Disclaimer
This is a fictitious work.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

***

Lomero[1], the commander of King Layo’s[2] forces, stood before the opening of an old deserted well, two meters wide and tens of long dismal meters deep. Its ancient walls were covered with thick vegetation, and the dark bottom seemed like an endless abyss.

Behind Lomero, extended lines of soldiers awaited his orders. Lomero quietly wiped with his hand the traces of blood he found on the edges of the well, and when he raised his hand to his nose, he detected the aromatic smell of blood that only one devil of Arkosia possessed.

Lomero, confident that the seven wanted men were hiding at the bottom of the well, fixed his eyes on the dark bottom. “In the name of King Layo, ruler of the Kingdom of Empamalangon[3], I order you for the last time to immediately surrender yourselves, Akinos, son of Arkos; Vermon, son of Uthus; Aroman, son of Isabom; Tippa, son of Sura; Habot, son of Aymara; Mingan and Ackoleet,” he shouted, “come out of the well!”

In the dark, commander Lomero’s shouts reached the ears of the seven comrades and Jerboa. Akinos, who had placed his hand on his bleeding stomach in an attempt to stop the blood gushing from between his fingers, leaned against the wall, his eyes scanning the faces around him. Over his shoulder stood Jerboa with a troubled look on his face.

Beside Akinos stood Vermon, with his right hand severely lacerated and bleeding profusely, wrapping Aroman’s arm around his neck to help him stand up. Aroman was conscious, but rough wheezing came from his lungs, and from his nose flowed a streak of blood.

Tippa, who stood before Aroman, glanced up and down, his large eyes blazing with sparks and fire in the middle of the darkness. Next to him stood Mingan alert but feeling sorry for Ackoleet who panicked as he turned his eyes in every direction. “I see dead people here!” he whispered in terror, “The place is teeming with them.”

Habot, not bothered by the panicky behavior of his comrade, exchanged looks with Akinos while wiping his cutting hand-blades from the blood of his victims and preparing for a new round of fighting.

Commander Lomero took some steps back, mounted his horse, and gave the signal to the rear ranks to retreat six meters back. The frontline soldiers then, circled the well opening, their palms, which outstretched forming a circular ring, formed a ball of luminous energy that took a few minutes to be complete.

“Three — two — one!” he shouted, “FIRE!”

The soldiers released the ball of energy into the depths of the well without hesitation and watched it make its way downward at an incredible speed. The attacking squad quickly retreated while the rear three platoons, designated for defense, remained in their places.

The one-hundred soldiers’ force circled the targeted well and released from their hands a sky-high barrier of unstoppable flowing energy. The soldiers maintained the barrier with their raised hands in the air, to protect the commander, the rest of the soldiers, and the residents of the neighboring town from the impact of the coming explosion.

A few seconds later, a great explosion erupted from the well opening with thick black smoke extending in a vertical, cylindrical manner to the limits of the sky. The current continued to rise with intensity and force for a few moments until it began to extend horizontally, forming a black cloud covering the lines of the glowing sun at sunset, and shrouding that part of the valley in darkness.

The soldiers were in a state of silence and reverence as their eyes were directed toward the sky. Only commander Lomero kept his gaze on the wellhead and what flew out of its bottom. Lumps of burned flesh fell on their heads and at their feet, causing a few soldiers to retreat in panic and others in disgust.

After the explosion subsided along with the chaos it made, commander Lomero began to walk quietly toward the well opening and stopped near its outer walls, which had finally collapsed. Then, the commander threw a white handkerchief, which he had wrapped around his neck, over the piles of stones above the well, and retreated backward.

“The League of the Seven Devils, that brought chaos and terror to the world, hereby is eradicated,” declared Lomero.

He then raised his hand and commanded, “Retreat!”

It was nighttime when the highlanders of Pyrom[4] looked out with curious eyes from doorways and windows. Unsure of how to react, they stared with awe and reverence at commander Lomero and his soldiers as they returned from Dambala Valley[5] after chasing the seven rebels for two days and eliminating them on the third.

The soldiers carried the kingdom banners and lit torches for three consecutive days. Their uniforms, and due to the crimson rain of blood which exploded from the well, had changed colors from white to red. The sounds of drums and flutes, accompanying them throughout the kingdom’s roads, announced the success of the mission until they finally arrived at Lipin[6], the capital.

***

Over the following days, the Kingdom of Empamalangon launched fireworks in its sky to celebrate the elimination of the most dangerous criminal league that had been threatening its peace for months.

Lipin was the most active in celebrating the victory for two obvious reasons: the Royal Palace, located in the heart of the city, observed the celebrations. The markets and major parts of Lipin were controlled by the king’s high-ranking supporters.

Markets remained open day and night by order of the King, in which they sold paper lamps with illustrations of the young King Layo and his heroic father, the late King Solabom,[7] who died defending the kingdom from the danger of Toraria.[8]

Some performing artists performed one-scene plays in different parts of the kingdom in which King Layo defeated the leader of The Seven Devils League with the power of his sword. In one play, the actors who played the League members allowed the common people to beat and verbally insult them as part of the show. In another play, the actors ludicrously did an impression of the seven members to entertain the spectators.

Some street vendors set up shooting games in which the contestants paid money to shoot moving targets representing the seven members of the League. However, they were outrageously ugly and never resembled the handsome features of the seven men that people knew. It was said that those seven villains were admired by fans of both sexes, who refused to play in those galleries in outright objection to the ugly design of the targets.

Modest drawings of the seven villains’ faces, their tattoos, and their trinkets found their way onto cloth bags, paper folders, and writing tools. They were spread around the markets, almost competing with the illustrations of the new king, and the heroic leaders of the kingdom.

The effect extended to selling people food, which the seven villains were known to prefer the most. Therefore, Mingan’s Cake, Aroman’s Tea, and Tippa’s Dipping Sauce, added to restaurants’ menus, quickly became popular, and soon increased in price.

In addition to popularizing foods’ names, chewing raw meat became a trend. Rumor had it that one of the seven villains used to order his meat raw, enjoy picking the slices with his blade, and never minding the blood smearing his face while eating and chewing food.

So people talked about the seven villains and exaggerated their lives, deeds, and adventures more than the king’s victories. This went on until the king ordered the celebrations to be limited to three days instead of ten. However, their presence and influence were far greater and intimidating.

Tales of witnessing the ghosts of the seven villains wandering every night in the Dambala Valley after they died were popular among the highlanders. On stormy days, others claimed to see a ghost ship with tattered sails and collapsed masts haunting the shore of Overum[9]. Few added their accounts of red phantoms climbing up and gliding lightly on its deck and around its masts before the ship would change direction and turn around to leave the land frontier.

Fearing their people revering and worshipping the seven villains in the long run, the monarchs of the world issued an order to level the land surrounding the demolished well. However, that attempt made people all the more frequent the Dambala valley, which had been deserted for decades.

The new devotees commemorated the seven villains, who were trapped inside the well and blown away, by offering baked foods, drink bottles or valuable items. Some did it in fear of their retaliation. Fearing their revenge, people believed their souls were able to return in vengeance and inflict torment on those who fought them and celebrated their death.

Other people did it to honor their memory. They even celebrated the birthdays of the members in secret and sat up monuments for their favorite heroes in corners of their homes or within their yards.

The most famous member among the seven was Aroman or Aromandia, their one-eyed leader. According to the prophecy, he was considered the curse of the time as he defied death, subjugated the dangerous members of the league to his service, and made followers from different parts of the earth.

That instilled a sense of awe in the hearts and souls of his human worshipers and followers around the world which explained why he had the greatest share of rites and celebrations.

Some devotees took it upon themselves to write manuscripts detailing the costumes of the seven villains, as well as their hairstyles and related ornaments. Other manuscripts explained their physical features, personality traits, origins, and their approximate ages.

Few authors on the other hand, wrote distorted and exaggerated biographies and tales of the villains to market their works. These attempts only contributed to immortalizing the seven, giving them power, polishing their images in the minds of people around the world, and questioning the justice of the monarchs who persecuted them.

However, among the most famous books written about the seven villains were the books of Risayam, which were published in two volumes Veraro I, and Veraro II. Yet, The Blue Cloak, written by an anonymous author, was perhaps the most expensive as it contained an accurate account of their lives and adventures, in addition to illustrations that were closer to the truth than the ridiculous exaggerations with which the authorized books of governments were overflowing.

As precautionary measures and to preserve the history of the monarchies from distortion, manuscripts, and books about the seven villains were banned and confiscated, except the ones that served the policy of the monarchs and adorned the image of power.

Therefore, potential readers could not find any real or interesting books about the villains in the authorized stores. Their only access to the banned goods was through book smugglers.

As time passed, the villains became known to the common people in all monarchies as “The Sapphire Cloak League” on account of their distinctive sapphire blue cloaks and masks. They were also known as “The Seven Brothers” and, in extreme cases, and out of fear of the monarchs’ oppression, they were referred to as “The Seven”.

They were also known as the “Veraro League” because of their distinctive blue flower symbol with eight petals that represented the seven members and their eighth mysterious member whose identity had not yet been known. The only known information about him was his making a hypnotic clink that would send whoever heard it into an eternal sleep.    

Thus, history preserved the names and accounts of The Seven Devils League, and their mysterious eighth, despite the authorities’ resistance and people’s curiosity and fear. After all, death could not put an end to their story, it gave them a new beginning, or rather a state of immortality.

***

Notes

[1] Lomero. [Pronunciation Guide: Lo-me-roh]

[2] Layo. [Pronunciation Guide: Lay – Oh]

[3] Empamalangon (East Kingdom). [Pronunciation Guide: Em-pama-langon (the g sound as in gun)]

[4] Pyrom (province and mountains). [Pronunciation Guide: Pie (as in the English word Pie) - rom]

[5] Dambala (abyss and valley). [Pronunciation Guide: dam-baa-lah]

[6] Lipin (The Capital of Empamalangon). [Pronunciation Guide: Lee-peen]

[7] Solbom. [Pronunciation Guide: Sola-bom]

[8] A curse believed to be revived by the seven villains. [Pronunciation Guide: To-raa-ree-yaa]

[9] Overum (A Black shore south of Dambala). [Pronunciation Guide: Over-um]