The fire had begun to die
out and as a result the chill of the night that had started to set in was
beginning to be felt by us. The giant, whose name I had come to understand was
something sounding like Gallas, reached out and pushed two more logs of wood
that were lying on the periphery of the flame into the fire. Soon the fire was
dancing merrily once again, and we turned our attention back to the Sire as he
resumed his narrative. “Let me begin by giving you a rough idea of the constitution
of the Tronix. Though there were several hundred official members of the
Tronix, the actual thinking arm of the organization was the Inner Circle, a
group of twenty, which consisted only of able bodied, mentally competitive men.
Similarly, the working arm of the Tronix, which carried out the plans finalized
by the Inner Circle was called the Sceptre. As a matter of fact, I myself was a
member of the Sceptre.
Now coming to
the plan, the basic idea was suggested by Ethan Sprem, a young boy, brilliant
all the same, whose father was a member of the Inner Circle. The father,
impressed by the idea, took it to the other members of the Circle, who also
immediately saw the immense effectiveness of the plan. However the plan was
complex and after several successive vetoes, it was decided that we go ahead
with it. After several modifications of Sprem’s idea, a plan was finalized. We
the soldiers of the Sceptre were not let in on the details of the mission. We
were told that due to the complexity of our mission as well as the fact that
circumstances might change during the course of the journey, we would be
constantly briefed as to what we were to do next. We all went home, knowing
that the next day held something out of the ordinary, and probably dangerous in
store for us.
The next day
dawned foggy and wet, with visibility close to zero. And then something
happened, something completely extraordinary, and it almost certainly saved my
life that day. I woke up early that morning, about five o’clock I should say,
and just could not get back to sleep, hard as I tried. So I decided to take a
walk through the village and see if anyone was awake. As I walked, I tried to
picture in my mind what the day to follow was going to be like. I was so
completely immersed in my thoughts that I hardly noticed the ditch that had
formed at the edge of the road where the mud had caved in as a result of the
incessant rain of the night before. Wham!! I had fallen six feet into the muddy
hole. Well, the mud cushioned my landing up to a certain extent but it wasn’t
enough to prevent my neck being snapped back. Ouch! My neck hurt so much, I
found it hard to even breathe comfortably. I knew that I would be stuck here
till the village awoke, which could be a good half hour’s wait. I sat down,
hoping some early riser would stumble across this particular ditch, without
falling in however. It must have been one of those lucky days because soon
enough, a little kid came running along the road. I called out to him and when
he came, wide eyed and a little probably a little curious to know how I landed
in such a place at such a time of the day, I told him to go ask for help.
Soon I was being
hoisted out of the pit, but with a very painful sprained neck. The village
physician was immediately sent for and I was assigned to him. After a brief
examination of my neck, he eliminated any possibility of my involvement in the
mission. Well I can’t say the chief was very pleased with my carelessness. As I
sat there watching the other men preparing themselves for the long day that lay
ahead, I couldn’t help wondering whether my accident was a, blessing in
disguise. How many of these men before me would return, only time would tell?
Another part of me immediately chided myself, claiming I had let the Sceptre
down by missing this vital mission. After all, nobody had said anything about
this mission being particularly dangerous, only that it was very important.
Now when I
reminisce about that moment I cannot help thinking how wrong, how very wrong I
was.”
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