Most Distinguished Conspirator: Christopher Khong

Most Distinguished Conspirator

written by Christopher Khong (Year 8)

The rain started falling again. Everyone was milling around, nervous for the judgment to come. Screams rang out from those the Hand of the Truth had found. The smell was nigh overpowering due to the crowd of unwashed bodies. Osque watched the bunched up crowd with little interest. It was just another week, another week when 7 people would be torn away from those they loved, and disappeared into the OverLord’s citadel, never to be seen again. Her cloak flapped in the wind as she jumped from the post, carefully hiding her left arm from view. With this many Hands around, she would be whipped to death if they noticed. The murmur hushed quickly as the High Infiltrator and High OverSeer came into view. — b —

No doubt the OverLord-cursed Eye of the Truth would be blending into the general crowd, ready to mark any dissenters. She brushed her way through the dirty, underfed populace to get a good look at them. The Infiltrator cocked his metallic eye at her, and a cold chill ran down her spine. His gaze lingered on her, then moved on. A breath she didn’t realise she had been holding blew the tension out of her body, her shoulders slumping. She looked up to the sooty sky, holding her resolve. However, before she could blend back into the crowd a piercing whistle signifying the beginning of the Ritual. The fear emanating from the people was palpable and a piercing scream told Osque that the Hand had found someone who hadn’t hidden well enough. However, before she could slink back into the crowd, a shrill whistle blasted, signifying the beginning of the Ritual.

— b —

The OverSeer’s cruel gaze drifted over the crowd, and for a moment, Osque thought that she was to be chosen, that her life would have been for naught, that she would die today. The Infiltrator’s spindly hand reached out and pointed to a famished man next to Osque. His eyes went wide, panic clear on his face. Looking around for an escape like a cornered animal, he pushed straight into Osque, knocking her to the wet, slick tiles on the ground. He didn’t get far before red welts appeared on his legs. A long metal whip retracted from the crowd, the citizens quickly parted for the member of the Hand of the Truth to walk through. The man whimpered, trying to scrabble away to little avail. As Osque began to get up, her cloak became stuck under the boots of the panicking public. With her left arm now exposed, the citizens around her hurried away, forming a circle of gasping onlookers.

“Oh?”, Osque slowly turned towards the Infiltrator, his snaky voice slithering down her back “A MetalGraft hiding in peasant clothes?”

Osque turned to find an escape, sprinting off in the opposite direction. She heard steps behind her, accompanied by grating metal on stone. She took a sharp turn, skidding on the slick stone towards the Merchant Sector. She reached out with her left whip and knocked down a stack of crates. Oranges spilled out, and she was rewarded with a large crack from the wood. Emboldened by this, she turned around and was immediately cut across the face by the following Hands’ whip. Clutching her right hand to her now bleeding face, she hurried along, eventually throwing herself into an open doorway, sides heaving. Knowing that she was cornered, she readied herself for the fight for her life. The men who surrounded her drew out as much terror as they could, dragging their whips along the ground to create a grating cacophony. As her heart beat faster and faster, and she breathed faster and faster she watched the doorway, wondering how many she could take down before she fell. Then suddenly, she heard a sick thump and something that suspiciously sounded like bones breaking. Choking noises could then be heard. Curious, Osque carefully poked her head out of the doorway, when everything went dark.

— b —

As Osque awoke, she knew she had been moved. She opened her eyes a slit and took in her surroundings. She was in a well-to-do building, well lit. Her wrists felt raw as they rubbed against the thick rope holding them. Murmuring voices drifted down from the stairs.

“Dangerous...too many...can’t trust”

Loosening her whip, she began to start sawing at her bonds. However before she could free herself and jump out the window, people began descending the stairs. She quickly relaxed and feigned unconsciousness. An ungentle kick told her that her ploy had failed.

“Open your eyes girl, you ain’t fooling anyone.” A rasping voice sneered.

Grudgingly opening her eyes, she looked at the five people surrounding her. “So girl,” the lead captor asked, “Why would the High damnable Infiltrator himself send eight high ranking members of the Hand after you?” He begins to pace in front of Osque before abruptly stopping. “I know you aren’t mute, you were talking in your sleep,” Casually bringing out a knife from his belt, he began to file his nails. “Let’s get off to a good start shall we. I am Esque, and I am the leader of the Civil Uprising,”.

“Then you’re stupid for trying to fight back,” shot Osque. “And you’ve never thought about fighting back, you’ve never wanted revenge?” asked Esque. “Here’s the deal “You join us, or we kill you,”

Osque contemplated her options. “Not like I’ll do anything else in this hellhole of a city. What do I do first?”

Osque quietly snuck over the slick tiles and tapped at the door in the set pattern. It opened a slit, revealing a darkened room and a bright pair of brown eyes.

“Pass?”. The eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Knock it off Esque, if I wanted to lead Hands here, this building wouldn’t be standing,” Osque replied.

Esque’s eyes relaxed, and swung open the door, revealing him. His cloak immediately blew back from the wind, revealing his loose-fitting shirt. “Come on in before the warmth gets out,”.

Esque stepped into the room, lit by flickering candles and the occasional blue flash from the corner. As her eyes adjusted from the bright exterior, the three other members of the Civil Uprising were revealed. Roque was leaning on a wall in a corner, black hair covering his eyes. The blue flashes were being caused by Tesque’s meddling with a bloodied silver whip, attempting to fuse it with what appeared to be a metal sheath of some sort. Torque, who had never made any attempts to be friendly with Osque, was cleaning his beloved maul. Osque had never seen him without it.

“Esque, there were a lot of ArchZeals out today. Way more than usual. Any problems?” asked Osque.

“It’s a distraction, like always. They’ll be preaching about his burning Holiness, and then they’ll sneak up and...” Esque’s rant was abruptly cut off, his face hardening. He walked over to Roque, whose brown eyes flashed up. “How did the info gathering go?” barked out Esque.

Roque’s face closed off, the only sign that he wasn’t happy being addressed in that fashion. “My contact knows where a key supply house is and can pull a few strings so that there won’t be any guards waiting outside.”

“You all hear that?” Esque pivoted, looking at each of the members, a ferocious glint in his eyes. “Tonight we strike their supply chain and begin the chain that will topple the Civilisation! Prepare to move out.” The house exploded into a flurry of activity: Torque attaching a comic amount of weapons to his person, Tesque bundling her various inventions into a backpack: a jar filled with blinding light, a sheath of metal with a claw attached to it and various other devices, Roque twirling his cane to warm up, and Esque unsheathing his twin knives and grating them on a dark stone. Osque stood awkwardly staring at the floor until a fair face framed with overly large glasses pushed itself into her face.

“Hey, Osque. I made these for you. Use it tonight. Also, don’t get in our way when we fight. It won’t end well.” Tesque quickly spat out, gesturing to a sharp-looking metal lump then

launched into a flurried explanation of the various gizmos and gadgets before noticing Osque’s blank-eyed stare.

“Osque, are you following?” asked Tesque.

“Could you... slow down slightly?” requested Osque, who had completely zoned out and had been thinking about what exactly she had gotten herself into. “Alright, so it’s a glove. And it’s made from MetalGraft steel. And I made it. It melds perfectly to the user’s fist and reinforces it. It also sports razor-sharp daggers attached to the backside of the hand.” Barely slowing down in-between sentences, she continued to describe the varying features of what still to Osque appeared to be a lifeless chunk of metal. Graciously accepting the gift, she hurriedly backed away to get some breathing space. Now the activity had died down somewhat, but there was still a nervous waiting energy in the air. A sudden hand on her shoulder made Osque flinch and spin around, only to see Esque’s eyes staring at her. “Considering this is your first time in combat, I would advise against eating beforehand, just in case it comes back up,” warned Esque.

“Esque you don’t need to baby me, I’ve been in enough fights to not spill up my guts when it matters,” Osque replied.

Esque raised his hand in protest but stopped himself.

“Might I ask some things?” asked Osque. When he indicated affirmative, Osque asked “Firstly what does Tesque do? I’ve seen her throwing around various flashes and things, but what are they?”

“Tesque is a previous member of the OverLord’s intelligence agency, the Eyes of Truth. She knows things that we don’t, and she uses it to make weapons” Esque replied.

“Secondly, to put it bluntly, why does Roque hate me?” Before he could counter her, defending his friend, she continued, “He’s always brooding, didn’t try to even greet me, I had to learn everything from Tesque and every time I try to start up a conversation he busies himself with one thing or another and avoids me.”

“I’ll address the points one at a time. First, he’s always brooding, that’s his nature. Even when I first defended him from some low-rank Hands, it took me about 2 days to even find out his name.” Esque smiled at the memory. “When I first decided to save you from the Hands he refused to help, claiming that four was already large enough for our key group of rebels. Even when we defeated the Hands, he was the one to knock you out claiming that my instructions were unclear. He was the strongest voice against taking you in.”

“Then why do you keep him?” interrupted Osque. “It seems just like he wants to undermine you!”

“He’s only being a voice of reason, Osque.” Esque narrowed his eyes “Don’t question the longer-standing members of my team and their motives. I’ve seen what this rebellion has taken out of everyone, Roque included. So don’t push me.” Spinning away from the conversation, he yelled, “Let’s go. Target is in the Grafting Sector.” With that, he pushed open the wooden door and stepped out into the night.

— b —

The group moved quickly throughout the Market Sector, passing other huddled groups. The OverLord’s Spire hung in the distance, menacing as always. As they wound their way through the Tanning Sector, Osque gagged at the smell, but with a silencing look from Esque, she masked it with a grimace. As they walked along the dirty, stained path, hawkers called out to the late-goers, gesturing to a wide variety of goods, from simple brown clothing to a few elaborate garments studded with shining iron.

“Wait.” hissed Esque.

Peeking ahead Osque could see a crowd of people surrounding something.

“Move quickly, and ignore them.” There were grim affirmations from each of the members, except Torque who seemed to be seething. As they snuck past the group, Osque could hear murmurs which eventually became words. Then she caught the sight of him, the OverArch.

“My brethren, accept our Father the Overlord as the One True Lord. Give yourselves unto him, and become part of the Brotherhood.” preached the OverArch.

“Damn night sermons.” Osque turned to her left to see Roque’s anger painted on his face. “Demotivates any would-be rebels from rising up with his ‘Praise the OverLord, he keeps us safe’ crap.”

They moved past the sermon and exited into the Grafting Sector. Large warehouses stretched as far as Osque could see. Esque picked up a brisk walk and hurried along, followed by Tesque holding a bundle of gadgets. Not wanting to be left behind Osque hurried along, not wanting to be left behind.

— b —

As they approached the targeted warehouse, Esque pulled a dark piece of cloth over his face and gestured for everyone to group around him.

“Roque will provide a distraction at the front door with Torque as support, then Tesque will help me enter through the back.” Turning to address her he instructed, “Osque, stay near me when we enter, but as soon as we start fighting, stay alive and don’t get in our way.”

Everyone began moving to their positions, and Osque hurried to trail Esque. A moment later she heard faint murmurs from the front door and the sound of people getting up from chairs and moving about from inside.

“Tesque, get us in,” ordered Esque.

Tesque pulled a bright sparkling something out of her sack as Esque took out his knives and fell into a sprinting stance.

“Look away when I throw it,” advised Tesque.

In one smooth motion, Esque cut through the wooden door and the bar holding it as Tesque threw a jar of light, which arced through the air like a thunderbolt. Osque averted her eyes as a loud crack emanated from where the light hit the planks, and her pupils quickly dilated as the light was so extreme from behind it lit up a large area of the Sector in front of her. Momentarily stunning her, she gathered her wits and pivoted to see Esque already sprinting into the warehouse. She ran through and stopped for a second, eyes wide at the piles and piles of food and weaponry. If only those starving not twenty metres away from this building knew about this! Shaking the thoughts out of her head she sprinted into battle, to run straight into a guard, armed with a long metal sword. Quickly reacting she lashed out with her whip, only for the guard to catch the whip and twirl it around his sword. The end of it barely scratched his uniform, and a cruel, sadistic smile bloomed on his face. He yanked it back, pulling Osque towards him. She panicked and tightened her whip, slicing through the inferior steel of his sword. His smile of glee turned to anger as he revealed a small knife in his off-hand. Still skidding towards him, Osque tried to twist out of the way, but already knew she was too late. Just before the knife entered her ribcage, a long metal pole topped with a blade cut through his side, the force of the blow so strong, he was thrown to the side. Osque skidded to a stop, to see Roque’s determined jawline pointing at the struggling guard, who was attempting to push the blade further into his side to kill him. Roque unceremoniously dropped him, blood seeping out of his side. Osque staggered back and surveying the warehouse. Some corpses were smoking, probably due to the red-hot chain in Tesque’s hand. Others had long jagged marks on them, clearly courtesy of Roque’s skill with the spear. There were stains on the wall with some sections blue. Then with a heavy amount of revulsion, she realised that the small blue patches from the guard uniform. Torque was again in a corner, cleaning his maul which was now covered with blood and flesh. But the worst of all was Esque’s handiwork. His victims were clear because these opponents hadn’t been a challenge to him. They had body parts lopped off, some with eyes gouged out and others still whimpering over their stumps that were once their hands. As she turned to run, Esque’s hand again placed itself on her shoulder, and she saw fire in his eyes, that he enjoyed this.

“Now the fun part,” Esque declared as he moved towards Torque, who had a foot on a wounded guard.

“Now, Eye,” Esque’s voice dripped with contempt as he squatted down. “Let’s see what we can do with you.”

He gestured for Tesque to come closer who handed him a long piece of animal hide. He deftly tied the victim to one of the tubes used for heating the warehouse. Picking up Tesque’s chain, Osque felt her gut sink as she realised what he intended to do. Uncaring of the blisters now forming on his hands from the heat, he began to whip the Eye, interspersing the hits with questions.

“Who are the other agents? What other supply houses are there? What happens to those that are taken in the Ritual?”

Osque averted her eyes, as the beating continued. Tesque came up to her, clearly noticing her discomfort.

“This is what we have to do. These are niceties compared to what the Civilisation would do to us.” reconciled Tesque.

“If we do these things, if we are allowing ourselves to do these things, are we that different from those we oppose? Are we that different from monsters?” asked Osque. Hurt by the questions Tesque turned away, and Osque stared at the roof as the Eye’s scream echoed throughout the warehouse.

— b —

Rain fell on Osque’s face as she sat outside the hideout. The scenes she had seen in the warehouse had haunted her since they left. She heard footsteps from behind her, and Esque’s voice rang out.

“Osque, it’s been four days. We do what we have to do.”

She blankly turned to face him, impassive.

“Look, Roque’s informant has another lead. A nest of spies if you will. Since we move as a group, you’re coming with us.”

He pulled her up, and she readied herself for the onslaught of nightmares to come.

— b —

Walking through the streets, their footsteps echoed through the puddles that laced the ground. Though she wasn’t looking at it the presence of the OverLord’s domain, the Spire, could always be felt more than seen. Roque’s hand stopped her from advancing, and she averted her eyes from the ground to glare at him, when she realised that he had stopped her because there was a platoon of Hands walking by, whips dripping with rainwater, and uniforms polished. One of the Hands was assailed by a blind old beggar, who didn’t know who he was addressing. She couldn’t make out the exact words, but the Hand didn’t take it very well as he grabbed the beggar and whipped him across his face. Torque moved to help him, but Esque harshly whispered “We can’t help him. Not against those numbers,”. Roque also listed his points

against attacking, but Tesque was the one who calmed him down. “If we fight now, we die. If we fight later, we bring them down.” Torque’s anger curbed for the moment, they moved on. Approaching the warehouse, Esque stopped them. “On the stroke of the eleventh hour, Tesque will run in, cause a distraction and make them focus their attention there, supported by Torque. Roque, Osque and I will break through their lines from above, and we’ll cripple them.”

“From the sky?” Osque whispered to Roque.

“Oh, you’re in for a treat,” Roque replied.

As they moved into position, Esque pulled her aside. “Stick with Roque, he’s the least likely to accidentally kill you in battle.”

As the chiming from the bell tower began, the three of them tensed up, ready for the fight. The wooden front door could be heard falling to the floor, and Torque’s war cry rang out. They pushed through the door, and Osque prepared to cut through whoever was waiting. But there was none.

“What is this Roque?” questioned Esque.

Roque’s face paled. “I don’t know, this informant is trustworthy, I swear.”

“This informant?” A mysterious voice rang out, seemingly coming from everywhere. A body dropped from the ceiling, causing Osque to flinch from the sudden noise. Roque’s face clouded over as he recognised the corpse.

“No, no, no, no, no...” panic began to take hold of the group as they formed a ring, backs facing inward.

“You poor insurgents, you think you can fight us?” The mysterious voice revealed its owner, the OverSeer himself. Nine other Hands, all platinum, dropped down to surround their group.

“Two on one, unfavourable odds,” muttered Roque.

“When are the odds ever in our favour,” wittily replied Esque.

“Two on one you say?” The OverSeer laughed. “How do you think we knew you were here?”

Esque’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“We can thank your good old friend, Tesque for telling us all about you. The Civil Uprising. How pathetic.” The OverLord chuckled as horror registered on the faces of the now four members of the Civil Uprising. Face hard, Tesque moved to join the Hands, surrounding them.

“Death to the enemies of the Civilisation!” yelled the OverLord. Immediately Osque was beset on by two Hands, who had likely been trained together as they wove in and out, not getting in each other’s way. She could barely fend their attacks off, the platinum digging grooves into her

inferior steel. Using the metal glove to quickly block a strike, she wrapped her hand around the whip, mimicking the move from the Eye in the warehouse. Pulling the Hand towards her in front of the other Eye, she slashed him across the face before disengaging. As she released the Eye, her right hand exploded in pain, the metal bleeding away from her hand. Wounded by the pain, the Hands easily restrained her as if she was a baby. She felt a spike of pain from the back of the head and everything went dark.

She awoke on a cold stone floor and again opened her eyes a slit to process her surroundings. “No need to pretend Osque. There’s no point.” Osque fully opened her eyes and sat up. She was in a dimly lit jail cell with Roque and Esque, light being filtered in by a small window. She scooted up against one of the walls and winced when the wound at the back of her head made contact with the wall. “How long?” she asked.

Esque’s voice was hoarse when he replied “A day.”

As Osque’s mind began to clear, she realised that someone was missing. “Where’s Torque?”

Roque pointed to the cell across from them.

“They had to knock him and drug him when...” Esque paused “When they killed Tesque,”

“She deserved it!” yelled Roque.

“She was still one of us, Roque. She was still one of us.”

The conversation died off, with tension clear in the air. “So what happened during the fight Esque?” asked Osque. “It was going fine, with Roque, Torque and I holding our ground. Eventually, we began to wound the Hands enough that they had to slow down. Just when the tide was about to turn, the OverSeer and Tesque began to fight us. He took on Roque and me, whilst Tesque fought Torque. Torque nearly beat her, but couldn’t bring himself to kill her. That’s when she did something to you. Then Roque and I were fighting 4 Hands and the OverSeer. Torque was unable to keep fighting Tesque, who threw wrapping chains around us. As the OverSeer was taunting us, the High Infiltrator appeared and whispered something into his ear. Whatever he said riled the OverSeer up, because he strangled Tesque. Torque snapped. He attempted to kill the OverSeer, but couldn’t stand up to that many. They knocked us all out, and now we’re here.”

Osque slumped against the wall, the realisation that Esque’s grand dream had been crushed. So easily. As the enormity of Tesque’s betrayal and murder began to sink in, footsteps began to echo throughout the jail cell. All of their heads snapped up, except for Torque who was still unconscious. The High Infiltrator and the Overseer walked into view, and Osque readied herself for them to be tortured.

“I have a proposition for you,” proclaimed the High Infiltrator. “Either, we kill you and burn your bodies.” He almost seemed to be savouring the prospect. “Or you help us overthrow the OverLord, and then we kill you.”.

Shock resonated throughout the group.

“Like hell we’ll work with you!” yelled Roque. Esque’s hand reached out to placate him, but Roque shrugged it off. “Why would you want to overthrow your grand and mighty OverLord anyway?” “If I didn’t need you, I would kill you right now for asking such a foolish question, worm.”. He swung open the door and marched in. “I. Need. You. To. Kill. The. OverLord.”. He punctuated each word with a poke to Esque’s chest. “This isn’t a choice you ungrateful worms. Either we kill you now, painfully and slowly, or we kill you after you help us, nice and fast.”

“We’ll do it,” Esque said quickly. Roque looked like he was ready to snap, but agreed very stiffly. “Here are the rules of our treaty. You will be escorted by Hands at all times, and watched by Eyes. You will gather weapons and things you need from your usual shops and will meet at the entrance to the Spire. From there we will kill the OverLord and his ArchZeal fanatics, and get this done with. Understand?”

The group gestured in the affirmative, and the Infiltrator made way for them to walk out, unlocking Torque’s cell as well. They were immediately tailed by a group of Hands, who guided them out of the jail in the Prison Sector then stood behind the group, unflinching. “I guess we go shopping,” quipped Esque. “Tesque, get us to the closest...” he cut himself off, remembering the state of his now three companions. “Let’s go,”.

— b —

There was a large gathering of people outside the Spire. They were all hands, rallied under the OverSeer and Infiltrator.

“Tonight my brethren, tonight we bring the corrupt OverSeer down!” Esque and his group moved in front of the main unit, getting ready to charge.

“Forward!” yelled the High Infiltrator. Something was thrown from behind them and exploded the metal doors open. Osque charged through, sword unsheathed. As they ran through the carpeted halls, they ran into some panicked servants. Without losing a stride, she reversegripped her sword and sliced through their side. Esque moved ahead, jumping and embedding two knives in the next acolyte’s chest. Up ahead there were splitting paths. Esque ran through the rightmost part, and Osque the leftmost. Sprinting through, she ran into five armed ArchZeals and unsheathed her whip. She spun around with her whip spinning around, lashing out. Two ArchZeals went down, clutching wounds on their torsos. The other three moved in, pikes elegantly cutting off the narrow space in the corridor. She fended off their blows and jumped

over a low swipe by the left ArchZeal. Using her whip to tether, she pulled on a low hanging lantern and kicked an ArchZeal to the floor. As she prepared to kill him, Torque’s maul crushed the side of the nearest ArchZeal and moved on to kill the fallen ones.

“Run ahead, and meet up with the rest of them.” He crushed the skull of another one “Kill the OverLord for me.”.

She quickly ran through the passage. It widened, revealing a large area where Hands and ArchZeals were fighting in bloody hand to hand combat. Esque was in there as well, beset upon by three ArchZeals. Osque jumped in to help him, beheading an ArchZeal and whipping another. Esque quickly followed up with a flurry of stabs to the last one. With a section now clear, they hurried past the main battle.

“Should be the throne room coming up.” panted Esque. They approached a double door. “Together?” asked Esque. Osque nodded. They both pushed open the door, revealing a large room. On top of a dark throne, sat the OverLord.

“So, I’ve been betrayed.” The OverLord’s smooth voice flowed over Osque. “No matter, I’ll replace them.” In an inhuman flurry of movement, the OverLord jumped out of his throne and ran Esque through with a metal scythe.

“Let the fun begin,”.

— b —

Esque’s eyes widened as he realised what had happened.

“No!” Osque’s mind was slow to realise who had spoken. “Damn you!” Roque’s spear appeared and nearly pierced the OverLord, but got caught on the crook of his scythe. The OverLord lashed out, but Osque caught it on her sword. Anger flashing in her eyes, she flicked out with her whip. The OverLord jumped back out of range, then straight back in, scythe flicking towards Roque. Roque quickly blocked then launched into a flurry of strikes. Preying on the OverLord’s defensive play, Osque swung her sword vertically causing the OverLord to be forced into blocking both Roque and Osque’s blades. Osque flicked out with her whip, cutting into the OverLord’s arm. His scythe hold weakened, and together Roque and Osque pushed forward and cut through his chest.

“You fools.” The OverLord’s sounded like blood was streaming into his lungs. “Don’t you ever wonder what I did to those taken in the ritual? What I do?”

Esque and Roque stared at each other in confusion.

“You’ll know soon enough. When She arrives,” The OverLord’s laugh rang hollow. “Just you wait.”. —•