Revolutions

27 - Haesan

At first, my racing heartbeat is the only sound throbbing in my ears, but when I force myself to focus on the situation at hand, the sights and sounds of the surrounding chaos become clear. Guards in orange and red scramble to the main gate, ready to defend all of us inside the palace grounds from the threat outside the walls. Onixem and I look to see where the attack is taking place—I'm looking so I know where to run to safety, she's looking, I'm certain, to see where she should to go to fight.

When I investigate closer, I notice the assault is not occurring within the palace walls, but, rather, just on the other side of them. The guards posted atop the wall point to a location just beyond them, shouting orders or directions to others below. Mortifying screams coming from the Qapauma streets reverberate my soul, interwoven with the clashing of metal and thick wooden weapons.

Knowing I can't fight it, I allow my curiosity to guide me closer to the main gate, in dire need to see what's happening for myself. I think Onixem is shouting to me, but it blends in with all the other yelling and noise while I progress toward the entrance. Around the wall, people have spilled out of a tall building made of light gray limestone and a subtly sloping wooden roof made of leaves and tree bark and onto the street, numerous bodies lay on the stone ground. Though they're at a great distance from me, some of the unfortunate victims' corpses are blackened and charred as if set aflame, likely from trying to escape a small fire that burns near the building.

Without hesitation nor warning, Onixem charges out onto the street, ignoring the commands from guards calling out to her. Occupied with the clash taking place by the palace walls, they don't put up much of a fight to prevent her from leaving the grounds, and she walks briskly into the calamity. I want to return to the safety of the palace, protected by countless warriors surrounding the Arbiter and the other Tapeu nobility, but with Onixem endangering herself, I'm also compelled to run after her and convince her to return.

My internal debate lasts only a few heartbeats, and with my mind made up, I chase after Onixem. Brushing aside the guards' feeble attempts to restrain me, I push and shove my way onto the stone streets. Citizens in their plain, beige outfits screech and scurry about the scene, aimlessly running in every different direction. Scanning the area for Onixem, I notice a large group of people fighting, a combination of wooden cudgels, some of which are aflame as though the attacker is simply using a torch, and severe obsidian swords with their multiple black blades embedded into the base of the stick.

The two separate groups slash and hack at one another, bodies and weapons colliding and brawling. It's evident that two sides are clashing: the appearance of the one group is disturbing, wearing a blood red cloth over their faces, which masks their identities by disguising facial features, and the other cover only their mouths with a green and purple scarf while a streak of black is painted across their eyes. Both sets of combatants wear simple loin cloths in shades of their side's colors of red and green. Some, anticipating a fight, had the foresight to wear some kind of armor, a protective covering made from bamboo or a thin metal draped over their chest.

I deduce that one side is Onixem's Qente Waila, the Jade Hummingbird that is seeking to rebel against the current leadership. The other side, however, is unknown to me. Because they're wearing red, and the Tapeu colors are orange and red, are they Tapeu loyalists defending the realm from the seditious faction? If so, it's curious that they would then shield their identities in such a grotesque fashion.

Seeing the palace guards employed onto the scene, they quickly attempt to defuse the conflict, swinging their weapons to bludgeon, not kill, the assailants from both sides and bring them into some form of custody. Anyone—wearing green or red cloth—who resists is then met with a swift fate, the palace's warriors swinging their swords to dispose of any combatants.