Rogue Light

by Brian Nyaude

  5

  No way, this was not really happening.

  “You are joking right?” I asked clenching my firsts slowly. How would this scenario play out?

  “I never joke around you idiot! I really am from Iyenka,” bunion looked away.

  Just hearing that country name made me step back a little. They were our sworn enemies since ancient times. We were gruesome rivals who fought constantly over anything and everything. No one knew how this feud started, but it was never going to end between our two countries.

  “Under difference circumstances I would have killed you instantly,” he began and paused for a minute. “However, I no longer owe my allegiance to my country so I have no reason to draw arms with you.”

  “Is that so?” I chuckled shaking my head. “I guess this is one thing we can both agree on. I too have no reason to fight you Iyenkan since I am no longer a citizen of Rogue.”

  My father would kill me if he heard I was travelling with a man from Iyenka. It was unheard of for two enemies to travel together and fight alongside each other like we had. I didn’t trust him as much as he didn’t trust me, but somehow we didn’t say anything bad to each other. In those few moments he explained to me what had happened to him and how he had wound up a slave with me and Ken. We were so different and yet somehow the same, both of us were outcasts to our country for crimes we never committed. I no longer thought it was just coincidence that was linking us together. But a mysterious force was at work here. Dashe’s attitude changed a bit afterwards. Perhaps all he needed was for someone to listen. We had remained stationary in the same place for a while and I figured it was time we headed out for Okaya. The tree giant growled in pain. Why I had not noticed the heavy chains on its neck and arms? Its legs had been restricted by something and it seemed stuck unable to move. This was a cruel thing to do to other beings and I felt obligated to help it.

  “I know what you are thinking, but don’t do it,” Dashe said.

  His arrogant and rude way of speaking seemed to have disappeared. Still, I thought it rather strange for a Roguean as myself and Iyenkan to work together. In the end we were all the same, color or our country did not matter when we died. We breathed the same air and spoke the same languages and yet why was it so hard for us to get along? Perhaps, a truce between our countries would soon be possible through us. Suddenly, I was startled as I heard the giant cry out again from the pain. It was bleeding because the chains were small and tight, somehow I felt its pain. Now, it was clear to me what I had to do. I ignored Dashe’s warning and headed towards it. It was still violently trying to get out.

  “Don’t worry I won’t hurt you,” I said gently as I got close. “I am here to help you so don’t kill me.”

  Dashe had released his sword and that seemed to provoke it even more. I told him to put it back, we argued for a while, but he then listened and did it in the end. Something was different about this tree giant aside from its small size. It was roughly about ten feet tall and I had heard that tree giants ranged from twenty feet to thirty feet. Seeing one that was ten feet was certainly bizarre, but then again who was I to judge?

  “What is your name friend?” I said getting even closer to it.

  It didn’t move or stop staring at me. Within its eyes I saw the loneliness I had once felt when I had first realized that my banishment was real and not a joke. The feeling of being alone and miserable, I knew that feeling all too well. With my sword, I swung down on the chains as hard as I could. There was blood oozing out from my wrists but I just couldn’t stop. I kept hacking and hacking till my hands started bleeding hard.

  “Please don’t,” the tree giant spoke. “That’s enough. You don’t have to hurt yourself for my sake”

  I didn’t listen as I kept hitting the chains with everything I had. Finally after two hours the chains broke on and the giant was free. We were expecting a little more violent thank you, but it did the opposite.

  “Thank you,” it said. “I am in your debt.”

  “Well you are welcome.”

  I never expected much from a tree giant, but frankly I was surprised. This world was full of amazing and wonderful things. Maybe just maybe I was a little glad I got banished from Rogue. The mysteries of life were only experienced through our own eyes. If I had stayed in Rogue I doubt I would have seen all this. My world had been nothing, but a shadow before but now I could see the truth and I felt free to do the right thing. Although my hands were bleeding heavily I felt like I had accomplished much with that one deed. Since this was the only other road to Okaya I figured that Paul and Tye had passed through here.

  “I have a question” I asked it politely as I bandaged my hands with pieces of cloth. “Did two men come through here a day or two days ago?”

  I gave it some description of what Tye and Paul looked like and what they may have been wearing at that time.

  “Actually I saw them a day and half ago,” it said looking down. “They were brave and put up a strong fight, but they weren’t strong enough to go against Katarina Fox. She brutally beat and captured them.”

  What! They had faced a Rainku already? What had I done to them? If I hadn’t given them those stupid objects then none of this would have happened. I couldn’t just leave them to be subjects of Katarina’s horrific tortures. It was most likely that she was looking for me too and it was only a matter of time before she caught me. The gauntlet was important to them or was it so dangerous that they were going to go to extreme extents to get it? As I sat down in distress, I couldn’t figure out what to do next. I wanted the three of us to meet in Okaya as rich men not as prisoners for the Rainku.

  “We need to get moving,” Ogana said.

  That was the tree giant’s name.

  “Whoa! Are you sure you want him to come with us?” Dashe asked stepping back in disbelief. “He is dangerous for crying out loud.”

  “I could say the same thing about you, besides his brute strength and power could come in handy later down the road,” I replied Dashe quickly.

  “Fair enough!” he responded folding his arms.

  “Welcome to our group Ogana,” I smiled giving him a nod of approval. “Let’s get going guys, we have a lot of ground to cover.”

  Within few brief moments, we were gone and far away from that dreaded place. It was a long way to Okaya so we decided to rest up a bit and head into one of the nearest cities in the morning. Talking to Ogana was not so bad. He has so many interesting stories to tell. Unlike Dashe, he was polite and good company to be around. Just talking to him helped me control my anger and shock over what had happened to my friends.

  “You know,” Ogana began gently taping his belly. “Your friend had some strange objects with them of great power.”

  Was he talking about the gloves and the shield? I didn’t know what they did, but all I knew was that they were valuable to the Rainku.

  “The one you described as Paul fought bravely using strange powers flowing out of his hands, it was incredible although sadly short lived. I had never seen anyone who could fight like that since the time of the old wizard.” Ogana said resting his giant body by a tree.

  He had agreed to come with us because he felt like he owed me. But clearly I didn’t mind helping a fellow being in need. Besides his brute strength and size was going to prove useful in the oncoming battles with the enemy. What he said at that moment intrigued me though. I had somehow known there was something weird with those three objects from the time I picked them up in that Caravan. Ogana recollected all the events that unfolded as the battle between my friends and Katarina took place. It sort of made sense now. The three objects we had taken had some great power within them and that’s why the Rainku had desperately sent the treasure hounds after us. But why had the dogs chased solely after me? Still, I knew I wasn’t safe and so was everyone around me.

  “You know you don’t have to come with us to Okaya,” I mumbled to him.

  Ogana chuckled as he ate the last pi
ece of dried fruit we had.

  “I owe you guys for helping me get free,” he said slowly as he crunched the fruit. “Besides I owe Katarina and her minions a beating for what they did to me.”

  What he said was not my main concern. I was angry at the fact that he had eaten the last of the dried fruit. I had been saving to eat for a time later and now it was gone. Another fact that bothered and puzzled me a little was the fact about why we found him tied up. I made up my mind and decided to ask him some more personal questions. At first he was resilient to answer but something told him that he could trust me.

  “My brother was kidnapped while we were in Okaya visiting,” he began with a sad face. “I didn’t find him until it was too late. Katarina Fox’s soldiers chased me and I barely escaped Okaya. Unfortunately I was caught after I ate some very bad food and you know the rest.”

  He started crying after that. I didn’t want to ask him what happened to his brother, but I got the bigger picture of what might have transpired. There were things even some men never wanted to talk about and I totally understood how he felt. We had camped outside for the night and talked for a few hours as the moon shined brightly above us.

  “Why are you sacrificing so much for your friends against a powerful villain like Katarina Fox?” Ogana asked curiously. “You can escape and save yourself far away from the Rainku.”

  He was right, I could, but I wouldn’t.

  “That’s a good question Ogana,” I said slowly rubbing my tired eyes with my painful hands. “I am scared to tell you the truth. I know she is powerful, but I have to try. Tye and Paul are my friends and there is no way I will abandon them. I know they would probably do the same for me.”

  “Well I hate to ruin your sad bonding time but don’t’ you people know when it’s time to sleep?” Dashe rattled stretching his back to get comfortable against the tree he was lying on. “Night time is for sleeping you know?”

  He was right. The fire was slowly fading and I knew I had to get some sleep. I could see the dim lights resonating from one of the cities in Okaya.

  “This was where I would find my friends.”

  Saying that to myself reassured me why I had come all this way for. It was hard to fall asleep as I kept thinking about what might have also happened to them. If there still even a faint light of hope they were still alive I would gladly take it. I sat on my back for a while thinking. The fire faded and everything was silent except for Dashe. Though he was asleep he was making a loud ruckus with his snoring. It was irritating as he sounded like a roaring lion. The rogue nation was famously known for anger issues and the Iyenkan were well known widely for snoring the loudest. They were mostly rude; however, their snoring by far topped everything else. I guess there were some things that no matter how far we were from home stuck with us permanently. Ogana fell asleep shortly after Dashe spoke and his snoring wasn’t as loud as Dashe’s fortunately. Somehow I managed to fall asleep at last. It was difficult at first, but by some miracle I overcame Dashe’s loud snoring.