My stay in DC was abruptly ended after Deemeon got wind of my encounters with Bryane. Soon after, Trapp arrived and declared he had orders to take me to the OC Front. It was a welcome change now that I knew a lot more about the world around me, and particularly about the abhorrent creature who was to become my boss. Yet, I thought I understood him better and should be able to deal with him. After all, I discovered that as much as he hates me, he is also as scared of me as I am scared of him. All his brutish behavior was intended to cover up this fact. What remained obscure to me, was why.. and why was Deemeon so adamant to “reform” me rather than destroy me like everyone else who ever crossed him.  

The road to the new castle was long and tedious. We had to cross the desert of the DC district into a wilderness area which turned gradually into some green luscious hills.. I was sweating profusely and noticed a tall rider keeping pace with me, and then I heard him say,

               “You don’t seem to be afraid of Trapp anymore.”

               “Afraid? Never..” I was indignant

               “Oh, yes, you were.. of course you hate to admit it.. but you think you understand him better now, you realized that he too is scared of you.”

               “He is just a detestable person.. I think everyone has the same feeling for him”

               “Are you sure? Deemeon seemed to like him and made him your boss ”

               “Well, I hated him alright, But I don’t hate anyone else.. or, maybe I hated Pryade, and Oldefol.. Ok, don’t look at me.. and I used to hate Pruste too and.. well I hated a lot of people.. satisfied?” 

               “No, the truth is.. you never hated any of them.. that, is your problem.. you know they hated you, and you reacted to this by thinking that you hated them back.. you were always reacting.. you need to find for yourself what is it you want, when dealing with others instead of just responding to what they do or say to you.”

               “You are confusing me.. how do you think you know me so well.. you think you know me better than I know myself?”

               “indeed.. confused, yes you are confused.. try to benefit from your encounter with Bryane, you learned a lot, so you have to build on that and form a smart approach to each person.. this way you can formulate the relationship to suite your interests rather than just wait for others to mold you into whatever they want you to be..”

               “You know.. you are right.. when I was in BSC I let Geetieh turn me into a pig.. living for food, liquor and sex .. and never cared about anything or anyone, and when it came time to face the real responsibility, I was not prepared for that.. I let everyone paint me into whatever form they thought I should be.. I was always running away from something or someone.. and I didn’t even know it or want to admit it.. how stupid.. and I thought myself to be smart.”

            “The most foolish person is the one who thinks of himself as the smartest one in the room. While the wisest man, is the one who lets everyone else speak, while he listens and learns.. he would only speaks when he finds the exact words worth saying .. and sometimes even never says anything at all.. sometimes silence can be far more profound than any words.”

               “How did you get to be so smart?” I chuckled

               “I am on the inside.” He giggled.

A soldier pulled up next to my left side, and yelled at me,

               “Hey you.. you have been talking all the time.. who are you talking to?”

I looked at him a little surprised for his question.. then I turned to tell him about the tall rider on my right,

               “I.. I was talking to..” but the tall rider disappeared. There was no one next to me on the right side, “He was right here.”

               “There was nobody riding next to you,” he said sarcastically, “we were watching you at the back.. you seem to be crazy.” He snickered

               “Crazy? Yeah.. that’s true.. I’m crazy.. so better watch out.” I replied with a wink.

               “Yea, yes.. we know all about that.. everyone knows about that.”

               “You have been warned.” I added.. and kicked my horse to move ahead.

As we rode in the green hills, Trapp approached me,

               “We are in the grounds of the east camp.. our castle is divided into east camp and north camp.. so I shall head to the north, and Asfar, who was talking to you right now, he will escort you to the HQ in the east camp. Wait for me there.”

He didn’t wait for my answer. And as he galloped away, Asfar came close and rode next to me.. He said to follow, and started to trot away… I followed, then I noticed a large building on the left side. So I stopped and yelled at him,

               “Waite.. what is this building for.. is it HQ”

               “No, this is the OC Prison.” He chuckled and yelled back.

I got next to him and asked,

               “Why do you need a prison here?”

               “It is actually more than a prison, it includes some barracks for the guards, and the kitchen, as well as a lecture hall .. in addition to the actual prison.”

               “yeah.. but you didn’t answer my question..why  do we  need a prison here?”

               “It is basically for special prisoners..”

               “Special prisoners? How special?” I was getting frustrated.

               “Most of the soldiers here are out on assignments. Usually into Vino, when they capture any prisoner.. he or she is kept here for evaluation, then when they are ready they are sent to UKC.

               “Capture? I thought they have to come in freely .. we cannot capture__”

               “Yes.. Yes.. yes.. we lure them into our territory, and once they are here.. they are toast.” He chuckled

               “Then send them to Deemeon at UKC.. why? Must Deemeon see every prisoner?”

               “This is the protocol.. I do not make the rules, I just obey orders… do yourself a favor, do not ask too many questions, the more you know, the more duties you shall have and that means more trouble.” He stopped and dismounted. “Here we are”

We were standing next to a green hill which didn’t seem to be different from the rest, yet, he tethered his horse and walked to a thicket which turned out to be a door.. he opened it and lead the way down a short flight of stairs and into an underground large chamber fitted with some luxurious office furnishings,

               “This is HQ?” I wondered, “this is more like a trap.”

               “No.. there is an escape hatch right there.. and proper ventilation at different spots keeps the air fresh… most of the barracks in OC front are designed like this.. now we just have to wait for Trapp.”

               “How about the horses”

               “The stables are in the back of the prison building.” He spoke like a teacher speaking to an annoying student. “Do you like to have something to eat?”

               “No thanks.. well.. listen Asfar, I didn’t see any soldiers on our way coming here.. where is everyone? I thought this castle would be teeming with soldiers ??”

               “Very clever.. you didn’t see them.. but they sure were watching you..” He chuckled.

He opened what looked like a pantry or storage area, got himself some food, and started to eat.. a short while later a scrawny soldier came down the stars,

               “Hey Asfar, where is Metz?” He saw me and stopped for a moment, “Oh, you are the new guy? The famous Hort?”

               “Schank, yes this is Hort.. I think Metz is on assignment with Jurree..”

Now Schank shook his head and smiled at me saying,

               “Well, Hort.. how did you survive all this time in DC?”

               “I don’t know what you mean.. I’m here.. aren’t I?”

I didn’t think talking to anyone about my discussions with Bryane or Pruste would be advisable. After all I think my hurried exit from DC was mainly due to Deemeon fearing, instead of me knowing very little about the system, would turn into me knowing too much..

               “Well, that is true Hort.. you spent more than three months in DC and lived to talk about it..or.. not talk about it.. nobody ever survived that long and got out with full brain capacity.” that was Asfar commenting sarcastically.

               “Well, Asfar, we have already established that I am crazy..remember” I replied.

Schank fell back laughing, while Asfar rolled his eyes at me.. I smiled and found a chair.. sat down and calmly said,

               “Why were you looking for Metz, Schank?”

               “Nothing important.. I just wanted to ask him about the spotted horses.. he seemed to know something about them..”

               “Spotted horses?” this pricked my attention, “What do you mean.?”

               “These are the horses of Vino.” Asfar was the one to answer, “They have a special breed of horses that helps them travel very long distances”

               “And they say that they never get tired.. they are also very fast..” Schank added excitedly

               “Why do you think Metz knows about them?” I asked again.

               “He has been numerous times into Vino territory.. he must have seen them.” Schank answered.

               “Why do you concern yourself with such stupid matters?” Asfar rebuked him, “you better go and take care of our horses in the stables..”

               “You just think you are the only one who should know everything.” Schank said angrily

               “You want this reported to Trapp?” Asfar challenged him..

They exchanged some silent angry looks for a few seconds, and Schank withdrew reluctantly.. but before we could resume our conversation, he returned back hurriedly,

               “Trapp is back.. he is heading this way with some company..” He warned.

Time passed in OC Front smoothly and nicely .. I wondered about myself, how I liked it here more than the luxury and opulence in the UKC and BSC.. here was a simple and exciting life, soldiers talking and bragging about their adventures and exploits.. fresh air and green hills .. a very pleasant combination.. even Trapp kept his distance and avoided me in as much as he could.. I didn’t try to come anywhere near him either. However, the most persistent thought that kept nagging me all the time is, how to make sense of my numerous conversations with Bryane in DC. I couldn’t discuss it with anybody here naturally. I was pulled out before I satisfied my curiosity completely, and there were so many questions left unanswered. It was like a huge consequential puzzle.. every answer lead to more questions.. we were practically sparring intellectually. I don’t think Deemeon intentions were to let me meet Bryane at all.. He thought to frighten me and force me into submission, while falling back on the mercies of Pruste to get me and himself off the hook of having to destroy me for my infraction at Primore. Besides, I never forgot the reason why I committed this violation.. they all attributed it to my hatred for Pryade, and ignored, or deliberately avoided, the fact of Freddy’s presence which in reality prompted my interference. I realized that eventually, all this would bubble to the surface somehow.. probably with disastrous results.

I found that they had a system for rewarding soldiers who capture enemy fighters .. some of these captives were kept in prison for a few hours, while others were kept there for several days.. but the soldiers were rewarded by getting a break to go to their favorite place of entertainment, which is usually what they called the lower sphere.. I figured it would be one of the places Bryane spoke of during our conversations as destinations to evaluate the riffraff .. though I never had a chance to ask him to elaborate on its location or its nature.  

when I saw the inside of the prison building I was surprised how big it was.. a vast courtyard, several cells with minimally secured doors, since prisoners were never assumed to be able to escape.. I personally liked the kitchen and food hall better than the outside facilities, and despite the obvious antagonism from Asfar and his group, I actually was able to build up some good will among other soldiers who seemed to be fascinated by my rumored notoriety. The fact that I kept to myself and more specially avoided any talk about my stay in DC, might have added to the mystique of my character. It was hinted several times, though, that I never tried to venture into enemy territory to try and capture anybody.. they seemed to wonder why I didn’t participate in this “expected” activity. Some thought it meant I was a coward, others called me lazy, yet Trapp tried to explain it away as the result of my crazy behavior during Primore battle.. and my fear to commit an even bigger mistake. 

Several weeks had gone by.. Wyee stopped by many times.. somehow her attitude towards me became slightly different.. I couldn’t figure out whether she was becoming friendly or just trying to find new ways to entrap me.. I never trusted her.. nor did I trust that second deputy of Trapp, a snake by the name of Amy.. she was very close to Asfar and they formed a united front against any opinion or suggestion I ever cared to offer.. and then came the big revelation during my conversation with her one day in the north camp.. with a slip of the tongue, she inadvertently exposed her companion,

               “You are not the only one to go to DC and come to tell about it.” She was trying to put me down.. it backfired big time,

               “what do you mean? Who else ever did?” I dared her..

               “Asfar .. he had___” she started and stopped with her eyes glazed in horror, “He didn’t tell you.. damn”

               “Asfar spent time in DC and came to tell about it..? that idiot was demanding that I talk to him about my experience there..” I was elated, but I tried to appear angry.

               “I thought he told you.” She sat down as the cat was out of the hat, “when he came out of there, he never stopped talking about it.. how horrible it was, and how heroic he endured all kinds of unspeakable punishments.. he was bragging.. that dummy.” She was angry.. at him somehow.

I took my time to enjoy the moment, then I asked,

               “And Schank that lousy rat, he went along with him that day.. Oh, but why would a diligent soldier like Asfar end up in DC?” I was  admittedly sneaky.