by Mario Routi
Rebecca knew that for mortals there is no present. There is only the past and the future - two real concepts that are constantly changing. For them, the past grows with every millionth of a second that passes, while the future shrinks accordingly. You take a breath and, even before you exhale, it is in the past. The present is a tireless labourer with a spade who keeps on digging out life from the future and shovelling it back into the past.
An immortal, however, has a stable past, present, and future - as long as he isn’t killed. A mortal has no present at all and his future - his life, that is - constantly diminishes.
Turgoth stared at her, his anguished face mirroring the turmoil he was suffering within as he tried to read her thoughts.
“If you won the next Lomani and acquired the Flame,” Rebecca said eventually, “would you share it with the people of Utopia?”
“I’m ready to answer this question, Rebecca, because it has troubled me for years. You must know that my subjects, and especially my generals and others with positions of responsibility, don’t all think as I do. I don’t want to shift the blame onto others, because I’m the leader of Beast. I don’t need any excuses. All the same, I believe that since my people have been fighting and dying for this Flame for generations and for thousands of years, if they regain it once more at the cost of their own blood, there’s no way that they’ll be willing to share it. If I agreed to share it, they would consider me a traitor. He who betrays the people he governs is the worst traitor of all. So I can never promise that if we get the Flame I will share it with the citizens of Utopia, but I would try to do so. That’s the truth.”
“You’ve answered my question, King Turgoth, truly and sincerely. No one wants to lose what they have, especially if blood has been shed to keep it. Likewise, no one wants to share what they have acquired, especially if they’ve had to wrestle to obtain it. These are eternal truths, just or not. But why don’t you try to come to an agreement with Lord Life? From what I have been told, he is a fair and reasonable man.”
“I hold Lord Life in high regard. He is a masterful man, with a tough constitution and a sharp mind. He is impressive, frank, and not afraid of disclosing the moral code that forms his foundation. His organisational talents are formidable. He is eloquent, always coherent, and reasonable - but at heart he’s a roughneck, a canny old wolf. I believe that he faces the same problems I do. I’m sure he sees the injustice of it all but he’s aware that if he dares to share the Flame with us, he’d be regarded as a traitor and it would set Utopia ablaze, even though they’ve had the Flame to themselves for so many years. For, just as we have suffered casualties in the Lomani in our attempt to acquire the Flame, so the inhabitants of Utopia have sustained countless casualties and have shed a great deal of blood to keep it. So if Lord Life were to propose any such thing, they would rise up against him, believing the blood they had shed had been wasted. There would be a revolution.”
“If I had suffered the injustice you feel,” she said, “I might have turned to Evil too.”
Turgoth nodded, backed hurriedly away from her and left the room.
***
Unbeknownst to either of them, Lord Life, Felicia, Bull and Julius were riding skilfully down a mountainside. As they reached a level plateau, Lord Life held up his hand to halt them and turned to Bull.
“We’ll rest the horses and eat. How much longer?”
Bull studied the angle of the sun. “Before sundown,” he replied.
They dismounted and unstrapped their packs.
***
As Rebecca sat trussed in the throne room of Turgoth’s palace, three giant Porth, almost human in shape but with dark green skin, small red eyes and sharp, yellow teeth entered. Heavy swords swung from their thick belts.
The Generals of the Porth bowed to Turgoth. His face looked brittle, as if it might crumble at any minute.
“Rebecca,” he said with great formality, “allow me to introduce General Sam, General Max, and General Tom. They, along with a few others, command the Porth forces. They will take charge of you now.”
General Sam approached Rebecca to check that her bindings were tight.
“But why don’t you kill me now?” Rebecca asked.
Turgoth said nothing, walking outside with his eyes averted as the Porth pulled Rebecca to the waiting carriage. The King’s face was expressionless as he watched General Max roughly push her up the step to the carriage.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded.
“Mount Thunder,” Max barked. “And now please... Quiet!” He stressed the last word, to show that he was in no mood for conversation.
The carriage lurched off, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. Turgoth stood frozen until it had disappeared from sight, his expression one of total devastation. His legs slowly buckled beneath him and he fell helplessly onto his knees.
***
A few hours later, Lord Life, Felicia, Bull, and Julius, dusty from the road, rode up to the Gate of Beast. The guard eyed them suspiciously.
“Halt! What business have you here?”
Lord Life held up his hand. “We come in peace. Please tell King Turgoth we wish an audience with him.”
The guard’s spear was shaking in his hand, aimed at the unexpected visitors. Calphie, sensing a threat, lifted her head, glowering at them and shuffling her wings as if in preparation to swoop.
“Have no fear lad - Just tell him,” Lord Life insisted.
The guard looked up at Calphie who let out a growl of hot breath and nodded for him to do as he was asked.
***
Meanwhile, at a secret location on Mount Thunder, the three Porth hustled Rebecca into a cabin, throwing her onto a wooden bench and tying the ends of the ropes tightly to the legs.
“The King hopes you will change your mind,” Sam said, as he checked that the bonds were secure. “We are to keep you here, safe for now. At dawn, we will ask you again. If your answer is the same, we will kill you with your own sword.”
“I won’t change my mind,” she said.
***
A Sharkan warrior named Zengo, who was Turgoth’s personal assistant, led the visitors to the King’s chamber. As they entered, Turgoth appeared from another door, smiling broadly.
“Lord Life! What a pleasant surprise! And, for the first time - unannounced! I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. Have you finally decided to share the Flame with us?”
“This is no time for jokes, Turgoth,” Lord Life said.
Turgoth’s smile disappeared and he nodded curtly to Zengo. “Take their horses and see that they are cared for.” He turned back to Lord Life. “What is it you want?”
“An Orizon trainee, Rebecca, has disappeared. This is her father, Julius,” said Lord Life and Julius bowed respectfully.
Turgoth shrugged as if none of this meant anything to him.
“Look, Turgoth, you’ve never given us any reason to doubt you, but, might there be - ‘others’ in Beast? Perhaps, without your knowledge, they have...”
Turgoth held up a hand to stop him. “If such a thing had happened, I’d know. Of course, we can all meet with my generals and ask them, if you wish.”
“Better that you meet with them alone,” Lord Life suggested.
“As you wish. Please make yourselves at home. Give me some time to gather everyone.”
Turgoth bowed and strode purposefully from the room.
“Well, at least he’s being helpful,” said Felicia.
“He’s lying,” Bull grunted. “He’ll return and sadly inform us that he has no news.”
“Maybe, my dear Bull,” Lord Life said, “but let’s first hear what Turgoth has to say.” The others nodded in agreement.
***
About an hour later Turgoth returned as promised. Lord Life stood and looked directly
at him. Bull stood to one side, scrutinizing every twitch of Turgoth’s face.
“Alas, Lord Life, I fear I have no news - good or bad.”
Lord Life gave a slight bow. “King Turgoth, thank you. We will trouble you no further. Farewell.”
“Zengo will show you out,” Turgoth said.
As they rode slowly away from the castle walls, Bull leaned into Lord Life’s horse.
“My Lord, please allow me to stay behind! I’ll hide in the forest and find out what’s really going on here.”
Lord Life nodded and Bull turned his horse away from his fellow travellers.
20
Bull knew exactly the sort of tree he was looking for. It needed to have vines long enough to cut and weave into a sturdy rope about thirty feet long. Once he had made the rope, he extracted a hook from his saddle and tied it to one end. He tested it and, satisfied with its strength, lay down to rest.
After a while, he mounted his horse and headed cautiously back towards the castle. Once he was close, but far enough from the gate not to be spotted, he tethered his horse and watched the gate, waiting for full darkness to fall.
By the time midnight arrived he still hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. Around the castle, there was a clear zone about half a mile wide, the counterpart of the clearing around the Fortress of Utopia. In theory, it, too, was an area for fighting, but it had never been used, since Utopia had never attacked Beast. The front of the clearing, where the gate stood, faced Domus Forest, where Bull was hiding, while the other sides bordered on the farms and houses of the inhabitants of Beast. If he tried to cross the clearing he would easily be noticed by any guards who might be on the battlements, but the only guard he had spotted was the one on the tower over the gate.
He moved deftly along the edge of the forest until he was in line with the left corner of the castle. He was going to risk crossing the clearing with the hope that no one would notice him. The sky was clear and a chandelier of stars shed a pale light over the whole scene.
Bull took the rope he had made and crept towards the Fortress walls. It seemed to take forever but eventually he was able to flatten himself against the cool stones and breathe freely for a few moments as he composed himself. He could hear no raised voices or activity that might suggest he had been spotted. Taking a deep breath, he twirled the rope with the hook at its end and hurled it clear over the battlements. It caught on something and held firm. He tugged on it a couple of times to test it and then climbed it like a cat.
Reaching the top, he paused and looked around, straining his senses in search of potential danger. There was complete silence. He dropped the free end of the rope down the other side of the wall and, moments later, he was standing on the ground inside the castle, as silent as a thief in the night. Taking out one of his daggers, he cut a few lengths off the excess rope and tucked them into his belt before heading cautiously towards Turgoth’s palace.
His greatest problem was the Sphinx. He knew that she never slept and that she had a keen sense of smell. If she became aware of his presence, she wouldn’t hesitate to attack him and the noise would raise the alarm in the process.
Once he was close to the palace, he made a detour and headed towards the stables, knowing that Zengo’s house was close by.
Jumping over the low courtyard wall, he first went to the stables so that his smell would mingle with that of the horses and then made his way to Zengo’s house, slithering across the ground like a snake for the final few yards. He stopped and listened for a few seconds before creeping beneath the window and glancing inside. It was dark and completely silent. He went back to the door, opened it cautiously and slipped inside. He could see that he was in a living room. There were three closed doors and one that had been left ajar. He went over to the open door and found that it led to the kitchen and dining room. He then carefully opened one of the three closed doors. Two children were sleeping in separate beds. He opened the next door and saw another two children asleep. Now, he was sure that Zengo and his wife would be in the next room.
He closed the first two doors and carefully opened the final door, creeping inside and closing it softly behind him. He stood still for a moment, checking out the whole room before leaping on top of the sleeping pair. He straddled both of them, covering the woman’s mouth with his left hand while, with his right, drawing one of his daggers and digging the keen point into Zengo’s throat. The couple were instantly awake, their eyes wide with terror.
“Don’t make a sound, Zengo, or I’ll slit your throat,” Bull hissed. “As for you,” he said to the wife, “if you move, I’ll smother you.”
The menace in his voice froze them on the spot. Both were shaking and gasping for breath. Bull pressed the tip of the knife harder into the Sharkan’s throat, breaking the skin.
“I’m no Orizon, Zengo, you know that. I can be as evil as anyone. I’ll happily carve you up into little pieces, you and your wife and your children too. I know that Rebecca was brought here and that you played a big part in her abduction. The only way you’ll stay alive is if you help me get her out.”
Zengo could feel his blood dripping across his neck and onto the sheets. “Don’t kill me,” he pleaded. “It’s not my fault. Rebecca isn’t here. She may be dead already.”
“Get up and sit on the bed,” Bull ordered, climbing off them but still holding the knife to Zengo’s throat.
They both rose shakily and sat like condemned prisoners in electric chairs, neither able to stop trembling.
“Tell me exactly what happened. And remember: if I detect the slightest lie, everyone in this house dies.”
“They brought her here yesterday evening,” Zengo stammered. “She was with the King all night. She wasn’t here in the morning. They either killed her or hid her. Today, the King was very upset; he was nervous and moody. I don’t know anything else, Mr. Bull, sir, I swear. Please don’t hurt us.”
Bull tried to think clearly but his mind was clouded by the possibility that Rebecca might already be dead. If that was true he would kill them all, the innocent along with the guilty. But he had to be patient, to stay calm until he found out the truth of the situation. He leant close to Zengo’s ear.
“If Rebecca is dead,” he hissed, “no one will be left alive. I’ll slaughter all of you, never mind who’s to blame. You will have killed a girl, a child.”
Zengo and his wife had never seen anything more savage than Bull’s face. He was transformed from “lovable Bull,” the children’s best friend, to “Bull the Minotaur,” cousin of Asterius, the terrible Minotaur of Crete. They felt as if their hearts were going to fail, as if death was reaching his cold hand out for them.
“I di-didn’t say that she’s dead for sure, Mr. Bull, sir. I don’t know what happened, but we didn’t have anything to do with it,” Zengo said and started to sob.
“Have pity on us. We’re not to blame,” his wife pleaded between pitiful sobs of her own.
“Be silent! If you wake the children, I’ll slit all your throats,” Bull warned.
He was trying to think dispassionately, but for the first time in his life he couldn’t calm down enough to get his thoughts in order. Inside him, another creature had been stirred to life, turning him into a wild beast and clouding his reason.
“Has Turgoth been away from the palace at all today?” he asked.
“No, I wasn’t aware of him leaving,” Zengo whimpered.
“Could he have hidden Rebecca inside the palace, then?”
“No, that’s impossible. There aren’t any hiding places in the palace. My wife here, Lydia - she cooks and takes care of the King - she hasn’t seen or heard a thing and neither have I. I’m absolutely sure that Rebecca isn’t in the palace. She may be elsewhere in the castle; we have so many buildings. But, even so, we’d have got wind of something. She’s more likely to be outside the castle, becau
se King Turgoth asked for a carriage and sent me to notify some of the Porth generals.”
Bull instinctively spotted a faint glimmer of hope. “Zengo!” he said. “You’re going to help me. I am going to abduct that filthy liar Turgoth. But even I am not strong enough to stand up to the Sphinx. She could kill me as easily as I can kill all of you. You must find a way to remove her from her post so that I can get to the King without her noticing.”
“But how can I make her leave her post, Mr. Bull, sir? I can’t think of a way. She never leaves it,” Zengo whined.
“The Sphinx must know that Rebecca was brought here and that she was taken from the house, dead or alive. She watches everything, day and night, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, she does,” answered the Sharkan, desperately searching inside himself for enough courage to keep thinking clearly. “You’re right. She probably knows!”
“Well, then, the Sphinx saw us coming here today,” Bull went on. “Turgoth is bound to have told her that we’re distressed and that we are searching for Rebecca. So if you go and tell her that you think you saw four or five Orizons near your house and the stables, she’ll come with you to investigate. Distract her by taking her here and there to search. You must appear calm so as not to arouse her suspicions. Delay her for as long as possible. I’ll grab Turgoth and leave through the reception hall at the back of the house so you won’t see me while you’re searching. I need at least five minutes, ten at the most. I’m taking your wife with me. If you make even the smallest mistake, I won’t hesitate to kill her. You know I always mean what I say. So go and play your trick on the Sphinx.”
Leaving the children asleep in their beds, the three of them crept out like escaping prisoners. Bull and Lydia hid some way off behind the hedge and watched as Zengo went and spoke to the Sphinx. They saw the Sphinx rise and head towards the stables with Zengo and they immediately ran to the palace, entering through the reception hall and reaching the room where Turgoth was sleeping.
