Arthen: The Man of the East -- Chapter 9

 

9

 

First Encounter

 

The night on a full bloody moon the palace welcomed the people of Gorge City.  The men were dressed in a casual wear.  The women wore dresses.  The banquet was an open buffet for the citizens, and the band played melodies for waltzes.  They were required to wear masks to cover their identities.  Jules eyed the men and women from a dual stairwell.  He searched for someone out of the ordinary.

There was someone in a corner isolating himself from the crowd.  He was wearing teal casual clothes along with a turquoise mask.  Jules whispered to some assistants to keep an eye on the man in the corner.  He welcomed his guests by shaking some hands.  His wife made her way over to her husband.  The queen and king had the first dance of the night.  Then others followed in suite.

The clock was fixing to ring at midnight.  The ball and banquet were getting to a closing ceremony.  High Ruler Jules raised his glass and gave a toast for the evening.  People started leaving slowly.  The last soul to wait patiently was the mysterious man in the corner.  He approached the high ruler.  There he exchanged some words.

“You were searching for my mother and now I’m here searching for a reason on another matter.”

The High Ruler demanded for the mysterious man to remove his mask.  The mysterious man did so for the high ruler.  There he said that he has never seen you in this city before.

“Squaz was what I’m called.”

He bowed to one knee for a kind gesture towards the high ruler.  Then smoke spurred out from the windows.  It was a smoke screen for Squaz to leave unharmed.

High Ruler Jules shouted for an entire search of the palace and its grounds for the intruder.  Guards rushed out from their positions and used handheld torches for light.  Jules ordered his bodyguards to search in his personal quarters.  He needed to get some sleep for a new day tomorrow.  Squaz stood on the outside of the main gate.  He laughed when his eyes spotted the guards searching for him.

Then three people with goggles and masks kidnapped Squaz from behind.  They placed a black mask on him.  There they tossed him in a metal crate that was on a carriage.  The driver whipped on his four horses.  They stormed away from the palace.  They halted in the slave district warehouses.

Squaz was tied to a wooden pole.  He was blindfolded and gagged.  In front of him was rebel leader with three others.  She removed the cloth over his eyes and mouth.  She commanded Squaz to know who he was directly.  He mentioned his mother, Sammatha.

“Squaz was my name.”

The rebel leader introduced herself as Puggle, the one on the left was Leo, the one on the right was Mikey, the one in the center was Donnie.  She wanted to know what his plans in Gorge City were.

Squaz waited for some time.  He didn’t know whether to trust Puggle, Leo, Mikey, or Donnie.  He replied that they could earn his trust by cutting this rope off his wrists.  Puggle sliced the ropes off the wrists of Squaz.  That was the first reason for trust between Squaz and his new friends.

She showed him where he could sleep for the night.  Then in the morning we can chitchat about the true reason on you in Gorge City.  He thanked her with a handshake.  He sat on the wooden floor in a meditation form.  He needed to reconnect his mature body with his spirit.  It took Squaz thirty minutes until he woken in the spirit world.