MUJANG (The Red Seekers)

-Two

"She's not moving," A male voice spoke.

Silence followed before another male voice spoke.

"I think she's dead."

The two men stood, staring down at the tiny frame of the girl on the ground.

She looked either 12 or 13, and her long black hair covered a little part of her face.

The two men were dressed in black shirts and trousers. A piece of green material was tied around their waists, and another piece of green material was tied around their heads.

Another man showed up just then.

He was dressed in the same outfit but looked like a superior. Both of his hands were behind him.

"What's going on there? Get her on the line!"

"I think she's dead, Master," One of the men spoke as he made way for their superior to see the body on the floor.

"Then drop her among the other corpses."

"No," Another masculine voice objected.

It was an old man.

Grey hair...

Small eyes...

His hands were tied together in chains, just like the others beside him.

The few children who were there were also in chains, and some of them were crying.

The old man was dressed in a black robe, with a red piece of material tied around his waist.

His name was Bennet, A Mujang.

The others that were chained beside him were also Mujangs, now turned captives and taken away from their land.

It'd all started years ago.

When the only existing set of people were the Mujangs.

People with extraordinary sorcery powers.

Masters in swordfighting.

Identified by the colour red, and a logo of a red alligator.

The alligator was known as Ka Mujang, and that was where the Mujang title originated.

Eldon is a place that's just one out of the many dwelling towns of the Mujangs.

In the deeper parts of Eldon is an ocean and that's the dwelling place of Ka Mujang, the red alligator.

It never comes fully out of the ocean. Most times, it never comes out at all for months and years, And if you're ever opportuned to see the alligator, the only part you'll have a glimpse of, is a little part of its red, thorny back.

Legend has it that the only one who was opportuned to see Ka Mujang come fully out of the water was a man known as Mujang Heziah, One of the very first mujangs.

He was a very powerful Mujang during his time and a close ally to the alligator, Ka Mujang.

Mujang Heziah lived two hundred years on earth and when it was time for him to die, he went into the temple of Eldon alone and never came out.

No one knew what had happened.

It was like he had simply disappeared into thin air, and never returned again.

It wasn't during the time of Mujang Heziah that trouble started. Infact, it was fifty years later during the time of two brothers, Byron and Conrad.

Conrad was the elder brother to Byron and was supposed to be made the Mujang leader after the death of their father who was the former Mujang lord.

The elders of Eldon however decided that Conrad wasn't fit for that position and then handed the mantleship over to his younger brother, Byron, who was very fit for the leadership position.

Anger and envy followed next.

Conrad ended up fighting one of the elders, and as a result, he was sent away from Eldon, never to return.

He left Eldon and within few years, he gathered his own people from the land where he settled in.

He specifically picked people with sorcery powers, and trained them in swordfighting and in all they needed to know.

They found a special settlement and named the place, Shenon.

They called themselves Siraks and chose a colour to identify themselves with.

Conrad eventually chose the colour green and the chosen logo was simply two crossed swords.

They made themselves known to the mujangs in Eldon, but steered clear off their lane. They knew for sure that the Mujangs were more powerful and more skilled and in addition, they had the great, powerful red alligator, Ka Mujang.

As years passed, though, the Siraks grew stronger and stronger, and their population increased.

They were killed mercilessly the first time they tried to attack Eldon and after that, the rest that survived never showed up at Eldon again.

The two nations were enemies, but they knew among themselves that they all had one common enemy.

Known as the Skulls. Smoke-like creatures with their leader, Darren.

Over the years, Eldon and Shenon have had that silent beef between them and now, Shenon has finally conquered Eldon. Conquered the Mujangs and taken them captive to Shenon.

The Sirak lord now was Lord Cromwell, grandson of Conrad, who was now long, long, dead.

Cromwell was raised under the great fighters and sorcerers of Shenon and also under his wise father not forgetting his mother, who'd been his advisor.

He was taught so well on the history of the land and of course, he was made to know about Eldon and the Mujangs, their sole enemies.

Cromwell was brilliant and quite tactful and he spent his younger years studying Eldon secretly. It was something he did alone and hardly anyone was aware.

By the time his father died, he had his plans all mapped out and not long after he became the leader, he put his plans to action.

To wrap it all up, Eldon was caught unawares.

They couldn't stop the attackers on time.

Cromwell had planned everything so well and within minutes, the front grounds of Eldon had turned into a hot battleground.

Powers against powers...

Swords against swords...

Shouts and cries of children...

Burning houses. Smoke-filled air.

By the time the battle got intense, there was no time at all to call on Ka Mujang.

It was a typical case of green against red.

It had been a hot battle but this time, luck wasn't on the side of the Mujangs, neither was victory.

More and more Mujangs fell to the ground, either dead or bleeding and the Siraks were having the upperhand.

In the end, Eldon surrendered and one by one, they were put in chains and taken as captives to Shenon, the land of the Siraks.

No one was spared, not even the surviving children, and not even the oldest man in Eldon, Mujang Bennett.

All were cuffed and taken to Shenon. Now here they stood in the wide hallway of the large house where Lord Cromwell stayed.

They all stood in a single row except Mujang Bennett who was out of the line and now looking straight at Cromwell who was looking back at him.

The unmoving body of the young girl was still on the floor and the two siraks in black and green were still standing beside the unmoving body.

Cromwell stood where he was for a while as his eyes roamed over the old, very old man that'd just objected him.

His eyes slowly went from the man's grey hair, down to his black and red clothing and then down to his bare wrinkled feet. His eyes went back up slowly to the old man's face. He, then, snorted and slowly started to walk up to the old man.

"I've hardly ever seen anyone as old as you are around here," Cromwell spoke and stopped right in front of him. He looked him over again, "I guess you're the oldest in Eldon."

Bennett said nothing as he kept holding gazes with Cromwell.

"Tell me, what's your name?" Cromwell asked.

"My name is of no importance to you," Bennett answered, not taking his eyes off Cromwell's.

Cromwell snorted a chuckle and shifted his weight to one foot.

"Bennett, mm? Nice name." He smirked.

"You really cannot do without your powers, can you?" Bennett's voice was calm.

Cromwell chuckled and patted the old man's shoulder.

"We all can't." His hand remained on Bennett's shoulder as he looked back at the body on the floor, "You know, here in Shenon, no one counters the orders of the leader. You know the punishment for anyone who does?" He looked back at Bennett's face, "Of course you don't. The penalty is death by hanging."

"I'm not afraid of that. You haven't experienced half the things I've experienced in my life. You're just a boy...The unreasonable, unsensible grandson of rebellious Conrad."

For a while, Cromwell just kept his gaze on Bennett's face, as if deciding whether to slap him or not. He finally brought his hand down from Bennett's shoulder and rubbed his chin.

"I'm letting this slide, Bennett. But trust me, you won't be so lucky next time." He turned back to the two Siraks standing beside the body, "Drop her body among the other corpses...and call in the other guards to take these captives outside."

"Cromwell, you have to let me check the girl to see if she's really dead. You can't just conclude things like that," Bennett spoke again and Cromwell laughed.

"Why are you so interested in the girl? Is she your daughter?"

"No. I have no daughter. I'm interested in this because the young girl is a Mujang...and Cromwell, I have the interests of all Mujangs at heart!"

"I see..." Cromwell put his hands into his trouser pockets and scanned the place with narrowed eyes, looking at all the captives. They were not much, but atleast he seemed impressed with the number.

"What did you do to Connor?" Another man among the captives asked.

He was an old Mujang as well...but most certainly, not as old as Bennett.

"Forget about Connor. I made sure he stopped breathing, so the faster you forget him, the better."

Most of the captives immediately looked downcast at the news.

They'd all loved Connor.

He was very kind and easygoing.

"Let me check the girl," Bennett spoke again and almost immediately, Cromwell pulled out his sword and swung it towards Bennett.

The captives gasped but relaxed a bit when they saw that Cromwell had stopped the sword in front of Bennett's neck.

"Talk again and you'll be kissing this world goodbye."

Bennett smiled.

"My spirit will still live, and atleast, I'll be with the guardians."

Cromwell's eyes narrowed the more.

"Don't tempt me." He brought down his sword and slid it back into its sheath, then turned back to the two guards, "Take that dead body out of here!"

The guards bowed and raised the girl's hands, then started pulling her out of the hallway.

The others watched as she was pulled out and just halfway through, the little girl sneezed.

Bennett seemed to secretly release the breath he was holding.

The two guards stopped and let go of the girl as she sneezed again.

Cromwell gently began to walk towards them. He got there and stopped right in front of the girl. He looked down at her just as she opened her eyes.

His breath seemed to cease for a moment before he released it.

The girl's eyes were strange!

One blue and one green.

"What sort of child is this?" He looked her over with disgust and then looked at the captives, "Is this the kind of thing that Mujangs produce as children?"

Some of the captives looked like they wanted to talk but they held it in.

Cromwell's eyes returned to the girl.

She was looking up at him with those abnormal, evil-looking eyes.

Not only was the girl's eyes abnormal, Her face was also covered in dried blood, and there were little splashes of it on her dress as well.

Cromwell took his eyes off her, feeling like he would throw up any minute.

"Take her out!" He ordered.

The two guards took her hands again.

"To where, Master?" One of them asked.

"The house for autistic children, of course "

"But...Master...She's not autistic."

Cromwell turned to him again.

"She's abnormal! It's the same thing! Now take her out of here!"

The guards bowed and dragged the girl along.

Few seconds after they left, other guards entered and began to lead the captives away.

"And don't think you can break out of those chains with magic," Cromwell said, turning towards the captives who were being led away, "The chains are made with a special...very special type of magic. And in conclusion, you can't break out of them."