by Matt Wilk
“What are you doing down here?”
“That’s what I was going to ask you.”
“Now we’re both surrounded.”
“Good. You have a delivery for me?”
I shook his hand, bowing to his wisdom. I dumped the contents of the chest out for him and threw the hard wooden thing at the monsters. All they saw was desperation. The Chief called for another wave and even grabbed a reed for himself. Once the Swiftblade was reloaded, both sides opened fire. Reeds flew down from all sides and I did my best to block for Major Swiftblade. He was smart enough to keep that extra shell covering his face. He was protected from the heat of the fire and from incoming reeds. What neither of us expected, was the upgraded power of the new cartridges. For every spin of charge, the Drakkah cannon fired three shots in a row.
“Drakkah!”
Besides an inability to swim in water, the monsters had an uncontrollable fear of fire. Before long, they fled, and we gave chase. The Swiftblade blew apart a path in the wall spikes for us to climb. I could barely keep up with his pace as I had both hands full of his ammunition. They ran north, occasionally screaming from having fallen off the cliff. The water splashed but none of them ever screamed again. We chased through the thickest woods and the path circled back west. Down below, on the ground level, the Opa packs were splitting up and disappearing into the woods without their elite warrior class. It would make for a harsh winter, but, they stood a chance of escaping detection from no longer having the power to eat on man flesh. Major Swiftblade called for a reload half way through. Just in time, as the barrel had grown red hot. I followed, grabbing a reed in my open hand. Most of the trees on the plateau were already burning. To kill them all, we did not stop until the entire canopy was aflame and the Opa had nowhere else to hide.
The last group tried to surprise us and failed. I got the first with the last reed, while he was still in mid leap. The next ate the Swiftblade itself- literally. With his final shot, the Monster Hunter blew a whole straight through the chest of the last monster at point blank range. He blew back over the edge of the plateau into the dark night. We stood there panting for a moment, waiting for the splash. We both looked around to ensure the entire hive had been destroyed. On the southern tip, where the rock had fallen off, awaited the ever present phoenix. The king roared its head up in ecstasy like a mad goat, and I roared back. Major Swiftblade patted my shoulder. The red shadow faded away to nothing. Kane’s phoenix flew home to spread the word of our victory over the man eating monsters. Finally, I had won my honor.
Act 5
“Matthius, what is honor?”
“Sir, honor means to be remembered for your achievements.”
Major Swiftblade smacked me again. My face was swollen from the training that had intensified. It had been a miserable two months without the sun, and so much snow covered the valley that we could no longer open the door to leave the sergeant’s quarters. The Swiftblade tried his best to step up my training, he said, because of his own boredom. However, the smile he struggled to hide suggested to me that it was done out of pride for his pupil.
“What does a man of honor achieve?”
“The glory of winning in combat against an enemy no one thought could be defeated.”
His two finger punch- the snake bite- landed in my diaphragm, causing me to breathe in spasms.
“Glory and honor are not the same. What is the difference?”
“My master taught me,-”
He surprised me by pulling my hair so my forehead slammed down onto his uppercut. My ears were ringing, and I was struggling to continue. The Shaman position and the breath control made for invaluable allies during the practice torture sessions. My control over the red shadow was still only that of a novice. To defeat the Swillian pure bloods, I needed to become a master.
“Glory is achieved at the outset of battle, a prize for having the bravery to fight.”
“And, for the honor.”
“Honor is a matter of solidarity. The people must decide. Given the outcome, victory or otherwise. As well as the manner in which a man has reached this outcome, are all taken into consideration.”
“Well said.”
Major Swiftblade could no longer hold back his smile. He held out his hand for a shake. I was beaming. He put his hand on my shoulder to help lift himself up. That’s when his elbow slammed down on the bridge of my nose. I screamed, eyes swelling shut and face exploding with blood.
“B-my b-nose.”
“A matter of pride?”
“B-no one-d ever broke b-my b-nose!”
His final trick had secretly been the source of his smile, all the while building a rapport to prevent me from seeing it coming. It was only the beginning of his attack. His fists rained in from every angle. I had to roll back and found myself stuck in the corner. His long leg took so long to reach me that, by the time it had, I had fully summoned the red shadow. With the power, I caught his leg, then threw it back at him. Major Swiftblade was only getting started. He slipped out of his weighted cloak and tossed it in the air to block my view. I tried to take the time to focus on healing my nose, and doing so left my stomach unprotected. His heel strike did not miss that time. It landed in my gut, spun around to my liver, and its twin met my chest. I flew back into the wall. The impact caused my hilt to ring loudly in the barren stone quarters. Without breath control, the red shadow turned a deeper shade of scarlet than my own blood.
“You are losing control.”
“B-my b-nose-d.”
He was right, I was losing control. To prove his point, he provoked me with many feints. I fell for most of them. The power wanted blood, it was my duty to channel such a demon for good- lest it use me for its own evil intentions. Major Swiftblade did not let up for one moment. I had hand made him a chair from a felled tree, and he attacked me with the thing. Breaking the chair added an emotional element. The pain was almost too much to contain. I blocked and defended clear to the other side of the main hall. I had to fight my own fury as well, which I considered much more difficult. Finally, he pulled a knife on me.
The corner was no longer a safe place to hide. I rolled left and right and even dove between his legs. My body ended up with cuts all over and breathing through my mouth made me bite my tongue several times. He charged, and I rolled away to hide- right in front of the fire place. He charged again, leaving me with only one place to retreat. The knife attack came in low, allowing me to jump. Without my armor, I was fast enough to catch him off guard. I even managed to trap his arm in between my legs. I straightened my fingers to make knife hands, swung them out wide during the jump, and chopped the hard bones of both wrists into his neck- just as he had done to me so many times before. The blood left his head, though only for a moment. Major Swiftblade dropped to his knees. I pushed him over to stop him from falling face first into the fire.
“Ha. How do you catch a monster?”
My panting slowed. While he moaned the life back into his body, I growled and reset my nose bridge. The pain filled me with energy, but, I sat down in the Shaman position. Breathing hard with a purpose, all my cuts grew closed. The red shadow focused on the knife laying on the floor. The room turned back to normal, and finally, the bright red knife turned back to grey. Major Swiftblade tucked his legs in as well. We sat there breathing and grunting for some time.
“I should never have taught you that move.”
“I agree.”
For the first time in many sunless days, he laughed. We both did. He left me there to get ready for bed, though I was not need it. I stared into the fire and cleared my mind. Nickolas would have been proud of all that I had accomplished in a single year on the surface. Grandfather was somewhere in Kowena being commended for his values, and the high honor of having taught them to a Swillian savage. Wherever Leiza’s soul had gone to rest, she was smiling.
Soon, we would have our year’s end break. Senjay would be proud too. However, I was much more interested in his tales of Guuwa. The pr
ecedence called for an exhibition match. Lucky for him, I had learned to fight without losing control. The mark of shame mattered as little as my Swillian spots. I had won my honor. More importantly, I had earned Major Swiftblade’s respect.
The Lady Dooza demanded my presence on the New Year. It was not fair to me because the Shaman had a seal skin cloak. Three days she made me kneel for the allFather’s Prayer, every morning until he defeated the king of the underworld. Only on the fourth day did we receive confirmation, when the clouds parted just before dawn, and the sun rose in its rightful place.
“Oh my, yes. High and mighty this morning. You may go now.”
“That’s it?”
“For today, yes.”
“I have been freezing for three days while you mumble mush mouth.”
“I was hailing incantations at demons. Something you would know nothing about.”
“You have gone stir crazy from living with the hens too long.”
“Yes, they would like to get out and play. Blaze them a trail to the stables so they may peck to their little heart’s desire.”
“Are you insane?”
Dooza seemed offended. Though, in retaliation, she clucked at me several times. At least she had the forethought to keep the hungry hens inside until I was finished. The tiny spot of the sun was all that I needed to start the New Year good and proper. Sliding down the serpentine on my shell was the most fun that I had had in two months. The snow made for a soft landing at the bottom of each tier. The struggle to make each new step also exercised my legs. I enjoyed the exercise, and the animals loved me for it. Even with his giant hooves, Eso could only feed himself when the bison walked through. He and his stall needed a cleaning, and the hens were happy to oblige. The rat colony had somehow grown substantially, allowing for the hens to eat their fill.
“Good, good. Eat my pretties, eat!”
“You are not worried about them getting sick?”
“No, why?”
“They are disgusting rats. They’ve been living off of steed’s dung, and one another.”
“So says the boy that eats eggs with no chicks. You are such a nasty little beast.”
“What? That’s not the same.”
Dooza cackled hysterically. She could no longer be reasoned with. I did not see her point until the hens had spent enough days outside foraging that they finally regained the ability to lay eggs. She mocked me, saying they were tainted with essence of rat. By then, I no longer cared.
“What must I do? Just for one egg? Please, tell me.”
“You must perform my duties. My old bones are so tired. But that would not be worth these toxic eggs. You would not be interested in that.”
“Yes, anything. Name the price.”
Dooza teased me with a baked egg, holding it above my head. I was already on my knees, begging for solid food. She showed my stomach mercy. That egg came with a heavy price.
“Very well, you will burn the ram. Carry on.”
“Wait, what?”
I was still peeling the shell off the egg. For once, she humored me with a full explanation.
“When the snow lets up, the ram will return. You must deliver him to the Drakkah for sacrifice.”
“But, I do not have the gauntlets.”
“Neither do I. Yet, I make the sacrifice every year. Deliver the sacrifice.”
“Um, I will?”
“You will?”
“Yes ma’am. I will.”
“Do you know why it is necessary? Do you even know what your fathers did to the Clovus? Well, do you?”
“You mean, Goja the First? I read that he conquered the Clovus in a day. Is that true?”
“No, no. Not true, not even close.”
Dooza shook her head, flailing her silver hair. Then she began rocking back and forth. Her chair was not meant for it, causing the wood to bend and creak. I knew it to be one of her tricks. Even in her sun deprived madness, she had the wherewithal to try using the methodical sound to put me in a trance. She failed, but the hens bobbed their heads along with their master.
“The fleet came by sea. The monsters by land. The mountain kingdom was surrounded. Not for the first time- for the last time. On all sides, giant Opa and catapults and arrows. No flash powder, no, not back then. Just fire and death and destruction. But only for a day. The savage, the cruel barbarian savage- he begged us for peace. ‘We are but hungry warriors. Share with us, in our final feast, and know that we are but hungry warriors. We want only for peace, only for food. Eat with us now, for tomorrow we go.’ A trick!”
Dooza screamed and curled her spine. She looked and sounded as though she had been stabbed in the back. The hens froze in fear, then happily began bobbing along with her again.
“They slaughtered the ram. They ate of the ram. They drank of its blood. How could they not also fall to the flu? Sorcery, evil, Swillian! The Swillians and their tricks. First with the flu, now with the pox. What will they think of next? Where have the gods gone? Why do they not show us mercy? Why?”
She screamed again. This time, she ended with a rough moan, and promptly began sobbing. I did not think it right to leave. However, I dare not touch her with the spotted hand of a Swillian.
“I hate that I am related to these people. I am so sorry Dooza. I will deliver the sacrifice. You don’t have to touch the goats anymore. I am immune.”
“Sorry? Not proud? Immune? Not a god?”
“No, I am just Matthius. I am no better than anyone else. I can count my many failures in a row. Just this year, I failed to save Johnny the Knuckle. Shale and Clarence, Crow and Slip. Even the steeds were slaughtered.”
“You stopped the lion, and the Opa.”
“And how many Sheek-tee children were eaten in the interim? Even the monsters remain a full step ahead of me. And yet, where is Kru? And the gods, they took my Leiza? No, I have no sway. I have no power. I have barely survived at every turn, and I lost the only reason to keep going a year ago.”
Dooza wiped her tears and looked up at me, then to her curious blue clucks. She threw them a handful of seeds. The flurry of life made her smile, and I tried to as well.
“Fill your hungry tummy child. You are stronger than you know.”
“What do you mean? The red shadow is nothing compared to the hilt.”
“Combined?”
“Without a weapon? There is no title for a marker with spots, no future either.”
“You are the weapon. You make the difference. You made the change.”
“What change? I am still just another peasant- to be used as a pawn.”
“You are not like them. If you were, I would have let you die when it was your turn.”
“It is all I can do to keep this demon hidden inside.”
“Precisely. You turned down an empire. Nowhere in the Lexicon was it written that any son of Gojinus would tell jokes to keep from crying. No blood to Goja would ever apologize for having been born with spots. Through your actions alone, you have changed the future. The Emperor will fall to the flu one of these years. Soon, all of your cousins will make civil war to claim his throne. Then, the Swillians will be undone. So, eat.”
“Then, none of it matters.”
“Oh?”
“If the Lantos would have let Sloan sacrifice me to the allFather, you would have gotten the very same outcome.”
“Well then, obviously, your greatest deed has yet to be done.”
Dooza’s final statement allowed her to sink into her chair and be at peace. I didn’t feel any better. And the nasty little hens pecked at me, feeding on their own egg shells. They could not even let me eat one whole egg without snapping off a beakful for themselves. At least the knot in my stomach drove out the hunger. All I could do was sigh. I had no other options. I sat down on the mountain top, waiting for the gods to administer their final test, and hoping I had the grit to survive.
The sun’s revival was short lived. The warm reprieve lasted a generous eleven days, followed by the snow�
��s return. Two more months came and went, until the flurries were scattered enough to begin training safely. My skin had gone pale from the lack of exposure and my wide frame was whittled down for sustenance. When I finally sprinted up the serpentine again, my breath control proved much less capable of carrying me through to the finish.
“Starting over?”
“Yes sir. I’m so weak. It’s not fair.”
“Better than last year.”
“This time last year I was digging under a mountain with a hammer.”
“Ah, life on the surface. We have wind, and sunlight, and even soap.”
The extended cave living had taken strength from Major Swiftblade as well. Although, he was not upset about it the way I was. After stretching for quite some time, he left me to exercise on my own. His hunt lasted for days and he returned with both hinds of an elk, wearing a wide smile. The last snow turned to freezing rain. The fresh meat restored our strength. Dooza’s hens were able to roost in their covered cliff side abode. Eso would roam free for days with his wild cousins. The spring melt was fast approaching. The world- as I had come to know it- was slowly returning.
The snow drifts had been cut into by melting drops for long enough that aboveground rivers formed in the paths of least resistance. The constant burbling and rushing current allowed for a much deeper meditation. I was able to hold the Shaman position for hours. Distractions simply did not exist in the peaceful valley below Ram’s Peak. Until the rams began their migration south. The Lady Dooza had suggested the popping sound would be unquestionable, however, I had never heard such a thing before.
“Hello?”
I shook myself to wakefulness and checked all around the second tier. Another pop made me rush over the edge in an attempt to stop whatever monster from attacking our steed.
“Ha! Oh, sorry Eso.”
The valley was emptied of life on the rainy and dreary afternoon. Then, another pop scared a flock of birds in the north.
