked with the soldiers who had surrendered, to help them integrate into the village, gather food, till more land and build houses for the new occupants of the village.

  The soldiers seemed more than happy settling down in the village. Many of them truly believed in the power of the legends. They were willing to change their lives completely, sacrifice what they treasured in their lives before this battle, to follow the ones with the swords of legend. It was surprising to see the power of these legends. I mean, the swords had been out of public view for over a millennium. But they still stayed in the minds of the people. This showed me that somewhere, even as the society was by and large at peace, people still craved for change, and clung to any straws thrown at the sinking ship of their collective hopes. Even if the straws were legends of swords, not seen by anyone for many centuries.