 
The Nefairyous Saga: Eye of an Outlaw

Issue 2 of the Nefairyous Saga series

Created by Brenton Tenner

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2016 Brenton Tenner

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, Brenton Brian Tenner, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – The fallen Prince

Chapter 2 – Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter 3 – The birth of a legend

Chapter 4 – Scars that never fade

Chapter 5 – Uprising

Chapter 6 – The Smiling King

Chapter 7 – Gifts of the Jungle

Chapter 8 – Origins of Iron

Chapter 9 – Master of Beasts

Chapter 10 – Brothers of Anarchy

Epilogue – Terror's bane

About Brenton Tenner

Other books by Brenton Tenner

Connect with Brenton Tenner

### Chapter 1 – The fallen Prince

A man is lying in bed writhing back and forth. He is asleep and has restraints binding his tanned wrists to the steel bed frame. He sweats profusely as he dreams and his mind tries to piece together his fragmented memories. The deafening sound of a chopper fills his head and he feels the icy air against his skin as he falls endlessly towards a massive fortress nestled in a dense jungle below.

He recalls a gigantic figure standing over him and beating him with sledgehammer-sized fists that feel like they're crushing his entire being with every blow.

"Shhh – shhh – it's ok young man, relax, it's just a dream. Wake up now. I said wake up!"

The sleeping man wakes from his nightmare and blinks repeatedly as his eyes adjust to the light. Standing beside him is a bearded man with a big smile plastered across his friendly face.

"You ok fella?" inquires the smiling man. "My name is William Jessup, but everyone 'round here calls me Whistling Bill."

It is clear where Bill got his nickname from – every time he attempts to make a "s" sound, a distinct, yet unintentional, whistle can be heard. He clearly has some kind of speech impediment.

He extends his arm in an attempt to shake the restrained man's hand.

"And you are?" he asks politely.

"Vivi," replies the restrained man as he raises his arm and shakes Bill's hand. His restraints pull tight as he does so.

Vivi looks at his restraints and the room in which he finds himself - it appears to be some sort of ward. He notices that he is wearing a hospital gown.

"Where am I?" he mumbles with a confused expression on his face.

Bill walks over to the window and opens it. The deep, booming voices of many men fill the room as they piggy-back on the wind that gently caresses Vivi's skin. He takes a deep breath and already he feels much more at ease.

"So you don't remember much then, do ya?" remarks Bill as he paces back and forth.

"You're in the prison infirmary and I have been tasked with helping you recover. You are lucky to be alive, I gotta tell ya. You sure were foolish doing what ya did, kiddo."

"Prison? I only remember bits and pieces... why am I here?" asks Vivi while rubbing his head as if that would help defragment his mind.

Bill ceases his pacing and sits beside Vivi's bed.

"Well you're in luck," he says, "I just so happen to love telling stories. I was planning on telling you my favorite story – the one about how I got my whistle. But that can be told later, for now let me tell you your own story – at least the part of it that I witnessed that is – and perhaps that will jog your memory and you can tell me the rest yourself."

Bill begins to tell Vivi what he knows about how he ended up in the prison infirmary.

"You see this ain't any old prison, this here is Jungelen - "The Jungle". It was a Norse built fortress and was turned into the single most inescapable prison that the world has ever seen. It is run by the Global Anti-Terrorism Organization and those bastards have this place locked down good and tight."

Vivi looks perplexed when Bill mentions "terrorism". The word seems to trigger a memory – whether it is a positive or negative recollection cannot be inferred by his stoic expression.

"So, Mr. Vivi, you must have been marked as an extremely dangerous terrorist by them Gators – that's what we call the agents that work for that bullshit organization, by the way. The fuckin' Gators, going around decreeing anything as "terrorism" based on their own definitions. So who knows what you did kid, you may have just pissed off one of those assholes and they threw yo' skinny ass in here for good measure!"

Bill reaches over, grabs an apple and begins to peel the fruit with a scalpel. Vivi is too shell shocked to notice that Bill – who appears to be an inmate himself, just assisting in the infirmary – has free access to something that could very easily be used as a weapon.

"Anyways, let's continue," declares Bill as he chews on his lunch.

"To ensure that us 'deranged psychopaths' don't commandeer a vehicle and try escape this god-forsaken island, the Gators never land their choppers anywhere on the island – even when they are dropping off new fish. They just chuck their sorry behinds out of the chopper and remotely deploy a parachute which delivers them safely into the Yard. That's exactly what happened to you. You remember any of that?"

Vivi squints and strains himself trying to remember. "Vaguely," he replies.

"Those grazes on your knees are from your landing. Oh and your bruised ribs are from what happens immediately thereafter. You get a formal introduction to Warden Smiley and his guards led by Captain Kruger. He's the one with the thick South African accent, sounds like a real tool if you ask me."

Vivi attempts to examine his wounds but quickly gasps from the pain.

"Steady now son, just sit back and listen to the story. Don't try moving just yet, you're still real tender-like," exclaims Bill comfortingly.

"Now where was I," he continues, "ah yes! The Yard Sale."

Bill gets up, walks over to the window and points outside.

"You see kid, right out there is the yard and that is where one of the oldest Jungelen traditions takes place. We call it the "Yard Sale". There are four gangs that call this here rock their home: the Nordri, Sudri, Austri and Vestri. They are named after the winds of Norse legend, but this ain't trivia time so let's skip the ancient history lesson and focus on more recent events, shall we? Good!"

Bill begins to pace back and forth again, it is clear that story telling excites him greatly.

"Each of the four gang leaders have an opportunity to buy the new fish during the Yard Sale. If more than one gang wants the same one, then they must each select one member and those members will fight each other until one is knocked out, submits or is killed. The one who ain't is the winner and his gang gets the fish. However, the fish can refuse to be sold and instead fight for his independence – but that ain't easy, let me tell ya! He would need to defeat one member selected by each of the gangs in order to win his freedom."

A pain shoots across Vivi's head as he recalls something from his Yard Sale.

"I chose to fight for my independence, didn't I?" he asks even though he clearly already knows the answer.

"Yip, ya sure did. Not the best decision you ever made, that's the truth. And the Big Bad Wolf sure didn't like that – whooo heeee – he was mad!" replies Bill dramatically.

"Who?" inquires Vivi with a perplexed tone.

"Chief Sonnybill Graywolf, aka 'The Big Bad Wolf'," responds Bill. "He is one of the baddest sons-a-bitches in here! Believe you me, you do NOT want to fuck with that Injin – sorry, how politically incorrect of me – 'Native American'. He's the leader of those Nordri savages and he did not take kindly to your 'arrogance' - his words, not mine."

Bill pauses for a moment and wipes his brow as he stares out of the window once again. He is growing more excited as the story progresses.

"He asked the other leaders if he could let one of his men have the first go at ya and they agreed. They all selected their champions for you to face and it was one helluva line-up. Father Charles Mancer – the leader of those crazy-ass Sudri – chose one of his finest, 'Omega'. Jarl Thorin Odinson selected one of his best Generals, which he referred to as Thanes, on behalf of the Vestri and the D'iarann sent his most trusted General, Ebephet, to select a member of his Austri horde on his behalf. He decided on 'The Locust'... don't ask why he's called that, all you need to know is that if you got as far as him, he would've whooped your ass even worse than Tusk did."

"Tusk? I don't know who these people are that you are mentioning Bill, please slow down!" exclaims Vivi as another sharp pain slices through his mind.

"Ok, ok, calm down! I'll explain more about the gangs and all that in due course. For now, all you need to know is that it was one of the Tusk triplets that landed you in this here bed. You see, Graywolf selected Malachi Tusk as the Nordri champion and you faced him first. At one point I thought you had a chance as you jumped around and did some of that flashy acrobatics of yours, you even landed a decent punch or two. However, the other two Tusk brothers, Levi and Jebediah, were in the audience and they distracted you with their war cry. You lost your concentration for a second and that was all Malachi needed – he landed one punch square on your jaw and you dropped quicker than a hooker's panties! Graywolf told him to finish you off and that's when Tusk started beating the livin' hell out of you – it wasn't pretty, you are very lucky to be alive."

Bill offers Vivi a piece of his fruit and Vivi accepts it. He begins to chew it but his jaw feels like it has been crushed.

"Why didn't he kill me?" asks Vivi.

"He was gonna," replies Bill, "but then out of nowhere, Ebephet – he's the Austri General that I mentioned – stopped him. He told The Locust to take you to the infirmary and he told me to make sure you recover. I have no idea why he gives a shit about you. All I know is Graywolf sure wasn't happy, you could see the anger on his face, he looked like he was gonna explode. But he didn't say a word, everyone knows that Ebephet is the 'biggest dog' in the Yard. As hardcore as Graywolf is, Ebephet would still beat his ass... and they both know it. There ain't much racism in this here prison, most of these guys unite in their hatred for the outside world, but you would swear that there was when you see Ebephet's gigantic, African ass walk through the Yard. All of these hardened psychopaths move out of his way so quickly you swear they think they gonna catch something from just being close to him. But that's out of respect, they know exactly who he is and what he is capable of."

Bill walks over to the bed and points at a crude tattoo that seems to have been inked into Vivi's arm very recently. Vivi looks at his arm in bemusement, he has no idea how he got this marking.

"Since Ebephet saved you, you are now property of the Austri, to do with as they see fit. That there symbol is a compass pointing East – Austri is the East wind ya see."

"Their 'property'... what does that mean exactly?" inquires Vivi sternly.

Bills shakes his head profusely: "Sorry kid, I ain't saying another word until I get some repayment in kind! Now I done told ya a story – and it was a good one for sure. Before I give you any more info, you need to tell me how it is you ended up in a place like this. You don't seem like the terrorist type to me and I'm usually an excellent judge of character."

Vivi smiles at Bill and says: "Fine, a story for a story seems fair. If that is your currency, then I am willing to trade..."

"My full name is Prince Vivi Yahalla and I am a man of peace, just like my father before me. After my father's demise, I ruled my homeland for many years and we prospered greatly. We lived isolated from the world around us, in a mountainous region close to the Tibetan foothills. For centuries we have succeeded in remaining a secret community that is completely self-sustained and self-governed. We had no need or desire to live like the rest of the world. We are – and have always been – simple folk that just want to be left alone."

Nostalgia fills Vivi as he continues his tale.

"However, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end," he says as he pauses for a moment to collect himself.

"As a Prince, one of my duties is to protect my people from the evils that would look to harm us. Unfortunately, in that I failed dismally. One day, one of my scouts found a man at the gates of our capital. This man asked to enter and I allowed it, he was only one man after all. There was something intriguing about this man, for example, he dressed in light clothing as if the winter chill had no affect on him. A certain aura emanated from him and he ignited my curiosity. I allowed him to stay at my home for weeks and he would come and go as he pleased and I would not intervene nor question his activities. During all this time, he did not even tell me his name. I was a fool to have not seen the warning signs from day one, but it was like he had me under some sort of spell."

Vivi hangs his head in disappointed. He is clearly upset with himself and Bill leans in closer to hear the rest of the tale...

"Then one day the man came to me and told me that he had found what he was looking for. When I asked him what it was, he said that the one that my people referred to as the 'Mountain Man', who lived in the mountains just beyond our capital, was an evil man and he had come to bring him to justice. I knew this Mountain Man well and knew this claim of his 'evilness' to be false, so when the man insisted that I hand him over, I refused. This angered him and he left, only to return days later with an entire army at his back. They flew a flag brandishing the symbol of a hand tightly gripping a planet – I recognized this to be the banner of the infamous 'Genghan Horde'. This Horde had reigned terror across the Earth for centuries, led by men that claimed to be the descendants of the great conqueror, Genghis Khan, himself."

Emotions grip Vivi as he clears the lump from his throat and pushes on...

"To cut a long story short; for weeks we battled with the Horde as they lay siege to our home. Eventually, we believed that we had the upper hand and that they had retreated. My scouts had witnessed some of them hiding out in a nearby village which we believed to be their center of operations. This village was outside my kingdom and part of the outside world that we never dared venture into. Despite this, I made the call that the only way we could be safe was to kill them all. So I took my finest soldiers and razed the village to the ground. After the battle, we inspected the bodies of the fallen to try and find their leader, the man who had been my guest. However, what we found was terrifying. Very few of the dead were actually Hordesmen, most were civilians being held against their will. The leader's body was also nowhere to be found. Suddenly one of my men that was protecting our capital galloped up to me and informed me that it had all been a trap and whilst we were attacking the village, the vast majority of the Horde had laid waste to our capital and commandeered it as their own. I was furious, but before I could rally my troops to deal with the Horde, we were boxed in by armored vehicles and choppers. Heavily armed men exited the vehicles and killed off most of my warriors. To stop the slaughter, I told my men to cease fire and I gave myself up. I was convicted as a terrorist for killing the innocent villagers and that is how I ended up here."

Bill leans back in his chair and exclaims: "Hot damn! That would be the fucking Gators alright – they gotcha good, they always do. So you were set up by this leader of the Genghan Horde? Did you ever find out who he is?"

Vivi is quiet for a while, then reluctantly responds: "Yes, I must confess that I omitted a part of the tale. When I refused to give up the Mountain Man, my guest did attack me and left me with a parting gift."

He lifts up his hospital gown and shows Bill his chest. It reveals a hand-shaped scar that seems to have originated from an intense burn.

"I saw that when you were fighting Tusk. Fuck me, it looks a lot more painful up close!" exclaims Bill as he inspects Vivi's scar more closely.

"He seared my skin just by touching it," explains Vivi. "While he was doing it, he looked at me with his glass, soul-piercing eyes and said "tell him Abel says hello"".

"Wow, that story was intense! Can you tell me more about this Genghan Horde? Come on, sonny, you got to give me the scoop on these guys!" exclaims Bill excitedly, like a child on a sugar rush.

"I do know their story – most of it at least. But, I believe you owe me one now and I want to hear the tale of how you got your whistle," replies Vivi with a half smile.

"Fair enough, let me just take a piss break and then we can continue."

Bill exits the room and leaves Vivi to his thoughts. Vivi feels his eyelids grow heavy and despite his best efforts to stay awake, he falls soundly asleep before Bill returns.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Vivi dreams of his homeland, a beautiful place with children playing in the snow-covered streets and the fresh mountain mist resting peacefully on the rooftops of his peoples' rustic homesteads.

He is standing on the balcony of his palace and looking out over his kingdom – he is proud of what he has built and loves this land.

He looks to the sky and it turns black. Fire rages across the once tranquil land and his people are running screaming in the streets. Vivi turns to leave his palace and help his people but is knocked flat on his back. A man is standing over him with a wicked smile strewn across his face. A bead of sweat falls from the man's brow and as it lands softly on Vivi, it sears his skin. Vivi grabs his burned flesh in pain.

The man kneels down over Vivi and places his palm on his chest.

"Ahhhhh!" screams Vivi as the man's palm begins to burn into his skin.

"Tell him Abel says hello," says the man as Vivi continues to call out from the excruciating pain.

"ABEL! ABEL!" screams Vivi as he kicks and swings his arms violently, his restraints clanging against the bed frame as he does so.

"Vivi! VIVI! Calm down, it's just a nightmare son! CALM DOWN!" shouts Bill as he slaps Vivi through his face.

Vivi gasps and wakes from his nightmare. He sees Bill before him and feels relief for a moment – the dream was so real and he is happy to not be there with Abel – then he remembers that he is a prisoner in the world's most dangerous and isolated prison and any relief he once felt turns to angst.

"You ok?" asks Bill with a concerned tone.

"I'm fine, just a bad dream," replies Vivi as he strains to produce a half smile.

"Well you fell asleep while I was in the john and I left to do my rounds. You've been out for a few hours. I decided to bring you some food, it's real good, the D'iarann made sure you got the best grub around here."

Vivi tastes the meal before him – it is far better than what he expected from prison food.

"Please send the D'iarann my thanks."

"Sure thing, but for now I believe I owe you a story. You feeling up to it?" replies Bill.

"I would like that, thank you Bill," grins Vivi. He thinks that the world is truly a strange place, he would never have expected to find a friend in a place like this, but he is grateful that he has.

### Chapter 2 – Welcome to the Jungle

The deafening drone of the chopper overpowers the voices of the Gator agents that are conversing in the massive airborne behemoth. There are ten Gators aboard the craft in total – excluding the pilot and his co-pilot. Seated in the center are four men wearing orange jumpsuits, they are clearly convicts.

"Hey ya, my name's Bill – Bill Jessup!" exclaims one of the prisoners loudly enough that the adjacent convict can hear him. Bill is moderately handsome and young, well-built but by no means a large man. The man to whom he is talking, however, is handsome by anyone's standards. He is slightly older than Bill and also huskier but they are very similar in build.

The handsome man turns to face Bill and says: "Leary Cole, pleasure to make your acquaintance Bill."

The whistle-free, younger version of Bill Jessup smiles at Leary and then turns to the convict sitting directly opposite him. This man appears to be a more stereotypical looking criminal – he is muscular, covered in tattoos and has a scar across his face that goes over his left eye. Whatever gave him the nasty scar did some serious damage to the eye; it was a milky color and didn't move at all as the other eye did.

"Hi there, I'm Bi – ahhh fuck!" Bill's greeting is interrupted by the back-end of one of the Gator's batons. He clocked him right in the mouth and Bill's lip is split open, staining his teeth red.

"Didn't we tell you to keep your dirty mouth shut inmate!" yells Bill's assailant. "Any more mouthing off and I will take off your chute and throw your hillbilly-ass out into the wide blue yonder – you got it Kleetus?"

The other Gators laugh as Bill is mocked. The man with the milky eye looks over at the Gators and snarls like a wild animal but they just laugh at him as well.

"Big, bad "Dead-eye" Dobkins – hahahaha – what you gonna do fuck-head? You may have been a big fish out there, but this is the Jungle bitch and 'round here you ain't nothing but a piece of dried up shit on the bottom of my boot – you hear me? Hahahaha!" laughs one of the Gators mockingly.

The Gators are directing most of their taunts towards Bill, Leary and Dead-eye and seem to be leaving the other two convicts, seated at the far-end, alone. Those two seem to be ignoring the rest and are just staring silently at the floor beneath their feet. The one is an Asian man of similar stature to that of Bill and Leary and the other is a massive man – by far the largest on the chopper – with what appears to be some sort of war-hammer tattooed across both of his forearms.

The Gators jeering laughter is interrupted by the co-pilot addressing them over the intercom:

"We are approaching the drop zone, please ready the cargo for delivery – I repeat – ready the cargo for delivery, ASAP."

The Gator agents walk over to the prisoners and ensure that they each have a parachute securely attached to their backs. Bill and Leary each have one agent assigned to do the checking. Dead-eye and the Asian man each get two and the guy with the war hammer tattoos has four – two checking the parachute and the other two standing by with their weapons drawn and aiming in his direction.

A few minutes pass and one of the Gator agents walks into the cockpit and informs them that the prisoners are ready.

"Time to fly," remarks the one agent as he and his fellow Gators grab the largest man and push him out of the side door of the chopper. Thereafter they follow suit with the other four – the Asian man, Dead-eye, Leary and Bill.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" screams Bill as he free-falls past the other convicts. He was never the best at anything growing up – he never thought that his 'super-power' would be the ability to plummet to his death more quickly than other men. It was not exactly the great talent he was hoping for. Suddenly he feels a jolt whiplash his body with great force. He looks up and sees that his parachute has been deployed and he is gliding safely to the massive prison below. As he looks from side to side, he sees that his fellow convicts are in a similar situation: just five ruthless criminals deemed too dangerous to be anywhere near civilization sailing towards a secret prison on a hidden jungle island. Bill thinks to himself that his pa would have been so proud, that is if he hadn't beaten the bastard to death, of course.

The ground approaches Bill faster and faster and before he is able to fully prepare himself, he lands awkwardly on the concrete floor of the prison. He takes a moment to collect himself but before he has a chance to get his bearings, guards swarm all over him and remove his parachute. They check that his restraints are intact and then stand him up straight. He sees that he is inside the outer prison wall but a fence separates him from the Yard where the rest of the prison population are gathered. They jeer and laugh mockingly as Bill and the other four new "fish" are lined up by the guards.

"Atten-hut!" exclaims one of the guards as a sophisticated looking man in a suit walks up to the new prisoners and addresses them.

"Good afternoon, gentleman. I trust your trip to our little slice of paradise wasn't too tumultuous? Allow me to introduce myself – I am Warden Smiley and I run this establishment."

The Warden begins to pace back and forth while holding his hands behind his back. Bill notices that his hands appear soft and well-kept, as if he has never seen a day's worth of manual labor in his privileged life.

Warden Smiley continues his speech in his posh, British accent: "This may surprise you given the nature of our guests here at Jungelen, but we don't have many rules. For that matter, if you would like to leave then you are welcome to do so. If the guards see you, they will need to make an attempt to stop you, to keep up appearances and all that – I'm sure you understand."

He stops pacing and swaggers up to Dobkins and sniffs him – he is a very odd individual – and says: "However, it would be remiss of me to not warn you that the beasts of the jungle surrounding the prison have claimed the lives of more brave souls than the beasts that dwell within..."

He spins on his heel and struts away from the new fish. Just before he is out of earshot, he stops and shouts over his shoulder: "Silly me, I forgot to mention our one rule and the consequences for breaking it. Our rule – simply put – is 'go along to get along'. You will notice that I give the gangs quite a lot of rope and indulge some of their depravities. I do so all in the spirit of us getting along. If you tamper with that spirit then you will suffer. Captain Kruger! Please commence the demonstration of said suffering! Cheerio!"

Smiley disappears into the prison as two guards shut the massive iron doors behind him.

The silence is broken by the thick, South African accent of Captain Kruger. As he speaks his anvil shaped head moves slowly from side to side and his fists swing back and forth in the air like wrecking-balls searching for their targets.

"Unlike the Warden, I am not an old 'softy'. This is not a correctional facility, you fuckers are far beyond correctable! This is a place of punishment and should the other prisoners not punish you sufficiently, then we will."

Kruger turns to his men and bellows: "Let's give them a small taste of what they can expect if they don't tow the line in our prison, men!"

All of the guards advance towards the new prisoners brandishing their batons, except for one who is holding a clipboard and frantically paging back and forth through some papers. When they reach their intended targets – Bill, Leary, the Asian man and Dobkins – they proceed to deliver a beating like none that these men have ever felt before. Bill thinks to himself that his daddy would whoop him good and proper as a boy and he thought that was one helluva beating, but that didn't come close to the ass-kicking that he was being dealt by these sadistic guards.

"Wait! Not that one!" exclaims the guard with the clipboard suddenly. The handful of guards that were about to start giving the same treatment to the fifth fish, the massive Russian man with the war-hammer tattoos inked into his skin, stop dead in their tracks.

"He's the Hammer, take him to his friend immediately and lock his ass up good and tight," instructs the clipboard-wielding guard.

The menacing grins are wiped off of the other guards' rugged faces at the mere mention of 'The Hammer'. They carefully check the Russian man's restraints and then ten of them escort him into the prison through a different entrance to the one the Warden used moments before. The rest of the guards lose interest in beating Leary, Bill, the Asian man and Dobkins and focus their attention on the Hammer instead – it's almost as if he was some sort of celebrity and this is what past as 'swooning' in this hell-hole.

"Hey you lot! Focus! Drag these pieces of shit to the Crier and then we can go watch the Hammer reunite with his long lost brother-in-arms, should be quite a show! Haha!" commands Kruger in his booming voice. The other guards acknowledge the instructions and drag the four new prisoners through a gate and into the prison yard. They lock the gate behind them and move swiftly towards the entrance through which the other guards had escorted the Hammer.

Bill is in a lot of pain as he lies on the hard, unforgiving floor of the Yard. However, he is at peace for the first time since he boarded the chopper that brought him to what would surely be his last home on this earth. He stares up at the beautiful morning sky and can't help but notice that there is not a single bird in sight – very strange for such a tranquil, lush location, he thinks to himself.

His peaceful day-dream is interrupted by the sun being eclipsed. At first he cannot ascertain what the cause is but as his eyes adjust to the change in light, he realizes that there is a man standing over him.

The man has a rodent-like appearance and is so old that even his wrinkles appear to have wrinkles. He appears frail and looks from side to side as if he has not yet seen Bill and his fellow new arrivals. He sniffs the air and then feels around to try and locate Bill's face – the man is clearly blind. This is confirmed when Bill notices his eyes – they are glazed over and an off-white, milky color.

"Ah, there you are!" exclaims the blind man in a surprising voice. For such a skinny, old person he had an extremely powerful voice that projected across the yard with ease.

"Stand up and greet the Crier, please," he requests.

Leary, Dobkins and the Asian man slowly ascend to their feet. Bill tries to follow suit but he is in too much pain to do so.

"Come on, here you go," says Leary as he extends a helping hand to the injured Bill.

"Thank 'ya, those bastards sure worked me over," replies Bill as he winces from the pain and holds his ribs.

"Don't show weakness, the worst is yet to come," says the Asian man as he too helps Bill to his feet. "We will need to stick together, I have a bad feeling about this."

This is the first time that the Asian man has said a word. Bill is unsure if he should take this as a positive or a negative sign – the Asian man must be very concerned if he has chosen to break his silence.

"Ah fuck all of you! I am not here to carry a bunch of weak dogs around with me. I will show them the strength of Dead-Eye Dobkins and they will beg for my mercy!" bellows Dobkins ego-maniacally. He is clearly a narcissist and not going to be much help to the others in their quest to survive whatever comes next.

The Asian man shakes his head and says, "Ignore him, he will get what's coming to him. I'm Timo-Jin Lee by the way, but you can just call me Timo."

Leary and Bill exchange pleasantries with Timo.

Their greetings are interrupted by the jarring yell of the blind man: "Enough of that! I am the Blind Crier and I have the task of explaining the Yard Sale to you so that we may begin with proceedings – so shut your faces and let's begin..."

The Blind Crier explains how the prison gangs are structured: the Nordri lead by Chief Graywolf, the Sudri led by Father Mancer, the Vestri lead by Jarl Odinson and the Austri lead by the D'iarann. The gangs stay out of each other's way for the most part, but there have been incidences in the past that turned nasty and only then would the Warden get involved. The Warden would play the role of a mediator, it was clearly the four gang leaders that ran this prison – especially the mysterious D'iarann who never left his quarters and only his Generals and trusted advisors ever laid eyes on him. Some even believed that he did not exist and that his more present General, Ebephet, was in fact the D'iarann, but the Crier made it clear that such theories were just rumors.

He continued with his induction speech by explaining the Yard Sale. This honored tradition was a favorite of the Jungelen populous. The rules were simple: each fish would give a "sales pitch" explaining a bit about themselves and their strengths and then each gang would have the opportunity to "bid" on them by putting forward one of their warriors. If only one gang bid, then the fish would become its property, however, if more than one were to bid then those warriors would fight each other and the victor's gang would claim the fish as its prize.

"What if I choose to join none of these savages?" inquires Timo.

The Crier snickers as he turns to answer him, "He he – well then, I see we have an action hero on our hands, been watching too many movies have we? HA HA!"

The Crier doubles over in laughter, but Timo stands stoically awaiting an answer to his question.

"You have the right to fight for your independence," continues the Crier once he has composed himself and wiped the snot from his nose, that resembles the beak of a toucan with two gaping nostrils flaring aimlessly on its under-belly.

"But if it's independence you want, then you will need to defeat one member from each gang and the leaders can choose whoever they want as your opponents. But I must warn you," the Crier cautions as he leans in closer to Timo's face as if he's about to examine his teeth for cavities, "they will put forward their best if you are arrogant enough to ask for your independence. A few have done so before you, but they all belong to the worms now."

Timo does not look deterred by the Crier's words, however, he seems to be the only new arrival in that boat.

The Crier's introduction to Jungelen is brought to a sudden halt when a large, muscular, shirtless man yells at him with great gusto: "Get on with it then Crier! The match is almost done and we need us some fish to fry!"

"Be patient Bobby-John you fucking shit-head!" responds the Crier, he is obviously not afraid of the man who is clearly his physical superior. Bobby-John does not look pleased but just grimaces and stares at the Crier as he hocks a loogie and spits it irately on the ground in front of him.

"This is where I leave you boys, best of luck – you're gonna need it," remarks the Crier as he directs the new fish to a small wooden bench and walks off into the crowd of inmates that are circling the center of the Yard. There is a fight going on in the middle of the crowd. Inmates are placing bets for cigarettes and other contraband – including their 'lady friends' - and there is a constant drone of yelling and cursing that fills the air.

The two men involved in the fight appear tough as nails. Based on the cheers from the crowd, the younger man is called Wolf's Claw and the other man is Theta. Theta seemed to have the upper hand initially, he landed several telling blows that struck Wolf's Claw solidly in the abdomen and followed up with a head lock that caused his opponent to turn red in his chiseled face. However, out of nowhere, Wolf's Claw hooked his arm under one of Theta's legs and delivered a powerful fireman's carry body slam that knocked the wind out of his rival. While Theta struggled to catch his breath, Wolf's Claw capitalized on his opportunity and climbed on top of his gasping victim. He proceeded to beat the man mercilessly until he lay there motionless.

"Nordri! Nordri!" chanted the crowd as the victor raised his arms in the air and turned to face them. It was then that Bill almost soiled himself: out of the crowd stepped a mountain of a man, bigger than any man Bill had ever seen. He was escorted by three men that, despite being significantly less muscular than the first, were of relatively equal stature. Bill felt like he had just reached the top of a beanstalk and was unsure whether golden eggs were a prize that would make tangling with these giants that stood before him worthwhile.

The first man looked similar to Wolf's Claw, they both appeared to be of Native American descent. The other three men, however, were clearly Caucasian triplets and reminded Bill of farm-folk back in his homeland.

Moments later, silence falls across the crowd and the celebrations end as the gigantic Native American speaks: "Congratulations to my cousin, Wolf's Claw, on his victory over the brave – but inferior – Sudri warrior whose blood has stained this yard. Let this be a reminder that the Nordri are superior and that I, Chief Graywolf, am the lord of Jungelen and should be feared by all!"

Some of the inmates in the crowd – presumably the Nordri gang members – begin to cheer and members of the other gangs become enraged. Scuffles start to ensue and just when things look like they are getting out of control, three more men step forward.

"Enough!" shouts the smallest of the three men. As the other inmates turn and see the disapproving expressions on these men's faces, they begin to quieten down.

"In case you have forgotten, Graywolf, we have a Yard Sale to facilitate. So get control of your barbarians and let us begin. What say you?" panders the man to the crowd who erupt in excited cheers.

Graywolf silences the crowd once more and bellows: "Very well, Mancer! Let us begin with the real festivities then, shall we?" Once again the crowd descends into chaos and begin to celebrate. Bill thinks to himself that even in prison there are crazy-ass politicians just trying to one up each other – no matter where you are, everything is just one big popularity contest.

As Graywolf and Mancer continue to rile up the crowd, one of the other men joins in as well. Part of the crowd begins to chant "Jarl" when he does so – this leads Bill to believe that he is Jarl Thorin Odinson, the leader of the Vestri. That leaves only one unknown man standing in the center of the crowd. 'Behemoth' is the term that comes to mind when Bill gazes upon him – he is just as tall as Graywolf but even broader. This dark-skinned African has tree-trunk sized legs and arms so large that it is difficult to tell where his biceps begin and where they end. Based on a process of elimination and the appearance of the African man, Bill deduces that he is the Austri leader's most trusted General, Ebephet.

What follows is one of the most uncomfortable and terrifying experiences of Bill's life so far. The gang leaders have them lined up and inspect them from top to tail as if they are at a brothel selecting a 'friend' to spend the evening with.

Once the inspection finally concludes, Bill feels violated and can still smell the disgusting odor of Graywolf's warm breath hovering over him like a toxic cloud. The leaders go over to the Blind Crier, who is now standing in the center of the yard, and whisper something to him. The Crier nods his head in acknowledgement and steps forward facing Bill and his cohorts.

"Quieten down now! Be quiet! I SAID SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS!" he belts out commandingly. The gangs fall silent and all turn their focus to the weaselly, sightless man.

"The leaders have inspected the merchandise and are now ready for the sales pitches," says the Crier. "We shall proceed from my left to right. Please begin and keep it brief. Start by stating if you wish to fight for independence or not and if not, then proceed to sell yourself to our esteemed leaders."

Bill feels as if the eyes of the entire populous are searing his flesh as they stare at him and await his "sales pitch". Their intensity makes him nervous and he begins to sweat profusely.

"Hi, I'm... uh... Bill... William-I-mean... Jess – uh-huh – up, Jessup and I will not be fighting for my independence" he stammers like a school boy asking a girl, he has never met, to prom. The seasoned inmates just stare at him silently, for what feels like an eternity.

"I... uh... ended up here cos my brothers and I were leaders of a small-time militia... uh... and we was fighting the cops one day and my... uh... rifle jammed up and – (gulp) – then we - "

Graywolf yawns out loud and laughter ignites across the crowd. The Crier brings proceedings back to order by raising his scrawny, leathery arms in the air.

"Alright Jessup, we've heard enough. We don't have all day and at the rate you're going, we'll all die of starvation before you get through your goddamn story. Be still before you wet yourself, boy."

The Crier turns to the leaders and inquires sarcastically: "What say you? What are the bids for this 'fine specimen'".

The Jarl is the first to speak up, "I will take him as a Thrall, I think he would be most adept at scrubbing my shit from my private throne!" Laughter once again overcomes the other inmates as they mock Bill.

"You may have him, we Nordri have plenty Peons already," remarks Graywolf.

Father Mancer is the next to weigh in: "I agree, let the Jarl have him. I have no use for him, he is not a warrior and is not fit for my leisure time activities either." As he makes this declaration, he glances over at a group of skinny, young, Sudri members that are on the verge of starvation and appear to be a lot 'softer' than the rest of the inmates. He flashes them a perverse smile that turns Bill's stomach – thank fuck he's passing on me, he thinks to himself.

Ebephet is the last to bid and he simply shakes his head from left to right and grunts disapprovingly.

"Very well then, going once! Going twice! Sold to Jarl Odinson and the mighty Vestri!"

The Jarl snaps his fingers and motions to two of his followers who swiftly move across the yard, grab Bill under his arms and frog march him to the rest of the Vestri gang. They unceremoniously push him down onto a wooden chair and straighten out his arm. A large, bearded man steps forward holding a lighter and a metal branding iron. He heats the iron and then shoves it down onto Bill's forearm with great force. Bill screams from the pain and his eyes begin to water, but no-one takes any notice. The symbol that was scorched into his skin is that of a compass with the needle pointing West. Despite the immense pain, Bill manages to collect himself and begins to wonder how it is that these prisoners have access to contraband as dangerous as lighters and metal branding irons – very strange indeed. His thoughts are interrupted by the Crier's trumpet-like voice as he continues with the Yard Sale. It was now the turn of Dead-Eye Dobkins to give his sales pitch.

"I am the Dead-Eye and any of you sons-a-bitches would be privileged to have me at your side! I do not wish to fight for my independence unless the gang that wins me is not up to my satisfaction, then I would be happy to skin four of you fuckers from head to toe."

The inmates begin to jeer and curse at Dobkins.

"Oh, you don't think I have the stones to do it, do ya? Well, have you heard of the Genghan Horde?" he continues. The crowd falls silent at the mention of the Horde.

"Well those Khan bastards underestimated me as well, and look at where they are now – three out of four of them are worm-food. Do you think it was the Gators that did that! HA! Not a fucking chance. It was me and my band that put an end to those arrogant pricks! Sure, one of them got in a lucky shot and that's what fucked up mi' eye, but I ripped out their throats and fed 'em to mi' hounds as payback!"

The inmates begin to whisper amongst themselves, they seem to be intrigued by Dead-Eye. The chatter is halted abruptly when Father Mancer steps forward and places his bid.

"I put forth one of my finest Electi... SIIIGMAAAA!" The Sudri start a war cry of sorts as a well-built, broad man steps out of their ranks. His skin is pale and covered in small scars that make him look like he is wearing a coat of porcupine quills. This man, Sigma, appears to be battle-hardened and ready for a fight.

The next gang to enter the fray is the Nordri. The gargantuan Graywolf turns to his gang and says:

"The Sudri are clearly very interested in this one-eyed fiend, however, I believe that he will be a better fit amongst the mighty Nordri warriors! As such, I bid one of my "Three Little Pigs" - my "Boars of War" - LEVI TUSK!" The Nordri now begin a war cry of their own as one of the massive triplets that were accompanying Graywolf earlier, trudges into the center of the yard.

The Jarl follows in suit and selects one of his Generals, whom he refers to as his "Thanes", to fight for the Vestri. The Thane is a lean, muscular man with a straggly, unkept beard, named Flerin.

Finally Ebephet speaks on behalf of the Austri – there is dead silence as he does so, it is evident that the inmates either fear or respect him greatly, or perhaps both.

"Lucas Frost," he says calmly in his deep voice. Initially there is a gasp and some chatter from the crowd and then the Austri begin to beat their chests like wild gorillas and repeatedly chant "Black-hand".

Initially Bill is uncertain why they refer to Frost as Black-hand, but when he steps out of the crowd it becomes clear – he literally has a black hand. His left hand is as black as coal, it is unlike anything Bill has ever seen before. Frost is not as impressive a figure as his opponents – he is a tall man but quite skinny and also older than the others. The expression on his face is a strange combination of anger and disinterest.

The Crier shuffles in front of the four selected warriors and yells: "Friends, comrades! I present to you your champions that will be competing for ownership of Dead-Eye Dobkins! HOO-RAH!"

"HOO-RAH, HOO-RAH -" shouts the crowd while proceeding to vigorously punch the air.

The Crier raises his skeletal arms and shouts so loud that he can clearly be heard over the ecstatic crowd: "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

### Chapter 3 – The birth of a legend

Bill feels a tremor beneath his feet as Tusk slams Sigma to the ground with immense force. Surely that is the end of the Sudri warrior, he thinks to himself. To his amazement, the Sudri champion leaps to his feet just before Tusk slams down his giant foot in the exact spot where his head was milliseconds before.

The four titans had been battling for quite some time at this point, but they did not seem to tire, despite the intensity of the contest. Frost and Flerin had been focusing on each other since the start, each having landed several telling blows, but they had been feeling each other out for most of the battle. On the other end of the arena, Tusk and Sigma were waging all out war against each other. They had been equally matched thus far.

Outside of the contest itself, there is a lot of action in the crowd. Bets are being wagered, skirmishes have broken out and one of the Nordri spectators spat on the back of Sigma's head only to find himself on the receiving end of a roundhouse kick from the pale warrior.

Suddenly the action takes a turn – Flerin puts all of his weight into what would likely have been a knockout punch to Frost's temple. Frost dodges the Thane's fist by rolling to his right and as he lands on his knees, he jabs Flerin twice in the kidney-area. Flerin drops to his knees and gasps for air as he holds his side where Frost connected him. The Austri champion gets to his feet and raises his black hand in the air before swiftly bringing it down on the kneeling Vestri's neck. A cracking noise is heard and the Thane falls to the floor – he is out cold and seems to be barely breathing.

The Jarl gets to his feet and stares at the Black-hand - he is furious. He grabs one of his slaves – which he refers to as Thralls – and proceeds to beat him in the face repeatedly, purely out of frustration. After several blows, he releases the bloodied man who drops to the floor. He then commands a handful of his other Thralls to take the man he just beat, as well as the unconscious Thane Flerin, to the infirmary and they hastily follow their Lord's orders. Bill, who is the newest Thrall in the Vestri ranks, thanks his lucky stars that he was excluded from the Jarl's wrath and makes sure that he remains out of the enraged lunatic's sight and off of his war path.

Tusk and Sigma continue their brawl – a true clash of the titans. Blood and sweat cover the faces of the beasts as they continue to slam each other onto the hard concrete and attempt to deliver a finishing, crushing blow at every opportunity. The other end of the arena is a very different sight – Frost has chosen not to double-team either of the giants, he is instead taking a break and waiting for them to finish each other off. While he does so, he partakes in the revelries of his peers: wagering on himself for victory, drinking whatever swill is contained in the plastic containers that the inmates seem so attached to and at one point he even head-butted one of his Austri brethren to the ground for no apparent reason.

"Oh shit!" exclaims Bill as he witnesses Tusk land a powerhouse uppercut on the chin of Sigma. Sigma was caught off-guard for just a moment. He had impressively slid in-between Tusk's legs and punched him with all his might right in the junk. Expecting that this would at least wind his opponent, he prematurely took a moment to pander to the crowd. However, Tusk did not even flinch – it was like he was a Ken-doll down below, Bill thought to himself. This afforded Tusk the opportunity to deliver the finishing uppercut to the Sudri warrior. The punch landed with such force that Sigma flew into the air and seemed to float there in slow motion for what felt like minutes before the back of his head connected with the concrete below, knocking him out cold.

Tusk is down on one knee and he takes a few moments to catch his breath. His brothers lead a war cry that infects all of the Nordri madmen.

Silence falls across the crowd as Tusk and Frost begin to circle each other like a mammoth and a jaguar preparing to rip one another to shreds. They stare each other down with such intensity that the crowd becomes mesmerized, the suspense of what is to come is palpable. All of sudden the two battle-hardened convicts charge at each other and the most intense spectacle that Bill had witnessed in his young life so far had begun...

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"Puuuh!" mouths Frost as he spits out a chunk of Tusk's right ear. The behemoth begins to stagger and sway from side to side as if the Black-hand's jabs were shots of Tequila and he had one too many. Frost, on the other hand, is in far better shape brandishing only a split lip and some blood flowing from a cut above his left eye. The exchange thus far has been relentless and the spectators have been so enthralled that not a single fracas had broken out since the two combatants first laid hands on each other. However, Bill could not help but think that Frost had been holding back.

Suddenly Tusk charges at the Black-hand as he once again panders to the crowd. He manages to catch the Austri fighter off-guard and grabs him in a spine-crushing bear hug. Frost begins to turn red and then blue as Tusk continues the crushing move. Frost appears to be passing out from the pain, he slowly slips out of consciousness and his head begins to sag.

The silence is broken by the booming megaphone that is Ebephet's voice: "Lucas! That's enough! Finish it!"

As if a switch has been flicked, Frost opens his eyes, smiles mockingly and remarks sarcastically in his accent that reminds Bill of every British hooligan character that he ever saw in the movies: "Oh alright then, guess the fun's over."

Tusk is confused by Frost's second wind and he loosens his grip for just a moment in order to reapply the hug with more vigor. This split second is all that the Black-hand requires. He wrestles free his black hand from Tusk's grip and shoves it into his mouth. Tusk begins to cry out in pain and drops to his knees with such force that it sounds like a tree has just been felled in the distance. The mammoth man releases his grip on Frost and claws at his black hand trying to remove it from his mouth. His opponent effortlessly grabs his one hand and proceeds to crush his fingers one by one. At this point Tusk begins to splutter and choke on his own blood and his eyes appear to roll back in his head.

"What's wrong then hey, cat got your tongue big fella?" asks Frost sarcastically. "Let's have a look then, shall we?"

He pulls his hand from Tusk's mouth and if Bill had not seen its blackness before, he would've never guessed that to be its natural color. It was drenched in dark, crimson blood that spread down his arm in several streams as if they were racing to reach the sadistic man's elbow. Between his fingertips, Bill sees a large piece of Tusk's tongue that the Black-hand had clawed and ripped out unceremoniously. Tusk falls flat to the floor. His brothers and some other Nordri rush to his aid.

Frost had lost interest in his opponent by this stage, he was now walking around the arena and mockingly pretending to have a conversation with the piece of Tusk's tongue that he had claimed as his trophy.

Bill was in shock... he had been incarcerated before and thought that he had met some pretty twisted individuals when doing time in the past, but he had never seen anything quite like this. What frightened him even more was that the rest of Jungelen's finest seemed not even to bat an eye at what just transpired... was this just a typical day in his new home? How could he possibly hope to survive this place? He needed to make some friends, and soon!

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

It took about an hour or so for things to quieten down. After Frost's victory, several fights broke out, one of which was between Graywolf and the other Tusk brothers. It was not so much a fight as it was a superior punishing his underlings for their brother's loss. Eventually things simmered down and the Blind Crier shuffled into the arena once more to continue the Yard Sale – next up for sale was Leary Cole.

Leary's sale was just as uneventful as Bill's. He too was not a physically impressive man nor did he have the ability to grandstand like Dead-Eye – who had already been escorted from the yard by an Austri known as "The Locust" to meet his new leader, the D'iarann. As such, Leary had joined Bill as one of the Jarl's new Thralls. Although Bill and Leary had just met that same day, they seemed to get along well and having a familiar face next to him brought Bill some small degree of solace.

"Will the final fish for sale please step forward and deliver his sales pitch to us! Hurry up then!" yells the Crier as he sniffs the air with his manhole-sized nostrils.

Timo steps forward with his head bowed. He raises his eyes and stares at the arena before him.

"I am Timo-Jin Lee, and all you need to know about me is that I am no man's property. I will be fighting for my independence..."

Gasps erupt through the crowd, followed by the barbaric laugh of Graywolf. As the other inmates see the intimidating Native American's reaction, they follow suit.

"Hush now! QUIET I SAID!" commands the Crier. The laughter subsides.

"As I warned all of you earlier," he continues, "no one has ever won their independence before. You will need to beat one member from each gang AT THE SAME TIME! It is damn near impossible, as such, I will give you one last opportunity to reconsider your choice young man..."

Timo does not flinch nor waver, he stands stoically and says: "My decision is final, I will fight to the death for my independence and will kill any man who chooses to stand in my way."

"Uh-hum," coughs the Crier as he clears his throat. "Very well then. Leaders of Jungelen, please select your champions that will be teaching this arrogant fool a lesson."

Graywolf puts forward one of the other Tusk brothers, Jebediah, to represent the Nordri and Father Mancer selects another one of his "finest Electi", Beta, as the Sudri champion. The Jarl chooses another one of his Thanes, Tomassin, to fight on behalf of the Vestri and finally Ebephet elects the tattooed American loud-mouth, Bobby-John, as the warrior for the Austri.

"So be it," says the Crier who is obviously still very annoyed by Timo's decision. "LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"Fuckin' hell! He's gonna feel that in the morning!" exclaims Leary and Bill smiles and nods in agreement. Timo had just dealt a devastating elbow uppercut to the nose of the Vestri champion, Tomassin, who was now stumbling around like a teenager who had just got pissed for the first time. Blood was pouring from his nose – which was surely broken – and was streaming into the corners of his mouth and onto his tongue. He moved his tongue back and forth against the roof of his mouth and smiled as if he was at a wine-tasting savoring the vintage of the crimson liquid – it was clear that he had no idea where he was at this point.

"TOMASSIN! Wake the fuck up or I will send you to the afterlife and the gods will reject you from the gates of Valhalla for your weakness!" commands the Jarl who is now red in the face and enraged by the poor performance of one of his trusted Thanes.

The Jarl's commands do not fall on deaf ears – Tomassin shakes the cobwebs from his head and launches a wayward roundhouse kick at Timo, however, he gets nowhere near his intended target and instead catches the charging rhinoceros that is Bobby-John, square on the temple. The Austri warrior falls flat on his back and the Thane goes to help him back to his feet. As he does so, Timo delivers a well telegraphed kick to the throat of the mammoth Tusk who stumbles backwards knocking Tomassin from behind skull-first into Bobby-John's crotch. Instead of the accidental low-blow incapacitating Bobby-John, it just infuriates him further and it now becomes clear why his fellow Austri have nicknamed him "Time-Bomb Bobby". Bobby-John's entire body starts to turn red and his veins bulge like they are going to burst out of his skin. The vein on his temple is pulsating so intensely that it appears to be on the verge of exploding. However, the only thing that explodes is Bobby-John's temper and he goes into a fit of rage like some sort of barbarian berserker. The unfortunate soul at the receiving end of his series of relentless attacks is not his opponent, Timo, but instead his accidental attacker, Tomassin. Blow after blow, elbow after elbow, knee after knee connects with bone-breaking force and the Thane, who was still recovering from Timo's attacks, finds himself back-pedaling and flailing from side to side helplessly. Finally, Tomassin falls to the ground in an unconscious heap. That does not stop Bobby-John, he climbs on the Vestri fighter and continues to beat him with fervor.

Timo seizes this opportunity to kill several birds with one stone and runs towards Bobby-John's side, jumps onto his back using him as a spring-board which allows him to launch himself at the advancing steam-roller that is Tusk. He grabs the charging behemoth around his neck, locking in a sleeper-hold. The more Tusk tries to grab Timo, who had spun himself around so that Tusk is now piggy-backing him, the more he begins to splutter and gasp for air. Meanwhile, Bobby-John, who was knocked flat onto Tomassin when Timo used him as a make-shift trampoline, was now starting to get to his feet. He had only made it to his knees so far and was busy trying to catch his breath and calm himself down.

Bill and Leary are part of a small group of inmates cheering Timo on, the majority of the crowd seem to be dumbstruck by what they are witnessing. Timo had so far been able to get his opponents to do most of his work for him and in a final act along this same vein, he manages to direct the stumbling hulk on whom he has a sleeper hold locked, to a position where he is standing over Bobby-John. Tusk's shadow eclipses the kneeling Austri berserker, but before he is able to realize the threat that the sudden darkness poses, Tusk comes crashing down onto both Bobby-John and Tomassin with bone-crushing force. Tomassin and Bobby-John are out cold, but Tusk is still moving and appears to be trying to get back to his feet. Timo makes certain that he will do no such thing by delivering a well-timed running kick directly to the temple of his unwilling 'weapon of mass destruction'. All three of his opponents are now out cold.

Timo turns to face the Blind Crier and the Jungelen leaders who are engaged in a furious debate. He stands there patiently waiting for them to acknowledge him as the first independent man in Jungelen's history. Concurrently, some of the fellow gang members have gone to aid their fallen comrades. Tomassin and Tusk are completely out of it and they are dragged off to join the other injured warriors in the infirmary. Bobby-John, on the other hand, is starting to come to. One of his Austri brethren shows him the palm of his hand on which some yellowish-blue powder resides in a small heap. Bobby-John sniffs the powder up his right nostril and that seems to wake him up immediately. The Austri member also hands him something.

"The fucker has a shank! Ti - " exclaims Leary as he gets to his feet but before he can warn his fellow fish, some Vestri thugs grab him and yank him back down while covering his mouth. All of the gangs seems to be in on the same deal here – Timo will not be the first independent to walk the halls of Jungelen.

Bobby-John moves swiftly towards Timo's rear and grabs him around the throat from behind whilst raising the shank to his jugular. This is surely it, thinks Bill to himself, he is about to slice Timo and drain him like a Christmas hog. But that is not what happens – before anyone can even process what is going on, Timo moves with near-supernatural speed and flips Bobby-John, who is significantly larger than he, head over heels. Bobby-John tries to get back on his feet, but Timo grabs him by the hair on the back of his head and shoves him towards the ground where his fist is holding the shank in an upright position. The crude blade slides effortlessly between his eye and the surrounding skull-bone and for the first time that anyone can remember, Bobby-John seems to be silent and at peace. Apparently only the Grim Reaper himself knew how to shut his loud mouth. His body is in a kneeling position surrounded by a pool of blood – it appears almost as if he is praying or begging for mercy, but it's too late for that now. His body and soul would remain in Jungelen forever and his fate as a cautionary tale to those who might challenge the soon-to-be-legendary "free man", Timo-Jin Lee, had been sealed...

### Chapter 4 – Scars that never fade

"Wow, that was pretty intense. I have so many questions: what happened to the Hammer? And Dobkins? And what about Leary and Timo, are they still around? Has anyone ev -"

"Hold up, Vivi," interjects Bill stopping his fan-boyish rant dead in its tracks. "I believe that I've done told 'ya more than my fair share, you're up next."

"Oh come on! Just tell me what happened to one of the four then!" pleads Vivi.

Bill rubs his chin as he contemplates Vivi's request. "Ok, ok, I'll tell ya about the Dead-Eye."

Vivi claps his hands together and smiles – he cannot contain his excitement. Bill thinks to himself that the Prince is almost child-like in his reaction. He sits at his bedside once more to conclude the tale of Dead-Eye Dobkins.

"The morning after the Yard Sale, Leary and I awoke to the delightful feeling a person gets when someone twice your size kicks ya in the ribs. The Vestri said that they had some work for us, we were tasked with preparing for what they called 'a fire ritual' but we had no idea what that was. We met up with some of the more experienced 'Thralls', these poor sons-a-bitches were not much more than skin 'n bones I tell ya. The Vestri barely fed them by the looks of things and treated them like slaves." Bill appears to get angry as he recalls how they were mistreated and abused by the Vestri thugs.

"You see, Prince," he continues, "the Vestri believed themselves to be the next coming of the Norse Vikings. The dumb fucks believed the Jarl's bullshit story of him being a descendant of the god Odin himself. All he was a descendant of was a family riddled with hereditary mental illness and bad hair if ya ask me! Ha!" Bill seems quite pleased with himself as he delivers that line, he had been saving it up for a while. Vivi is unresponsive at first but eventually snickers when he realizes that Bill is staring at him and eagerly awaiting a response – like a child who just told his first knock-knock joke. That is all that Bill needed to conclude that his joke was a success and he resumes the story.

"Ol' Leary and me, we was tasked with heading out and collecting some wood from the far end of the yard where there are some trees and shit. We didn't know it at the time, but Smiley even allowed these lunatics to build massive bonfires for their 'religion' - fuckin' crazy if ya ask me, but I s'pose no one ever did back then... anyway... what we saw when he got to the Yard will stick with me for the rest of my life."

As Bill continues to tell Vivi about what he and Leary discovered that day out in the Yard, he gets more engrossed in his story which leads to his accent becoming more southern, his grammar deteriorating and foul language becoming more prevalent.

He explains what they discovered in the Yard that day: hanging from the basketball hoop was a thick rope that swung to and fro gently in the breeze. At the end of the rope was the corpse of Dead-Eye. Blisters and soot surrounded his mouth and his tongue was burned to a crisp. It was also evident that he had been beaten extensively – this was a message but its purpose was unclear initially. It later became clear once the inmates had all congregated outside, even the guards and Smiley were present. Ebephet whispered something to the Blind Crier who recited his message in his mega-phonic voice.

Bill does his best impression of the sightless man as he delivers his monologue: "Let it be known that any who lie to the D'iarann or any of his Generals will suffer the same fate as this treacherous fool. The claims that he made at the Yard Sale were proven false and he paid dearly for his deceit. Liars will have their tongues scorched from their mouths so that their filthy words will taint the ears of others no more. Much is tolerated in this place, but lying will not be."

Bill recalls how taken aback he was by this statement, as was Leary who became agitated and slinked away through the crowd of prisoners.

"That's... uh..." stammers Vivi as he tries to find the words to describe what he thinks of Dead-Eye's fate.

"Ha ha! Speechless hey Princey? Don't worry, so was I that day." replies Bill. He turns and looks out of the infirmary window at the dark, star-filled sky.

"Geez, is it that late already? I better turn in and you need your rest. You are a tough one, that's for sure, but sleep is what you need most. I'll be back in the morning for my payment, so you better dream me up a real zinger, ya hear!" smiles Bill as he affectionately pats Vivi on the shoulder. Vivi nods his head in agreement and the two men with a blossoming friendship, part ways for the evening. Vivi rolls onto his side and before he is able to replay Bill's story through his head, he succumbs to the gentle embrace of the sandman and falls soundly asleep.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

That night Vivi dreams of his homeland once again. A beautiful, blessed land filled with happy families. It is such a far cry from where he finds himself now – this prison with so many evil men lurking around every corner. Well at least he has Bill, he seems like a good man. He dreams of his palace and he sees those dearest to him there with him: his father, his sister and a third person. They turn to look at him and it is Bill smiling at him.

Vivi thinks to himself that he is fortunate to have found Bill in such a horrid place. His happiness, however, is like one of the firecrackers that he would stare at in bemusement as a child – it burns bright, but is short-lived. Doubt enters his mind and quickly snuffs out any joy that he felt. He thinks of Abel, the man who showed up at his home one day and became his closest friend - but it was all a ruse. As thoughts of Abel further consume his mind, Bill grabs his arm in the dream and once again Vivi feels the all too familiar sensation of his flesh being scorched. He looks up at his friend, but Bill is no longer there; in his place is Abel, staring down at him menacingly. The pain is growing more intense and just as Vivi feels like he is about to pass out, Abel pulls him in closer and once again recites the words that have haunted Vivi for so long now: "Tell him Abel says hello..."

Vivi violently awakens from his dream to find himself in the Jungelen infirmary once more. It is pitch dark and he is dehydrated. He feels around in the dark until he finds a plastic cup full of water that Bill had left on his nightstand. He hurriedly throws back his head and gulps down the refreshing liquid. Once every last drop has run down his parched throat, he looks at the infirmary window and wipes his mouth with his sleeve. He notices something in the window that he had not seen before – it appears to be the silhouette of a man. He is tall and broad-chested, bigger than any man Vivi had seen before. Vivi can see the white of his eyes now as he blinks whilst staring eerily at the Prince. He is speechless as he lays in the infirmary bed, could this be one of the men that Bill had mentioned in his stories? One of the gigantic figures that until now had only lived in his tales and some of Vivi's hazy memories of his own Yard Sale.

Unsure what to do about his intimidating voyeur, Vivi turns on his side with his back facing his onlooker and shuts his eyes. He lays there for some time thinking about the strange man and what his purpose may be, eventually succumbing to sleep once more.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Bill strolls into the infirmary in high spirits and shuts the door behind him with a loud bang.

"Rise and shine, your highness! Time for me to change your dressings and you should eat something too."

Bill and Vivi exchange pleasantries and make some small talk as the Prince's wounds are tended to and they share breakfast. Unsurprisingly, it is not long before Bill decides to cash in on his next story. Vivi agrees to recite the tale of the Genghan Horde – at least the parts that he knows.

The tale begins with a brief history lesson – through the ages, the organization that is now known as the Genghan Horde had existed in one form or another. It all began in the days of the Mongolian warlord and great conqueror, Temujin, better know as Genghis Khan. Its most prolific and notorious leader in modern times was a fiend of a man named Vandal Khan. His reign of terror stretched across most of Europe and Asia over decades. However, his overly aggressive and savage approach of spreading anarchy and terror across the world was not only his 'calling card', but also his biggest inhibitor. The way in which he set about destroying society and 'spreading freedom' - as he put it – lacked the foresight and composure to ever pose a real threat to the world of today. That being said, he and his Horde were dangerous enough to not be ignored and they had no intentions of slowing down their crusade.

One of the favorite activities that Vandal and his barbaric followers would partake in was that of 'capture the flag'. This may sound like a harmless game, but the Horde had modified this to form something far more sinister. They would lay siege to small towns by obliterating any local law enforcement followed by isolating them from the outside world – no electricity, no open roads, no ferries, no air travel, no means to communicate, etc. They would then spend weeks pillaging the town and bleeding it dry of all its resources. Vandal would claim that the townspeople were greedy and that he was simply removing their surplus. He would kidnap what he considered to be their 'surplus' children to be trained as future Hordesmen and would relieve them of their 'surplus' vehicles to be used by the Horde in their future endeavors. Just before leaving the ravaged townsfolk to live out their days in a state of post-traumatic stress, he would select the 'flag' that he wished to capture. This flag was to be the woman in the town that he thought was the most beautiful and he would take her against her will and add her to his ever-expanding harem of reluctant wives.

Now that the General history of the Horde was better understood by Vivi's engaged audience of one, he continued to tell the story of the origins of the Khan brothers that superseded Vandal.

Vandal and his savages were yet again laying waste to another town, this time somewhere in Britain, when he came across his most precious 'flag' to date. She was a strikingly beautiful, fair-skinned woman with eyes bluer than the most beautiful seas the tyrant had ever seen in his travels across the world that he wished to revolutionize so badly. He took the woman as his favorite wife and became obsessed with her. The more she fought back against him and showed her loathing towards him, the more he would try to convince her that they were destined to be together. He would try one gesture after the next to show her that he truly cared for her – despite holding her for years against her will. One of his more grandiose gestures was to 'release' the other wives from the harem so that she was his one and only. His version of 'release' was to have them all slaughtered and dumped into the icy sea, but he did not share that minor detail with his 'one-and-only'.

He would wrack his psychotic brain trying to think of something that he could do to show his love for her. Eventually, he felt that he had figured it out. With all of his previous wives, he never had any children. It was not certain why, some speculated that it was because he felt the woman to be unworthy of carrying his "blessed seed" and others thought he was just delusional enough to think he would live forever and hence an heir would only pose a threat to his rule of the Horde. So he decided that he would bless his one-and-only with the gift of having his children. Over time she became the victim of his unwanted impregnation on three separate occasions, resulting in the births of four healthy boys. Victor was the eldest, followed by Vincent and then the twins, Abel and Ezekiel.

Several years past and Vandal's wife – who loved her sons dearly despite their father being a monster – raised the boys as best she could. However, it was only natural that some of their tyrannical father's values and characteristics would rub off on the boys: violence, aggression, entitlement and apathy towards mankind to name a few. Victor and one of the twins, Abel, emulated their father's character flaws to the greatest degree. Physical strength and aggression were fast becoming the tools that they would use to get ahead in life. Ezekiel was on the other end of the spectrum – he was a gentle boy with a good heart who loved the simple things in life. Despite him being so different, his brothers loved him dearly and protected him with great fervor. The final brother, Vincent, was somewhere in-between the others. He was the most intelligent of the boys, a very deep-thinker, who was not opposed to violence but was able to better assess when it was necessary to resort to such extreme measures. Like Ezekiel, he too was a quiet boy and that coupled with their shared interests, created an unbreakable bond between the two brothers.

Vandal was content with his life at this point; his wife had become more subservient as a result of her wanting to protect her children and the Horde were reinvigorated by the new plans to accelerate their grip on the world and increase their ranks. For a man that thrived on chaos and anarchy, this was his version of a 'peaceful life'. However, as is often the case, the calm comes before the storm and Vandal's 'storm' was brewing thick and fast. He would soon meet his ultimate nemesis.

Vivi pauses his tale to quench his thirst. The few seconds he takes to do so seemed like an eternity to Bill who was chomping at the bit to hear more about Vandal's nemesis. The more excited he got, the more his whistle would kick in as he repeatedly asked Vivi: "You done? You done?"

Vivi places his cup on his nightstand and resumes the story that has Bill so engrossed...

Vandal's blissful ignorance over the years since he snatched his unwilling bride from her quaint home, blinded him from some fairly obvious questions that he should have been asking: would anyone miss this woman? Did she have someone that loved her? And if so, would they come looking for her? Unfortunately for the villainous Khan, the answer to all of these questions was a resounding "yes".

These events took place in the days that the Global Anti-Terrorist Organization was but a sapling that would one day grow into the powerful oak that today stretches its branches across the full breadth of the world. One of the first operatives – which are referred to as 'Gators' – to really excel within the organization was an agent codenamed 'Gator 1'. He was a highly trained individual whose passion for extinguishing the evil flame that is terrorism, was only surpassed by his love for his wife. He was a rare breed, a man who truly wanted to make the world a better place and his muse was the love of his life. The Gator had no family other than her and together they lived a peaceful life in a picturesque, British town. Unfortunately, he would not be the only man to become entranced with his wife's beauty – she was the unlucky woman whose fate was to become the 'one-and-only' of the sadistic Vandal Khan.

At the time of her abduction, the Gator was not home. Ironically, he was hunting terrorists abroad at the exact time that the person he wished to protect most had terror incarnate at her doorstep. Upon hearing the news of what had transpired, the Gator returned home to find that his wife had been taken. From that day forward, he made it his single goal to find the Horde, save his wife and put and end to Vandal Khan. This was not easy, it took many years before the organization had accumulated the resources to pinpoint the location of the Horde early enough so that they could confront them before the psychopathic nomads moved off to their next target.

The Gator's patience paid off in the end, however, when he eventually caught up with the Horde. The hunter had become the hunted and just like any other prey, Khan fled leaving his Hordesmen to be killed, captured or flee for their own lives. Most of his best Generals were captured that day but some were able to escape the jaws of the Gators and they would be responsible for holding together what remained of the Horde now that their not-so-fearless leader had decided to save himself.

The Gator returned home with some degree of satisfaction, he had at least accomplished his primary goal – saving his wife – but had unfortunately not been able to kill or capture her abductor. In addition to this, he had also become an instant father to four boys who had the blood of the person he hated most coursing through their veins. He was a good and just man, however, and he took the innocent boys in as his own. It was not easy to raise them and try to undo the damage that having a father like Vandal had done, but he and his wife were excellent parents and their love for each other and their children was resulting in the boys growing up to be a far-cry from typical Khans.

If the story ended there, then it would be a truly happy ending, however, in real life such endings are as rare as white peacocks. A few peaceful, happy years passed and the Gator agent had retired to spend more time with his family and ensure that they were safe. Life was good, until one day...

The Gator had stepped out for a few minutes to go to the local store. Unbeknown to him, Vandal had tracked down the new home of his beloved and was waiting in the wings for exactly such an opportunity. The Gator returned home to find Vandal attempting to once again abduct his wife with whom he was so obsessed. Vandal held a knife to her throat and in an act that could never be undone, he slit pierced her jugular while her husband watched helplessly as he decreed that if he could not have her in life, then he would do so in death.

"That's about all I know, what happens next is quite unclear," says Vivi to Bill as he nears the conclusion of his story.

"The legend goes that the four brothers ran off that day and fended for themselves in the wild for some time, too scared and lost to return home. There is also much speculation as to whether Vandal committed suicide there and then to be with his love in the afterlife or whether the Gator killed him. Some even believe that since his body was never found, he was actually captured by the Gator who had him sent to a secret location where he would live out his days with the worst of mankind." Vivi thinks for a moment about his last statement: "I guess that location would probably be Jungelen..."

Bill shrugs when Vivi looks over at him implicitly inquiring if Vandal is a resident at the prison.

"I ain't never heard of no Vandal Khan, but could be, a lot of the crazies change their names to sound more intimaditin' like."

Bill changes the subject back to the Khan brothers: "Any ideas what happened to them poor kids?" he asks.

"I'm not sure," he responds, "although it is widely known that at some point they made it back to the Genghan Horde and all the hard work that their mother and adoptive-father had done was undone. They followed in their father's footsteps and rebuilt the Horde surpassing what their father had taken his whole life to build. However, the Gators eventually caught up with them as well and killed three of the four of them. The only survivor was Abel."

"Abel," whispers Bill under his breath, "so he's the mother fucker that still runs that operation and that gave you that there flamin' hand-print, huh?"

Vivi nods his head as he rubs the scar that the young Khan scorched into his flesh. As Bill thanks Vivi for the fantastic tale and prepares to share the next chapter of his own story, the Prince's mind is distracted by thoughts of Abel once more. He will never forget what he did to him and his people and even if he could get him out of his mind, it was only a matter of time before the memories would come flooding back when he sees the constant reminder that he seared into his flesh. Vivi had come to terms with the fact that Abel would always be a part of him until the day he drew his last breath – a part that he hated with all his might, but an integral part nonetheless.

### Chapter 5 - Uprising

The young Bill Jessup and his best friend, Leary Cole, are on their hands and knees scrubbing the shit-stained, porcelain throne of the delusional Jarl Thorin Odinson. They had become quite skilled at doing the Jarl's bidding which consisted mainly of demeaning chores that afforded them no reward on completion. No matter how well they and the rest of the Vestri Thralls performed, they were still treated like dog-shit by the rest of the Vestri. Three of the four gangs had such a class system and at the bottom of the totem pole was the "slave class". For the Vestri, these were the Thralls, the Sudri had the Unworthy and the Peons were the Nordri that shared this same unfortunate rank.

"Yous two runts! Hey, I said yous two runts!" snarls a large Vestri to get the attention of Leary and Bill. When he fails to do so, he walks over to them and kicks Leary square on the jaw and back-hands Bill through the face.

"Gots your attention now does I?" asks the man sarcastically in very low quality English.

Leary rubs his jaw and replies to the ogre that assaulted him: "Yes, you have our attention."

The Vestri man back-hands Leary this time knocking him to the floor.

"Where be your respect you maggot! You is gonna calls me Thane Beetlebarb whenever you opens up that manky mouth of yours and speaks with me, understood!"

"Yes, Thane Beetlebarb, we understand," interjects Bill when Leary does not reply and instead just stares down the oafish Thane.

"Excelsius," replies Beetlebarb. "Now gets up on your little feets fuckers and take you asses out to the Yard. We's gonna have us a tourney today, right sure, and the Jarl needs you to make sure the Yard is clear of anything that could hurts his real Vestri."

As he says the name of the gang of Norse wannabes, the Thane beats his own chest and interrupts himself by shouting out "HOO HOO!" before he concludes the instructions. Bill helps Leary to his feet and the two friends move hastily to the Yard to search for anything that the Jarl deems harmful, ranging from other gangs that might be out to ambush the Vestri to snakes that had slithered in from the jungle.

The sun bakes the two men as they smash the heads of another two snakes that they found in the Yard. Well, actually Bill did the smashing, Leary seemed repulsed by the idea so he would just catch them and hand them off to Bill to do the dirty work. Leary pauses for a moment and looks up as if he hears something.

"Leary... Bill... over here," comes a whisper floating on the island breeze.

Bill and Leary turn to see Timo poking his head around a corner of the Yard. He motions to the pair and disappears behind the wall from behind which he was peering. They walk hastily across the Yard towards Timo looking from left to right to make sure that they are not being followed, it was clear from his behavior that whatever he wanted to tell them was confidential.

As they turn the corner behind which he had vanished moments ago, they see him standing there with a dozen other inmates. The men are all weak-looking, most look malnourished and some seem extremely anxious. Timo, however, is as calm and collected as always.

He greets the pair with a rare smile on his face: "Glad you could join us, guys. Let me introduce you to the team."

Timo proceeds to introduce the dozen men that are standing with him. They come from the Sudri, Vestri and Nordri gangs and are all from the respective gangs' slave classes. These Unworthy, Thralls and Peons had been approached by Timo over the course of several weeks to join what he referred to as a "movement". Being the first independent in the history of Jungelen had turned out to be a double-edged sword for the formidable warrior. It had earned him immense respect amongst his peers but it had also put a shank-sized target on his back. The other gangs were unhappy with having an independent around and although they were not supposed to make an attempt on his life, they had done so several times when the cloak of darkness filled the haunting halls of the prison. As a result of these troubling events, Timo had reached the conclusion that unless he did something drastic, his days were numbered.

"... and that's when I realized that I was living on borrowed time. Fuckin' lunatics almost stuck me like a pin-cushion," he explains. "So I did some serious thinking and I realized that I am not the only one whose life these fuck-heads had threatened. The slaves – their words, not mine – are constantly in danger. But it does not have to be that way..."

Timo spent the next half an hour explaining to Bill and Leary how he was forming a fifth gang consisting of these slaves. He planned to operate it far more democratically than the other gangs were run and also far more secretly. Their home would be the shadows and their weapons would be stealth, misdirection and manipulation. The plan was to incite a war between the gangs – they would be the puppet masters and they would get their puppets to focus on killing off each other.

"It's a working title – Slavene!" exclaimed Timo when asked what they would call this gang of there's.

"I'm in!" cheers Leary. "I've been waiting to get a little revenge on the Jarl and those cuntish Thanes of his."

Bill turns to Leary and stares at him like he is seeing him for the first time: "Cuntish – what the fuck is that? Anyway, slow your role there buddy, I'm still not convinced this here venture ain't gonna get us strewn up in the Yard like ol' dumb-ass Dead-Eye."

"Dead-as-fuck-eye," sneers Leary and Timo chuckles. Bill flashes the both of them another disapproving stare.

"As I was saying," he continues, "we need a bit more meat in our stew, yes?"

Now everyone just stares at Bill as if he is a foreign being speaking some insane tongue.

"We need more fighters – people with physical strength, ya get it?" he clarifies.

The light switch is flicked in the minds of his peers and they nod their heads wildly in agreement with Bill.

"I have a plan for that," adds Timo, "what I need from you guys is to help grow our ranks in the slave class even further. We also need some help thinking of a way to kill off some of these fuckers without making it look intentional. It would raise suspicion if the gangs all of a sudden appeared to be slitting each others throats immediately. Smiley and his goons would shut shit down before we even made a real dent."

An idea popped into Bill's head, this was an unusual feeling for the educationally-challenged man, for a moment he thought he may have been having a mild stroke.

"Loki's breath!" he remarks.

"What about it?" asks Leary.

Bill continues the explanation of his idea: "We can kill 'em off with the drug. We just need to spike a small portion of it. If we control the drug trade, we can skim some of the profits off the top without the gangs noticing and use that to buy some more real warriors as well."

"I like where your head is at," replies Timo, "but how would we do that exactly?"

Bill scratches his head for a moment, snaps his fingers and says with a grin plastered across his face: "The Nordri control the bulk of the drug business from what I have seen and all of their cooks are Peons, except for the main one. He's a greasy looking, one-armed, one-eyed fucker they call "Tar Pit". A real nasty piece of work and they don't treat him much better than the Peons. I think we could flip the filthy old bastard and then we could be in business big time!"

Timo smiles and remarks: "I knew that I did the right thing by bringing you guys in. Seems like we have a lot of work to do boys – let's get to it!"

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Over the next several weeks, the Slavene grew in number. Timo, Bill and Leary became the faces of the shadowy movement. The very nature of the slave class allowed them to make the group so successful – they were seen as the weak, expendable prisoners. They were not seen as a threat in the slightest and this gross underestimation of the danger they posed when unified, allowed them to ruffle some feathers. They even formed a leadership council within their own ranks referred to fondly as the "Kongene" which is the Norse translation of "The Kings". This had been shortened to the "Kongs" and the symbol of their followers was a small eye tattooed on one of their fingertips.

The Kongs council consisted of seven men: Timo, Leary and Bill – who founded the group; as well as one member of each of the four traditional Jungelen gangs.

The first was a member of the Nordri who had been given the nickname Humpty Dumpty by the sadistic Graywolf when he stood up to him years back and the chief punished his insubordination by slicing off some select body parts – a few fingers, toes, an ear and even the tip of his nose. He had left him lying in a pool of his own blood after he was done and joked that all the men of Jungelen would not be able to put Humpty back together again. However, Dumpty was more resourceful than he thought and he survived the brutal assault. Although he would never admit it, Graywolf was actually impressed by this and made Dumpty his "chief Thrall" which was very much an empty title that did nothing to quell the hatred that he had developed for the Big Bad Wolf.

The second was one of the Sudri Unworthy who had the unenviable position of being Father Mancer's favourite "lady friend". He was a very feminine man, a creation of the Father's perverted mind. Darlene was what he was known as in the prison - clearly that was not his birth name but he refused to share that since he claimed that the man that bore that name had been long since murdered by the Sudri leader.

Beetles-bitch was the third Kong and represented the Vestri Thralls. That was not his preferred name, it was the title given to him by his master, Thane Beetlebarb, who Bill and Leary knew all too well. Everyone within the Slavene referred to him by his chosen name "Godwinson" in honor of one of the great victors over the real Norse Vikings in ancient history. He wished to repeat the original Godwinson's victory over his delusional Vestri oppressors.

The final member was the Austri representative, Handsome Jim. The Austri had no official slave class, however, Jim and some of his compatriots were also severely mistreated by other Austri members. As an example: Jim had been given his nickname by his nemesis, Bobby-John, after being beaten mercilessly by the loud-mouthed berserker in what was supposed to be a simple sparring match. The damage to Jim's face was severe and he now had permanent scarring, hence the nickname "Handsome" which had been bestowed upon him sarcastically by his nemesis. After Timo metaphorically put the final nail in Bobby-John's coffin, Jim began to idolize the Asian warrior. This resulted in him becoming an extremely loyal and devoted follower of the Slavene despite him not actually being a slave.

The council of seven Kongs had assembled as per Timo's request. The meeting was about to begin in a secret location hidden deep within the halls of Jungelen. The only opportunity that they had to convene was when both the guards and the other prisoners were fully distracted – this was usually during Yard time when a special event was scheduled – such events usually involved some kind of mortal combat tournament.

Timo calls the meeting into session: "Thank you all for being brave enough to come here, my friends. Once again, you have proven your loyalty to our cause."

"How are we looking for time?" he asks Bill who is seated to his right.

"Half an hour tops, I would say we should get back to our "masters" in no more than twenty minutes to be safe."

"Fine, let's get right into it then," responds Timo.

"We have been making our mark over the past weeks and I want to thank all of you for that, however, the overdose killings have only perked the interest of the Leaders. There are suspicions of the gangs targeting each other, but it has not been enough to create the civil war that we need."

"We need to do a lot more and soon," adds Handsome Jim. "The D'iarann is a clever man and it is only a matter of time until he and his Generals figure out what is going on."

Darlene chimes in as well: "He's right, I saw Ebephet and Mancer meeting on several occasions and they seemed to be working together. Our plan might be having the opposite affect to what we desired."

Chatter breaks out between the Kongs as they intensely debate what to do. The discussions are brought to an end by Bill who declares: "We need Tar Pit!"

"I told you Jessup, I have tried but Graywolf keeps him too close. He knows that he is his golden goose and I can't get near the smelly old fuck let alone take him our proposal," replies the Nordri Thrall, Dumpty.

"Did you at least find out what his routine is?" asks Bills as he stares at Dumpty agitatedly. "He must be collectin' his damn ingredients for Loki's Breath from somewhere!"

Dumpty explains that the head Loki's Breath cook, Tar Pit, goes out to the far end of the Yard first thing every morning just before dawn. He is accompanied by two Nordri warriors one of whom is Graywolf's younger cousin and most trusted champion, Wolf's Claw, and the other warrior differs from day to day, but it is always one of his lesser skilled fighters.

"Hmmm... the mighty Wolf's Claw, ha!" chuckles Darlene to himself.

"What's so funny?" inquires Leary.

"Well my dear Leary Cole, I just so happen to know the Wolf's Claw very well and let's just say he's a real man's man," smiles Darlene. He continues to explain that he had witnessed Wolf's Claw frequenting the Sudri brothel and that he had a real taste for the "lady friends".

"What the fuck!" exclaims Dumpty. "Graywolf will scalp the dirty bastard if he finds out he's been laying with them lot!"

While the other Kongs discuss Darlene's revelation with fervor, Bill is lost in thought.

Timo turns to his trusted advisor and remarks: "I know that face, you have a plan."

"That's my boy Billy!" chimes in Leary, "the smartest dumb-fuck hillbilly in the whole wide world!"

Bill flashes Leary a "fuck you" smile as the two friends exchange a few more verbal jabs.

"Ok enough fellas, we are running out of time. So, do you have a plan or not?" inquires Timo once more, this time with less patience than the first.

"I think I just might..." replies Bill still smiling as the rest of the Kongs lean in to listen to the scrawny southerner's big idea.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Wolf's Claw is once again escorting the Nordri's head Loki's Breath cook, Tar Pit, to the far corner of the Yard where he collects his "special ingredients" used to concoct the addictive powder that had found its way up the nostrils of most of the prison's population. He is accompanied by one of his Nordri brethren, Simeon, who appears to be very anxious and jittery. Simeon was quite new to the ranks of Graywolf's madmen and this was his first task of any real import. He wanted desperately to impress the cousin of the great Wolf Chieftain and this need to prove himself was the reason for his nervousness.

"For the love of fuck, old man, why do we have to take your little trips at the ass-crack of dawn to the furthest fucking end of the Yard!" complains Wolf's Claw as he agitatedly scratches his crotch.

"What's wrong baby wolf, you not get to see your lady friend's lately?" chuckles the greasy-looking Tar Pit.

Wolf's Claw back-hands the old cook, evidently his words struck a nerve. There were rumors in the Nordri ranks that he had a taste for the more feminine inmates that worked in the Sudri brothels. The head of the Sudri, Father Mancer, was the closest thing to a pimp that the prison had and much of his power came from his control of the prison's sex trade. If these rumors ever made their way to the ears of the Nordri Chieftain, his cousin would make an example of him. Not because of his sexual preferences, but instead because of his support for the Sudri's primary source of what past for income in Jungelen.

Tar Pit was correct that Wolf's Claw's foul mood was due to him not having visited the brothel in some time. It was not for lack of trying, however, he had attempted to have his visits at least once a day, but he was never able to find what he was looking for. This had made him frustrated and confused, he did not understand where the sex-workers were operating from or if they had thrown in the towel. Mancer still seemed to be reaping the gains of his enterprise, but he dare not approach anyone – least of all Mancer – to ask what was going on.

"We're here, old man, make it quick!" snarls Wolf's Claw at Tar Pit.

The cook begins to collect some flowers and shrubbery that are growing through the fence that separates the Yard from the outer areas of Jungelen. He also takes out a small shank which he uses to kill some of the snakes that he finds in the underbrush. It would seem that their venom is part of the formula for Loki's Breath – that is probably why it was so important for it to be cooked by someone with experience, like Tar Pit, since an incorrect dosage could very easily turn a junky's trip into a march down death row.

"What was your name again?" snaps the irritable Wolf' Claw at Simeon.

"S..S..S...imeon, sir," stutters the skittish Nordri.

Wolf's Claw stares him down, rolls his eyes and sighs: "So Simeon, tell me something of interest to help me break my boredom while that smelly old fuck does what he does."

The two Nordri engage in some forced, uncomfortable small talk while Tar Pit continues to collect what he needs.

A few minutes later the awkward conversation between Wolf's Claw and Simeon is brought to an abrupt halt.

"Shut up!" says Wolf's Claw to Simeon, "did you hear that?"

Simeon shakes his head and shrugs. Wolf's Claw stands up and looks around the corner to see if he can find the origin of the faint laughter that he heard. What he finds is like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow for him – frolicking in the prison Yard are several of his favourite Sudri lady-friends. He wipes his eyes to make sure they are not deceiving him, but the Sudri are still there. His first thought is to run over to them immediately, however, he is afraid to leave his post – that would not make his cousin happy. He thinks for a second and then concludes that he cannot leave Tar Pit alone with the newbie, Simeon. He turns and dejectedly begins to walk back to his fellow Nordri.

"Wolfy! Where are you going, Wolfy?" he hears the Sudri whisper to him from across the Yard. He stops dead in his tracks and tries to fight his perverted urges.

"We have missed you so much, meet us at the usual place so we can make up for lost time – free of charge for our favourite man," remark the Sudri as they blow kisses to Wolf's Claw and skip away.

"Fuck it," mutters Wolf's Claw to himself. "Simeon! Watch the old fuck, I'll meet you back here, wait for me even if he is done."

"B...b...but..." stammers Simeon.

"No buts! Just do as I fucking say before I scalp your stuttering ass!"

Before Simeon can protest any further, Wolf's Claw gives into his urges and sprints across the Yard to find his beloved lady-friends.

Simeon is pacing up and down nervously. What will he do if someone tries to attack while Wolf's Claw is away? He has not been involved in many battles to date and he knows how formidable the other gangs can be and how important Tar Pit is.

"Are you done yet?" he asks Tar Pit anxiously.

The old cook just looks at him and shakes his head in annoyance. He continues collecting his ingredients.

"Look sharp, Simeon," whispers an unknown man. Simeon almost jumps out of his skin.

"Who the fuck goes there!"

The unknown man steps out of the shadows and replies: "Relax, it's me Dumpty. The Chief sent me, where is Wolf's Claw?"

Simeon begins to sweat and becomes skittish once again as he attempts to concoct an excuse for his perverted comrade.

"Uh... um... he... uh... went to take a shit..."

Dumpty just stares at him: "A shit?"

"Yes... a shit..." repeats Simeon as he stares back at Dumpty to see if he is buying his bullshit.

"Whatever," says Dumpty. "The Chief has a message for him - the Tusks have been ambushed by the Jarl and his Thanes and they require immediate reinforcements. Graywolf said that you and I must keep Tar Pit here, out of harm's way and Wolf's Claw needs to join him immediately for the rescue."

"Oh fuck... oh fuck..." recites Simeon repeatedly while holding his head in his hands and pacing back and forth.

"I'm not an idiot, he's not taking a shit, you are a horrible liar. He's with those Sudri whores, isn't he?" asks Dumpty rhetorically.

"Just go and find him and deliver the message, Graywolf will have both of your scalps if he is not there soon!" he continues.

"But what about the old man? Who's going to watch him?" inquires Simeon.

Dumpty whips out a shank and holds it up: "I might just be a Thrall, but don't forget that I was more than that before coming here and I fought the Big Bad Wolf and survived. I am more than capable of keeping this old fart safe, now hurry up and find him!"

Simeon does as he is told and scampers across the Yard leaving Dumpty alone with the Nordi's head cook.

"Hello Mr. Pit, or can I just call you Tar?" snorts Dumpty sarcastically.

Tar Pit looks up at the head Peon and realizes that his two guards are nowhere in sight.

He cracks a half-smile exposing some of his rotten, yellow teeth and replies: "Whatever you like, friend."

Dumpty kneels next to the old man and places his hand on his shoulder.

"How's about we have us a chat then. I have a proposal for you that will land our Nordri brothers in quite a bit of a shit-pit. Does that interest you at all?"

"Shit-pit, ha ha," chuckles the cook in response, "yes, I do believe that would interest me very much indeed."

The two begin to discuss Dumpty's proposition as the sun starts to rise and gently illuminates what would become a very dangerous alliance.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Weeks had past since Dumpty had struck up a deal with Tar Pit. That day was truly a turning point for the Slavene's revolution. Not only had the alliance with Tar Pit been forged that day, but they had caused serious waves amongst the Sudri, Nordri and Vestri. Wolf's Claw's trip to see his lady-friends was a plot to ambush the cousin of the mighty Graywolf. He was found dead by the Big Bad Wolf's Generals laying in a pool of his own blood mixed with that of his Sudri whore-assassins' who he took with him to the after-life. The rookie Nordri, Simeon, had also been ambushed by Vestri Thralls belonging to the Slavene and he was unable to take any of them down with him. They strung him up and burned him alive to make it appear that he had been the victim of the Norse-wannabes' ritual sacrifice.

Tar Pit had been slowly poisoning all of the Loki's Breath stock that he knew would find its way up the noses of the Sudri, Vestri and Austri members. As they started to experience some casualties and other members falling ill, the three gangs noticed that the Nordri seemed as fit as fiddles.

All of these incidents had put the prison populous on a knife's edge. The smallest of sparks would ignite a hellfire that would engulf Jungelen in violence and death.

To try and ignite this flame, the Slavene desecrated one of Mancer's temples and tagged it with the rune symbols of the Vestri. Although this caused further tension between the gangs, it was still not enough. That is when Bill had another great idea – get the guards involved.

One of the guards was a known Loki's Breath addict and they had Tar Pit whip him up a particularly potent batch. The guard was out cold and that is when the Slavene struck. Darlene slit his throat and Dumpty scalped him in exactly the same fashion that he had seen his master, Graywolf, do so many times before. Upon discovering their scalped colleague, Warden Smiley and the guards had to step in and after an intense battle with the Nordri Chieftain, they eventually managed to subdue him and lock him up in solitary confinement. It was during the Big Bad Wolf's time of solitude that things really got interesting...

In the absence of a leader, the Nordri crown was usurped by one of Graywolf's Generals who also happened to be his cousin, Longclaw. Unlike Graywolf, Longclaw was a one trick pony – he would respond to any situation with violent retaliation regardless of the severity thereof. Despite Graywolf being brutish himself, he was more intelligent and far more of a measured leader than most gave him credit for, he knew how to pick his battles whilst still projecting strength. The new chieftain, however, had a far more one track mind – murder, death, kill. This was exactly the kind of man that the Slavene needed to crack the ice that supported the fragile peace between the Jungelen gangs.

One of the most intense battles kicked off when Longclaw and his Nordri warriors began a riot in the mess hall by shanking one of the Vestri Thanes. A full scale battle royal broke out between the two gangs and in the ensuing chaos, one of Father Mancer's most faithful Sudri acolytes was trampled to death. As the acolyte drew his last breath, a thirst for vengeance filled Mancer and he ordered his followers to join the battle and kill the Nordri. The Austri had stayed out of the conflict at first, but when Ebephet took a wayward shank to the arm, all hell broke loose and they joined the fray.

The guards reluctantly had to intervene now that all four gangs were involved. It was all out war – inmates lay bleeding on the mess hall floor, some unconscious, others dead. Cracked skulls, broken bones and gaping shank wounds were everywhere.

Through the use of tear gas grenades and rubber bullets, the guards were able to shepherd the inmates into the Yard where they left them to continue their fight while they waited for air support.

The peaceful silence that covered the jungle island was shattered by the war cries of victors and the blood-curdling screams of their victims. It was the bloodiest battle that the prison had seen for as long as anyone could remember – the Blind Crier included.

As the choppers flew over the Jungle prison they dispersed a paralyzing gas over the battlefield. Bill inhaled the noxious gas and whilst it took affect, he managed to muster up the strength to look around him – the Yard was littered with fallen inmates and he was filled with uncertainty about what would happen next. The only thing that he knew for sure was that the carrion crows owed him and his comrades a debt of gratitude for the feast that lay before them.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Longclaw sits in his cell like a caged animal. He and all the rest of the Jungelen population were all under lock-down since the "Battle of the Mess" as it was now being referred to. Warden Smiley had been to meet with him several times already to try and broker peace between the gangs. He had spat in the face of the Warden every time despite his claims that the Nordri were the only tribe that had not yet come to the table.

He is an arrogant man filled with bravado, there is no doubt in his mind that he is always right and superior. He is after all a descendant of the Great Wolves and he believes that it his destiny, not his cousin's, to lead their people back to greatness and exact vengeance upon those that stole everything from them. He daydreams of his moment in the sun when he one day realizes this destiny – bathed in the blood of his enemies baking in the admiration of an entire nation.

Moments later his daydream is interrupted as his cell turns dark. A shadow had fallen over him and his surroundings, it was larger than that of any normal man.

"Hello cousin, we need to have a chat," booms the intimidating voice of Chief Sonnybill Graywolf. Longclaw stands up and stares at his former chieftain, he does not seem afraid.

"The Nordri are mine now, you failed. You know our laws, just accept it and join me as one of my most honored Generals."

Graywolf smiles menacingly at his cousin: "You never were the smartest, young wolf, however, you are right about one thing – I do know our laws. In particular I know that I have the right to challenge you as the chieftain."

"Yes and as chieftain I have the right to set the parameters of such a challenge," replies Longclaw.

"Ha ha," snickers Graywolf. "I'll show you exactly what the parameters will be."

Graywolf raises his arm and a loud buzzing noise is heard followed by a click as Longclaw's cell door slides open. The usurper's arrogance and bravado have now deserted him and he stands before the approaching giant as nothing more than a common coward. He half-heartedly attempts to strike the Big Bad Wolf first, but his attack is easily countered by the gargantuan warrior who grabs his head and effortlessly smashes it into the cell wall almost knocking him unconscious. Longclaw feels himself being slung over his cousin's shoulder but is too dazed to defend himself. He is taken from his cell and has no idea where his destination will be, but he is sure that this will not end well for him.

"Let this be a warning to all!" bellows Graywolf across the Yard. It was only moments ago that he body-slammed his injured cousin, Longclaw, onto the concrete floor. He was now holding his head up by his hair and addressing the crowd. All of the gangs, as well as the guards, had assembled in the Yard.

"I am the one true leader of the Nordri and until the day that I leave this earth to join my ancestors, you will follow ONLY MY orders! This usurper is my blood and it pains me to do what I must to him – but it will not bother me in the slightest to do far worse to any of you who disrespect me! I am the Graywolf, now bow before me!"

The Nordri members all bend the knee as commanded.

"Good, now for you punishment cousin."

What happened next was something that Bill had never dreamed he would see in his lifetime. He was always wary of the Nordri Chieftain, but this took his fear of him to a new level. Graywolf grabbed Longclaw by his bottom jaw and tugged at it as his cousin screamed from the pain. After several tugs he put all of his strength into it and ripped his jaw clean off. Even the hardened psychopaths of Jungelen flinched at the sight of it. Bill turned away, the sight of Longclaw's jaw-less face and dangling tongue turned even his stomach and he had lived off of roadkill for years back home.

Just when he thought the worst was over, Graywolf moved onto step two of the punishment. He used the teeth attached to the jawbone that he had just dislodged from his cousin's face as a tool to separate his scalp from his skull. Witnessing a live scalping was something that would stick with a man for a lifetime, but seeing this jaw less body writhing as its own teeth were being used to saw through skin was something that would live in the nightmares of every man who witnessed it.

When the Graywolf was done, he let the limp body of his cousin drop to the floor. He stared at his victim – emotionless – and then in a final act of what would pass for mercy in his twisted mind, he stomped on Longclaw's skull breaking his neck. The chieftain's body lay in the Yard peacefully... yet another one for the crows... another spirit claimed by this foul place. At least his extreme suffering had ended.

The crowd parted to let the advancing warrior pass. As he marched back to his place at the head of the Nordri, a few things became clear. Firstly, the lock-down was a thing of the past. This show - orchestrated by the Warden, no doubt – had made it no longer necessary. The inmates would fall in line after such a shocking display. Secondly, any grand destiny that Longclaw thought he had would never be more than just a daydream – he would never be more than just another soul claimed by the Jungle.

### Chapter 6 – The Smiling King

At first Vivi feels a sense of shock and intrigue as Bill concludes his story, it was like when his father would recite his epic war tales to him as a boy. That feeling is quickly replaced by angst when he remembers that the characters in the tale, including the brutal beast known as the Big Bad Wolf, were not fictional characters – they were his fellow inmates. He could very easily become the victim of a similar fate if he was not careful.

"That's... wow... I don't know what to say," remarks Vivi sheepishly.

Bill checks the clock on the wall and says to Vivi: "I think we have enough time for another, your turn. I would love to hear how it is you came to rule your homeland at such a young age. What happened to your par-"

Bill is interrupted mid-sentence by the whooping sounds of the Jungelen alarm. Vivi is startled by the sudden commotion.

"What the hell is that?" he shouts while blocking his ears with his hands.

Bill stands up and looks out of the window of the infirmary.

"Some fucker tried to escape, I got to go – just sit tight and don't speak to anyone until I get back. Ya hear me son?"

Vivi acknowledges Bill's instruction as he dashes out of the infirmary. The Prince lays there waiting anxiously, confused as to what is happening around him. He hears yelling and the heavy footsteps of men running back and forth. While restrained to his bed frame, there was not much he can do other than just lay and wait.

"Put pressure on it!" yells a guard as he and several others burst through the infirmary door. They are wheeling in a man on a stretcher. He appears to be wearing a guard uniform as well but it is difficult to be certain as it is torn to shreds and the man is badly injured. Vivi thinks to himself that the man cannot be a guard, Bill said that someone tried to escape the prison. Why would a guard try to escape? Upon closer inspection, the Prince sees that he is covered in large gashes that are bleeding profusely. Chunks of his flesh also seem to be missing – they appear to have been bitten off. The evidence would indicate that the mutilated man was attacked by a savage animal, a beast bred as a killing machine.

Vivi loses himself for a moment and forgets the advice of his friend, Bill, to not talk to anyone.

"Hey! I said hey, you! What happened to this man!" he yells at the frantic guards.

When they don't respond to him, he yells at them again. Eventually he gets the attention of one of the guards, who turns to face him. The light flickers off of the guard's name badge catching Vivi's eye – Kruger, it reads. Vivi vaguely remembers this infamous brute, the South African Captain of the Jungelen guards.

Kruger walks up to Vivi and stares him down with a look of disgust on his face.

"I hate you fuckers, I have to tell you, I hate every last one of you."

He picks up the steel tray that Bill used to bring Vivi his meals and smacks him on the temple with all his might. The Prince is dazed and his vision so blurry that he can barely make out the details of his assaulter's brick-shaped face. He can taste his own blood as Kruger once again pummels him with the tray knocking him out cold.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

As Vivi begins to come to, he hears men arguing outside of the infirmary. He cannot see them but he can make out some of what they are saying. The one man seems to be apologizing to the other in a thick South African accent. The other man – who seems to be the dominant party in the argument – is getting increasingly angry as he scolds the apologizer and threatens him. As he does so, Vivi can clearly hear his unique speech impediment flaring up, a distinct whistling sound. It must be Bill and Kruger arguing over what he did to Vivi with the steel tray. But why would the captain of the guards be apologizing to an inmate? Vivi is unsure about what is going on in this place, but he is more anxious than ever.

The argument concludes and he hears the infirmary door handle turn. He quickly shuts his eyes and pretends to be asleep as he hears footsteps approaching his bedside.

"Prince? Vivi? Hey, you ok?" whispers Bill as he gently shakes Vivi to try and wake him.

Vivi puts on a performance of a lifetime as he pretends to wake from a deep slumber – he stretches out his arms and yawns.

"Hey Bill," he says mid fake yawn. "What happened?"

"That fucking son-of-a-bitch Kruger worked you over real good with this here tray," replies Bill while holding up the dented steel tray that had recently become acquainted with Vivi's skull.

Vivi examines the tray which has a dent in the shape of his forehead and jokingly remarks: "I never realized I had such a huge head."

Bill and Vivi share a good laugh – initially at Vivi's expense – after which they move on to playfully imitating Captain Kruger, mocking his accent and monotonous tone.

"Don't try to distract me with your jokes," says Bill to Vivi cheerily. "I haven't forgotten that you owe me another story."

"But you still haven't got to the part about your whistle," argues Vivi.

"It's a long story, it'll get there just hold ya horses," replies Bill.

Vivi attempts to negotiate further: "At least tell me what happened to the guy that Kruger and them wheeled in here then."

Bill is silent for a moment, he has his thinking face on.

"That'll all become clear in the next part of my story as well, so hurry up and do your part – the sooner you do, the sooner you'll get your answers, your highness."

"Why is it that you are so obsessed with stories?" Vivi inquires.

Bill looks out of the window nostalgically for a moment: "Well, I never had me some real folks ya' know. My ma died when I was a youngin' and my pa, well, he was a drunk fuck-head. So there were not many bedtime stories in the Jessup household, ya' see. That was until my oldest brother, who was a runaway, came back home to save me and the rest of my kin."

Bill hurriedly wipes his cheek hoping that Vivi would not notice the single tear sliding silently towards his mouth.

"He would tell us stories, great tales... great tales indeed..."

Vivi can see that Bill is emotional. He gives him a moment and then asks the question that was on the tip of his tongue for some time now.

"What happened to your family, Bill? Where are your brothers and sisters now?"

Bill breaths a deep breath and sighs loudly. He coughs to clear the lump in his throat.

"They all gone now, Gators got 'em. I'm the last Jessup, 'spose it's better for the world that way. We were never exactly made for society."

He wipes his nose and coughs again to try and hide his tears.

"You got any siblings?" he asks Vivi, still unable to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, I had two. One past away though. Mili is my younger sister, she's still alive – I think. Simi was my youngest brother, he died a long time ago..."

The two men sit for a moment in silence, lost in a world of thought, a world where they are running and playing happily with those they loved the most. It is a beautiful place, the sun is shining and they can smell the fresh air and hear the birds singing. If only that place were real, but reality was a place filled with violence, death and heartache. Although Vivi was not a terrorist or an anarchist like Bill, for a moment he did empathize with their ideology – why is it that people so badly wanted to keep the world the way it was? Was it really such a great place? Was it not time for change? Perhaps the methods of the Jungelen inmates were not acceptable, but Vivi was starting to understand why it was that some of them did what they did. So much loss can make even a good man turn bad, a heart full of hate was like a cancer that could corrupt everything good that one stood for.

"I would really like to hear what happened to your brother, if you're up to it... friend," says Bill in a soft, gentler voice.

Vivi thinks for a moment, then replies: "Sure, let me tell you how I came to rule my homeland and then the fate of my brother will become clear."

Vivi adjusts his position on his bed and prepares to tell a tale that he has never shared with anyone before. His heart was aching just thinking about his family, but he needed to share his story, no matter how much it pained him to do so.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

The homeland of the Yahalla's was not always a peaceful place. Its history was one filled with revolution, the most recent of which was led by Yulu Yahalla. Yulu was the father of two sons, Vivi and Simi, and one daughter, Mili. At a young age, Vivi and Mili rode side by side with their father as he overthrew the oppressive tyrant who ruled their land. Vivi was an adept fighter, but his sister was the true warrior.

Yulu was democratically elected as the new king of the land and for many years he ruled fairly and justly. He was adored by his people and earned the affectionate nickname 'the Smiling King' due to his pleasant demeanor. However, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end. The catalyst for the downward spiral which Yulu was about to experience was a woman – a beautiful, intelligent, dangerous viper of a woman named Malena. Malena was a poor girl, a 'street urchin' as they were referred to. She was ambitious, however, and it was this ambition which lead to her eventually making the king's acquaintance while working as a waitress at one of the royal feasts. The king was struck by her beauty the moment he laid eyes on her, he was only a man after all and she was truly a stunningly beautiful woman.

Despite his children's protests that he was moving too fast, King Yulu married Malena after only a few weeks of knowing her. From the moment she entered the Smiling King's bed, she entered his mind as well and gained a control over him which made him little more than her puppet. Vivi and Mili saw this and they believed that she was a sorceress or some kind of fabled magical being – there was no other explanation as to how this succubus had managed to convince their wise father to do things that were so far out of his character and against his core values. Such things included executions, rationing of resources for the poor to keep the royals rich and even gladiatorial games where the contestants would fight to the death.

Mili was the first of the siblings to approach her father, who was no longer referred to as 'the Smiling King' but 'the Pale King' instead – due to the new tone that his flesh had taken on since Malena had sunk her claws into him. Princess Mili insisted that he get rid of his wife because of her evil influence on him. But the man she was attempting to reason with was clearly no longer the father she knew – he was nothing more than an empty husk of the wise, loving King that had raised her. His reaction to her 'insolence' was to banish her from the homeland. Vivi and Simi wanted to leave with their sister but she insisted that they remain and try to help their father, she refused to give up on him. Vivi and Simi reluctantly agreed to do so.

It was not long before Vivi and his father locked horns – the King had decreed that all men of a certain age would have to go out into the snowy wasteland that was far beyond their capital to 'become a man' by showing that they could survive out there alone for a month. Simi was of this age and the King – or rather his wife – insisted that he lead by example and be the first one to take on the challenge. Vivi was enraged by this since it was a suicidal mission and when he spoke up to his father, he was hurled into the dungeons and left to starve there. Several days later, he was fortunate enough to be released by one of the guards who claimed to be part of a rebellion against his father. He implored Vivi to join them, their headquarters was at one of the nearby villages. The Prince refused, however, and immediately set off to find his brother.

Simi had been sent out into the icy wild while his brother was left to lay and rot in the dungeons, alone. It took several days for Vivi to find signs of what he believed to be proof of his brother's survival. At this stage he had been on his 'quest of manhood' for over a week. This is where the story of how Prince Vivi came to rule truly begins...

Vivi trudges through the knee-deep snow, the thick scarf wrapped around his head, face and neck blowing violently in the wind. He is following the feint footsteps that he believes belong to his lost younger brother, Simi. He has momentarily blocked out the thoughts of what his father and his wicked step-mother had done to him and his siblings, all he is focused on is finding his brother and getting him to safety.

As he reaches the top of a small hill, he sees that the footsteps continue down into a small snow-covered valley. It is there that he spots a mass lying dead still – it seems out of place and appears to be covered in a jacket. Could that motionless pile be his beloved brother? Without a moment of hesitation he sprints as quickly as he can towards the unidentified object.

"Simi! Brother! Is that you?" he shouts as loud as his constricted vocal cords will allow.

He falls to his knees next to the mass and quickly turns it over. What he finds brings on a mix of emotions – it is in fact his brother and the sight of his face immediately brings him joy and relief, however, the pale tone of his skin carries with it despair and concern.

"Simi! Please, say something!" he yells as he shakes his brother.

Simi begins to open his eyes and Vivi notices bits of frost encrusted on his eyelashes as he slowly blinks.

"Vi..." he says in a hoarse voice. It is clearly extremely painful for him to attempt to say even a single word.

Vivi cradles his brother's head in his arms and strokes his hair gently.

"It's ok Sim, don't try to speak, save your energy. Let's get you out of here."

He takes off the scarf covering his head and begins to wrap it around his pale brother's neck and face.

"No... no," protests Simi.

"I said don't talk, save your -"

"NO!" shouts Simi with what little strength he can muster. It takes so much out of him that he breaks into a coughing fit. Vivi continues to hold his brother tight and calms him down.

"Stop Malena... save them..." whispers the now calm Simi to his older brother.

"I will brother, but first I need to save you," replies Vivi as he begins to realize what is about to happen. Tears start to form in the corners of his eyes.

That is when Prince Simi Yahalla drew his final breath and uttered his last words: "Save... them... love... them..." His eyes were still open but motionless, blinking no more.

"Simi! Simi! No! NO!" sobs Vivi as he buries his head against his frozen brother's chest and rocks him back and forth, just like he would do when he was a baby. The difference was that this sleep would not hold any dreams for the young Prince, nor would it ever end. He had gone to join their mother in the afterlife and that is where he would find peace and rest for eternity.

As Vivi thought of his mother and brother basking warmly in each other's love, he too longed to go to that better place. He was stuck in the middle of nowhere, half-frozen with the grim reaper on his doorstep. At that moment he lay down in the thick snow alongside his brother and closed his eyes. The aches in his body subsided and were replaced with a numbness. He saw a light approaching him – it was beautiful. There stood his mother and his brother, glowing angelically, calling to him. He was ready, this is the peace he desired. He could not return to fight his father and Malena, he did not have it in him. This was his destiny and he accepted it whole-heartedly as the light he saw blinded him and he fell asleep for what he believed would be forever.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

The Prince hears a crackling sound and feels a warmth embrace him. As he begins to open his eyes, he thinks to himself that this must be heaven. It had a strange smell to it, he thought: smoke, sweat and cooking meat. Not what he expected to smell in the great beyond, but he could get use to it.

"Morning, good to see you thawed out," says a voice that Vivi hears over the crackling noise.

He opens his eyes and wipes the sleep from the corners. A man is kneeling over him, smiling.

The friendly figure extends his open hand and says: "Hi, I'm James, but you can call me Jim."

What followed was the start of more than just a friendship, the mysterious Jim became a mentor to Vivi. He helped him deal with the loss of his brother and prepared him both mentally and physically for the task that lay ahead of him. Vivi had decided to honor the wishes of his late brother and defeat the evil Malena, thereby saving his father and restoring him to the man he knew he truly was inside.

Although Vivi and Jim grew close in many ways, he would not tell him much about his past or how it was that he came to live in this hidden, secluded little cabin so deep within the harsh, snow-capped mountains. All he told Vivi was that he did, on occasion, visit his capital for supplies and that the people there knew him as the Mountain Man. He also frequented one of the other villages on the far side of the mountain since they had electricity and something called 'Wi-Fi', which was a term that Vivi had never heard before. Vivi knew that Jim was not from a place nearby, his accent was a dead giveaway.

Eventually the snow subsided and Vivi had completed his training under the mentor-ship of the Mountain Man. The time had come for him to move on. He begged his mentor to join him, but the friendly man that had saved him from an icy grave – which felt like an eternity ago – rejected the offer. He said that he had his own quest that he needed to attend to and it required him to remain hidden, at least for now. Vivi reluctantly accepted this and the two parted ways. As a gift, Jim gave a metallic, gold star to Vivi, he said that it was very special to him and was his only remaining reminder of the man that he used to be. He always intended to pass it on to his children, but since he had none he had held onto it until now. He said that he saw Vivi as a son and hoped that the star would remind him of the lessons they learned and the good times that they shared whilst together. This star became Vivi's most treasured possession – from that day forward he kept it close to his heart at all times.

Vivi knew that he could not defeat Malena alone. He remembered the guard that had claimed to be part of a rebel force mounting against her. He also remembered where their headquarters was and he decided to travel there to see if he could join forces with them.

What happened next is a long story, but the short version is that Vivi joined with the rebel forces who were actually being led by his banished sister, Mili. Together the siblings overthrew the evil Malena only to find that their father's life had been attached to hers. The man that appeared to be their father was merely an abomination inhabiting the body that once housed the pure soul of the Smiling King. Malena's throat was slit by Mili's blade and as the life drained from the sorceress, so did it from the King as well.

Their father's life was a dear price to pay for the freedom of their people, but it was a price that he would have gladly paid himself if faced with the choice. Together the brother and sister ruled the land – Prince Vivi the Wise whose compassion and insight complemented the passion and military prowess of Princess Mili the Bold. Their benevolent reign continued for years, until the day the man with piercing glass eyes turned up at their gates and later gave Vivi the gift that remained indented into his chest to this day – but that story has already been told.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Vivi concludes the story of his rise to power. It was a very tough story for him to tell, his emotions are running high. It took a lot of trust for him to tell Bill, who he had only known for a few days, about the loss of his father and his younger brother. He was still not fully over what had happened.

Bill breaks the silence by offering Vivi something to drink. The Prince gladly accepts and the two friends share some water and collect their thoughts.

"Helluva story, truly, thanks for sharing it with me," remarks Bill with a grin on his face.

Vivi returns the smile and nods his head as if to say "you're welcome".

"If ya don't mind me askin'," asks Bill with his oscillating Southern accent now in full force, "what happened to the gold star that the Mountain Man gave you? Do you still have it back home?"

Vivi once again seems emotional as he replies: "Unfortunately not. That is something else that Abel took from me. When he first tried to sear his palm into my chest, he felt it in my breast pocket. He seemed very happy to find it, but who knows why something like that would fill such a fiend with joy. He removed it from my pocket and then continued to... mark me."

Bill seems genuinely empathetic to his new found friend. The two had clearly bonded over the many stories of their pasts that they had shared within the cold walls of the Jungelen infirmary. They sit in silence for a while, reflecting on what they had discussed that day.

Their thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the infirmary door. Bill turns and stares through the window located on the wall that borders the hallway. He can see that the knocker is a massive African man, the same one who was watching Vivi while he slept recently.

"Ebephet," whispers Bill to himself. He turns to Vivi and says: "Sorry Prince, I gotta go. Don't worry, I know I owe you a tale, I'll be sure to give it to ya in the morning. Your questions will finally be answered. Now get some rest, see ya!"

Vivi greets Bill as he exits the room and follows Ebephet through the hallway and out of sight. He is unsure as to the purpose of Ebephet's visit, all he knows is that the giant Austri General made him very nervous – he was not only the biggest man he had ever seen but there was also an aura about him that threw Vivi off. When he looked into his eyes, he saw no emotion – good or bad. He appeared to be more machine than man. If the rumours were to be believed, then he was not one that Vivi wanted to get on the wrong side of - a killing machine in the body of a giant was a prospect that made even the brave Prince weak at the knees.

### Chapter 7 – Gifts of the Jungle

Vivi and his armed forces approach the village that they believe to be the headquarters of Abel and his Genghan Horde. The Prince knows that the only way to truly end the threat that they pose, is to execute their leader – the man who pretended to be his friend for all those weeks in the palace.

They will need to use stealth and the element of surprise to defeat the Hordesmen. Unfortunately, as they enter the village, one of Vivi's Generals, who is riding alongside him, takes a crossbow bolt through the neck – this is clearly an ambush. A battle ensues where Vivi and his men may as well have been fighting smoke, their attackers were extremely adept at remaining hidden whilst picking them off one by one.

Vivi needs to think fast – how can he put a stop to this massacre of his loyal soldiers?

"Burn down the houses, burn them all!" he commands his troops.

They follow his orders and set fire to the modest homes that populate the small village. Before they know it, the entire village is engulfed in flames. They see men fleeing the village on motorcycles – those must be the Hordesmen that were killing them off.

Something was not right, Vivi thinks to himself. There were very few Hordesmen that fled, why would Abel have left such a small force here at their base camp? They were also able to flee very quickly, as if they had planned for this to happen and knew that they would need to make a hasty escape.

"Help! Help us, please! Have mercy!"

Vivi hears muffled screams crying for help, he is unsure from where they originate.

"PLEASE! HAVE MERCY! AHHHHH!"

The screams intensify; the Prince runs over to one of the houses and notices that it has been locked from the outside. He can hear people frantically bashing against the door from inside the burning home.

"There are people inside! Men, get them out! Help me break down these doors!" barks Vivi at his soldiers.

Despite their best efforts, it is too late, the fire had spread too quickly. Vivi realizes that he missed a distinct scent that had been wafting through the village since they arrived – gasoline. This was no accident, the bastards had set them up to murder the poor villagers that had been locked in their homes just waiting for them to be set aflame. But why? The answer to that question was heralded by the thunderous drone of approaching choppers. The choppers reached the village and ropes were thrown down to the ground below. Men armed with assault rifles and body armor moved like panthers as they slid down the ropes and took aim at Vivi and his men. Some of the soldiers attempted to fight off these unknown attackers and a battle ensued.

"Stop! Stand down!" yells Vivi when he sees that the battle is lost.

"We surrender!" he exclaims as he lays down his weapon and motions to his soldiers to follow suit.

His remaining troops reluctantly obey his commands and the men that came from the sky start to round them up. Several large trucks pull up and the soldiers are loaded onto them.

One of the men struts over to Vivi, rifle in hand. Vivi notices an emblem on his sleeve - "G.A.T.O.R", it reads.

"What do you want with us?" inquires Vivi. "This was all a mist -"

Before he can finish his sentence, his temple is unceremoniously introduced to the butt of the approaching man's rifle. Vivi lays there for a moment trying to get up as he feels himself being restrained by his assailant. What had he done? All the villagers were dead because of him? He thinks to himself that he deserves whatever punishment should come his way. He feels sleepy... he is so exhausted... the battle between him and the Sandman is one that he cannot win. Eventually, he feels his heavy eyes close and he is finally resting.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Vivi awakens once more to the sound of his friend, Bill Jessup, whistling away in the Jungelen infirmary. Despite his continued nightmares which vividly depicted the most traumatic events of his past, Vivi had been getting some decent rest and his recovery seemed to be going well overall.

The Prince yawns and stretches out his arms as best he can, given the limitations imposed by his restraints.

Bill hears him yawn and turns to greet him: "Heya sleepy-head, you sure were out like a light. How ya' feelin' this fine day, sir?"

"About as good as I can expect, given the circumstances," replies Vivi while holding up his wrists to draw attention to his restraints.

"Well, don't worry 'bout them ol' things, they will be coming off later today," remarks Bill.

Vivi is both excited and worried by the news. It will be great to get out of this damn bed and get some exercise and fresh air, but at what price? At least he was safe from the other inmates in the infirmary. Once he was out in the general population his life would become a whole lot more difficult.

"Wow... that's great news, thanks," mutters Vivi unconvincingly.

Bill can hear the hollowness in his friend's words and tries to cheer him up: "This is a good thing. Don't worry about the outside, you will be heading straight to the D'iarann and not to gen-pop. If you can get on his good side, then you will have nothing to worry about – I swear!"

Vivi smiles at Bill and nods his head sheepishly. He is still anxious but at least he has Bill in his corner and he seems to be tight with some of the big players in Jungelen, such as Ebephet and the D'iarann.

Bill sits down alongside Vivi's bed. As has become their tradition, he shares his lunch with the Prince and they make small-talk.

"Thank you for sharing your story with me. I know that some of it was not easy to talk about, but it means a lot to me that you shared it regardless," says Bill to Vivi sincerely.

"I can't believe that the infamous Genghan Horde set you up to kill all those innocents and that's what got your ass thrown in here. You might be the only innocent son-of-a-gun in this place!" he continues.

"It's my pleasure, 'Whistling Bill'," replies the smiling Prince, "now how about you finally tell me how it is that you got that whistle of yours? The suspense is killing me!"

"Ok, ok... I guess there's time. Get comfortable, your highness, this will be the last tale in our little back and forth..."

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

After the return of Chief Graywolf and his execution of the Nordri usurper, Longclaw, events began to escalate. The Warden's plan to douse the flames of rebellion instead fanned them to the point that the Slavene became brazen enough to step out of the shadows. Their eye symbol was being marked on the prison walls to claim their kills, they had grown their ranks with many adept warriors and were no longer afraid of the consequences of their actions.

Bill, Leary and Timo were not on-board with the changes to the Slavene's mode of operation, however, the other Kongs disagreed and as a majority, they took the gang in a direction that the founding trio believed to be a recipe for disaster.

The tension amongst the gangs lead to talks of temporary alliances. Rumor had it that Graywolf, the Jarl and Mancer had struck an agreement to work together to eliminate the Slavene. This had also sparked the interest of the powerful Austri leader, the D'iarann, since he was afraid of the combined power of the other gangs. There was much at stake, including the control of the drug trade. The Slavene had used Tar Pit to take control of this critical part of the prison society. Bill, Leary and Timo had decided to take matters into their own hands and despite the disagreements posed by their fellow Kongs, they had sent a message to the Austri leader to start negotiating an alliance of their own. His response was that he would be open to such an alliance if a portion of the drug trade were handed over to him. A meeting had been arranged to discuss the terms of the agreement. Bill, Leary, Timo and a couple of Slavene warriors had reached the location of the meeting before the Austri representatives and were awaiting their arrival, fully alert and ready to respond to a potential ambush.

"Stay alert guys, I don't trust these fuckers one bit," remarks Bill as he scours his surroundings, looking for anything suspicious.

"Just remember, this is our only choice, if we don't manage to broker some deal here today, the other three gangs could crush us any day now," declares Timo.

Leary perks up and turns his attention to a passageway leading to their current location.

"You hear that? Someone is coming."

Faint footsteps can be heard heading in the direction of the Slavene contingent. The steps grow louder as their owners get closer to the trio and their bodyguards. They are heavy and the ground shakes slightly as they progress.

Moments later, several men can be seen standing before the Slavene representatives. Bill recognizes them as Austri warriors – the most prominent of which are The Locust and Ebephet.

Timo steps forward to address the new arrivals: "Glad you could make it. Where is the D'iarann?"

The gargantuan Ebephet steps forward and stares at Timo without blinking.

"You will deal with me."

Timo is not happy with that response at first and replies: "I was lead to believe that he would be coming to see us in person. Is this alliance not important enough for him to make the time to negotiate with us in person."

Ebephet's mood is unchanged by Timo's apparent dissatisfaction with the situation. He continues to stare at him unemotionally.

"I am his proxy, you know this. So stop wasting my time and get to the point."

Bill taps Timo on the shoulder and when he turns to face him, Bill motions for him to continue with the negotiation and stop this back and forth.

"Very well," says Timo, "let us begin. We are willing to offer a quarter of our drug trade to your leader in exchange for an alliance against the Vestri, Sudri and Nordri."

Ebephet shakes his head: "Not enough."

Timo, Bill and Leary knew that this might happen and had already discussed that they would be willing to go up to fifty percent, at the most.

"Thirty percent," offers Leary who has taken over the negotiation.

Ebephet shakes his head once more but remains silent this time.

"Give us a counter-offer then!" exclaims Timo impatiently.

"All of it," replies Ebephet.

The three Kongs are taken aback by the Austri General's response. Timo in particular seems to be losing his composure.

"What? Are you fucking kidding me?" he asks rhetorically.

Ebephet continues to stare him down: "Do I look like I do very much 'kidding'?"

In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Bill steps in and makes a final offer.

"Let's cut the bullshit and just call a spade a spade. We are willing to give you at most fifty percent of our drug trade, not a hair more. Take it or leave it."

Ebephet smiles at Bill, who looks like a toddler in comparison to the gigantic General.

"I will take it," replies Ebephet.

"Excellent, it's a deal then!" exclaims Timo as Bill and Leary breath a sigh of relief.

Timo walks over to Ebephet and extends his hand in an attempt to seal the deal with a good, old-fashioned hand-shake.

Ebephet grips Timo's hand tightly and pulls him in closer.

"I don't think you understand, my friend," he says. "I will take what you have offered as well as what you have not offered. I will take everything that you have to give."

Before any of the Slavene can react, the Austri are all over them. Ebephet head-butts Timo with all his might and The Locust shanks him in the leg from behind. Timo drops to the floor, dazed and bleeding. The Austri had hidden fighters at the meeting location itself and several more warriors step out of the shadows and make short work of the Slavene body-guards.

They now turn their attention to Leary and Bill. Ebephet manages to get a hold of Leary and starts to strangle him with his bare-hands. The Locust and some other Austri lunge at Bill but he manages to dodge them at first. He runs over to Timo and pulls the shank from his leg. He is now faced with three choices: either he runs for it, or he fights the Locust and his lackeys, or he tries to help Leary who is being beaten senseless by the D'iarann's most trusted General.

His decision becomes clear when Ebephet flinches from a pain in his leg. Bill had jabbed the shank into the giant's calf and this had made him relax his grip on Leary for just long enough to allow him to wiggle free.

"Go get help!" commands Bill. Leary just stares back at him.

"Leary, snap the fuck out of it and get us help! Move your ass!"

The bloody, beaten Leary runs down the passageway as fast as he can. As he looks over his shoulder, he sees Ebephet back-hand Bill with immense force, sending him flying through the air. Once he lands on the unforgiving, concrete floor, the Locust and the others pounce on him and continue to beat him to within an inch of his life. In particular, they do immense damage to his jaw and mouth area by repeatedly stomping his face.

Dazed and barely conscious, Bill sees Leary in the distance running for his life. He feels a sense of happiness for his friend – at least he will survive another day, he thinks to himself. This rare moment of positive thought is short-lived as his assailants deliver one last blow that separates the pulverized man from his fragile consciousness...

"Awake finally, are we Jessup?" Bill hears someone say as he begins to awaken from his deep sleep.

"Ahhhhh – ff-ff -" he attempts to yell out from the pain that is coursing through his entire body, but he is unable to produce more than muffled curses. The more he attempts to use his mouth, the more the pain intensifies.

"Calm down," says the man at the foot of his bed, whom he is now able to identify as Lucas Frost, aka the Black-hand. "If I were you, I wouldn't try say nuffin', your jaw ain't exactly in one piece."

Bill stares at the Black-hand, he is terrified and wracked with pain but is trying to hide it as best he can.

The Black-hand walks over to the other bed in the infirmary and places his hand on the shoulder of its occupant, Timo.

"You see lads," he continues in a smug tone, "the D'iarann sent me to have a chat with the two of you. He is very impressed by the little gang you built – as am I!"

Frost starts to pace back and forth as he continues his monologue.

"Problem is that you were causing too much of an uproar, so he decided to end your lil' 'band of the down-trodden'. He has already rounded up all of your members and the other four 'Kongs' - that is what you call yourselves, right? - have already submitted to him and become part of the Austri in exchange for our protection against their former masters. The dirty ol' bastard that cooks up the Loki's Breath is also ours now."

He pauses for a moment and picks up a scalpel. He holds it up to the light and examines it intently. The guard posted at the door sees Frost, an inmate, holding the lethal weapon and does nothing more than adjust his collar uncomfortably.

"Only one we are yet to get a hold off is Mr. Cole. Fanks to your heroic stunt, he managed to escape. But never you mind your broken, lil' head, Mr. Jessup, he will be ours soon enough."

With the speed of a lightning strike, Frost turns and throws the scalpel just above Timo's head where it pegs into his headboard.

"Now rest up my friends," he remarks menacingly, "the boss'll want to see the both of you as soon as you are fit enough to be moved. So heal up right quick then, yes?"

Frost strides over to Timo and removes the scalpel from his headboard. He hands it to the guard with a smirk of superiority on his face as he exits the infirmary.

Bill and Timo stare at each other across the room, both too weak to communicate. Bill can see in Timo's eyes that he too is frightened by their situation. All that is left to do now is exactly what the Black-hand had commanded them to do; rest up and heal. Bill shuts his eyes in an attempt to get some rest. The only thing he can think of is his friend, Leary Cole. Where was he hiding? Will he ever see him again? What were the Austri's plans for him if they were to find him? Perhaps the morning would bring some of these answers, however, it was about a week before Bill got some clarity on some of these questions that infested his mind.

One evening about a week later, Bill and Timo were awoken by sirens and loud shouting coming from the prison perimeter. The infirmary was quite high up, making it a great observatory. They mustered up all of their strength and managed to hobble over to the window where they were able to view the cause of the commotion.

They witnessed two men fighting just outside of the prison fence. Both appeared to be wearing guards' uniforms and more guards were up in the watchtowers shining spotlights on the combatants. Moments later loud roars could be heard coming from the jungle and before the men could react, something hidden dragged them into the thick vegetation that surrounded the prison. Whatever it was that got them, did so with such speed that no-one was able to catch a glimpse of it – one moment the men were there in plain sight and milliseconds later they had vanished.

At the time, Bill and Timo were uncertain as to what exactly they had witnessed. However, it all became clear the following morning when the Black-hand paid them a visit and explained to them that one of the men they saw was their dear friend, Leary Cole. He had come out of hiding, killed a guard, stolen his uniform and attempted to escape the prison. One of the other guards had pursued him out of the prison grounds and wanted revenge for the guard that he had murdered during his escape. It was this guard and Leary who were seen fighting on the night in question. As for what their fate was, the Black-hand explained that those who had been in Jungelen the longest spoke of the beasts that roamed outside of the prison. They did not take kindly to humans entering their jungle, meaning that Leary and the guard had probably been a midnight snack for one of these ferocious creatures.

Both Bill and Timo were extremely saddened by the news, but neither of them fully believed that Leary was gone. It wasn't until another week later, when the Black-hand brought them a 'gift', that they finally accepted the tragic fate of their friend. He brought them a finger that had been found outside of the prison fence close to where Leary and the guard were taken. The bloody finger seemed to be a match for Leary and the tattoo of the Slavene's eye symbol on the fingertip confirmed that it was in fact the remains of their friend. The Black-hand added that many more body parts were found, some of which they believed were Leary's, others the guard's. The Blind Crier, who had called Jungelen home longer than any other living inmate, had confirmed that the delivery of the body parts to the prison's doorstep was not unusual for the beasts of the jungle. It was their way of sending a message to the prisoners and guards that they were not in control, this was not their island, they were merely unwelcome guests and would pay the price if they ventured outside of the prison walls.

Coming to terms with Leary's death was not easy for Bill. It felt like a part of his heart had been cut out. He was one of the only people in this hellhole that he thought was perhaps actually a good person. His death seemed to also be affecting Timo severely. Bill was surprised by just how torn up Timo seemed to be – he knew that Leary was his friend but never thought them to be as close as Timo's reaction would imply they were.

Not only did Leary Cole officially die that day in Bill's mind and heart, but so did his hope and any fight that he had left in him. Weeks passed and eventually both he and Timo healed up and were able to join the ranks of the Austri. They went along and did as they were told, like good dogs serving their new master, the D'iarann. Unfortunately for Bill, no matter how hard he tried to forget what had happened, he had a constant reminder every time he tried to speak – a distinct whistle caused by the injuries to his jaw that did not heal properly. As was the Jungelen custom, gang members were given nicknames and Bill was mockingly awarded the name that would further hamper his efforts to put the past behind him, "Whistling" Bill Jessup.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Vivi can see that Bill is emotional as he concludes his story. He gives him a few moments to collect himself before continuing the conversation.

"Bill... I am so sorry about Leary..." he says empathetically.

Bill smiles at him and replies: "Oh never you mind, Princey, it was a long time ago. But as they say, 'the good die young' – especially in this shit-hole. That's the truth of it unfortunately."

Bill stands up and walks over to the door. Before he leaves the room, he remembers something that he needed to tell Vivi.

"Oh shit, I almost forgot," he says. "Eventually I managed to convince the D'iarann that in order to keep the Slavene happy, we should celebrate Leary as a 'hero' of sorts. So every year on the day he died, we have a shin-dig, it's always pretty darn good! Tonight just so happens to be that there celebration and the D'iarann has asked me to bring you by before the festivities begin. So, are you up to it?"

Vivi is still uncertain as to whether or not leaving the infirmary is in his best interest. He decides that trying to turn down the D'iarann's offer would probably just do more damage and would also just be delaying the inevitable.

"Sure," he mumbles with an unconvincing half-smile.

"Righty-o then!" exclaims Bill excitedly. "I'm just gonna go let the fellas know and I'll be back in a few to help you get decent-like."

Bill leaves the infirmary. As the door shuts behind him, Vivi begins to feel very anxious. He is unsure of what to expect. At least having Bill on his side should be quite a big advantage – he does seem to be more than just an Austri lackey.

Vivi stares out of the infirmary window as he waits for Bill to return. The sun is hanging lazily in the sky and he can't help but think what a beautiful place this could be if it wasn't for the circumstances. Being caged so close to paradise was in itself torture, but who knows, perhaps being part of the Austri will make his time here bearable and with Bill by his side, maybe even enjoyable.

### Chapter 8 – Origins of Iron

Vivi follows Bill closely as they enter a large room, he is still feeling anxious. The room is filled with prison cells all of which have their doors wide open. It is filled with prisoners that seem to be in very high spirits – a celebration is clearly in progress. Bill had explained to him that they would be passing through the maximum security wing of Jungelen en route to the D'iarann. This wing was where the worst of the worst were kept, they were deemed too dangerous to ever enter gen-pop and were thus not affiliated with any gangs. As they continue to pass by the inmates, Vivi sees that they all pay their respect to Bill – what exactly had Bill done to earn the respect of men that were deemed even more dangerous than a fiend like Graywolf, who had scalped his own cousin with his dislodged jaw? He feels his stomach turn as one of the prisoners approaches him and sniffs him like a wild animal.

"Never mind him," whispers Bill, "he's a few sandwiches short of a full picnic basket if ya catch my drift? But then I suppose most of us are."

Vivi smiles at Bill uneasily and starts to inspect his surroundings more closely. He hears a loud thud and cheering coming from one of the corners of the massive room. There is a brawl underway and the man with the upper hand is a massive Caucasian with war-hammers tattooed on his arms. Some of the onlookers, in the corner of the man receiving a beating at the hands of the war-hammer inked warrior, attempt to get involved in the battle. A muscular, lean man in the opposing corner steps in when they attempt to assault the war-hammer warrior and his intense stare is enough to cause the would-be assailants to cower back into their corner. This man is also brandishing quite distinct tattoos: two crossing sickles on his chest. The two dominant men speak to each other in what sounds like a Russian accent.

"The Hammer," Vivi whispers under his breath, loud enough so that Bill hears him.

Bill turns to him and points at the Russian-speaking men across the room: "Yip, that's the Hammer alright. He arrived here the same day I did – remember my story? Anyway, his buddy alongside him is the Sickle. You get it – like from the Soviet Union? The Russian Revolution?"

Vivi is still staring at the Hammer and the Sickle, there is something about them that sends a shiver down his spine.

"Yeah... I get it..." he replies without breaking eye contact with the intimidating Russian warriors.

He turns to look at Bill and asks: "Why are these prisoners roaming free? Where are the guards?"

Bill snorts and smiles, "Patience, Prince. The D'iarann will tell you everything very soon. We are almost there."

The pair continue their walk passing some more truly terrifying characters. This den of depravity and violence is like something that Vivi thought only existed in fictional stories. Just when he saw something that he thought to be his eyes betraying him, he would turn to witness something even more disturbing. Violence, drugs and perverted sexual acts run rampant – it was complete and total anarchy.

After what felt like an eternity, they reach the other end of the wing. A large door guarded by three mammoth individuals blocks their path.

"Bill," greets the one guard as he nods his head. The other two guards, who appear almost identical to the first, follow suit.

Bill returns the greetings by nodding in a similar fashion in the direction of each guard sequentially: "Good to see you Levi... Jebediah... Malachi."

Based on the appearance of the men and their names, Vivi concludes that they must be the Tusk triplets – one of whom was responsible for his near fatal injuries. The Tusks don't seem to recognize him and don't pay him much attention. As they pass through the door guarded by the colossal Amish-men, even more questions enter Vivi's mind: what the fuck are these Nordri Generals doing here guarding the Austri leader's quarters? They were loyal to the Graywolf, last he heard. They too seemed to respect Bill greatly, but why? It made no sense and this worried Vivi deeply.

Behind the door was a spiral staircase that the pair ascended. Once at the top, they found themselves in a small room with one more large door and two more guards that greet Bill and allow them to pass. Finally they find themselves in what appears to be someone's living quarters. The room is far larger than any of the standard cells, it is more like a flat-let than a prison cell. Several men are congregated here and they all turn to greet Bill and stare at Vivi. Vivi thinks that he recognizes some of these men from Bill's stories – the Black-hand is there smiling at him menacingly, Graywolf is seated staring at him so intensely that he feels like his eyes are piercing his body and staring into his soul. Two of the men begin to walk towards them; one is the giant that he recognizes as the Austri General, Ebephet, and the other is a lean, well-built Asian.

The two men exchange pleasantries with Bill. The large, African man is in fact Ebephet and the Asian man is Bill's close friend, Timo.

"And this here is Vivi." Bill points to the Prince and smiles. "He's the one I told y'all about!"

Timo inspects Vivi as if he thinking about whether or not to buy him in a Yard Sale and says: "Pleased to meet you. The D'iarann has been waiting patiently to meet you, your highness. We shouldn't keep him waiting any longer. Ebephet, Bill and I will escort you to him – please follow me."

"Wait here," commands Ebephet when the ensemble reaches a large stone chair that appears almost 'throne-like'. He walks past it to a small open doorway and disappears around the corner. Moments later he steps out again and stands at the doorway entrance in a guard-pose. From behind the wall and through the opening steps a man wearing a white vest and orange prison pants – quite typical prison attire. He has a long untidy beard and hair that is tied up into a bun on top of his head.

Vivi thinks to himself that this man is certainly not as intimidating as the others that he encountered on his journey to meet him. For a moment he feels that this meeting is almost anti-climatic, but that soon passes when the bearded man turns to face him. Vivi had always believed that the eyes truly were the windows to the soul. The moment he stared into the man's eyes, he knew that he was no normal being. There was a darkness to him that made Vivi flinch, it was a feeling unlike any that he had felt before. There was something in this man... something more beast than human. Vivi could almost hear it trying to claw it's way out of the man's consciousness and he prayed that it would never succeed.

"Welcome, your highness," says the man with a smile on his face. He is littered with old scars, some of which appear to be the remnants of torture, probably caused by whips and blades. He extends his arm and he and Vivi shake hands. Being so close to him makes Vivi feel strange. As frightened as he was, there was something about the man that called to him. Something that made him yearn to be by this man's side and help him fulfill his purpose, even though he knew not what that purpose was.

"I see that you have already met my most trusted compatriots; Bill, Timo and Ebephet. Bill has told me so much about you, he speaks very highly of you and I respect his opinion above all others – as do so many of the unfortunate souls trapped behind these walls."

Vivi finally plucks up the courage to respond to the man: "He has told me much of you as well, D'iarann."

He walks over to a window and stares out of it with his back towards Vivi.

"D'iarann, he-he," he chuckles. "That name that they have given me – one of many."

He turns to face Vivi once more.

"Some call me the Pied Piper since people tend to want to follow my lead. Others call me the Warden since they believe that I am the one actually running this prison. And then there is 'D'iarann', a name that I inherited."

Vivi's instincts tell him to just be quiet and let the D'iarann do the talking, but before he knows it he blurts out yet another question.

"What does it mean?"

The D'iarann looks down at the floor and laughs as he walks over to his throne-like chair and sits on it.

"Bill said you were a curious one, a fan of tales, just like us! It is so rare to find like-minded folk here in this place. Bill is one of the few that I have found to date, a true treasure of a man. Would you permit me to answer your question in the form of a story? I would be forever grateful if you would indulge me, your highness."

Vivi realizes that this request was actually an eloquently phrased command and that he in fact had no real choice in the matter.

"Of course, it would be my pleasure," replies the Prince.

"Graywolf, if you would be so kind," calls out the D'iarann to the Nordri chieftain seated across the room.

"Certainly," replies the native-American madman. He passes a powdery substance to a man that scampers over to the D'iarann and hands it to him.

"You see, Prince, I have a different story-telling technique to dear Bill. He is more, how should I say it... 'old-school'. I prefer to really immerse my listeners in the story; to make them feel as if they were really there. This little magic mixture is something Tar Pit cooked up specially for me to do exactly that, I am sure you will love it."

Before Vivi has an opportunity to protest, the D'iarann blows the powder into his face. It makes his nostrils and eyes burn and the more that he rubs them the worse it gets. He feels his legs get weak and just before he collapses, Timo and Bill grab his arms and help him lay down. His vision is blurred and he cannot see much but he can hear the D'iarann's voice so clearly it is almost as if he were inside his head.

"My apologies for the lack of fore-warning, I get over-zealous sometimes. Now just relax and let your mind go. To truly understand this place and for me to properly answer your question, we first need to complete a story that you told Bill whilst in the infirmary. You see, Vivi, you know a bit about the history of the Khans and the Genghan Horde, but now let me fill in the gaps for you. This is the story of the original D'iarann as it was told to me by the Blind Crier – pay attention, this is going to be good!"

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Vivi finds himself standing in the Jungelen Yard. He wonders how he got there... just moments ago he was conversing with the D'iarann in his extravagant quarters located on the highest floor of the prison. He hears a voice so clearly - it is as if it is inside his head.

"Our story begins with Vandal Khan, the former leader of the Genghan Horde."

It is the voice of the D'iarann – yes, now he remembers – the leader of the Austri had blown some sort of powder into his face and it knocked him out. It must have been a hallucinogen and this dream was merely a manifestation of the story he was telling to the unconscious Prince. Vivi attempts to touch the prison wall and his hand passes right through it – he never expected to experience what it is like to be a ghost when he first agreed to go with Bill to meet the D'iarann, but it was not an unpleasant sensation and he had no choice other than to play along.

The D'iarann's voice suddenly continues its narration: "After the psychopathic Khan had brutally murdered the mother of his children in front of her Gator husband, he had attempted to follow his sons whom had fled the scene in terror. However, he did not get very far, the Gator apprehended him and beat him nearly to death. He had the opportunity to end him right there and then, but he could not do so. The Gator had spent his life as a good man who upheld the law and despite the immense pain that was coursing through every fiber of his being, he was still a good man – at least better than most. He chose to not succumb to vigilantism and instead spared Vandal's life, letting justice take its course. With his influence, he was able to make sure the wheels of justice turned uncharacteristically quickly and before Vandal's wounds had healed, he found himself being parachuted into the Jungelen Yard. This was to be his new home for the rest of his life."

Vivi hears the sound of a chopper in the distance. It gets louder as it passes overhead and he can see something being thrown out into the open sky. The object begins to plummet towards the earth at an incredible speed and just before Vivi thinks that it will certainly crash into the jungle below, a parachute is deployed and it glides silently down into the prison Yard. It is now clear to Vivi that this object is in fact a man – his eyes are black and soul-less, his face swollen and cut in places and his hairless head glistens as it bakes under the island sun. He is clearly a man forged in violence and death, a truly evil being. There was something about him that reminded Vivi of Abel, not the Abel that he first knew, but the one he saw that day when he stepped out from behind his facade and branded him so sadistically. Like father, like son, he thinks to himself.

"This place was less of a prison and more like the perfect home for a man like Vandal," continues the D'iarann's voice inside Vivi's head. "A place packed with psychopaths, anarchists, murderers and hateful, violent human beings all of whom were far less intelligent than he was and hence easy for him to manipulate and control. To further stack the deck in his favor, after he had been processed by the guards, he met a friend before his Yard Sale began."

The images that Vivi is witnessing speed up as if he is watching a movie and someone is forwarding through it. He sees Vandal take a beating from the guards and then he follows the Blind Crier to the congregated inmates waiting for his Yard Sale to begin. A colossal man steps forward to greet him and they embrace as if they have known each other for years.

"His former, most trusted General in the Genghan Horde had been captured by the Gators not too long before and he too was an unwilling resident of Jungelen. He was already an established General within these walls as well, a warrior who served at the pleasure of his powerful Austri leader at the time – the Duke. You have met this warrior - the dear friend of the infamous Vandal Khan – Ebephet."

The face of the titan that is conversing with Vandal changes from having no detail to the face of a younger – but just as intimidating – Ebephet. Vivi is surprised by this revelation, not only does he find it almost unbelievable that Ebephet was somehow linked to the family that had destroyed his life, but he also struggles to understand why Bill claimed to have no idea who Vandal Khan was when he questioned him before. Yet he knew both Ebephet and the D'iarann for many years, was it possible that they had never shared this story with him before, or had he just flat-out lied?

Vivi's train of thought is interrupted once again by the voice of the D'iarann as he resumes his story. Similar to Bill, he seems to really enjoy telling tales, quite a strange trait for a violent terrorist, Vivi thinks to himself.

"Vandal's Yard Sale was one of legend. His reputation preceded him and he was seen as a hero and an icon by many of the inmates. As such, all of the gangs wanted him on their rosters, so they all put forth their best to try and claim him. At the time, Ebephet was considered a formidable warrior within the Austri ranks, but he was not seen as their very best. However, he did manage to convince the Duke to let him fight for Vandal. Vandal decided not to fight for independence as he was happy to join the Austri with his friend, at least for now. Despite the immense prowess of the Vestri and Sudri champions, Ebephet and the Nordri champion made short work of them. Then a truly epic contest took place: in the one corner was the up and coming Ebephet representing the Austri and in the other corner was the current most dangerous, most feared and most popular fighter that Jungelen had seen in centuries – the Nordri champion, Sonnybill Graywolf."

Vivi watches in awe as the mighty Ebephet and the Herculean Graywolf, whom he had come to know as the 'Big Bad Wolf' through Bill's stories, clashed. It was like watching two demigods battling; for a moment Vivi forgot that this was merely a hallucination and found himself completely enthralled by the war that the titans raged against each other.

"This is when Ebephet truly became the legend that he is today!" exclaims the D'iarann. "That day he became the first man to defeat the previously invincible Graywolf and also cost him his first visit to the infirmary."

Ebephet's avatar delivers a bone-breaking back-breaker slam across his anvil-like thigh. The recipient thereof, Graywolf, falls to the floor motionlessly. Ebephet's hand is raised in victory and a herd of Nordri Peons descend on the injured warrior, quickly getting him onto a makeshift stretcher and carrying him in the direction of the infirmary. Graywolf is so large in comparison to the Peons that they remind Vivi of ants trying to carry an entire picnic basket to their queen. Unfortunately for the fallen warrior, the only queen that he might meet on that day would be one of the Sudri 'lady-friends' on nurse duty.

"Vandal became the property of the Austri that day. The problem was that the Duke did not realize that Khans cannot be owned, they are the ones that own. They cannot be taken, they are the takers. The Duke was so pleased with his acquisition that he immediately brought Vandal into his inner circle and made both him and Ebephet Generals of the highest rank. He thought that he had acquired yet another subservient hound that would protect him and do as it was told. However, he would shortly learn that he had mistaken a wolf for a hound and this wolf could neither be tamed nor controlled."

Once again Vivi sees the scene around him fast forward. It is clear to him that several weeks had passed in this pseudo-reality before the D'iarann resumed his narration and the scene returned to real time once more.

"Vandal lay low for the weeks that followed. He was intelligent enough to not underestimate the fiendish criminals with whom he shared his new home, especially the Duke."

Vivi's surroundings morph into the interior of what he recognizes as the D'iarann's quarters. The room looks very different, it is far less lavish and seems to be more like what he would expect a prisoner - albeit a fairly fortunate one - to live in. The same large, throne-like chair that he saw in the present is also there, intimidating in it's grandeur. Seated on it is a burly man whose muscles are large but lack definition. If he were a weapon he would not be an elegant long-blade, but rather the equally effective but far less elegant sledge-hammer. He slouches back on the throne with a sense of extreme over-confidence and arrogance. The wry smile on his face and the way he is motioning to his followers have a thick air of condescension surrounding them. Vivi thinks to himself that this must be the Austri leader known as the Duke. He also notices Vandal and Ebephet in the room standing quietly in the corner. The look on Vandal's face as he stares at the Duke reminds Vivi of the look a lion has when staring down its prey as it stalks it silently – hidden death that they would never see coming.

"It was not long, however, before Vandal and Ebephet found the moment that they had been waiting for. In the dead of the night, they assassinated all of the Duke's most loyal Generals, leaving him unprotected. They dragged the Duke out into the Yard and made enough noise to wake the entire prison. Those inmates who were still wandering free, congregated in the Yard and the rest watched through the small windows of their cells, as Vandal and the Duke battled one-on-one. Vandal knew that to gain respect he needed to best the Duke in plain sight, not assassinate him with no-one around to bear witness."

Vivi witnesses the events that the D'iarann is reciting: Vandal and the Duke are battling as inmates are cheering them on. A few guards come forth as well, but Ebephet and some others fight to hold them back.

"After an epic battle, Vandal got the best of the Duke."

The hallucination of Vandal Khan swiftly snaps the neck of the beaten and bloodied Austri Duke. He then begins to gouge out his left eye as the D'iarann continues his narration.

"Vandal savagely removed the eye of the defeated Duke while all of Jungelen watched in awe. To them, this was like seeing a god falling from the heavens. The Duke had been legendary and this man of average size, without a reputation of being an elite warrior, had not only defeated him but was now defiling his corpse as well. Vandal had not just removed the eye to make a statement that day, he would use it as a totem of his power for years to come. The leaders of the Genghan Horde had always worn a necklace which had a crystallized eye as its centerpiece. The eye was believed to be that of Genghis Khan himself and over the years it became infamously known as the 'Eye of the Outlaw'. Vandal had lost this most prized possession – the symbol of his right to rule – when the Gators had saved the mother of his four sons from him. He believed it to have fallen into the hands of his remaining Hordesmen Generals, but was not certain. He was certain, however, that he would never see the 'Eye' again, so he decided to fashion a new one – a second 'Eye of the Outlaw', courtesy of the Duke."

Vivi watches as Vandal Khan sits on the throne in his new quarters with the 'Eye' around his neck. He is a formidable figure, a true tyrant whose followers both feared and respected him.

"And thus began the legend of the mysterious Austri leader. Vandal chose to not show himself; he struck up deals with the Warden – who feared him as much as anyone else – and he became the first gang leader to truly run Jungelen from the shadows. To add to the mystery that he had built around his persona, he fashioned a name for himself. The name paid homage to both his infamous ancestor, Genghis Khan, as well as the unwilling mother of his children who was of Irish descent. 'D'iarann' was the name that he assumed – the Irish translation of the original name of Genghis Khan, 'Temujin', meaning 'Of Iron'."

It was with those final words that the story ended and Vivi felt himself waking up. His mind was spinning like he was caught in the eye of an intense hurricane. He slowly started to regain the feeling in his limbs, then his face and finally he was able to open his eyes. Dangling just above his head was an eye on the end of a necklace. The necklace was around the neck of D'iarann who was kneeling over him.

"You see, your highness, I told you that would be good!" exclaims the D'iarann excitedly as the Duke's eye swings to and fro around his scarred neck.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Only minutes had passed since Vivi awoke from his hallucinogenic slumber. Bill had helped him to the restroom in the D'iarann's quarters so that he could wash the dream-powder from his eyes and collect himself. He felt much better now, the effect of the substance seemed to fade from his mind as swiftly as it had taken root therein. The Prince steps back into the main room of the Austri leader's quarters; he is filled with uncertainty and angst. What would the man with the soul-piercing eyes do to him next? He did not feel good about this situation at all, even his faith in Bill was beginning to waver.

"I must apologize again for getting ahead of myself, Vivi, so sorry indeed," remarks the D'iarann as Vivi takes a seat in-between Bill and Timo. Vivi turns to Bill who smiles and mouths the words "Relax, it's all ok." He is not so sure if Bill just doesn't know this D'iarann very well, or if he is lying – but regardless, he does not think that anything about this situation is 'ok'.

The D'iarann once again breaks the silence by addressing Vivi: "Do you know what tonight's celebrations are about, your highness?"

"To celebrate Leary Cole and his contribution to the Slavene. It is the anniversary of his death," replies the Prince sheepishly.

The D'iarann smiles and chuckles. "Yes, I suppose it is," he says under his breath but loud enough for all to hear.

"Leary Cole... ah that man, I have to tell you, he was a real thorn in my side. He held me back, but I dealt with him."

The D'iarann once again walks over to his window and points out to the jungle.

"That place claimed many a brave man, Leary was but one of them. The jungle beyond the Jungle, I like to call it. Hell cloaked in the guise of paradise."

He turns to face Vivi once more and leans against the wall alongside his window.

"You see, Prince, the story of Leary Cole, is an important one. What happened only a few weeks after he was seen being dragged off into Hell, changed me forever – it helped me blossom into the man I needed to become. The man I was destined to be... and you cannot fight destiny, I'm sure you know what I mean."

Vivi just stares at the D'iarann, unflinching, hoping that he cannot smell the fear coursing through him.

"You need to hear one last story before we move out of here and begin the evening's festivities. Bill, would you be so kind as to share how Leary Cole helped me unlock my potential and ascend to my rightful place as the so-called 'King of the Jungle'..."

### Chapter 9 – Master of Beasts

"Sound the alarm! Get the rifles! Hurry the fu - AHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The blood-curdling screams of the Jungelen guards pierce the tranquil silence that had shrouded the sleeping stronghold.

"RUN! RUN! RU – AHHHHHH!!!!!"

The sirens begin to sound and gunshots echo through the halls of the prison, sailing up its stone walls and into the open window of the D'iarann's quarters where Bill is frantically locking the door to the small room at the rear.

"Ok, the D'iarann is safe and secure. Ebephet, what should we do now?"

The gigantic General is staring at the door leading into the D'iarann's quarters. He is stoic, fearless and prepared for anything. Death does not scare this titan, courage has coarsed through this man's veins since the day he first drew breath.

"Now we kill anything that comes through that door. We protect him with our lives," he replies without breaking his gaze for a second.

"Fuck this shit, I ain't dying for this fucker!" yells one of the Austri guards. The cowardly man breaks rank and runs towards the door but before he reaches it, he falls to his knees, gasps and drops dead. A crude blade is protruding from his back as he lays there in an ever-expanding pool of his own blood. Ebephet walks up to the man and reclaims his blade, wipes the blood off on his orange pants and returns to his position.

"Anyone else want to turn yellow today?" he asks the Austri warriors that surround him. They all shake their heads from left to right. All except the sadistic Black-hand who is too busy pissing himself laughing – apparently death has a funny side in his book.

"You hear that?" inquires Bill to no-one specifically.

"I hear... nothing..." responds Timo.

"Exactly, no gunshots, no screams, just silence."

Ebephet tilts his neck from side to side – his bones cracked so loud that Bill thought for a moment that the gunshots had resumed.

"They are here, prepare yourselves," says the fearless General.

For several moments there is complete silence. Bill listens intently and he can hear footsteps outside of the quarters. The footsteps do not sound like those of a man, they are different somehow. The faint light that is creeping in from underneath the door that leads from the quarters, is slowly being eclipsed as the owner of the footsteps moves behind the door. Bill thinks they are fortunate that the door standing between them and whatever is on the other side is thick, solid and well barricaded. It was surprising how resourceful a bunch of convicts could be when the need arose.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" The mysterious, unwanted guest starts to bash the door over and over again. To Bill's disbelief, the sturdy door begins to crack and bend. Splinters are shooting out all over the place and after only a few more strikes, the door shatters as if it were glass. Wooden shards fly in all directions, some penetrate the skin and eyes of Austri guards.

"ATTACK!" commands Ebephet as he and the other guards launch their crude throwing blades in the direction of the doorway.

The blades clank as they hit the wall beyond the doorway. There is nothing standing there. Bill begins to sweat – what could have smashed such a large door so quickly and then disappeared before they even managed to clear the sawdust from their eyes?

"Coward must've ran off," exclaims a cocky Austri. "I will take a look, give me a decent blade!"

Ebephet motions to one of the guards and he tosses his weapon to the confident Austri. He walks towards the doorway slowly. When he reaches it, he quickly lunges around the corner and starts to slash the blade wildly. Once he realizes that there is nothing there, he ceases his epic battle with thin air and walks back into the doorway with a look of self-satisfaction plastered across his smug face.

"I told you - COWARDS! HOO-RAH!" he yells.

"HOO-RAH! HOO-RAH!" the rest of the Austri begin to chant. Ebephet, Bill and Timo, however, do not join in; they are not sure that a victory cry is in order just yet.

The confident Austri guard smiles and begins to walk back towards his brethren.

"What the holy fuck is that! RUN!" shouts Bill, but it is too late.

What appears to be a paw, twice the size of the Austri's head, reaches down from the roof just beyond the doorway and sinks it claws into the side of his face. The claws – which appear to be the length of human rib-bones – pierce his cheek, nose and eye. Then just as quickly as it appeared, the paw retracts taking the man with it. Only his legs are visible to Bill and his cohorts, as they dangle from the roof behind the doorway writhing in pain. Seconds later his screams stop and his decapitated body falls lifelessly to the floor. Once again there is silence as the Austri are frozen from the shock of what they just witnessed. Bill thinks to himself that even Ebephet must have been afraid at this point, although he still does not show it.

Bill cannot help but feel that he is being watched. He turns to his right to look out the window and notices a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him from the opening – that is when all hell breaks loose. Bill's onlooker swings into the quarters knocking down several guards and landing on others with bone-breaking force. This peeping Tom is not human, it is a giant ape-like creature resembling a gorilla. Bill notices that it is so large that when it swung through the window it broke part of the wall in order to fit through. He had seen many giant men since being in Jungelen, but this creature was on a level of its own.

The ape begins to swing its arms wildly, knocking guards flying all around and just as the Austri begin to form the courage to fight back, the owner of the large paw that grabbed the recently decapitated Austri, reveals itself. Through the doorway steps the supernaturally-large beast, it's mane flowing over it's monstrous shoulders. The beast appears to be a lion but is larger than any lion known to mankind. Unlike the ape, this beast has a rider on its back. A shirtless man with a full, bushy beard and long hair covering his entire face is on the lion's back, clutching its mane. As the lion and its rider strut into the quarters, several gigantic snakes, that look more like oil pipelines than animals, slither passed them and also begin to attack any Austri guards that were brave enough not to just lay down and cower in the fetal position.

The mysterious rider and his beasts make short work of killing some of the Austri whilst incapacitating the rest. Even the mighty Ebephet was no match for them. Bill and Timo are on their knees with their hands raised as they watch Ebephet struggle against the colossal snake that has him snugly wrapped in its coils. The reptile could easily squeeze the life from the General in a split second, but it seems to be squeezing him just enough to eliminate him as an immediate threat.

The rider dismounts the lion-like creature and strokes it before walking towards the subdued Ebephet. The animal rubs its massive face against his cheek - clearly it has affection for this beast-master.

"Are you quite done, Ebephet?" the beast-master asks, his identity still concealed by his unwieldy, long hair. Ebephet was not one to show emotion, but even he was unable to hide the surprise he felt when he realized that this mysterious man knew him by name.

"What's wrong? Is my precious, reptilian friend squeezing you so hard that you don't recognize an old friend? You know, you were always good to us, despite the tyrant you served – that is the only reason that you are still breathing."

He raises his hand and the snake loosens its grip allowing Ebephet to drop to his knees. At first he is unable to move but the blood slowly starts to flow through his body again and he begins to regain movement.

"We aren't going to have any more trouble are we, Hordesman?" asks the beast-master rhetorically. Although a response was not really required, Ebephet nods his head in the affirmative.

"Maybe this will refresh your memory," continues the beast-master. He walks over to one of the dead Austri and removes a hair-band from his hair. He uses it to tie his own up into a bun making him look almost like a Samurai warrior – if the Samurai were Caucasian that is.

He stares directly into the eyes of Ebephet for a moment. Ebephet takes a few seconds to realize who the man standing before him is.

"Leary Cole... but... but... how did you survive?" inquires Ebephet in disbelief.

Bill and Timo look at each other – they are both speechless. Bill wants to cry out to Leary but for once in his life he would have had better luck finding a unicorn wearing a bathrobe than finding any words willing to come out of his mouth.

Leary smacks his hand on his forehead and says: "How silly of me! Let me take these damned things out..."

He proceeds to remove a contact lens from each of his eyes and tosses them out of the window into the star-filled, night sky. He stares into Ebephet's eyes once again.

"It cannot be!" cries out the Austri General showing more emotion than anyone in Jungelen had seen from him before.

"Those... those are... Khan eyes... but... you are all dead, only he remains! Only he remains!"

Ebephet drops to his knees with his head in his hands. He continues to mutter something in his native tongue under his breath.

Leary walks over to him and places his hand on his shoulder. "I know that you did not know, dear friend, but he lied to you about what happened to us. You see, Abel was not the only survivor that day when the Gators came to put an end to our Horde. I too survived the onslaught... only to bear witness to those bastards murdering my brothers! I watched them drag Victor and Ezekiel's lifeless bodies away, not even allowing us to bury our dead. They thought that they had killed me as well – they came fucking close – but before they could drag my body off as well, Abel swooped in and saved what he thought was my corpse. But I survived and swore to get revenge on the architect of my brothers' demise."

Ebephet is now standing, staring at Leary, his eyes welling up with tears. "My father was the only one who could have disclosed the secret locations of the Horde. We were hiding at one of our clan's long-time hidden locations at the time – the Gators would never have found us if it wasn't for him! I swore that day to find him and gut him for what he did to us – murdering our mother was not enough for him, he had to try do the same to me and my brothers as well! I know that he turned us in for a sweet deal up here in Jungelen and I also know that no-one has it better in here than that mother fucking D'iarann! Now go and fetch my father for me, dear Ebephet, I think it is time for a little family reunion."

"Um..." Ebephet clears his throat before continuing: "There is something I need - "

Ebephet is interrupted by Leary placing his index finger on his lips: "No time for a chat, just fetch him NOW! I am growing impatient..."

Ebephet unlocks and opens the door to the room at the rear of the D'iarann's quarters. He stares down the man occupying the small room for a few moments – his anger is palpable. The occupant steps out of the room, his face covered by a cloth mask so that only his eyes can be seen. This was all part of the theatrics that he used to try and add to the mystique of the infamous D'iarann, King of Jungelen.

Leary stares hatefully at the D'iarann and commands: "Remove that mask, father, and face me – your eldest remaining son, Vincent Khan."

"I should have known it was you, if only I had seen you up close. The work you have had done on your face is truly remarkable," replies the D'iarann as he strides towards Vincent.

"Leary Cole," he continues, "what a clever alias. The last name that your mother was born with, followed by the one she died with. How did I not see it?"

Vincent's fury is growing every second. "I told you to remove that fucking mask you son-of-a-bitch! Show your face and fight me!"

The D'iarann turns his back towards Vincent and replies, "Very well."

He removes his mask.

"One thing I should warn you about before we do this little dance; the stories that you hear in this place are always wonderful tales, but unfortunately they are sometimes fiction. The Crier's story of Vandal Khan coming here, defeating the Duke and becoming the D'iarann, well, that is not completely factual. A man did come here, he did defeat the Duke and he did become the D'iarann. And yes, I am that fabled man, but I am not Vandal Khan... you are not my son, Vincent."

The D'iarann turns to face Vincent. The two men stare each other down, their eyes are almost identical in color. Vincent is visibly shocked by what he sees before him – he turns pale, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Greetings, brother," says the D'iarann with a smile on his face.

Vincent is speechless for a moment. He eventually composes himself enough to mutter: "Victor, it cannot be..."

The D'iarann explains to Vincent and all of the enthralled onlookers that he, Victor Khan – the eldest of the four Khan brothers – had manufactured the tale of Vandal Khan being the D'iarann. He had been believed to be dead after the Gators had attacked the Horde. Ezekiel was actually the only brother that had been killed that day, although like the rest of the world, Victor had also believed Vincent to be dead.

The real story was that Victor had been captured by the Gators weeks before the raid whilst he had his guard down at a brothel near the Horde's hidden camp. Frightened by the prospect of facing the full force of the Gator's justice, he struck a deal with them. He would turn in his brothers in exchange for all four of them having it 'easier' while serving their multiple life sentences. As part of the deal, none of them were to be killed as well. Usually the Gators did not make deals, however, the agent leading the team was none other than their step-father, the man who had apprehended Vandal Khan after he murdered his wife all those years ago. He took pity on them and made the best deal that the Gator leadership would allow.

Things went south when the Gators attempted to arrest Abel, Ezekiel and Vincent. Victor returned to camp pretending that everything was alright. He distracted the others to allow the Gators time to swoop in, but the other brothers and their Hordesmen fought back so fervently that the 'easy arrest' turned into a massacre. Many Gators lost their lives that day, as did Ezekiel Khan and many Hordesmen. Victor and Vincent were also both caught in the crossfire and believed to be dead. Abel was the only one who got away unscathed and the Gators – lead by his step-father – had been searching for him ever since.

"I never meant for anyone to get hurt, you must believe me, brother!" pleads Victor. "I thought that by giving us up, I would save us, not get us killed!"

Vincent's initial reaction of shock had warn off and been replaced by anger – an extreme, all-consuming rage.

"I have heard enough, you treacherous swine!" he spits at his brother, Victor. "Ezekiel did not deserve to die, he was a good man, better than any of us. His blood is on your hands... now shut your mouth and fight me..."

Victor and Vincent fought a tough battle that day – it was not pretty, they pulled out all of the dirtiest tricks in the book. The fight was purely about vengeance and survival and hence lacked the skill of the more gladiatorial tournaments and Yard Sales that frequented the Jungelen Yard. They clawed at each other, bit chunks of flesh from one another, broke each other's bones and even ripped out clumps of head and facial hair.

Eventually Vincent gained the upper hand and his exhausted brother and opponent knelt before him, begging for mercy: "Please, brother, do not do this... we can rule this place... together... reunited... a fresh start..."

Vincent wipes the blood and sweat from his brow as he steadies his breathing.

"You will get your fresh start... in Hell, brother. Who knows, maybe father is there waiting for you and the two of you can bond over shoveling demon-shit and burning eternally. Now try not to scream like a little bitch while I collect a souvenir."

Vincent re-enacts the removal of the Duke's eye that he believed Vandal had done all those years ago. Knowing now that it was in fact Victor who had done so, gave him great pleasure as he gouged out his brother's eye in a similar fashion. The only difference was that his brother was still alive when said gouging took place. Once he had removed his brother's eye, he snatched the 'Eye of the Outlaw' from his neck as well. He handed both the necklace and the newly removed eye of Victor Khan to Bill.

"Hey Bill, good to see you again, my friend. Would you be so kind as to make sure that we replace the eye on the necklace with that of Victor's? I want to make sure he bears witness to everything I achieve from here on out. The jealousy will drive him crazy, even from the after-life."

Bill is still speechless and just nods his head sheepishly, acknowledging the orders of his former friend, Leary Cole, who he now knows is actually the infamous Vincent Khan.

Vincent strolls over to the D'iarann's throne, sits down and motions to the giant lion that he rode in on. The beast turns and leaps onto the one-eyed – but still alive – Victor and rips his throat out with just one bite. The other beasts that are present in the quarters begin to roar and cry out. Some beat their chests, others hiss and brandish their fangs. The noise seems to spread in a wave as more and more beasts join in.

As Vincent sits on his newly claimed throne, it becomes clear to Bill that not only did these beasts see him as their king, but he was now also the new D'iarann. The King of both jungles – the one within these walls and the one beyond – had been born. King Khan had arrived.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

As Bill completes the tale that the D'iarann had requested, he can tell that Vivi is confused. The Prince starts to put together the pieces in his mind: Vandal Khan was never an inhabitant of Jungelen; Vandal's eldest son, Victor, was the original D'iarann; the mutilated guard that he saw in the infirmary was killed by the beasts of the jungle; Vincent Khan, aka Leary Cole, could control these beasts and used them to kill his brother and to become the new D'iarann.

"So if you are the D'iarann, then you must be Vincent Khan," he remarks to the D'iarann.

The D'iarann chuckles: "No flies on this one," he says mockingly.

"Yes, I am Vincent. I came to this place as Leary Cole, looking for my revenge. And the day that I thought I would die in this place was actually the day that sparked everything that lead me to my goal. After I, Leary Cole at the time, managed to escape the ambush that Ebephet and the rest of the Austri had set for us Slavene, I didn't get very far. The guards caught me during my escape and worked me over properly. They had been ordered by the D'iarann to kill any escapee, but they had some other plans in mind for me. They kept me for weeks in the abandoned wing. This is where they kept all of their 'play things'. They shackled me there and tortured me for weeks. Every time I thought that I was about to feel death's sweet release, they would bring me back and help me recover just enough for them to do it all over again."

Vincent rubs his scars softly as he continues his story.

"Eventually they grew tired of me. They tried to kill me right there and then, but I managed to bite off the ear of one of the guards. They beat me mercilessly once more and then declared that if I wanted to act like an animal, I could go and die with them. That is when they released me into the jungle and tried to make it look like I was attempting to escape. I fought with the guard who was releasing me and before I knew it, the both of us were being dragged off into the jungle by some beast. That beast turned out to be Ezekiel – I named him after my fallen brother, they share the same fierce loyalty and gentle heart."

Vincent points to something behind Vivi. Vivi almost shits himself when he turns to see that standing right behind him is a massive lion – it is bigger than any creature he had ever seen. What was even more frightening was that the beast had managed to sneak up behind him without him even noticing.

"Anyway, to cut a long story short," continues Vincent, "the beasts killed the guard quickly, but they took a liking to me. As time passed, I realized that they listened to me, they saw me as some sort of leader. With their help, I removed the guard's arm and replicated my Slavene tattoo on his finger. Ezekiel then delivered the arm to the Jungelen perimeter where I knew it would be found and I would be assumed dead. People always underestimate a dead man, so that is what I became while I lived with my beasts and recuperated from the damage that the guards had inflicted upon me. Once I had healed, we executed our attack and, well, you know how the rest goes."

Vivi is still attempting to process all of the information that had just been thrown at him and something suddenly dawns on him.

"You're his brother," he mutters.

"What's that?" asks Vincent.

"Abel... you are his brother..." replies Vivi as he rubs the scar on his chest.

Vincent smiles and says: "Oh yes, that reminds me – I heard that my brother left you with a parting gift. Could I see it, please?"

Vivi stands in his spot staring at Vincent. He refuses to show him the hand-print scar that Abel seared into his chest.

"Very well then. Lucas, Locust; remove his shirt and bring him to me," commands Vincent.

The Black-hand and the Locust grab Vivi and tear his shirt into two halves, exposing the scar that Abel inflicted on him. They drag the Prince over to the Austri leader, who inspects the scar closely. The more he looks at it, the happier he seems to get.

"Yes, yes, yes. That is Abel's alright."

He places his hand on the scar and Vivi feels an energy pass through his body causing him excruciating pain. Just as his head feels like it was going to explode, Vincent removes his hand from the scar.

"Thank you, your highness. I now know that my brother is on his way here and I just used you as a 'homing beacon' of sorts to help guide him through the maze of islands that hide this one so well. He really was clever when he marked you and set you up with the Gators knowing that it would lead you to me. You see, I got arrested for fake, white collar, financial terrorism on purpose so that I could come here and get my revenge on my father. However, where our plan failed was that we underestimated exactly how inescapable and hidden this place is. My brother has been trying to find it for years and finally he seems to have found his way and now that he is close enough, we can connect using you as our very own 'router' – I think I will call it 'Vi-Fi', haha!"

It takes a minute for Vivi to recover from the pain. The Black-hand and the Locust are still holding him up. He looks over at Bill, who turns and looks away as their eyes meet – now he knows things are not looking good for him.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asks.

Vincent smiles at him once more: "I told you, your excellency, you will be sharing this evening's festivities with us. I am truly thrilled that you managed to meet the whole gang and learn more about us through our stories – it is important to get to know those with whom you will soon become so close. Now then, my associates will be escorting you to a place where you can wash up and get ready for the evening. I will see you in the dining hall later. Please do not be late."

The Locust and the Black-hand drag Vivi off once more.

"Bill!" yells Vivi desperately. "Bill!"

Bill still cannot look Vivi in the eye. He just turns and walks over to the window with his back towards the Prince.

The door to the D'iarann's quarters shuts with a loud bang as Vivi and his escorts exit the room.

Vincent turns to Bill and says: "You did well, dear friend, you did well. I cannot thank you enough. I know it was not easy, but by befriending him you validated that he knew Abel and that my brother is still alive. The information you got from him is invaluable to us, it will make our plan a success."

Bill nods his head slowly: "I know," he responds softly.

Bill knew that this would not be the last time that he saw the Prince that he had grown so fond of, however, he also knew that the next time they met, Vivi would not be the same as he was before...

### Chapter 10 – Brothers of Anarchy

"... and that's when I 'anded that sorry git the bloody piece of his index finger and I asked him if he 'got the point' – HAHAHA!" laughs the Black-hand as he concludes what he considers to be a real knee-slapper of an anecdote.

The rest of his comrades join in on the laughter as the band continues to belt out a tune on their makeshift instruments. The home-brewed swill that passed as booze and bags of Loki's Breath are being consumed by the inmates. They were having quite the celebration, never before had a group of men sentenced to rot in prison been in such high spirits. As they sat at the large, wooden table that had been set in the Yard for their feast, they stomped their feet and pounded their fists in time to the rhythm of the band's tune.

"Uhummm... uhummm...

from the jungle he came... uhummm... uhummm...

riding a beast no other could tame... uhummm... uhummm...

into the Jungle he leapt... uhummm... uhummm...

to slaughter his enemies as they slept... uhummm... uhummm...

the Piper, the Warden, the master of every beast... uhummm... uhummm...

it is to the great King Khan that we feast... uhummm... uhummm..."

They continued to sing the song that honored Vincent Khan, who had not asked for them to worship him as they did, but there was just something about the man that made the convicts flock to him and do whatever he asked of them. They would follow him to the end of the Earth and back, even to their own graves.

"Vincent, the feast is ready, shall I instruct Tar Pit and his minions to bring it out?" inquires Timo.

Vincent slaps him playfully on his shoulder and replies: "Please do, dear friend. If these hooligans are as famished as I am then we are likely on the verge of a riot."

Timo leaves to relay Vincent's instructions to the cooking crew who are making use of the prison's kitchen as if it were their own. Minutes later, he returns with Tar Pit in tow followed by two dozen convicts carrying large platters of meat – there were evidently no vegetarians within the walls of Jungelen.

"U-hum," coughs Tar Pit as he clears his throat. "May I present this evening's menu..."

He proceeds to explain what every item of food is to the rowdy diners-in-waiting.

"That will be enough, thank you sir," interrupts Vincent bringing Tar Pit's dreary monologue to an abrupt halt.

"SPEECH! SPEECH!" bellow the inmates as the food is arranged on the table by the cooking crew.

After some protesting and his followers persisting with their request, Vincent agrees to say a few words. He stands and raises his cup of prison booze for a toast. The other inmates follow suit.

"My friends – comrades – you are truly the greatest men that I know and I am privileged to have shared so many years with you," he declares.

"But all good things come to an end and this is no exception. You see, the time has come for me to leave this place. My brother, Abel, will be here soon and I will be leaving with him, returning to my Horde. Together, he and I will lead our men to greatness and watch this corrupt, facade of a society crumble and burn!"

His audience react with a combination of cheers and jeers – they are all excited by the prospect of anarchy and the downfall of society, but they are upset by their king's plan to leave Jungelen.

Vincent raises his arm and the inmates fall silent once more before he continues with his speech.

"Don't fret, friends, I have a proposition for all of you. My brothers and I always had a, shall we say, 'special' connection which allowed us to communicate even when we were apart. Now that Abel is close by, I can connect with him and I believe he received my message to bring additional transportation. Every man here has served me faithfully and as such, I will be providing you safe passage off this rock and back to the outside world."

Cheers erupt once again, all of the inmates like the idea of being back in the 'real world' – reigning down terror was much more enjoyable on the outside.

Once the cheers subside, Vincent resumes his monologue: "That brings me to my offer. You will all be free men out there, so the choice is yours and I will not bear any grudges towards those that refuse me. The Genghan Horde is a brotherhood, the elite agents of chaos, infamous around the globe – but it is not enough. We need to become more and in order to achieve that, we need more warriors in our ranks. Brave, free men who believe in our cause. I believe those men to be all of you, so I invite you to not only leave this island with me, but also to join my Horde. Together we will bring this world to its knees! What say you?"

The entire population rise to their feet, cheering louder than ever before.

"KHAN! KHAN! KHAN!" they chant over and over again.

"That settles it then!" exclaims Vincent. "Now let us feast! Oh, wait a moment, I almost forgot to do the 'thank yous'."

Vincent thanks Tar Pit and the cooking crew as well as some other inmates involved in organizing the feast. Upon conclusion, he turns and smiles at Bill who is seated beside him.

"And last but certainly not least: to Whistling Bill, my dearest friend!"

Bill stands and waves sheepishly as the crowd applauds. Vincent pats him on the back with one hand as he grabs a handful of meat with the other. He gives half of the meat to Bill and they wolf it down together. Bill seems a bit less keen than Vincent, but they both finish their portions quickly.

"Absolutely delicious!" remarks Vincent. "We all owe Bill thanks for providing us with this delicious meal. If it was not for his tireless efforts over the past few weeks, this fine specimen would've died long before it was time for our feast and we all know that a fresh kill far surpasses the alternative."

The Black-hand nods in agreement as he too samples a hunk of meat.

"To Bill!" bellows Vincent. "If not for you, we would never have had the privilege of tasting royalty!"

Vincent looks down at the large carcass from which the chunks of meat were carved. He sees a hand-print indentation on its topside and grins menacingly.

"The Prince sure does taste a lot better than that old hermit my brothers and I had to eat to stay alive when we were stuck out in those god-forsaken woods. Ever since that day, no other food can fully satisfy me. Don't you agree, Bill?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," replies Bill as he helps himself to some more.

Now that the speech has concluded, the band begins to play once more as the inmates feast. The more they eat, the more they drink and the more they drink, the more Loki's Breath they consume. After several hours, Vincent retires to his quarters leaving his followers to continue the raucous celebration without him. He needs his rest, tomorrow will be the day his brother comes to rescue him from this prison – he can feel it. He needs to be ready; Abel and the Horde will need to fight to get here and they may need to fight to leave as well, the Gators had this place locked down tight. He remembers how difficult it had been to keep up pretenses all this time; keeping Warden Smiley and the bulk of the guards alive even though he had overthrown them years ago and taken full control of the prison. The guards and the Warden played their parts when the Gators flew by and dropped off new fish. Then there were the Yard Sales as well; all orchestrated just to make things seem 'normal' to the Gators that might be watching. They didn't even know that he had united all the gangs – Austri, Vestri, Sudri and Nordri were all one under his rule. He had manipulated his followers to purposely cause riots and brawls, planned the odd fake failed escape attempt – a truly exhausting ruse. But he He thought the Gators were on to him when Vivi arrived. Vivi did not strike him as a real terrorist – which is what made him think that he was an undercover Gator – he just had that air about him. That is why he asked his most trusted friend, Bill, to get close to him and uncover his true identity. Bill had done so excellently and what he discovered about Vivi and Abel's shared past, well, that was more than he could have ever hoped for.

He shuts his eyes and rolls over as he prepares to fall asleep. There is no turning back now, not after he handed over Smiley and the remaining guards to the lunatics in the maximum security wing; the Hammer and the Sickle in particular had been looking forward to inflicting some serious pain on them before "letting them bleed out like hogs" – their words, not his. Torture had never been his thing, he was not a sadistic man. He was not even violent by nature, but he learned a long time ago that violence was sometimes necessary and unfortunately in a place like this, 'sometimes' was more often than he would have liked.

The celebration can still be heard from the Yard down below. It does not seem to bother him as he drifts off to sleep. The same for Ezekiel, who he named after his late brother to whom he was so very close. The great beast is asleep beside his bed – two kings, their bellies filled with Prince, peacefully dreaming of the battles that are yet to come...

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Once again Vincent finds himself staring out the window of his quarters looking out at his kingdom. Most kings would not be proud of that over which he rules; a cold, stone prison the halls of which are filled with the most deplorable men to ever walk the Earth and beyond that a wild jungle which is home to beasts that could rip a man in half without hesitation.

Although he has stood in this exact spot every morning for years, today is not the same as before. Usually he is being kept company by some of his beastly friends, the serpents in particular enjoyed this time with their master. Today, however, could be the last time he stands here; the last time he lays his eyes on what has become his home. His beasts sense it and they are not by his side today, all except for one. A large raven is perched stoically on the window-sill alongside a small piece of string that was tied to its leg moments ago. Vincent had untied it to release the small piece of paper that had been fastened to the jet-black creature.

The paper was a note from his brother, Abel. Vincent had read it with mixed emotions; excitement and sadness. He was excited to get back to the world and to fulfill his destiny with his brother by his side, however, he was sad to leave this place. He smiles as he thinks to himself that if someone had told him all those years ago when he arrived at Jungelen that he would be sad to leave this place one day, he would have cracked their skull open to see what was going on inside their crazy mind.

He had no idea what he was getting into when he changed his name to Leary Cole and handed over every dime he had to that emo hacker girl who doctored some records to make him seem like the most prolific financier of global terrorist organizations that the Gators had ever caught wind of. He knew that assuming the skin of a white-collar criminal would likely keep him off of his Gator step-father's radar and he was correct. He was able to get himself arrested and thrown into Jungelen without his late mother's husband suspecting that Leary Cole was in fact his dead stepson. All that effort just to track down his bastard father and make him pay for the role he played in his brothers' deaths – only to find out that Victor was behind it all this time. He did still wonder where daddy-dearest had got to, he would still like to string him up and let the crows taste the flesh of a living descendant of the great Genghis Khan.

What he had not counted on was that his brother would not be able to track him down for so long. The plan was to find and kill Vandal and then send a signal to get Abel to rescue him. The problem was that the undetectable microchip that the hacker girl had fitted him with didn't seem to work once he was on this island – strange things with electronics seemed to be common place here, almost like it was some type of dead zone. He knows that Abel would have tried to come with him, but the Gators had this place hidden amongst hundreds of islands with no way of an outsider knowing which one housed Jungelen. In addition to that, the fuckers also patrolled these waters day and night. For some time, Vincent had thought that Abel had tried to rescue him but had instead been sent to the afterlife by the Gators. So imagine his relief when he looked out from his tower one day and saw a man getting the shit beaten out of him by one of those oafish Tusk brothers. This man was an unwilling participant in a Yard Sale – he was the merchandise, so to speak. Even from so far away, Vincent's eye was immediately drawn to the hand-shaped scar on the man's chest. He recalled how his brother would sear the skin of their enemies with a mere touch, leaving a scar just like the one he saw – it was quite the 'party trick'. That is why he decided to save the life of Prince Vivi Yahalla and he was very glad that he did. Not only did that lead to confirmation that his brother was alive and well, but also quite a satisfying meal.

After some peaceful, silent moments of quiet reflection, he looks down at Abel's note and reads it once more:

"Dearest Vincent,

I know you are still alive, I feel it in my soul. I am guessing that you got my gift? The whiny little Prince with my hand imprinted on his chest? I could feel you through him, it was like a jolt of lightning and then I gained clarity. I saw the path to you as clear as day. I also know that you have made friends whilst locked in that zoo and that you want to bring them off the island with you. I sent for more boats and they have arrived, so round up all of those loyal to you and have them ready... we are coming. Listen for the gun fire.

PS: I am aware that not all of your followers are human, so I took the liberty of making sure some of the transports can safely house and feed your other loyal subjects. Stay strong brother, we will be together soon.

Your brother in this life and the next,

Abel."

The silence which Vincent was enjoying so much is broken by one of his guards: "You sent for me, sir."

"Yes indeed," replies Vincent. "And how many times must I tell you, 'sir' is not necessary, just call me 'Vincent'."

The guard nods his head sheepishly.

"I have a very important job for you," continues Vincent. "I need you to rally everyone together and meet me at the Yard. The time has come for us to leave this place. Tell the Crier to give the instructions for the 'Exodus', he will know what that is."

The guard looks slightly confused but asks Vincent no questions. He spins on his heel and hastily jogs out of the quarters. Vincent can hear him shouting to the other inmates as he does so.

"And now we wait..." says Vincent to the crow as he gently strokes its feathers.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

The Jungelen populous are standing on the warm, white sands of the island that they have called home for so long. They had heard thunder before during the intense tropical storms that frequented their home, but that did not begin to compare to the thunderous commotion that filled the airwaves on this beautiful morning. Cannon and gun fire rang out so loud that they were eclipsed only by missile explosions. This was the closest thing to watching a film that the inmates had experienced since being incarcerated. The once tranquil, crystal waters that surrounded the island were now the arena for an epic battle between the Gator's patrol boats – which were armed to the teeth – and some other armored vessels that proudly donned the flag of the Horde; a hand tightly gripping a planet. The usual morning mist that slept silently on the horizon had fled from the war-zone and had been replaced with thick, black smoke that rose from the wreckages.

Hours pass as the war continues, but eventually the Horde claim victory over the Gators. Their armored ships and extremely advanced weaponry were just too much for the Gators to handle. Vincent watches patiently as the victors' ships approach the shore on which he and his men stand. He tries to hide his excitement by putting on his 'game face', but a smile still manages to escape from its confines and plasters itself across his face. However, he does wonder to himself how his brother managed to afford the war-ships that had bested the Gators' impressive defensive fleet – they seemed to be a bit out of the Horde's price range, unless their coffers had filled substantially during his years of imprisonment.

The first of the armored ships finally reaches the shore. The front of its hull slices through the sea-sand effortlessly and the vessel grinds to a halt. The cabin door opens and a few heavily-armed men step out and jump down onto the beach.

"Area is secure!" one of them shouts towards the cabin.

With that signal, another two men step out from the cabin and also climb down onto the sandy shore. The one man is wearing a long-sleeved, hooded jacket and long pants despite the warm weather. The other is dressed more appropriately – he looks ready for war. This man bears a striking resemblance to Vincent, especially his piercing, glass-like eyes.

"Brother!" exclaims Vincent as he jogs open-armed towards the new arrival to which he bears resemblance. The two men hug each other vigorously, it is clear that they care deeply for one another.

"It has been too long... come, let me introduce you to our new comrades," remarks Vincent as he turns to address his Jungelen faithful.

"Friends, I am honored to introduce you to a truly great man. I have told you all so much about my beloved brother and I am truly happier than I have been in decades now that I am able to introduce him to you all. Please welcome my brother, Abel Khan!"

"HOO-RAH! HOO-RAH!" the crowd begins to cheer as Vincent raises Abel's arm in the air as if he had just won a gold medal.

After some time, the Genghan Hordesmen had all disembarked from their ships and they were mingling with the Jungelen inhabitants. Victor had introduced Abel to his most trusted friends and Generals, Bill and Timo. There was no need to introduce him to Ebephet since they had known each other since Abel was young. The reunion between the titanic General and the last remaining Khan twin was quite emotional, they too cared for each other deeply.

In return, Abel had introduced his brother to his hooded compatriot. He did not say much about the mysterious man other than that he was the right-hand man of the person who had aided him in obtaining the vessels and weaponry to defeat the Gator patrol. When Vincent shook his hand, he noticed a fairly crudely drawn tattoo of an eye on it.

"So where is my old friend, Prince Vivi?" inquires Abel.

Victor rubs his stomach and laughs, as does Abel when he realizes what his brother's gesture means.

Once the exchange of introductions had been completed, Vincent announced that they needed to get moving asap since it was only a matter of time before Gator reinforcements would be on the way.

"Oh shit!" remarks Timo to Vincent. "I forgot something in my cell, I will be back shortly, you lot carry on with the preparations."

With that, the legendary fighter sprints towards the prison and disappears from Vincent's sight. The rest do not think much of Timo's hasty exit and continue with loading their few belongings and Vincent's beasts onto the sturdy, large transport ships that Abel had summoned to shore.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Timo thinks to himself that his compatriot better arrive soon. He had been waiting in the secret halls beneath Jungelen for several minutes and they needed to return to the Horde's ships shortly if they were to avoid raising suspicion. He looks from left to right and decides to rather head back to the ships – but He will be furious with him. His missions while in this hell-hole were clear: firstly, find the one who all beasts follow and ensure that he is kept safe until he has realized his full potential and secondly, find the Heart of the Jungle.

Both missions were not easy; figuring out that Leary Cole was in fact Vincent Khan and that he was this 'King of the Animals' took time and he had to twist some arms and loosen some lips in order to get the information he needed. Once he figured out that the supposed white-collar terrorist had no contacts in Jungelen, he became suspicious. No one had ever heard of Leary Cole, not even the Blind Crier and he knew everyone, if not personally then at least by reputation. He started to follow Leary and kept a very close eye on him – bringing him in as one of the Slavene Kongs was one of the ways he was able to do this. One day he finally got the evidence that he needed. He was spying on Bill and Leary as they did their duties as Vestri Thralls. They were once again clearing the Yard of anything potentially harmful in preparation for yet another tournament. Timo watched closely and saw that Leary never killed a single animal; when it came to killing the snakes that they found, for example, he let Bill do it and as he watched, he looked visibly sick. On one occasion, Leary even accidentally stepped on one of the serpents and it turned towards him as if it were ready to strike, but when it looked into his eyes it calmed down immediately and withdrew. Timo had further tested his theory that night while Leary slept when he placed an irate viper in his bed. The viper didn't even need to look into Leary's eyes, it took a few moments and then turned to face Timo instead. As Timo approached Leary, the creature lashed out to protect him against what it thought was a threat. Clearly Leary had an affinity for the creatures of the wild – and the feeling was apparently mutual. That is when Timo decided to betray the Slavene to the Austri, which lead to the ambush where Leary was supposed to be beaten to the point where he would snap and finally become what he truly was deep-down. Timo believed that the beasts would have come to his aid, however, he did not foresee Bill's bravery, which allowed Leary to escape. Thereafter, he thought that he had royally screwed up and that Leary was dead for sure, however, it turned out that it lead to the perfect outcome; the day Leary rode in on the lion-like Ezekiel and announced that he was in fact Vincent Khan was the happiest he had had been in years. He knew how pleased He would be.

As for the second mission; the Heart of the Jungle was a legend told by the inmates. It was thought to be fictional, but He believed otherwise. Timo had been instructed to find it and after much investigation, he managed to put together the pieces of the stories told by the Crier and his fellow long-time inhabitants. It was this story that had led him to this secret passageway where he finds himself now. He had also been instructed to wait for a compatriot who would come with Abel before attempting to pass the statues that guarded the Heart. It was believed that the Heart had been the prison for the Norse god, Loki, eons ago. It was truly inescapable, even for a god. However, Loki managed to trick the guards by changing his face and escaped that which was thought to be inescapable. Timo had no idea what He wanted with the Heart, but he was not going to wait around any longer to find out.

"Oh shit! For fuck sakes man, you scared the nut-sack off of me!" exclaims Timo. He was just rounding the corner to exit the hidden tunnel, when he almost bumped into another man who was entering said tunnel. The man was Abel's hooded ally and he did not respond to Timo.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you don't say much," snorts Timo.

The hooded man removes his hood, revealing his face – he is a pallid man with several crude eye tattoos all over his face, head and neck. Timo notices that he has similar tattoos on the back of his hands as well.

Timo cracks his neck as if he is preparing for a fight and says: "Ok then, no time to waste. Let's get this over with – follow me."

The two men jog down the tunnel until they reach a large iron door. Either side of the door is a statue of a warrior monk with his eyes closed as if he were in a deep sleep. The pallid man picks up a small stone and throws it at one of the statues; it connects with its stone head and falls to the floor.

"What... the... fuck..." whispers Timo under his breath. He wipes his eyes in disbelief as he witnesses the statues open their eyes and walk to the center of the tunnel. As they do so, their color changes; they are no longer stone-gray, they now appear human with a complexion very similar to his own.

"Turn back from whence you came, you may not have what you have come to claim," echoes a strong voice. Timo looks around to find the origin of the voice – it could not be the monks, their lips were no moving.

His tattooed compatriot steps forward and points to the door behind the monks.

"I am here to free the King of The Many, step aside or face your death."

Once again, Timo cannot tell where the voices are coming from. This voice sounded different to the first. He realizes that he is eavesdropping on a conversation that uses an unorthodox medium; the tattooed man and the monks were communicating telepathically and for some reason he had been invited to listen in.

The monks suddenly move to a battle stance – they look like two vipers ready to execute a deadly strike at any moment.

"The Many shall never rise again, ensuring this is the duty of our kind. Prepare to die."

The tattooed man does not respond, he simply turns to face Timo and nods, as if to say "here we go..." He then launches himself at the monks and the battle begins. At first Timo stands there, uncertain what is going on. Seconds later he snaps out of his trance and joins the fray. He knew the tattooed man by reputation only; his brethren that served the same master had told tales of his superhuman speed and strength. "The Mind's Eye was not to be trifled with", they would whisper as the legend would stand stoically next to the great Master – His ashen guardian ready to die protecting Him. As he glances at Mind's Eye, he is surprised to see that although he is a very skilled warrior, he does not appear superhuman in the slightest. Before he is able to figure out why this seemingly normal man would be revered as the demigod of war by his peers, he feels a pain shoot through his leg from the knee down. He looks down to see that his shin bone has been snapped clean in half by one of the warrior monks. Before he is able to fully process what had happened, he catches a round-house kick square on his jaw and he can feel it shatter on impact. He is no stranger to injuries, but this is different. As he lays on the cold, hard stone floor, he can taste his own blood and something hard in his mouth. He spits out the contents and sees his crimson-stained teeth skip across the floor.

He watches Mind's Eye and the other monk battle while thinking to himself that he is glad that he accomplished his missions. Ever since he lost his family – his dear wife and daughters – to the regime that ruled his country of origin, he had wandered aimlessly looking for purpose. He wanted revenge so badly that it almost got him killed. That was when he met the Master – what a brilliant man he was. It was as if he knew exactly what was in his heart; he connected with him; he empathized with him; he understood him. Most of all he showed him that vengeance against those that gunned down his loved ones would not provide him solace, he needed to think bigger. Killing the demons that this world has to offer is futile – like the stupid hamster that runs endlessly on it's plastic wheel, you will just wear yourself down and get nowhere in the long run. He needed to kill the Devil himself and as one of the cogs in the Master's machine of change, he was helping do exactly that.

He feels the feet of the warrior monk connect with his body over and over again, like sledge-hammers. He can hear his bones breaking, but he cannot feel the pain anymore. He sees the Mind's Eye being beaten down by the other monk as he desperately tries to block and counter a barrage of fists that move so fast they seem to blur into one. Next to the battling duo he sees something that immediately takes his attention away from the skirmish; a beautiful woman and two little girls are standing there. They are smiling at him – his angels have come to collect him. He begins to crawl towards them as the blood gushes down his forehead and into his eyes and mouth. He still cannot feel the monk stomping him to death, all he can feel is happiness; finally he will be reunited with his girls. He failed them in life, but the Master had allowed him to vindicate himself and make their deaths mean something.

As he reaches the feet of his younger daughter, he attempts to reach up and grab her delicate hand.

She pulls it away and says: "Not yet, daddy. You have one last life to save."

All three of the angelic figures point at Mind's Eye simultaneously. Timo knows what he must do. It takes all of his strength to roll over onto his back and grab the monk's foot as it descends towards his skull for what would have surely been a finishing blow. He musters up everything he has left and snaps his opponent's ankle. The monk winces and drops to his knees. Timo seizes this opportunity to snap the monk's shin bone just as he had snapped his minutes before. The bone breaks clean and Timo snaps it once more further down, breaking a piece of bone off completely. He grabs the large bone shard and impales it through the eye of the monk as he attempts to attack him once more. As he does so, the other monk body slams Mind's Eye to the floor and turns his attention to Timo and his impaled comrade. He launches himself into the air and as Timo watches him descend towards him, feet first, he turns once more to face his loved ones. Time is moving in slow motion for the only independent man to ever walk the halls of Jungelen.

"It's time..." whispers his wife as she smiles at him with that smile that he has dreamed about every night for so long; waking every morning with an empty space next to him where she used to be.

He closes his eyes... he feels something connect with his throat as his windpipe caves in... he loses his breath as blood floods into his throat and mouth... and then Timo-Jin Lee is finally at peace.

Mind's Eye watches as Timo lies there motionlessly – he knows the Master will not be happy about this; he was fond of him. But he has bigger things to be concerned about, the Master needs that which these monks guard so fervently.

He jumps to his feet and runs over to the impaled monk, pulls the bone shard from his head and before the other monk realizes what is happening, shoves it into his neck piercing his jugular. The monk grabs at the instrument of his demise and dislodges it. Blood squirts from where it pierced like he had sprung a leak. He places his hand over the wound, but there is no way to stop the bleeding. It does not take long before he drops lifelessly to the blood-drenched floor.

The sole survivor of the showdown that just took place, Mind's Eye, wastes no time mourning the dead; he moves swiftly to the iron door that the fallen monks had died to prevent him from reaching. There are a series of Norse symbols on a locking mechanism next to the door. He spins them into place without hesitation, the door clicks and swings open. He thinks to himself, the darkness that lies behind this door hides the treasure that He had sent him to retrieve. Footsteps can be heard approaching him from behind the door and Mind's Eye feels joy – or at least his version of joy – knowing how pleased He will be.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Vincent takes a deep breath and savors the salty taste of the sea air as the ocean's warm waters break against his ship's bow, causing them to spray fine droplets onto his bearded face. He had smelled this same fresh air many times whilst imprisoned in Jungelen, but it tasted far sweeter now that he was a free man.

His moment of peace is interrupted by his brother, Abel: "Join me, we must address our Horde."

The two brothers walk to the highest point of the ship with their arms over each others shoulders and massive grins on their faces. This was the happiest they had been in decades – finally reunited and free.

The ship's engine splutters and it comes to a stand still. All the other members of their fleet follow suit. One of the crew points a camera in their direction and begins broadcasting to all the armored crafts filled with inspired Hordesmen – both veterans and new recruits that were Jungelen inmates just a couple hours ago.

Vincent looks around at the crew and he is filled with pride. His dear friend, Bill Jessup, runs up to him to have a word just before the speech is set to begin.

"So I spoke to Timo about why that tattooed, albino mute is all beat up and where they ran off to," whispers Bill.

"And?" prompts Vincent.

"He says that when they got back to his cell, he was looking for one of his belongings but couldn't find it. He accused the pale guy of pinching whatever it was and they got in a scuffle. Apparently they just had it out and they are all good now," replies Bill.

Vincent does not seem convinced.

"Timo might be a great fighter, but the albino looks like he can hold his own. He is beaten half to a pulp and Timo doesn't have a scratch on him... something ain't right, Bill. Will you keep an eye on them for me? My brother might trust that snow-cone-looking mother fucker and this 'Master' character they keep harping on about, but I don't know them from Jack and I don't serve anybody."

Bills nods his head in agreement and starts to walk away.

"Hey Bill!" exclaims Vincent. "One more thing: what happened to your scar and your whistle? How the hell did that train-wreck on your face just vanish?"

Bill rubs his mouth and smiles.

"Let's just say I am more special than you think, pal. Ol' Bill Jessup ain't exactly who you think he is," remarks Bill.

"My body may be scrawny, but it is very, let's say, resilient. I'm a lot older than you think," he smiles.

Vincent seems confused at first, but then smiles back at his friend.

"So perhaps the Crier's tales, about the island being a place to imprison those that 'normal' people fear most because of their 'god-given talents', as opposed to their terroristic tendencies isn't that far-fetched after all. The old coot said that there are people with 'abilities' out there and that being on the island suppresses them."

"Perhaps," replies Bill as he grins and walks back to his seat.

Abel pulls his brother in close and whispers in his ear: "It's time."

Vincent puts on his game face and prepares to address his people.

Abel begins the speech: "Hordesmen! What an epic day this is! Our ancestors and fallen comrades would be so proud of what we have accomplished. Not only have we done the impossible by breaking my brother out of the most secure location in the world, but we have also grown our ranks to a point where we are more than ever before!"

"KHAN! KHAN! KHAN!" cheers can be heard echoing across the ocean.

"I am forever grateful to every single man and woman that put their life on the line to save mine," adds Vincent. "I swear to pay you all back by leading our Horde to a level of greatness that even Genghis Khan himself could have never dreamed of!"

Once again the 'Khan' chants ring out deafeningly.

Abel raises his hand to silence his followers before continuing once more: "I am inspired by your commitment to our cause, brothers. We have a long way to travel still and a lot of celebrating to do. But we cannot engage in festivities for too long. No, we need to strike while the world is ripe for the picking! The Horde has always been the flame whose purpose was to set this despicable world that we live in on fire. The problem was that every fire we lit burned too slowly and before it had a chance to do significant damage, those who benefit from the injustices of this world were able to snuff it out. But this will happen no longer, I promise you! With the help of the Master we now have the accelerant we have needed for so long to help our fire rage on despite their efforts to quell it. And the best part is that they don't even realize that they are being doused in it, as we speak!"

Vincent takes over from his brother once more: "The time has come for us to spread the anarchy the world needs to survive the disease that is human civilization! The time has come for us to be the agents of chaos that bring about the changes this world so desperately needs! The time has come for us to fight once more – under the ever watchful 'Eye of the Outlaw'!"

The brothers jointly raise Vincent's necklace and as the image of the two mighty Khans holding up their symbol of greatness is seen by the Hordesmen, the tranquil evening sky is drowned in battle cries and celebratory gunshots. The Khan's power had reached its peak and if they had their way, the entire world would burn.

### Epilogue – Terror's bane

A man dressed in black from head to toe shuts the door as he enters his home. He hobbles over to the nearby wardrobe and removes his shirt and body armor. His ebony skin is covered in bruises – some appear fresh and others seem to have taken long-term residence on his muscular physique. He is used to being in pain; physical pain was nothing to him anymore, his true burden was the pain he carried in his heart. Some rest and medication could help his outer wounds heal, but healing his inner wounds would be far more difficult, if at all possible.

He sits down in front of his laptop, opens it up and turns it on. As he waits for it to boot up, he glances over towards the adjacent room. In the room is a large, iron cage. The cage has an old blanket, a dirty plate and plastic cutlery on the floor that it encloses. The evidence indicates that it was some unfortunate soul's home until quite recently. He thinks to himself that he cannot believe that it's former occupant had escaped – he must have had help.

His attention is drawn back towards his laptop as it makes a sound indicating that it has completed booting up. He logs in and checks his email inbox. Most of the mails are just from work colleagues, he thinks to himself that they can wait until the morning. Back in the day when Chelsea and the boys were still with him, he would put work first. It was ironic that now that it was too late to spend time with them, he had actually cut back on work. He needed more free time to hit the streets and work on finding those who the authorities would never bring to justice – rules needed to be bent or even broken to get the information he needed to find whom he was looking for.

He was convinced that vigilantism was the only answer, but it did come at a price that not even state-of-the-art body armor could circumvent.

He logs out of his email account, but rather than closing his browser, he navigates to another email client and logs into that. His inbox for this account is far less full than the previous one. For that matter, he kept no read emails for this account and there was only one new, unread email. The sender is listed as 'lholchester' and the subject is just one word: 'Help'. He does not recognize the name and this was a very private account, he had only given it to a handful of people that may need his help and none of them was this 'lholchester'. However, he does recall Cricket mentioning an 'ally' and asking permission to share the address with them, which he agreed to. Could this mystery sender be the ally he referred to? It must be, he cannot think of any other explanation.

He opens the email from the unknown source and reads it out loud to himself: "Cricket said to contact you in an emergency situation. Need to lay low immediately, please contact me if you can assist."

The email does seem legitimate but he decides to first do some research to try and figure out who lholchester is, before replying to him. For now, he decides to turn in and call it a night, his body is throbbing. He has one last thing to do – he walks over to a flip board in the corner of his living room and spins it around. On the board are several photographs, some of which have large X's drawn over them. Each photograph is accompanied by a brief bio of the person depicted. He has created an entire network where all of these people are connected to the others in some shape or form. He takes a marker and draws an X over one of the photographs; that bastard put up quite a fight, he thinks as he rubs his bruised ribs. He adds another piece of string connecting the man to the image right at the top of the board. This photograph shows a young man with piercing, glass eyes and the name alongside it reads 'Abel'.

He has searched for Abel for so long, but every time he thought he had him, he slipped through his fingers. It wasn't that long ago that he was sure they had him when they heard reports of a village being massacred in an area near which he had recently been spotted. However, it turned out to be some crazed Prince instead who had trapped the villagers in their homes and burned them alive – sadistic son-of-a-bitch.

He climbs onto his bed, picks up a photograph from his nightstand and holds it above him. He smiles for just a second as he stares at the woman and four young boys in the photo – they look so happy. He too is in the picture, smiling as he hugs the woman and one of the boys. He turns the photo over and on the back it has 'The Cole family's first vacation' written in pencil. A lonely tear runs silently down his cheek and onto his pillow as he reads the text over and over again. Eventually he places the photo on his chest, closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

The ring of a cell phone breaks the peaceful silence, waking up the dark-skinned man who still had the photograph of the Cole family resting on his chest.

"Hello," he says as he answers it, fighting back a yawn.

"Jungelen has fallen. One survivor, probably won't make it through the night. He claims Abel Khan lead the attack. All inmates are at large," says the voice on the other end of the line in a very emotionless, matter-of-fact way.

"I'm on my way," he replies and ends the call.

He stands up with his shirtless back facing a large, body-length mirror. He glances over his shoulder and stares silently at the mirror which shows the reflection of his back. His massive back-tattoo is clearly visible – an alligator waging war with what appears to be some sort of demons. The alligator has one of the demons in its jaw and the others are clawing at the tough skin of the ferocious beast. Surrounding the animal and its opponents are five names all enclosed by a small heart: Chelsea, Ezekiel, Victor, Vincent and Abel.

He takes one last glance at the photograph of the Cole family and gently rubs the faces of the woman and one of the two youngest boys, who appear to be identical twins, with his thumb.

"Don't worry, Chels, I'll bring him home before he gets himself killed... I just hope he's not too far gone."

###

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, I would appreciate you taking a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer and to connect with me to receive news on sequels, etc. Also be sure to check out the previous book in the Nefairyous Saga series: Welcome to Lily Port, as well as the next in the series: Beasts of Burden.

Thanks!

Brenton Tenner

About Brenton Tenner

Brenton is a South African born independent author of fiction whose work follows an episodic / seasonal style similar to that of television series. For a more detailed bio, please visit https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/brentontenner

Other books by Brenton Tenner

The Nefairyous Saga: Welcome to Lily Port (available now)

The Nefairyous Saga: Beasts of Burden (coming soon)

The Nefairyous Saga: Coming of Age (coming soon)

And many more...

Connect with Brenton Tenner

Visit my website: http://www.brentontenner.co.za

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