by Matt Wilk
“Hello?”
The Lady Dooza was crouched down a few pools away. She was smelling the mushrooms and stuffing the clean ones into a jar of honey. She was not expecting company at all. My voice scared her stiff. She stood and spun and cowered all at once.
“What? Nothing. It is medicine.”
“They are not poison?”
“Well, yes. Those ones are.”
“But, the spotted Opa can eat them.”
“Of course. They are still wild things.”
“I think they are more intelligent than that.”
“I agree. They are smart enough to avoid man flesh.”
“They are nice, like Kru.”
“What’s that?”
“My puppy.”
“You are delirious. Get back in the water before you dry out.”
The Shaman made it clear that she was serious before ducking away into the steam and disappearing. One of the Opa dug his face into her discarded pile without fear. Next to his head was a much smaller pile of bright blue caps with purple finger prints left in the stems from where she had pinched them. I knew that she was testing me, but, I could not help myself. Two of them emanated the smell of something grown under a pile of poop. One of them smelled like acorn nuts. The spotted Opa looked up at me and slowly opened his mouth trying to swipe the thing from my hands. I broke off the stem and handed it to him to gauge his reaction. He took a deep whiff and moaned at the sweet flavor. Then he hid it from me, turned away, looked back, and shoved it in his mouth whole.
“Must be good.”
I shrugged and took a bite. The thing mostly tasted like dirt and I understood why Dooza stored it in honey. While I was making a face and coughing from the dryness in my throat, the little Opa stole the rest right out of my hand. I did not protest.
“Enjoy it, little one. I know I didn’t.”
There was a water bowl and a baked egg waiting for me when I returned to my own pool. My stomach was so empty that it I felt completely full from the small meal. Getting back in was harder than getting out. My wounds had indeed dried out, causing the new scabs to crack and burn from the salt all over again. I waited until the pain dulled to lay out flat. By the time I did, the poison was beginning to metabolize. I thought it would help send me into a trance. Unlike the spotted Opa, I could not stare at the moon without it melting into a strange splatter. When I started moaning, Dooza crawled out of the shadows. She hummed strange tunes and played her fingers on the surface of the water. The Shaman could not resist the opportunity to swim in my mind and I had no energy with which to resist. I had heard of the cave root that made you see colors underground, but, once in the dream state she forced me into, there was only blacks and whites and grays- and scarlet. Flowing, glowing, deep red blood. At least, for once, it was not spilling from my body. But then, I was no longer in my body.
“Nojan, please. Ten is too young.”
“Quiet woman, the little barbarian is ready for much more.”
Father knelt down and grabbed my shoulder. He squeezed and I flexed back against his grip. Half of his face twisted into the smile of evil pleasure. His face, that same spotted square jaw worn by Grandfather- Goja the Eleventh.
“Are you ready to prove yourself?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Just in case, say goodbye to your mother.”
“I am no weak boy.”
“Do it because it will make her happy.”
“I see, Father. Dirty Thirteen has no respect for his mother, so no one expects that he will ever show respect to them either.”
“You see that, Tori? That’s why he’s Father’s favorite.”
“Oh, Gojinus. Please be careful.”
I hugged Mother and tried not to turn red at the giggling of my cousins. She was soft with me because she never had a need to be rough in her life. Her fair skin and bright golden locks were rare, and her eyes of blue fire, even more so. Unlike the warrior women that the rest of the royal family took, she was not built to give birth to a giant. Despite her lack of physical prowess, bards from all across the Empire of Swillia sang tunes of her beauty and grace. She even sang herself, like an angel, and it made her Grandmother’s favorite daughter in-law.
“You have no need to worry.”
“But I will- you are still my only child.”
“The only one you will ever need. You will see. Laugh while you can Boagrian- you too will be kneeling before long.”
“Challenge me then, runt.”
“Challenged!”
Mother, like all the other women folk, began sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes. No matter how silly it seemed to them, being the smallest of Emperor Goja’s grandsons meant I would be challenged to prove my worth every day until I took power. The servants moved back a few tables and Gojintu, father to Boagrian, stomped on the flat stone with his steel leg replacement. The back patio of the royal summer home got quiet while we both stretched in preparation.
“You two remind me of us, right Nojan? Alright, knockout or yield. Nothing cheap. Nothing below the belt. On your mark.”
He stomped his steel leg hard backing away. Boagrian was fourteen, and massive for his age. He marched forward with a wide base and prepared to grapple. Too bad for him, and for all of my other cousins, I had been training down on the docks by fighting the sons of poor sailors. For the price of two potatoes per fight, I learned how to take down a man of any size. When he reached out to grab the back of my neck, I feinted a jump. He threw his body higher, so I dropped low and shot my knee forward, to plant my foot under his base. I ended up in his bear hug. Boagrian got over confident and dug his chin into my head to make me cry out in pain. After some squeezing and some pushing back and forth, I managed to grab the rear of his belt with three fingers. I stood up quick, slamming my head into his chin. He flipped back, still holding me tightly, but I spun hard on the way down. When I landed on top of him, my elbow was over his heart. His body went limp, and he snored in the struggling manner of a man who was knocked unconscious. For all his size, no one was cheering for his weakness.
“That’s my boy.”
“Grandfather!”
“Gojinus!”
His servant held his cane and helped him to slightly bend. Not everyone was worth the back pain to earn a hug from the Emperor. Many of the lords clapped and suggested to their sons that they act more like me. It made me laugh heartily, and I refused to hide it.
“Are we in for a show today my boy?”
“Yes Grandfather. I was only warming up.”
He had the booming laughter of a younger man and every fool in attendance knew to join in. His eyes boiled red with the shadow in a display of power that few others could see. I balled a fist and made it boil over with the red shadow. Having Grandfather’s stoic jaw and the same spot of brown on the chin, they were merely expected attributes. He relished in the knowledge that the gods had granted me the power to conjure the red shadow from birth. Many priests and scholars alike told him that it was a sign from the gods that I too would become Emperor.
“Let the games begin.”
I put my fist in the air and roared along with the crowd. I helped Grandfather to his cushioned throne and hugged Grandmother while the other fools rushed to the open field. By the time I caught up to them, all of the spears had been taken. Boagrian had climbed a tree and swung the leaves off his live branch. A few idiots laughed at my misfortune, but the elderly always focus most on the smallest acts of courtesy.
“Shut your mouths. If I had gotten to a spear, I would have given it to one of you idiots. This is no mere game. Every moment of every day is a test.”
I pulled a knife from each boot, the spoils of many hard battles won on the street. I heard a fair share of gasps from the royals, denigrating the runt for using the weapons of a peasant. My cousins lined up on the fence and prepared to rush the yard. The servants would not cut the high grass until we had our race, and the long horn bulls were well fed. Size was the only advantage a
ny of them could claim. I had training, practice, a plan, and the proper tools. I would be the only one to kill a bull, and I would do so on my own. Just to make it harder, Uncle Gojintu launched a flash powder bomb into the yard. Before it could hit the ground, the thing exploded. The noise caused the bulls to go wild and they stampeded into each other in an attempt to flee.
As expected, the first competition was a team formation, whereby some of us were held back to provide an easier hunt for the first born sons. Goja the Thirteenth ran out ahead of the entire pack. Following his orders, his brothers ran to hold me back. I crossed the blades across my chest, daring them to touch me, and walked south towards the open yard. The bulls had bunched up at the thin gate to the next grazing area. After being trampled and horned and squashed too many times, some of them gave up. They ran away in odd directions and turned in a wide arc to avoid us while the traffic subsided. I just kept walking. Spears were thrown and retrieved. Sons were lost to the hoof and the horn. More than one bull was stuck deep. Most of the spears were kicked off, leaving a group of angry and wounded bulls that wanted nothing more than vengeance.
“Yes, glow with the red power of rage. See as Gojinus sees. Oh, nasty.”
One of the older boys was run through in the gut. I heard a woman grunt about her weakest son no longer collecting kittens. She made a joke about turning them into a stew, and Grandfather suggested a heavy peppering with a whole clove of garlic. I laughed along with them but noticed Mother had buried her face into Grandmother’s shoulder. Finally, one of the bulls decided to wait for his escape in my area, as it was mostly unoccupied. He trotted by and tossed his head in a threatening manner.
“Smart boy, respecting your new Emperor early on. May the underKing eat on your flesh tonight, and go to bed satiated by my blade.”
The beast knew my tone and grunted his warning. He continued to trot around the tiny human in a display of his muscular body. He was very surprised to discover just how much practice I had put into throwing knives. His left shoulder took one down to the bone and I put the other between my teeth. He charged to the background of Mother screaming. I weaved back and forth and he slowed from not knowing which way to turn, then I charged him. Both sides of his wide horns fit in my hands and I flipped around the left, over to my right- still holding on. He leaned in to his injured shoulder and I finished the flip by kicking out his front feet. The thing fell hard and his head crushed me to the ground. I gave him a peaceful death. My other knife dug in between the base of his skull, severing the spinal column.
“No more pain. Hush, move on to the other side.”
I pulled on his ear and there was no reaction. When I stood up and the beast stayed down, the whole palace exploded with clapping and cheering. They chanted my name and scrambled to help the Emperor into his wheeled chariot. While a crowd gathered in the yard and approached, I spilled more blood. Rolling the bull onto his side was easy enough. Cutting through his chest was much more difficult. I had to retrieve the knife from the beasts shoulder to pry open his bones. The freshly slaughtered monster occasionally kicked his legs out. Finally, when Grandfather was encouraging me from nearby, I made it to the heart. I cut it out of the animal, squeezing the dull grey muscle until the deep purple arteries were mostly empty. Then I tore into the raw flesh with my teeth barred. The noble hounds were all around barking for their share. I climbed up on top of the bull and raised his heart in the air.
“Gojinus will be Emperor! The world belongs to me!”
“Wrong!”
Someone spoke with such a force that I remembered it was a dream. The Lady Dooza slapped me hard across the face. My eyes burned from the salt water. She grabbed my face to invoke direct eye contact.
“This world belongs to free men!”
She shoved my face under the water and stomped away. The Shaman dared to peer into the darkness of my twisted soul, and it had peered right back with utmost confidence. There was no way for me to know exactly how much she had seen, but I had seen much too much. The red shadow was a power shared by the royal houses of Goja and Belutgrava. So few members of either blood line remained that it had led both Major Bloodaxe and myself to amass a power that could barely be controlled. Just as he had suggested, Matthius, with the face of Gojinus, could walk right into the royal palace. Now, I even knew the directions. I nearly began a celebration, until I remembered, that same face was tarnished by the mark of shame.
“Get up. Two days is long enough.”
“Damn you Shaman. No, it is witch!”
I stood up in the pool, turning to The Lady Dooza and pointing with a knife hand. The sun was able to shine through the clouds and I was already stretching.
“You stole all my dreams. You put a curse on me and stole every one of my dreams!”
“Shut up and get out of your crib, baby.”
Major Swiftblade was standing right behind me, extending a hand to help me out of the water. I hopped out on my own, lighter than ever. All the fat on my body had burned off from fasting- just in time for the winter freeze.
“My strength has returned master. How can I help?”
His full dress told me something important was happening, but he waved it away.
“I am cold, that is all.”
“Do not change the subject.”
“You, evil-”
The Swiftblade slammed his open palm in the center of my chest, cutting me off mid insult. I crumpled to the ground like a hollow suit of armor.
“Owie.”
“You see? Your back is weak, your core is weaker.”
“That just tore me open.”
He squatted down at my feet where I had been standing at the head of the healing pool.
“Exactly why you must resume training at once.”
He reached down and tucked his fingers under my small wooden bowl of fresh water.
“Don’t.”
“Stop me.”
I removed my hand from my gut and tried to reach forward. I did not make it past my own foot. The bowl went into the pool of salt water and I could not so much as growl back.
“Practice falling down one hundred times. Tuck your elbows and your chin. Bounce back up like a spring. Remember, your core means everything.”
“But, sir, I, why?”
“Now, fifty more. Keep count Shaman.”
Major Swiftblade walked away with a purpose, proving he did in fact have a mission. He had made his point, I was in no shape to follow. Standing up just once was hard enough. I resigned to simply keeping an eye out, for enemies, and for rays of pure light as well.
“It’s for your own good.”
After leading me into a colorless nightmare, I had every right to be skeptical of her advice.
“Come, I made you a soft bed of pines.”
She led me through the area where the Opa had been. They had left behind a mess of dirt and food scraps that Dooza was preparing to clean. We stopped where the tree line grew into a small ring in which the wind did not blow. Hot spring air mingled perfectly with the glacial freeze to become a warm pocket that was refreshingly salt free.
“Well?”
Dooza swatted away the mist to reveal a thick bed of pines needles.
“Thank you.”
“Get started barbarian.”
She palmed me in the chest too. I was awake and more prepared, landing flat on my back without so much pain in the gut.
“That’s one, but you had better learn to bounce back up.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She grabbed her bucket and broom, and began slowly cleaning the area. However grueling and tedious, we both had work to do. I counted out loud for her, eventually finding a good pace. My breathing was nearly impossible to control by the end. I tried to fake a few to have a break, but Dooza knew better.
“That’s fifty more! And you had better redo those last eight.”
“Fine!”
I spent all day sipping water out of snow melts. The winter sun came and went so quickly that
I did not earn my two eggs until late in the afternoon. I had never appreciated the ability to stand so completely. When I was finished, I had to crawl back to my healing pool. Each one of the cuts had ripped open, and the clouds still kept me from properly healing all at once. Another night’s worth of dreamless sleep nearly drove me moon mad. Fortunately, every time I contemplated conjuring the red shadow, I remembered the haunting memory of Emperor Goja displaying the power, and my stomach turned to stone. I refused to let that demon take hold, even if it killed me.
The Ambassador’s convoy made it back from Hi-yadora in time to leave our base under cover of the new moon. Major Swiftblade had left two days prior, presumably to guard over the road. The Lady Dooza entertained them while I practiced falling down. She did not want the mercenaries to learn of her sacred hot springs, nor did I. Jyetta screamed, likely from hearing I had been injured, but I did not come down the mountain until I was finished training and floating in the hot salt bath. The cold winter air nearly killed me after so many days spent in the cloud of hot mist. The thick scabs below the belly button dried out instantly. I grabbed my gut and realized that my underwear was heavily stained with blood, and that I was wearing nothing else.
“Oh my, when did you start training in the nude?”
“Master Crow! How was your journey to the heartland of the noble savage?”
Jyetta had run out of Dooza’s quarters and hugged me by surprise. Red from embarrassment, he flipped his hair to the side and presented himself like harlot.
“They inked your face? Just like your father.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, of course.”
The Chron had put Jyetta through quite the painful experience. The tattoo began with the eternal crow’s face on each cheek, leading down the neck and meeting across the chest. Each crow had an ornate talon perched on their respective shoulder and another resting on the chest. The thing was massive and intricate and filled in completely.
