In his own mind, Ru Meng saw himself as a child. A helpless child. Like Rayyan’s child.
The child wasn’t much older than himself. Ru Meng wondered how much he saw. Did he see the dagger dragged across his father’s throat? Did he look into his eyes and see something? Or did he only see a body lying in a red pool? Did he understand that that was his father? Would he have understood what death meant?
Ru Meng’s heart beat uncontrollably. His hands and feet felt both too cold and too warm all at once.
What did death mean? His mother had died a long time ago. His father never let him forget it was the British people who did it. His uncle had died recently, in front of his eyes. Ru Meng could never let himself forget. It was his father who did it. Death was a sinking feeling. He felt it deep in his belly as his uncle’s blood cooled on his face and somewhere in his heart as his uncle stopped moving. When you die, you sink and sink until you are nothing.
What had he done? He killed someone. He did it. Rayyan was a bad person, Ru Meng knew as much, but did he deserve death? Did anyone deserve death? Ru Meng tried to remember Rayyan’s last moments, only to realize that Rayyan had been unconscious. How scary it must have been; to not be conscious for your own death.
Fear spread through Ru Meng’s veins like frost. He was the one who killed Rayyan. He could feel his blood surging in his body, sloshing under his skin. His father’s blood. Now more than ever, Ru Meng realized, he had become just like his father.
The revelation only confused Ru Meng even further. Why was that such a bad thing? He loved his father; he was sure of it. So why was he afraid of becoming his father? Ru Meng tried to imagine himself in front of his father, imagine his father praising him for what he had done. For what he had done. Ru Meng raised his hands and saw that they were bloody with someone else’s life.
Ru Meng curled into his own mind. He was tired. He didn’t want anything anymore. Everything always ends in death. He was fine where he always was, cast in darkness, blind to everything and unseen by everything. He was tired.
Time passed, slowly, or perhaps quickly. It was impossible to tell. Minutes and hours felt the same. Ru Meng paid no attention to anything and let his heart be nothing. Hollow and empty. No pain, no anguish, no grief. It was peaceful.
It might have been seconds, or it could have been years. Ru Meng was satisfied to be numb like this. He would have been satisfied to be numb like this forever, but a strong sense of unease gnawed inside him, inside his heart, that should have been hollow and empty. That should feel nothing. The unease grew and grew as he lay there in his own mind, trying to think of nothing.
Something wasn’t right. He had forgotten something. Something important. His heart ached, as if it was bleeding bloody and raw. It hurt, hurt like a warm light shining into his eyes. What was it?
“Ru Meng!”
A gentle but desperate voice rang out by Ru Meng’s ear and pulled him out of the depths of his own mind. It was like a thin veil covering his face had been shattered into a thousand pieces. Light poured through.
Ru Meng suddenly realized that he was somewhere else. He was inside a large hall carved out of stone. The aching inside him intensified. He looked around, searching for the cause.
“Ru Meng, please!”
He recognized the voice. It was Vardan’s. Ru Meng looked up and saw the kind, familiar face looking at him, his expression frozen in worry and distress. Ru Meng looked to his side, only to see a horrifying sight. His heart dropped, writhing in pain.
Hakimi was holding on to the stump where his right hand used to be. Blood dribbled freely from between his fingers, gathering into a pool on the stone floor beneath. His face was pale but stubborn, his eyes fixed on a menacing, muscular man standing on top of a set of steps. Vardan stood beside him. He had taken off his shirt and wrapped it around Hakimi’s injury to slow the bleeding.
Ru Meng immediately ran to their side, panting as he tried to help somehow. How did this happen? He couldn’t help but feel like it was all his fault. It was horrible.
“The sword, Ru Meng, heat it up. We can use it to stop the bleeding,” said Vardan as he pointed at a sword on the ground. A bead of sweat traveled down his forehead, past the ugly brand on his cheek.
Ru Meng didn’t understand fully what he was supposed to do, but he lunged for the sword as he recited the Spell of Metal-heating. The blade started glowing a bright red as it heated up. Ru Meng dragged the sword against the floor as he handed the hilt to Vardan.
A certain guard winced to see his sword being treated so poorly. Meanwhile, Fang Chen Yu stroked his beard in amusement as he reassessed the last child of the group. He finally understood one of the reasons why three children had managed to kill Rayyan. Magic.
He grinned at Hakimi and said, “Agreed. We are even.”
He then turned to the man in dark robes and instructed, “Kai, please make sure our guest doesn’t bleed to death in our hall.”
Kai, the man in dark robes, immediately strode forward. He flicked his wrist and Vardan’s hand suddenly froze in mid-air, dropping the sword onto the ground with a clatter. Ru Meng saw a silver-backed spider on Vardan’s hand. Kai shoved Vardan aside as he muttered to himself, “Primitive.”
He then took out a vial of liquid from his wooden box and poured it onto Hakimi’s wound. There was a sizzling sound as the liquid cleansed the stump. He raised one hand over Hakimi’s stump and a flurry of insects flew out of his sleeve. Some of the insects burrowed themselves into Hakimi’s flesh, while others just started gnawing away. It was a horrible sight to behold. Vardan seemed extremely worried about this ‘treatment’ and Ru Meng couldn’t help but look away. They were extremely uncertain about this man and his methods, but they could not deny it was effective. Just mere minutes later, the bleeding had stopped entirely. Kai applied an expert bandage over the injury.
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Having accomplished his task, Kai waved his hand to recall his insects before walking back to Fang Chen Yu’s side. The three children exchanged uneasy glances at each other. At least Hakimi was no longer in mortal danger.
“You’re welcome,” said Fang Chen Yu as he sat back on his throne.
Hakimi bowed deeply and so did Vardan, who grabbed Ru Meng by the head and made sure he bowed as well.
Hakimi looked up, pale-lipped and trembling, but still standing on his own two feet and said, “Forty kilograms a week until the Darktide, you have my word. And you will pay me the same price as before?”
“Five kilograms of rice for forty kilograms of magistones,” replied Fang Chen Yu.
Five kilograms of rice. Ru Meng had never seen that much rice in his entire life. He couldn’t even imagine it.
“Will you provide protection for our operations?”
“Only if you tell me how to find the magistones,” Fang Chen Yu said with a smirk.
Hakimi nodded. They had expected this outcome. Rayyan had been running the mining operation on his own as well. It was stupid to expect any favors from Fang Chen Yu.
“You will guarantee that your men don’t try anything funny?”
Fang Chen Yu shrugged and said, “I will give them orders not to interfere with you.”
But no guarantee that they won’t do something of their own accord. The boys looked at each other, all of them following the subtext of the conversation.
“And if I’m looking for shelter for my companions during the Darktide?”
“You pay the same price as everyone else. I don’t give discounts. Not even to the people who work for me, much less someone who hasn’t proven themselves. Four kilos of rice per person,” said Fang Chen Yu while putting up four fingers. He paused for a moment and smiled as he said, “Of course, we welcome any helping hands at the garrison at no extra cost.”
Hakimi nodded solemnly.
“Very well. You may leave now. I look forward to my next delivery of magistones in two day’s time.”
The boys bowed once more before the guards escorted them out of the hall. They walked past the giant gate guardians and up the tall set of stairs, where the guards finally left them. Hakimi almost seemed to fall unconscious the moment they exited the hall and Vardan had to prop him up by his shoulder.
“Not here,” Hakimi had to muster every last bit of strength in him to spit out those two words.
Vardan and Ru Meng knew what he meant. Together, they supported Hakimi and hobbled down the first tunnel they came across, away from the Red Cliff.
——————————————————————————————
The guards limped their way out of the great hall. Only the dark sorcerer and his lord remained. The room was silent for a moment and neither of them moved, as if both were expecting the other to talk.
Kai decided to speak his mind first, “My lord, was it wise to let them off so easy? The loss of Rayyan is not that easy to replace, even if the kid’s claim is to be trusted.”
Fang Chen Yu breathed out of his nose and said, “I don’t want any more unexpected variables, not at this juncture. If he is able to deliver the magistones, then all the better for all of us. The kid seems like he could be a valuable pawn. If he doesn’t deliver, we can deal with him after our plan. It would be best if we had a good stockpile of magistones for what’s coming, but that’s not the most crucial thing.
Have you heard from your master? How are preparations on his side?”
Kai bowed and replied, “Nothing yet, but Master is making progress. He asks that you give him more time.”
Fang Chen Yu grunted, “Fine. I have trust in your master, but make sure he understands how important this is. We won’t get a second chance at this. There is no better opportunity than the Darktide.”
With that, he got up from his throne and strolled into the back of the hall. Only Kai was left in the hall, his back still bent in a bow.
The fires in the hall flickered in the wind. The dark sorcerer’s shadow quivered.
——————————————————————————————
“Careful. Don’t let…any…follow…” said Hakimi, struggling to keep his eyes open. Vardan and Ru Meng knew what to do. They had discussed this earlier. There was a possibility that Fang Chen Yu or perhaps other unaffiliated parties might be interested in tracking down the location of their mines, whether to raid them or to find out the secret behind Rayyan’s impeccable ability to find magistones.
Vardan led the way, having more familiarity with the tunnels of the Nameless Town. He turned down strange tunnels and odd alleyways, bringing them through narrow slums and a sprawling marketplace.
“The market,” muttered Ru Meng. Where he had wanted to go initially. His thoughts fluttered back to his father for a brief moment. He had to hurry.
“Yep, the market. Not a good place to be. Especially not with us looking as vulnerable as we are. Come on, I know a shortcut,” Vardan said, before turning into what seemed like a dead end.
He pried a stone loose, revealing a narrow passageway.
“Through here. It should lead us back to one of the further tunnels. No one should be able to follow us from here.”
Vardan was right. The passageway was narrow, just barely enough for a person to squeeze through. A fully-grown adult would risk getting stuck if they tried to worm their way through. Ru Meng went first, holding the lamp in his hand. Then, slowly, with a lot of help from the others, Hakimi got into the passageway and inched his way through, followed closely by Vardan. As he entered the narrow tunnel, Vardan picked up the rock and sealed the tunnel shut behind him.
The three boys emerged on the other end and quickly found their way to a familiar tunnel. All they had to do now was walk back the way they had come.
Hakimi seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness, sometimes jolting and straightening his back when a sudden wave of pain passed through him.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, so softly that barely anyone could hear.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, glancing at Ru Meng. Ru Meng knew what he meant. Most of this had been Hakimi’s idea, including killing Rayyan and confronting Fang Chen Yu at his lair. Ru Meng simply shook his head. Bad things had happened, but he knew it wasn’t Hakimi’s fault. He didn’t feel a single shred of anger at Hakimi, only at himself. Somewhere in the back of his head, Ru Meng knew he could have done more; and if he had done more, things might have turned out differently.
Vardan placed a hand on Hakimi’s head and rubbed it warmly. For a brief moment, Hakimi looked like the twelve-year-old child he was supposed to be.
“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I let the both of you go through this. You are just kids. I should have been the one to finish off Rayyan,” Vardan said, trying his best to choke back tears.
It was Hakimi’s turn to shake his head.
“You’re the kid,” he said before wincing in pain again.
Ru Meng couldn’t help but let out a giggle. Despite all the fatigue in his bones and all the pain in his heart, the only thing Ru Meng felt like doing now was laugh.
The three of them trudged, one step at a time, back to their friends, back to those waiting for them. The oil lamp glowed. Their steps echoed. The caves were quiet. The air was warm.
They were safe.