Chapter 7: The secret

The last thing Armad remembered as he fell into the bottomless pit was trying to tie his sword to his body. After that, he lost awareness and finally fell deeply unconscious.

But whatever happened after that didn't kill him as right now he could feel his body and breathing. He could see some colorful things moving around him. They were tall and…

He suddenly realized his logic was flawed and he could

be dead, after all, even the dead could see and breathe.

After a long moment, his vision cleared and the image of the tall things moving in front of him became clear. They were people. Two men and a woman.

The woman threw a bottle of water at him, something that calmed his racing heart.

One of the two men kicked the bottle away before it reached him. "Why feed him?" He said, and the woman didn't object.

The man who kicked the bottle came forward with a metal chain in his hands and used it to tie Armad's hands and legs.

They tied him to a horse, climbed their horses, and ran toward the east with Armad's horse in the front.

Every so often, Armad would wake up to see his horse still running but he would fall unconscious shortly after.

He didn't know how long they had been riding when he opened his eyes next and saw him in a tent, still in chains but his mind was clear now.

He felt just fine and didn't have any pain in his body, which was surprising since the last time he regained consciousness, he couldn't lift a finger because of pain.

Looking around the tent, he saw the three men that took him captive, sitting in individual chairs that had conspicuous golden ornaments.

Lying there on the ground and being unable to move any part of his body, Armad used his eyes to study his captors.

They wore light armor which had the same expensive-looking, golden ornaments as the chairs.

The tallest among them was the man sitting directly opposite him. The next in line was the other man who kicked the bottle of water earlier, and then there was the woman.

The tallest man looked matured and should be at least forty years old. He had a well-built body deserving of a soldier. Even from his position, Armad could see his muscular body and his wide shoulders. His face was long but it wasn't apparent because of its wide breadth and prominent zygomatic bones. There wasn't much hair on his face except for a short beard that was well-trimmed and cleaned.

The man next to him, which Armad supposed was related to him because of how similar they looked, was much less impressive and young-looking. Beneath his armor, he wore a light robe of jamsik, an expensive textile that was thirty times more expensive than cotton and silk.

Then there was the woman…

As his eyes fell on her, he couldn't help but hold his breath. He felt as if he had seen her before, but he couldn't remember where. Her appearance couldn't be mistaken. Although Armad was still young, he had never seen or heard of a woman as beautiful as her, not even as a work of art or in graphic stories.

He stared at her, who couldn't be any older than him, without really intending to. Because of her unnaturally pale skin, he felt if he stared for too long then he would see the blood running beneath her skin, just like in the story of Lasína Nytingel, the fairest woman to have ever lived. The author said she was so fair that people could see through her skin during the day and at night she was brighter than a lamp.

Armad tried to shift a little but he was soon reminded he was in captivity, jolting him out of his reverie.

He pulled himself together, frowning at them. "Who are you?"

"We will be asking the questions," one of the men said. "And I won't sugar-coat it. We need you to do something for us. If you do, then we will let you go, and if you don't then…" He paused and looked at his sword as if showing it to Armad.

Armad was speechless and at the same time furious. But then he was tied up and his sword was taken, so he had no option but to listen to what they had to say.

The other man came forward. He retrieved a small, circular board from his pocket and showed it to Armad, pointing at some words on the board. The words were used to form a circle at the center of the board. "We need you to put a drop of your blood at the center of this circle," he said. His voice was calm as if he had no worries or doubt whatsoever, but his eyes betrayed him as they longed for something.

The board was no bigger than the size of a child's palm. It seemed to be originally white but was darkened by the passage of time. Its composite element resembled that of the human teeth. And although there was no sunlight in the tent, the board still shone with a faint glow.

Armad looked at the writings and he realized it was Old Aldurish. The language was extinct now. It had been replaced by Aldurish for over one thousand years. Almost everyone could speak Aldurish, but finding someone who could speak Old Aldurish was equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack, which was just to show how impossibly rare it was.

Once Armad saw the writings, he knew the people in front of him were either descendant of the five great Kings, or they belonged to big organizations because not everyone could get their hands on a written form of a language that had gone extinct.

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Armad could speak and read Old Aldurish, even though it took some beating from his mother to master, so he read it. It said the board would reveal 'the secret' when it 'drank' the blood of 'the worthy'. So, for some reason, the three believed Armad was 'worthy'. Assuming he was, what would happen if he put his blood on the board and it revealed 'the secret'? Would they let him go? It would be much easier to kill him after they got what they wanted from him.

Armad debated for a long moment. The odds were against him. He was alone and in chains with no weapon. While there were three of them and they all had weapons. If he refused, they could just cut him open and took all the blood they needed from him. But if he complied now, he might get another chance later.

"Okay," Armad said. His decision would depend on what happened afterward.

Hearing his answer, the other man came forward. He withdrew his blade and pointed it at Armad. "Now, where should I cut?" He seemed to be enjoying it as he smiled and played with his sword.

"Here," Armad said, offering his left palm.

Just like that, Armad was cut and his blood was used on the board.

Immediately after, the others came closer and surrounded him. The woman smiled at him. "Soon," she said. "The voice you heard in the forbidden city of giants will speak to you through this board. We just want to know what the voice says."

Oddly, Armad was bewitched by the sound of her voice. It was like hearing a magical siren with a calming effect. By sheer willpower, he yanked his eyes away from her and focused his attention on her words.

By 'forbidden city of giants', did she mean the ancient city where he saw the giants and heard the voice? But how did she know about it?

Armad had always been quick on the uptake. He narrowed his eyes in thought. "Nostalgia Nára?" He asked slowly. She was the only person he could think of that would know about it. If his guess was correct, then she saved him from the city and gave him the paper that allowed him to escape.

For several seconds she was silent. Then she looked into his eyes and nodded. "I have helped you," she said. "It's only fair to ask for a favor. Listen to the voice and tell us what it says. It's important to us."

Armad fell silent for a long moment until it appeared as if he wouldn't respond. Then he sighed softly. "Thank you," he said. "You saved me." Even if you did it because you needed me. "I'll return the favor. Why don't you free me now? I won't run."

The three looked at each other, and after walking to the edge of the tent and exchanging a few whispers, they returned and freed him. Armad was surprised by the gesture. Either they were confident in their ability to tame him, or there was something outside the tent that he didn't know of.

He tried to start a conversation with them, especially the princess whom he repeatedly asked questions about the forbidden city and how she found him. He was particularly interested in how she knew about the paper he received from the guardian and how she replaced it. Did she fight the guardian and get the paper from him as well? Was she another guardian? Why was her paper signed?

Unfortunately, none of his questions about the forbidden city or the dungeon was answered. Both the princess and the two men didn't talk much. But Armad was persistent. He kept asking different questions. In the end, he found out the three were siblings. The older man was Hasanu Sisiyù Nára, the younger man was Kíru Sísiyu Nára, and finally, the woman who said her name was Nostalgia Nára Sísiyu but for some reason, she preferred Zahra Sisiyù. When she said it, her brothers frowned, and the older man immediately warned Armad not to mention the name anywhere.

Armad just ignored him and tried to get as much information from them as possible. In exchange, he told them some of his stories. Of course, he didn't mention anything about his family or his quest. He revealed just enough to get the conversation started.

In the middle of their conversation, Armad abruptly fell silent. They looked at his face and then at the board in his hands.

"It's started," Hasanu said, and moved closer to Armad and surrounded him.

Armad was barely aware of his environment. There was a voice coming from the board, but, for some odd reason, either the voice spoke only to him, or only he could hear it. It wasn't as intense as the one from the city, like a diluted liquor, but it was the same voice, which was probably why he could hear it.

He remained in this state for a minute and a half before the voice stopped and he woke up. After he regained his senses, he looked at his captors with a mixture of confusion and fear that quickly turned into anger. He had a deep frown on his face. What he heard was something he didn't expect even in his wildest dreams.

His captors weren't paying much attention to him at the moment. The two men were looking at the woman with an expectant look.

Then Armad felt an alien force entered his head. The feeling was only for a moment and it was gone. And he saw the woman nodded at the men.

Upon seeing her nod, the two laughed manically. The younger man jumped around the tent wildly, shouting something about 'mission completed', 'home sweet home', and 'we found it'. It was so sudden that Armad had trouble understanding any of it.

Then the older man called the attention of his siblings. "How do you think we should get rid of the boy."

It was a question but it sounded like a statement. It was obvious he wasn't looking for answers from the siblings as he had already decided.

Armad quickly tried to come up with an explanation. He remembered the alien force that entered his mind, but he just couldn't believe they'd read his mind. Benders had a natural resistance to mind and soul Bending and, because of the nature of his djinn, Armad was uniquely resistant. Even the most experienced Bender in his village couldn't break through his mental defenses. But from what Hasanu said, an implication they didn't need him anymore, he was certain about it.

Armad silently thought about it. Despite all his resistance, reading his mind shouldn't a problem to a natural mind Bender. Although such people didn't exist anymore, that was the only explanation left.

He looked at them one-by-one. As his eyes fell on the woman, he stopped. It was her. Just before the alien force had invaded his mind, the men had looked at her and she nodded at them in confirmation. It must be her.

However, knowing who did it mattered little now. They didn't need him anymore. And after what he just heard from the voice – the secret – they would try to silence him, kill him even.

Ironically, the same people that saved him from the forbidden city of giants were now trying to kill him. The older man, Hasanu, suggested they tied him up and threw him in the sea. The younger man wanted to cut him to pieces with his blade just to make sure he was dead. The woman was silent at first. It was when her brothers couldn't decide and were trying to vote on it that she suggested something. She looked at Hasanu. "Big brother, why don't you put him up against Kiru? You can decide what to do with him afterward." As if afraid they wouldn't agree with her, she added. "I want to see my brother's new fighting style and the Bend you taught him recently."

Hasanu smiled but shook his head immediately. "No, you should wait until we get back…"

Kiru interrupted him. He looked at Hasanu with pleading eyes. "Older brother, you said we will protect Sisiya and we will have to lead our armies in battle one day, so I beg you to give me this opportunity to show my worth."

The young man looked at the ground, his beating heart audible from a distance, afraid his older brother would refuse.

"Alright," the older brother said, shrugging. "Show me what you have. I expect it to be worth my time."