Leno's will (chapter 10)

The palace stood all alone on the earth. Once upon a time three cities and four towns had thrived around it with thousands swarming through its gates every day. Now it was a lone wolf indistinguishable upon the unyielding land.

Maxan Wufang was tall for his twenty years of age. He had an athletic build honed from years of specialist training. He had sharp handsome features with his darn brown hair swept back into a ponytail. He paced across the long marble corridors towards the throne room. He was not the least bit nervous yet but he knew once he was in the presence of the robot king that would change.

He entered the throne room. It had been a decade since he had last stepped in it to make his vows and pledge his loyalty to the iron alliance. The once extravagant wonder had been stripped off to reveal a plain and diminished room. The tapestries, gold, ivory had been removed, the intricate patterns on the walls had been smoothed out and the ceilings had only simple candles hanging from them.

From the moment of entering one would find a huge red carpet leading through the hall towards the end. There Maxan stood looking up. At the end of the throne room there was a raised platform and on top were six seats. There was a huge gap in the middle with three seats to each side. The gap was covered by a curtain. Behind it sat the robot King, the usurper who deemed himself too superior to look upon the faces of his visitors.

The six seats were occupied by the machine of class X. They were distinguishable from other machine because they were made in the form of animals. Them and the robot king that is. The reasoning was that the machine considered humans to be the lowest species. They had said how humans had power but used it to start wars whereas animals had survived by pure instinct on this ragged earth.

No one had seen the class X in full. They all had padded shoulders from which huge capes hung. When in council the capes would cover their entire body whilst only their inhuman heads would be visible on top. They could have been mistaken for lifeless dolls or sculptures but their flickering eyes made it otherwise.

One of the machines made a movement. It was Owlreef, the machine whose head resembled that of an owl. It wore a gold cloak and its eyes flickered the same colour. He was in charge of gathering information, the spy network, passing judgement in council and being the general speaker.

“Maxan Wufang son of Brother Wufang son of Mater Wufang, the captured noble of the fallen nation of Golabad, you are hereby addressed as the current leader of the human foundation that has joined with us in the iron alliance. Near forty years this alliance has existed although it has never been put to use. Today is the day that our great king, may his metal rust only when the sun weeps…”

If only thought Maxan as he gazed at the curtain. He wished he could somehow make the monster behind vanish.

“I urge you pay full attention Maxan Wufang”

Maxan startled awake from his hopeless daydream. He fixed his gaze on Owlreef, at his golden eyes that held no form of life.

“Now I will recite the pact of the iron alliance so that you may remember it now and long after you have passed from this world. Upon four decades ago our great king, may his metal shine brighter than all the stars, conquered the nations filled with war and liberated them into lands of peace. In his conquest he killed many vermin who stood in the way of the better future. However our great king, may his eyes light the way for millennia, showed mercy on one hundred nobles. He also spared the lives of nine hundred soldiers. Up to this day that number has been maintained. You are made to reproduce if the number falls short and you are killed if the number increases. Now very few of the older ones live. You yourself know this Maxan Wufang. Your father and his father before him both perished when Lila Signal gave birth and when Cordin Mashbell produced her second child.

“Now today for the first time you are being employed. You will take five trained nobles and two hundred soldiers and carry out your first mission. We have many packages that need delivering. You will take them south to the dangerous land. You are not expected to travel into the land itself. Our great king, may his justice rule supreme, knows you fleshlings can’t survive there. You will travel to the border and set up camp. There you will await further orders. More details have been sent back to foundation headquarters. You will receive them when you return. You are expected to leave before sunrise tomorrow.”

Maxan waited as the silence poured in. Suddenly he remembered what Granny Childa had told him. It was his turn to speak.

“I thank you great race of metal for honouring me with this mission. I will do my utmost to make sure it succeeds. I also thank the great king who spared us…”

“I beg your pardon, are you not forgetting something?” Owlreef shot Maxan a glare. That was all he could do with his metal lifeless face anyway. Maxan remembered. He had forgotten to add a ridiculous sentence after saying the ‘great king’. Granny Childa had told him how it was usually made up on the spot but it had to concern something about the robot king and that something being complimented.

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“Ouch” yelled Leon. He clutched his head where a bruise was starting to form. Granny Childa was known to be ruthless but today she was being ridiculously menacing. “Is this because Maxan has gone off to that council thingy? Why do you have to take your frustration out on me? Ouch!”

“Be quiet silly child. They rarely ask for an audience” Granny Childa whacked Leon again. “I wonder what they want”. She walked away lost in thought.

“Hey look Maxan is back”. Leon ran towards him. Maxan saw the boy with the golden hair approaching. They were only three years apart yet their responsibilities made them worlds apart. In the light of afternoon sun Leon’s glow tan made him shine radiantly and his sapphire blue eyes reflected his curiosity as he approached Maxan.

“What happened Maxan?” inquired Leon. Many people began to gather around him. Granny Childa beat her stick on the floor to silence the rising noise. No one questioned that staff of hers. On the outside it looked like a normal wooden stick yet it was made of steel. It contained a fragment piece of a lightning core so the butt end of it could shock people and paralyse them. At the top end she could remove the covering and use the dagger hidden inside. The dagger was not ordinary either. At the top end a fragment piece of a fire core allowed the edges of the dagger to heat up. Also in the middle was a tiny compartment where she stored nuts. Back up food supply she called it. On top of that she was a skilled fighter. Sixty years she may have lived but Granny Childa showed no signs of slowing down.

“The iron alliance is finally being put into effect. We have our first mission. I will need five people from here and we leave tomorrow morning with two hundred soldiers” Maxan informed the eagerly awaiting crowd.

Some gasped; others began speaking to their friends whilst most remained silent.

“Maxan you can take Casper, Simon, Greg, Leon and Shara. Casper and Simon are strong fighters. Greg is skilled in scouting. Leon is a tactical genius and Shara can work wonders with medicinal herbs. I see that as the perfect team to escort you on your first mission. Do not worry about answering everyone’s questions. I have already received the scroll containing all the details. I will give Leon the map so that he can study the course of the journey. You go and be with Mia and Max.”

“Thank you Elder Childa”

“What! Why is he going when we need to catch up on stuff?” Leon whined. Whack. Leon stifled his cry of pain. He would not look weak in front of everyone. Yet he couldn’t say anything back. He knew he should not have spoken. Granny Childa looked satisfied and victorious at that.

“It is important that he be with his wife and son, dummy. If you hadn’t irresponsibly bedded Lila then you too would have been married and had a child by now. Then maybe you would have understood”. She gestured for everyone to follow her and led them to the assembling place. She would satisfy everyone’s questions there.

Maxan arrived to his room to find his six year old son sleeping. He was glad; he wanted to talk with Mia alone first. She was busy sharpening her sword. She turned as he walked towards her. Mia had a glum but strong look about her; Granny Childa had informed her of everything.

“You don’t have to pretend to be strong. This is the first ever mission. I know it must be scary”

“Well what else can I do? If I sit here frightened who else will give you strength. I always said you were too young to lead the foundation but because of that sword you were elevated well beyond your years. I am happy for you, really, but you know how I feel about it inside. The entire nation will spit upon us for serving under the race of metal and with you as the leader all their contempt will rain down on you.”

“You worry too much Mia. Our forefathers had no choice but to surrender to the iron alliance. If they hadn’t, none of us would be alive. If the nation cares enough to be angry at us then they should have cared enough to rescue us or at least try. They had forty long years.”

“You speak the truth Maxan. I will not deny it. But I still feel uneasy. All these years the iron alliance was just talk now it has become a reality or it will tomorrow morning. Promise me you will come back alive.”

“Of course”

“I will wake Max; I suppose you will want to talk to him”

“Please don’t tell him I am leaving, I just want it to be a normal day, at least let him be without worry.”

“Yes my love, I can do that. You can have the afternoon with him. Granny Childa said you will spend evening going over the details with the team. But tonight you must spend with me”

“Do you even need to say that Mia?”

 “I suppose not” Mia smiled. She kissed Maxan and then walked out leaving Maxan with Max.

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Leon sat studying the map. Lila sat beside him sharpening his swords and arranging his arrows. She didn’t say much. She was waiting for him to finish.

“Aren’t you going to say anything, I mean I am leaving and all”

“Leon, I don’t need to. I can read you so easily. You are damn excited to be finally travelling out of the castle.”

“That’s my girl. Now don’t you want to give me a goodbye present?”

“Ugh, even now that’s all you think about you pervert. Can’t you ever be serious?”

Leon sat up disappointed. He crossed his arms and made a childish face.

“Now you know how I am like. Why be serious when it won’t gain you anything?”

“Try saying that to Granny Childa”

“Nah, she doesn’t like it when she is not right, you know I think she is jealous of my good looks”

“Leon you idiot, why did I ever fall for you, honestly you should hear the stuff coming out of your mouth.”

Mia saw them talking with the map hanging in Leon’s hands. She walked over silently. As she neared them she overheard their conversation. For a moment she felt annoyed at how simple Leon was able to take the whole thing and how Maxan had so much more responsibility.

“Leon may I talk with you?” asked Mia as she rooted herself to the ground.

“Hey sure”, he replied. Lila saw Mia and jumped off the small broken wall they were sitting on. She turned to Leon and said, “I will see you in a bit”. She walked off without another word. Mia didn’t even look in her direction. Leon jumped off the wall. He knew nothing he could say would change anything between the sisters.

“Leon people think you are silly but I know you better. I know that you can be serious. Ever since Leno died you have been very carefree but every time Maxan is involved you are more serious. I know you regard him like a brother and he sees you the same way. I want you to remember that on this mission and so I ask you to make a promise for me.”

“Go on”

“Please can you bring him back alive Leon?”

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