“It’s time for kashatvin (the midday prayer), your majesty,” observed Ffen.
“We will stop at Lake Ffush and there perform it, along with the kashashom (afternoon prayer) and other missed prayers,” replied Plant Man.
The army marched relentlessly, without pause, for another seven hours. Day gave way to night and the ffentbaff-drivers lit torches to guide the way. The shan could be seen occasionally glimmering in the pitch blackness of the surrounding woods but they dared not attack the massive force. They continued on till midnight and, even then, they had not reached the water’s edge. Scouts went ahead and reported that they were now less than a tvinshaff distant from the lake’s edge. Two hours would suffice to cover the distance, so they pressed on, finally reaching the lake at around the third hour after midnight. They halted, gathered water for ablutions and performed the prayers they had missed, including the kashofftishatvin (the midnight prayer), facing the far-distant Tower of Inta in the west. Then they set up campfires to cook a meal of pengiffmi with brakshogim bread and hot, sweet gveg-leaf tea, while several thousand soldiers took axe to bole and hewed down hundreds and hundreds of trees, split them in half and bound them together with rope to form rafts and barges in order to transport the army to the opposite side of the lake. This task took upwards of four hours, with soldiers in rotation, some eating and resting while others hacked, hewed, split and bound the rafts together. Plant Man surveyed the troops, walking among them and observing their operations. He watched them sing old songs of Khanshaff’s ancient past in Shaffi, while talented bards among them composed new odes to the king of all Tremn and his mighty army which marched over the whole face of the land. He walked with Arwa hand-in-hand, followed by Ffen, and then Jyoff, who sighed at the decimation of the surrounding forest—but he said nothing, as he knew that loyalty to the new king was a matter of life and death. Shem, Ushwan and Meyla stayed close together, gazing out upon the moon-glittering waters of the lake, which shone and glowed with the subtle brilliance of the twin primary moons of Tremn, Ffash and Tvash, and the lesser moon, Obish, recounted their encounter with the lake-worm and wondered how Ffen had survived the crossing.
“I expect he used a small boat and moved slowly,” Ushwan opined. “In my case, the Shaffu took a longer route along the lake’s edge, but that is impractical for such a huge army.”
“We’ll be reaching the village of Ffush soon,” said Shem. “That’s where Tvem lives. He taught us the nine-fold path and informed us about the mimra, the force which surrounds and embraces all things, like a blanket.”
“Yes, or a field,” said Ushwan. “I have heard something about it, actually, in the forbidden section of the Great Library of Kubbawa.”
“Forbidden section?”
“Yes, where they store books deemed inappropriate or subversive.”
“How did you access it?”
“I had my connections,” he explained. “After all, I do belong to the gentry—that middling class betwixt the aristocracy and the common plebeians. My father, Sir Gven Potvek, was a Knight of Inta, the holy order which protects and defends the theocratic government. He was also a descendant of the Dukes of Tremael, through numerous generations, but we are not even closely related to the current Protector.”
“What have you learnt from the library?” asked Shem.
“From the forbidden section? Much that they would not have people know: incidents of corruption, nepotism and intrigue, stories of suppression and persecution of monarchists (imperial or otherwise), tales of pretenders to the throne who were silenced or executed in the most gruesome manner—even the shegbash.”
When the barges and rafts had been constructed, the army embarked upon their voyage, floating across the cool waters of the lake. Already the air was cool and crisp, like the beginning of winter. The army looked uneasily at the surface, aware that, at any moment, a lake-worm could emerge and attack them. Though Shem and Ifunka had managed to slay the lake worm that had attacked them, there were usually more than one in each lake. About midway across the water, there was a bulge in the distance—an enormous head and neck lifting out of the water, only to come crashing down again in an explosion of foam and bubbles. Waves ripped across the lake-face, knocking several of the smaller ffentbaffs and biffbaffs into the cold depths below. The drivers cried out in confusion while some of the troops, being strapped into their saddles, were pulled down by their beasts’ weight to their watery graves below.
“Hold fast!” Tesh-Khan ordered.
“Steady!” cried Plant Man. “She’s trying to confuse us—knock us off guard!”
Even as he spoke these words, the worm burst from the water behind them and nearly toppled the royal ffentbaff. Quickly reacting to the situation, he shot scores of vines onto the barge, holding it in place and preventing its passengers from falling out. The worm flailed to and fro, knocking ffentbaffs while arrows and spears bounced off its thick, scaly hide. The serpent’s mouth fixed upon a large ffentbaff-cow, sunk its teeth deep into the beast’s muscle and bone and, while it bellowed pitifully, dragged it into the lake depths.
“Calm yourselves!” Plant Man commanded as the troops continued to fling spears and lances into the water to no end.
Climbing onto the ffentbaff’s neck, he leapt into the water below. Spurting forth tentacle-like vines, he glided through the water like a graceful jellyfish, using the vines to push the water behind him and propel forwards. The serpent whirled round and surged towards him in a vicious attack, mouth wide open and razor-sharp teeth and gums visible. Rushing into the vile creature, its jaws extending wide to take him in, Plant Man grabbed hold of its neck and latched on, wrapping it in a coil of vines—sharp with flesh-piercing and muscle-rending thorns. Clouds of blood engulfed the beast as it struggled, throwing its neck to and fro in the lake-water, trying to break free from its pursuer’s iron hold—but he held fast, undeterred, implacable, undaunted, digging in deeper and deeper—yet the thick, muscular neck of the monster would not break, nor would it bleed out due to its immense proportions and humongous vital system. Its head burst through the water, lifting Plant Man up into the brisk night air, revealing itself to the onfloating army, exposing itself to a hail of arrows and javelins which dug into its thick and scaly hide, unable to hit any of its vital organs.
Focusing his mental energy on the surrounding mimra, Plant Man sensed some woksh-trees firmly rooted into the lake-bed. These were large trees, more than ten to fifty okshas in height with roots buried as deep as a kobotv into the beds of seas, lakes and oceans; wokshas could even be found in the depths of great rivers such as the Sogyishifa, absorbing nutrients from their rich deposits. Mostly white with light-green leaves, these have thick bark and wide boles, flexible branches with thorny twigs, which support vast and unusual underwater ecosystems. Dead woksh-trees become the basis of coral reefs and provide shelter for numerous underwater herbivores, as well as many predators, including vicious water spiders—binkvish-spiders—which have a white hue, enabling them to blend in with the woksh-trees’ bark, despite their enormous size (some grow to an oksha or more in length). Summoning a particularly wide and large bole from the lake-bed, it grew tall and yet even thicker, shooting up like a rocket and hitting the serpent in its belly. Its hands (branches and twigs) wrapped around the fat girth of the monster and pulled it down to the lake-bottom, some one hundred okshas below. Squeezed to death, its innards burst out, its ribs cracked and its flesh ripped apart. Plant Man emerged from the water triumphant—his army breathing a sigh of relief as they helped him up and back onto his ffentbaff.
“The serpent is dead!” he cried, to the lustrous roar of his soldiers.
“I was worried,” said Arwa, her eyes tender with love and concern.
“Worry not! I am made of strength,” he replied.
Soon they reached the other shore, with Tvem’s manor in view. Disembarking in vast numbers, the Lord of the Manor emerged and stood b
efore them. Carrying his staff in hand, he approached the thronging masses with a proprietorial mien and a booming voice.
“What brings these savages to my house!” he cried. “I am Tvem Hiff, Lord of this lake and this Manor.”
“It is I,” Plant Man responded, leaping off his ffentbaff and standing before him. “Ifunka Kaffa. I have returned, by the grace of the Great Spirit.”
“Ifunka?” he was astonished.
“Indeed!” cried Jyoff. “I have not seen thee for ages.”
“Jyoff Wagva?” exclaimed Tvem. “But thou art an inveterate enemy of the Shaffu, as art thou, Ifunka.”
“Much has changed,” Plant Man continued. “These are not the same Shaffu who have ravaged the land aforetime. These are the Army of Plant Man, who bear aloft my standard and march in my name. I pray thee, Lord Tvem, let us camp near thy manor.”
“I taught thee to follow the nine-fold path, not to raise an army and conquer enemies.”
“I have not forgotten thy wisdom,” he replied. “Rather, I honour it. Behold, I have cleansed Khanshaff of evil, banished the false god, Asharru, and have been honoured by Amon-Ra with the power to control the plant kingdom through the agency of the Verdant Coin.”
“Amon-Ra rarely interferes in the affairs of men,” Tvem observed. “Not since Kishton’s exile has he directly intervened in our world. Some have taken it as a sign that the Legion favours the Holy Theocracy; others have said the opposite. If he has given thee such power, then truly no force shall be able to withstand thee.”
“What sayest thou, then, lord?”
“Dost thou seek vengeance or justice?”
“I have slaughtered many in the name of the Right Religion, but I seek only justice and righteousness.”
“I fear your words are as light as a ffubish,” Tvem replied. “I shall not join you, but you may camp here.”
Plant Man signalled to Tesh-Khan, who ordered the army to make camp. Thousands of ffentbaffs grunted in a cacophony of sound, biffbaffs brayed, soldiers loudly called commands, arranged supplies, set up tents, formed temporary defences out of the wooden planks and beams of the rafts and barges, started campfires, began cooking vegetable stews, boiling pots of tea, quick-bread—thin, unleavened round loaves called ragsh, pengiffmi and dried fruits. Camp songs reverberated, the mimgeff-lute sounded, and the hum of chatter extended across three kobotvs of field, to the edge of the forest. There, guards were on patrol, ready for any yeshka, clay-man or shan that might approach the camp. The Lord of Ffush invited Plant Man, Arwa, Meyla, Shem, Ushwan and General Tesh-Khan, to his manor, where they sat around the hearth, eyeing one another uncertainly. Shem, Ushwan and Meyla sat on one side while Plant Man, Ffen, Tesh-Khan and Arwa sat on the other—two opposing factions which regarded one another with awkwardness. Tvem sat at the head, observing both parties silently, while Jyoff sat opposite him.
“Are ye all well?” Tvem asked.
“Yes,” replied Plant Man, while the others nodded.
“Then what’s this? There’s no harmony.”
“Harmony?” asked Shem. “We desire peace and spirituality whilst those—” he pointed to the opposing party. “Will bring Tremn to civil war and destruction.”
“I bring the world unity and abiding peace under the reign of one king,” Plant Man declared.
“Question not the glorious majesty of the true king of all Tremn!” Tesh-Khan cried.
“Calm yourselves!” Tvem command. “Positive will is essential—only by opposing negativity can true results be obtained. As the eighth teaching states: ‘All negative energy can be opposed and overcome by positive energy, which is stronger and more effective’.”
“Which of us is right?” asked Ushwan. “Is it right to use force of arms to destroy the theocracy and assert kingship?”
“Truth must prevail over falsehood,” replied Tvem cryptically.
“What does that mean?” asked Shem. “Who is right?”
“What is the seventh teaching?” he asked them.
“Sacrifice and determination are the foundations of success and attainment,” Shem replied.
“Even so,” continued Tvem. “Without sacrifice, success is unattainable. When blood is spilt, great forces are unleashed into the world; not the blood of the enemy, but the blood of the seeker in attainment of his goal. To achieve that which is higher, we must shed that which is lower.”
“But what of the innocents who shall die in the oncoming war?” asked Ushwan. “They do not choose to sacrifice themselves.”
“The Ontva Navein—the nine-fold path—is not partisan. It does not pertain to one party or one cause. It simply holds that, as the eighth teaching states, ‘all negative energy can be opposed and overcome by positive energy’. If Ifunka’s energy be positive, it will overcome the forces of negativity. If he be truly supported by Amon-Ra, the King of the Legion, who watches over the affairs of Tremn and many other worlds, then perhaps he is right. If he seeks vengeance, however, and mastery over others, that is negative and the mimra shall not be in his favour. As the fourth teaching states, ‘light, energy and will are of one essence’. Rememberest thou the practical implication of this teaching, Shem?”
“That, if we have will, we can succeed,” Shem repeated.
“Indeed. All things belong to one substance which exists within the field which encompasses reality—the mimra. Everything we see in existence is the result of interactions within the mimra—the effects of positive and negative will, with the positive overcoming and nullifying the negative. Positive will can, furthermore, transform reality by effecting positive results.”
“I seek kingship because it has been thrust upon me,” argued Plant Man. “It is positive to uphold one’s duty—one’s mission in life.”
“That makes no sense,” Ushwan protested. “You cannot seek what is given to you.”
“Amon-Ra gave me the Verdant Coin. I have been chosen for a mission: to free Tremn from tyranny and oppression, to destroy falsehood and superstition, to annihilate the Theocracy and re-establish the natural order of the world and cleanse the Right Religion from hypocrisy and deceit! If there is to be a king, who else should it be?”
“Calm yourselves, brothers—and sisters,” Tvem urged, though the two women were silent. “The ninth teaching is this: ‘there is no power and no force greater than that of unity, and unity springs from loving-kindness’. Are ye not friends? Shem and Ifunka, ye twain did come to me in search of Brother Ushwan, whom ye love as ye love your own selves. Ffen, I met thee on thy way to rescue Ifunka and Shem. Love is the greatest force in existence; it bestirs the inner depths of the soul; it radiates through the medium of the mimra; it burns away the veils of delusion and idle fancy; it unifies opposing elements, heals the wounds of discord and strife, cements the bonds of fraternity and camaraderie and binds all divergent paths into one path. A kingdom founded upon hatred and disunity cannot long endure. One founded upon love and unity is everlasting. Heal your divisions, resolve your differences, and no force on Tremn shall be able to stop you.”
These words stirred their consciences and bestilled their antagonism.
“Ifunka,” said Shem. “I shall follow you, if you truly seek justice.”
“As will I,” said Ushwan.
“Meyla?” Arwa called her.
“I follow,” she replied.
“I forgive you all,” said Plant Man. “I promise you that I am not mad with power—I seek to unify Tremn for the greater good.”
“Very well,” said Ushwan. “Tvem’s wise words have dispelled my doubts. I am with you.”
“Roaring yeshkas!” exclaimed Jyoff—his interjections could mean anything, so the companions eyed him curiously as he spoke. “That is very well, isn’t it? We could hardly hope to bring the blasted theocrats to their knees if we were ourselves wobbly in disposition.”
“Jyoff, son of Jyem,�
� Tvem addressed him. “You’re as obscure in your verbiage as a shan is opaque.”
“I pride myself in confoundment,” he chuckled. “But dost thou aver, my lord, that we have right on our side?”
The two had not met for many years but the forest folk knew one another well, as they were few in number and dependent on cooperation for trade in goods and arms. Long ago, the people of Tvak, Ffush and Ffash had exchanged women exogamously, and travelled to one another’s villages for commerce, festivals and general social intercourse. Depopulated due to the Shaffu, they had a common animosity against both them and the Theocracy. With the Shaffu now tamed, only one common enemy remained—the Theocracy. Tvem had long staved off the clay men and Shaffu raiders, even as Jyoff had thinned them out in the purlieus of Khanshaff. Now, his furrowed brow evinced an intensity of concentration as he pondered upon the subject.
The Rise of Plant Man, Lord of War, Conquest and Revenge: Green Monk of Tremn, Part II (Coins of Amon-Ra Book 2) Page 20
