-Six
1955 Words
"You really are stubborn, aren't you, Cromwell?"
"Ouch. Take it easy."
"Why should I? You brought this upon yourself."
"Fred!" Cromwell sat up from where he was lying on a mat and frowned deeply at the old man kneeling beside him.
"What?"
"You're pressing too hard on the wounds."
The old man, Fred, shrugged and dipped a small towel into the bowl of steaming red water beside him, then brought out the hot towel and placed it on one of the cuts on Cromwell's stomach.
Cromwell sucked in a breath in subdued pain.
"I didn't send you to fight Bennett."
"Shut up, will you?"
Fred chuckled. "I'll try to, if you'll stop complaint of the pains," he said just as he pressed the hot, soaked towel on one of the cuts again, and Cromwell hissed in pain.
"Bennett really did give you lots of wounds before the whole thing ended," he added and sat back to examine the red cuts and bruises.
"The most important thing is that I finally killed him. He needed the death. Annoying old Mujang," Cromwell spoke and gently sat up on the mat as Fred dipped the towel into the water again.
"Can't you just use your healing powers and stop this slow process?" He hissed as Fred gently brought out the towel from the water and pressed it against his bruises again, making hia face distort in pain immediately.
"I can't," Fred answered.
"Why not?" Cromwell asked through gritted teeth as he sucked in all the pain.
"Because I don't want to. Just sit still and let me do it this way. It'll heal."
"I would have done this myself if I had healing powers."
"Well, Unfortunately, you don't," Fred said, then looked up at Cromwell with a taunting smile on his face.
Cromwell rolled his eyes with a sigh and looked elsewhere as Fred continued his slow treatment.
"You should let them go. Those Mujangs.They're fierce," Fred spoke again after several minutes as he wrapped a thick piece of white clothing around Cromwell's abdomen.
He finished wrapping it around and Cromwell stood, picked his cloth and pulled it over his head. He pulled it down and picked up his sword.
"They're fierce, I'll tame them."
Fred stood too, wiping his hands in a towel. He smiled at Cromwell and walked to him.
"Be careful."
Cromwell nodded, sliding his sword into its sheath.
"And the little girl? What did you say she did?" Fred asked as he dropped the towel.
"Nothing. Just that, her eyes freak me out," he replied simply and stared into space for a moment before speaking again, "I feel she's evil."
"Are you going to fetch her again to kill her?"
Cromwell looked at his old friend, then looked towards the window.
"I don't know for now. She just seems evil to me and I feel like getting rid of her. Children like that make me uneasy."
"She hasn't done any harm."
"Are you suggesting I should wait till she causes some harm?"
"No. That's not what I'm saying." He shook his head and gently walked up to Cromwell. "I don't think the girl is anything to be worried about."
"I'm not worried about her, Fred," Cromwell cut in, turning to face Fred. "I just hate the sight of her. She looks evil. I even feel like she's going to kill all of the children there at the special home."
A smile gently tugged at the corner of Fred's mouth.
"You're concerned about the children at the special home?"
At that, Cromwell looked at Fred for a moment, then huffed.
"I'm not concerned about them. You know how much I dislike those children, but that doesn't mean I'd want them all to die."
"Cromwell, they are just children with minor disabilities. They're just the same as every other child. Just the same as Ishaan. Only that..."
"Don't you dare compare those children to my son!"
Fred looked down. "Sorry."
"Better." He huffed.
"My point, though, is that I don't think you should put too much thoughts into the girl. She's just one of these kids with minor abnormalities. Just like the others at the special home."
Cromwell said nothing for a while, then breathed out as he looked at Fred again.
"As long as the kid doesn't cross my path, there'll be no problem."
With that, he turned and walked out from the hall they were in.
There were guards positioned at strategic positions as he walked through the house.
He got to a door and stopped as he turned the knob, then pushed the door in gently.
The two occupants of the room looked up as he entered and closed the door.
"Father," the teenage boy there in the room called and smiled, moving into his open arms.
He rubbed the boy's back with a smile. The boy gently pulled back after a while with a smile on his face as well.
"What have you been up to?" He asked with his hands on his son's shoulders.
"Mother's treating my wound. Chloe got me injured again."
A frown immediately replaced the smile on Cromwell's face. He noticed the little plaster on his son's forehead.
"Ishaan! How many times will this sort of thing happen? Chloe is just a girl yet she beats you up whenever you two get into a fight!"
"She's just stronger." Ishaan's eyes began to pool with tears.
"The more reason you should be ashamed of yourself!" Cromwell spoke in anger and pushed him back roughly.
The lady in the room with them stood from the bed she was sitting on.
"You have to take it easy with him."
"That's what you always do! Support him instead of reprimanding him!" He stood, glaring daggers at both his wife and son.
"He's just a child. He'll grow up and learn."
Cromwell suddenly chuckled as he placed a hand on his waist.
"Really, Hera? He's just a child? At thirteen? So what's Chloe? An adult?"
Hera sighed and walked up to Cromwell.
She was a beautiful lady dressed in a simple gown and bangles. Her hair was in braids.
She placed both hands on his chest and looked up at him.
"Calm down. He still has a lot of time to learn."
"The weakness is simply imprinted in him! He's not focused on any of his fighting lessons with the Sirak swordsmen."
Hera breathed out and looked at Ishaan who was blinking back his tears. She looked back up at Cromwell.
"You know who Chloe is," Cromwell spoke again and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You know that she's not just anybody. She's my sister, Maya's daughter. And you know that Maya wants her daughter to take over as the sirak leader after my death. She's fighting so hard for Chloe to be next-in-line and Ishaan here isn't helping matters!"
Hera sighed again and looked down.
"He'll learn."
"When!" He shoved Hera aside and angrily grabbed Ishaan's hand.
Hera fiddled with her hands and watched as Cromwell dragged Ishaan past her and out of the room.
She remained in the room for a moment looking worried before she finally left the room and went after her husband and son.
Cromwell's parents gave birth to just two children. A boy and a girl. Cromwell and Maya respectively.
As the male child, Cromwell was automatically trained as the next sirak leader.
His sister, Maya, had this obvious dominant trait and secretly wished to be the sirak leader instead. Their parents got to know of it on time and immediately shut her down, reminding her of the story of Conrad and Byron, and how it led to separation and enmity between the siblings.
Maya backed off and everyone continued to live normally.
Nothing like that was brought up again.
Their father died and Cromwell took up the position.
It wasn't until both Cromwell and Maya had children, that Maya started to fight for her daughter to be next-in-line.
"This might lead to another b****y war," Fred had said once.
The most annoying part for Cromwell was that his son, Ishaan, chose to be a weakling!
Hera hid at a spot and watched as Cromwell and Maya engaged in an argument.
Maya looked calm while Cromwell seemed to be getting angrier and angrier.
In the end, he grabbed Ishaan's hand again and pulled him away. Hera closed her eyes, hoping that Cromwell wouldn't hurt her son.
"Father," Ishaan tried to call.
"Shut up!" Cromwell ordered harshly and closed the door to the room they'd just entered.
The room was dark, but soon, it brightened up on its own.
Ishaan looked around the room and at the strange writings on the wall glowing in green. He'd never been to the room before.
"What's this place, Father?" He asked, turning back to his father.
Cromwell seemed to have calmed down a bit.
He had taken off his shirt and was now in just his pair of loose black trousers. He had his sword in his hand.
"It's a sacred room, Ishaan. We consult Sirak from here."
"Sirak?" Ishaan looked confused. He knew that the siraks are those with powers in Shenon but his father had just called the name like it was a person's name.
Cromwell bent to Ishaan's height and began to take off his shirt. He took it off completely and tossed it aside.
"Sirak is a bird. A mighty one. It's known only to us with powers. When my grandfather, your great grandfather, Conrad gathered sorcerers, they'd awoken an immortal bird together. The bird is known as Sirak and that's how the name 'Sirak' came about."
"Is Sirak our protector?"
"No. Not really. It's just an immortal bird that we hold in high significance," he replied and stood before taking the two green head bands hanging on the wall. He walked back to Ishaan and placed one of the head bands around his head.
"Our enemies, Mujangs...They have something similar. An immortal alligator known as Ka Mujang."
"Which is greater? Between Sirak and Ka mujang?"
"Unfortunately, Ka mujang is greater."
"Hmm."
"The ordinary people here in shenon don't know about the bird."
"Why?"
"Well...They don't need to. They only know that we with powers are called siraks, but they don't know anything about the name's origin."
Ishaan smiled widely, feeling proud that atleast, he knew something others didn't know.
Cromwell tied the remaining head band around his own head and then stretched a medium-sized wooden sword to Ishaan.
"From now on, you'll be having your training classes with me. You have to be serious, Ishaan."
Ishaan gulped and nodded.
Cromwell picked his own wooden sword and very unexpectedly, brought the sword down towards Ishaan who ran to the side out of fear and reflex.
Cromwell rushed at him again and swung the wooden sword towards him and this time, he raised his own sword,making his father's sword land on his own wooden sword.
"Good. That's a block. Now follow my instructions," he said and pulled back before attacking again.
"Dodge!"
Ishaan bent and the sword went over the air above his head.
"Block!"
He raised his sword and his father's own landed on it.
"Attack!"
He swung his sword towards his father who easily blocked it.
"Dodge!"
He wasn't fast enough to dodge Cromwell's incoming sword and the sword hit him, making him fall to the hardwood floor.
"Get up, son." Cromwell gave him a hand and pulled him up.
"Block!" He continued and Ishaan did. "Spin and attack! Dodge! Dodge again! Attack! Block..."
They continued that way for several minutes till they were both sweating and breathing hard.
Ishaan spun and attacked one last time as his sword collided with his father's.
- Writer
