“Three hundred Rethavok…”
Rethais looked down at the crowd in front of him. They had all gathered on this rather cold, windy day in a vast, grassy field that was normally meant to hold five hundred armed soldiers. This current crowd was hardly armed and hardly sure what was going on. It had been four weeks since their lives had been uprooted and shattered. Most of the Rethavok here had only arrived within the last two weeks. But no one else had arrived. This was it. This was what remained of the conscious, free-thinking Rethavok. And they had gathered round to listen to Rethais, their former leader, speak.
“I will be brutally honest with you all. As a leader, I failed to protect you…”
Before Rethais could even finish his sentence, shouts erupted from the crowd, a curious mixture of discussion and disagreement. Rethais patiently waited for everyone to settle back down, but from what he could hear, it seemed like no one really agreed with his opening statement.
As the voices died away, Rethais cleared his throat and tried to speak again.
“Well, it seems you are all not in agreement there. But whatever happened in the past is now directly affecting our future, and we have decisions we must make. With each passing day, we gather more information as to what is happening back in our homelands, and we can all agree that it is quite a messy situation. A deity building a perfect society with an iron claw, exiling any who dare look away, those who dare think for themselves. We are the exiled, the free-minded.
“Out here on our own though, we must start again. We must start from scratch and build our way upwards. This is a daunting, dangerous and perhaps even terrifying task. While we have some support from outside races, their offers will not last and we must forge our own path. It could take decades to return to any true level of power and… comfort…”
Rethais sighed, examining the crowd. Those that were here, they were all of very varied ages. No kids, but a mixture of young and old.
“This is where I reveal my honesty. I no longer have a claim to the leadership of the Rethavok. I was challenged and I was defeated. Due to this, I do not have a plan to reclaim said leadership. Not through peace, not through policy, not through violence. We simply do not have the power to challenge a deity, especially now that said deity has… almost absolute control on our fellow Rethavok.”
The crowd grumbled slightly. Rethais understood why.
“I am not suggesting we give up. But we must rebuild first. Some of you here… Well, there might not be a desire to struggle on. We all fight to find a balance between safety, security, comfort and the ability to be ourselves, the ability to express ourselves, to be truly free.”
With another sigh, Rethais paused. “We have a long, difficult struggle ahead of us. A fight for our continued freedom, our independence. Meanwhile, the deity known as Kenon will tempt us all, wanting us to join his fold, to join the fogged minds of our siblings, our friends and family. What I am trying to say is… I would understand if any of you were tempted, if you wished to exchange independence for safety and comfort.”
Hisses echoed across the crowd. The hisses turned into growls and grumbles, which slowly turned into a chant. A single phrase, repeated.
“Freedom over comfort! Independence over safety!”
The shouting got louder and louder, carried across the wind. Rethais turned to his side, glancing at his closest allies, and smiled. He may have lost so much over the last month, but to him, this was a small, priceless victory.
“You are all right!” Rethais bellowed, raising his fist into the air. “We may have been exiled, but we are free from control, from the possession from others! We are the free-minded Rethavok! Will you work with me, to ensure our continued independence? To build back what we have lost? Free from the tyranny of gods?”
The crowd erupted into cheers. This pleased Rethais, who continued to smile as he spoke.
“Together, we will rebuild, stronger than ever!”
…
Standing on the very edge of the field, far away from the Rethan crowd, Tenuk watched on nervously as the cheers carried on. By his side were Kohra and a small communicator, catching every word of the Rethan speech.
“He is a strong one…” a voice grumbled from the communicator.
“Rethais is a natural-born leader…” Tenuk grunted. “Of course he is a strong one. Tried to fight Lord Kenon head on.”
“Indeed, son…” the voice continued. “I am curious to see how things go from here. If the Rethavok can free themselves from the Void Lord, then perhaps, maybe, we can free ourselves from the Time Drake… Maybe we can… free ourselves from the deities overall…”