LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - THE RENEGADE IMMORTAL - SECTION 13

Zaur Stugr remained pensively silent for a time; moreover, there was a marked skepticism in his narrowed, hard eyes that showed he was hitherto unconvinced.

01 A ZAUR STUGR JP (5)

Deizvor had been deemed until then, a mastermind linguist of the known world’s vernacular, and had furthermore, excelled in deciphering the most remote and varied indigenous groups’ sign-languages. This strange dialect which confounded (mystified) him, had to have been a most recent, ingeniously devised means of communication; if so, this warranted a prompt, in-depth (thorough) investigation into this matter. Kozurs’ linguistic team, soon put to the task, must decipher (decode) and then pass it on to their most trusted agents in Korion (and other foreign lands), before the predictable consequences could be amplified.

Zaur nevertheless curtailing his impatience sternly motioned for Deizvor to carry on with his report.

"Despite my exasperation I was reluctant to leave and stood my ground so as to note their every action.  At one point they received what looked to be a set of written instructions from him, one can only presume that it was, directive for their next assignment.  Unfortunately, after reading the contents and nodding their acceptance, they tore it in half and consumed it.  Then, at the apparent conclusion of their business, the contact thrust a money pouch (for future expenditures) into Hugen’s hand and summarily took his leave.  I debated, of course, whether to pursue this newcomer or to persist with the surveillance on those two birds (spies) who had their heads together and looked to be hatching more plots.  Also, I wanted to see where they would finally end up and if need be, arrange to have a backup to continue on with the shadowing, while I promptly returned to relay my report. "

"And this was done?"

"Yes, sir," Deizvor hastily imparted their present whereabouts.  "Even though their contact could not be traced, we had these two fully covered, sir.  They ‘ll be dogged wherever they go from now on."

Zaur looked down to hide the anger in his eyes.  “Fool!  They’d already found you out… They were playing you.”

“What a waste. You should have gone for reinforcements the moment they made contact and apprehended all three.”  But then, Zaur did not encourage that kind of initiative.  Deizvor, after all, had done exactly as he’d supposed to.

"When they switched back to Korionese what they said took me by complete surprise." Catching Deizvor ' excitement, Zaur Stugr looked up.

02- DEISVOR

Deizvor was shaking his head and had begun to whisper in a barely audible voice, "Now I know for certain the identity of the assassin.  The Kontu emissaries were grievously wronged.  It was all a diabolical deception concocted by no less than KeTizan, Chief Minister of our formerly trustworthy ally, Xexos."

"Xexos is it then?"  Zaur exclaimed in an incredulous voice, frowning; he was fast losing his patience. “It’s a pity your presence was detected.”  Relations between the subjugated Korion and Wenjenkun's catspaw, Xexos, had always been strained.  Zaur had already deduced that Korion was behind the plot and the lengths to which their spies went to feed the patently false information about Xexos only strengthened his suspicion.

"Yes, sir, Xexos …  They were behind it all.  Who would have thought it?  Nevertheless, we now have sure confirmation of that fact."  Deizvor checking his rising doubt, nevertheless, went on to repeat, word for word, the ingeniously implanted evidence the spies had fed him.  "These Korion spies, I later learned through discreet investigation of the sources they alluded to in their conversation, were part of an independent body of observers and couriers.  Wizened to the plot against Sovereign Zakhertan Yozdek, they had been sent on to obtain a firsthand report of the developments in our country."

“At best it is more likely that they were sent here to get an independent view of the actions taken by Korion's emissaries and relay it back to their King without delay.  In the worst-case scenario, they probably had orders to assassinate those same emissaries should things go awry.” Zaur Stugr inwardly scoffed.  “Xexos, indeed…  As if we would be so gullible; so easily be duped into fighting their border wars for them.  Would they never learn?”  Zaur continued to listen with remarkable restraint to Deizvor s' specifics about the supposed conspiracy, mildly amused at times, by the tale they’d spun.  Once Deizvor had finished Zaur promptly dismissed him without comment and had just finished preparing for a return to his office when the arrival of a special courier was announced.

This night had been particularly long, too long.  Zaur’s temples throbbed, and he rubbed them absentmindedly to relieve the pressure building up then looked up to acquiesce sternly, "All right, bring him in."

The courier was briskly ushered in.  He advanced smartly all the way in, to abrupt halt before the desk.  He bowed respectfully then, reaching into his inner pocket, withdrew an envelope which he presented to Zaur.

Zaur Stugr briefly examined the familiar seal for tampering and smiled.  It was from one of his best recruits.  "How is he?" he asked the courier, studying the man's reaction from the top of his downcast eyes.

"He anticipated your question, sir, and bade me to tell you that he is faring handsomely, having made great strides.  He hopes to furnish you with more proof in the coming days that is if his proposal goes through smoothly, without undue hindrance from the one he said you would know."

Zaur Stugr appeared pleased with this cryptic message and, with a closed smile, relayed an equally esoteric (arcane) reply of his own before he dismissed the courier.  When he was sure he was alone he broke open the seal, took out the letter from its covering (envelope) and unfolding it, avidly devoured its contents.

“Confound it!”  The smile of a moment ago quickly turned into a frown.  His hunches, it seemed, had been right on.  Zaur had hoped that, for the first time, he might have been proven wrong, but the letter had only confirmed his suspicions.  With a furrowed brow, Zaur Stugr took his angry stare away from the page.

This is quite serious, indeed.  He shook his head.  Why, in all this time, with all the spies they had planted in that region, why hadn’t one of them detected anything till now?  How could such a competent group simply miss out on an event of this magnitude?  This was not something that happened overnight.  An army was being raised, for Heaven's sake!  How could such a thing remain undetected, furthermore, so completely hidden for that length of time?

Zaur Stugr had absolute confidence in his men; he knew they could not be bought, threatened, or coaxed into shirking their duty.  This meant that at some prior point this group’s cover had been blown and, besides being kept in the dark, they too had methodically been fed misinformation.  Infuriated by this temporary setback, Zaur wearily leaned his back into the plush chair and closed his eyes in deep contemplation; after a spell, his attention back on the letter, he picked it up and perused (more meticulously) every minutest detail, seeking to uncover well disguised, subtle nuances. Zaur’s elation was short lived, and his expression grew even more solemn as he reflected on the specific, supposed happenstances of the last six months. The letter had affirmed his suspicions of Korion’s ultimate hidden agenda (objective) with its long-term implications.  In the months to come, Wenjenkun would become inexorably drawn into deepening conflict with Kontu with ever widening consequences.  Korion would do its best to see to that.

“All right.” in the end he nodded self-consciously as he committed the letter to the embers of an incense burner kept close by for just such a purpose.  “I can't just deal with this matter on my own, not when the nation's security is in jeopardy. I must find a subtle, an ingenious way to broach the subject and inform Lamont Gudaren of this dangerous development.”

Leaning back, he again closed his eyes and pondered on the concern: whether Wenjenkun would withstand a lengthy and costly war of attrition with an equally determined and decidedly warlike state such as Kontu. Moreover, Kontu had access to ample rich resources in the well fortified northern islands and was now bent on extending its horizons onto the main body of the continent.

03-DENG HEDENKO (27)

Zaur was all too familiar with the unsurpassed tactics of Hedenko's past conquests: his brilliantly executed strategies, his diplomatic manoeuvrings, and his ingenious offensive campaigns.  Zaur had kept himself apprised of Kontu's recent status of an emerging imperial nation, and the fact that its economic power and military prowess, in a short while would reach its zenith. Their political stability was another consideration in comparison to Wenjenkun. Emperor Deng Hedenko was a competent, strong, and quite ruthless leader, much like Sovereign Zakhertan Yozdek.  Once a rapacious ruler sets his sights on a verdant objective, he would be virtually unstoppable.  It was a foregone conclusion that any targeted nation would be swallowed into the raging forge of their conquered domains or wiped entirely from the very face of History.

Zaur could not, of course, underestimate Wenjenkun's resilience and equally predatory Zakhertan Yozdek’s resourcefulness; but the Nation (State) and the Imperial family’s interests at present had detrimental rifts. To boot, there were strong factions entrenched in the core government, who would seize this golden opportunity to make a short-sighted deal with the new devil to attain (gain) more power. 

What concerned Zaur most, however, was the superiority of Kontu's armaments, the recent technological advances they had made in metallurgy and weaponry.

Rising to his feet, with his hands clasped behind him, Zaur Stugr paced the room then, wheeling about suddenly and with bold strides marched right out the door. 

Perched on the roof Nevetsecnuac, had eyed Zaur's obvious inner turmoil, with perplexity.  Noting the fact that the first light of the new day would be upon them soon, he abandoned the idea of following Zaur from his offices and instead headed directly back to his own sleeping quarters.

                                                                        ~

 

Zaur Stugr’s speculations about Hugen and Uyuk meanwhile had been right on the mark (dead right).  Having discerned earlier on, the presence of the eavesdropper, the two spies had safeguarded their actions and deliberately imparted misinformation to throw the snoop Deizvor entirely off course.  Moreover, both being masters of disguise and possessing superb stamina and martial prowess, they had also successfully shaken off their latent ardent pursuers and were now headed, unencumbered, once more in the direction of Korion.

Despite an intense countrified alert for the two spies, Hugen and Uyuk had eluded capture simply by journeying in the broad daylight and passing through endless checkpoints perfectly disguised as a merchant couple (as man and wife).  But the disguise carried its own drawbacks as, more times than Uyuk cared to remember, he had been hit upon (sexually manhandled) by the licentious guards. It took great restraint on his part not to pulverize these offending sentries; they were instead mollified, by dispensing bribes along with the hint of future compliance. 

Then came a period when, in the interest of making good time, they had opted for the shortcut routes of Hugen’s choosing and traversed through isolated, especially rough and perilous terrain; where which they had more than once, encountered, not only wild, carnivores’ beasts but also marauding bandits who had them pegged for an easy prey.  After locking horns with these two undercover agents the bandits, however, were the ones who were disarmed, disgraced, and then robbed of what little valuables they carried.  The bested and badly wounded brigands scurried off in fear of their lives like the rats they were, tail tugged between their hind-legs, morbidly ashamed to ever recount of the encounter.

04- HUGEN (45)jp

Being adept at surviving under the harshest conditions, Hugen deemed (considered) all these arduous, hair-raising experiences as trifling adventures.  For him the journey was a breeze, it was going off without a hitch and through it all he hummed a tune of some song.

Uyuk, on the other hand, held a much different opinion. His strong constitution weathered the hardships with ease all right, but these were seen by him as an unnecessary imposition.  He was a pragmatist and valued his comfort whenever he could get it; hence, he increasingly became resentful of Hugen’s obstinate eccentricities.   

 

(END OF SECTION 13)