The Halo Of Vakh (BOOK 1)

THE LAND AND THE SKY

Her spoon scraped the porridge off the base of her bowl. The thick and lumpy food entered her mouth as she stared at the old man sitting in front of her, his lean figure hunched over a piece of parchment with numerous strokes and splashes of ink accompanied by odd shapes and structures that stretched all over the yellow base. Quite unsuccessfully, Sapphire had tried to peek at the contents to try to make sense of the alphabets written on the bottom of the page. Unfortunately, the words had flown over her head, making no sense whatsoever.

"Where'd you find that?" she finally asked, her spoon halfway towards her mouth.

The old fellow shrugged, an odd glint flashing in his eyes as he tried to suppress a smile.

"You went into the woods didn't you?" Sapphire finally said, raising an eyebrow high on her forehead. "I heard you leave last night. Fia came in the morning and told me you headed towards Ta Dar's house."

James looked up and sighed. "I found this where one of the parties was ambushed. I thought it would be useful." He scoffed. "Only it's written in riddles and codes."

"So you found anything in it?" she said, waving her spoon around a bit.

A defeated sigh left him and he crossed his wrinkled fingers on top of the table. "It'll take time."

Sapphire narrowed her eyes at him. She had known the man for as long as she had lived; he had been there ever since she could remember, he was one of her father's closest peers; Rueen had been her childhood friend. He was the only one who had some of their family's blood coursing through his veins. Owing to all her experiences, she knew at that moment that the man was hiding something.

"What did you make out?" Sapphire asked with finality, letting James know she was not to be fooled. "You found something about the camp, didn't you? I saw that small map on the bottom corner of the page."

James lifted his eyes, frowning at her. "It does not matter if I did. You are in no condition to walk. And-" he put out a finger to stop her from speaking when she opened her mouth - "I shall not allow anyone to risk their own lives. We have too many injured and too many dead."

The silence rang around them and Sapphire chewed the inside of her cheek. James continued, his voice softer, "The people are ready to leave, Sapphire. It's for the better. We won't be able to do anything. It's only a matter of time until the Vakhor attack. They get nearer the ground with every passing moment. And if you try to even walk, you'll have to risk the consequence of never walking again."

She opened her mouth to retaliate but then snapped it shut. Thinking over all that had been said she juggled the possibilities running through her mind like a rampaging horse. "We should still go there," she finally said out loud. "Not to attack. No," she continued quickly as her Uncle proceeded to retort with a deep-set scowl, "I understand that we'll never get to overwhelm them. However, there are other things we could find."

She got a raised eyebrow in response and advanced to explain herself. "We could get information from them. I know they raid villages and cities till the people yield to their wishes. But it's never been this way. The Vakhor are above us and they still they've not left. It takes months for the Vakhor to attack after the soldiers have departed."

"You mean to say that the men are working with the Vakhor?" James asked, his head furrowed and one lip curled upwards in confusion.

"No, that's not what I'm trying to say," Sapphire breathed out, pushing her empty bowl away and leaning on the tabletop. "That's not possible. You can't have any sort of diplomacy with those vile creatures. No. I know they are driven by fear, misery and evil. No matter how much the villagers claim to be brave and courageous, fear still lingers down in their hearts. It's only natural. And there's enough evil here with those spawns of devils hiding in the mountains. What I am trying to imply is that there must be another reason for them trying to completely annihilate us."