Chronicles of Akhani - 9 - The Deal
The suffocating smoke clung to his singed skin. A glow of amber and rose encompassed all that could be seen. As he walked, he knew that he was not in the desert, or at least not the desert that he had known.
The crackling of the fires and the howls of the wind were deafening. The ground below his feet was soot and white ash. His feet burned, but there was no could be no relief. What place was this, and how did he get there?
A hot, dry breeze blew towards him carrying a small hoarse voice. In that voice, he heard “We can help you.”
“Who are you?” Akhani asked while he spun round and round trying to determine where the voice had come from.
“We are the caretakers of Achinos. We will help you cleanse our lands,” the voices replied. Each word came from a different direction.
“Cleanse it from the Doiketians?” Akhani asked.
“Yes,” the voices’ reply echoed.
“How would you do this?”
“We will make you strong. We will grant you the power to take on all the armies. We will raise an army for you from the ashes of your people.”
“What do you want in return?”
"Loyalty,” came the stark reply.
“Loyalty to what?” asked Akhani in his confusion.
“Us.”
“Who are you?:
“We have told you. We are the caretakers of Achinos,” answered the cacophonous voices.
“Are you with Catoblia?”
“She is our servant,” the mischievous voices answered.
Akhani stopped and thought to himself for a while. There seemed something off about the way that the voices were answer him. Why were they avoiding any clear name for themselves? Surely this was just a dream. There was no way for this to be real, Akhani decided. As such, he believed agreeing to terms would be the quickest and easiest way to wake up from this odd dream.
“If I agree, will I wake up?”
A suppressed, hoarse laugh engulfed Akhani. “Yes, silly Xotokian. We want you to get to work. Of course you will be awakened upon your word being given.”
“Then my answer is yes. I will help you cleanse our lands.”
As these words were spoken, a breeze circled around Akhani. The smoke formed a funnel in the breeze and lifted into the air. As Akhani’s gaze followed the smoke upwards, the smoke crashed down upon him filling his lungs. He felt himself choking.
Coughing, Akhani awoke in Zhorovna’s arms, but he didn’t quite feel himself. He felt… powerful. Jumping up, he ignored the startled look upon Zhorovna’s face and began to march.
“Where are you going? We cannot return to camp! There are Doiketians lying in wait!” Zhorovna cried as she tried to stop the small-yet-powerful Xotokian. But, her feeble attempts to slow her master proved fruitless and only made his mind more fixed.
That is the way that the journey went until reaching the final dunes. At the base of the last dune, Zhorovna fell to her knees and tore her cloak.
“Oh gods, what have I done? Have I failed you? Have you abandoned us?” she cried from her penitential posture.
“There are no gods,” Akhani hissed. “We must protect the region ourselves. There are only caretakers and parasites. The parasites must be cleansed.”
Tears streamed down Zhorovna’s face as she saw Akhani’s eyes glow with a hatred that she had never before witnessed. His rebuke had cut her straight to the heart, and she had been struck dumb. The question came to her if he considered her, too, a parasite.
Akhani boldly strolled into his camp. He made no pretense of stealth.
“Show yourselves, vermin!” Akhani howled.
At this, the enraged Doiketians pounced from their spots. Two behind, one ahead. One with sword, two with spear. The spear-men lunged thrusting hard toward Akhani. Akhani spun and redirected the one spear with his blade. Sand shot up from the crashing spears giving cover for the nimble Xotokian. He ran up a spear, and slit the throat of spear-man who was in front of him. He parried the attack of the swordsman and kicked his face.
The remaining spear-man gave one more lunge from behind, but the spear found the swordsman’s leg. The swordsman fell limp from the pain, allowing Akhani to focus on the disarmed spear-man. Seeing Akhani’s glowing red eyes, the spear-man panicked. Stepping back, the Doiketian tripped over his own feet, while Akhani casually strode up and sunk his blade deep into his chest. The gargled scream reawakened his companion from his state of shock, but Akhani was too quick.
Cutting off the swordsman’s hand with his blade, Akhani flashed a menacing smile to his victim.
“I will let you live, if you do one thing,” Akhani hissed.
“W-w-what w-w-would you have me d-do?”
Akhani’s merciless stare cut the Doiketian to the bone. “Withdraw your people to the coasts. I do not wish for you to soil our lands any longer."
“I-I-I d-d-don’t have that authority,” whimpered the spearman.
“Useless,” Akhani muttered slitting the man’s throat. The sight of the blood mingled with tears pleased something deep inside Akhani.
–
A young Doiketian boy was playing at the edge of the outpost on the rim of the desert. He kicked his ball down the desert road as he hummed the few nursery rhymes that he knew. No danger had ever entered his life until now.
The ball came to a sudden stop. A large, black paw pressed down upon the ball. Its claws extended puncturing the soft toy. The boy sobbed until his dying breath.
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