Zachania by Joseph Henry Gaines Page A

result in no control at all.” Talon thought to himself as
he remembered the teachings of Zung-Lu. “I will bend with his force
and use it against him.” Talon planned silently and calmly.
    “I am going to
break you in two!” The big man shouted as he advanced menacingly
towards Talon with both hands held high as if to grab him.
    Talon remained
motionless until the very last moment, just as Zephil was about to
grab him Talon ducked to his left under Zephil’s arms and crashed a
blow with the back of his knuckles striking Zephil on the brow and
opening a large gash. Which immediately began to pour blood, Zephil
covered his face for fear of another blow, he was surprised at
Talon’s speed and power. The blow caused him great pain and
impaired his vision greatly.
    Talon
instinctively felt his opponents fear and uncertainty.
    “Your Slow as
well as foolish!” Talon remarked.
    Zephil shouted
out in rage before charging at Talon like a wild bull, Talon
remained still waiting calmly for his attacker to meet him
“Control, I must have Control” Talon thought.
    Once Zephil
reached him, Talon dropped down onto one knee as he used Zephil’s
great weight and power to throw him forcefully over his shoulder
crashing him to the ground. Zephil’s head smashed heavily into the
mud as Talon immediately rose to his feet.
    “I’m up here!”
Talon taunted as he kicked Zephil’s backside, forcing him back into
the mud. Zephil rose to his feet and tried to wipe away the blood
and mud that now covered his face. “Fight me you coward.” he
angrily shouted.
    Talons face
suddenly turned more serious.
    “You have
called me scum and now you call me coward, I will show you how I
fight.” Talon thought to himself.
    Within the
blinking of an eye Talon attacked. Zephil frantically tried in vain
to cover his face and defend himself as blow after blow struck him
with shattering force. Zephil suddenly dropped to his knees and one
more blow later he was hunched over in the shape of a ball. Talon
grabbed his hair and lifted his head; the crowd could now clearly
see his bruised and bloodied face.
    “Do you yield?”
Talon asked.
    “Never.”
replied Zephil while spluttering blood.
    “Yield!” Talon
repeated only this time more firmly as he tightened his grip. Talon
waited for an answer but none came as Bolzar the slimmer man walked
ominously over.
    “Release him”
ordered Bolzar as he placed one hand on to his crossbow.
    “Kill him and
we shall kill you.” Bolzar added as he emphasizing the word ‘we’
now that the crowd looked angered by Talon’s actions.
    “Take your
horse and leave town.” came a voice from the crowd.
    “Go now
Imperialist!” was another shout as the crowd seemed to close in,
making Talon feel threatened.
    Talon released
his grip of Zephil who then fell defeated into the mud and slowly
moved away towards his horse. The crowd begrudgingly made way for
him as he carefully retreated, once Talon reached his horse he
hastily jumped upon it and kicked it into a gallop and rode out of
town with great speed.
    He headed north
once again and once he felt certain that he was not being followed
did he pull his horse to a walk. Talon sighed deeply as he tried to
regain his composure and breath.
    Once he relaxed
he began to reflect on what had just occurred, he was puzzled as to
why the town had shown such hate for him “imperialist! They kept
calling me Imperialist,” he said to himself.
    “They called me
Imperialist scum, why would they hate the Empire so much.” he
thought.
    Talon was now
very confused, never in all of his young life had he ever heard
anyone speak so badly about the Empire. And he felt deeply offended
that he had been called scum. Talon then remembered his father
saying that the Emperor was a great and magical man who had brought
great wellbeing to the whole island so why did these people show
such anger for the Empire?, it seemed to mystify Talon greatly and
no matter how much he tried to discard