@tunjilomo lol...I guess we'll find out if that's true, soon enough

@Smooth278 I'm sorry, next update won't be ready till tomorrow.

@cherriex coming soon, coming soon...by soon I mean tomorrow

@ayshow6102 lol, I like that you caught that! Don't forget it oh, it might prove to be an important detail later on As to where Musa is, this is a dangerous port, Musa is staying in doors like it was advised to

@Fazemood Lol, well, we shall see...I won't say any more than that, although I agree that respect ought to be earned. As of Manus, I agree, that uspec is greedy and power hungry, smh, all of this talk of Manus is just making me think of Marcinus. Chai, hope that one is okay oh!

@Madosky112 Lol, I like this prediction! I guess only time will tell if it is accurate or not

@Omittesb Thank you. So you are advocating stabbing people? Chai...what a world, lol. Well, I understand why Nebud did it, but...anyway, we shall see...

I have this creeping suspicion about the conversation and turn of events..... Something does not yet add up...... This is not even about Manus, the power at play here is bigger than the current existence. It feels like a game of chess and they don't even know they all are the pawns.

Tuhndhay post=8[img:
2531394]I have this creeping suspicion about the conversation and turn of events..... Something does not yet add up...... This is not even about Manus, the power at play here is bigger than the current existence. It feels like a game of chess and they don't even know they all are the pawns.

I agree that this is definitely more than just Manus, but you're thinking so big! I like it!!!

Part 4
-------

Several things happened at the same time.

My eyes all acted in parallel, each one trying to take in as much information as it could. The first thing I saw was the drop of blood. Apparently, I’d lanced the imperial one’s wrist deeply enough to wring blood from it. The drop landed silently on the hard fog ground.

At the same time, I noted a furrowing on the imperial one’s face. It did not seem enraged or even hurt by the wound I’d inflicted on it. Its face indicated more confusion than anything else. I followed the trajectory of its eyes and saw that it had been staring at something behind me. It was with a rising feeling of doom that I inclined my head just far enough to see the subject of the imperial’s gaze.

I saw a fraise in the hand of one of the soldiers who’d been standing behind me. I understood then that the pious one had been reaching for that fraise, and not for me, as I’d thought before I lashed out at it. I had faint recollections of the lessons of the pious which I’d learnt in the slum all those years ago. I’d learnt from those lessons, that lying on a fraise was a grave sin. The imperial had probably meant to make me swear on the fraise. It had not been trying to use pansophy on me.

As soon as I came to this conclusion, I withdrew the dagger. In the process of pulling my dagger back towards me, my ring accidently brushed against the imperial one’s arm. ‘No pansophy’, the call filled my head, showing that the imperial did not even have the magic of pansophy in it. I’d harmed the imperial for nothing.

I bowed my head. “Forgive me imperial one.” I said. “I’d thought you meant to touch me.”

Only silence followed my words. The silence lasted for so long that I found myself raising my head simply to observe the imperial one. Its face showed no emotions. I reached through my anger for the uspec’s, determined to yank its rage, but I felt no anger.

My pounding heart stilled then, calmed by the imperial’s lack of anger.

“That was an unfortunate mistake.” Sophian stated calmly. It turned its gaze to the soldiers standing behind me and ordered, “kill it.”

I was so shocked by the uspec’s words that my reaction time was delayed. It wasn’t till I heard the swords being pulled from their sheaths, that I understood the imperial’s order.

I swiveled immediately.

I only had my dagger, but that was enough to cut through a soldier’s arm. I’d hoped to steal its sword when it dropped it, but I was surprised to see the soldier ignore the deep wound. I reached for its pain and found nothing.

There were two swords aimed at me now. I dodged, swerving underneath one, while I swept out with my foot, knocking the other soldier down. Still bent, I stabbed the foot of the soldier left standing. The soldier pulled its foot back before I could retrieve my dagger. This one also showed no signs of pain. It struck its sword at my neck. An attack I was only able to deflect, by grabbing onto the sharp end of the blade, and pulling it out of the soldier’s arm.

The soldier was not expecting that and so it offered little resistance.

Ignoring my bleeding hand, I switched the positioning of the blade so that my hand was wrapped around its hilt. Then I punched the soldier in its face. The soldier fell. I was just about to deal it a killing blow, when I saw the other soldier advancing on me. I only had to clash my sword against it a few times to see that it lacked strength.

I channeled all of my effort into one swing, and knocked the soldier’s sword out of its hand. I swiped my sword through the air, aiming for the soldier’s neck.

Before my blade could reach its target, a cutlass was thrust in the air, deflecting it.

I was shocked to see that it was Arexon.

I smiled. The uspec showed no emotion.

I struck out with my sword at the uspec. A bolt of pain shot through me. I clenched my jaw, swallowing my answering howl. I fell to the one knee still capable of providing support. With dazed eyes, I stared at the broken joint of my other knee, realizing that Arexon had dislocated the bones there, right as I was striking out with my sword.

I tried to stand but found my broken knee incapable of supporting weight. Instead, I placed the tip of my sword against the ground and tried to use that to push myself up.

Arexon brought the hilt of its cutlass down against the side of my head. There was so much strength behind that blow that it knocked me to the ground.

I was dazed.

The sword was knocked out of my hand. While I lay on the floor, two strong hands grabbed onto my wrists and forced them together behind me. I felt cold metal against my skin. It reminded me of the time that Fajahromo had chained me in the pits of Hakute. I did not like the memory. I tried to move, to force my hands free of the shackles, but they’d already been bound.

A hand grabbed onto the back of my neck and pulled me up by it. It forced me to a kneeling position.

I pushed back at the hand, throwing my weight around to free myself from its hold. I found my efforts futile, the uspec was too strong. The only one with more bulk than I in the room was Arexon. It had to be that uspec holding me down now.

The sharp edge of a cutlass was pressed against my neck. It pressed it into my skin. Hard enough to cut. I felt my skin part underneath the blade. And then the cutlass was held there. The cutlass was so deep in my flesh that if I jerked, I would kill myself on that blade.

I did not move.

What was Arexon waiting for?

The imperial stood in front of me. Its gaze was fixed on something above me. It stared at that thing for a while before saying, “take it to the scourge.”

The bite of the cutlass eased, leaving a line of blood in its wake.

I tried to stand, but found it impossible to do with only one working leg and both of my arms shackled behind me.

Hands grabbed onto my arms. Those hands pulled at me. My knees had only just left the floor before they began to move, dragging me out of the room. I was in a particularly vulnerable position. I reached out with my emotions hoping to find something that I could manipulate, but I found nothing. The lack of emotions infuriated me. I’d stabbed one, where was its pain?

They pulled me through open curtains, the top of my feet dragging against the ground. I shoved myself to the right, hoping to knock one of the soldiers down. Instead, I put too much weight on my broken knee and reignited the pain coming from that knee. It had been a bearable ache before that.

Now the pain was almost overwhelming.

I went into the lifeforce of my pain as a distraction. The pain was so severe that I was starting to fear that I would never walk again. A more detailed study assured me that it wasn’t that dire.

By the time I pulled myself out of my pain, I was outside.

I shook my head, frowning. No, if the flooring was any indication, I was still inside the Castle, I was just in some part of the dwelling which was without a roof. This area was filled with thick fogs.

The fogs were so thick that if I did not have the extra doses of aqua sight, I would not have been able to see the green cylinder they were taking me to. It wasn’t until I was inside the dome that I recognized it for what it was. It had been so narrow from the outside that I had not considered that it could be a dome. Now though, I could clearly see that it was an equipoise.

Two more soldiers walked into the dome.

Both of them grabbed on firmly to my good leg, holding it fast, as the other two pulled me upwards. I knew before my arms were lifted what they were going to do. So, I wasn’t surprised when my arms were chained to a bolt, and my legs were bound to the bottom of the post with a belt.

I was left alone then, tied, with the center of my back against a cold, unyielding, post. I put all of my weight on the one leg that could take it, and did my best to ignore the pain in my knee. A strange thought crossed my mind then. I wondered if there was some sort of pansophy that could make one not feel anything in a specific region of the body. The pain bore in, pulling my thoughts back to the knee.

I looked around the area, trying to distract myself from the pain. Was this a prison? I thought, as my eyes spotted two more domes just like the one I was in. With my extra sight, I could see through the fog a little, but I could not see too far into it. My initial idea of it being a prison quickly changed when I saw several implements a distance off. No, it had to be a gym. Even that did not seem right. A mix between a gym and a training ground, I decided.

Two soldiers came close enough that I could see them through the fog. They both had black belts on and wore earrings with crosses on them. One of them seemed vaguely familiar the other was not.

“What did it do?” the unfamiliar one asked.

They were both standing in front of me, staring at me in a way that made it clear that I was the subject of their discussion.

“Stabbed the imperial.” The other replied.

The uspec’s eyes widened. It stared disbelievingly at the other. “Is it crazy?”

“It is foreign.”

“Ah.” The uspec stared pityingly at me. “It does not know Sophian then.” It stated.

They both shook their heads at me before turning to walk away. Right at that moment, before they could move far enough to be hidden by the fogs, another soldier dressed as they were walked in.

“Assiduity!” it yelled.

The soldiers turned immediately, so that they were facing the one that had just come in, and then they saluted.

The imperial and Arexon emerged from the fogs. An uspec with studs in its ears walked behind them. The imperial jerked its head in my direction and the uspec came forward.

It had a whip in its hand.

On closer inspection, I saw that the whip had thorn-like structures sticking out of it. “The scourge.” The imperial’s words from earlier filled my mind. This is what the uspec had meant. I clenched my jaw.

The uspec with the whip stopped to the right of me. It stood just outside the area covered by the green dome. The dome was small enough that the whip would have no problem reaching me. The uspec waited for Sophian’s nod, before it began.

The pain of the first lash was indescribable. It fell on my skin and the thorns pushed into me, breaking through the surface. I wanted to scream. I felt so helpless. I jerked at the bindings, but they would not give. The second lash fell, and I swallowed down the cry of pain. The third came and several of the thorns went into already formed wounds, deepening them. After the tenth lash, I stopped counting. I stared instead at the uspec who’d ordered this.

Hate burned in me, hot and deep. I wanted to make this uspec pay. I was going to make it pay I swore, as the lashes fell. I stared fixated at the imperial, my eyes filled with hate. The pain did not end. Lash after lash, it continued, leaving behind blood and shredded skin in its wake. I thought back to the pits, of the time that I had spent trying to reach the lifeforce in my pain. Under the equipoise, that lifeforce was unreachable now.

Arexon showed no emotions. Why did I stare at it? Each time I looked at the uspec I remembered Arigad, its progenitor. Arigad’s port had been taken by Sophila, and here Arexon was, serving the line that destroyed its own, like a loyal pet. It was disgusting. If it was me, I would have killed them all a long time ago. I would slaughter them! The scourging continued and I refused to give them the pleasure of my pain. I kept my sounds to myself. Not even a whimper, I would not give them that.

Sophian’s eyes never left mine. It stared at me, watching my face, not the scourged flesh. I did not know what it hoped to see there, but I was determined not to give it. I wondered if this uspec ever showed emotions. It did not smile at my punishment. It did not frown. It just remained aloof, unaffected by my anguish.

The only sounds in the air, were those of the whip falling, the lash forcing the thorns into my flesh, and the deep grunts of the whipper.

I could no longer tell if there was flesh on my stomach. The parts of the whip that touched my body were now stained red. All I felt from my chest and stomach was a burning. Unimaginable heat. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be consumed by an inferno.

My vision was getting blurry. It was becoming hard to lock eyes with the imperial. I had never felt pain like this before, not even in the pits. Death was preferable to this.

I think if I had the strength to, I would have yelled. If it was pain the imperial wanted to see, I would have indulged it. But I was too weak. I was grateful for the physical weakness which covered up my mental one. Thanks to the weakness, the uspec would not know how close it had come to breaking me.

Still the lashes did not stop.

My eyes closed and my head dropped.

I blinked.

Where was I? There was a hard ground underneath me. Not the wetness of the okun. Had I passed out in the pits again? But the ground in the pits was sludge. I shook my head. My body was burning. I felt an avalanche of pain in my stomach. It was as if Junte had scraped at the flesh on my stomach with its prized horn. Junte? I shook my head.

My mind was foggy. Foggy. This area was foggy. Too much fog for the slum. Too much fog for the pits.

“Nebud.” The voice was strange. I did not know this voice.

Fingers pinched my chin and forced my head up. I was staring into a face I did not know. It had four outer eyes.

“Nebud!” The voice snapped. Then it let go and my head fell.

I pulled at my arms and the burning in my chest doubled. I groaned. I was too weak to do anything else. The fog drifted around me. I did not like the feel of it against my stomach. I was too raw. I looked down on myself and I was left confused. What happened to me? There was only red where my chest and stomach used to be. My legs and foot were still green.

I forced my head up.

There was something familiar about this uspec. It had earrings on its ears and silver bands on its arms. I watched as it placed a black pellet into a wooden cup. That pellet was familiar. It was the same pellet that I had placed into a goblet filled with chilled wine.

The daze lifted just as Arexon brought the cup with loony towards me. I jerked my head to the side. That sudden movement pulled at the lacerated flesh on my stomach. I swallowed down the cry of pain.

“Drink.” Arexon ordered.

I glared at the uspec. I could not move my head, not again. “No.” my voice was low.

Arexon frowned at me. It clenched its left hand into a fist and punched me in the face. The blow forced my head to the side, pulling again at my skin. I was coming to loathe this uspec.

Arexon forced the wooden cup into my mouth and pushed it up, pouring its contents into my mouth. Some of the liquid made its way into my body, but most of it poured on my skin.

I yelled, the pain of the liquid flowing over my torn skin unbearable.

Just then, the loony took infect. I felt myself growing weak. I was too weak to yell again, even though the burning on my flesh did not lessen.

“Take it back to its rented suite in the civilians’ camp and have two gurus stationed outside its door. If any living creature tries to leave that suite, they are to kill it.” Arexon ordered.

“Yes sirga.”

“On the off chance that it is foolish enough to try to leave, and it makes it past the gurus, send writs to all soldiers stationed in the civilians camp, on the roads, and in the hangar. If they see any uspec matching Nebud’s description, they are to kill it immediately.”

“Yes sirga.”

After giving the orders, Arexon marched off.

Two soldiers walked into the equipoise. One of them reached for the chains binding my hands, the other worked on the belt around my legs. They both released me at the same time, and unsupported, I fell on my stomach.

It was then, lying with my cut flesh against the hard ground, that I realized that the loony had also numbed me. If it hadn’t, the pain from the fall would have been unimaginable. Instead, I felt nothing.

The soldiers reached for me. They dragged me away the same way that I’d been brought here. I stared at the floor as my body was tussled during my travel.

I blinked. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the flooring had changed. I was lying in light sludge. Several hands reached for me. They picked me up and lifted me onto a canoe. This canoe was much larger than any I’d seen before. They laid me down with my stomach on a wooden bench. Again, I had cause to be grateful for the loony. I could not even imagine the amount of pain I would have been in, if I could actually feel my body.

I was too weak to turn around, despite how much I wished to.

My current position meant that I could see nothing but the wooden interior of the canoe.

It lurched forward.

A green hand caught me before I could fall.

The canoe continued moving, but its travel was smoother this time. I heard sounds. Some where the vocalization of sounds stored in all canoes. I tried to move my arm and found it impossible. How had Marcinus fought under the influence of this thing? My mind chose that moment to bring up the memory of me putting loony pellets into Marcinus’ wine before taking its eye.

I did it to save its life! I screamed in my head.

The canoe stopped.

I felt hands reach for me and then lift me up and out of the canoe. Had we arrived already? How much time had passed? My mind was too vacuous to provide me with an answer.

They dragged me away.

I heard knocking sounds.

We’d stopped in front of a suite.

The light knocking turned into pounding. “Open for the Kaiser’s army!” A loud voice declared.

Brown legs appeared in front of me.

“Out of the way imp!”

The brown legs disappeared.

I was dragged into the room and dropped on my belly.

I heard feet shuffling.

“Help me imp.” A familiar voice said.

Two more hands grabbed onto me and turned me over.

Musa gasped. “What happened to you master?” it cried, dropping to its knees beside me.

A green face bent over me. Silver earrings with crosses on them, dangled above my head. “You will live great fighter.”

I closed my eyes.

nebud must get back his pound of flesh from arexon ND sophila nice update

And praise da lord,Wednesday is here again, well don @obehiD

seems Arexon also has an agenda of his own, maybe it still want go avenge what happened to its port..
anyway am glad nebud is alive

Haaa obehid, dis suspense can kill ooo, pulease make Saturday's post longer dan did. And u will live Nebud. I feel Araxon did dis to protect Nehbud. Chai obehid want to kill me with anticipation. Can't wait for Saturday

As usual very Dope... Manus and this Sophila Kaiser guy don't deserve a befitting death at all, I wish I can write about their death Swear it would be a horrible end. Nebud is fortunate I see there's a friend lurking somewhere.

@obehid can you pls help clarify me on what the ring does? i.e if it could detect phansopy, it could shield one from it.

What is the agenda on sophila's mind?? Why is he keeping Nebud alive??

I will focus on this statement "A green face bent over me. Silver earrings with crosses on them, dangled above my head. “You will live great fighter.”........ A clue?

Thanks for the update obehid I wish that nehud could have used spectra there like doctor strange but it would be useless since all the other uspec have filled completely their own outer sockets completely but this degradation is too much it felt like I was the one collecting all the lashes please let us give sophian a very gruesome finishing (death)

Nebud made me proud by not giving the imperial and Arexon the satisfaction of seeing him cry in pain. Great Nebud will live. I believe the uspec who brought it in admired it's strength and endurance. I admire them too.

Thank you obehid for this wonderful update

More more more

@dragonstar14 chai, I agree oh, it must get its pound of flesh...see suffer oh!

@cherriex thank you!

@Omittesb I am glad Nebud is alive too. As to Arexon's agenda...well, who knows...I guess we will see

@spixytinxy Chey, I'm sorry oh, I don't want to kill you with suspense, oh I don't know how long Saturday's update will be yet, but I think it might be longer than this. I like the way you're thinking about Arexon, I sha hope that nothing happens to make you change your mind...

@phoenixchap thank you, thank you, ah, but Sophila didn't do anything, it was its offspring that ordered nebud's whipping. But I agree sha, Sophian is just...anyway, let me not come and spoil it now. Please, feel free to write their ends, maybe we can consolidate our ideas and about the lurking friend you see...well you may very well be farsighted oh!

@Ultimategeneral So the ring only senses pansophy. If it touches someone that has the magic, it tells the person wearing it. The ring uses pansophy to do this, but as Calam is farrrr smarter than I am, I am still trying to grasp all the complicated pansophy engineering that went into making that ring. But no, it cannot shield from pansophy, it can only detect it.

@Tuhndhay I like that question, but I think you have Sophian mixed up with Sophila. That's a good question though, why indeed? Maybe your answer will come tomorrow...or maybe not... A clue? Hmmm...well, we'll see

@ayshow6102 Thanks for reading! As in, chai, if only Nebud could have used spectra, but you're right, Sophian has all the eyes, so Sophian would have attacked, but it would have been so cool if Nebud could fight back with the magic. You're making me want to rewatch doctor strange now. You know, doctor strange is actually my favorite (well top three) marvel hero. I just love that magic!

@Fazemood Nebud suffered sha. It was a struggle, and when you think that its only crime was stabbing Sophian's hand small...anyway we shall see what will happen. But I agree with you, I'm happy Nebud was able to stay strong. Thank you for reading!

@KngGezy more coming tomorrow!

Came for early morning tea before, guess update is still cooking. Good morning obehid

spixytinxy:
Came for early morning tea before, guess update is still cooking. Good morning obehid

Good morning. It's a little late today, but it's ready now! Hope you enjoy

Part 5
--------

How many times could I walk the same area before losing my mind? I didn’t know how Musa did it, but the imp appeared to be completely unaffected by our confinement. I suppose I should be grateful that I was back on my feet. How many days had I spent slipping into and out of consciousness? According to Musa, Yakubo had brought a cobra, the boga frosted beast, to me three days after the scourging. The timeline matched up because that was around the time when the weakness faded. It was also when the numbing went away, and I felt every wound on my flesh.

I would have liked to see the cobra.

My first memory of a fully lucid day, post-scourging, was a little over a week after. I remember seeing uspecs wearing fraises with the marks of the Order of remediation, healers. I don’t know how many of them had come, or if it had only been one healer playing on a loop in my mumbled brain. Had they used pansophy on me? I did not know. I honestly couldn’t understand why they bothered. I would have been less worried if they had not sent a healer to me. That at least would mean that they did not care what happened to me. What possible reason could they have for caring? That was what frightened me. And through it all, through my slips between cognizance, I had that awful voice reverberating in my head, demanding Sophila’s eye.

I wanted to kill that voice. I wanted to reach into my own head and rip the stupid voice out. What did I have to show for my efforts? Scourged flesh.

I soaked in the tiny pond and tried to ignore my rage.

The cleaning room in the suite I’d rented had an entire wall filled with a reflective surface. I found that wall irritating. It was especially annoying now that the wall showed me for what I was, damaged. My skin showed the effects of the lashing, a thousand scars which mangled my flesh in a way that I had never seen before. No uspec had scars like mine. One glance at me, and onlookers would know that I had been scourged. I, Nebud, tied to a whipping post, utterly helpless, as my skin was shredded before my eyes.

I turned away from the reflective surface, choosing instead to stare at the black walls of hard fog. The floor around the pond was made of the same shade of fog as the walls. My trailing eyes wandered to the okun next. It was the single most pitiful pond I’d ever seen, and I was kute, so I’d seen a lot of ponds. The pond was so small that two uspecs my size could not clean together. I certainly could not swim in it. To immerse myself fully, I had to bend at the knee, a position which forced my ailerons against the sides of the pond.

But I had two functioning knees, I reminded myself.

Thanks to the speed at which the healers had come and worked on me, I had two functioning knees. I didn’t even feel the pain in the bad knee anymore. That much time had gone by. There were no holes which allowed for the natural light of the orange dots to stream in, no way to tell the passing of time. All we had was Yakubo’s arrival. The uspec came once a day, bringing food and some extra treats for Musa. It found the imp amusing. Musa liked it too. They huddled together for the hour that Yakubo spent in our suite, talking about what it felt like to be umani. Yakubo still had so many questions.

Thirty-two days had gone bye. I knew because I kept a meticulous count on Yakubo’s visits. Thirty-two days since the scourging, thirty-two days confined to this suite.

I placed my hands against the hard fog ground and pulled myself up. The healers had done such a good job that I only felt a slight spark of pain from the parts of my body which had been flayed. Again, I thought that I should be grateful that I’d had that. The few moments I’d spent conscious in those early days had been spent in a daze. But I could vividly remember the look of worry on Musa’s face. The imp hated having a solution which it could not use. If it had used its pansophy to heal me, the healers would have known and they would have taken the one good thing I still had away from me. Thinking about the healers reminded me that they would not have spent so much effort patching me up, unless someone thought I was worth it.

This was day thirty-three. I refused to count it though, not until Yakubo came in with our meals. Whatever we wanted, Yakubo found a way to get it. I do not know why the uspec has taken such a keen interest in us, but I am grateful that it has, even though I haven’t shown it. I was just too annoyed by my confinement to be in any decent mood. Musa makes up for it.

Even though I just cleaned, I felt dirty. I’d grown so used to proper cleaning with cleaning salts, that now, cleaning without them felt odd. There were several good public cleaning rooms in the base, but seeing as I was confined to the suite, I could not make use of any of them.

I placed my hand against the entrance, which was marked by a slightly lighter shade of black, and then watched impatiently as the form left it. I walked through the fog, into our room. Musa was seated on its bed, reading a tome which Yakubo bought it.

As soon as I walked in, Musa’s head lifted. It regarded me warily. With only the both of us in the room, I had taken most of my foul mood out on the imp. It was slightly better now that I was well enough to fight. We sparred. My cutlass and dagger had not been returned to me, but Yakubo got us wooden swords. I hated those things. But it was enough to get a good exercise. I found myself missing the more basal feeling of pounding flesh against flesh. Musa could not fight with me, not in pugilism. Besides, I was too angry to let the imp, even if it volunteered. No. I punched the air, practicing what I would do the next time I had a chance to fight against Arexon.

It would not defeat me again, I swore to myself.

“Did you have a pleasant cleaning master?” Musa asked.

I stared at the imp for a while, trying to read its face. Was that question a joke? It had cleaned in the pond, it knew how deplorable it was. I shook my head, ignoring the imp. I walked to my bed and sat heavily on it.

Musa was silent.

The walls and grounds were made of hard fog. It was one of the reasons why the room was so expensive. I preferred clouds. I longed for Katsoaru. I should have stayed. That was another thing my mind had taken to doing. It would come up with a million different ways in which I could have saved Marcinus’ life without taking its eye. Perhaps I hadn’t considered them because I needed the eye. Now, I wished that I had. I wished that I had left Marcinus’ eye in its socket, and found a way to convince my friend that we should kill Manus before the uspec could kill it. Why hadn’t I done that? If I had, Marcinus would be heir now, and I would be ‘joyful’.

I shook that thought away, refusing to dwell on past decisions which I could not change.

“Shall I make something for you to eat master?” Musa asked. “Domina Yakubo has not come yet, but we still have a lot of grains and dried meats. Perhaps you would like a soup master?”

The imp’s words drifted in one ear and left through the other. I paid no heed to them. My mind was churning on something else.

The last brio.

I’d had much time to think over the weeks that I’d spent in my suite. I had pondered the term until, at long last, my mind had seen fit to give me an answer. I finally remembered why the term had sounded so familiar. At first, I could only remember the ‘Isle of brio’, the place that Gerangi had taken me with the green sludge. It was the place that the uspec had died. I wondered if that place had anything in common with the last brio? Anyway, besides Gerangi’s isle, I had heard of the word somewhere else. It had been a long time ago, in the pits of Hakute.

I could not remember exactly what had been said about it, but I recalled that I’d heard of the last brio from the plenum. I could not say whose voice it was, but I remembered that they were searching for this thing, the last brio, and that it was somehow connected to Chuspecip. Other than that, I could not say what other significance this object had.

But Sophila said it had it. The plenum wanted it, and if the conversation I’d overheard between Sophian, Sophila, and Arexon was right, then, the last brio was the key to the fabled wealth of Lahooni, rumored to be millions of worth.

Millions of worth. It was more than a fortune. I could not even imagine wealth like that. It had taken me several weeks to link myself with this fortune. I found it strange to think of myself as linked in any way to Lahooni. I was after all, a Hakute de trop. I was born in Hakute, my earliest memories were of Hakute. But according to Gerangi, I was the heir to Lahooni, the same one that Musa searched for.

I liked Musa’s tales of its previous masters, I liked to think of myself as descended of Calam and Calami. I liked thinking that my sire wanted me. But it was still too much of a leap to connect myself to Lahooni. For a moment, I dabbled with the idea of going in search of the fabled wealth myself. Did anyone have a better claim to it than I did? But who was I really? After all was said and done, I was still just a de trop from Hakute, who dreamt of a progenitor like Calami and a sire like Calam.

“Domina Yakubo is here!” Musa’s excited scream pulled me from my reverie.

I did not know how I had not realized this sooner, but spending so much time alone with the imp, in such a confined space, helped me see many things I previously had not. The first thing I realized was that Musa was always using pansophy. It strengthened its sight and its hearing, in a way that was abnormal. And so Musa knew exactly when the fog door to our suite was opened. The fact that the owners of the establishment our suite was in had given keys to the soldiers, was just one more annoyance in a long, growing list.

Musa stopped short of the entrance to the room. It froze and then it swiveled, turning quickly to face me. “It is not just Domina Yakubo.” Musa said. How did Musa know this? Pansophy, of course. Extra sight, extra sound, extra feel? Who knew?

“Come out here Nebud.” A familiar voice ordered.

It was Arexon. Had the time of my rematch finally arrived?

I was slow in rising. If I could not see Musa’s agitation, I would have been even slower and more reticent. As it was, Musa’s discomfort made it hard for me to keep the uspec waiting too long.

I walked out of the room and emerged in our front room. It was quite spacious. The front room was like an amalgamation of the entertaining and cooking room which we’d had in the suite in Katsoaru. The okun faucet was right in the middle of the lounging beds in the entertaining room. There were several counters, and a hail-box, scattered around the perimeter of the room. It was an odd style.

The space in front of the entrance to the suite was filled by Arexon, standing between two gurus. One of them was Yakubo, the other was unknown. They both stood at attention, one of their hands fisted and laying by their sides, the other grabbing the hilt of their sword. Their feet were placed together, their heads held up, as they stared off into space. Well, Yakubo did, the other soldier caught a glimpse of my mangled flesh and became so engrossed in it that it could not look away.

I’d learnt a bit more from Yakubo about the army in which it served. I knew now that there were several ranks in the army and that those ranks were denoted by the crosses/rectangles on earrings and the bands on arms.

By far, the most interesting thing that I’d learned from Yakubo, was that it was part of a serf army. When it had introduced itself to me in the hangar as a serf officer, I’d simply thought that the ‘serf’ term was part of its title. Now, I knew better. It was a serf. An actual serf. All the serfs wore earrings, and all the free did not.

Which meant that Arexon was also a serf.

I found this very discomfiting. It was troubling that Sophila would take it upon itself to own uspecs. It was one thing to own imps, another entirely to make an uspec a serf. But, according to Yakubo, Sophila had lost so much in its wars against the ports it annexed, that it would not allow any uspec from annexed ports to be free. The uspecs had to earn their freedom. They had to work as serfs for Sophila for a predetermined amount of time, before they would have the right to own themselves.

It was barbaric.

Apparently, Sophila’d had more than ten offspring. It had lost all but Sophian to its war efforts. And so, all uspecs from annexed ports were made serfs. Those that could fight were sent to the serf army. Over time, the serf army became the only army. The highest ranks, the ‘golden capon’ positions, were filled by free uspecs. They wore golden bands on their arms. There were no born nobles in this port. All nobles earned their gold in the army. The nobles were the only ones who could join the army at the golden capon rank. Any other uspec who wanted to join the army had to join the serf army.

If I was in Sophila’s serf army, I would have led a rebel a long time ago. From what Yakubo said, the serf army far outnumbered the golden capon nobles.

“You look well Nebud.” Arexon stated.

Unlike the guru, Arexon did not stare at my mangled flesh. It did not even glance at it. Its eyes remained on my face. My eyes wandered to the silver earrings on Arexon’s ears. I knew now that those earrings meant that Arexon was a serf, only better than an imp slave because it would ‘eventually’ earn its freedom. Arigad’s offspring, a serf to the Kaiser who stole its port.

“How do you do it?” I asked.

“Do what?” Arexon’s hands were crossed behind its back, its feet slightly parted. It had four silver bands on its arms and four silver rectangles on its earrings. It was a silver capon, a commander, which, according to Yakubo, was the highest rank in the serf army.

“Serve the uspec who killed your progenitor. Have you no pride? It is for the best that Arigad never lived to see what you have become.” That, I decided, was for the blow that Arexon had struck at me while I was chained to the post. And for the loony that it had forced into my mouth.

Arexon flinched. The gesture was so quick that I almost missed it, but I didn’t. I smirked. It felt good to know that I had hurt the uspec. Yakubo was glaring at me. I did not care.

“You think that because you read Arigad’s last tome a few times you know the uspec?” Arexon’s previous emotionless mask was now firmly fixed to its face. “You are wrong.” It spoke without inflection.

I prepared myself for a response that would do just as much damage as the last words I’d uttered.

Arexon beat me to it. “You have been found guilty of malicious intent against the sole imperial of Chiboga.” It announced.

I frowned at the uspec. “There was no malicious intent. It was a mistake, one that I think I’ve already paid for.” I gestured towards my chest.

Arexon only glanced at it for a second before returning its gaze to me. It did not seem the least bit perturbed by my disfiguration. If I had to guess, I’d say it had seen worse.

“You have been found guilty.” It pronounced.

“Found guilty by whom? The Order of Adjudication? They are the only ones with the right to settle disputes between nobles of different ports.”

“The Kaiser is the final say in this port, and by entering Chiboga, you submitted yourself to its judgement. Perhaps if you have a patron, a landed noble from another port who would take up the matter on your behalf?”

I glared at Arexon, silently fuming.

“I did not think so.” It brought its hands forward, revealing a wooden scroll tube. It opened the tube, pulled out a rolled parchment, and extended its hand with the tube in it, to Yakubo. Yakubo took the tube.

“Would you like me to read your sentencing, or would you prefer to read it yourself?” Arexon asked. The uspec spoke calmly, as if it was referring to an inconsequential matter.

I clenched my jaw and stayed silent.

Arexon unrolled the parchment and then read from it. “The malefactor, Nebud, has been found guilty of malicious intent against the sole imperial of Chiboga, the imperial undead Sophian. In reparation for its crime, the malefactor will be stripped of its rank as banneret and serve for a period of twenty years as a serf of Chiboga. If the malefactor completes its service satisfactorily, it will be reinstated as banneret upon completion of its serfdom and paid a piece of merit for each year of loyal service. This is the ruling of the mighty undead Sophila, Kaiser of Chiboga.”

I laughed.

It was incredulous. This was why they had seen to my treatment then? Sophian was not satisfied with having me scourged, it wanted to humiliate me as well. The mirth I’d seen in the situation quickly faded.

“I will never serve as a serf.” I spat the words out, disgusted by the fact that I’d used ‘I’ and ‘serf’ so close together in the same sentence. “You may have lost your pride, but I have not.”

Arexon grinned at me.

It took a step towards me and I wished for the fight that would come. They had the magic of the fogs, so they could kill me with the boga eyes. While I did not relish the thought of death, I found it much preferable to being a serf.

“I can break you.” Arexon stated simply. “You think that you are strong, but you are not. You wouldn’t know strength if it was standing right in front of you. I can break you. I can make you beg me to serve as a serf.”

There was something so dreadfully dark and portentous in Arexon’s words. Perhaps it was the level of certainty that it uttered the words with. It had me remembering the scourging. There had been a point when the pain had reached its peak, right before I lost consciousness, when I’d been so unbelievably close to breaking. Had Arexon seen? I shook myself, pushing that thought of weakness away.

“I could do it, but I won’t.” Arexon said. It gestured for the tube and Yakubo handed it over. Arexon gave the parchment to the other soldier, and took the tube from Yakubo. It pulled out yet another rolled parchment, before handing the tube back.

Arexon did not bother unrolling that parchment. “This is the alternative.” Arexon stated. “If you will not pay for your crime against this port yourself, then your imp will pay for you.”

I advanced on Arexon and opaque fog surrounded me, imprisoning me.

“This is a writ from the Order of Fabrication, giving me the authority to reclaim your imp, as all imps are subject to the pious. Your imp will serve two hundred years in the Mine of Aurelion, and then it will be given to the Order of Annihilation. You, Nebud, will be free to leave Chiboga. We will escort you to the hangar, and you will never be allowed back in.”

My arm went out towards Arexon, but the fogs stopped me. I felt the life drain from me as soon as my arm went into the fog. I pulled it back, but I was suddenly inspired by it. If my choices were serfdom or death, I would gladly die. Giving Musa to the pious was not even an option. I stared at the fogs, hoping the death would be quick.

“Killing yourself would be a pointless waste. Your imp will still serve the sentence.”

I frowned at Arexon. How had it known? I had not even walked towards the fog. Right at that moment, the fog went away. I took a step towards Arexon.

Arexon shook its head. “Don’t do it.” It said. “If you advance on me, I will kill you, and then I will take your imp to Aurelion myself.” It stared levelly at me. “Make your choice.”

“I can do it master.” Musa said, walking forward. “Don’t worry master, I am not afraid of Aurelion. You should go master. I am an imp after all, I am immortal. Two hundred years is nothing to me.”

Musa was trying to be brave, but I could hear the tremor in its words. I remembered the fear it had felt when it realized that we were in the same burg as Aurelion. Its words that day came back to me.

“The Mine of Aurelion master. It is an imp’s worst nightmare.”

I promised to protect this imp. After all it had done for me, how could I fail it now? I shook my head. “I will do it.” I said to Arexon.

“No master…”

I turned to face the imp and shook my head at it. It stopped speaking, but I could see the grief etched into its face.

“You must affix your signature to the sentencing.”

I nodded without looking at the uspec. How had it known? It was not common for uspecs to be so fond of imps, so how did it know of my relationship to Musa. Arexon had never met Musa, it did not know I had an imp. In fact, there were only two uspecs in this port that knew about Musa. Manus and Yakubo. But even Manus did not know how close I was to Musa. It was Yakubo then. The betrayal stung. It reminded me of another betrayal. Mine. I’d stolen an eye from the only uspec who had ever treated me as a friend. Perhaps I deserved this.

Arexon inclined its head towards a surface and I followed.

It placed the parchment on the table with a pen beside it. I read the document. The wording was just as Arexon had said. I would be a serf for twenty years if I signed this document. Twenty years.

“Sophila’s eye.”

The voice in my head urged. I found the voice cajoling this time. It did not vex me as it had before. No, on the contrary, it pleased me. I signed the parchment, consigning myself to a serfdom of twenty years. But I swore to myself, that before the term was over, I would have taken Sophila’s eye, killed it, Sophian and Arexon. They would all die.

“Hold it.” Arexon ordered.

There was no point in fighting. So, I let Yakubo, the traitor, and the other uspec maneuver me. They pushed me to my knees and held me down while Arexon forced two earrings into my ear. The earrings dangled. They were empty silver chains. I was to be a soldier then, a serf soldier in the Kaiser’s serf army.

Arexon pulled out a necklace with a strange pendant on it. It dropped the pendant on the table and turned to face Musa. “That pendant declares that you have been granted free travel by the Kaiser. You can leave this suite as you please, and walk around the civilians’ camp as you please. But you are never to leave the civilians’ camp. Do you understand me imp?”

“Yes domina.”

“This suite will remain yours as long as you pay for it.”

The soldiers released me.

I rose slowly, unsteadily, to my feet. The corners of the earrings scratched against my skin.

“Take off the banneret adornments.” Arexon ordered.

I had not even thought of this.

I stared at the uspec.

Arexon sighed. “You are a serf soldier now Nebud. I do not like your chances of survival if you cannot obey simple instructions.”

The only banneret adornment I was wearing was the neckcloth, the one that covered my scales.

I hesitated, my hands by the cloth, and then I took it off.

Arexon looked at the scales for a second before looking back at me. It did not appear surprised. Would the death come now? “When you kill me, what happens to Musa?”

“Why would I kill you?”

I jerked my head, showing the scales.

“The mighty Sophila subscribes to the old Kuworyte religion. It has no problem with iriras. There are many just like you in its army.”

I said nothing.

“Come Nebud.”

Arexon marched off, but the other soldiers waited. I turned to stare at Musa, before nodding to the imp. When would I see it again? After my twenty years were up?

“Farewell Musa.” I said to the imp. I was suddenly glad that it knew that it could spend my wealth in whatever way it chose. I did not want it to suffer any hardship.

“Farewell…”

“I said come!” Arexon snapped.

Anger surged in me, and I came close to attacking the uspec. I calmed myself down by thinking of how sweet it would feel to kill it. One day. I promised my raging temper. I nodded at the imp, turned around and followed Arexon out of the suite and towards my new life as serf soldier in Chiboga.

Breakfast is Served HOT HOT !!!!



Thanks Obehid,we still need MORE !!!!

wow...
greetings obehi..noble undead..kraiser of the marked port and all its annexed port.
I will take up the case for nebud .. he only know hows to get his ass in bigger problems

Well. If this isn't another surprising turn of event. I don't know what to call it. This leaves me to wonder if this Sophila of a kaiser is some sort of military dictator—owning a slave army.

Nehbud serf army for 20years, me I shall know dat Arexon knows wat he is doing and nehbud wl eventually understand him and join his mission. Wetin nehbud eyes no go see. Thanks for d wonderful update obehid

Yeah.... Nebud the undead, from Hakute slum been bullied to the pit start by been bullied rise to become the champion to becoming free and all the way katsaoru a banneret became a fugitive and now chiboga a serf well I wonder what will follow after this and musa I believe would use his wealth wisely by his freedom gain more wealth and come back for his organ after 20years

Thanks for the update obehid this update has made my mouth sour

See turn around oooo. I am beginning to wonder if that voice in Nebud’s head is the voice of his progenitor.... Calam or Calami....... who wants and desire that Nebud claims his inheritance

Revenge when served cold is way deadly than any... Patience is a virtue my friend, patience is a virtue. Thanks for the update. Now what next?? This is a new twist. Obehid.... Obehid, are we thinking the same thing??

@Dathypebruv you're welcome, and thanks for reading MORE coming soon...

@popeshemoo lol chai, if only Nebud knows that it has a noble like you in this existence willing to take up its case...may be it would not have given up so easily.

@tunjilomo you know I write for surprising turn of events. You are right about Sophila...dangerous uspec that one

@spixytinxy hey, this your faith in Arexon ehn...what do you see in Arexon that we don't?

@phoenixchap yes oh, Nebud has really been through a lot in its life, well, we'll just have to see what happens with these serf camps

@ayshow6102 sorry for the sour mouth, maybe the next update will leave your mouth salty

@Botaflica serious turn around. About the voice in its head...I'll just say that I like the way you're thinking, and we'll see if you're right

@Tuhndhay lol, that's true, patience is really a virtue. Maybe we are thinking the same...what are you thinking?

Obehid I think that it's not every body that is following nehud journey keenly because they know that last last he is going to be the kaiser of lahooni

ayshow6102:
Obehid I think that it's not every body that is following nehud journey keenly because they know that last last he is going to be the kaiser of lahooni

Well, as long as there are still some people following the story keenly I'm okay

I believe Musa will build an empire of wealth with what has been handed to it, Nebud will not recognize what it owns by that time.

As for Yakubo, I don't have any comment yet, just I know Nebud will build an army that will be loyal to it.

Better story as always.

Pls Obehid, I have been unable to log into my okadabooks account, I need to read your earlier posted short story. I don't want to open a new account yet. How do we go about this?