TRUTH BOUND: A SHORT FANTASY STORY PART ONE

It always began in the same way – the quiet night, the flickering spark of a meteor streaking across the sky, the yellow moon rising above the clouds, her silver light gleaming off the stream that meandered between the saw mill and the palm oil processor.

Like other nights when it had happened, the brown sludge that flowed on from those two pollutants did not show. On those night everything was magical.

The thought of magic is treason. That was a treasonous thought but in the silence of the night, no one cared what he thought but him and he was soon going to do something even worse – he was going to get himself killed.

The Binder jumped off the low fence he had been sitting on and dusted his body suit with his palms. He walked along the length of the fence, dodging the night-creeper, a weed that hunted with vines filled with poisoned thorns. They usually avoided big animals and men but one could never be too careful with these plants. He had seen one wrap a goat and choke the bleating life out of it. Someone had thought it wise to plant it close to the fence to discourage leaving.

He walked on until he got to a small door built into the fence. He tested the handle and turned it. It opened without a squeak, he smiled – she had oiled the hinges as planned – smart woman.

He closed the door behind him and stood in the open. He breathed in the cool air and shivered in anticipation. He turned to his left and followed a well-trodden path away from the house. He did not turn back, so he didn’t see the two men that stepped out of the shadows to join him.

He walked on, whistling quietly to himself, obviously enjoying the freedom, this excursion afforded him. If anyone had been told about this plan of his, he would have been shut off from the world for a month or more – locked in stasis like those cosmonauts who the news said had found heaven after travelling for light years. But she had been able to keep this secret. After all, she had been keeping his secrets since he was born.

He got to the end of the path and stopped. He stood before a forest and he could still see the outline of the path into the forest but the path had not been used for centuries. It was overgrown with weeds and pale skinned trees that seemed to glimmer in the moonlight. He studied the forest then he turned to look back at where he was coming from. He could see his father’s house. The moon gleamed off its white paint and it stood like a ghost in the night. He sighed and turned back to the forest in front of him. He came to a decision, squared his shoulders and stepped into the darkness.

Some distance into the forest after, a light shimmered beside him and a wolf padded into view. It stood almost to his waist and its fur was white. There had been a furore over his choice cybo-totem but he had always loved wolves even though they were not from his part of the world. It licked it nose and stared at him with its head cocked as if asking a question.

“What? Do I look like I care if you approve or not? Don’t you want to find out? Don’t you itch to know what is behind these leaves and trees?” he asked, pointing into the forest gloom.

The huge wolf turned to where he had pointed and a soft growl rumbled inside its muscular chest. He chuckled and rubbed his hands on the wolf’s head.

“Let’s go, dog. Let’s find truth or death but let’s have an adventure while we are at it eh?” He whispered then walked on.

The wolf looked behind it and surveyed the little glimmer of silver light that pierced the forest gloom, then it wagged its tail, making a clicking sound in the night, then gears whirred and clicked and the animal bundled after its Binder.

The two men stepped out of the darkness and removed the scent muffler they had around their neck. It had hidden their scent from the canine and probably prevented a fight. They looked at each other then they too followed the two adventurers.

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The Binder trailed along a stream, following its gurgling song as it flowed to the great river that was said to gather all the waters of the beaded lands and take it to the sea. He trudged on, his eyes searching every dark corner for something, anything to prove his theory. He had almost walked passed one, when the wolf growled and he turned to see it staring at something on the ground. He rushed forward, his eyes bright, his breath puffing in a cloud around his lips. He smiled; glad about his binded wolf’s sharp eyes.

He squatted and stared at what his cybo-totem had found. It had rained earlier and the soil was still moist with the wet. He stared at the boot print that was perfectly preserved on the soil before him and his smile widened into a grin. He brought out a flat box from his body suit and pressed a button on it. The wide screen light up. He drew out the antennae, then he turned the dial to low frequency and set the antennae before the boot print. A red light blinked on the small screen on the black box then it started beeping. Numbers rushed along the screen for some seconds then stopped. He looked at the numbers in awe;

“As I breathe, a pre–clonisation artefact being used; who would dare use such an artefact as an everyday tool? This is evidence of a holy object being desecrated. Don’t you see, I was right. The council will have to listen to me.” He whispered excitedly to the wolf, who stood some distance away, his fur bunched up like porcupine quills, his eyes glittering at something some distance away, a soft growl rumbling in its chest.

“I am sorry but the council did not want this.” A voice said. It was one of the two men who had been shadowing him. The other man stood quietly to the side, his eyes on the wolf.

The speaker had a long sword in his hand. It gleamed black in the silver gleam of the moon. The Binder moved back in shock on hearing the voice, then his eyes widened on seeing the sword. The black sword meant the council considered him a big threat that needed to be wiped out. These men were assassins.

---

“But… but… this is proof that some persons are desecrating our objects of worship, our beliefs? These are the holy objects of our gods. The people need to know.” He replied, moving closer to the wolf.

“it was not your place to find it. You are not a priest neither are you a monk of any of the three holy faiths. Your family are merchants. You should have stuck to haggling and bargaining at the bazaar or at the pyramids.” The sword bearer said, walking slowly to where the Binder stood.

The wolf growled and charged with great speed but the sword bearer was faster. His sword hand seemed to flutter and a whine filled the air. The sword stuck the wolf and sparks flew as it made contact with the hound’s skull.

The Binder screamed and collapsed in pain as if it was his own skull that had torn open. He held his head and gasped, rolling on the forest floor, dried leaves crinkling beneath him. He tried to scream again but the sounds wouldn’t come out; even his voice had fled in fear. He fell to the forest floor in a faint.

Stay tuned for the concluding part.

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