“Where are you going?” asked Sugaall coming out of the kitchen with a plateful of wheat bread. “Where do you think? To my training, Wheat Cultivation,” said Maverick hurriedly.

“Uh, I think you…. no need… to go,” Sugaall said, tardily, tilting her head.

“Why?”

“Err,” Sugaall refused to make eye contact.

“Wait. Is this about the invitation?” Maverick asked with raised eyebrows.

“No, no, no, not that,” Sugaall spurted.

“What else? Where is Father?” asked Maverick, looking at the kitchen, which hid behind a cloud of smoke — Sugaall’s cooking!

“He left to the council.”

“So early!”

“Yes, there was an emergency.”

“What emergency?”

“Ah, nothing. Here, taste some bread, your favorite!” Sugaall stretched the plateful of wheat bread to her brother.

Maverick took a slice of bread from the plate, gave a bite, and said, “Nice! I didn’t know you can cook well.” Maverick expected that he would get hit by the plate Sugaall was holding for his sarcastic comment, but Sugaall remained still.

“Why I should not go to Wheat Cultivation tonight?” Maverick asked taking another huge bite.

“Um, earlier at dusk, Sinewy Bestride came here to inform you that… since he got some important work to do there is no… training tonight,” Sugaall said without making eye contact. Maverick saw her suspiciously; he knew although he was a reputed person in Tenebro, Sinewy won’t visit anyone personally just to inform them there will be no training. Maverick clearly understood Sugaall was lying.

“Hey, did you hear the bell from Watchtower? I reckon I didn’t hear it by dusk,” said Maverick, twisting his little finger in his ear.

“No, I heard the bell. Maybe something is wrong with your ears,” said Sugaall, with a fake smile.

“What is it?” asked Maverick, sternly.

“What?”

“What is it you are trying to hide from me?”

“Nothing… what would I hide from you? Don’t be stupid. Go have some rest,” Sugaall said without looking at him.

Maverick stood looking dubiously at his sister. “Okay. Thanks,” he threw the half-finished bread on the plate, took his bag, and started to walk towards the door.

“Wait,” Sugaall stopped him and kept the plate on the table; her face looked worried. She took a deep breath and said, “Irascias Piraat is dead.”

Maverick’s bag slipped from his shoulder. Sugaall went near her brother and said, “You are right, the bell in Watchtower didn’t chime at dusk. When the bulwarks went to check, they found Irascias dead in his chair. That’s why Dad left early to the council, to see if Irascias owes any debt to the council.”

Maverick didn’t utter a word; he stormed out of his home and galloped towards the Watchtower. While crossing the crowded market Maverick collided with someone on the road and nearly fell upon Mrs. Kindlespoon’s crate of eggs. She yelled at him, “Hey, slow down, boy. Don’t damage my goods.” Maverick didn’t turn to apologize; he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

When Maverick reached the Watchtower he expected there would be a huge crowd, but the road looked empty as usual. At the Watchtower, under its entrance roof, he saw two bulwarks. Before them, under the broken roof, was a large body covered in an enormous fur coat. Maverick halted under the roof, it was Irascias, covered from head to toe.

Maverick’s eyes became wet. Tears of sorrow peeked in his eyes but didn’t roll over. He kneeled and slowly removed the fur coat covering Irascias’s face.

“Whoa! You can’t do that. Step away!” a bulwark rushed towards Maverick. Another bulwark caught hold of the first one and said, “Hey, it’s Maverick. Shut up. Sorry, Mr. Maverick he mistook you for someone else.”

But Maverick didn’t hear any of that. He slowly removed the fur coat and saw Irascias’s lifeless face. The stinky hat was missing. The shaggy beard and uneven silver hair danced due to a sudden breeze. Irascias’s mouth was open a little with a smile as if he passed away singing a song. Irascias Piraat’s face looked the same except for the smile.

“Why are you crying, Mr. Maverick? Is he a relation of yours?” the second bulwark asked.

“Yes, he was a good friend,” said Maverick without taking his eyes off Irascias.

“Have the arrangements been made? Is the Undertaker ready?” An unknown voice knocked Maverick’s ears. He looked up and saw Specsolven, accompanied by three more bulwarks.

“Yes, sir. Everything is ready,” said the first bulwark.

“Then what are you waiting for? I have a lot of work to handle; burying this old guy should not delay my work,” said Specsolven tediously.

Maverick stood swiftly and said, “Hey, show him some respect. This is how you treat people?”

“Oh… Maverick Ciekawy is here…! Do you know who I am? I’m the Commander of Bulwarks. See the badge. I do have some respect for you, but I know what I should do, what I should talk. I’m the superior authority here. I can call anyone by any name.”

“No, you can’t,” Maverick said sternly.

“No, I can. I can, right?” Specsolven asked a bulwark nearby. The bulwark dropped his head.

“Hey, look at me when I’m talking,” Specsolven snapped his fingers.

“Yes, sir. You can,” the bulwark replied tightening his fist, in anger.

“See. I can. I can do anything I want,” said Specsolven turning to Maverick.

“Mav,” said a sweet voice. Velvebloo stood on the road away from the bulwarks. Maverick went near her ignoring Specsolven.

“I heard the news. There is nothing you can do here, he lived a full life. Come on, we must go,” Velvebloo said compassionately.

“No. You go to Wheat Cultivation; I’ll join you by midnight. I must be with Irascias till…, till he’s buried properly,” said Maverick, looking at his lifeless friend.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Velvebloo looked compassionately at Irascias’s dead body and moved. Maverick stood under the roof and leaned on one of its pillars and looked at Irascias Piraat.

Maverick remembered the wonderful moments he had with Irascias. The last night when Irascias said he befriended Mrs. Benaida and her granddaughter. In his childhood how he smuggled wheat from his home to give to Irascias, and a night when Irascias took him fishing at the Great River where they caught a lamprey, mistaken it for a snake, and ran. He remembered all the nostalgic moments he had with his old friend.

It became midnight. The half-moon rose vertically in the cloudy sky.

Four bulwarks stepped forward and shifted Irascias’s body on a wooden plank. Carrying it they started to move towards the graveyard. Maverick followed them. They went through the main street crossing the Library and Council. Jurisbard and his assistant, Mallicious Beck, stood at the entrance of the Council above the white marble steps. The people on the street didn’t show any sympathy when Irascias’s body went past them. Everyone was busy doing their own work. Some people murmured, “The old man is dead! Who will carry on his work hereafter?”

Maverick remembered Lypimenous’s words ‘People are vicious’.

They walked on a dark pathway leading to the graveyard. A bulwark led them holding a lit torch. When they crossed the village’s border the path grew darker and darker. Maverick suddenly felt chill and realized the Great River is nearby. He turned back and looked at his village, Tenebro, which was surrounded by the Twin Mountains in the East, the jungle in the North, and the Great River from South to West.

Through his lantern’s light, Maverick saw the gigantic river behind the tall trees. Some boats were anchored in the river, busy catching fish. Specsolven’s careless whistling irritated him. Suddenly the bulwarks carrying Irascias walked slowly. Maverick looked above and saw a big arch carrying the word: GRAVEYARD, above a broken rusty gate. The gate was heavily broken; only the bottom hinge was still attached, preventing the gate from falling.

“STOP” The bulwark leading them signaled. They lowered Irascias’s corpse and kept it near the grave. A tall, thin man stood near the grave with a shovel in his right hand and a lantern in his left. The Undertaker came near Specsolven raising the lantern and said, “Sir, everything is ready.”

Maverick looked around. The tombs were uncountable. Every tombstone was identical with equal space from each other. Maverick raised his lantern to have a clear look at all the tombs but they were so many to count. He assumed the line extended until the Twin Mountains.

“WAIT!” The bulwark who led them shouted. “WHO IS IT?” he roared at Maverick.

Maverick froze for a moment. “Mr. Maverick, move aside,” the bulwark roared again. Maverick realized the bulwark was looking at something behind him. He spun around and looked in the same direction. In the same path where they came, near the entrance, Maverick saw silhouettes of a lady and a girl coming towards them.

“What is it? Is that a ghost?” Specsolven trembled. Even Maverick and a young bulwark near him took a step back.

A bulwark stepped forward and drew his baton. All four bulwarks drew their batons. Specsolven snatched a baton from a bulwark and held it tightly in his shivering hands.

The silhouettes stopped. A sparkle appeared between the silhouettes and it jumped on a lit torch. Their faces were clear now. It was Mrs. Benaida and her granddaughter.

Everyone breathed a relief except Specsolven who rushed towards them, yelling, “What are you doing here, crazy old lady. You almost gave me a heart attack. Who are you?” he raised his baton pointing towards her face.

Maverick rushed at them to stop Specsolven from doing anything stupid. “She is my neighbor and a friend of Irascias,” Maverick explained. Specsolven’s cheeks were jumping in fury. “What are you both doing here in the graveyard?”

“My grandchild wants to see Irascias. She’s crying right from dusk,” said Benaida.

“Oh…! The little girl has some nerve coming to the graveyard. You are a fearless girl, aren’t you?” Specsolven yelled bending down towards the little girl.

Maverick asked, “Mrs. Benaida, why did you bring a child to the graveyard?”

“She insisted. There was nothing I could do,” Benaida replied hastily.

Specsolven shot an irritated look at Mrs. Benaida and went near the grave. Maverick looked at the child; her big eyes were very sore, tears still dripped. She had a half-dead flower in her hands. Maverick took the child’s arm and went near Irascias. “Hey, wait! What are you doing?” Specsolven stopped.

“Let her see Irascias for the last time.”

“Are you out of your mind? She is not supposed to be here — ”

“But now she is,” said Maverick and went near Irascias.

They both stood five feet away from Irascias’s body. “Will he wake up?” the little girl asked in an air of innocence. Maverick shook his head.

“Blard! Hold the lantern steady,” Lidrolla yelled at Blardece.

“Don’t yell at me. I’m afraid of darkness. Look my hands are uncontrollably shivering,” said Blardece.

“Give me that,” Velvebloo snatched the lantern from Blardece and went ahead of them.

“Don’t leave me behind. I feel like someone is behind me,” Blardece cried.

“Do shut up. That’s why I said steal another lantern,” Lidrolla yelled again.

“It’s easy for you to say. I know how my heart pounded when I stole this lantern without Sinewy noticing.”

“Keep quiet you both. We are near the graveyard,” Velvebloo shushed them.

Specsolven paced angrily from one end of the grave to another. “You said it was ready. Then why isn’t ready?” he yelled at the undertaker.

“Sorry, sir. I miscalculated his height,” the undertaker replied while throwing mud out of the grave.

Specsolven stopped looking at the entrance. “Who is it now?” he sounded exhausted.

Blardece, Velvebloo, and Lidrolla appeared before them.

“What are you, people…? Never mind. Enough of frustration for one night,” Specsolven caught his head with both his hands and walked away.

“Why did you all come here?” asked Maverick.

“What? Irascias was a friend of ours,” said Velvebloo.

Blardece rolled his eyes.

“Sir, it’s ready now,” the undertaker climbed out of the grave.

“Good. Now, dump this into the grave. I have a lot of work to handle,” said Specsolven hurriedly.

“Wait! That’s what you are going to do! Who will do the rituals?” asked Maverick.

“Mr. Maverick, only the family members can perform them. This guy had no one. No family, no relatives, no friends — ”

“He had me.”

“Nonsense! Only a family member could perform them. Now please allow us to finish this,” Specsolven spurted.

“At least say something nice about him.”

“He hasn’t done anything remarkable to say about,” said Specsolven and signaled the bulwarks to proceed.

“WAIT,” Maverick roared. “Seriously…? Seriously you think he hasn’t done anything useful. That man has spent the last ten years in the Watchtower performing the duty entrusted to him. In every dusk and dawn, he guided us. Now you are saying he hasn’t done anything?”

“Yes. He did what he was told to do. If you want recognition for him then there will be a portrait of him in the Watchtower; that’s all his work is worth. He was just an employee. Anyone can do what he had done. Do you know why the council hired him? Because he does what he will be told to do, that’s all.”

Specsolven waved his hands at the bulwarks. They bent down to lift Irascias.

“Wait. I’ll perform the final rituals,” said Maverick.

“What? Are you insane, Maverick?” Specsolven gasped.

“He was my friend. If friendship means a relation, then I’m his relative.”

“No, you can’t. I won’t allow you to do that.”

“Go ahead. Stop me,” Maverick removed his costly wolfskin coat and went near Irascias’s body. The bulwarks backed away from him.

“Maverick, don’t do this,” Lidrolla stressed.

Maverick stood near Irascias’s corpse, took a deep breath, and said, “Irascias Piraat was a great and loving mentor to me. This man spent his last ten years looking after us, at dusk and dawn. People may have seen him as an angry old man without a family, but for those who had a chance to indulge with him knew how generous and humble he was. All his life he desired to have a family and someone whom he can depend on, whom he can trust. He didn’t have the family he loved to have, but right now he has us. He didn’t expect anything from us but gave the utmost he had. At this moment, let’s bid him a final goodbye. May his soul rest in peace. Goodbye, old friend.”

Mrs. Benaida wiped tears off her wrinkled face. Velvebloo’s eyes become wet too but others looked at Maverick hostilely. Maverick nodded at the bulwarks. They placed Irascias’s body into the grave. Maverick took a handful of mud and spilled it inside the grave on Irascias’s feet.

“This is not good…,” Blardece whispered.

The undertaker took his shovel, filled the grave, and made a hump. The bulwarks erected a small tombstone upon the grave. Specsolven still hostilely looked at Maverick, picked a lantern, and moved. The little girl went near Irascias’s grave and placed a flower upon it.

“I will escort you both to the village,” a young bulwark said calmly to Mrs. Benaida. Velvebloo went near Maverick, stood beside him, and looked at the grave.

“Shall we move?” she asked quietly.

Blardece, Maverick, Velvebloo, and Lidrolla were walking on the dark muddy pathway. There was complete silence among them except for some crickets’ chirps. Blardece opened his mouth to say something but Lidrolla poked him and shushed.

“I appreciate what you did to Irascias, Mav. But you shouldn’t have done that,” said Velvebloo leading them.

“What should I have done? If I had allowed Specsolven to dump him like a waste, would that be nice? Would that be human?”

“Did you see the look of Specsolven? He saw you as a pest. Something bad is going to happen,” said Lidrolla.

“Actually, I thought to say that but you shushed me,” Blardece said to Lidrolla.

The four entered into Wheat Cultivation and mingled with the crowd. Soon Sinewy Bestride arrived and continued his training. Blardece was carefully removing weeds from his land. Lidrolla finished plowing her land and rested on the pathway.

“MAVERICK.” A sharp sound echoed. Maverick looked up and saw Sinewy standing before him. “Yes, sir,” he got up swiftly.

“Where were you during the first session?” Sinewy barked.

“Sir, I was in the graveyard. Irascias — ”

“Dead. I know,” Sinewy Bestride said without an ounce of empathy. “Did you get permission from me?”

“No, sir. I was — ”

“PUNISHMENT,” Sinewy roared. “Punishment awaits you. Five bags of wheat will be confiscated from your production.”

“Sir, but — ”

“Ten bags will be confiscated,”

Maverick sighed.

“Look at me, Maverick Ciekawy. You may enjoy the reception you receive from the villagers, but here, I’m the authority, I’m the law.”

“Sir, I’m not enjoying any — ”

“Don’t interrupt while I’m talking,” Sinewy shushed again. “Don’t do anything stupid in my place as you did at the graveyard. Next time, the punishments will be severe.”

Maverick was in quite a shock thinking how Sinewy Bestride knew the incident happened in the graveyard.

“Blardece, ten bags of wheat will be confiscated from you for stealing my lantern,” Sinewy added toward Blardece. Blardece dropped the shovel from his hands; his eyes and mouth widened in shock.

Aegis Tutelage stormed into his house and asked, “Where is he?”

Maverick came from the kitchen eating a slice of bread and said, “I’m here, Father.” Observing his father’s furious face Maverick asked, “Is there any problem?”

“Problem! You are the problem, young man. Why did you do that?” Aegis erupted.

“What did he do?” Sugaall asked from the feasting table.

“He performed the final rituals for Irascias Piraat,” cried Aegis. Sugaall gasped.

“What’s wrong with that? He had no one. That’s why I did that.”

“You are not his family. The whole council is talking about you. I reckon this is your friend’s idea,” Aegis accused.

“Friend! Who?”

“Lypimenous Nisipazl. I warned you about him. That guy is against the Council.”

“Wait! He is not involved in what I did. Please, Father, their enemies shouldn’t be our enemies too.”

“Don’t blaspheme the council. I don’t want my son to indulge with a moron. Now look, the whole council is saying you are insane. Listen to me. Don’t go against the people in authority, they’ll make our lives miserable. It will be better and safe to just concentrate on our work and be a good citizen.”

“Fine, I get it,” Maverick snapped. “If I had done nothing, afraid of the council and what others think of me, then you would have felt happy about me, ha?”

“Look here, son. I know you were so close to Irascias, but death is inevitable. Mourning over the dead won’t bring them back. You must let go,” said Aegis calmly and patted Maverick’s shoulders.

“Is this how you dealt when mother died?” asked Maverick without looking at his father.

Aegis gasped.

Sugaall worried that there would be a serious argument next, but Aegis remained calm. “Pass me my meal, Sacchamia. I must be in the DNIMATIV building before dawn,” said Aegis. Sugaall handed over the meal from the table. Aegis looked back at Maverick and left without saying anything.

Read the next chapter here -

EA-R-TH Age of NeOlwd

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