Covenant: Exodus

Chapter 14

Tarrin stood on the hillside looking out into the city, brushing a strand of his long brown hair out of his eyes and tucking it behind his ear. What have we done? He thought to himself as he closed his eyes, a breath shuddering through his body. It had been over a week since the attack on the temple, and still, Tarrin found it difficult to think back to that night. Everything had happened so fast...the gathering...Noah and his ultimatum...Jakon and his impassioned response. Tarrin had instantly agreed with Jakon, although now he had begun to wonder if that had simply been because of his already strong dislike for Noahim. From the first day that Noah had come to live with the other boys in training, Tarrin had resented the boy. Everyone treated Noahim differently than the rest of the boys. The one. So smug...so arrogant...after all, did they not all have the gift, were they not all special in that regard?

Tarrin had heard the older men speak of the times before Noah was born when the citizens respected all of the Mul'Ki equally, but that had indeed all changed the day that the Bala'Ra had sought him out and fulfilled the first part of the prophecy, and now Noah had drunk from the Jala'Kim. At that moment, he had shown that he was the one the prophecy spoke of, and yet Jakon had insisted that it did not matter. He insisted that the prophecy was as useless as the man himself...still, Tarrin could not avoid the gnawing feeling in the back of his mind that what they were doing was wrong. They had destroyed the temple, attacked their own brethren, even killed many Mul'Ki that night. How could killing gifted men be the answer? he thought.

Some of the men that had perished that night had been friends of Tarrin's, men that he had grown up with, men whose only crimes had been following the orders of their high priest. A tear began to well in the corner of his eye as he thought back on the countless memories he had with many of the men. "What has you so troubled son?" a voice spoke into the silence of the morning, and Tarrin spun quickly around, his breath catching in his chest as Jakon approached, Kaylan slinking at his side. "Tell me your troubles, and I will do my best to help."

"I am fearful Jakon," Tarrin said slowly, "Fearful that we have done the wrong thing. Attacking the temple...men died at our hands..."

Jakon pursed his lips and nodded his head slowly, taking a moment before responding. "I too lost friends that night Tarrin, men that I had known for centuries, men that I served beside. I feel the loss as deeply as anyone...," Jakon reached out and placed a hand on Tarrin's shoulder, "but make no mistake, this was not our doing. Noahim forced our hand. The moment he banned anyone that does not agree with his way of thinking from the temple, he sealed his own fate. His ego has run unchecked for far too long. Let me ask you this...does it seem to you that someone worthy of the post of high priest of the Mul'Ki would so greatly fear a differing of opinion from his own that he would cast out anyone who dares think for themselves?"

"No, it does not..."

"Exactly," Jakon said smiling, "by his own actions he proved to be unworthy...proved that he needed to be removed."

"I agree with that, but why destroy the temple...why kill those that chose not to agree with us...are we not guilty of the same pride and arrogance as Noahim then?" Tarrin asked cautiously. For a moment, he thought he saw what looked like a flash of anger blaze across Jakon's eyes, but it was gone before he could be certain and replaced again with that kind smile.

"The temple needed to be destroyed to send the message to the people of Atla that a new day is upon us," Jakon said, his voice growing a harder edge to it now, "No longer will we be slaves to the old teachings, slaves to the whim of the non-gifted. No longer will we allow those that cannot even wield the Ari'Yet to decide who the high priest of the Mul'Ki is. We are the Mul'Ki, we shall decide who leads us. The people had their chance, and they chose to put a boy in charge of the greatest order of men that has ever lived...but no more. We are not here to serve them...indeed they are here to serve us...and I intend to remind them of our great power. The gifted that were lost when we destroyed the temple were a necessary sacrifice, a means to an end. Have you not noticed that the people now look at all of us the same way that they once looked at their precious one...Noahim?"

Tarrin thought before answering, "I have noticed that the people now regard us differently, although it seems to me that it is not the same way that they look at Noah..."

"In what way?" Jakon asked in a low voice.

"Well...," Tarrin said nervously, his eyes shifting as to not make direct eye contact with Jakon, "when the people look at Noahim it is with a mixture of awe and respect. When they look at us now...at this new order of the Mul'Ki...I see only fear."

Jakon smiled triumphantly, "Fear is respect, young one, but understand I care not if men that are below me respect me. I only care that they do as they are told, which is why we must show the people that we are to be feared because if they are scared, they can be controlled."

Tarrin nodded as he tried to take in what Jakon was saying, "But why must we control the people?"

"Ahhh...," Jakon said smiling, "that is the most important question you have asked thus far. We must control the people to protect our way of life. Atla is an amazing place, but it is not because of the millions of citizens that live here that we have achieved so much...no, it is because of us...the Mul'Ki...and yet it is a non-gifted man that serves as our king. It is the non-gifted that force the brethren into serving them in their menial tasks. All the while, we should be being served by these very people so that we can focus our energies on more important pursuits. How far could Atla have come if the majority of our time was not spent dealing with daily trials and tribulations of the non-gifted? Just think of how much we could do if we were free from the tasks of ordinary men...and in the end, these same men will benefit from our greatness, their lives will be improved by their very service to us."

Tarrin looked unsure, but Jakon sensed that he was close to seeing his point of view, "Tarrin, I know that this is difficult. What I am asking of you is not an easy task, but greatness comes at a cost. You can be great Tarrin, I want you to be my second in command. I need someone like you, someone young...someone hungry who can help me rally the other Mul'Ki when the time comes for war, and believe me that time will come."

"War?" Tarrin said tentatively, "War with who?"

"War with Noah and the people that choose to follow him. It is not my desire, but can you not see that his blind adherence to the old teachings make him a danger to everything that we are working towards? He will always maintain that we should serve the people, that ordinary men are our equals. He will always believe that all of the answers lie in the past...but they do not. I have witnessed with my own eyes the upheaval of Ratam, and I agree with Noahim on one point, that trouble may be coming...but I believe that his insistence on following the teachings of the ancients will mean the destruction of everything that we have created. If we are to stop this impending disaster, we need to have every Mul'Ki searching for the solutions here...and now...we must not be distracted by the old ways. That is why we must continue to portray a strong and unified front. We must continue to inspire fear in those that look upon us...this fear may well be the only thing that prevents a war..."

Tarrin was nodding now, "I understand Jakon, and I agree with what you have told me. It is not going to be easy, but I believe that you are right, that for the good of everyone we must proceed with this plan. I do not, however, understand how I could possibly be your second in command. I am not even Mul'Ki, I have no RaSheen, the older men will not listen to me."

"Then you make them listen!" Jakon said loudly, his eyes flashing again, "and as for you not having a RaSheen, I was thinking we could do something about that..." Jakon stepped aside and from behind him a small orange and black tiger strode into the clearing. Tarrin watched in awe as the cat walked over to him, sniffing the air around him and crouching low to the ground, muscles rippling beneath its beautiful coat. "This is Tora..."

Tarrin simply stared with wide eyes, "She is beautiful," he said in a whisper, "but how can she possibly be my RaSheen? I have not undertaken the quest; how will she choose me?"

"The bond can be forged in many ways," Jakon said with the slightest hint of a smile, "if there is one thing that the ancients were good at it was hiding information from us, but I have begun to unravel many of the old teachings, and to glean the hidden knowledge and the power within. I now know how to force the bond of the RaSheen, so go and gather as many of the young and uninitiated men as you can find, bring them to me at the Jala'Kim. Today we will begin to build our army...an army that you will lead, Tarrin...an army that will strike fear into the hearts of all that even hear a whisper of it..."