《Ambidextrous》 _Prologue_ I wonder when I stopped to care. When have I surrendered. My vision is a blur and I hardly see a figure standing upon me. I lie in my own blood with two holes in my chest, ready to embrace death and feel nothing but regrets. Questions. Answers. They rise and sink so quickly...and pointlessly. It¡¯s funny to feel such a torment of thoughts and emotions when nothing matters any more. I close my eyes but start to see clearly. What I see is my life. It runs before my eyes with most subtle details. People used to say mean things to me when I was a kid. They kept saying I was a needle in the ass since I was asking way too many questions. I was cunning and curious, but in a bad way, too smart for my own good. But there were things I couldn''t get, no matter how many times they were explained. Such as, why would older kids smoke if it¡¯s bad for their health? Why do people dislike to study when it¡¯s so interesting to learn something novel? Why would they hit me so often? Why would they act stupid? Why are they so weak minded and weak willed? I actually got my answers, but much later. If I was given a choice of what to eat, burger or an apple, I would choose an apple. I cared for consequences, you see. And I was only four. I came to conclusion that it¡¯s me who is weird. This thought sunk in and became a red line of my life. Life was not kind to me in an orphanage. Weak people tend to gather in groups under the idea of supporting each other. To me, it looked like they gave up on their freedom to follow whoever was stronger or lied more conveniently. I could care for myself, so I thought, and remained out of their petty struggle, books were more interesting anyway. You can guess what happens to lone bookworms, right? They get beaten. The older I grew, the harsher the beating got. I started to live on the street after running away from an orphanage. No one missed me, neither did I. No one loved me, so I didn¡¯t love too. Surviving was hard then, but it helped me to mature quickly. I learned how to set goals and how to reach them. I started to use weaknesses of others to earn money. Buy something generally useless cheap, wrap it in fancy taping, then sell it. This worked especially good with women. After seeing a twelve years old kid selling something glittering they were so happy to part with their money I almost felt bad for them. I was grateful though, since they allowed me to survive. Even more so, I bought my first flat at sixteen, founded my first company at eighteen, became a billionaire at twenty six. Two add two is three when you buy and five when you sell. I was always on the move, always learning something, working harder than anyone. I wasn¡¯t happy, but I had no time to feel sad. Only by action could I prove my existence. I looked at masses and frustration grew day by day .People tend to spend their evenings glued to TV, get fat because of their own laziness, tend to blame their problems on muslims, jews, terrorists or whoever is on the other side of our planet. Any psycho out there could buy a gun and start killing left and right, but what bothers general populace is so much further from real danger. They eat junk food, pollute nature, consume with no end¡­.all that felt like pure madness. Don¡¯t they feel like wasting their genotype? Thinking shouldn¡¯t be that painful, right? I was forced to talk to them from time to time because of my work, but each time I encountered either idiocy, or meaningless blabbering about weather and such. The worst thing was, they always wanted something from me and newer wanted to give something back. There was no depth, no order in their actions. I felt insulted. By whom? By society itself, I guess. Silly, right? Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. In the end I took it as my duty to rob them from their money, I could use it so much more efficiently anyway. All of my income was spent on science and development of pollution-free technologies. Hundreds of billions, year by year¡­that¡¯s what I call money well spent. I met few individuals with the same mindset. They were not friends, but people I could respect at least. That¡¯s when I discovered how lonely I was. Another kind of questions started to appear. What am I struggling for? Is there someone who¡¯s grateful for what I do? But there was no one. I started to loose it after thirty two. Deep in my heart grew a trembling question I could newer answer¡­.what was it all for? All my energy left without trace. I started to seclude myself only getting out to fetch few more books. One day, after returning from a bookstore, I saw a man in my room. He was holding my copy of ¡°On the Road¡± by J.K. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure, Mr. Swift. I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± ¡°Waiting for me? I don¡¯t believe we met before. Will you speak on behalf of someone else?¡± ¡°Both yes and no. A certain someone wants you dead, you see. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m here to take your life. Don¡¯t bother screaming or running away, you did well by secluding yourself, Mr. Swift. It¡¯s been a bother to find you.¡± ¡°So how did you find me? And who that certain someone is?¡± ¡°Many companies and corporations suffered looses because of you and your¡­.social activity. You have many enemies, Mr. Swift. The ideas you tried to implement are way ahead of their time, if you ask me. Your secretary kindly told us your location.¡± ¡°Stella? Did you hurt her?¡± ¡°No! Of course not. Quite the contrary, we paid her. She won¡¯t need to work ever again.¡± Long silence hanged in the air. I tried to think my way out, but couldn¡¯t. Nothing has changed since the time in orphanage, as if I never left it. History is decided by few individuals that don¡¯t give a fuck about consequences. Others have no will to oppose them, or wits to outbest them. There was but one thing left to do¡­ ¡°I have but one question left. Who was I doing it for?¡± ¡°Who would you do it for, if not for yourself, Mr. Swift?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not selfish.¡± ¡°Human are selfish, it¡¯s in their nature. You should have been too. Aren¡¯t you an odd one?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Good night, Mr. Swift.¡± BANG Pain. Regrets. I still don¡¯t know if I did it all wrong. Maybe if I had another chance¡­Maybe then¡­¡­.maybe¡­.. _________________________________________________________________________________ PS. Thanks for reading! Tell me if his reasoning is clear. I wonder if his story is believable. Chapter 0: Birth Another reeeally short chapter today. I tried to make an afterlife description as much abstract as I could, you may find some parts confusing(hopefully not). Thanks for reading! ______________________________________________________________________________________________ I''m having a weird dream. In this dream I¡¯m falling endlessly through eternity. I¡¯m falling not down, but in all directions at the same time. My mind is a blank space. My mind is a mirage. I am calm. I am complete. I feel a stream. How long has it been there? This stream is sewed out of whirlwinds of light, dust and steamy secrets. It glitters as thousands of colors dance and burn so proudly and shamelessly. They tickle my senses and I laugh like a child. I like them and try to reach. The stream stirs calmly across the horizon. It''s sough is my lullaby. I tremble like flickering candle. An eternity goes by like a jest. Now I know that the stream is a bully. He won¡¯t let me ride his waves, neither would he push me away. He just won¡¯t bother with me. I know why, though. I do not belong. Have I ever belonged? The sense of urgency starts to grow in my flames. I start to spin to shake it off, but it grows sharper and bites me harder as I struggle. Does it want us to be friends that much? I don¡¯t mind. I don¡¯t m¡­¡­¡­I do¡­¡­m¡­¡­¡­.. I stopped to fall a while ago. My environment also changed. It¡¯s warm here and I feel dull pulsations that won¡¯t stop. Somehow I feel like a tape struck in a player, I want to keep going but can¡¯t budge no matter what. That irritates me and I start kicking. Huh? Do I even have legs? Something is terribly wrong here. My thoughts started to become more discreet lately. I think I might not be dreaming any more. If I¡¯m not dreaming then am I¡­.being? That shouldn¡¯t be possible. What ''s going on? What was going on? What is going to happen? I don''t know. I¡¯m not conscious all the time, mind you. Sometimes I wake up for bare moments, sometimes for longer. With my consciousness come back emotions, most of them unwanted. While dreaming for so long I forgot what does it mean to feel. I¡¯m naked before my emotions. Small glimpse of fear feels like a worst nightmare. One single doubt becomes a biggest dilemma. One regret shakes all my being in a cry of remorse. But there is a good side too. When things get ugly something appears to calm me down. I don¡¯t know how I can tell, but it cares for me. I feel a promise of love when it pressures me so slightly. Its muffled murmurs are like rays of hope. I could get used to it. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. As time goes by I learn to control my emotions. Thinking in a straight line is easier now. An idea concerning my current condition came to me. I think I was given a chance to reevaluate my past life before I can go further and join the stream, next time for real. I failed to find one single ally during my life, no wonder the stream alienated himself from me. I would not trust some random sociopath too. What else? Oh, being a little bit more selfish should be fine. Also, I wish I could defend myself, my life was taken way too easily. Does the stream hate weaklings? No, that¡¯s not the case. That life feels so distant and meaningless. As thoughts traverse my mind something changes in my environment again. The change is so sudden and drastic, it catches me off guard. Am I going back dreaming? Good job, me, it¡¯s time to take a nap. I try to relax as it gets tight. Something pushes me hard. Hay, try to be gentle, I¡¯m trying to sleep here! Things get from bad to worse fast and I start to panic. Cold winds lash my skin. The light I see is so sharp that my eyes hurt. I cry in displeasure. ¡°Waaah¡­Whaaahwaaa¡­W¡­¡± Huh? I can see? Is that my voice? What is going on here? I try to concentrate on my surroundings but what I see is a blur of lights and shadows. I¡¯m being held by someone huge. ¡°#*$^% (#)@ $(&^% )()#*.¡± This figure has spoken to me. Shall I respond? ¡°Whaaah¡­.whah¡­.whhaa.¡± I tried to voice my objections, but piercing cry is all I could manage. The figure wrapped me in a thick, soft blanket and passed me over to another person. Shocking realization already formed in the back of my mind, but I still found it hard to believe. In my past life kids used to discuss various reincarnation stories, but I discarded them as useless and did not pay attention. Such an arrogant, ignorant fool I was, right? I shell keep my mind open from now on. When I looked at person that held me I could swear I know her. She is my promise of love. She is my saving straw. I started to purr when she kissed me so gently. "I''ll be in your care from now on" - was my last thought before I fell asleep. Cahpter 1 Can’t you feel… I''m paying a lot of attention to grammar, so let me know if(when) I make a mistake. I decided to write a fiction to improve my grammar in the first place. Mastery comes with practice, was it? You may go as far as telling me what grammar sections should I learn\revise. English is not my first language as you already guessed. Please, keep in mind that your cooperation may improve quality of this fiction and make bunny gods happy. ______________________________________________________________________________ It¡¯s been a couple of days since I entered this world, it¡¯s hard to say for sure since I sleep most of the time. All I can say is that my new world is beautiful beyond price. It¡¯s so magnificent that I don¡¯t even know where to start. First thing I noticed to be different from my old world is the air. I started to rush air through my lungs even before opening my eyes. I breathed so deep my lungs got tired. I¡¯m a baby, even breathing may be tiring right now. Rich aroma of hundreds of flowers, leaves, grasses played a symphony of smells on my nose. I spent my first day trying to get used to it. The second thing to get used to was noise. It¡¯s always noisy here¡­rustles and creaks, voices of birds and creatures that leave around. Sometimes I think I hear bugs hustling under the bark. To keep things short, this world is full of life that never sleeps. I woke up during the night many times, and discovered that the forest is as lively during the day as it is in the night. That reminded me, that I¡¯m alive too. Realization finally sank in and made me so excited I couldn¡¯t fall asleep for two hours and troubled my mother quite a bit, sorry mom. Another discovery may be strange but I can see in the dark, I¡¯ll come back to that later. Next, my home is basically a hut on a tree, quite high upon the ground, if my estimate is correct. All the furniture is made of wood. Craftsmanship is quite primitive, but it feels alright, our house blends into surroundings well. We live in a dence rain forest. By ¡°we¡± I mean myself, my mother and my tribe. On the second day after my birth mother took me outside to show me to some strict looking man. Was that the chief? Now that I think about it, he had two spearman as an escort, so he must be someone important. Anyway, he was dressed like a warrior with tribal tattoos covering his skin and armor. His hair was black with gray stripes here and there and from his hair sticked out two rounded cat ears. Something like puma would have. That felt weird until I looked at anyone present and figured anyone has cat ears. You may think I should have noticed earlier, since my mother is also a beastwoman, as am I, but I always looked at my mother from a very close range. Also, her bust is impressive so there is only this much I could see while being breastfed. I shall say couple more words about my mother while I¡¯m at it. She¡¯s very kind and caring middle aged cutie. Her hair is white and her eyes are burning red. It¡¯s hard to look away when she stares at me. Pretty nose with slightly upturned tip, smooth skin, bow-shaped lips. I kinda want to look like her too. There is large scar on her cheek that ends near her jaw. It surely damaged her beauty, but not destroyed it. I don¡¯t know if she is also a warrior, but she looks fierce and strong for sure. She would lick me from time to time and likes to touch me with the tip of her nose. Ain¡¯t that cute? Oh, her milk is the testiest th¡­.no, forget that, it¡¯s personal. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Let¡¯s get back to strict looking uncle from earlier. He and my mother had a short conversation all the while people were gathering around us. I knew like ten languages in my past life, but this one is way above my comprehension. Aside from normal words it consists growls, purrs, sometimes hisses. Later I discovered that movements of ears and tail also play huge role. I failed to mention that we have tails too, the color of it usually corresponds to the color of our hair. When the talk was finished I was picked up by said uncle. He lifted me higher and showed me to gathered crowd while saying something with loud strong tone. After short speech people started to howl and growl to the skies, then gave way to old looking silver bearded grandpa. He looked intensely at me from all sides before our eyes met. I liked the commotion. It was the first time for me to be in the centre of attention, being selfish was my decision after all. I also liked his scent. I stared at him and he stared back. We stared at each other until the crowd got dead silent. ¡° ¡í:%:?);()%*?% ?*%:*¡í %)??_):?*?!2, Akillah¡° These were his words as he handed me back to mother,turned around and left. From that day I was known as Akillah. And yeah, I have mentioned I¡¯m a girl, right? There is a lot on my mind lately, many stresses and unexpected revelations, but being a girl is kind of too much. As if seeing four winged birds, pink colored leaves and silver colored fruits, having tail, ears and slit irises wasn¡¯t enough. I promised to keep my mind open, though¡­..well, let¡¯s see where my road will take me this time¡­.lest see..zzz-zzzzz-zzzzzzzz. Galena¡¯s POV ¡°My baby girl fell asleep soon after the ritual, my poor kitty. I think I¡¯m gonna eat this child of mine.¡± I thought while leaving the house. ¡°How can any creature be that lovely and smell so good? My fate was kind to me.¡± Huh? A visitor? ¡°Elder Shanahan, what brings you here at this hour? Do you want to take another look at Akillah?¡± As expected of my lovely daughter. Even elder Shanahan can¡¯t resist her. ¡°Evening Galena, how have you been?¡± He asked casually. I knew he doesn¡¯t need my answer and stayed silent. ¡°There is something that keeps bothering me, Galena¡­¡± he waited a little bit, then added ¡±¡­..your child.¡± ¡°Is there something wrong with her?¡° ¡°No¡± ¡°Then I don¡¯t understand what do you mean, honorable elder.¡± ¡°She has a strong fate. Very strong. Too strong for one person, in fact¡± A worrisome statement. I don¡¯t know much about ways of magic and fate, but I know what strength mean. Strength is forged in risk. The stronger you are, the more dangerous predators gather in the dark. Also, she was never safe for another, more explicit reason... ¡°I would have been cautious even without you telling me, elder Shanahan. You know my¡­ special conditions. Is there something else I need to know?¡± ¡°I felt that her fate has something to do with humans¡­¡­something to do with them¡­.can¡¯t put my finger on it.¡± He mumbled thoughtfully. ¡°Bring her to me when she is five. We shall see then. Take care.¡± He got up and scurried away. Quick to come and leave as always, huh? ¡°Thank you, elder¡± I said to no one, as elder was too far already. I shall be watchful. Chapter 2 Vagrants return Chapters are going to become increasingly longer starting tomorrow. I won''t be releasing two a day, though. _______________________________________________________________________ "The traveler''s notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629. Chapter 1 "Introduction" Page 5 "Not many know, but modern calendar was developed by Ancients far before their fall and is one of few inventions that survived the Cataclysm and are still reminding us of our mysterious ancestors. According to this calendar one period consists of 12 turns 36 days each. Six days is a week. Six weeks is a turn. Since no one knows what exactly period is it since the beginning of times, we begin our count from the day the Cataclysm was officially ended. Almost ten thousand years have passed since sentient beings set their foot on the surface again. Many magnificent countries, cities, buildings and pieces of art were created by our hands since that day. I have taken it as my goal to visit all of them and let you, my readers, to experience all the wonders of our world together with me." It''s my first birthday today and if I was to say something about past year it would be "BORrrING". You have no idea what kind of agony being a toddler is. Experiencing new world sounds good, but it takes only so much time to get used to sounds, smells and insides of the hut. Six turns of boredom is what follows and there is not much you can do during this time. Let me make something clear before I go on, toddlers don''t talk not because they don¡¯t know language or don''t have self awareness. They don''t because they just can''t. In this world, at least. Something was wrong with my vocal cords and my tongue was too big for my mouth. It''s shameful to say but I was drooling whenever I didn''t pay attention. And there was a problem with my teeth which started to appear only recently. Now I have two canines sticking from my mouth and drooling became an issue again. I want to cry. So, what was I doing? Of course I trained my locomotive abilities as the only meaningful action I could possibly do. You would laugh seeing a toddler move his arms and legs like a turtle that fell on its back and can''t get up. My mother did...I''ve been giving her stomach aches with all my activities. I couldn''t train all day long of course, toddlers stamina is close to zero after all. Falling asleep was my solution at first, but as time passed by I needed less and less sleep. At some point I started to make sounds to attract my mother''s attention. She would come and feed me, talk to me for some time or at least make funny faces. Expressionless idiotic face is my favourite by the way, she is so adorable when she does it. I also was making sounds just because I could. I tried to imitate beasts and birds outside to kill some time and gave my mother even more reasons to laugh. She would take me outside once in awhile and this strolls were the best, but short. At some point I noticed that she is alarmed and keeps away from other beastmen while with me. Figured it has something to do with instincts. Is there an instinct that makes you overprotective? I wish I could stay outside for longer... I played with my ears and tail, which was fun. As time flew by my roof started to slide for real and I took interest of toys. By toys I mean two fancy dressed dolls, male Barney and female Jessica. They are nice fellows and were friends since ages. Barney has some issues and claims to be pyromaniac but I''ve never seen him blow away anything. Jessica likes him but he''s a dense bastard who fails to notice her advances. I used to scold him and give advices to Jessica until the whole thing went too far. An interesting fact: fear to lose sanity is stronger than boredom. In the end Barney married Jessica and they went for eternal honeymoon to the corner of my bed. Having nothing to kill my time I spent next hours and days in meditation. In my previous life I thought meditation is an extreme form of laziness. Now that I tried it myself I have to tell that meditation teaches patience. Patience was exactly what I needed. I managed to crawl when I was six and half turns. Time runs awfully slow in here, I think days are at least four hours longer then on Earth. Words can''t express feelings I had. I keep remembering a scene from a film where a torturer asks Mr. Walles if he has something to say before his death. His piercing cry "FREEDOM" made it through eternity with me, as I do not remember everything from my old life, only general fragments and random details. Mother was also delighted and let me crawl all over the place. There wasn''t much to explore though. Furniture, rolls of leather, dried bundles of plants and stuff. Few interesting things I found were leather armor which my mother makes for sale and hand-drawn map with two continents and major mountains, rivers and currents but without names to them. Not that I could read anyway. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Surprisingly, I managed to walk at eight turns. It seems like walking on your two is easier when you have a tail to keep balance. According to my mother I was faster than other children for one turn or so. I continued my training with new vigor since that day. Let''s get back to present. Today is the big day for two reasons. First, my father is going to return from expedition. He''s coming back before summer monsoon to stay with us for four weeks. Mother did not say much about him, but her words were warm and she was always smiling while speaking about him so I think he''s a nice person. The reason for his absence was something like "tracking slavers in Rizza Kingdom" if I understood correctly. I''m still not good with language since I don¡¯t have means to self study. That brings us to second reason. Today I''m going to speak my first words. The timing is just fine. Hopefully mom and dad won¡¯t freak out too much. I need to keep in mind that toddlers don''t speak with difficult sentences. I''ll go with short words, one or two syllables. So, right now I''m sitting at the table and mother feeds me juicy pieces of meat. It''s a thick steak fried for sixty seconds from both sides, soft and bloody, just like I want it to be. My taste preferences changed a lot since my teeth started to pump out. Mother says my stomach is gonna hurt if I''ll eat too much veggies, so meat diet must be a race trail. "Don''t chew too fast, sweetie. You don''t wanna choke, right?" She says. KNOCk knock. "Oh, who might that be, Akilla? Who is here to see you? You wanna see?" She tries to keep her sentences short so I could understand. All this baby talk is cute. I think I''m gonna miss it. I start to laugh to show her I''m ready. She nods, fluffs her hair, breathes out and opens the door. Is she nervous? "Oh, darling, I missed you so much." she practically jumps in his arms. "We are eating now. Try to not scare her, ok?" "I missed you too, love. Show me my baby princess." Says he as he enters the hut. Well, what can I say? The moment of family reunion left me defenceless. He''s not bad. Tall and strong, black hair, black rounded ears and tail, just like our chief has. But he has a lot of scars all over his body. Some are from claws, some from blades. Most of them are old while some are fresh. As he comes closer I see his soft smile and mischievous look in the eyes. He lands on one knee near me. "Hello baby girl. It''s nice to meet you. I''m your father, Grawen." He says. I just can¡¯t resist his expectant look and put my hands on his head. His ears are funny. "I''ve brought you something." He slides his hand in a pocket and lures a small leather ring. It''s finely decorated with patterns and pictures of animals. With quick movements he catches my tail and puts the ring on it. Oh, so that''s an accessory for a tail? It'' so nice of him. He does know how to please a lady. "Happy birthday, Akillah." He tries to sound calm and confident but I hear slight trembling in his voice. He''s so silly. I think now is the time... "Fa...papa.." I say. As soon as I''m done I shove both my tiny hands in my mouth and start drooling. It''s an act of innocence. No one will suspect me of being too smart for my age when I drool all over my hands. "Did you hear that, Galena. I think she said papa just now." "I...I don''t know...it¡¯s the first time she has spoken. Akillah, baby, say papa again. No, say mama....ma...ma" "No" I shake my head. Teasing them is going to be fun. As they keep trying to lure few more words from me I start to remember my past life. Would I end up as a loner if I had parents? Probably not. I''m glad I met this two. Today is a really special day. I spent the rest of it sitting on my father¡¯s lap and listening to his stories. Chapter 3 Fired and hired again "The traveler''s notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629. Chapter 19 "The Feral Forest" Page 267 "Numerous delays stalled my journey, but I managed to get to Feral Forest right before the summer monsoon. Very few outlanders were let to visit this wild lands and I''m proud to be one of them. Only my reputation as harmless traveler and a friendship with an influential beastman allowed me to visit the very outskirts of their abode. No roads exist under the crowns of Feral Forest''s trees. After another six days of travel by foot we barely reached the first outpost before heavy clouds began to pour rivers. And so has started my four weeks long stay. At the first glance you could think that this strong and proud people are extremely poor. They live in wooden houses on the trees, wear only leather and woolen clothes, use wooden housewares. But after a week or so I started to enjoy the simplicity of their life, as my materialistic view on life gave in to new prospects. I had heaps of time to reflect on my past, the present, and the unknown future. For the first time in years I had time to organize my notes. I talked to this people and learned they had almost no crime, no prisons, no mental illness, alcoholism, no orphanages, no byproducts of crazed society that surround us, humans. Years of myths crowd our minds concerning the natural life. The time has come to meet my own doubts head-on..." Now, what shall I start with? Things got lively lately. I''m training to the best of my ability. Each day I''m getting better with language. Father took it upon himself to teach me all the moves of ears we use to make our speech more emotionally painted. Did I tell you we can''t move our tail by will. It makes some emotions hard to hide. Some emotions are expressed purely with words, some with both words and moves, other purely with moves. It was hard at start but I''m getting used to it. All this movements become natural when your emotions are taken to extreme, but you need to control them otherwise. Few days ago chief dropped by and it happens so that he and my father are brothers. "Hello Graven, Galena. Nirav told me you came back with his cub. He says she''ll stop by when his injuries are gone. Why didn''t you drop by to greet me?" "Ahah, sorry, my own cub occupied all my attention. If you need a report I''ll drop by in a day or two." "Naah, Vishal already reported to me. Nobility from Rizza Kingdom won''t get away this time. At least two heads will roll," chief shook his fist with satisfaction. "Boys. We have a little one here. Keep your business outside. Bertram, sit down, you''re probably hungry." Mother¡¯s overprotectiveness lessened quite a bit, but it was still there. I wanted to listen about slavery a bit more. It feels important. "Sorry, where are my manners. Hello, Akillah, my name is Bertram. I''m this village¡¯s chief and your father''s brother. That makes me your uncle. Now that I think of it, you had a birthday recently. Is there something you want as a present?" his ears turned backwards and faced downwards a bit, ¡°so much work lately.¡± Is he ashamed? Also, what about polite overcomplicated talk? You''re talking to a kid, you know? "Book!" I split without giving it a second thought and raise my hands up triumphantly...now is the chance! "A book? Can you read?" He asks amused. Was he expecting a doll or something? I''m happy to say I''m far past that period. "No," my ears hang down with sadness, "papa....read book!" "Yes, yes, I''ll read you. She grows too fast, Bertram. Two weeks ago she started to talk and now she wants a book. And I took her to Al Qadir''s bookstore to buy paper for my report only once! Honey, what did you feed her with?" "Normal stuff." Mother just shook her shoulders passively. "It''s only natural for children to surpass their parents at some point, brother. Do you feel old now, ahaha. Just you wait, she''ll make you feel old in another decade." "I guess you''re right," both his tail and ears straightened up. Is he excited or proud? I did not get that. Maybe both? "Actually there was a reason for me to come. Valen from village garrison wanted to join your squad," uncle Bertram got serious in a flash. "My squad is full. You know large groups are only easier to spot," father¡¯s tail swayed in displeasure. "That''s why I thought you would like to take a break. Won''t you?" Uncle¡¯s tone was lax but his eyes were dead serious. "No, It''s my job,¡± he emphasized "my", ¡°you don''t know what they do to our kin. If you were ther¡ª" "BOYS!" With my mother¡¯s roar they both shut down immediately. Way to go, mother. Woman faction is the best. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Look, brother. I''m the one to read all reports you and other squads send. The point is, I think you saw enough. It''s time to settle down and raise your own §ãub. Valen will take the job. He''s a good tracker, I checked him myself." Short silence hung in the air. Father looked at his steak with more attention than it should attract. "Am I fired?" "Yes. Fired and hired again. You could show some tricks to my boys from garrison. I keep telling them the worst beating I ever got was from you, while you were barely an adult. They got cocky just because they can stay on their feet after sparring with me. I need you to shatter their smirks.I¡¯am afraid I grew too fond of my boys to take them on for real. Can''t force myself to stop holding back so much." "Worst beating? From me? Half of my scars are from your claws! I thought I would die from that fight for chieftainhood. But I think I actually won. Galena noticed me because of that brawl." Both mothers tail and ears started to move but I couldn''t get exactly what was she thinking. Did father omit more delicate parts of the lessons? "Besides, elder Shanahan asked me to make you stay in town. I think he wants you to keep a close eye on Akillah," Bertram said cheerfully, glad that things went smooth on his end. "Elder? Why would he bother with my child?" "Who knows? Even chief can''t demand answers from an elder. He gave her a name. Maybe he wants to give more?" "Elder Shanahan talked to me on the day of the ritual. He says Akilla has a strong fate." Mother applied while washing our plates. "Fate, huh?" Father murmured perplexedly. "Well, you''re right, brother, elders have plenty on their minds for a reason. They''re wise. We are warriors, not mages or crafters. To me, all that fancy crafts only make humans towns smell bad. I''m not talking about blacksmithing or tailoring, mind you,¡± he glanced in mother¡¯s direction. ¡°Magic surely is useful, but sudden approach on human mage makes him easy target. Those idiots even carry staffs and pointy hats to make themselves visibl¡ª" "Now that I think of it, didn''t Akillah just ask a book as a present?" uncle Bertram interrupted. "Do we have another mage growing up here?" "Mage?" I asked. Now this is interesting. Everyone talks about magic now and then but I''m yet to witness magic. Somehow I think this world''s magic has nothing to do with tarot cards or black cylinders with rabbits. "Yes. Mages are smart and dreadful. On a battlefiel¡ª" "Bertram. Last warning." Noooo, mommy, he was right at the interesting part! "Ok, ok. It''s time for me to go anyway. Thanks for the meal. I should think about marrying someone soon or I''ll keep coming for this steaks of yours." "Your welcome. You know we''re glad to see you. But you''re right, you should marry a fine female and come for our steaks with her. I could use company," she told with sad expression. Huh? Is my mother lonely? Now that I think of it, no one drops by to greet her. Doesn''t she have friends? Something feels off. I made a mental note to ask about it when I''m older. With my uncle gone father continued to talk about human crafts, such as stinky perfumery and ridiculous dresses human females wear. I thought about magic and other wonders of this world until father''s words caught my attention again. "Duuorf?" I asked. "Yes. Dwarves are a race of short crafting maniacs that live in Great Trident mountains. I was telling their alcohol is so strong it can turn your brain inside out and back again. Vishal swears they squeeze this moisture from rocks, that idiot. I saw young elf preaching to a dwarf about how his wines have rich aroma and long history. The midget then drunk a bottle in one gulp and declared that this juice has spoiled. You should have seen that elf''s face. One mustn''t venture into others'' home with a charter of one''s own." "Honey, don''t teach our daughter about alcohol. I liked the last part though, where did you hear that?" "Do you remember that beggar from Falcon Empire I told you before....."Mother and father continued to chat while I fell into stupor. Huh? Elves? Dwarves?.....Magic? Where the hell did I get myself into? ____________________________________________________________________________ PS. Some geographical names related to the story were introduced this time, I hope you won''t hate my naming sense, lol. I may or may not be working on a hand drawn world map, which you may or may not see somewhere around chapter seven. As if I would ruin such a surprise with petty hints! Chapter 4 Coincidence and steaks I wanted to say how grateful I am to you, my readers, for being here. Five chapters may not be much, but I really tried my best to write them. I wanted to let you know that I created a ten chapters large pool before starting to release, and I can''t wait to show you what I have in tow. Writing a chapter takes me time . Sometimes it''s a day, sometimes the whole week. Being a planning maniac, I keep rereading and rewriting some parts of chapters long ago written, dropping some hints here and there for events to come, write one single sentence that makes sense later. I friggin have five different Word documents named "Territory", "Ploat", "Magic system", "Characters" and "Random notes". Typing with my hooves doesn''t make things easier too. Some may think that ny work is lacking, but I''m quiet sure I couldn''t do better with my lvl of skill. With that being said, let me repeat myself. I would love to see you point my mistakes. You may go as far as telling me what grammar sections should I learn\revise. Please, keep in mind, that your cooperation may improve quality of this fiction and make bunny gods happy. PS. Two years timeskip has taken pleace. Enjoy! ______________________________________________________________________________ "The traveler''s notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629. Chapter 19 "The Feral Forest" Page 289 ¡°According to our lore there supposed to be three types of tribes of beastmen (felines, canines and rodents), which form one nation. But what lies on the surface proves to be wrong more often than not. In reality, more than 300 tribes populate this wild lands, each with their own customs, rituals and dialects. Sometimes felines live with canines side by side, without quarrels and feuds. Sometimes rodents share meat and roof with felines. Just as anything in jungles, their society is ruled by strength. While facing strong opponent nothing matters, neither colour of mane, nor shape of ears, only sharpness of claws. Fights and brawls for social standing are frequent but innoxious. First thing young cubs do after meeting is fight to decide, who''s going to lead and choose what game to play next. There are two kinds of strength beastmen recognize: physical and mental. Physical strength is represented by chiefs, mental - by elders. Elder''s rule is superior in times of peace while chief''s - in times of war. In lairs and houses, however, dwells another hierarchy...¡± I was allowed to play outside few weeks ago. To my delight father decided I''m big enough to not fall from round flooring that surrounds our house. I''ve been training my stamina since then. Up until now all my training was directed at flexibility and balance, sometimes strenght. Dad and mom probably were under the impression I was trying to dance or something. Or did they think it''s fun to walk on your hands? I tried to not overdo it since my body is in the process of developing, but now I can go all out. "Galena, what is Akilla doing?" father asked while installing handrails and leaf coating for my safety. "She runs around the house. Isn''t that obvious?" "How long has she been doing it?" "Since breakfast." "Isn''t that sweat on her forehead?" "You''re miraculously perceptive today, honey," she noted sarcastically after one look at my drenched clothes. "No, I see what she''s doing. I wonder WHY is she doing it?" "She''s an active girl, mayby she was bored indoors? I''m sorry." Her ears hung down. "No, it''s not your fault, love. She''ll need to learn how to live with that too." I stopped to catch a breath. This topic was about something I wanted to know for a long time. "Dad, what shall I learn to live with?" I asked while huffing. "It''s nothing, Akillah, you''re too small for that kind of stuff. What''s up with ¡°dad¡±? Am I not your ¡°papa¡±? And where are you running so desperately?" he showered me with questions. Is he trying to change theme? Nice try, dad, but I won''t buy it. "I''m going to call you ¡°father¡± from now on if you won''t tell me." Let''s see how you''ll like that. "Look at her, barely three periods old and puts conditions already." "Do you want me to call you by name, Graven?" His eye started to twitch. "Honey! Help me," he calls to mom. What a coward... "Akillah, you should listen to your father. Also, answer his questions properly, you''re being impolite. Tell me, when am I in charge?¡± she emphasized "I". ¡°When we¡¯re inside the house,¡± I answer. It¡¯s our tradition, to let females handle lares and penates. ¡°And who¡¯s in charge outside the house?¡± Sometimes I can''t bring myself to argue with her. ¡°Fine! I run around the house to train." "Why would you want to train?" Both dad and mom cried. "I want to be like strong beastmen from stories dad reads me." They looked at each other with caution in their eyes, ears and tails. Did I say something wrong? The book Bertram brought me two years ago, and two more each year, were super thick and included folklore of our tribes. Most of the stories were about warriors and their glorious and brave deeds on Feral Forest''s vastness. I got the idea that warriors are well respected and form rather big stratum of society, since many of our kin are armed and wear leather armor. Becoming one of them is my goal, for now. I¡¯m done being defenseless. Since I have fangs and claws might as well make them sharp. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "I take my words back, Graven. We need to tell her soon. I don''t like where this is going..." I never saw her so disturbed. "I thought we had like five periods in stock," he shook his head in defeat. "Garen, could you cook your steaks today. I intend to invite Bertram for dinner," he switched his gaze on me, "and you, young lady, need a good shower! Off you go." The whole thing was unexpected but at least, and at last, I''ll get my answers. I spent the rest of the day by stretching in the corner of our modest house. Our species spine is more flexible than humans and can bend further without ill effects. Dropping on all four helps us to wriggle through denser parts of the forest. I''m planning to use this trait to the fullest. First returned father, all ill-humored and beetle-browed, then Bertram with an old looking silver-haired grandpa I recognized as the very one who gave me a name. "Elder Shanahan!" Mother bounced from her seat to fetch another plate. "We did not expect you, please join our meal." "Galena. It''s been three periods, I believe. I hope you don''t mind me breaking in?" "Of course not. Bertram, you sit down too." "Elder. Brother." Father greeted both with short nod before dropping down. "I met elder Shanahan right at your doors, brother. Such a coincidence!" Bertram''s narrowed eyes tried to pierce elder while he devoured a steak. "Such a coincidence," he added again. "Oh, your steaks smelled so good I couldn''t resist. Please don''t mind me. So, what''s the topic today?" leaning away Shanahan said nonchalantly. "Elder, brother, our little Akillah shows willingness to become a warrior. You know what follows, right?" Father sounded weary. Usually it''s hard to make him stop talking, but now... "Shows willingness? In what way?" elder''s brows raised to the top. "She trains." "At such a young age? Praiseworthy indeed. I can see where you''re heading though, please continue." His pointy ears did not twitch the whole time. I couldn¡¯t see his tail anywhere, was he hiding it in his robes? That made him super suspicious. A fox, I thought. He still smells good, though. "Akillah, baby, you probably noticed something is wrong by now. Tell us what bothers you and we shall explain," mother said while sitting me on her lap. "Hmmm. Dad and mom are strange. They won''t let me play outside. I¡¯m not allowed to play with neighbour children,¡± not that I was bothered because of that, ¡°we don''t even have that many neighbours since we leave in outskirts of the village. Villagers are meanies, they stare at us. None of them have red eyes like us,¡± I look up at mother,¡±¡­.and¡­.and mother has no friends, just like me. Mom and dad hide something from me!¡± I had a lot of time to consider what to say so I blurted everything in one breath. "Very perceptive, aren''t you? Indeed.....very perceptive¡­" Shanahan muttered while gnawing on his claw, "digged all necessary evidence, didn''t you? Except of one, hehehe," he watched me attentively for some time, then continued, ¡°Galena, you won¡¯t mind if I tell her historical part of this story? It''s been a long time since I told stories to young kin. I¡¯ll leave the modern part to you and Graven.¡± "Isn''t that the reason you came here, honorable elder?" Bertram smirked. "No, no, that was a coincidence. Coincidence and steaks, hehehe." This tricky laugh of his gave me creeps. "But you didn''t touch your steak even once. It''s probably cold by now." I muse aloud. A fox indeed¡­ ¡°Galena, I need your permission. I also want to ask her few questions afterwards, if I may.¡± ¡°Yes, please, elder, go on.¡± No matter who you are, a chief or an elder, in our house mom is the boss. "Be attentive, little Akillah. This story has a lot to do with you and it''s meant to be told only once. The roots of this story reach to the beginning of current epoch and, just like many good stories in this world, it begins with five magic words. Do you, perhaps, know them?" he showed me his bunch of fives. "No, elder." "Strange. Are those books on your bed just for show? I think you do know those words, Akillah. You just never considered them magical," he smiled widely, then continued, "a long, long time ago..." Chapter 5 History and what follows HORSE to readers. HORSE to readers. Do you copy? I just can''t stop releasing ready chapters, and my pool dwindles too fast. This chapter is the first to reach my criteria of magnitude. I hope to keep next chapters at least as big. Let me know if it''s easier to read with spaces between replicas. I''m experimenting with visual...no,...how shall I say it?.....externals?... HORSE. Out. _______________________________________________________________________________ "A long, long time ago, far before any beastmen, elf, dwarf, or human walked this woods, a mighty race populated our planet. This race, glorious in it''s wisdom and intellect, but weak physically, is known as Ancients. Some say Ancients were much like us, curious and passionate beings. Others claim they were cold and calculating, but one thing is clear, nothing but legends remind us of our glorious ancestors. No legend is born without struggle, child. Many hardships stood on their way. They struggled, crawled and invented , they persisted until they reached the pinnacle of existence. Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing, after all. They stopped waging wars, they stopped to look down on each other and, believe me or not, they stopped aging. They understood, that the most precious resource is time, and with all the time in the world in their hands they couldn''t get happier. Many historians say it was the time, when magic was discovered." He paused for a short while, then said, "Akillah, look at the window and tell me what you see." A little bit confused I threw a short glance at the window and replied with a shrug, "Trees, leaves and birds." "Hmm. Is that all? Let me tell you what I see. I see a khuru bird prepare a nest for it''s children in anticipation of monsoon. There is no male to help her, so she may not finish in time. I see a cocatrice clean its beak after hearty snack. Khuru''s male might have become one of such snacks not too long ago. I see ripe akebia fruits lose their silver color because someone failed to gather them in time," he gave an accusing glance to mom and dad, "akebia alcohol is my favourite, you see? I see a rooting trunk of a tree that might fall on your house in a year or two," another accusing glance, "and much more," he finished and looked at me in anticipation. "You were so hasty to give an answer that you failed to notice a good half of what surrounds you, Akillah. Let me tell you, that perception is crucial for magician. Did you think my question was less important than my story?" "Yes, elder," I replied. He caught me there. "There is always something more important than the scenery in the window, little one. Only with abundance of time did Ancients manage to stop and give their surroundings more thought," he continued with the story. "They were able to see what can''t be seen with eyes and hear what can''t be heard with ears. A new branch of knowledge made them excited, proud, and, as a result, sloppy. Historians tell that ancients tried to merge their inventions with magic. All the artifacts that were digged out from dungeons are a proof, solid enough to call their statement true. You probably don''t know about adventurers, dungeons and artefacts much just yet. What you need to understand is next. Every power should be handled with prudence. The absence of prudence became a signal of their downfall." He stopped to talk, took a knife in his hand and finally touched his steak. He shoveled a good piece in his mouth without using a fork and started to chew thoughtfully. His eyes danced all over the house, stopping for a brief moments here and there. One second he looked at uncle, next his gaze and entirety of his attention fell on our ceiling, then his own nose. A minute has passed, then another. He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, then decided against that and ate another piece. I looked at mother, but she only rolled her eyes and turned away. "Huuh, ghood shtuff, ur steaks, Gareh," he finally swallowed, "it lacks good alcohol, though. Don''t you have akebian purple? No? Now where was I, Akillah?" "A downfall" I answered quickly. If I didn''t know better I could think he purposely made a pause to check if I keep up. "Ah, yes, a downfall. To keep things short, no one knows what exactly happened. The weather destabilized and one cataclysm followed after another. Earthquakes, eruptions, flood, all kind of nasty stuff. Ancient''s civilization got destroyed and Dark Ages have started. But before going down, they launched one last try to save their legacy, - dungeons. They digged deep holes, built systems of tunnels all over Grandilia, grabbed what they could and sealed the entrances. Some of the dungeons are much like cities themselves!" he said while raising his index finger. "On the surface, however, things were grim that days. Any single creature struggled to survive and to survive they needed to change, to adapt, so to say. Predators grew stronger and herbivores bigger. We, sentient beings, descendants of Ancients, changed too. Dwarves grew shorter to fit in tunnels and inherited Ancient''s tinkering nature. Elves got lighter and more lanky to climb the trees. Over centuries their sight got better to shoot off flying abominations, that hunted them on the crowns. Elves inherited Ancient''s longevity of life. We, beastmen, grew physically stronger to hunt on the ground, retreating on trees only during the nights. From Ancients we got our volition to raise to the top with our own strength. Humans are the most cunning ones. It''s said that physically they didn''t change all that much and what they got from forefathers was either adaptivity or endurance. I''m not sure about them. Bastards grew too full of themselves, I think they inherited pride." he wrinkled his nose."Anyway, when Dark Ages came to an end, our cursed life proved to be blessing in disguise. By constant fights for our lifes we secured our future. Our habitation area grew larger along with population. In the end we were strong enough to step outside the safe zone. Since then more than ten thousand years have passed " this last part he muttered barely audible. "Any questions?" he asked and resumed to stare all around him. "What happened to forefathers in dungeons?" I already guessed, but had to ask to be sure. "What''ll happen to you if I were to close you in this house for a decade?" "I would go crazy?" Mother squeezed my hand. "Exactly," he focused on me again, "what became of those poor creatures is not the story for a little girl like you," he gave a short smile to Galena, "all I can say is they''re alive, in a way. But don''t be sad about them, in a long perspective survival is only an exception. Anything else?" I wanted to ask a ton of questions but held my tongue. Being impatient could bring a backlash. I decided to go all out on my questions when I''m four, just like in my previous world. "Then, I''ll be the one to ask," he brightened and sat up straight in his chair. "We''ll play a game, Akillah. Some of my questions may be confusing but don''t worry, just answer quickly. Who am I?" he started without warning. "You''re an elder of our tribe." "Then who are you?" "A girl?" I glanced at mother again. was he mocking me? "What makes you a girl?" "Age and gender?" "Am I an elder for the same reason?" "Hmm. No. Social stan¡ª" "Can you cry under water?" he asked even before I answered previous one. "By "cry" do you mean shout or weep? "Why can''t we tickle ourselves?" "I...don''t kn¡ª" "Are you happy with your life?" "Yes!" I finally managed to keep up with him. "Final and most important question. How can you defeat an orc?" Since it was last question I took a pause."What''s an orc?" was my answer. Phew. That was short, but intense.....and weard. "Good, good" he said cheerfully while showing all twenty eight to all of us, "Galena, gentlemen, it''s time for me to retire for today. I''ll leave the rest of the story to you," he stood up and left like a storm. Wait, what did his test mean? He left all of us confused and speechless. "Let me escort you," father was first to recover. He stood up to close the door, but elder Shanahan was already outside. With a sight father went to the fireplace to make some tea. "I swear, all elders are nuts," Bertram has spoken. "Shanahan is more or less ok, though. You should have seen old Nostus. One time I had spoken to him, he was poking in his nose the whole time. He even tried to poke into mine!" Bertram''s eyes widened meaningfully. "Old man died the year Graven was born." "What about the story?" I joined the conversation. Can''t let them drive off too far. "Yes, the story. It''s getting late so we better hurry?" Mother nodded to Bertram so that he could continue, "You see, originally beastmen lived not in Feral Forest, but on the island in Hidea¡¯s Ocean. That island is our holy land, the sanctuary of our genesis. Basically this island is either a small crater or huge old volcano. It¡¯s thick walls protected us from wind and weather for thousands of years and it''s forest and lake fed us just as long. When Cataclysms came to an end we all wanted to leave, but didn''t know which way to go. During the first Council of Elders it was decided to send one tribe as scouts.... your tribe, Akillah." he patted my head with a smile. "For another thousand years we stayed on our island before one single boat came back. A figure in tattered robes, an elder just like Shanahan, told us the direction to dry land, to Feral Forest. On the shore we were met by descendants of scouts we sent, but they were not the same. All of them had bloody red eyes." He took a pause to take a breath. "Wanna some tea, brother?" father arrived with boiled mixture of flowers and leaves. "Yes, please," he took a sip before continuing, "...red eyes, yes. But that was not the only change. Our brethren have gone....wild. They did not speak much, they always kept distance from us and each other,.....they hunted alone. You see, in old days this forest was much more dangerous. Our brethren fought for thousand years to make the shore habitable for all of us, but in the end they turned into battle crazed animals who couldn''t differ friend or foe. A sad tale it is. We named this forest "feral" not because it was wild and dangerous, but because of what it did to our kin." He looked into his cup for a while, than took another sip. "We couldn''t live with them side by side any more. As we occupied more territory they moved further to the edge of the forest. That''s when troubles really started. After reaching the edge they encountered another sentient beings¡­ humans. Fights had broken right away. We joined the fight to protect our kin and won the war, but from humans point of view we became more like animals than a race. Many more conflicts flared up here and there over the history. Our red eyed brethren grew scarce in numbers and less uncontrollable, but the damage was done. At some point humans started to take our kin in slavery to fight on arenas and coliseums. When it became clear that not all of our kin are fit for battle, they started to enslave us for household purposes. Slavery and wars. That''s what our race recalls when they see red eyes. Very few remember how your tribe fought for us and led us from durance. I heard this story from previous chief. It''s one of those that shall not be forgotten, but I''m afraid not many red eyed beastmen are left to remind of it. Only two, in fact," he looked at me and mother with pity, then smiled and drank the rest of his tea. "Is everything in this house tasty? I could use another cup, please." If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Sure, dear." this time mother went to the fireplace. For some time we sat in silence. "But I''m not getting angry easily, mother ain''t mad too. Where is the problem?" I don''t seem to get it. "Of course you''re not. Ferocity decreased over the time and now it''s almost all gone. There are exceptions though. If you were to receive an injury, for example. The look of your own blood will make you angry, little Akillah," Bertram exhaled. So that''s what''s the case? I won''t be able to control myself if I''m injured? "Is that the reason for me to not become a warrior?" "Yes, that is," uncle answered with sadness. "Can something be done?" "No, not to my knowing," he shook his head, "you could become tailor like your mother, or gatherer. Your mother may not look like it but she lived alone in woods for a long time. She can teach you herbalism. How about that?" "Mom, have you ever had any such...issues?" I decided to ignore Bertram for a while. "Oh yes she did," the one to answer was my father, "and she was the most beautiful creature in entire universe in that moment. That''s when I fell for her." He talked for the second time today. "I was but a stripling, trained in the garrison. One day we were patrolling and found a trace of slavers. After catching up with them we saw a scene I won''t ever forget. Among slavers stood Galena, holding the side of her face, her blood dripping in her basket with flowers. She was breathing so hard we could hear it behind the trees. We already encircled slavers by then, and were ready to launch an attack, but next moment Galena let out the most dreadful battlecry I ever heard and began to shred slavers into piec¡ª." "Graven, you''re going to sleep outside today if you won''t shut up," Galena returned with another teapot. Here she goes again. On the most interesting part. "Ahemm, let''s just say it was a miracle none of us got injured. We were safe because we ran away just like slavers. Some of them were even faster than us. Do you imagine a human running through jungles faster than trained beastman? Not all of us returned to the garrison the next day, though. Nirav swore to newer take anything sharper than scissors in his hands, works as gardener until today. Can''t blame him, my own hands trembled for three days too. Also, Credell suddenly got interested in transportations. Those were such a nice times," he steeped in nostalgia, "I started to train twice as hard when heard Shanahan let Galena stay just barely outside the village...." he continued to talk nonstop. It was good to see him energetic again, but my own thoughts have gone heavy. I do not want to become a gatherer, or tailor....or gardener. While reading those folklore books I have already decided to become strong. No, I decided that even before I was born. There is no television here, so how can I see everything this world can offer without being there, without traveling? How can you travel in the world full of slavers without being able to protect yourself? I already knew what could happen if you''re defenseless, my past life plays a good example. Now I have another problem....a severe one. The stronger I''ll become, the more endangered those close to me will be. "Father, who stopped mother''s rampage?" I asked. I wanted to know how strong a person needs to be to calm her down. "No one did, she bled out and fell unconscious. Elder claimed her afterwards. Bertram could stand up to her now, but not back then. And what''s up with "father" and "mother"? Are we not your "papa" and "mama"? Didn''t we give you what you wanted?" he reached and pulled on my cheek. "Ok,ok,dad. I got it," my last straw broke miserably......or not the last? "Uncle Bertram? Can someone in this village except of mother and father injure you?" "Nonsense! There are less than ten thousand beastmen who could hold even a second against me. I was a Branch holder after all." He seemed very confident. "Branch holder" did not tell me much though, I made another mental note in my imaginary list of questions to ask later. "Uncle? Are there many beastmen you can''t injure?" I asked again with a thought that my next question will decide everything. "Ngh. I don''t know. Probably around eight hundreds are stronger, give or take a hundred. But being unable to injure," he fidgeted in his chair. "Two...no, three hundreds." "Uncle? Is there someone who could beat those warriors without even an injury?" "Hmmm, Old Duncan coul......wait, you don''t think..? You better leave that trail of thoughts, young leady!" he narrowed his eyes, "Old Duncan trained until his death at one hundred and fifty four." My ears dropped down in despair. That was it. Mother grabbed me and hugged from behind while sobbing quietly. She didn''t say much, and probably felt guilty all the time, since she knew I wanted to become strong. In my past life I encountered many handicaps. I knew how to tear down obstacles. I always knew how to set goals and how to reach them. But now, for the first time in my current life, I didn''t know what to do. I used to fail many times before succeeding, that''s just how life works. This time, however, I was robbed of the chance to even try. Tears already found their way on my cheeks. "Wha...hic....what am I?..a cripple?....am I a cripple?" It hurt bad. I hugged mom and started to cry for real. "I''m sorry Akillah, we didn''t mean to...," uncle said with worry on his face. "It'' is late, brother," father''s voice was grim, "you should go.... Galena, try to put her to sleep. I''ll talk with Bertram outside for a short while." "Hush hush baby girl....hush," she swayed her hand in direction of the door telling them to leave. Graven''s POV We stood outside leaning on handrails I installed this morning. Was that really today? Some days are longer than others, especially this one. "She is so smart, brother. You saw it yourself, she understands everything. Ancestors are my witnesses, she didn''t deserve it." "Yes, brother," he said sorely, than added, "She won''t need anything, I promise. As long as I am chief of this village. No, even after that. You know we don''t leave behind those who can''t hunt." "Not all the riches of whole village are worth this girl''s single tear, gentleman." rang cheerful voice behind us. I turned right away but Bertram stood still. Did he hear elder coming? "Elder Shanahan, we thought you left." I couldn''t hide my surprise. Well, I''m generally bad at hiding things so no wonder. "No, you thought I left," he emphasized "you". "An interesting cub you have there, Graven, truly a wonder. So smart, so persisten¡ª" "Did you hear the rest of our conversation?" Bertram''s tone was firm as a rock. "Oh yes, I did." "You asked her your questions. Can she become a magician?" he thought for a second, then added, "she needs something to hold on to." "Hmmm. Both yes and no. From one side she is perceptive, and, as I told before, perception is crucial for magicians. From another side she is extremely logical. She goes from the point A to point B using the shortest line, obvious to the fact that sometimes straight roads are not the shortest ones," he raised his finger and showed it first to me then to Bertram. "She considers options and gives logical answer on questions that have some meaning and has no answers on meaningless questions. She actually plans and reflects on her life! Have you ever seen a three years old girl that gave some thoughts to the concept of happiness? She doesn¡¯t get amused or surprised by the world. Life for her is not a mystery, but a line of decisions." He looked at us with his brows raised, than his face got thoughtful. "My answer is such, she can become a decent mage. Anyone with guidance can, in fact, the only difference is time spent. But she would be peerless...matchless as a warrior," he looked at us mischievously, "you know the saying, "there is only logic behind the sword...," he started. "...and wins the bout not strongest one, but the one who moves less." Bertram ended. ¡°How do you know about her so much? You talked to her for a while and asked like what? Five random questions? What so special did she tell you?¡± I mused. "The importance lies not in what she told me, but how did she do it, hehehe. I mean intonations, pauses....reactions on unpredictable. Anyway, there is but one thing left to say. Three years ago I told Galena that Akillah''s fate has something to do with humans and I am obliged to say, that nothing has changed since then." "What? She never told me!" I raised my voice. "Then we need to hide her, protect her better, no human will catch even a glimpse of my daughter! We shall move deeper into the woods!" I won''t let that bastards near her. "No, Graven, that won''t do." Shanahan told quietly. "Why?!" "Because we meet our destiny on the road we took to avoid it," he smiled. Why does he smile in all the wrong moments? "True" Bertram told with a sight while holding his chin. ¡°How do you even can tell about humans? Maybe there is some kind of mistake? Is there no way for my daughter to stay safe from them?¡± ¡°How can I tell? A good question. I could tell for the same reason I came here today. You could call it luck, intuition, coincidence, instinct or whatever. Believe me, all of those are nothing more than an ability of a man to be on his rightful place. Life is like a puzzle, you see. Some pieces fit you more than others. With time and experience you could tell more certain about others dispositions, so to say. But, to be honest, my proof is but a feeble feeling I have ¡®bout her. The same feeling brought me here today,¡± he gave a meaningful pause. ¡°What we need to do, Graven, is to make her prepared to face her destiny on the road she''ll choose......no, the road she has already chosen. You could see it in her eyes, Graven. Her entire being screams of her decision." ¡°Are you certain that¡¯s the only way?¡± I¡¯ve never felt so many doubts. It¡¯s an agony of a parent to decide upon their child. Will my decision make her happy? Will it doom her? ¡°Nothing is certain, nothing is eternal. I can¡¯t guarantee my rightfulness, but let me help you. Try to remember Ingrid¡¯s three daughters¡­¡± ¡°But I was young and stupid!¡± ¡°Then how about mice and beverages?¡± ¡°But that was not my falt!¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s move to the most recent one. What would you do without rope I exchanged for your hat?¡± This day is already too long, but it seems it¡¯s going to become even longer. "What do you suggest, elder Shanahan?" Chapter 6 If rocks were to wish Hello, guys and gals. This is absolutely, seriously, totally, certainly the last chapter for today. I mean it. With this I only have two ready chapters left, and I''m afraid I''ll need to stop releasing for a few days to restock. It''s crusial for me to have a stock in case I want to go back and change\add something. PS. lutexv''s comment made me release this one today. Make sure to thank him when chance occures. ____________________________________________________________________________ I woke up because of loud bangs outside. I tried to sleep for a little bit longer but cracking sound of a falling tree woke me up completely. Tasty smells filled our house. I rubbed my eyes open and got dressed. ¡°Good morning, dear. Breakfast is in five minutes. Could you call your father?¡± She gave me a worrisome glance while removing a cocatrice from fire. We hadn¡¯t had those in a while. I went outside and saw father dismantling a rotten trunk elder pointed. After seeing me he buried the edge of his axe halfway through the trunk effortlessly and waved to me. Strength has whole another meaning in this world. I felt a bit bitter after yesterday but it didn¡¯t hurt that much anymore. I might have overreacted, I thought. Some roads may be closed for me, but I¡¯m young and the world is wide, somewhere there is a place for me. I almost turned around to go inside again, but saw a movement in the corner of my eye. Far in the distance elder Shanahan was making his way to our hut. ¡°Mom, elder Shanahan will join us for breakfast. He might have fallen in love with your steaks,¡± I told her, but surprisingly fourth plate was already served. Was she expecting him? ¡°Wash your hands, dear,¡± she said nonchalantly making it obvious she knew about his visit. ¡°It were ants and bees,¡± father said while entering the house, ¡°ants have eaten their way inside a hive and messed the trunk up. Newer saw something like this before, the trunk was perfectly fine last period. Both insects usually keep away from each other. I wonder what made them greedy.¡± ¡°Hello,¡± I greeted elder. He silently nodded, sat down and started to eat cocatrice¡¯s leg right away, without even waiting for us. Such a weirdo. ¡°Huh, a bit hoth, but tastes ghood, hoooh, hooh,¡± he blew out before swallowing. ¡°You know Akillah, anyone who tried your mother¡¯s cooking knows she¡¯s the best cook in the village. But I¡¯ve been wondering, if you try her cooking too cold or too hot, will it still be he most delicious meal, or not?¡± he thought for a little, than added, ¡°you can¡¯t judge the cook only when she¡¯s in top condition and makes her specialty. Good cook¡¯s food is always tasty. My compliments, Galena,¡± he winked to my mother. ¡°Thank you, elder.¡± she replied courtly, then turned to me, ¡°Akillah, after the meal you¡¯ll go with elder to his place. He¡¯ll be teaching you stuff from now on.¡± ¡°Uhm. Ok. Wasn¡¯t I supposed to go to school in a period?¡± ¡°Elder decided to teach you personally. It¡¯s a honour! Show some gratitude.¡± ¡°Thank you, elder Shanahan,¡± I replied immediately. Mom is a bit serious today. ¡°You see, Akillah, I¡¯m not taking pupils these days, neither do I tell stories like yesterday,¡± elder confessed. ¡°Is that so?¡± I must admit, I have no idea what¡¯s going on here. ¡°The stories are to be told only when they could be well received. Stories are not for amusement, but for meaning behind them. My yesterday¡¯s story proved you can listen to me, while my odd questions gave me a hint I can listen to you, should you ever speak. All people have ears, but few will ever hear what you say. Anyone has eyes, but none see you the way you are, child.¡± ¡°Has the lesson started already?¡± I¡¯m proud to say I understood a bigger half of what he just told. ¡°No, Akillah, eat well. Elder Shanahan, show some manners too. Leave your riddles for later,¡± father complained. It was the first time I saw him scolding someone for bad manners. The rest of the breakfast went and gone in silence. I¡¯ve never been so deep into the village before. Elder Shanahan gave me a piggyback ride to his house to let me see better. Our hut looked like a joke comparing to this buildings. We¡¯ve been going for twenty minutes without touching the ground since all the houses were intricately interconnected by wooden bridges of any kind of length and width. Bigger trees held two and three levels of houses, some houses had two, three floors, some were constructed between two trees and hung over us like an arch. Mother never took me this far. We were buying all our necessities from hunters, who spend more time in woods then at home. There was so much hustle on the streets I couldn''t hear the sounds of nature any more. People stared at me all the same, but now I knew the reason why. Red eyes made me a ¡°rara avis¡±, an unusual sight. Moreover, I felt more comfortable on elder¡¯s shoulders. Was it because we were not hiding and sneaking around, but took main road and walked right through the centre of it? It was a nice feeling. I started to stare back at people and watched them avert their eyes. ¡°Here we go,¡± elder stopped at one of neat looking ¡°arch¡± houses, then started to climb the ladder. ¡± Have you remembered the road?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes, elder.¡± There was nothing special to it. Always take the widest bridge until you''re here. ¡°If not, I could ask for pointers anytime, someone should know where your house is, right?¡± ¡°True,¡± he opened the door and let me in. Contrary to the outside, inside was a mess. Piles of books in the corners, heaps of paper and parchment everywhere, drawings on walls and the floor, that was a short summary of what I saw. On one of the large parchments was depicted a swirling mass of colours you could only describe as baby scribble, but something was awfully familiar in it. "What''s this, elder?" I asked immediately and grabbed the parchment to eye it better. "I don''t know. Saw it in one of my recent dreams. Could barely open my eyes while drawing. Why did you pick up that one out of all of my pictures?" he narrowed his eyes. "I wonder," there were many sheets of paper with runic writings and pictures of odd animals. ¡°Is this an abstraction?¡± I couldn''t draw my eyes away. Why do I have the feeling I''m forgetting something important? ¡° Maybe yes, maybe not. I have no idea what is it, or if it is something at all. Better take a leather bound book behind you and start reading aloud. We''ll start your education with human language. You''ll get to choose your next lesson after an hour.¡± ¡°Language? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to travel anywhere soon. I thought you¡¯ll show me some magic! I¡¯ve never seen one!¡± ¡°Never shout never, stupid¡­.¡± someone called me stupid for the first time,¡± ¡­and don¡¯t make me repeat myself, you¡¯ll get to chose next!¡± I realized my mistake right away. I should have known better to show impatience. I¡¯m neither a small kid, nor a country bumpkin to ask for magic tricks. ¡°Power needs to be handled with prudence, was it?¡± I showed shame with my ears, but his face already brightened with a smile. ¡°What did I say about stories, Akillah?¡± ¡°They exist to teach a lesson, elder.¡± ¡°And didn¡¯t I judge you to be capable to hear them? Hehehe, good, good, now start reading.¡± ¡°Umm, may I sugest something?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°How about short breaks after every lesson? Ten minutes or so.¡± His eyes raised up to the ceiling but he didn''t look anywhere in particular. ¡°Agreed,¡± was his answer. ¡°For how long am I going to stay here today?¡± ¡°As long as you like, Akillah. I¡¯m not going to force you into anything since you don¡¯t look like lazy girl. I expect you to spend dinner here, though. You may bring it packed with you next time, hehehe.¡± He wiped the edge of his mouth with his sleeve. ¡°Shall I get started?¡± It was the first time he gave out his emotions. That¡¯s right, you could control your ears and hide your tail, but you can¡¯t tame your stomach after my mother¡¯s cooking, hehehe. Crap! I laugh like him already! ¡°You could have started thrice by now.¡± And so, my studying has begun. Little did I know how important this lessons are going to become. Human language proved to be nothing special. I was a bit difficult to spell some sounds without growling, though. There was something soft, almost french in humans phonetics, but my ¡°r¡± sounded more like german. Elder told me it can either fix by itself to some extent when I''m older, or stay forever, depending on how high-pitched my voice is going to become according to our standards. I didn''t get to know much about grammar during my first lesson, but with my baggage of experience any language felt familiar. Any language consists of twelve sections, like phonetics, orthoepy, graphic arts, spelling, lexicology and blah blah. I imprinted all basics in my memory a long time ago, so large my obsession with books was. I had a nasty habit to read books in original. Now I only needed to surround those basics with bricks called words. The interesting part came next. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Now that it¡¯s my turn to chose, I wish to learn basics of magic, elder. I would like to get a small demonstration in the end of the lesson.¡± "Sure," he told while dropping a small feather on the table. "Lesson one is called a willpower. Try to move that feather without touching it." "You mean with your mind? Who do you think I am? An.......an....." This world had no word to represent telekinesis so I was at a loss of words. "Any mage can do that. In fact, any trained warrior can do that too. Including your father and uncle. Only they reached that level of concentration through different means, but fact is fact." "...?!.....ok, I''ll try." For the next fifty minutes I felt incredibly stupid. I looked at the feather and tried to stare it out from the table. When my eyes started to hurt I closed them and tried to think about damn feather really hard. Naturally all kinds of stuff infested my thoughts, starting with my new woolen tunic and elegant leather belt mother made, and finishing with bugs and bees from the tree. I tried to get back to the feather time after time but started to feel head ache. I wonder if elder was mocking me the whole time. "I don''t get it, what exactly do you want me to do? I need an explanation!" ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s make it more entertaining, ask me questions and I shall answer them. Interview me!¡± He looked as if he was pleased with my progress so far. That''s a lie, right? ¡°First, what is magic?¡± Let¡¯s start small. ¡°On basic level magic is an ability of your mind to will things into existence.¡± His first answer drove me into a corner. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°I mean exactly what I told.¡± ¡°What do you need to be able to use magic?¡± ¡°Hmm. A brain?¡± ¡°???¡± I didn¡¯t even know how to comment this. ¡°Does it mean I could use magic right now?¡± ¡°If you''re not questioning the presence of a brain in your head, then yes, if you were to really wish so,¡± he told with perfectly straight face. ¡°Is there some kind of fuel you use?¡± I asked having mana as a reference. ¡°Can your brain be used up? Do you spend it while you think?! Huhuhu¡­¡± he laughed genuinely for the first time since I met him, ¡°¡­to the contrary, the more magic you use, the easier it becomes.¡± ¡°Do you have to know magic words?¡± I asked while thinking of incantations. ¡°Rather not then yes. Some words help you to concentrate, to bring a right feeling about what you¡¯re doing, to let you remember the first time you bended elements to your will. Sometimes this words take a form of sentences, verses, songs or whatever. Our race, for example, prefers battlecries. But remember this, the incantation used by someone may be completely useless for you and vice versa. There is no discreet reason to use them in the first place. I once met a mage that used a cough as an incantation. The fool blew himself after catching a cold!¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t get it. How come immaterial world can influence material?¡± ¡°Huh? An interesting question for a child. Is your brain immaterial? Or are your thoughts not a result of its activity? Then what about vocal cords and sound? What about ghosts and spirits that are purely immaterial beings but can move objects? Yes, ghosts exist, they''re not just a part of folklore,¡± he answered my next question I couldn''t even start to ask, ¡°most of them are just a shadows of their former self, but some are different. Awakened ones can do things, sometimes good, sometimes bed. Anyway, let¡¯s leave theory of magic for another time and let me tell you a story. Be grateful, child, since you¡¯re the first one to hear two stories from me in two days!¡± He tried to look strict, but I could tell he was agitated more than he was willing to show. ¡°Please, elder, I¡¯m all ears.¡± ¡°Two little e boys, Han and Hal, studied under one old elf mage. They sat on their butt all day long, and tried to move with their minds a feather so small, that the smallest wind could pick it up effortlessly. Han tried hard while Hal grew impatient. After a year Hal managed to move a feather a little bit. He was drenched in sweat and his head hurt. He thought, ¡°why do I need to go through this, if by picking a feather with hand you spend one thousand times less effort?¡± Next day he didn''t come back to the mage, but decided to be a warrior. In ten years Han and Hal met again. Hal took a large boulder and threw it further then the eye can see. He started to brag how efficiently he spent this past years. ¡°Weird,¡± thought Han, ¡°I could do the same without lifting a finger. How come Hal is the one to brag?¡± Elder ended abruptly. ¡°Have you come up with this story just now, elder?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve just shortened it ten times or so, it¡¯s boring anyway. I just wanted to let you know how much concentration you need to take but one step as a mage. Moving things is just a bare basis! To become a real mage one needs to understand laws of the world, the core principles of universe,¡± he smiled and threw me an apple across the table which I put in my pocket. I had few questions left. ¡°Does it mean I can¡¯t learn magic until I learn anything else you have to teach me?¡± I think I¡¯ve got the hint, not that I¡¯m agreeing with him just yet. ¡°I''ll be gracious, Akillah. I''ll ask you few questions. Answer them right and I shall make an exeption ¡± ¡°Ok, go on,¡± have nothing to lose here. ¡°Is there a clear line between material and immaterial?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± an obvious answer. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because matter can be measured and anything immaterial can''t?¡± ¡°Measured by what?¡± ¡°Distance. Weight. Height.¡± I thought a little, then added. ¡°Time.¡± ¡°Can you measure yourself?¡± ¡°I¡¯m one metre high, sixteen kilograms, three years old.¡± ¡°What represents your soul, Akillah? Weight? Or your age? Huh?¡± He seemed to be amused by my frantically thinking face. "Or are you trying to say your soul is not the part of you? Let me make it easier. Can you measure a rock the same way you did with yourself?¡± ¡°Yes, I guess?¡± He was obviously luring me into the trap. ¡°Does your measurement reflect everything the rock is? What if I say this imaginary rock has a wish?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say rocks can¡¯t have a wish.¡± ¡°Assuming rocks are not alive, that is." his face was calm but his eyes laughed at me. "Which is not completely true,¡± he added. "So rocks are alive?" "Stricktly speaking no, but they have life in them" I strugled to not use foul language at this point. "If...if you say so, then anything has life inside? Stars? Sun? Univers as a whole...? Let me guess, next thing you''re going to say is "universe has a wish" or....or¡ª" "Exactly! I''m glad you understand!" he looked at the corner where a hourglass stood. ¡°Time is up! My turn to choose, hehehe.¡± He stood up and tossed me a small purse while saying, "Here is your first home task. Keep practising with these feathers. And bring me a map I saw in your house, I''ll need it for geography lesson." I froze with my mouth open for the next question. My perturbation knew no borders. ¡°Wait! You promised a demonstration!¡± I won¡¯t let him go that easy. ¡°Your pocket, Akillah,¡± he clearly liked to tease me. Anyone can grow beard, start saying bullshit and make an all-knowing face at that. I reached to my pocket to throw my apple at him.¡­what I found there was a hard, solid rock. ¡°Do you know what¡¯s your problem, child?¡± my upraised eyebrows told him I don¡¯t. ¡°You ask right questions for all the wrong reasons and vice versa. Let me give you a piece of advise. Keep your mind open and learn what you can. Maybe one day you¡¯ll know what to ask." I understood he knew what he was saying after all. Of course he did! I continued to rely on my otherworldly skills and knowledge. I continued to cling to the same mindset from before. If things were to continue in the same direction, I was going to become the same person. That old person had no future, he started to degrade long before his death. I needed to let go on that person to have my own future. ¡°Elder Shanahan?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Please guide me well.¡± Two significant events happened that day. First, I discarded my right to chose a subject. A sense of trust formed regarding our eccentric elder. Second, I always thought he smelled good. I learned to trust my instincts more. __________________________________________________________________________ PS. Magic system in my story has nothing to do with mana, as you already understood. I wanted to step aside from that concept. I perfectly understand that I''m complicating things, and may regret it in the end, but as I told before, I can''t write happy-go-lucky stories. Not my style, sorry. Chapter 7 Manipulations and maps Hello, HORSE here. I can''t believe I finished those maps. I''m so drained I don''t wanna brag how far I went to draw them. Let me just say, now I know what frigging Coriolis effect is. It took me awhile, but.....SURPRISE!!! I just pray this links work fine. http://imgur.com/a/83Spk http://imgur.com/O9bYjtM Let me know if pictures are of good quality. And if they are, dont you dere saying you could do better. I won''t survive that;) ________________________________________________________________________________ I have just finished my breakfast and sat at the table occupied by "feather training" with no results at all. . It''s been a period and four turns since I started to learn from elder, but I''m yet to move a feather. I''m pretty content with results, though. During this time I skyrocketed through math, which is natural, learned most common human language, stepped into area of runes, both ours and elves'', learned much about herbs and leather from mother and more. Today is my final lesson of geography, by the way. The map I found in our house almost four periods ago served me a good stead. That reminds me... "Dad, do you remember the map in our house I took? Where did you get it." "Ah, that one. My first expedition...," he turned his head to the window and looked into the distance. "Dad?..." his ability to space out in memories is unparalleled, "...Dad!" "Ah, yes, my first expedition. I joined the squad right after meeting your mother. She felt uneasy because anyone holds her responsible for slavery. They never told her in the eye, but you know how old prejudices work. That''s why I have chosen as my job to return our lost kin. During my first sally we raided a Pirate''s Den in Melting Sea and the map is one of trophies. Pirates have most accurate sea maps, if you ask me. We had to involve quarter of United Islands fleet to cover the whole area. Did you see a red scull mark with green snake under it? That''s where Pirate''s Den was..." Traveling is not an option for me, but hearing and learning about distant and not so much distant countries from both elder and father was interesting. I have to go back to my training, though. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. I slowly relax and let go of any concerns I have. I step aside from needs. I gather all my attention in one single point while ignoring distractions. With all that done I open my eyes and look at the feather. A second goes by, then another. My eyes get round as coins when feather starts to crawl. My jaw drops down and I''m about to emit a cry of triumph, but then I notice the feather to crawl even when I don''t think about it any more. I slowly turn around and see my father red in his face, ready to burst out. "You bloody idiot! ARGH! I thought I,....damn,.....I HATE YOU!" "AHAHAHA" he cant bear with it any more, and starts laughing like a fool, without even noticing my foul language, "sorry, Akillah...haha...I....sorry.....pffft......your face was so serious..." "I''ll call mom if you won''t stop!" I pout. "How come you, the idiot father of mine, can do it and I can''t? Are you a mage?" "Haha, me? A mage? Dont be silly. We warriors gain enough concentration at the later part of our training, while for mages it''s the first step. We need to concentrate for breathing techniques, which are quite advanced. Moving a featers is just a byproduct, nothing more. And don''t think you''re going to become a mage just because you know a feather trick. You''re not an adult just because you know how to crawl, right? Didn''t Shanahan tell you the difference? What is he teaching you if you don''t know basics? You''re going to get late by the way." My eyes darted to the the skies. We, beastmen, determine time by the sun, needing hourglass only for more subtle estimation. I jumped on my legs and grabbed both maps, one of my father, and one mine. I created the later during this period. "Catch!" Father threw me bundle with my dinner, two portions as always, and I left in haste. Just like that, another day has started. Meanwhile Somewhere on San Tofe Island, commonly known as Holy Land of beastmen, a postman made his way to a small hut near the lake. It was his job to deliver mail to this lands four times a year. This time however, he had only one letter with him. He sighed with relief when he saw an old man meditating on the rock. "Master Korhal?" "Get lost, bug, I think a thought" was his reply. The poastman was perplexed. Forget the bug, what does "think a thought" even mean? "You have a mail, sir. I''ll leave it here." He said with professional smile and left while swearing inwardly. He had to spend two turns on the move to be insulted by an old man. Now he had to go back just as long. The man on the rock opened one eye, looked at the letter, the letter then jumped into his hand as on the ropes. "Let''s see" he said sluggishly, then started to read aloud. "From Shanahan," he paused for a brief moment, then jumped on his legs and started to flounce about. Back and forth. Back and forth. "AHAHA, a mail from my senile brother. He finally loosed his last screws for sure. AHaha. What that fool wants from me? Lets see. Lets...See." He opened a letter and started to read aloud again, "I want to ask a favor." "AHAHA, now you want a favor from me, your musclebrain brother? Let me hear it from you. I''ll refuse it with pleasure." he looked back at the letter, then began to blink and rub his eyes. He began to twirl a letter and look at it from all sides, then smelled it, looked at it against the sun. "Where?.....Where is the favor you had to ask? "I want to ask a favor" and that''s it?" A vein popped out on his forehead, then another two. "No, that won''t do, my senile brother. I want to see your face when you''re asking something in person. That''s right! Where are my coffers?!" After an hour on the road a blur sped past the postman. He barely saw a face of an old man from before. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Shanahan''s POV Today was the last geography lesson and I gave Akillah a test. I know her knowledge is alright, just wanted to place a dot, it''s almost a formality. She has been absorbing my teachings like a sponge all this turns. It''s a shame I can''t teach her magic properly. Me and her parents have something different for her in mind. That reminds me, It''s about time for my musclebrain brother to receive my letter. Anyway, the exam. I told Akillah to make it short and record only the most important information. Forteen geographical names, fourteen short descriptions. Simply, right? 1. Falcon Empire - Is an Empire that lies north from Rizza and Mirior Kingdoms and holds 45% of Paragon Continent. In Empire lives half of humanity. Out of minorities elves take the most significant part. and account 6% of population. Falcon Empire was founded by Vincent Falcon in year 1291th and grew larger sin§ãe the. Falcon dynasty reigns until this day. 2. No man''s land. Cold plains - To the north from Empire lie ever cold lands full of orcs, ogres, goblins and other nasty beasts. It''s said that none returned from there, as long as they crossed one mile distance. Not much is known of that lands. The last expedition to Northern ice cap, that took part at 8126th discowered Mute sea and two peninsula called Right Snail''s Horn and Left Snail''s Horn. 3. Northern Void Line - a mountain range between Falcon Empire and Cold Plains, is a sole reason for orcs to stay at their territory. Originally the Empire was founded to withstand their swarms. Mountains are to high to cross, out of hundreds only few will be able to reach the borders of Empire. With his first decree, Vincent Falcon ordered to build two identical fortresses on edges of the Void line, named after his daughters, Alcana and Dena. The mountain range was called Void line, since those who cross it (from both sides) have no future. 4. Rizza Kingdom - Though health resorts are the most famous part of Rizza Kingdom, what should be mentioned is its militaristic society. Having an Empire as a neighbour is bad news for both Rizza and Midior Kingdoms. What makes Rizza especially endangered are numerous attempts of El'' Torino Kingdom to gain access to new trading roads, which happened to cross the territory of Rizza. No one wants to be jammed between rock and hard place. 5. Midior Kingdom - is one of few, who do not practice any discrimination against minorities. Beastmen, elves, and dwarves can live freely there, but for a reason. Usually Midior Kingdom ambassadors are the ones to initiate negotiations for friendship and military cooperation. Friendship has a price, after all. 6. Feral Forest - Do I even have to write this? 7. El'' Torino Kingdom - has no natural enemies in the area, and uses its firm standing to harass its neighbours. The lack of external enemies has another side of the coin, through. Constant political and religious struggles, intrigues and conspiracy often throw the country into turmoil. 8. The Great Trident - Is a biggest mountain range across the world,the Holy land of Dwarves, that represents around 5% of Paragon Continent. Three mighty Peaks were the reason for the analogy with a forked weapon. Dwarves are the pushers of technical progress and hold firm influence on worlds economy with their production of almost anything, starting with tools and finishing with glass-blowing machines. They rarely leave their caves, but given the right approach you might lure a dwarf into your workshop. You won''t be the owner anymore, though. 9. No man''s land. Thousand cuts desert. - Though it is called desert, the surface of it is not entirely the sand. To the contrary, half of this area is solid rock of unique properties. The winds in this part of the world blows always in one direction, from east to west, which resulted into one peculiarity, that made life there unrealistic. Elements sharpened the rocks into pikes and thorns, that stare from the ground ubiquitously. Hence the name, Thousend cuts. 10. United islands - are five islands in between three seas formed an Independent state in 6824. The UI lie on many major trading routes and sale its specialties like spice, exotic fruits and seafood, sugar, precious stones, and so on. UI include White Bay,Green Bay,Blue Bay, Victoria Bay and Small Arncorn Bay. IU has a modern fleet to fend off any agression. The majority of population are either sailors or salesmen. 11. Eastern Conclave - northern and central part of Arncorn continent. The population consists of tribes that have no real government. This tribes feel free to wage wars against each other, and fall behind the civilised world in both science, magic or technologies. Some think Conclave is a resource colony of the Empire, since the earlier sells rare minerals only to the later. 12. No man''s land. Crystalline mountains - Crystalline mountains are technically habitable, but lie to far from civilisation, so civilised life is not possible there, at the moment. You may live there as a hermit, though. 13.Hersad Khalifat - is the civilized and prosperous part of Arncorn continent. While grasping firm hold on trading with Paragon Continent, citizens of Khalifat do the same for magic as Dwarves for technologies. Many famous magicians were born there. Also, the sheer quantity of magicians exceeds 7 % of population, which makes Khalifat powerfull both politically and militarily. 14. The Paw - Is a set of four lakes and a lagoon that visually remind a beasts paw. It includes Pinky lake, Nameless lake, Tuna lake and Copper lake. Many trading roads go through the lagoon. Coming of age ceremony of beastmen is held on the shores of Tuna Lake. Hmm....not bad, but too short. Nevermind. I have around two months left, to imprint common sense into her. I''m running out of time. She won''t pick up anything useful from the brute, that calls me brother. _____________________________________________________________________________ PS. Yet again, my naming sense was under a test. Feel free to give an estimation. Chapter 8 Han and Hal Hello, dear readers, Horse here. There is some topic I want to discuss with you. As some of you may have noticed, I received my first review. As much as I''m proud to get a five star review, I don''t feel I deserved it, since aisenstein-kun, seemingly, is not my reader. If you were to read his review, you could find him complaining about synopsis. I''m grateful for hi6s advice. I really am. But let me make a point here. I don''t want to describe my fiction, since I always wanted you, my readers, to describe it in my place. I believe reader''s point of view to be more adequate and objective, so I''ll let you be my judges. Feel free to leave a review when you feel like it. Good or bad, I''ll accept everything. ____________________________________________________________________________ "The traveler''s notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629. Chapter 1 "Introduction" Page 10 During the first assembly of all sentient beings representatives decided, that rulers of each country shall get together at least once in twenty five periods to discuss various topics, such as war, pease, trade, religion, development and so on. The end of the assembly signatured the beginning of new epoch, the first period of new era has started. To consolidate new bonds each race shared something precious with others. Beastmen shared breathing techniques, Elves gave seeds of their Sacred tree, Dwarves shared blacksmithing techniques. Human wanted to share farming methods, but neither elves, nor beastmen were interested, so they ended up giving away methods of warfare and blueprints for war tools. Much water has flown under the bridge since that time, but just as then, rulers of all countries keep gathering four times a century. An old man walked through the wood slowly, while whistling a cheerful melody. The trail he took was familiar to him to some extent, but he started to forget the right road already. It''s been forty periods since he visited the grave of his old master last time. He never was attached to the man all that much in the first place. Yet he picked flowers along his path, the elf deserve at least that. As he reached the clearing, he saw a cracked stone tomb and a cloaked figure near it. He made his way to the tomb, put down the flowers and stood beside a figure. Neither made a sound. "So you finally came, brother," he said barely audible, with the corner of his mouth. "Uhuh" he didn''t move neither his mouth, nor his face at all. "If I remember correctly, last time we saw each other on this very same please, four decades ago. I don''t seem to remember, why were we arguing that time?" "If I remember correctly, you called me a musclehead and I broke your nose." "Oh, and you called me a crackbrain and I shortened one of your canines. Now I remember." "Sounds like you want to continue our pleasant talk somewhere else, huh? Didn''t you damaged the tomb last time. No dead deserve such a treatment." "You learned to respect our master? Who would have guessed. The man needed to die to earn some credit. He might be turning in his grave right now. Thanks for invitation, though, but I didn''t call you for fighting." "You didn''t call me at all. If you were to call me, I wouldn''t have come." "True, hehehe." "Now, lets get done with it. Tell me what you want so that I could refuse and return to my training," after hearing his brother''s creepy laugh he started to lose patience. He knew this laugh all too well. "Not so fast brother. Since you took bother to cross such a distance, it''s my duty to treat you to a meal. Twenty periods ago a wonderful cook settled in our village. You should taste her barbecue. I''ll even bring my best bottle of akebian red. What do you think?" "Hmm. Interesting. It''s been awhile since someone cooked for me." there was a glitter in his eyes, "Is she that good?" "I have been eating her food at least once a day for almost two periods, brother. If I remember correctly, your cooking skills were nonexistent. It brings me sorrow to think you never tried a real food." "Well, if you insist, I could stay for a day. If I were to find a family, ready to take me in, that is. There is no way I could stand your company for both day and night." "Oh, let me arrenge things for you. I''m an elder of this villagte after all." "You?! An elder?! Ahahaha. So you rule our home village now?" "I prefer a term "supervise", brother, not "rule". The actual ruler is Bertram." "Berboy? Hmmm. Good choice. Time runs so fast," he looked at the skies with yearning, "It''s been fifteen years since he came to the Tree to climb his first branch. If he only had more tenacity, I could train him,but.....seems like first branch became his last." "Tenacity? I heard none of your students stayed a week with you," he met questioning look of his brother, "Sometimes rumors fly faster and further then wind." he winked. "But you''re right, youngsters lack tenacity these days. I was lucky to find a hardworking pupil. Such talents are scarce in large villages, let alone remote islands." "You have no idea! Isn''t that a first time we agreed on something since...a century? You know what, I''ll take your offer. Bring your akebian red and.....no, bring two bottles, lets make it like a men." "The last house to the north then, at ten. Make sure your stomach is empty when you come." With no further chatter, one of the men left, while whistling a melody. The other continued to stay in silence. A wry smile crawled on his face. "The stage is set," he thought. Akillah''s POV The last two years were rather hectic. I''ve become quiet entangled in this circle of learning, so, on Shanahan''s suggestion, I started to learn tailoring and cooking from mother. It''s been awhile, since I had this feeling, like Shanahan''s teachings got lacking. I''ve finished most of elder Shanahan''s education courses, but for some reason he refuses to pick up more. First, I thought he''s waiting for my "feather training" to bring results, but he never asked, if I''m still practising with feathers at all, which I do. Neither did he speak of magic since our first lesson. It''s almost like he is teaching and not teaching me at the same time. When I thought mother was getting late, I heard her climbing the ladder. "Mom, look at what I made!" I jumped from my seet to show her a leather ribbon I made. It''s my first attempt at actually making something with my arms. Mother was delighted when I asked her to teach me. It seems like our tribe''s specialty was leathery since a long time. While having a problem with injuries, our craftsmen developed new techniques and patterns for tailoring, that enable better protection and excluded factory accidents. Making an armor sounded kind of cool so I took her teachings seriously. For past two turns I''ve been doing nothing but taking notes and drawing patterns in a volume father bought me. I could call it notebook if it didn''t weight ten pounds. While entering the house she left the door opened. Elder Shanahan went in after her. He went to the chair across to me and sat down, while staring at me intently. Somehow he were more weird than ever. "You may go for for thirty minutes, elder. Everything shall be ready by then." mom said. Elder Shanahan stood up, and showed me to follow with a nod of his head. I caught up with him twenty meters from the house. "Listen carefully, child. Something came up. If things go well, today is our last lesson." This statement came like a snow in summer. What''s wrong with him, all of a sudden? "What do you mean? Are you leaving somewhere?" "No. But don''t think about that too much. You''ll know when time comes." It wasn''t the first time for him to speak with riddles, so I just brushed it off. It was okay to ignore him if he says so, speaking to him becomes unbearable otherwise. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "So, what''s the topic today?" "Magic," he said nonchalantly. "Magic?! You choose to teach me magic during our, as you just told, last lesson?" He has got to be kidding me. "Not teach, Akillah. I''m just going to answer your questions. No riddles. No tricks. Only answers." he talked as if he was in haste. "But why now?" "You see, words have power behind them. Words can harm us more then blades, or bless us more then we''ll ever deserve. The same power is characteristic for questions, of course. Sometimes unanswered question does as much harm, as unsaid word," he said. So much for a "no riddle" talk. "Now ask, Akillah," he stopped near a trunk and sat down on it, gesturing me to join him, while I thought, what to ask. "You told me before that I shall learn to ask right questions, or something? What are important questions?" "Well, I think the most important ones are those, that can''t be answered correctly. You can ask those questions again and again, but each time the answer will be different. The second question I ever asked you was one of those." I started to remember the day we met at our house. One and half periods went and gone since then. "You asked, who am I?" "Yes! I''m glad you remember. Who are you. Simple as that. You said then, that you''re a girl," he gave me a wink. "A girl. Can one word describe everything you are? Moreover, can a billion words do just that? I don''t think so. What you are can be understood only by your own soul, and soul doesn''t have a language, Akillah." He gave a short sight before continuing. "The important thing is not answering that question, but asking it. Yesterday you were not the same person that you are today, and not the person you''re going to be tomorrow. You are changing, but the question is always gonna be just as important. Who. Are. You. You need to seek an answer, Akilah, to understand yourself, to understand what you want to be. Let me reveal first secret to you for today, child," he started to dig into the ground with his hands, "if you know who you are, then you''ll have a guess who are you going to become tomorrow". I moved further to avoid earth he throw about. "Could you make another example, elder?" I was far from understanding what he means. "What time is it?" he asked. My eyes darted to the skies by habit, but he continued without waiting for my response. "I told you before, that time is the most precious resource. Just like that, any time you ask this question, the answer is going to be different. Our whole life is a race against time. There is the saying," he dug a rather deep hole by now and was wiping his hands, "you can''t cross the river in one place twice. Just like you, the river is changing. Anything around us does, be it a girl, a river or a rock. That brings us to the very first question I ever asked you, Akillah. I''m sure you can tell what exactly I said." "Hmm. You asked me to look at the window and tell you what I see?" "Uhuh. Another important question. What do you see? Can you guess what comes next?" "You''re going to say, that any second we see something different from before?" "Yes, that''s right. But that''s only the half of an answer. The other half is, do you know what exactly you see? Another secret for you, Akillah. Not everything in your view can be described with words. Sometimes things we see can be comprehended only by our soul." "You mentioned then, during our first talk, that Ancients saw what can''t be seen with eyes, and hear what can''t be heard with ears. Is that what you mean?" "Yes. I knew you''re a wonderful listener," he looked pleased. "What''s your next question going to be?" I found it rather hard to keep up with him. My head didn''t hurt from all this blabbering just because I got used to this kind of talks over last eighteen turns. I also came up with method to divide the whole talk into parts. "A quick summary....you''re saying, that anything constantly changes, and has much more to it then I can tell, right?" he nodded vigorously. "You told me once that rocks have a wish. Do they wish to change?" "Exactly! Hehehe," I got so used to this laugh that a day without it felt strange, "the rock, the river, the universe, everything wants to change. Let me tell you this, Akilllah. Our world, and any other world in the universe, obey the same laws. Apple falls downwards because of gravitation - is the most basic example of the laws of universe. Just like that, there is the law of constant changing. Universe is not static. It moves, develops, becomes more complex. We can''t see those changes because our lives are but a blink, a sparkle. In fact, there is much more in common between something so grand as universe, and something so small as a rock. Isn''t our planet just a pebble, a grain of sand, compared to the universal vastness? What I''m trying to say is this," his eyes darted to me, "there is a life in anything, but the amount of life in a rock is so small, that you can''t see it with your eyes," he fetched a seed from his pocket and dropped it into a hole, then buried it. "I owe you something, child," he pause, "...a demonstration. This time, the real one." He put his hand on the ground and said one word. "Grow." What happened next is not easy to explain. In years to come, I remembered this moment many times. The stem, that slowly crawled from earth is just a minor part of a wonder. The biggest part of a mystery was elder Shanahan''s voice. I heard his voice for hundreds of thousands of times, but this one time was different. After a lot of thinking, and years after, I finally came with en explanation, that could be putten into words. There was a joy of life in his voice, that could only be seen in eyes of a baby. There was a generosity in that notes, that you see when poor share their last. In that single word was hope, that any single one of us feel, when we wait for another day to come. For the first time I really felt magic. "There are two aspects of magic that I used, child. First, you need to understand, what a seed exactly is. You need to feel every fiber of its existence. Not with words, but with your soul. Second, you need a willpower to make it grow, to make it bend to your will." "You......you break a law of universe with willpower?" I was astonished. "No. Of course not. The seed wanted to change all along. Everything wants to change, to grow...to develop. I''m not breaking the law. I''m supporting it. I nurture it. The further your manipulation gets from natural state of things, the more willpower you''ll need to finish the change. To tell you the truth, I never explained you the actual structure of magic, but with this demonstration you should have enough insights, in case you choose to walk the path of a magician. Now come, child. We have a special guest today I would like you to meet..." "But how did you turn an apple into a stone? And who do I have to meet?" Impatience was taking the best of me. "Hah, another pointless question. Better than thinking how did I do this, think what is in common between an apple and a rock. What comes from earth, returns to it. Let me give you a pointer," he stood up from a trunk, "with enough willpower, you could bend en element. Now come. You shell meat my brother Korhall. He''s a Branch holder, like Bertram supposed to be. I bet he''s about to make a visit." I followed the elder while musing about todays talk and stuff. I also thought, what kind of man Shanahan''s teacher was. I bet this brother of his knows, Korhal was it? Shanahan and Korhal. I felt something clicking into my head. Huh? Shanahan. Korhal. Han and Hal? Chapter 9 Gathering around the boar With this chapter an introductionary part comes to an end. Enjoy! _____________________________________________________________________________ Shanahan closed the door behind me, went to the table, fetched two bottles from his robes and put them on the table, where salver with a boar already stood, skinned, fried and ready-to-serve. He turned around and went outside, without saying the word. "Dad, the boar is huge! How many guests do we have today?" "Hah. Hunted this one two hours ago. It''s called redmaned tyrant. It''s for one guest, Akillah, but very special. An active branch holder! He''ll stay until tomorrow." "Dad, I wanted to ask for a while, what is a branch holder? Uncle Bertram used to be one." Father opened his mouth to answer, but then we all heard the knock. Without writing for someone to let him in, Korhal opened the door with a bang. "How does it come this girl doesn''t know what''s a branch holder?! AHAHA, you''re lucky, little rascal, let this old man tell you how great that bunch is!" "Wha.." what the hell is this old man. How dare he break into our house so casualy. Right after Korhal, Shanahan entered the house. "I''m sory for rude intrusion, Galena. My idiotic brother lived in seclusion for a long time. Seems like he forgot common sencse. I tried to warn him to be polite, but his head is too sturdy to let words go in. You may ignore him for the rest of the evening." "But how come a youngster has no idea about branch holders. I''m sorry¡­khm¡­Galena, was it? I just couldn''t believe my ears," he glanced at mother and gave a bow while waving one of his hand in a strange manner. He then looked her in the eyes. "Huh? Red eyed tribe? It''s been more than sixty years since I saw last one. Hmm." his forehead covered in wrinkles while he tried to figure out something. "Let me apologise again, Gallena," Shanahan continued, "in place of my brother. He didn''t mean to be rude, when he stared at you." Shanahan''s ears twitched. It was a rare sight to see him express emotions other then with words. He must be really ashamed. "But he''s still staring." I answered while making a circle around this old man. He obviously didn''t try to make a good impression with his shabby outfit and unkempt hairstyle. I honestly couldn''t tell, what''s so great about him except of the sword on his hip. He even smells like grass. Meanwhile Korhal ceased to move at all. He could easily beat my father in terms of "space out" skills. A master, indeed. At least something about him is impressive. "It''s bad education, nothing can be done, I''m afraid." Shanahan shook his head disapprovingly, then took a needle from his pocket and readied himself to pierse his brother''s leg, but mother moved first. "It''s okay, elder Shanahan. Master Korhal, you must be hungry, sit down here." She took him by the elbow and led to the table where I and father already sat. "Let''s leave chatter for later and eat first, while the boar is still hot." "Thank you. To be frank, Shanahan could not tell me where to go, I would have ended up here anyway. The smell is heard two miles away. It¡¯s no joke, you know? Many warriors were defeated by less dangerous weapons. " he finally looked at my father. "Umm, and you are?" ¡°Graven, Galena¡¯s husband and first victim.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about! A scarred warrior is exactly what to be expected. It¡¯s a perfect trap I¡¯m going to step into. That reminds me¡­.,¡± he looked at two bottles of wine, then at his brother, ¡±Shanahan, what exactly do you want from me? How does it come you treat me, and I feel like about to be robbed?¡± ¡°Stop blabbering and eat, brother.¡° Elder reached to one of the bottles to uncork it. ¡°Let me fill your mug.¡± ¡°You¡¯re suspicious, brother. I mean, you always were, but now¡­.¡± Distrust was written on Korhal¡¯s face but he pushed his mug closer to Shanahan anyway. He then stood up, and with one swift movement unsheathed his sword and cut off a leg of a boar. He was so fast I had no time to get scared. ¡°Well then, bon appetit¡± he grabbed the leg with his bare hands and took a bite. ¡°For forefathers sake, put it on the plate, idiot! And don¡¯t swing your sword in the house, use knife.¡± Shanahan¡¯s covered his eyes with a palm while his face got red from embarrassment. ¡°Why do I even have to tell this?¡± ¡°Oh my¡­,¡± any puppy would be jealous of eyes Korhal displayed. An old man, standing with meat in one hand and sword in another, while having harmless expression. Something was surreal in the scene. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± he said again and dropped onto his chair. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even hear me.¡± Shanahan sipped from his mug. ¡°Used to give me headaches back in the day and still does. I tell him to be polite, to not stare, to show some manners, and what¡¯s the result? Polar!!¡± | ¡°It¡¯s okay elder,¡± mother was smiling happily, ¡±we¡¯re glad to have guests. It¡¯s livelier that way. Why won¡¯t you enjoy the meal as well?¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­,¡± Korhal repeated. ¡°A refreshing travel, a feast, a pleasant company. What else would you need?¡± he raised his mug, ¡°a good wine obviously. Cheers!¡± ¡°Can I also have wine, mum?¡± I felt a bit jealous. ¡°No you can''t.¡± Having no access to alcohol was a bit depressing. Years are going to pass before I''ll be allowed to have a sip. ¡°It¡¯s not tasty anyway.¡± Korhal added. ¡°You may not lie to her, brother. My student here is too smart to fall for such deceptions.¡± ¡°A student, huh? So you teach this kid magic?¡± ¡°No, I teach her math and languages.¡± ¡°Hahah, how old is she? Five? Six? What could a kid understand about math. Isn''t that too soon?¡± ¡°Akillah, my brother is one hundred sixteen periods old. How many times is he older than you? ¡°Twenty nine,¡± I replied calmly. ¡°See? In fact, I¡¯m not teaching her any more since she finished my whole course in a period and half. She¡¯s the most diligent student I ever had, brother. You¡¯re free to not believe me, of course.¡± ¡°Hmmm. You seem sincere¡± Korhal''s eyes darted to me, than back to Shanahan. ¡°A genius?¡± "Uhuh." "Why not teaching her magic, then?" Korhal mused. ¡°Well, she is certainly a genius, but has no talent for magic. I gave her feather training the first day and she made no progress up until now. She could be a greate warrior, though. If not for her condition, that is. Such a pity.¡± Shanahan shrugged. I felt a bit offended, but truth can be a bitc¡­a bully. That¡¯s just how life works, so no need to fret. ¡°Hmmm. A pity, indeed.¡± Korhal returned to his meal and was silent for a while. ¡°I was asking earlier about branch holders, mister. I¡¯m interested in the topic.¡± ¡°Oh, how could I forget. Of course I¡¯ll tell you! Branch holders are basically a bunch of warriors, that protect our holy land, San Tofe island. Around ten thousand years ago we got a seed from elves, which we planted in the centre of the island. Had to pour a raft of soil in the middle of the lake to do that,¡± he sipped from his mug. ¡°From that seed grew a majestic tree. Elves wanted for the tree to become a symbol of our obligations to each other, but warriors from our tribe were fascinated by sturdiness of it¡¯s roots, by sharpness of its leaves, by swiftness of its branches. Some martial arts were created from inspiration that tree gave. With time a tradition formed, where the strongest warriors climb the higher branches by defeating a current branch holder. There is exactly one hundred big branches on the tree, you see? During the monsoon warriors gather around the tree to fight out who''s worthy.While being a branch holder is a big honor, only one is destined to reach the top. The holder of the first branch is the one, who represents our whole race during wars or assemblies," he looked at my father. "I thought there is no person in the whole forest who didn''t hear of us. How come you didn''t tell her?" "We didn''t want to agitate her, master Korhal," father answered. "Agitate? It''s not like she wants to become a warrior, right? She a smartass type, so why bother?" "Exactly the contrary, brother. She told she wants to become a warrior when she was three." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "No way." he looked at me attentively. "Hmm," he frowned and started to stare into his empty mug. "More wine, brother?" Shanahan filled the mug without waiting for response. "So, she told you she wants to train when she was three," Korhal looked at me while making a gulp, "and you believed her words to be sincere. Kids change their mind, you know? I used to think I''m going to become a tamer when I was young, but..." "Oh, she didn''t tell anything at starts," father answered, "She used to do all kinds of strange stuff, like walking on her hands or stretching in the corner of our house. We thought she was bored and let her be. But when she got big enough to not....you know...injure herself, and we let her out, it became clear that something''s up. It was all Bertram''s fault, he keeped to bring her folklore books that encouraged her to train. She''s been at it for at least a period before we noticed. There was no hint of "change of mind" or something." "Dear, don''t pour fault on Bertram shoulders alone. It''s you, who teached her to read. We both failed to buy "right" books eventually," mom pointed. "Hmm. If only she......hmmm." Korhal continued to stare into his mug for a while. I wanted a change of topic, since the whole metter is rather dolorous for me. In fact, my mood was already spoiled. Sometimes your ears know how you feel sooner than you do. "Hmmm," he took another gulp. "Shanahan, you''ll teach her magic anyway, right? Such a kid shall not be dumped to the side of the road." "Nope," elder answered without a second thought. "As I told before, she has no tallent. I''m not into spending my time for nothing. Hundreds of kids out there are less smart, but more capable. Each day their parents come with gifts and it''s a shame to refuse them every time. Besides, people won''t accept her as an elder even if I do train her. As I said, a pity." "Hmmmm." his fuffs got gradually longer. "A pity indeed," he looked at me with a soft smile, "but don''t be sad, child. You''ll find your fate eventually." "Galena, don''t you teach her leathery nowadays?" Shanahan asked. "No, she grasped the basics and now it''s up to practice. I teach her cooking, though." "Hmm." Korhal shook his head and started to stare into his mug. Again. "You should have seen her when we told her the story of red eyed tribe, brother. Poor girl cried her eyes out. And guess what she asked Bertram before starting to cry a river. Something like.....ah! "If I was to train until I''m the strongest, aint it alright to be a warrior, noone will be able to scratch me anyway".....or something among the lines, I don''t remember the wording." I was surprised to hear Shanahan complain about not remembering something. It''s was the first time, actually. "She has a right attitude. If you''re a warrior, you have to be greedy. No progress will be made otherwise. But to reach the top you shall go through countless battles, grind your bones into dust, bleed." Korhal told while scratching his nape. "Exactly! No teacher will be able to compose a training method effective enough, to raise her to the top without falling even once." Shanahan looked a bit happy. What the hell is wrong with him? Smiles at all the wrong times, as always. "Hmmmmmm." Korhal grabbed the bottle and made a big gulp. "Lets change the topic, brother. Just look at Akillah. You made her sad with your inquiries, hehehe" "Me?! You made her sad with refusing to take her as a student! You have no right to call ur self a teacher!" Korhal folded his hands crosswise. "Easy, brother, you''re being loud. We shall change theme anyway. How is your training going? How high did you climb?" "Seventh branch." "Impressive! That makes a little bit less then one branch a period. Higher positions do not change all that often. You know, I think you made a right choice to become a warrior. Magic never suited you anyway. If you were to train as a warrior from the beginning, I bet you could rise higher by now." "Wait, what? My ears got deaf for a second. Did you just approve my actions?" "You never listen to me, so no wonder. And, yes, you did well. Do you think you could climb seven more stairs?" "Naah, I''m not getting younger, you know. With all my training I can only keep my shape. I discovered few training methods recently, but they won''t drag me too far at this point." "Such a shame. You should find a student then," Shanahan''s voice was all empathy, "to let your legacy do what you couldn''t." "Hmmm." "What''s up with all this fuffs? What''s on your mind?" Shanahan tensed a bit, as if he was uptight. "No, it''s nothing," Korhal told while looking at me. "Maybe....hmm," he took another gulp while frowning, then reached to grab more meat. "Wonderful meal, Galena, truly a chef-d''oeuvre." Master Korhal didn''t say a word for the rest of repast. Mainly father talked from there, but I didn''t listen at all. My mood was spoiled. Little did I know that the happiest days of both my lifes were about to end. Korhall''s POV My brother is becoming more suspicious day after day. Treating me to a meal, sharing his beloved akebian purple, finding me a nice place to stay. We even talked normally the whole day. The breakfast is going to be delicious too. What the hell does he want from me? And that girl. You could see she''s special. In more than one way. Right attitude, desire.....a bloodline of real fighter. I went out to stretch my bones, but saw Shanahan staring at stars right next to the entrance. Something has been bothering me for a while.... "That kid could be ideal student, you know?" "Forget that. Your training methods will injure her the first day. Don''t give her hope when you can''t keep your word, brother," his words were reasonable, but... "Who told you my methods were dangerous. They''re cruel, indeed, but not harmful. I could.....No, I''m sure I can take care of her. With an early start......do you think it''s wise to let her try?" "You want to steal my student, and ask me what do I think?" "Who''s your student? You don''t teach her properly anyway," this bastard had nerve to neglect her. Ignorant fool. "True, hehehe." His laugh is as lousy as ever. "You shall discuss it with her parents, then with her. You shall be crystal clear about what kind of life she''s going to go through. If that''s what she wishes, then I''ll intrust you with her guidance," he said. I''ve been frowning for a while. It''s a risky affair I conceived, but some things just have to be done. I get agitated about the idea the more I think of it. That letter Shanahan sent me turned to something entirely new. He tried hard to stay nice, so I might as well grant him what he wants. "That favour you wanted to ask. If it''s reasonable, I might help you out." "Ah, the favour," he bite his lower lip. "You see, I forgot what I wanted. The feast was an apology. Sorry." "..." I had no words at start, then felt as anger starts to boil in me. "You mean I took a two months long journey for no reason?" "Yep, no real reason." "You''re not kidding, right?" "Nope." "ARGH! Never! Never again!!" I turn around and go inside the house. This bloody idiot loosed his screws for good. I won''t be able to keep calm if he angers me even more. An important talk is to be done today. Bertram''s POV It''s been one period and eight turns since Shanahan told me and Graven his plan. The day we all waited has finally come. The smell that comes from the north is so good, I bet Korhal is delighted. The only question is, if he''ll take her in. I couldn''t fall asleep and started to play with feather I took from Akilla. Graven says there''s a nasty trick to them. Lets see. I concentrate just enough to make it move. "Wha..??" It didn''t budge. I had to double, then tripple an effort before I could move it a bit. "How?.......Who made these?" Chapter 10 First blood Please, let me know if you find mistakes. Keep in mind, that your cooperation may improve quality of this fiction and make bunny gods happy. ____________________________________________________________ ¡°So, what''s now?¡± Me and Korhal sat under a tree two hours away from my home. It¡¯s been a week since that fateful day, when my future was decided. Mom and dad agreed to let me train under Korhal¡¯s supervision. He left for six days and mom used that time to make me a traveling outfit. It was rather thin, but sturdy enough to prevent unfortunate scratches and minor bruises. It''s not like a scratch will make me mad, but I had to wear it anyway, just to be on the safe side. I also received a backpack from redmaned tyrant¡¯s skin. I didn¡¯t take much with me. A tailoring tools, one single pan for cooking, spice mother uses, my book for notes and a flask of water. Anything else was deemed as unnecessary by Korhal, which returned an hour before our departure. Leaving my people behind was hard, but I could cope with that. I was offered a once in a lifetime chance and made my resolve immediately. Surprisingly, mom and dad took the blow even better than me. Seems like it¡¯s not all that uncommon to part with your children early on. Korhal¡¯s attempt to comfort mom by saying I¡¯m going to return for a coming of age ceremony wasn¡¯t a good idea, though. ¡°So what¡¯s now?¡± I repeated. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to teach you from this very moment,¡± Korhal took a rope and braided two knots around my ankles. ¡°First I¡¯ll teach you how to walk, then how o breath, then how to run. Basic stuff that can be trained during travels.¡± I thought I¡¯ve been doing exactly all that up until now. ¡°Stand up, we have a long way to go,¡± he jumped on his legs and took my backpack. ¡°How am I supposed to walk a long distance with ropes on my legs.I can''t even make a full step. It¡¯s so uncomfortable.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to figure out that by yourself. You¡¯ll get used to that after a week, maybe.¡± He turned around and went with a fast pace. I stood up and scurried after him, but fell miserably after my third step. After two hours of tries and mistakes I finally leveled with Korhal, while panting heavily. I thought I lost him at times, since discerning his smell is rather hard, but leathery smell of my backpack made it easier to follow. My steps got gradually smaller while falls rarer. I also started to use calf muscles more. ¡°Three days ago I spotted a camp near our borders. If things go well, they¡¯ll pass our patrols unspotted,¡± he told. ¡°Wait..huff¡­.. how can an infiltration of hostiles¡­.huff¡­.be a good thing?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be able to take them out ourselves, obviously. You missed a big part of education that Shanahan couldn¡¯t possibly teach. Kids supposed to learn such things the easy way, by sparring and fighting since early childhood. You¡¯re different though.¡± ¡°WHa¡­.huff¡­.you don¡¯t expect me t¡­.huff..to kill a man?¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t be able to, yet. Listen carefully, Akillah. You live in a jungle, where strong devour weak for a reason and without one. It¡¯s neither good, nor bad, that¡¯s just how things are. I bet you didn¡¯t hurt a fly in your life, and that¡¯s a problem. Do you think young cubs feel sorry for hurting their peers in small fights?¡± I didn¡¯t feel like answering since panting got heavier, ¡°They¡¯re not, since it¡¯s a natural thing to do,¡± he continued. ¡°Scratches and bruises tend to heal, while experience you get from them stays forever. Again, you have no luxury to learn on your own mistakes. Of all beastmen, you¡¯re the worst possible student on early stages. Let me make it clear, I''m not trying to tell, that killing left and right is right thing to do. Slavers shall perish, though, their life is not theirs the moment they''ll enter our wood''s shade. I''m planning to use them as an example. Any other kid would have been honored to take a life of a slaver," he made a pause ready to listen, but I had not much left in me. To make things worse, I tripped again and he had to catch me halfway to the ground. "Done, huh? It''s ok, you held longer then I thought you would. Here you go," he said while fatching a flack from my bag. "Huff......hufff....You don''t....hufff......value life...huff.....at all." I said after emptying half of the flask in on go. It was hard to imagine this simpleton to comb his hair, let alone give thoughts to the concept of life. "But I do! Maybe even more than you. Life is valuable because it''s brittle and by no means eternal. No, some beings are eternal, to be frank. All of those are monsters that have no values at all." "What kind of...huff...monsters?" "Ancients." I frowned and tried to remember what Shanahan told me about them. "Didn''t they go crazy and degrade?" "Yes, they did, but all of them in a different way. There are monsters that barely remind of humanoids in dungeons. They kill each other for food, they breed, they sleep and age. But further and deeper, there are also those that retained some crumbles of memories and skills. Those are real monsters. Ever hungry, ever awake. I lost many friends to those abominations," he looked rather sad. "I learned to value life even more in those tunnels. While clashing with a foe you need to be ready for both, to take a life, and to give your own. It''s neither good thing, nor bed, as I said before." "But can''t you, uhm, avoid all clashes?" I told for the sake of argument. "How?" "I don''t know. Put the law or something?" "There is a law between our race and our neighbours that prevents slavery, authorized by both sides. Did they stop coming?" "Ok, how about jails? We could build jails, right?" "The sentence for slavery in our woods is death. Capturing a human alive is harder then killing him outright. You''ll risk your life for what? To put a thug into the jail and feed him meat for a lifetime? I''m not even talking about ecosystem now. We live in a harmony with forest, and our harmony has no place for freeloaders. They knew what awaits them should they fail. Since capturing a beastmen alive is even more difficult, they aim for children. There is nothing wrong for an adult to parish in battle, but children shall not be touched at all times. Didn''t Shanahan teach you what honour is?" "I know what honor is, thank you," I thought to mantion, that humans could handle their criminals themselves, but dropped the idea immediately. "So, I''ll kill someone too? That doesn''t sit right with me." "Hmm, wanna let others do dirty job for you? That," he strengthened his tone, "is what shall not sit right with you?" The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings."I''m not avoiding anything, there is just no need." "And that wonderful boar your mother cooked? It just happened to fall on your father''s spear? Didn''t your mother skin it to make you a durable clothing? Isn''t that what you call "need"?" He stood up and took a flack from my hand. " Why do you even want to become warrior? Do you think warriors are all noble and adorable bunnies that eat rainbows? "They are strong enough to protect themselves." "So to protect yourself shedding blood is not necessary? You better drop that naivety now, while you can, child. If you ever decide to spare your foe''s life, then know, he''ll return stronger then ever. Scars teach humans as good as they teach us," he took a sip from my bottle. "My tongue got sore from all the talking already. Up on your feet and try not to get lost again. I had to change directions and rub your bag against bark to make you turn the right way." he turned around and left my field of vision in few seconds. "Dammit" I swore out loud. First, I lost a track and let that grass-smelling geezer to scratch my backpack. It''s not that I caught up with him, he let me do that. Second, I lost a dispute to someone I considered an idiot. I realy had to reevaluate my attitude to him. He has zero tact and no manners. His social skills are lacking. But he''s not to be looked down on. Third, my legs were heavy. The thought of another two hours of this strange walk was excruciating. I got on my feet anyway. "Wai¡ª", while making a step in his direction I stumbled again, and couldn''t react before falling on the ground like a log. "Fuchh...!" Now I had ground stuck in my nose. Just perfect. While spitting and swearing I continued to chase him. Somewhere in the slavers¡¯ camp Lestard¡¯s POV ¡°Boss! Our scout returned. The patrol passed two hours ago, and won¡¯t be returning for two days at least. We may be able to sneak in, reach our destination before they return and spot our track, then evacuate through reserve route. The way is clear.¡± ¡°Good. We move out immediately. Leave two slowest men here and let them move our stash to the gathering point. Leave the tents behind, when we sell our merchandise, equipment won¡¯t be a problem anymore. Is the scout ready to guide us?¡± ¡°No sir, he needs rest. At least two hours or so.¡± ¡°Feed him one of stamina potions. We can¡¯t wait.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± My lieutenant turned around and left . He was already barking orders while I was tightening all straps on my leather vest. It¡¯s a good thing our customer provided a skilled scout, reconnaissance is crucial in our business. Last time I lost half of my men while trying to enter furballs¡¯ territory just because my scouts had to bring whiskey with them. Idiots didn¡¯t even drink all that much, one or two gulps to shorten the night. Had to string them up in front of survivors to make the bunch stay. They would have left anyway if this business wasn''t as lucrative as it is. Four or five hostages, young or old, can buy a decade''s worth of mercenary income for a whole squad. Damn, if not for my wife and three kids I would have never ventured in too. I promised her sweet life in a big house. Sometimes I see it in my dreams. Me and kids under large oak. She waves her hand to call us in for dinner, while I teach my boys swordsmanship. That dream will come true soon. Five days for operation, two turns to deliver the package, another three to reach home. It¡¯s time to put an end to this. ¡°Men! Move out!¡± I moved to the outskirts of the camp when scout leveled with me. ¡°Have something to say, soldier?¡± ¡°Bad premonition, sir.¡± ¡°What do you mean? You saw something?¡± ¡°No, sir, nothing at all.¡± I stopped in my track and looked at him. The scout refused to look me in the eye and looked to the ground timidly. ¡°Are you mocking me, soldier? Or are you scared to go back to woods?¡± He shook his head and looked at me. He was not scared, he was in panic. I saw such longing look in the eyes of broken soldiers. The eyes that beg for mercy. ¡°Lieutenant!¡± I barked at once, ¡°what did you give him?¡± ¡°Stamina potion, sir, just as you told me.¡± ¡°Look at him. He¡¯s in no shape to guide us. Are there any side effects you know of?¡± ¡°Hmm. We had three potions left, one older then another. He was alright ten minutes ago, sir. I bet he¡¯ll be fine when potion wears off,¡± he reported. ¡°Damn. We have no time to wait. Send another scout ahead and keep an eye on this fool. Off you go!¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± They both left me bad taste in my mouth. Nothing ever goes according to plan. Let¡¯s hope it was last of our surprises. Five days and five turns. Nothing will matter after that. Akillah¡¯s POV I¡¯ve been moving for another two hours before reaching the clearing where Korhal was taking a nap. It¡¯s been only six hours since I left home, but my legs burned and ached all over. After emptying my flask, I fell on thick grass and watched clouds for some time, while still huffing. When I caught my breath some weak screeching sounds caught my attention. A horned rabbit hung on the rope, tied by its legs. Only now did I get, how hungry I was. I got up to wake up master Korhal, but noticed that there was no sword on his hip. It lied beside him, half unsheathed. ¡°Master Korhal, do you really think I¡¯ll believe you¡¯re sleeping?¡± He smiled without opening his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t bother me until diner is ready. And don¡¯t take your ropes off,¡± he told, while scouring grass with his fingers. He found a stone, then threw it at me with his big and index finger. "Ouch! Why did you do that?!" "Why didn''t you dodge? I didn''t even try much," he replied, having his eyes still closed. I took his sword and unsheathed it completely, went to the rabbit and cut its head off. No, rather I wanted to cut it off, but missed the target and injured it instead. Blood, that supposed to drip down, splattered on my arms and made me drop the sword in disgust. Rabbit squealed pitifully. Then, it went silent. And that was it. I wish I could deliver the blow better, though. I got a bit sad but then pain pierced my butt. "Hey, stop that!" I yelled while ducking to avoid third stone, thrown by Korhal. "Bravo! It took you three tries to avoid weakest throw ever. On my scale your reflexes are infinitely close to zero," he showed me "zero" gesture and I spotted another stone flung in my direction. I tried to sidestep, but tripped and ended up eating dirt again. "Buehh..." It''s going to be long and annoing journey. Chapter 11 Second blood I lost my carrier sometime amidst this week. Some of my notes just vanished and it took me few days to live through my loss. Sorry for late update. I never set any time frame for releases, but it surely took me awhile. Let me know if you find mistakes. _______________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Wake up, brat.¡± I opened my eyes and saw Korhal right above me. The skies were still dark with pink stray near the horizon and the only source of light and warmth was fire beside me. ¡°Already? It¡¯s like six in the morning.¡± My legs were sore from yesterday exercises. ¡°Yeah. Something came up. Say hi to our visitor.¡± ¡°Hello?¡± I rubbed my eyes and focused on figure that stood just outside the lighted area. ¡°¡±I¡¯m Akillah¡± ¡°What does a child do near the borders?¡± He asked ignoring my introduction. ¡°My student. I spotted that camp few days ago and wanted to¡­educate her, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°You should have reported it first, master. We spotted the scout by pure chance. Had to pretend to not see him. Humans get more skilled in hiding year by year,¡± he grumbled, ¡°thirty miles north, right between Malokan and Log outposts. You may make it if you move now. I shall carry my own orders, though.¡± He stood up and disappeared in woods without saying anything else. ¡°Who was that?¡± I didn¡¯t see neither his face, nor outfit. Just a silhouette. ¡°Scout. Messenger. Whatever. You have ten minutes to stuff your belly and get ready. I shall give you a ride just this time.¡± He took our flasks, turned 180 degrees and went into woods just like scout before. ¡°As if I could run at all.¡± Now, when I was fully awake, I felt how sore my legs really were. I massaged them with one hand while finishing the rabbit with another. Soreness lessened a little but ache only grew stronger. I should have expected this much, It¡¯s not like I was used to marathons, let alone my actual age. Ten minutes later my few belongings were packed and stomach filled. I was in the middle of stretching when Korhal returned. ¡°Catch!¡± He threw me a bottle and a stone at the same time. Throwing small stones at me was sort of his hobby, or something. While avoiding a stone I barely managed to catch my flask. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± The liquid inside was thick and sweet like honey. ¡°Juice of kamela tree. Couldn¡¯t find a stream nearby. Also take this,¡± he threw a belt with a knife to the ground near my legs, ¡°Don¡¯t cut yourself.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you give it to me yesterday. Butchering a rabbit with a sword wasn¡¯t comfy, you know?¡± ¡°Its edge is covered in strong and painful paralytic poison. We would drop dead for a week if you were to use it while cooking. It¡¯s for your training purposes. While using, or learning to use weapons, all kind of unfortunate accidents tend to happen. Your next mistake will be unforgettable, I can promise you that,¡± he winked at me, while smiling viciously. ¡°What now?¡± I tightened the belt around my waist and put my bag on. Poison didn¡¯t scare me all that much, I just have to either be careful or not use it at all. ¡°Will you be alright? Thirty miles is a long distance.¡± ¡°Ahah, you better care for yourself, little rascal.¡± He took a stone and demonstratively aimed at me with one eye closed. I jumped to the side when he let it lose, but instead of lending I was picked midair. He grabbed me by my newly acquired belt and dumped me on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. ¡°You don¡¯t think carin-¡± ¡°Oh, yes I do. Relax and don¡¯t raise your head, unless you wanna kiss a trunk with the back of your head.¡± He bent his legs and fired like an arrow through the brushwood. Four hours later. ¡°Oh no¡­.I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± I stood on my knees with my hands on the ground and tears in my eyes. That was hell of a ride, I say. Imagine a muscle car driving without shock absorbers through wilderness. I wish I saved rabbit for later, since the rest of it tried to get outside right now. While Korhal¡¯s speed was nothing I ever experienced and made me rather excited at starts, the rest of my ride got ugly. Whenever there was no clear path on the ground he jumped on branches and used them as stepstones to propel us further. While it sounds cool, the actual force of such jumps messed me up to the point I would rather ride a cannonball. I¡¯ve been on my knees for five minutes, but nausea was yet to dissappear. Also, my ass hurt from hitting all that small branches on such speed. I rolled on my back and sipped a bit of kamela juice. Keeping in mind patience, I refused to ask Korhal to demonstrate his martial arts until the time comes. I mean, we weren¡¯t even training for real yet, why rush? This ride, be it comfortable or not, gave me a glimpse on abilities of a branch holder. I bet he held back quite a bit, since he always keeps it manageable for me. Even with a stones. He threw them so that I would be able to dodge just barely. If he was to use his full force, he could probably kill me with a grain of sand. I smiled inwardly at the look of my own prospects. The thought of being able to move like that one day brought a good feeling to me. ¡°Done spacing out yet?¡± Korhal jumped from the tree he climbed right after ducking me. ¡°No¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie, your face isn¡¯t green anymore. I found us perfect seats in the first row, better be going before someone takes them.¡± ¡°Ugh. I thought we¡­.ahh, nevermind.¡± Little wobbly, I dragged my feet after him. After short walk we climbed a hill covered with high grass. A majestic view opened before me when I reached the top. Usually you have to climb a tree to see forest¡¯s crowns, but not now. ¡°See the tight passage down the cliff? It¡¯s was chiseled by a stream that forms during monsoon.¡± He showed me a twenty foot wide canyon not too far from us. ¡°A good place to hide, but even better for an ambush. Humans got very confident if they have chosen to go through here. Or hasty. Going through jungles could take twice as much time. See those trees near the exit? Our guys are already there, hiding in the leaves.¡± ¡°How long until-¡± ¡°Soon,¡± he interrupted, ¡°be quiet now.¡± We both hid in the grass. I saw few brawls in the village, while making my way to Shanahan¡¯s hut, but that was the worse act of aggression I ever witnessed in this world. Seeing a battle must be whole another thing. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to like what I¡¯m about to see, but the more I waited, the faster my heart bumped. After fifteen minutes Korhal raised his finger and pointed at far side of the canyon. I didn¡¯t see anything at all at starts. I thought there were no figures or movements at all, until small waverings of the grass caught my attention. Something was there. If not for Korha¡¯s pointer I could mistake it for a snake or a boar, but as it was making its way through canyon the silhouette of a figure in dark-green cloak got more distinct. The grass on the bottom wasn¡¯t as high as on our hill, two feets or so. Yet the figure ducked so low that it was hard to spot him from above, let alone from the ground. The man, or maybe woman, reached the middle of the passage and stopped to look around. After two minutes near the entrance appeared few more figures. I raised my head to count them but Korhal pressed me to the ground with his hand, then showed his bunch of five three times. Fifteen. Tough looking man, probably the boss, went ahead to the scout and started the conversation. ¡°Why did you stop?¡± Thanks to our species keen hearing I was able to catch what he told, albeit just barely. ¡°This is a good place for an ambush, sir. I can¡¯t guarantee our safety.¡± ¡°Keep going. We don¡¯t have much time. Luck is on our side,¡± he told and turned around while drivin his sword out. The rest of the group copied him immediately. Slowly they made their way through the canyon until scout reached the tree line. When he looked up two arrows pierced his shoulders and he fell like a log. At the same time five beastmen landed near the dead body and kicked dirt so hard the ground made a fountain like image. Eight more arrows flew to the main group, but none of them hit the target since humans ducked in all sides. ¡°Ambush!¡± the boss cried who knows what for. He didn¡¯t even have time to make orders before first five beastmen with longswords jumped right to the centre of their already broken formation and divided the group in two. Another volley of arrows killed two men on the sides of attackers before archers dropped their bows and jumped from trees to join our brethren. With humans divided along two sides of the canyon they had not much place for maneuver and ended up stumbling on each other. While beastmen formed a round formation between humans and kept them occupied, two groups of two beastmen jumped on both sides of the cliff and used claws to fixate themselves upon humans. Their daggers, thrown from above, were harder to dodge and killed or injured another three men. While casualties on humans side grew, two humans tried to run and were pierced in their back with spears. The boss of the group put a good and desperate fight. Vicious sparks flew each time he hit a sword or a dagger. He wounded badly one beastman and injured another, but couldn¡¯t finish him off before thrown dagger landed in his thigh. The boss fell on one knee and had his right arm sliced off by a lightning fast dush of swing beastmen. ¡°ARgh¡­ please, my childr-¡± he couldn¡¯t finish because a spear went through his throat from behind and buried deep into the ground. The man should have died right away, but I saw him raise his hand and put it on the spear, as if he wanted to lean on it. Still standing on one knee, with blood flowing like a river from both his arm and throat, he refused to let go even when his last man fell. ¡°Died standing, huh?¡± Korhal mused. ¡°Get up, let¡¯s go down and greet our warriors.¡± I got up and followed Korhal, shaken and nauseous, but for another reason now. Being honest, I didn¡¯t want to go down as the smell of blood was bad enough from afar. As we reached the trees where our men previously hide, I saw five more beastmen, sitting on the branch, eating and chatting happily. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they join the fight, master?¡± ¡°To make odds even. Fifteen on fifteen. Besides, four of them seem to be just trainees.¡± ¡°But we sustained injuries! The fight could be so much easier.¡± ¡°We learn from injuries, child. Our men were injured because of their own sloppiness. And how are you supposed to learn if you swarm your enemies like ants a caterpillar.Thair ambush was good, but they¡¯re lacking in more than few ways. If humans fought like their boss, half of our men would be dead.¡± As we neared the tree two of beastmen jumped down to greet us. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Korhal, is that you, old fox? AHAHA. Long time no see. Finally found a stu¡­.,¡± he glanced at me and shut down momentarily. While rising his brows he gave Korhal a look of surprise. ¡°Barlen, you¡¯re with your own, as it seems?¡± Korhal continued nonchalantly. ¡°Hah! Guess who discovered intruders? Noone turned an ear until he told he feels like being watched. I pressed an ear to the ground and heard one single step. Thought it¡¯s an animal at starts, but you know how it is, animals don¡¯t disappear in thin air. Redl, this is master Korhal, a branch holder just like me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a honor, master,¡± the student beside Barlen gave short bow, than looked at me with a snicker. Is he looking down on me? Some people should not be praised too much since it¡¯s getting to their head. Judging by his looks he could be twenty or even thirty. There are less then ten people I met in person, so I still found it hard to guess how old a person is, but something told me he is young. Looking down on a child isn¡¯t the most mature behavior, after all. ¡°Akillah, I¡¯ll chat here for awhile,¡± he bent down and took a flask of water from dead scout. ¡°You go fetch us three more canteens, humans shall have some. You don¡¯t mind if we take them, Barlen?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, we have plenty.¡± He put his hands to his mouth and imitated khuru bird¡¯s cry, than gave few signs to warriors in the canyon. With a light push to my back Korhal sent me forth. If you ask me, making a child scavenge bodies for water is by no means normal. Isn¡¯t his ¡°education¡± going too far? The warriors at the battlefield were busy with treating wounds. Two beastmen chatted near wounded man and I came closer to hear their conversation. ¡°¡­toughest guy always have to scream he has children? They should think of their kids before crossing our borders, not after,¡± he stopped and looked at me without hiding his amusement. ¡°Is he going to be alright?¡± I asked while pointing at badly wounded man with dog ears, that was treated by another two warriors. One of them held bloodied bandage against huge gash on his chest. ¡°We sent for healer even before battle, so he shall be fine, child,¡± mouse eared warrior before me answered. We hadn¡¯t had many of his kin in or village, so I found him interesting. Their tails were pretty. ¡°He won¡¯t stand up soon, though,¡± he added and turned away. I went further and reached first body in a minute, bent down and took his flask. The man was rather old, with stripes of grey hair. If not for blood on his chest I could think he¡¯s just sleeping. It¡¯s not that the smell of blood is absolutely bad, it¡¯s just too thick and very specific. A small amount of blood adds tasty scent to meat, but in this quantities it drove no app¨¦tit at all. To make things worse, the grass that reached my waist was also bloodied and I got dirty too. ¡°Got one, two more to g-.¡± Suddenly, something grabbed my ankle from behind and pulled down. ¡°AAhhh¡± I cried out loud from surprise still not understanding what¡¯s going on. An arm covered my mouth and effortlessly raised me up. ¡°NONE OF YOU COME CLOSE!¡± The man behind me yelled while holding the knife near my face. My eyes ducked to deadman I scavenged a second ago, thinking that maybe he pretended to be dead, but his body lied right where it supposed to. It means that I didn¡¯t see another human hiding in the grass. No one did. ¡°She¡¯ll go with me¡­.you hear that? One step and she¡¯s dead¡­.¡± His voice was full of terror and I got even more scared. It¡¯s one thing to be captured by a human, but being captured by a man driven to the corner is so much worse. I swung my lags back and forth in attempt to get away from him, but with no result. He held me like a ragdoll. Korhal already leveled with the rest of our man, but didn¡¯t dare to come any closer. The distance between us was too long to reach in time, even for him. With nothing much to do, I bite the hand that held me with all my might and felt my canines sink into the flesh. ¡°ARgh!¡± Thick blood filled my mouth and he let go of me for a bare second, but even before reaching the ground I was captured again. This time he grabbed me by throat. ¡°Try this again, and you won¡¯t see with this eye of yours,¡± he turned me around and brought me so close to him I could smell his foul breath. His knife¡¯s edge touched my brow while his grip tightened to the point I couldn¡¯t breath at all. After looking into his sick rounded eyes I got scared for real. Figured something has to be done, or he¡¯ll choke me here and now. While feeling adrenaline rush through me, I put my hand on the knife on my back, then drew it as fast as I could and put it into his stomach, down to the hilt. The fool was so scared and disoriented that he didn¡¯t check if I¡¯m armed. Or maybe he didn¡¯t bother to since I was just a child. Not many children carry weapons after all. He tried to avoid my blade, but the distance was just too small. By reflex he dropped me and made two steps back. ¡°Ugh¡­,¡± was all he could mutter before a dozen of arrows turned him into hedgehod. While turning to our men I felt something was wrong with me. My right eye didn¡¯t see because liquid flooded it. I put my hand on it and saw the liquid to be red. Is it blood? Is it mine or his? After few moments I couldn¡¯t distinguish the blood since the world changed color. No. It¡¯s my vision that turned to all shades of red. I looked up and saw red colored Korhal running to me, leaving other warriors far behind. An arrow slowly made its way past my ear to the hedgehod behind me. It has got hard to breathe. I raised my hand to my throat, expecting to find another arm strangling me, but found nothing. The corners of my sight got dark. ¡°Akillah! Look at me!¡± Korhal screamed somewhere. His arms were on my shoulders. ¡°Hah¡­.hah¡­.hard¡­.to breath¡­,¡± when did he get so close? My head hurt and I heard shrilling peep in my ears. A burning sensation quickly grew in my chest. When it grew to the peak, someone screamed right into my ears and I felt the rest of the oxygen leave my lungs. The world turned upside down. The last image I catched with my fading consciousness was that of red skies and Korhal¡¯s head looking above me. Korhal¡¯s POV Damn! I messed up badly. Galena is going to kill me when she learns I let her child be injured the very next day after leaving her house. ¡°Is she going to be alright? What¡¯s with her eye?¡± Barlen stood beside me while I pressed a rag from my robe to stop bleeding. ¡°Her sight is not damaged. There¡¯ll be a scar across her eye, though.¡± I used to say that scars are best teachers, but Akillah is just a child. It¡¯s too early for her to get scars, let alone her special condition. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Korhal, it was our fight we failed to finish. There was sixteen of them, after all.¡± ¡°We both know my student is my responsibility alone. She wasn¡¯t supposed to be here in the first place.¡± It was stupid to leave her alone. She acts mature all the time, but a child is a child. Should have sent an escort with her. ¡°I think she¡¯s poisoned¡± Barlen told after measuring her pulse. ¡°She¡¯s weak.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because of kamela fruit¡¯s poison. She scratched herself with her knife. I checked right after she fell.¡± ¡°Are you crazy? Kamela poison? That¡¯s not a weapon for a child. She¡¯ll be out for a week¡­and pain¡­she¡¯ll regret waking up at all!¡± ¡°That poison is the only reason she¡¯s not raging right now. That¡¯s what you call blessing in disguise. You know red-eyed tribe¡¯s curse, right?¡± More people gathered around us, including Redl. Two of them went to the scout to search him. ¡°Masters, I think you should look at this,¡± after a minute one of men brought me a bloodied cloak. I took it and understood what he meant right away. Unnatural warmth went through my fingers in waves. Without saying a word, I passed it to Barlen. ¡°Huh? It¡¯s enchanted item. Maybe even an artifact!¡± Amused whispers were heard all around us. It¡¯s the first time most of our men saw such an item. ¡°No wonder he slipped past us. This things are rare.¡± Barlen concluded. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, master. Why didn¡¯t he either join the battle or run away by himself?¡± Redl asked. ¡°Good question. Did you see his eyes? The man was scared shitless. He probably feared to make a move, until Akillah practically stepped on him. If you ask me, he was just a coward.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Barlen¡¯s words had reason, but something didn¡¯t fit. Cowards don¡¯t go to dungeons. No one gives such equipment to cowards either. ¡°Was that a battlecry she made right before falling?¡± A mouse eared warrior joined the conversation. ¡°I felt little off for a second.¡± An approving murmur broke from various directions. ¡°HAH. A battlecry? I would rather call it a kittypurr. The effect was strange, though. Korhal, what did you do to her to teach it so early? There are five man in my group that can display battlecries, none of them younger than twenty five.¡± Barlen asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t teach her a thing yet. It¡¯s her bloodline alone,¡± I thought a little than added, ¡°As for effect, it seems rather than buffing herself and those around her, it decreased the morale of those around, be it friend or foe.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that useless? She won¡¯t be able to fight in a group.¡± Redl snickered. ¡°She was never meant to fight in a group. A natural loner, so to say.¡± I clearly see flaws in this kid¡¯s character. Hopefully Barlen knows how to fix it. I stayed to chat with them to have a good look at him in the first place. People started to walk away to tend for their own business. ¡°What are you going to do next?¡± With only two of us left Barlen asked. ¡°Wait for the healer to patch her up. Then¡­.,¡± an idea came to my head. If things went this way, might as well play my cards right. ¡°Barlen? I need to find a region with thickest growth near the cliff. The thicker the better. In fact, I need it to be so tick I would find it hard to go through without dirtying my robes. Also, a pair of wolves. Did your man stumble on any nearby?¡± ¡°What are you going to do with wolves?¡± He drew his tongue out and made puzzled face. ¡°The more you know, the less you sleep, old rat.¡± This face of his reminded me of the day I saw it for the first time. That day, nearly forty years ago, I won his branch in a battle. ¡°You should take that cloak. Quite a trophy she earned, huh? It¡¯s a shame we put so many holes in it. The effect might have decreased, but it¡¯s worth a fortune anyway.¡± With that he stood up and went to his men to ask about wolves and stuff. I picked the cloak and looked at rays of light go through holes in it. Hopefully Akillah will be able to mend it to some extent. Also, I hope she won¡¯t be too mad after what I¡¯m going to do. Chapter 12 The fruits sap Hello, guys and gals. Just wanted to say how much I like reading your comments, feel free to leave them. Also, let me know if there are any mistakes I should correct. Thanks for reading! __________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Ugh¡­uh¡± Pain was the first thing my waking brain registered. It was so sharp I could hardly make a breath. More of it came as I tried to open my eyes so I canceled all pitiful attempts for a time being. ¡°..haha¡­hah¡± I laughed and suffocated at the same time. It¡¯s funny how many muscles, tendons and bones are there in our bodies we don¡¯t even know exist, until they hurt like hell. With laugh tears went down my cheeks as my ribs felt like cracking all over. I almost fainted because of pain. Almost. I wish I could, but some part of me fought to regain control over my body. Pain continued to come in waves as my chest raised up and down. A torturous breath in. A blissful exhale. Wave after wave I learned how to breath again. Some may say that feeling pain is a good sight, means I¡¯m alive. If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ve never been so lively. My whole life shrank to a single rhythm. Inhale, exhale. Something simple as that took all my willpower and then some more. I opened my eyes just barely but didn¡¯t see a clear picture at starts. Took me few minutes of blinking before the blur I saw turned into trees and leaves. It was dark and quiet here, which was strange. With slit irises and cat ears I almost forgot what darkness and quietness were. Even wind has its own voice, but it didn¡¯t reach here too. What surprised me even more was that I was standing. What I previously assumed to be solid ground behind my back turned to be a tree to which I was tied with ropes. They covered me from head to toe. What the hell happened to me? Was I kidnapped after all? The last thing I remember was¡­.killing a man that held me captured, so why? Was there another assault? It¡¯s hard to imagine someone who could bring Korhal, another branch holder and the rest down. ¡±Ugh¡­¡± Slowly but surely I started to move my body, one part at a time. The pain did not decrease one bit, but it has got easier to coup with it. It¡¯s marvelous how adaptive leaving creatures can be. What doesn''t kill ¨C makes stronger, right? All my senses screamed danger so I had to do something. I grabbed the rope that circled me and waited until senses returned to the tips of my fingers. While moaning involuntarily through tight clenched teeth I searched for any knots I could untie. There were none. Exhausted and angered I hung limp on my ropes for awhile, until energy returned again. ¡°What now?¡± I thought. ¡°The rope doesn¡¯t allow me to move much, so there is no way I can leave without undoing it first. Can I cut it with my claws?¡± I placed a nail to the rope and kept moving it back and forth until I felt few threads sticking out. ¡°Good. That¡¯s the start. I can drag myself out of this.¡± Around half an hour later the rope ripped and I started to wiggle around to let myself out. Had to make short breaks to catch a breath and let the pain calm down a little. It hit me with waves just like before. After another five minutes I managed to free myself, but my legs gave away and I fell on the ground. The hit shook me hard and I had to screw up my eyes and bite my lover lip to not let myself howl like a coyote. I could only guess whom might my voice drag. Damn. Why does it hurt so much? Was I beaten? What kind of sick moron would beat an unconscious girl, than tie her to a tree? ¡°Awhoooooooo!¡± A piercing cry of a wolf somewhere not too far cut the silence in shreds. Cold sweat appeared on my forehead as I cursed my bad luck. The fear of being eaten alive is by far the most dreadful feeling I ever experienced. It forced me on my feet in a heartbeat, but I fell on my knee after just one step, as another wave of pain came. ¡°Awooooooo!¡± Another cry much closer rang. I stood up again and had to endure spasm that assaulted my leg. The growth around was unnaturally thick, so much that no light came through leaves. Luckily, the only passable path leaded right in the opposite direction from where wolves were. Some bushes were recently rooted. I bet whoever brought me here used the same path and I risk to stumble upon him, but that¡¯s the least of my problems right now. Kidnappers want you alive at least. I wonder what kind of beating did they use to make my body feel pain with every single move? Without wasting any more time I limped ahead as fast as I could. It''s hard to describe a pain that assaults you with every step, goes through your spine and spreads through whole body like electric shocks. I wouldn''t even dare to make another move, if not for fear and urge to live through another day. ¡°Ugh¡­no¡­.¡±I said as sounds of four pairs of paws hitting the ground reached my ears. I wish I could say I was all brave and collected, but that would be a blunt lie. Constant pain was wearing me down fast, so I made my steps smaller and more frequent, just the way I did while wearing ropes Korhal put on me. While tilting my centre of mass forward I brought into running. Surprisingly, I sped up quite a bit without increasing the rebound on my body. The path I used turned to the right, where rays of light were seen through the growth. The light made sharp contrast with dim darkness and I couldn¡¯t really see what¡¯s there. What drove me near was both hope and despair. I heard low growl few steps behind me right before making one last jump. A second later I understood my mistake. As leaves hit my face, as a brief moment of blindness caused by bright light passed, I realized my end is inevitable. There was no ground below me, and what appeared to be a clearing was actually a verge of a cliff. Time froze for a brief second. My arm shoot backwards to grab something. Anything. It was too late, though. ¡°So that¡¯s how I die?¡± the thought crossed my mind. While falling down I looked up at two wolfs¡¯ snouts sticking from the edge of the cliff and blue skies behind them. I wish I could see my mother, cooking for dad again. I wish I could share a story with him, have him as a listener just once. I did not scream. I wasn¡¯t afraid any more. My last two tears were for those two I left behind. Baren¡¯s POV ¡°Korhal? I think you are seriously sick. No, that¡¯s far beyond sick. At this point you¡¯re dangerous for those around you. You know, there is a rumor about an elder in Lerosh village, who deals with mental issues. I could take a vacation and show you the wa-¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°There is no need to waste your vacation, old rat. And what exactly makes you think there¡¯s something wrong with me? ¡± ¡°What shall I start with?¡± My eyes almost jumped out from sockets because of ignorance this sadist showed. ¡°First you make my man mow the grass with their swords for a whole week.¡± ¡°But we cleared the whole path. No human is dumb enough to cross this canyon without cover. It¡¯ll take another five years until grass grows as high. In fact, you should mow it every now and then.¡± ¡°Then you brought two wild wolves and made MY student run from them for six days. As if hurting your own wasn¡¯t enough. He got bitten thrice!¡± ¡°Nonono. I made him train wolfs, see the difference? You got two tracking dogs and your student took both, taming skill and a blow to his pride. He won¡¯t stick his nose so high anymore. Your soft demeanor made him too prideful for his own good. Maybe when wolves give offsprings each and every man in your squad''ll have a dog. You may not thank me.¡± ¡°As if!! You tied your own student to a tree. She hung there the whole time!¡± ¡°But her body was struck with kamela poison. Those pain convulsions are no joke, you know? She could dislocate her own limbs while unconscisious. Or worse, bite her tongue off. I did her a favor by fixating her so well.¡± ¡°Rubbish. You poisoned her dagger in the first place!¡± My mind went blank. This situation is complete, utter nonsence. ¡°I made it clear to her that the blade should not be touched. She poisoned herself.¡± I had nothing to add. It¡¯s been almost forty years since we met last time. I heard rumors about how fast students ran from Korhal, but paid no attention. Was he already sick back then, or got his mental state just recently? Is it some extreme form of dementia? The fear went down my spine, as I¡¯m not getting younger too. ¡°What kind of teacher makes their students fall from the cliff?¡± ¡°Oh, finally a good question! I fell once too,¡± he started and I immediately felt it explains much. ¡°From the cliff, I mean. Fell, but survived,¡± he continued. ¡°The moment I realized my end is near the time almost froze. You see, upon death our brain overloads to the max to let us find the way out. That''s a self-preservation reflex, so to say. And guess what? My reflexes got so much better after that accident! That was the fastest breakthrough I ever experienced. Wish I could fall again.¡± "Oh, I could help you with that." "Nah, the element of surprise is needed. Such things don''t seem to work out on purpose. Checked already." "Did a thought she could run a different way even cross your mind?" "In times of urgency we choose an easiest path. It'' wasn''t hard to calculate where to dump all that grass. It''s weird she even fainted upon landing, one could dive into that heap headfirst and stay perfectly fine. Few of your men took a liking of that attraction and are jumping down right now. They went as far as calling it the leap of faith. You wanna have a go?" "No, thank you." I had enough of his bullshit. My heart almost stopped when I saw poor girl''s fall. "Her being able to make all the way to the cliff is a miracle by itself," I said aloud. "Yeah. A nasty stuff, that poison. Wanna know how it works?" He stuck his chest out, obviously being proud to know stuff. "I''m not sure. But go ahead, tell me." I guessed he''ll tell me anyway. "You see, our body produces thousands of concoctions, that all have some influence on us. Along with your body, kamela poison numbs a part of brain and blocks some of those substances, including pain relievers, from being produced. As a result, you start to feel how your bones rub against each other, how your muscles rip little by little under pressure, etc. That makes this poison perfect to train a pain fortitude. She won''t even flinch from any non fatal strikes from now on and having this poison on her blade''ll surely teach her to be careful with weapons. A win - win situation, don''t you think?" "That''s if you''ll still have a student by tomorrow. If I was her, I would flee from you as from plague. You really think she''ll stay after this?" "She will. No other teacher will take her in anyway." "Yeah, noone is crazy anough to teach martial arts to blood-eyed tribe. As if they''re not dangerous anough. You probably forgot all the stories from childhood." "Those are partly myths and prejudices, since blood-eyed tribe also left a positive handprint on our history." "Yeah? Mind giving an example?" "That''s a long story for another time, old rat. I better go and check how my student is doing. About time for her to wake up." Korhal''s POV She gave a moan five minutes after I entered the tent. Means she wakes up again. With a wave of my hand I let the healer go. He gave me a scornful look, but left us alone nonetheless. "Are you there, little raskal?" I asked, while sitting on the chair on the opposite side of the tent.. "Ugh....Korhal? Is that you?" She blinked few times before her sight focused on me. With one hand she palpated warious parts of her body. "I''m still in one piece, it seems," she told, then gave a deep sight of relief. "What happened?" "To make things short, you poisoned yourself with a dagger I gave you. The pain should have lessened by now." "I did?" "Uhuh. It was just a scratch but the size doesn''t metter when it comes to poisons." She raised herself on her hands and took a sitting position. "And then?" "Before you get upset with me, I want to let you know everything was for your own good. I set the whole thing with ropes and wolves," her face turned into one massive frown. "Just wanted to give you....experience," a tiny killing intent tickled my senses. Good. That''s the way she should be. "You did well, by the way." To be frank, I felt proud for both, myself as a teacher, and her as a student. I stood up and went for the exit, but turned around before leaving and fetched a small rock out of my pocket. "Catch." I threw the rock twice as hard as before. With one clumsy but fast move she placed her hand between rock and her face, letting it land right at the centre of her palm. "Get well." Without saying anything else I left the tent with a smile on my face. Chapter 13 Rumors fly A bit of foul language this time. I hope I dont need to add a warning in my sinopsis just because of this much. Thanks for reading! ___________________________________________________________________________ "The traveler''s notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629. Chapter 2 "Falcon Empire" Page 21 The capital of The Empire, Diantes City, is a holder of many records, that should be mentioned to let you understand its pros and cons. Aside from being the largest and most populated (250k souls) city in the world, it is famous for having the largest number of museums, theaters, churches, restaurants, sculptures, parks, etc. Diverse cultural life of this city earned it a reputation of a ¡°town with thousand faces¡±. You could never be sure, what impression Diantes will make on you the next time you visit. Other records only strenghten that nickname. Diantes is also the dirtiest city with largest number of brothels, arenas, gambling houses and prisons. As you already guessed, not all its faces are pleasant ones. There is a saying, which you may find amusing. ¡°You¡¯re not an actor, if you never walked the stage behind the Diantes walls, neither are you a blacksmith if no guard from Diantes wore your sword even once. You¡¯re not a tailor, or a thief, or chef. Not until you tried one of Diantes masks on.¡± Think of it, dear reader. Perhaps it¡¯s about time you should pack your things and test your luck in the capital of the world? If so, then make peace with all gods you know, as one or two blessings won¡¯t be enough. Feral Forest Log outpost ¡°Are you really going to be fine, girl?¡± I was waiting for Korhal with my belongings packed, ready to depart, when Barlen¡¯s voice dragged me from thoughts. ¡°Name¡¯s Akillah,¡± I replied without turning around. After what happened recently I highly doubt anything can brake me. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± The answer was obvious but I wanted to tease him anyway. He¡¯s been giving me weird glances for the whole week. I turned around and was pleased to see confusion on his face. ¡°For ancestors¡¯ sake, why are you still here? You know what I mean,¡± he parried with another obvious question ¡°I want to become strong.¡± It¡¯s truth the thought of leaving never crossed my mind. I have a goal now. I won¡¯t step off. ¡°You¡­you know I...,¡± his ears told me he¡¯s embarrassed, ¡°¡­I could teach you.¡± It was extremely rude for a beastmen to try and steal a student. He must be pretty serious if he decided to go that far. ¡°I don¡¯t need pity, master Barlen. You just want to take me in to go easy on me. ¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with making it slow? You¡¯re young. There¡¯s still much time,¡± he argued. ¡°To the contrary, I don¡¯t have time at all. The next injury may be last for me,¡± I pointed at my scar. Healers did good job mending it. It¡¯s a pity we don¡¯t have mirrors, but Korhal says it¡¯s going to be thin, but intimidating. ¡°All of you were there, yet none could do a thing. It¡¯s up to me to protect myself and to be safe I need to be the strongest. You just don¡¯t have the right heart to drag me to the top, master Barlen.¡± ¡°Does he have? I can¡¯t approve his methods no matter what.¡± ¡°Me neither, but¡­.I improved a lot.¡± We both gave a deep sight. ¡°You know, he told me and my parets it¡¯s going to be as hard as he could make it. My special conditions do not allow me a single mistake, so we all agreed. I honestly thought I knew what am I stepping into. All in all, the decision was made. I can go back, but I don¡¯t want to.¡± I wanted to stop at that, but interesting thought entered my mind. ¡±You know what¡¯s funny? I¡¯ve been feeling so alive these past few days. Just as a newborn.¡± ¡°I see¡­..I see,¡± he held his chin with one hand while looking downwards. Another sigh escaped his mouth. ¡°So, the top, huh? We shall meet again then, Akillah. As for now, sixty seventh branch is mine, feel free to come after me when you feel like it. Also, if the day will come when you fight Korhal, please let me know. I would love to see his ass kicked,¡± he turned around and left me alone. Grassy smell entered my nose and I immediately turned around and catched another stone flung at me. ¡°Hahah, the fool finally talked to you.¡± Korhal¡¯s mood was rather good. ¡°He¡¯s been making circles around you for awhile.¡± I didn¡¯t answer and we stood in silence for a minute. ¡°So, what now?¡± I asked. It¡¯s been less than two weeks since I left home, but they felt like ages. Years away from home are yet to come. ¡°I think we had this conversation already. I¡¯ll teach you how to run and breath. You did well adjusting your running stance while running from wolves, but there¡¯s still a lot to improve.¡± He sat down before me, fetched a rope from his robes and tied two knots around my ankles. ¡°I¡¯m not making the rope any shorter, so it should be comfortable to some extent. You should focus on your breathing instead.¡± ¡°Is there going to be some theory before practice?¡± I don¡¯t want to go through do or die experience all the time. ¡°Mind giving me some pointers?¡± ¡°How am I supposed to make your lungs supplement you with enough air with words alone? They¡¯ll extend to meet my¡­.our demands the natural way. We have a lot of running to do, so it shall keep you occupied.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just drag me to our destination in few days?¡± I immediately regretted asking. There is no way I would ride him for another hour, let alone a week. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate basic training, little rascal,¡± he told harshly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to deal with your lack of stamina on the island. Besides, ropes on your legs make you use more muscles. Also, your tendons in ankles shall become more elastic and help us decrease the risk of traumas. We¡¯ll have as much running as you could take starting now.¡± He picked my sack and made a step in eastern direction. ¡°Wait, we¡¯re going the same way, why do we need to go apart?¡± ¡°First, to train your sense of smell. Second, I need to shoo all the beasts in the woods. Didn¡¯t you find it strange not a single creature attacked you during the first day of our journey? And lastly, I¡¯m going to throw stones at you from time to time. For your reaction, of course,¡± he added quickly, ¡°not because it¡¯s funny or anything. Use your knife to repel them.¡± I sighed again and went after him to the east. It isn¡¯t going to be easy, but¡­why do I feel so good? Falcon Empire Outskirts of Diantes City ¡°Thirty axes¡± tavern No customers were seen in the tavern this late through the night, except of one. A shabby man and a bartender stood against each other, from different sides of the bar table. ¡°I think the Emperor is sick.¡± Long silence hung in the air. The bartender finished to polish one glass, than took another. ¡°Edward,¡± bartenders voice was kind and caring, ¡°How many times I shall tell you? Don¡¯t bother me with utter bullshit. Any information that begins with words ¡°I think¡± can¡¯t be sold. Also, make your report longer. You understand me? Longer means three sentences, ¡° he showed fingers according to number, ¡± four¡­.maybe five?¡± ¡°But you told me too keep it short last time.¡± ¡°I told you to stop blabbering about your neighbor¡¯s affairs and get to the point, you bloody idiot!¡± Bartender threw his rag on the table. ¡°Ok, the cousin of my mother knows a cook, who works in the castle. She cooks dessert for emperor himself. He even offered her nobility for her recipes, but old hag refused it. Can you believe? I mean, who cares about recipes when-¡° ¡°My patience is running out, Edward¡± A crack formed on the glass in bartender¡¯s hand. He calmly put it down and took another one. ¡°Oh¡­where wa¡­khm¡­where was I,¡± the man choked. ¡°Yeah. There was a huge skirmish in the castle three nights ago and no desserts were requested since then.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s it? Your informer is¡­..a dessert? Maybe his majesty wants to lose some weight? Maybe he finally found a woman?¡± ¡°But no one saw him for the last three days.¡± ¡°No one saw his majesty for a year . Did the niece of your mother tell you ho-¡± ¡°Not niece, sir. Cousin.¡± ¡°For fuc*s sake, Edard! We both know you don¡¯t have neither mother, nor cousin,¡± his eyes pierced Edward like daggers. ¡°You interrupt me again and I won¡¯t let you in even if you can pay.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir,¡± such a stare made him make a step back. ¡°If the Emperor is sick¡­.just IF¡± bartender started to rub another mug, ¡°then I need to know details. You understand?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s diabetes?¡± ¡°God dammit! I don¡¯t want to hear ¡°maybe¡± or ¡°I think¡± ever again! Get lost!¡± A vein popped out on bartender¡¯s forehead. He was clearly reaching his limit. ¡°Sir, please.¡±Bartender¡¯s eye twitched, but the man stayed oblivious. He bowed so deep his forehead almost touched the table. ¡°Phew¡­here we come again. One bottle of chilli amber, and you¡¯ll bring me some news next week. Some real news, you got it?¡± He bent down and fetched huge bottle with brownish liquid. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± The man took the bottle with both hands, but the bartender didn¡¯t let go. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°What you say to me is for my ears alone, Edward. Just felt like reminding you.¡± The smile on bartender¡¯s face made a sharp contrast with his cold eyes. ¡°Of course, sir. ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear the same story from another drunkard tomorrow. Now go.¡± The man finally got his bottle, bowed again and left. With a sigh bartender put down his well polished mug, took a black cloak from under the table and put it on. He put all lights off, locked the tavern and went down the stairs to his wine cellar. A push on the brick triggered a well oiled mechanism and after moments, with no sound at all, a tight passage appeared before him. He went through it until the passage got wider. Another cloaked figure stood under thin light coming from above. ¡°Took you long, Artemon. We¡¯re getting late. When will you finally fix this hole?¡± he pointed upwards. ¡°You don¡¯t want some hobo try to get in during the winter,¡± they both scurried deeper into the tunnel. ¡°So much work. I keep forgetting ¡®bout small matters all the time.¡±A hour went and gone before Artemon has spoken again. ¡°It¡¯s the third time I hear rumors concerning Emperor for the last three days.¡± ¡°Who cares about your drunkards, Artemon? They¡¯ll sell their sister to Juliette to get a pint. Three quarters of your rumors are outward lies. Not the most creative at that.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand how it works, Piero. The story told one time is a lie. The story told twice is a fantasy. Tell the story thrice and it becomes truth. Third time means everything. ¡°Why wasting time on Emperor anyway? His dynasty stood for eight thousand years and is going to stand for another hundred. We¡¯ll be long gone when something interesting happens. You better not embarrass yourself by reporting something useless.¡± ¡°I better do it now, then after fourth time comes. I have a rule. Third time decides everything.¡± ¡°As you wish. Just don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you.¡± ¡°How are things on your side?¡± ¡°Not well. An eagle arrived this morning. Another sally to furballs failed. I went as far as giving one of my best cloaks to Jerar, but he failed to return too. I swear, my men are getting dumber year after year. We won¡¯t meet our quote on slave market this year. Again. Most of beastmen we get nowadays are from Midior Kingdom, but the fee for keeping official¡¯s eyes closed is just too high. I¡¯m not even supposed to do that job. Not my jurisdiction.¡± They walked for some time before Piero asked. ¡°What about skirmish in the castle?¡± ¡°Ah, that question has been bothering me for days. Our man says there was some kind o stir, but not a single guard was involved. They were ordered to stay on their positions. Also, every single noble left the castle the next day, and all of them went to their provinces in haste. I sent some men after, but¡­ That¡¯s why rumors about Emperor are suspicious. The result is needed now, but I won¡¯t get anything soon.¡± ¡°If you want a guess-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Leave your guesses with you,¡± there was an angry note in his reply. ¡°Hard day, huh? Sometimes I wish I could just serve beverages all day long. I liked poetry before I entered the order, but couldn¡¯t write a single verse since then. Not a word in five years. Sometimes I visit literature evenings and old friends ask me on the stage, but words get stuck in my throat,¡± even through darkness you could tell he was tired and sad. ¡°Now I like to paint walls red. It makes me agitated. You probably don¡¯t know what I mean, right?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°You see, every time blood makes its way on the wall, it forms a different pattern. It¡¯s a spontaneous art, so to say.¡± After those words Artemon stood still, unable to believe what he heard right now. Piero stopped a second later. ¡°Forget it. No one seems to understand me lately,¡± he told with a tone even more grim then before. ¡°You¡¯re just tired, Piero. Take a vacation, go to Rizza and spend a fortune. Just relax.¡± Kind. Caring. Bartender¡¯s voice was a result of practice, long as a lifetime. He went ahead, angry on his own reaction. He should have known his closest coworker better. Knowing is his job, after all. ¡°Yeah. You know what? I should do that. Thank you.¡± They reached a heavy reinforced door and knocked three times, then another two. The door opened with a screech and the guard let them in without giving as much as nod. Another straight passage led them to a round room with a round table in the centre. Thirteen doors led to the room. Thirteen seats stood near the table. Eleven were filled. ¡°You¡¯re late, gentlemen. Coin master have just finished his report.¡± One of cloaked men at the table said. The chair he sat on was a bit more lavish then others. You could tell he¡¯s quite old because of his long beard, but black stripes still held here and there. The rest of the face couldn¡¯t be seen. ¡°We¡¯re sorry, sir. Can we hear a quick summary?¡± ¡°A summary? Aside from slave market problem, our finances are steady and boring. You may sit down.¡± Both Artemon and Piero complied. ¡°War master Ace?¡± A burly man stood up and cleared his throat before speaking. ¡°No further than two days ago general Gaspar received a red letter with royal seal on it. To understand the significance of that letter you need to know, that the last time such letter was sent when orcs took our island in Algidile See, twenty years ago. Strangely, no reaction followed. Gaspar continues with his routine, throws poker parties and fencing contests. I suspect something¡¯s up, gentlemen. Something of high secrecy and importance.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± bearded man muttered. ¡°Spy master Artemon. Have something to add?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± Artemon¡¯s chair didn¡¯t get warm before he had to stand up again. ¡°There have been too many rumors concerning our parody of an Emperor lately. None of them were anything special or reliable, but after hearing war master Ace my suspicions only got stronger. As much as I dislike giving uncertain reports, the matter is too serious to be ignored. A personal whore was denied entrance to his majesty¡¯s rooms this Friday. He also skipped meals and no laundry left his rooms. There is a good chance his laziness has kicked the bucket.¡± Gasps were heard all over the place. Few even stood up and threw resentful tantrums, but sat down soon after the leader of the meeting hit the table with his fist, making cracks spread through the surface like a spider web. He then put his hands in a lock and waited, ready to burst should someone dare to make a sound. ¡°Does any other explanation fall on your mind, Artemon? You better be careful making such loud statements.¡± Anyone could tell he was troubled. ¡°Any two out of three could be easily explained, sir. A man, be it Emperor or not, stops eating, shitting and fuc*ing only in one case. When he¡¯s dead.¡° The silence held for a minute before Piero broke it. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. If the Emperor is really dead, in what way does it exactly affect-?¡± ¡°In every way, blood master Piero,¡± the leader interrupted. ¡°The reason for Falcon dynasty to hold the throne for so long was not their excellence as leaders, but a single political trick. All document¡¯s their dynasty signed are considered legit until the dynasty reigns. With Emperor¡¯s death, assuming he doesn¡¯t have a successor, any significant document in this country, any treaty or agreement will become invalid. Anyone prayed for the emperor¡¯s wellbeing, because he¡¯s a single guarantor of stability. His existence alone held major players in balance. If the balance is about to crumble, we better climb the hill before shit starts rolling down,¡± he took a moment before continuing. ¡°Hear my command! Coin master Jester. You¡¯re going to cooperate with war master Ace and puppet master Carlo. Three of you shall use bribes to secure higher positions for our men. Blood master Piero and spy master Artemon,¡± he turned his head in their direction. ¡°Terminate all missions abroad and focus on training our men. Especially you, Piero. Your men were by no means impressive lately,¡± Piero sank deeper into his chair. ¡°Pleasure mistress Juliette, help Artemon with information gathering. Make your girls work extra until something comes up. I need either quick confirmation or refutation of Artemon¡¯s suspicions. Anyone else should focus on hoarding resources. I want our stacks filled to the brim with potions, scrolls and equipment. If no one has anything to add, then you¡¯re free.¡± ¡°Shall I continue giving out loans?¡± Fat man to the right from leader asked. The cloak on him looked like it could rip anytime. ¡°No, Jester, focus on bribing right men. If Artemon¡¯s suspicion is proved to be truth, buy all smithies people are willing to sell. Also, force into selling those who don¡¯t have an influential patron. Piero will help you to be¡­persuasive. And find me a sturdy table. I¡¯m done braking furniture every time you lot make me loose temper.¡± Few people stood up and left at that. Others exchanged few words before spreading in all directions. Only Piero and Artemon sat still, until anyone else left, both in their own thoughts. ¡°No vacation for me, it seems,¡± one of them said. ¡°Yeah,sorry,¡± answered another. Chapter 14 Tales ¡°Almost there, little rascal. Keep pushing,¡± Korhal told, and I hastened a little bit. ¡°This time for real,¡± I thought. It was the third time I heard such words for the last three hours. No, thousandth time for three turns would be more correct. Three turns of running, meals six times a day and sleep, that¡¯s all I¡¯ve been doing the whole season. I slept and ate as much as I could, but lost some weight and felt always tired anyway. According to Korhal, today we¡¯re going to reach our destination. To give him some credit, he kept supplementing me with stories each day before nighttime. Being honest, I would have gone nuts without them. ¡°What would Denver the Blunt do? He would run to the end, of course. And what about Al Qard the Bloody? He could make it too, no doubt about that. And Paron the Smart? No¡­that one would laugh at anyone who tries. Bad example.¡± Such were my thoughts during the day. Some of stories he told were a longer and more detailed variant of those I read in my books, but most were either new or authentic. Surprisingly, Korhal happened to be the best storyteller ever. ¡°Being old is not all cons,¡± he says. ¡°Almost there. Keep going,¡± his voice could come right after another stone was flung at me from behind the bush, from above or behind me. And so I did. For another hour. For another day. One could say jungles are everywhere the same, but I learned that¡¯s not truth. Sceneries kept changing with time and now jungles were about to come to an end. I already could feel salt in the air. Smell of the ocean encouraged me, hardened my will, gave me power to run for another hour. ¡° Almost there. Keep going,¡± another stone, another replica. I cassualy made a sidestep and continued running. It¡¯s funny how you stop doubting the voice that leads you, when you¡¯re exhausted and ready to drop dead. You know that such encouragement should be truth once. ¡°This time for real,¡± you think. Just like that, I pressed until the forest came to an end, and practically fell into Korhal¡¯s arms, who waited for me right behind the last tree. ¡°Good job, kid. You can rest now,¡± he told. Seems like he wanted to say more, but decided against that. Instead he passed me water and sat me on his shoulder to let me see the scenery. ¡°Quiet the view, huh?¡± He asked. ¡°¡­hah¡­.hah...¡± I still couldn¡¯t enjoy it, busy catching up with my breath and removing sweat from my forehead. It got to my eyes and they hurt a bit. ¡°What day is it today, Akillah?¡± I finally separated my face from the sleeve and couldn¡¯t help but gasp in amazement, so beautiful the ocean was. By living in the jungles you get used to tightness. You¡¯re always surrounded by something from all sides, be it grass, leaves, or trees. Seeing the blue vastness, having so much space to breath all of a sudden, made me feel good and refreshed. ¡°You can put me down now, I¡¯m fine. As for the day, I don¡¯t know, neither do I care. Is it important?¡± I got to the ground and poured the rest of the water on my head. ¡°I need a shower. A real one.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your birthday, stupid. Ain¡¯t that important? You¡¯ll get your shower soon enough.¡± ¡°Oh! So it¡¯s that time of the year? I¡¯m five now?¡± ¡°Why are you asking me? Come now, we have much to do,¡± he started to move in the direction of the small town little bit further down the coast. ¡°What¡¯s up with the town? The architecture is strange.¡± You needn¡¯t to be a genius to figure that houses stood not on the trees, but on the ground. ¡°This port was actually built by humans, to keep an embassy. You won¡¯t find a lot of humans here, though. Elves and dwarves, who also built an embassy of their own, use this port for trade nowadays. Ships are coming to restock and trade furs and leather armor for weapons. We, beastmen, are self dependant in most ways, but elven bows and dwarven swords are still much needed. My own sword is dwarven,¡± he put his hand on the hilt and rubbed it lovingly. ¡°Twenty years of nonstop use and it¡¯s still as sharp as new. I broke tenths of swords before buying this one. It costed quite a sum but not a coin was wasted.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get to see dwarves and elves?¡± ¡°Yeah. Also, keep your eyes open for something you might like. We should buy you a present.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± We didn''t talk much the rest of the way. I dragged my feet while enjoying fresh salty air and noise of waves. As we came closer, the town reminded me of western movies I saw a long time ago. Two streets. One crossroad. Wooden two story buildings on the both sides of the road. Serious looking men entering the tavern. Everything was so familiar, except that men wore no poncho. The folks here were so different from what I used to, that I ended up staring at them like a kid. Well, I am a kid, right? What made me surprised is that no one stared back the same way any beastmen would. I could get used to that. A dwarf catched my eye and winked at me. I automatically looked at where ears were supposed to be, to get a glimpse on his emotions, but understood the stupidity of such action right away. I looked at his eyes instead, as the rest of the face was covered with thick beard. His eyes were smiling. Near the entrance to the inn lanky longhaired men with pointy ears chatted with a small but tendinous grandpa. ¡°Look at you, Brasco, such an old fart you have become! At this point we won¡¯t ever go to the dungeon again. A long way just to fetch you went for nothing. Where would I find another man?!¡± ¡°Shut up, idiot! You went missing for twenty years! Is that what you call a short vacat¡­¡± Was all I could hear while passing them. A short red haired lady with braids, freckles and a childish face met us at the counter. ¡°Two rooms for one day. Two baths right away. No food.¡± Korhal told firmly. ¡°This young lady has a birthday today, so a discount is preferable.¡± ¡°Is that so? Two silver coins should be enough, then. Free baths for you and young lady.¡± she told after looking at me with a raised eyebrow. With me, drenched in sweat head to toe, and Korhal, who¡¯s an antipode to representativeness, I bet we both looked miserable. The lady gave us keys anyway. Had to stand on her toes to pass them from behind the counter. ¡°Was she a dwarf?¡± I always wanted to see, how dwarven female look like. ¡°Uhuh. I know what you think. She doesn¡¯t have beard, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I kind of¡­..ah nevermind.¡± Two hours later we met at the counter and went out, fresh and clean, but hungry as hell. I never though I could lack words to describe a simple barrel, filled with hot water. Neither did I think it could become a source of such pure joy. ¡°How¡¯s the mood? You look happy.¡± ¡°Yeah. I think it¡¯s the first time I don¡¯t feel fatigue for months. Where are we going?¡± ¡°To the tavern. We need to eat and catch up with news. Something ain''t right here. ¡± ¡°Ain''t right? What do you mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. The town is too calm. We¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°To the tavern then!¡± My mood was really good. I still couldn¡¯t drink alcohol, which was a shame, but a glass of milk was just as appealing. I¡¯m done drinking water and kamela juice. As we neared the tavern I sped up and opened the door with a bang. Feeling up to the prank, I went in and sat down, putting my legs on the table, right in the centre of the room. Only then did I realize, that it was unusually quiet. You could suspect any tavern in the world to be rowdy, but the atmosphere here was rather gloomy. ¡°Hey, folks,¡± I said loud and clear. ¡° What¡¯s up with the mood?¡± My voice was high pitched, but soft growling gave it a confident notes. No one answered me, even when Korhal sat across the table. For some reason anyone chatted in whispers, or just stared at his or her mug. An idea came to my mind and I turned to Korhal.¡°You still want to pay for my present?¡± ¡°Yes. Anything you want, Akillah. It¡¯s your day.¡± ¡°Good, if the day is mine, then let¡¯s correct the atmosphere.¡± I climbed the table and stood there until whispers disappeared. ¡°Hello, ladys and gentlemen, name¡¯s Akillah,¡± I gave a short bow to all four sides and heard few polite applauds. ¡°Today is my birthday, you see? By my will and with financial support of my honorable teacher, master Korhal,¡± I pointed at him with my open palm, ¡°free drinks should be served to all of you.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh no¡­,¡± was all I could hear from Korhal before the room exploded with roars and laugher. His rounded eyes made me unsure if what I did was right, but all doubts alleviated in a second as few dwarves dragged their whole table closer to ours. ¡°AHAHA, you¡¯re al¡¯right, kid. AHAHA, did you see her, Serth?¡± he roared to the dwarf next to him, ¡°So small, but throws a party in the tavern already. Quiet a student you have here, sir. I¡¯m Gregor. Let me fetch a drink for you!¡± Few more dwarves appeared around us, then few elves. People kept coming one after another. Strangely, any dwarf that introduced himself, returned soon with a glass filled with both sweet and bitter liquid. Soon our whole table was filled with tiny mugs. Two dozens of them. ¡°But I want milk! Why are they bringing this stuff? It ain¡¯t bad, but I have plenty already.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an old dwarven tradition, Akillah,¡± Korhal told. ¡°If you invite a dwarf to the party, he shall bring you a drink. Refusing to drink it considered to be rude. You better be thankful they have enough sense to bring small cups.¡± ¡°I need to drink all of this??! It¡¯s not alcohol, right?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Well, not for an adult. The amount of alcohol in this liquid is somewhere between 0.1 and 0.01 depending on its age.¡± ¡°But¡­that¡¯s still¡­with this much¡­.,¡± I didn¡¯t even know what to say. Is it a good or a bad turn? ¡°AHAHA, don¡¯t worry ¡®killah,¡± Gregor, Serth and an elf, whose name was something like Arzwald¡­or Sharzwald, reappeared with two more cups. ¡°Yeh should be fine. Ours were the last, so we should take responsibility and make sure yeh drink ¡¯em all.¡± I looked at Korhal waiting for explanation, and his short ¡°another tradition¡± scared shit out of me. ¡°So, ¡± with a sigh I emptied the first cup and took another, ¡°what¡¯s up with the mood. People seemed ¡­hm¡­stressed?¡± ¡°Ah, bad news came one after another. It has been like this for two whole days before you came.¡± ¡°What kind of news?¡± ¡°Well, The Emperor Gustav Falcon is dead. A ship arrived two days ago and brought news. Judging by the model of the hull, it should have taken three months to reach our shores.¡± ¡°And why is his death bad for us? There should be a successor, right?¡± ¡°No. And that¡¯s the main problem. The Empire is a mess right now and no one knows who¡¯s going to take an upper hand. The Empire supposed to be a powerhouse with no ambition. Anyone was happy as long as it shown no aggression. But what happens if the throne falls in wrong hands? Empire is like a legendary sword, lying on the side of the road. ¡°Sounds bad enough.¡± ¡°Yeh. We don¡¯t share any borders, but that might not be for long,¡± he stopped and emptied his mug in one go. ¡°What else?¡± I drank my own and took the third. ¡°Let Schwarzwald talk, he¡¯s from those parts of the woods, so¡­¡± Gregor stood up and went to the bar to get another mug. ¡°You seem awfully mature for your age, little missy,¡± the elf has spoken timidly. He held a mug with the same strange liquid, but was yet to make a sip. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s ok to say such awful things to her, sir¡± he looked questionably at Korhal. ¡°Go ahead. She might look like a girl but there¡¯s quite a beast inside that child. She took her first trophy already.¡± ¡°I noticed her legs to be sturdy. Figured she trains like a madman, but a trophy,¡± he threw a glance at my scar. ¡°You don¡¯t mean-¡± ¡°Yeah. A slaver. Three months ago.¡± Korhal interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ll go fetch some meat. Want me to bring you a snack, Akillah?¡± ¡°No way.¡± The elf stared at me with round eyes, then emptied half of his mug. ¡°No, master, I don¡¯t think I have any space to spare.¡± The amount of cups didn¡¯t decrease one bit. It¡¯ll take me hours to empty them as it is. ¡°So, what bad news did you bring, Schwazward?¡± ¡°The orcs are attacking northern forests. Large forces managed to cross the mountains.¡± ¡°But mountains supposed to be too cold to travel. How large?¡± ¡°Hundreds.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you deal with a couple of hundreds?¡± ¡°Yes we can, but that¡¯s not the main problem. Orcs supposed to come in tenths at a time, and even then casualties were frequent. Orcs think the best way to kill is to cut a man in half. Vertically, I mean. I came here to find some brave trackers to find out where are they coming from. Reports say there are fireplaces at their campsites. Finding them being capable to produce fire is bad news by itself, but if they learned to keep it burning in the mountains¡­. then let the spirits guide us. With fire, or without it, they won¡¯t be able to cross a Void Line, so our forests are the most probable targets,¡± his tone changed from timid to confident, or even loud. After taking another gulp, he continued. ¡°Orcs are cold resistant as they are. Hell, even arrows don¡¯t pierce them too deep. I fought one of them once, emptied the whole quiver before the thing fell. It took twenty two shots like nothing, so I had to shoot last two through his eyes from close range. Took quiet the risk.¡± He drank again. ¡±Ahah, I like this funny liquid, ain¡¯t you happy lil fella?¡± he blubbered, then added few phrases in elvish language I didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Gregor. GREGOR! Find me one more mug!¡± He tried to stand up but fell on his butt and spilled the last few gulps on the floor. In an instant, Serth was there for him. ¡°Is he allright, Serth?¡± ¡°Poor elves are weak with alcohol, but our friend here is especially so. Me and Gregor vowed to teach him how to drink and been friends since then,¡± he catched my surprised look and added, ¡°You should have seen him ten years ago. He got drunk once by eating an akebian fruit. Tried to enter a fencing contest stark naked and with arrows in his hands.¡± ¡°Seems like a funny story. Are there more?¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­.another time, little miss. We¡¯re leaving tomorrow. Me, Gregor, Schwazwald and two beastmen. I better bring him to the inn, so that we all could take a good rest.¡± ¡°Where are you going? To the northern woods?¡± ¡°Yes. Can¡¯t wait to try my axe on those orcish necks. Or legs. Those things are quiet high. GREGOR! We are leaving! Until next time, Akillah. Let us cross our mugs when you¡¯re an adult.¡± He picked up an elf effortlessly and dragged him out in a princess care style. ¡°That¡¯s why you don¡¯t ever use words ¡°free drinks¡± in a tavern filled with dwarves.¡± Korhal returned with a tasty smelling meatballs. ¡°Half of present men will end up like that elf today. Another half will drag the first to the inn. And for forefathers sake, don¡¯t agree to move to another tavern when they¡¯ll suggest. Unless you want another twenty four cups on your table.¡± ¡°Thanks for letting me know,¡± I put down my fifth glass. ¡° But next time let me know sooner¡± "Long life to ma friend, ''killah. Bottoms up!" Gregor shouted somewhere wholeheartedly. I made a lot of friends that day, some of which were bound to play a huge role in my life. Three hours, nineteen cups, and three broken tables later, I and Korhal finally managed to leave the tavern. "The history of stories" by Emerald Goodvin. Published in 9689. Chapter 63 "Crosscultural tales" Page 436 As I told before, beastmen folklore is one of the richest and by far the most contradictory of all. Let''s take as example a legend of a small girl, that travels the lands on foot, throws parties here and there, and is capable of outdrinking a grown man. ¡° Killah the Elf Killer¡± they call her. Strangely, the same tale could be found in elven and dwarven folklore on both, northern and southern sides of the continent, which makes the existence of such person even less believable. Elves say the girl is a slaver huntress, dwarves think she might be actually a dwarf with fake ears, but no evidence of her existence are clear, since anyone who claims having seen her, was dead drunk by the end of the evening and couldn''t remember neither her face, nor her actual name. Chapter 15 Gambit The traveler''s notes" by Lasley Guinness. Second edition. Published in 9629. Chapter 10 "Alcana and Dena" Page 37 To describe two different places one would usually need to write at least two chapters, but that¡¯s not the case right now. As old, as the Empire itself, twin fortresses¡¯ construction started the same year Vincent Falcon became the very first Emperor. Named after his twin daughters, Alcana and Dena, two strongholds were designed to be absolutely identical, from inside and outside. Many legends were born around their walls, many heroes born and slain, but the very first legend concerns not men, but the fortresses itself. It is said, that horns on top of highest towers are horns of Behemoth, an ancient beast, corpse of which was found by Vincent Falcon near the Void Line. Some even say more of such beasts still live on top of those mountains. All in all, more than eight thousand years stood Alcana and Dena on the both sides of the Void Line, protecting the Empire from orc swarms. Falcon Empire Alcana Fortress ¡°The last supply caravan came half empty.¡± Five guards stood near the fireplace right on top of the wall. Tenths of fireplaces could be seen further with five or six men surrounding it. They wore thick red cloaks and furry white scarfs right on top of their plate armor. Rich and complicated patterns glittered in flames, making a simple guard look more like a nobleman. Under well polished helmets concerned eyes stared at fire. ¡°I heard some archers were sent to the woods for food. Next time supplies might not come at all. Ten turns have passed, but it seems like wheels are just starting to spin. Did you hear of captain Brent?¡± ¡°No, what¡¯s with him?¡± ¡°His house recalled him from service. Seems like Norfolks house is about to make another move and needs him to lead their men. Neither he, nor Brent¡¯s squad did take it well. Their new captain ain¡¯t even one of our men. Some office rat from the capital, I heard.¡± ¡°Madness. Half of our captains were taken for the last six turns, and what for? Internal struggles? I would rather fight orcs outside the walls, than kill a fellow soldier. We¡¯re all brothers here,¡± he paused and saw men silently nod, then continued. ¡°Did you hear of Gerhard¡¯s death?¡± ¡°Hah, there¡¯s no way that brute could die. I once saw him stopping a swing of an ogre head on. You should have seen the eyes of that ogre when it looked at its destroyed club, Klein. The force of the hit buried Gerhards legs in the ground up to the knees and I had to raise my shield just to fend from splitters. We all then spent half an hour removing pieces of wood from Gerhard¡¯s cloak and face. His legs and arms were shaking, but he stood nonetheless. Sturdy as an oak, that man.¡± ¡°I heard his maul is enchanted. No?¡± Klein objected. ¡°The whole man is enchanted, not his maul! He would have been more then mare sergant, if not for his short temper and bad luck with cards.¡± ¡°Gerhard fell under Dresdon. He was pushed from the cliff,¡± one of the guards, who kept silence until now, said with a hoarse voice. All other guards looked at the man, hoping his words were an exceptionally bad joke, but the man continued to stare at fire motionlessly. ¡°The body?¡± ¡°To deep to retrieve,¡± hoarse man replied, then put his hand on his throat. His face turned into pained grimace. No one had mood to speak after that, or torture an injured man with more questions. Klein, unable to withstand heavy atmosphere, turned around and went to the edge of the wall. ¡°Gerhard was a good man, worth looking up to,¡± he thought, while leaning on cold stone and peering through the darkness. ¡°Torsen?¡± Almost a hour has passed, when Klein turned to his group with a sudden move. ¡°Klein, you¡¯ll freeze to death, come here.¡± ¡°No, you come here. I need your longbow and a fire arrow.¡± ¡°Fire arrow won¡¯t warm you, neither will I, ahaha.¡± ¡°Faster!¡± Seeing a suspicion raise in his comrades eyes, Torsen put his arrow first into a cup filled with oil, then into the fire. The arrow bursted with bright reddish flames. ¡°What did you see? Where?¡± In two jumps he crossed the distance and passed the bow. ¡°Some glitter. I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s too dark, shadows may have played a trick with me.¡± Klein already aimed while speaking. He pushed air out of his lungs and let the arrow fly before making another breath. The arrow draw a wide arc before landing far in the distance. ¡°You see anything?¡± Klein squinted his eyes and bent further. Torsen did the same. They froze for ten seconds, before looking at each other. Without saying a word they both darted back to the fireplace. Torsen lit another two arrows and Klein released them without much aiming, but not behind the walls. He shot at towers on their sides, where stacks of dry wood and hay were placed to lit the area. Tenths of fire arrows, sent by other guards, were already making their way in northern direction. ¡°ORCS!¡± Screams were heard along the wall. Few guards down the inner side of the wall ran in various directions. Some to the barracks, others to the stairs. ¡°Where¡¯s the Horn? Are they sleeping up there?¡± Klein pulled the string as hard as he could and sent another arrow at the highest tower at the centre of their keep, but it fell before reaching. ¡°Damn, Swan makes it look so easy.¡± More and more windows of the castle lit up. First men, fully armed and ready for battle, left closest barracks and almost reached the stairs when the sound of the Horn finally rang. A monotone hum filled all corners of the keep, but was overpowered by vicious roars behind the wall, to deep and powerful for any kind of creatures, except of ogres. Three minutes later a neat row of soldiers formed on the front side of the wall. More soldiers were coming and forming second and third rows. The wideness of the wall could fit up to twelve. ¡°You scared, Klein? Hahah. You look pale.¡± ¡°Your own laugh is a bit too nervous to pass as brave, Torsen.¡± ¡° True. I¡¯m scared. Why the hell are orcs and ogres both here?¡± ¡°Is that all what bothers you? Look closer!¡± Torsen¡¯s eyes focused on shadows, still too far to see them clearly. Few more fire arrows flew above their heads and lit the darkness for a second. ¡°Something glitters in flames¡­..Metal? Are¡­¡­are those swords?¡± Torsen¡¯s face lost color and became as pail as Klein¡¯s. ¡°Swords,¡± hoarse voice from behind approved. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. They¡¯re too crude and deformed. I doubt those are sharp.¡±Klein¡¯s voice was grim. ¡±Either way, be it swords or clubs, the worst is yet to come. I think I saw something akin a ladder.¡± ¡°You got to be kidding! Right?¡± Torsen asked, but no answer followed. "It''s about time archers give the first volley. Where the hell are they?" Klein turned around and saw sixth row yet unfinished. "Oh no.......food." "You don''t think they''re ALL in the woods?" Torsen asked Klein. His answer was a raucous prayer, coming from behind their backs. Falcon Empire Underground passage An unflappable guard let two cloaked figures into the round dim room. Just as always, eleven seats out of thirteen were already filled. "You get late again and I''ll cut your allowance, Artemon. You too, Piero. Stop following Artemon like a dog." "Friends are rare in my profession, sir," Artemon answered in playful tone. "I would rather neglect some coin." "Do whatever you want, just be in time. Bite his ass and drag him here if you need to. War master Ace. I need a report on orcs ASAP." "Troublesome news, sir," Ace stood up and spoke loud and clear, just as any military man. "Both Alcana and Dena fortresses were attacked few weeks ago. The casualties are twenty and ten percents of contingent accordingly. We invested a lot of resources to secure commanding positions in both fortresses, but quite a few of our men died during the sieges. You may think summary losses are not all that great, but take into consideration, that soldiers at two keeps are elites with best equipment available. All reports claim that orcs and ogres joined forces to strike. To make things worse, all of them were armed with iron weapons resembling swords and axes. At this point, rumors of their progress," he turned to Artemon, "are no longer questionable." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Hmm. Troublesome indeed. Lore master Jepetto. What do you think of changes in greenskins behavior?" "A lot is on my mind, sir,¡± a short thin man stood up and started to wave his hands in tact with his words, like a kapellmeister. ¡°First reports of them being able to produce fire came six turns ago and caused a stir in scientific circles. I heard all kind of bullshit concerning the matter, including conspiracy theories, allegedly someone taught greenskins intentionally, to weaken Empire even further. By "someone" they mean elves of course, forgetting elves were actually first victims. No one even tries to explain, how can greenskins be taught in the first place. I''ve been thinking for awhile, sir, and only one explanation withstands criticism. Greenskins are evolving by themselves." "Evolving?" Jester shifted in his chair nervously. "Developing, progressing, call it what you want. Eight thousand years ago they started to use wooden clubs, four thousand years later came stone tools and weapons. With fire came iron tools. Everything fits! To be frank, the fact of two kinds of greenskins attacking at once is much, much more interesting." "Why''s that? Enlighten us, Jepetto," bearded man waved his hand just like Jepetto, ridiculing his manner of speaking. "Ogres supposed to eat orcs, not play good neighbors,¡± Jepetto answered nonchalantly, still waving on his own. ¡°Cold plains are very tight with food, so food chain had formed tenths of centuries ago. Ogres eat orcs, since only orcs are big enough to make them full. Orcs eat goblins, since ogres are hard to handle. Goblins eat ogres. Swarm one like ants, then gnaw on it for turns. All of them catch some game, of course, but the fact is the same, greenskins are all cannibals. That joint attack means fundamental changes in their society. If worse came to worse, the invention of fire may have triggered transition from primitive society to tribal. Look at beastmen, they''re the same! Felines, canines and rodents used to fight among themselves for hunting grounds, but stopped at some point, and now we can''t stick a nose into their woods." "You don''t mean more of such attacks may come?" Piero bent forward, unable to hide his disbelieve. "Oh yes, there are going to be more. It''ll take some time before new order spreads, but it''s inevitable. First tribes are already formed." "Ace? How fast can we replace our men at fortresses?" Bearded man¡¯s voice got dead serious. "Absorbing our losses is not a problem, sir. Few captains will refuse to serve at two keeps. The problem is soldiers. Most of professionals are occupied with internal struggles, while training recruits to required level of mastery will take too much time. Captains with no force to back up their authority are no use." "What do you suggest?" "Nothing, sir. If more attacks are on the way, both Alcana and Dena will fall. We outnumbered orcs eight to one, but still lost as much as killed. Three, at best four such attacks and that''s it, game over. With rumors of Norfolks house readying to march south, few chances for the better are left. In the end..." "...we''ll get territory, controlled by orcs, ogres and goblins." Old man continued instead of Ace. "Fu*k!", he bursted suddenly and hit the table in rage, making a good piece of it fall off. "We invested so much resources in northern and eastern parts! Jester! How much will we lose?" "A lot," Jester answered simply. "Can our facilities be relocated?" "Relocated? Yes, they could be relocated, but that won''t solve the problem. It doesn''t metter how many swords we produce if we can''t sell them. Supply doesn''t exist without demand and our best clients are to the north-east. Nothing will change that, unless we''re ready to start from scratch," he shook his head anxiously. "Yes, of course," old man seemingly calmed down. He raised his shoulders and dropped them with a "phew". "I''m loosing temper again. Spy master Artemon. Have any ideas of why are Norfolks so eager to take Diantes? Their forces are weakened after swallowing Beermond. That''s not enough to hold the throne for long." "There was some rumors of them finding a legitimate successor of late Emperor, sir." Artemon started to talk even before standing up. He''s been waiting for his turn for awhile. "One and the same group of men comes at various bars and spreads false rumors of Emperor''s bastard child, living somewhere to the north. Seems like higher echelons of Norfolk''s house want to sell that story and put the kid on the throne. Quite pathetic, if you ask me." "Bhah. Incredible creativity. Even if the child really is of the same blood, there is no way other houses will stop the bout. Puppet master Carlo. How many Norfolks'' men are loyal to us?" "Quite a number, sir. At least a quarter. In fact, we have the most influence on that house. Two thirds of their weaponry comes from our smithies and a half of food supplies." "Hmm......Good.......good......Let me think." He put his arms in a lock and froze for a minute. "Carlo. What are our chances to take Norfolk over?" "By coup, you mean, sir?" "Yes. Smooth and bloodless coup. Is there a chance?" "Well, we gained tons of gold and influence for the last ten turns. If we were to throw in all our resources, then maybe. It depends on the amount of disgruntled with current elite." "Hmm.....good.....good," he froze again. More than ten minutes has passed, but no one dared to break a silence. "Yeah....that''s what shall be done," his voice was tired, but confident. " As I see things, gentlemen, we either incur heavy losses, or stick our ass out of the dark. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Hear my command! Puppet master Carlo and Coin master Jester. Throw everything we got at Norfolk and make it mine. You may go as far as selling our facilities in southern and western lands, but our men should control the house by the end of the turn. Blood master Piero. You will accompany Carlo and Jester. Should they fail, kill as many nobles as you can. Sow chaos so bad, that Norfolks house won''t be able to march anywhere for whole period, then return alone." Both Carlo and Jester shuddered, fully understanding what last remark meant. "War master Ace. If Carlo and Jester succeed, you''ll take Norfolks'' army and lead it north. I want every fu*king hole in the walls sealed. You won''t let a single orc damage my property. We''ll send you all supplies you need. Use them to gain loyalty solid as dwarven steel," he made a pause as if waiting for objections, but none came. "Spy master Artemon. Your task will be spreading truth this time. I want every single citizen of Empire know exactly how dangerous greenskins have become. After that, when Norfolk is ours and two keeps are reinforced, make people think our house is the most noble and trustworthy among all. I want any lowborn pig in the Empire sing songs in our honor. You get what I mean?" "You want to make them realize we fight a common enemy alone, sir. In other words, you want me to steal people''s hearts for you," Artemon already started to make plans in his head. Sometimes making people believe truth was much harder then sell lies. "Exactly. We''ll let others houses continue their dogfight and gain more credit meanwhile. Lore master Jepetto. Make your theories known to scientists. Also, send complete reports to all houses, except Norfolks. Let us pray they won''t make a move to the north, as long as we keep greenskins at bay. Mage master Hood, send some experienced men with Ace. We''ll need more than just steel on that walls. Anyone else, help Jester and Carlo in any way you can come up with. That''s all for now. If there are no questions, you''re free, gentlemen." "What about the boy? Can we use him?" Artemon asked. "Not now. It''s too soon." he cut off and stood up. ¡°Sturdy table, Jester. I need a sturdy table,¡± he told and left like a storm. Usually Artemon and Piero stayed to exchange few words, but this time both of them stood up and left immediately. Much work was to be done.