Tested (The Life of Uktesh Book 1)

by Aaron Hicks

  “You probably would’ve found someone to protect and would’ve grown just as quickly.” said Laurilli.

  “Maybe, but probably not, because here there’s just been me for a long time, and there, I would’ve had others to fight a saber rabbit or minotaur the right way.” he said, even though he doubted for another reason it as he remembered Essra, the dark haired beauty that he had had no interest in. He was sure she would have caused “accidents” for anyone he liked that wasn’t able to defend themselves. “I’m content with how it turned out, though I wish our dads were with us.”

  They quieted down after that somber thought and soon Esolc stood, stretched, and said, “Well I’m going to call it a night. Tomorrow we should reach Jubay, if all goes well.”

  Isle de Tramonto

  Uktesh woke to the last day of their travels and felt good enough to help pack up the camp. He could feel the strength in his legs and arms had quickly returned. Though his hands still didn’t open or close all the way, and they had little strength, they too had improved. With the end so close, the companions were all smiles and laughter. Laurilli twirled around him and kissed him, then dashed off to help pack, only to return back to him moments later, to spin away again. Even without much help from the two of them, the wagon was quickly packed and soon they were back on the road.

  “When do you think we’ll get there?” asked Laurilli.

  “Probably sometime after noon.” answered Esolc.

  Laurilli let out a peel of laughter that echoed the mood the group was in. The road they travelled had started to become more populated, and soon when they passed one person on the road, they could see another in the distance. At the sign for the turn off to the Isle de Tramonto, they couldn’t help but break out in a babble of excited chatter about what they were going to do once they reached the island.

  “I can’t wait to eat something good!” said Esolc.

  “Food that isn’t jerky!” added Repus.

  “Eat some bread!” exclaimed Heathyr.

  “Eat some cake!” laughed Laurilli, and after everyone stopped to stare at her she said, “What! I like cake!”

  “Better be careful about that Uktesh, don’t want a,” Repus paused to gather his thoughts, “mountain woman.”

  Everyone laughed, but Uktesh spoke when they’d calmed down, “I’d love her then, as long as she doesn’t mind me joining in her mountainous ways!”

  They shared another laugh at that before Heathyr said, “Drink water that isn’t stale!”

  “Drink a pint of the local brew!” add Esolc.

  “I wanna try some of their fruit juices.” said Uktesh.

  “We’ll let ya try some of that, but first you have to try some of their famous fire water.” said Repus.

  Uktesh could smell salt in the air and the temperature had dropped noticeably. He was still comfortable, but he knew that meant they were now close to the coast. Ahead he saw a bridge and guessed that they’d see the ocean under it. He noticed that Basam hadn’t joined them, and then noticed that he had his hand on the hilt of his sword. He thought about the sign, and the fact that even though the road had started to become more crowded, they hadn’t seen one person on this road. “We should stop.” he said to the group.

  Heathyr pulled up on the reins and the three riders brought their horses to a halt. “What’s going on?”

  “Basam, do you want to answer that?”

  “Basam thinks this is a trap, but hasn’t seen any evidence, just a feeling.”

  “I got some evidence for you, if this is the road to the Isle de Tramonto why is no one on it? We’re close to the ocean, but I don’t hear any sounds of a bustling city preparing for the day. We should turn around and check road again.”

  They nodded suddenly wary and as they had begun to turn the cart around, a man stepped from the shadows an arrow nocked in his bow, but not yet drawn. “Greeting strangers! This here’s a toll road, it’s a modest fee but we’ll be taking your money, and not your lives.”

  Laurilli had stealthily strung her bow and Uktesh stood, to draw attention from her, “You’re in luck. We’ve chosen not to use this road.” He scanned the trees and didn’t see any movement, but he did see six men started to come down the road from the bridge. Laurilli laid the bow where he could get to it, pulled the three arrows she could get to from under their belongings, and put them next to it.

  “Boy, you don’t want to,” he cut off what he was going to say, and his expression turned from threat to shock and Uktesh knew he had to act. He grabbed the bow and the arrows and rolled out of the cart as an arrow sliced through the space he’d been moments before. Uktesh came up and fired an arrow into the thief’s head. It didn’t have enough strength behind it, and after piercing the skin it bounce off the skull and fell down. The thief had another arrow ready, pulled it back, and fired. For the first time, Uktesh got a good look at the skill of the man he fought and was impressed. His stance was solid, his draw smooth, he exhaled as he released and had he been in a fight with someone else, he probably would’ve killed them then and there. But Uktesh tilted his head out of the path, and heard Laurilli gasp as the arrow passed by. He could feel the wind of its passage as he readied his arrow. The thief dropped his weapons and disappeared into the woods. Had he the strength, Uktesh would’ve fired a second arrow into the thief as he ran. But as it was, he tossed the bow into the cart, as the horses danced back and forth as Heathyr struggled to turn the cart. He held his hands up to Laurilli and she grabbed his wrists and hauled him in the bed of the cart.

  Basam, Repus, and Esolc charged the six thieves that had begun to run towards them. They trusted Uktesh to handle the one thief injured, and Uktesh was surprised that he hadn’t the same confidence in himself at the moment. They got the cart turned around, as Repus, Esolc, and Basam crashed into and through the thieves which left four on the ground, injured or dead, and the other two continued toward the cart. Heathyr snapped the horses into a trot, but Uktesh knew that the men would catch them before they got up to speed. He grabbed Laurilli’s hand and had her grab his pants so that he wouldn’t fall from the sway of the cart.

  Uktesh quickly picked up the bow and arrows, nocked one and with a quick pull back released it into one of their thighs, the thief went down and rolled into the trees. The last thief thought he was close enough that he would make it before Uktesh could fire again, but he didn’t know who his foe was. His hands throbbed with pain, but he drew back the final arrow they had available and, as he fired, the cart hit a stone or root and the arrow arched high into the man’s shoulder, but must’ve hit a bone, because Uktesh could tell the wound was shallow.

  The man smiled and vaulted into the cart sword ready, only to have his face meet Uktesh’s boot. Again his strength betrayed him and a blow that should’ve decapitated didn’t even break a nose. Uktesh attacked in the balanced Crescent Kick, before the man could recover, and his heel slammed into the back of the thief’s head. He staggered more into the cart, and Uktesh flowed into the Imperfect Wooden Post and snapped his foot straight into the man’s chest and felt something break. Finally the man flew from the cart.

  Uktesh collapsed into Laurilli and as he slowly let his breath returned to normal, Repus, Esolc, and Basam returned and formed up around them. “That was exciting!” shouted Repus over the pounding of the horse’s hooves.

  “I could’ve done with less excitement!” shouted Heathyr.

  “Basam is glad Basam was right, but sad that Basam couldn’t finish off the thieves.”

  “Maybe on our return trip, my friend.” said Esolc and clapped a hand on Basam’s arm.

  “Basam thinks by then Uktesh will be well enough to take them all out.”

  Uktesh was too tired to laugh with the rest of them, because he still had not yet caught his breath. His hands throbbed with pain. Laurilli must’ve been able to tell, because she started to massage his hands and, even though it hurt, he wasn’t about to stop her. They made it safely back to the main road, destroyed
the sign that they now knew was a trap, and realized that everyone passed the turn off that they’d taken. By the time they decided to follow the flow of traffic, Uktesh’s hands no longer hurt. By the time they came in site of Jubay, Laurilli was resting against him and used a finger to trace the lines in his hands. Compared to Manori and his village, it would’ve shocked Uktesh to see so many people in one place, but after the tournament in Baenok, with a city that size crammed to overflow, it was not as impressive as it once would’ve been.

  Uktesh noticed right away that, while the town had a wall that surrounded it for protection, it was clearly a relic of the past, as he saw children played on top of it. As they made their way through town, Laurilli continued to lean against him and he put his arm around her waist. They made their way to the docks easily and found that the boat to the Isle de Tramonto was scheduled to leave in an hour, which gave them enough time to store their wagon and get something to eat before it left.

  All the boats were heavily armored with thick slabs of leather, and all had huge harpoons spaced evenly around the rails. The crow’s nest was more of a crow’s cage because it was completely enclosed and looked like the metal had dents in it.

  “Det’s d’ere fer de Wosn, Hines, Wyverns, Blade birds, and a deozen mare like ‘em!” said one of the sailors, who caught Uktesh’s look. “Yer don have ter be worrien doe, quick trip to Dramto won’t be dat dangrous.”

  “Thank you, I was getting worried.” Uktesh said.

  “Basam will stay with the cart and guard our possessions.” Basam said.

  “Thank you, would you like us to bring you back anything?” asked Heathyr.

  “Basam would like meat of any kind.” Basam said.

  “I think I’ll stick around too.” said Uktesh, “I don’t want to slow you guys down too much, and I think that after our near robbery, I need to rest. I know my hands do for sure.”

  “I’ll stay too then,” said Laurilli

  Heathyr nodded and with promises to bring back meat and juice she, Esolc, and Repus headed towards a tavern. Uktesh lay back in the bed of the cart and Laurilli joined him and rested her head on his chest. His left hand combed through her hair, while she held his right loosely. Basam tied the horses to the cart and sat on the driver’s bench. They were silent for a few minutes before Uktesh asked, “Basam, did you win enough money to divorce your wife and buy back your kids?”

  “Yes, though with Basam’s bad bets at the beginning Basam didn’t make enough to purchase three of the children Basam would like to keep.”

  “Then that’s only an extra fifteen gold pieces right?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s the process that you would have to go through to get them? And how many are you able to purchase?”

  “Basam has enough to purchase all but three.”

  “Oh, so you want all your kids? Even though you don’t know if they’re yours?” asked Laurilli.

  “Yes, Basam has raised them. Basam loves them as Basam’s own, and Basam wouldn’t wish to leave them with the woman Basam’s wife turned out to be.”

  “What’s the process to get them?”

  “Well Basam would travel to Red lake in Croatoa, which is just west of the capitol, Cratoa, and with the witness of the mayor, pay Marylla and travel back with Basam’s children. Then Basam needs to find a place to live in Manori and continue to train with you.”

  “Why don’t you go now? They can join us in having fun at the Isle de Tramonto, and it’ll allow them to know a few people before moving to a new place.”

  “Basam doesn’t have the money to get them all, and once Basam has them, Basam doesn’t have the money to travel with them all back here.”

  “So you need fifteen more coins to gets all your kids, and probably another fifteen to travel them all back here with several gold coins to spare? You can have that from me as a payment for the help and security you’ve provided thus far, and once our Hero for Hire picks back up, we’ll split the money three ways.”

  “Uktesh we’ll let him have all the money!”

  “Well I have no problem with that, but I think he does.”

  “Basam wouldn’t want to take charity.”

  “I assumed that would be the case, but what do you think of the plan?”

  “Basam likes it. Basam will wait until the other three get back and will then hire a boat to Helsbay, the closest port in Croatoa to Red lake. Basam will be there and back in two months!”

  “Be where and back in two months?” asked an overburdened Esolc who carried enough meat for five people, and behind him Repus and Heathyr had six cups and three skins of liquid between them.

  “I’ve offered Basam some money to travel to Red River -”

  “Red Lake,” Laurilli interrupted.

  “What?” Uktesh asked.

  “Basam is going to Red Lake, not Red River.” She said.

  “Oh, he’d going to Red Lake to get his kids and join us at the Isle de Tramonto, as a thank you for all the help he’s been since I was injured.”

  As they ate, Laurilli discreetly grabbed a handful of gold coins from the chest where they kept some of their money, counted out thirty, and gave them to Basam. All too soon, their time was up and it was time to travel to their resort destination, while Basam travelled to Red lake. They bid farewell to Basam and, as they boat started to drift out to sea, they saw him talk to various captains as he looked for a boat to Helsbay. “I’m going to miss him.” said Laurilli.

  “Yeah, he made a great addition to our group, but we’ll see him soon enough.” Uktesh agreed.

  They watched Basam shake hands with one of the captains and Basam turned to wave goodbye to them one last time, as he picked up his pack, walked onto the boat, and lead his horse up the ramp.

  It was an uneventful boat trip, and, for that, Uktesh was extremely grateful. When they came in view of the island, it looked like an emerald in a sea of sapphires. “Wow, does anyone else think that that water is too blue?” Esolc asked.

  “Yeah.” Uktesh said. As they got closer to the island, they could see the sea bed through the clearest water he’d ever seen. “Wow look at all those lion fish!”

  “Look over there!” Laurilli said and pointed, “Dolphins!”

  Uktesh stood up and looked in the direction that she had pointed, and he saw one of the dolphins jump out of the water, do a flip, and splash back in head first. “That was amazing!”

  They watched the dolphins until they docked and because they had watched the dolphins, Uktesh hadn’t noticed the people and their clothing or lack of it. Everyone walked around in just shorts or skirts, men and women both, it didn’t seem to matter. But Uktesh could feel heat as it practically radiated off his face, and knew his face must be as red as it had ever been before. “Hey Heathyr?” Uktesh asked.

  “Yes?” she said and turned away from the dolphins, but towards him and not the shore.

  “I think you’re going to find a lot of skirts and pareo’s for the skirts, if I’m using that word right, but I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of shirts that you’ll like.”

  “Uktesh what’s wrong with your face, and why?”

  “Um, mom,” Laurilli said, “the answer to both questions is on the beach, dock, streets, water, and pretty much everywhere.”

  Heathyr turned to see what Uktesh had spotted first and started to turn a shade of pink herself before she said, “Laurilli, I don’t have to tell you, but you’re going to be an obvious tourist for this whole trip right?”

  “You don’t need to tell me twice.” Uktesh thought about Laurilli in island clothes and couldn’t help but smile. “Uktesh I know what you’re thinking about!”

  “What? I’m just smiling cause I’m glad to be here with my fiancée who is more beautiful than anyone else in the world.”

  “You liar. I know you were thinking about me in island clothing!”

  Uktesh winked at her so that her mom couldn’t see. Her eyes got big and she glared at him, even thoug
h he could tell that she tried to fight back a grin. He limped forward toward the edge of the cart, while he gave her the “come here” sign with his index finger to meet him at the edge. When she got there, he knelt down in the bed of the cart, kissed her, and whispered, “You know me too well.” Then he said louder, “You wouldn’t want me to think of someone else in island clothes, right?”

  “I don’t want you to think about anyone like that until we’re even!”

  “Well then, I hear and obey. I won’t think,” he paused and again thought about her in just a skirt, “Nope sorry. I can’t do it.”

  “What!” she exclaimed in mock protest.

  “Sorry I tried my hardest.”

  “It was like four seconds!”

  “The four longest seconds of my life! You’re too pretty. This is clearly your fault.” he said and nodded sagely.

  “My fault? You’re the one who goes around looking down an innocent girl’s shirt when she’s kissing you.”

  “It was after the kiss.”

  “So you don’t deny the first part?” she asked and raised an eyebrow.

  “Can’t really do that and still consider myself honest.”

  “Ha!”

  “Ha, what? You knew what I had seen moments after it happened. Anyway, get in. We’re ready to off load this cart and find a place to stay.”

  Uktesh lay back in the cart and soon Laurilli joined him, “I’m glad you don’t think of others that way.”

  “Me too. I think it’s easier to love one person.” she kissed him and pulled him to sit next to her. The cart was carefully backed out of the boat and soon their horses were too. After they hitched their horse to the cart, they were off to look for a place to stay. Uktesh attempted not to look at the ladies they passed, while Repus and Esolc flirted with most of the women they passed.

  “We were told that the best places were on the east side of the island, so we’re heading that way first.” said Heathyr. When they passed dozens of personal houses, they knew that they were in the right place. They stopped at the main building and Laurilli went in to check on availability, while Repus and Esolc talked to a group of women that had walked passed them down the road. She came back out, called Repus and Esolc over, and said, “It’s one gold a day-“