FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE by S. K. Ng

realises that he is already dead as his head had fallen on a sharp rock that has cracked his skull.
     
         Ray signalled for Lance to come out.
         “They _ who are of them ? ” asked Lance.
         “Robbers _ they are of them and by the looks of it, killers as well, judging by the fact that they had tried to shoot arrows at us earlier,” replied Ray.
         “Doubt _ master, I do not mean to do of this of you, but was it necessary to kill the one that was trying to run away as well ? ” expressed Lance.
         “Necessary _ yes, it was certainly of this as he would have continued to ambush, rob and kill other innocent travellers, and we would have been responsible for their deaths if we had not stop him when we could have,” explained Ray.
     
         Lance went silent from Ray’s grim answer. But he still has a great deal of doubt in him.
         “Restrained _ we could have done of this to him, could we not, master ? ” suggested Lance a few moments later.
         “Evil _ men who are of this are not changeable and will never repent, though they may claim falsely otherwise; and if we had restrained him and handed him over to the Provincial Guards and he gets thrown in prison, he will be back to his old evil ways when he gets out; therefore we would have changed nothing, merely delay the same outcome. Law _ perhaps if the system of this was more efficient and perfect in this kingdom, then you would have been right, but at the moment it is not, as many a crime remains unsolved and punishments are mild; meant more for rehabilitation instead of true punishment, whereby the rights of the criminals are of more importance than the safety of the public. Saying _ one of this goes as such; a tiger never changes its stripes, a leopard never loses its spots and the demon’s heart never loses its darkness; it would have been a futile effort to rehabilitate him or even to spare his life, Lance,” clarified Ray.
         “But... but… Humans _ they were of them, master ! ” objected Lance.
         “Humans _ they were indeed of them, Lance, and as humans, they were obligated to behave as such, but they have failed to do so; thus death was the appropriate punishment for their failure ! ” insisted Ray.
         “Life _ but is not a human’s of this sacred ? ” asked Lance.
         “No ! Life _ a human’s of this is not sacred, only the life of an innocent, be it a human or animal, is; and these robbers were not innocent ! ” clarified Ray.
     
         Lance stared blankly at Ray, his mind trying to absorb the complexities of Ray’s argument, which was contradictory to what his parents had taught him. In the end, he decided that he would neither accept nor reject what Ray had said until he had sufficient experience in life to know better.
     
         The late afternoon sky began to turn dark. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked. They set up camp on the plateau a few hundred paces away and settled for the day, as climbing down the slope on the other side of the hill would be dangerous in the rain and approaching darkness.
     
         The half-moon shone its restricted brilliance upon a gigantic stone castle in the middle of the vast grasslands of the Kingdom of Serpentia. This castle lies at the northern outskirts of a large city. Inside the castle, a strong and powerful figure sat casually on his throne. His face was hard and stern. His brows were thick and his jaw was square. On his head, he wore a crown that looked like a coiled cobra poised to strike. He was bare-chested except for a large cape that covered his back. And positioned on a vertical stand beside his throne was a large sword. It was a straight-sword with a double-edged blade, and was decorated with snake motifs. Seated across the man’s lap was a sensuously beautiful woman whose dress could barely contain the voluptuousness of her body. While the man sat looking straight ahead and slightly downwards, the