Chapter 16: Chapter 16 – Punishment

Chapter 16

The rest of that day and the next were uneventful. Despite his impending punishment, General Trest continued Grayson’s training, including the physical exercises. Grayson was happy to see that he was making progress. While he couldn’t tell if any muscle mass was being built, he definitely didn’t feel as sore as he did a few days earlier.

In addition, his stance was feeling far more instinctive, and he had even caught himself naturally settling into the position when he wasn’t paying attention. He would have felt pleased with his gains if he weren’t so worried about the Proving Grounds. Every second closer to the next entry had him feeling more nervous, and more guilty.

He found himself reviewing the fight with Darren in his mind time and time again. Agonizing over each detail that led to his current situation, and wishing he had done things just a little different. Grayson wouldn’t mind paying for his own mistakes, but having someone else suffer because of him was driving him crazy.

He knew he had to make it right. After thinking over his situation, he had come up with a plan of sorts. The plan was to enter the Aquadome and do his best to help General Trest survive while searching for the pearl. When he found the pearl, he would try to bond with it to see if by some miracle it was possible, and if not, he would give it to Trest to borrow more time while he looked for a way to escape.

It wasn’t a good plan, in many respects, but it was what he had. If all else failed, he could fall back on the escape plan he had explained to Brother Capso because he would do something to try and escape this place, even if it killed him.

***

Grayson woke to the bells, and groaned. He was beginning to hate the sound of bells. They meant pain and suffering. Nevertheless, he stood up and filed out of the building with the other prisoners. There weren’t many of them, despite another group of five arriving the previous day. Compared to the twenty or so that had been here when Grayson arrived, the eleven men standing outside seemed like a small number.

A lot of this was his fault. He had a hand in killing five of the more experienced prisoners here, which had been a serious blow. Prisoners with experience in the Proving Grounds actually had a fairly good chance of surviving the experience. Most casualties came from the recently arrived prisoners. So many had died two days prior that their meals had been halved.

The numbers would probably recover eventually, but Grayson was put into a dour mood by the knowledge that their own group had so many losses, and they were only one of the groups entering the Aquadome. The other groups were sure to have their own deaths as well.

How many people have died here this week? How about this month? He thought with a shudder.

Grayson was surprised at first when it was almost pitch-black outside except for torches the guards were holding. It was earlier than usual, but when they were led in a different direction than usual and eventually reached a gathering point with a pair of poles standing in the center. Several other groups of prisoners were now arriving, and it became clear why they had been woken early. This punishment was going to be attended by all the prisoners on the island, probably to demonstrate that the warden was serious when he said he didn’t want any trouble from them. The extra time was so that each group could get to their respective entrances into the Proving Grounds at the proper time after this demonstration.

A pair of guards grabbed General Trest, and muscled him over to the poles. Each of the man’s hands were tied to a rope attached to the top of each pole and stretched tight, leaving Trest standing with his hands stretched to the side in opposite directions between the two posts. The two guards ripped the sack serving as a shirt off the general before retreating into the darkness. Trest allowed all of this without resistance or complaint. Finally, torches were placed around the area to illuminate the scene.

Once this was completed, a shout rang out from the darkness, and Grayson recognized it as Lord Thran’s voice.

“You were all warned when you arrived here not to cause trouble. This is an example of what might happen to you should you fail to follow that instruction.”

Silence reigned after the statement, except for a pair of footsteps. A guard moved into the light, and walked up to the general before swinging something quickly at the general’s back, seeming to hold nothing back. Trest let out a grunt of pain, and Grayson could already see blood starting to well in a line along his spine, standing out starkly in the light of the lantern. The next blow landed, and a twin line appeared next to the first.

Grayson forced himself to watch the entire punishment to understand what Trest had done for him, but he found it hard to look after his back started to look more like a slab of butcher’s meat. At some point, the general’s legs gave out, and he hung limply in his restraints when the lashing finally ended. Bile rose in Grayson’s throat when he saw the amount of blood that had started to pool up underneath the man, glittering in the torchlight. The guard stepped away, but two more quickly replaced him and began to undo the restraints.

Nothing more was said, and it didn’t need to be. The punishment had been brutal, and even though Grayson couldn’t see the other prisoners faces, he knew they would be wide-eyed from the spectacle.

The guards simply started moving the prisoners toward the aquadome in their own separate directions.

“Hey,” one of the guards untying Trest called out. “Two of you get over here and take this one with you.”

Grayson moved immediately over, and was pleased when Brother Capso came as well. They both supported one of the general’s shoulders, and they began to help him toward the aquadome.

When they reached the entrance, the lead guard gave the introductory speech as always, and then they were forced to enter once again. Fortunately, during the walk over to the Proving Grounds, and the speech, General Trest had regained some of his strength. He no longer needed to be fully supported by both Grayson and Brother Capso, and the blood had stopped falling freely from his back, but he still looked haggard. Grayson hadn’t realized how terrible twenty lashes would be. The guards had no pity though, and they were forced through the invisible line that separated the regular world from the aquadome.

However, as he moved, the lead guard called after them. “Don’t help that man. He is to survive this trial on his own.”

Brother Capso moved off after the guard spoke, though he still hovered nearby. Grayson glared at the man, still supporting General Trest.

“Go to hell!” He shouted back, giving the man a rude gesture with his free hand.

The guard looked shocked at that, but Grayson just turned around, helping Trest deeper into the aquadome. There was no way he wasn’t going to help the general after what the man had done for him.

“Leave me.” Trest said, trying to shove Grayson away, “you’ll only end up in the same position if you do this.” but Grayson wasn’t having any of it. He just didn’t care at this point. He was going to do what he thought was right and damn the consequences. This world had pushed him every which way until now, but he had enough. He was going to fight back.

“No.” Grayson simply said, using Trest’s own teachings on stance and balance to ensure the man couldn’t free himself from his grasp.

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The moved deeper into the proving grounds, and when Grayson was sure the guards wouldn’t be able to hear him, Grayson called out to Brother Capso.

“You’ve found the pearl of ascension before, right?”

“Yes…” Capso replied, nodding solemnly. “But as I told you earlier, I don’t have any special way to find the pearl. I was simply lucky enough to stumble across the thing.”

“I know, but if you find it today, would you be willing to give it up to Trest?”

To his credit, the priest nodded immediately, looking serious. “If I find the pearl, I will give it to the good general.” Thinking a moment, he continued. “If I find the pearl, I will wait at that rock outcropping for you." He said, gesturing to a particular pointy looking group of rocks farther into the Proving Grounds. "Otherwise, I will continue searching until the horns blow.”

“Thank you.” Grayson said, tears appearing at the corners of his eyes.

Brother Capso nodded, and started moving off in a different direction, looking out carefully for dangers in his path.

They kept on moving deeper into the Proving Grounds, moving slowly to accommodate General Trest's wounds, but soon the other man spoke up.

“You know,” he said, looking Grayson in the eyes. “Saving you will have been useless if you insist on killing yourself by trying to help me. I’m a dead man walking.”

“Not if I can help it.” Grayson said, fixing the man with his eyes.

“Have you not realized that there is no escape from this island?” Trest asked with a sigh. “I respect your determination, I truly do, but in the end it doesn’t matter.”

“If that’s the case, then why did you save me?”

The general fell silent at the question, a look of sorrow painted across his features.

“I think I may have a way off the island.” Grayson said with a sigh after a long pause.

Trest snorted at that, though his sorrowful look lingered. “If that’s the case, then why aren’t you already gone?”

“I…” Grayson said, “I think I may be able to bond with a pearl of ascension."

General Trest stopped moving forward, giving Grayson a flat look. “They tested us in Silmia if you can recall. You didn’t have nobles blood, or you would not be here. What could possibly make you think you could bond with a pearl of ascension.”

Grayson shifted in place, not sure if he wanted to tell the man, but eventually, he decided to confide in him. He had saved Grayson’s life. General Trest likely wouldn’t believe him, but at this point it hardly mattered. It would be nice to get this off his chest anyway.

“I was sent here by Velos.”

Trest looked at him skeptically, and Grayson just shrugged before telling the general his story. He didn’t keep any details back, going through his entire experience. At first, Trest looked incredulous, but he simply looked more and more thoughtful as Grayson spoke. The man didn’t interrupt him once, though he did keep a careful look out at their surroundings. When Grayson finished, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. Holding this all in to himself had been weighing on him more than he had thought. Whether or not the general believed him, he was happy with his decision to share.

“You realize this is a rather unbelievable story?” General Trest eventually asked after thinking over the story for a few minutes.

“Oh yeah.” Grayson said with a chuckle. “I certainly wouldn’t believe it if I were in your shoes.”

“Perhaps, but it would explain some things. Velos has been all but silent since the calamity last year. No one knew what the calamity was exactly until now, but if it was the contest between Velos and this other god, it would somewhat explain why he has stopped communicating with his priests.”

“So you believe me?” Grayson asked, surprised.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t see a reason why you would lie to me now. There is much to your story that has me puzzled, but let’s see if we can find a pearl of ascension for you. If you are able to gain a wavelord’s powers, that would do a great deal to toward proving your story to be true. After that, if what you have said is indeed true, something must be done.”

Trest stood up straighter, and for the first time, a glint sparkled in the man’s eyes, and they lost some of their dullness. It seemed like the man might have finally found a reason to keep on living, if not for himself, then for the world of Selenya.

 

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