The Great Legend of Salem – Chapter 1 Act 4

Chapter 1
The Earth Cave


Act 4
Vomel's Tale

During the next three days, Ray and Jargro instructed the children in how to swordfight. It seemed to come surprisingly easy to them and they were soon defending blows from a lone knight effortlessly. “Come along,” said Jargro to the children, “as much as I hate to say it, we need to leave. All of you know how to defend yourselves now, and since it is going to take us five days or more to get to Karinia, I think it is time to depart.”

“Five days?” Said Ray, “I would be surprised if you made it there in seven, or even ten, especially without horses. Since the wars have started, Lagath–um and Karinia don’t have as much of a military presence in the plains. Law and order has fallen to thievery and ruckus. Y’all are going to get attacked; it’s going to slow you down.” “Alright,” Jargro responded, “what do you suggest we do?”

Ray smiled, “Stay one more night and I’ll have a new, all metal, cart for your mule and I’ll also give you some of my best horses in morning. How does that sound?” “You’re much too generous Ray,” said Jargro, extending his hand for a handshake, “we are forever in your debt. This will also give me a chance to speak to Vomel again; I think I may have offended him the other night.”

Jargro continued teaching sword techniques to the children until evening, and after putting them bed, he went to the guardhouse to talk to Vomel. “Hi Vomel,” Said Jargro as he walked into the old wooden guardhouse, “how are you tonight.” Vomel glanced at Jargro for a moment before returning to the task on his desk, “Hello Jargro.” Jargro grabbed a chair and, sitting down beside Vomel, looked over the papers that were lying on the desk next to him.

“We need to talk.” Jargro said while placing the papers back onto the desk, stacking them neatly as he did, “I didn’t mean to offend you the other night.” “The offense was mine.” Said Vomel, “I was drunk that night. I am a failure, and I have been a failure since that battle.” Jargro shifted in his seat so that he could more easily see Vomel’s face, “You’re not a failure, Vomel. You are a great and powerful Sapphire Knight, just a little lower than the royalty of Lagath–um. You are one of the best friends I have ever had. Now what’s wrong? What battle are you referring to?” Vomel looked into Jargro’s eyes and, seeing that he was sincere in trying to help, said, “Come here, Jargro. I must show you something.”

Vomel lead Jargro into a private room at the back of the guardhouse. The room was dimly lit by a lone lantern which hung in the corner. Vomel rifled through a drawer until he found what he was searching for, turned around, and held up a tattered piece of cloth. “This,” said Vomel, “is the last remaining reminder of that terrible night.

“I was on the far side of the outer township of Lagath–um, the part of town that lies beyond the siege wall. It was the night of the fierce storm that blew the old church down. We, the Sapphire army and I, had fought the Ruby Army all day long, and we fought hard that day. The battlefront moved closer and closer to Lagath–um; there was only one hill left before we would be fighting in the town itself.

“I had been field promoted that day, and was in command of a small platoon as darkness fell. It had been storming for the past few hours, and the ground had turned to mud. I charged the front on horseback, my men charging behind me. The clashing of metal against metal echoed through the countryside, mixed with the sound of sand, which was from the warriors who being slain around me, as it scattered in the wind and rain. We were so outnumbered that I immediately called for a retreat.

“About ten other knights and I rode for what seemed to me to be a half hour, and because of the confusion of battle, along with the distraction of the heavy rain, we must have gone eastward, instead of north like we had intended. A fire was burning a short distance away from where we were, so we decided to see if anyone was there who could help us.”

Vomel turned away, wiping his eyes, before continuing his story, “When we got closer, we saw six or seven Ruby Knights drinking while celebrating the capture of two Sapphire Knights, whom they had tied to a large fallen tree and were slowly burning to death. That wasn’t the worst part though. No, it was far worse than that.

“As we watched this wretched celebration, the largest of the Ruby Knights spotted us. We froze in terror since any one of those knights could have killed us all, but they didn’t, instead that big one turned and said something to the others. Two of the his friends drew their swords and smote their prisoners, killing one instantly, the bonds going limp as he returned to dust.

“The other Ruby Knights mounted their horses and rode away, while the big one lingered around. When his bottle of alcohol was finished, he threw it into the fire, and drew his sword. We readied ourselves for a fight, but that wasn’t what the knight had in mind. He stooped down beside a body that I hadn’t seen earlier. That terrible Ruby Knight lifted his sword and beheaded the body that lay there.

“It was the most gruesome act I have ever seen a person make. It was real death. He stood there in front of us, holding the head up for us to see, and when he was finished, he rode off into the darkness. We slowly made our way over to that tree and freed the Sapphire Knight that they had tried to burn. There were a dozen or so men scattered around that old fallen tree, cold and dead.”

Vomel grabbed a handkerchief and wiped the tears that were streaming down his face. “So,” said Jargro, “those were the corpses you mentioned the other night.” Vomel nodded. “Do you know what happened?” Asked Jargro.

“Yes.” Vomel replied, “We were told by the prisoner we had freed, that they were all together, trying to obey a retreat command before nightfall. They too had gone the wrong way and had decided to take shelter underneath the big tree that was there. Lightning struck the tree, which immediately fell onto the knights. All but two of them were pinned under the tree, and while several survived, those two weren’t strong enough to help them, and the others died from their injuries shortly thereafter.

“When the Ruby Knights found them they had a heyday. The evil warriors moved the tree with ease, and desecrated the bodies in many vile ways. One of those bodies was my son, and I knew the others. They were all too young to die, but they did. Why them?” Vomel couldn’t continue any longer and, overcome by the emotions inside of him, laid his head in his hands. “It’s going to be okay Vomel.” said Jargro, trying to comfort his friend, “Trust God, He will bring you peace.” “If God really cared about me, He wouldn’t have let this happen!” Vomel shouted.

Both of the men stood silent for a moment, mentally grasping at some sort of shrouded explanation that would bring them to ease. “Those knights...” began Jargro as he sat down on a stack of boxes, “they were the reason behind the procession that was held in town.” Vomel nodded. Silence again dominated, as unease shifted about the room.

Vomel cleared his throat, “How’s your wife Jargro?” Jargro was startled by the question and responded carefully, “My wife... ah.” Jargro struggled with what he was trying to say, “Litau, passed on a year and a half ago. From that sickness, remember?” Vomel looked down in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, Jargro. I have been selfish; I felt that I was the only one who had faced this horror. Now I remember. You have walked this same path and survived. I can too.”

“Come, Vomel. Let’s go tell Ray about all of this.” Said Jargro. Jargro and Vomel stood to leave when they heard a crash from the other room. They dashed out of the small guardhouse just in time to see the silhouette of Aaron running back to Ray’s house. “What do you think he heard?” Vomel asked as he watched Aaron disappear into the darkness. “I don’t know.” Answered Jargro, “I’ll talk to him later, we need to talk to Ray first.”

On the morning of the next day, Vomel and Ray said their goodbyes to Jargro and the children. “I thank God for you, Jargro.” Said Vomel as he and Jargro embraced, “I look forward to seeing you again.” “Me too, my friend.” Was Jargro’s reply. “You kids be careful now,” said Ray, “it’s a dangerous road ahead.” “We will, sir.” said Sarah, “And we appreciate your hospitality during our stay.” The other children also expressed their appreciation for Ray and his family.

When they were all finished, Jargro and the children mounted the horses provided for them and, along with their mule and its cart, rode briskly down the path that leads to Karinia.


Sorry for the extra long delay, I will try to get next act out quicker.