by Reece Dinn
Melonaz pounced as Tenalkz was pulling his spear out of the snow, striking swiftly. Tenalkz stumbled back, barely able to block. He stabbed at his stomach, but Tenalkz struck him in the head with the spear shaft, dazing him.
He couldn't gain the upper hand, no matter how hard he fought, they each knew the other's fighting style all too well. Melonaz was tiring though, the pain in his back draining his strength. Need end this. He cried out, bursting forward. Tenalkz thrust his spear at his head. Melonaz swung with all the strength he had left.
Tenalkz's spear snapped in half, splinters of wood flying off in different directions, the spear point dropping to the ground. Melonaz thrust his sword at Tenalkz's throat, the sword's tip stopping a hair's breadth away. Got you. He breathed a sigh of relief. His whole body was drained, his sword arm throbbing from the force of the impact with the spear.
Tenalkz yielded.
Melonaz grinned, checking to see if the Lial had seen his victory. His mentor was on the other side of the grounds, his back to them, watching another pair fighting. Nukuk. He spat to the side, lowering his sword.
Tenalkz threw the remains of his spear away. 'You win. First for three moons.'
'You not win in four,' said Melonaz. That hard. You tough when I hurt.
Tenalkz swatted him on the back of the head. 'Yes. You good. I stronger though.'
'Older, not stronger.'
Tenalkz smirked at that. 'You be best if you listen to Lial.'
Melonaz kicked up a clump of snow. 'He holds me back.'
'He'll let you train with the old Sehnal when he thinks you ready.'
I ready.
'Change partner,' the Lial shouted. 'Tenalkz go with Wenosoz. Ilaroz, you with Timoz.' He paired up several of the others, not calling Melonaz.
Melonaz glanced about as the others joined with their new partners. All the boys who offered any kind of challenge for him had been paired up already.
The Lial walked over to him, little Oloroz by his side. This a joke?
'I want you to train him.' He pushed Oloroz towards him. The little boy tripped.
'I train him?' Melonaz grumbled.
'Yes. Problem?'
He shook his head, eyeing Oloroz. The sword he held was too big for him. He needs smaller sword. Better for him.
The Lial left them and Oloroz looked up at Melonaz with wide, eager eyes.
Melonaz sighed. 'You know how to fight?
'Yes,' said Oloroz, his voice a squeak.
'Then get ready.' He stepped towards him, crouching low to lightly butt heads with him.
'Ow,' moaned Oloroz.
He smacked Oloroz's sword with his, knocking it out of his hands.
'Pick it up,' he huffed.
Oloroz shook his hand, then picked up the sword.
'Hit mine.'
He hit Melonaz's sword, weakly. They separated. Melonaz assumed a defensive stance, sword held up to block. Oloroz raised his sword over his head with both hands, gritting his teeth.
'Fight,' shouted the Lial.
Oloroz charged, swinging wildly. Melonaz recoiled, surprised by the ferocity. The boy was unrelenting, his attacks full of energy and a strength that hadn't been there moments before. His arm quickly tired from blocking. In irritation he sidestepped and slammed the butt of his sword into the top of Oloroz's head. The boy fell flat on his face. Melonaz tried to hide his smirk.
Something smacked Melonaz's hand hard, knocking his sword from his fingers. He hissed, clutching the hand.
The Lial shook his head. 'Say train.' He smashed his elbow into Melonaz's nose.
'Nukuk,' he spat, covering his nose.
The Lial moved on, kicking up snow.
Melonaz knelt down, wiping his nose, leaving smears of blood all over the back of his hand.
Oloroz rolled over, rubbing his head. 'That hurt,' he said.
Melonaz skipped his afternoon meal to get to the training ground before the older Sehnal arrived. He hid as usual in the gola at the top of the small hill behind the Lial's rock. He pulled apart the wall of thick evergreen leaves and squeezed himself between its branches, like a lilnac did when sheltering from a blizzard. Wriggling around until comfortable, he made a small hole in the leaves and peered out. Time for the real lesson.
The older Sehnal arrived a short time later. Just eight of them. Other old Sehnal leave on their Cubsoz. They away for long time. Space for me here, if Lial allows it.
His stomach twisted into knots at the sight of Nekolz and his two friends, Nekolz's presence made him want to jump out and tear him apart. The three boys laughed and joked, play-fighting with one another. He spat in disgust.
The Lial appeared, coming up from behind and passing through them. He sat down cross-legged on top of his rock. The older Sehnal moved closer, falling silent. Melonaz strained his ears to hear what the Lial was saying.
'You all learn to use Raiz. I see you jump higher than a furaz. See you lift big rocks over your heads.' The Lial raised his arms in mimicry. 'You all strong. Show courage, discipline. You not men though. Not until you learn one more skill. You need a weapon. One you use all your life. All need do this if want to be an Apochal.'
He cupped his hands. A ball of fire burst into life, casting an orange glow over the Lial. His Raiz shrank a little. 'When make wind with Raiz, make fire, use Hakah, use Brubah, you draw your Raiz back into yourself after you use it.' He threw the fireball over his shoulder. It landed on the snow and fizzled out. Melonaz sensed the Lial's Raiz return to normal.
'We create weapon from Raiz. You can't draw the Raiz back. Weapon solid. You give up Raiz to make it. Leaves it weaker. Your mind slower. Yet, if you train hard, the body grows. Learn to wield your weapon, you'll be stronger than before.'
Nekolz's fat friend and another boy stiffened. Nekolz was excited though, his face twisting into a smile.
'You don't have to do this. If not do though, you not be Apochal. Apochal need weapon to kill ludenez. Die if not. To make weapon is test of skill. Of mind. Of will. Of discipline. Make sacrifice for people. If not want do this, say so.'
A silence followed. Then one boy, the tallest and stockiest of the eight, stepped forward.
'I not do, Lial,' he said.
The Lial nodded. 'If change mind, I teach again. You can still train. Not leave village though. You learn other role instead. Huntman, herdman. Make furs, if want.' The Sehnal went to leave, his head bowed, but the Lial told him to stay and watch, in case he changed his mind. The boy nodded and moved to the back of the group. Melonaz chuckled quietly. Weak. No courage in that bonokok.
'There no shame. This big danger. If go wrong, lose Raiz. Not get back. Maybe die. Strong Sehnal succeed. Weak Sehnal die. Other people to want leave? This last chance.' The Lial closed his eyes.
Silence again. Melonaz tried to guess which of them would give up. The fat one. He weak. Not do this. He wished for Nekolz to disgrace himself, to stand up, and leave, mocked by the Lial for being so weak.
After a few moments the Lial appeared satisfied that the remaining Sehnal were ready to continue. He jumped up and stamped his staff on his rock.
'This my staff, its name is Rorkaroz. In twenty years it fight many battles all over Kitaz. It with me all time.'
The Lial spun Rorkaroz rapidly in front of him, then thrust it forward. A powerful gust of wind blasted out of it, battering into the Sehnal, knocking Nekolz's small friend into the fat one. Leaping into the air, the Lial raised Rorkaroz over his head and slammed its end into the snow as he landed. The snow exploded from the ground, the force of it sending all the boys flying off their feet.
Where there should have been a small hole there was instead a large one many hand spans wide.
'You left weak when first make weapon,' said the Lial. 'But will be stronger in the end.'
Several of the boys were left stunned by the Lial's display of strength. Melonaz wasn't surprised in the least, having taken several beatings from him, but he was still awed. I need be in here, with the old Sehnal.
Lial hold me back. Think I get too strong. I will beat him in a duel, one day. Be the first.
The Lial folded his arms. 'Today you imagine weapon. Not create it if not know what it looks like. Go, sit, think. See weapon. How feel. Heavy? Light? Big? Small? Think of weapons you see before. Go.'
The Sehnal spread out and sat down, cross-legged. The Lial walked around the boys, silently observing, as if he knew what they were imagining. Melonaz decided to try and visualize his own weapon. He'd done it before, though he'd never been happy with what he'd thought of. Closing his eyes, he calmed his mind. He imagined running his hand along a long, thick, black blade, the metal gleaming in the sun. It was perfectly smooth as he traced his finger along it to its point, the metal ice cold. It easily sliced his skin, drawing blood, which ran down its edge. Its grip was rough, made from thick rope wrapped tightly around the metal. He swung the blade, feeling his muscles controlling its movement. It was heavy yet he wielded it easily, his strength considerable after many years of fighting. He thrust it forward, piercing the side of a mountain. Swinging and thrusting, he parried the blows of many enemies, defeating them in one mighty swing. Ferocious ludenez were slain with ease, he even found and killed the mighty Nam-Ainez. He challenged each of the Ro-Lial in a duel, besting each one in moments, and was made a Lial. Then a Ro-Lial. The best Ro-Lial there had ever been.
He opened his eyes. The Sehnal were still seated, but the Lial was gone. He made another hole in the leaves to the right.
Something burst through and hit him right between the eyes, knocking him unconscious.
'You not listen. I beat you bloody.' The Lial spat into the pit, just missing Melonaz.
Melonaz tried to sit upright but his back was even more painful than it had been before. 'I not near them,' he said. His head throbbed, it hurt just keeping his eyes open. How he find me? I make noise?
'Tell you to stay away,' growled the Lial. 'Need teach you respect.'
He made sure to keep his head down. 'Yes, Lial.'
'Explain, lobkak. Why not do what I say?'
He hesitated.
The Lial stamped Rorkaroz on the pit's edge, snow broke off and fell on Melonaz's head. 'Speak.'
'I.. I want learn. You hold me back. I better than little Sehnal. Need let me train with old Sehnal.' Melonaz shivered as he finished, instantly regretting it.
The Lial snorted. 'You think you good? No, you not.' He sneered. 'You learn skill quick. Yet you bad Sehnal. I teach more than skill. You not listen. Bad thing for a Sehnal. To be strong, need learn. Hear real lesson.' Sparks ran up and down his free hand. 'You not listen. Not do what say. I make you eat mirac kak if not listen again. Hear me?' A spark shot down into the pit, hitting the rock just above Melonaz's head, making him scramble away from the wall. He whined as fresh pain burned in his back.
'You want to be an Apochal?' the Lial snapped.
'Yes, Lial,' he said, shaking.
'Apochal are great warrior. Strong. Brave. Wise. Smart. If you not these then you not beat me. Need be these if want to fight ludenez.'
Melonaz nodded, pulling his knees close to his chest.
'Stay here two day. No food. Just water.' The Lial dropped a bucket down on him, water splashing everywhere. When Melonaz picked it up only a few mouthfuls remained. 'Let you out in two days. Maybe let you train.' He glared down at him for a moment then walked away. Melonaz shivered, cursing himself for not eating after training.
Chapter Twenty Three
Beroz trekked through a narrow pass, the snow came up to his waist, making progress through the mountains of Mir-Akaz difficult. Feet cold. Cock cold. He flicked his Sehnal braid out of his face and pulled his furs tighter around himself. The mountains towered over him, their imposing presence trapping him in this landscape. His only choices were to go over or around them.
He used Nipah, creating an aura of heat around his body with Raiz, which both kept him warm and melted the snow as he waded through, the snow hissing as it turned to steaming water. Mutumuz, his fur-wrapped sword, made for a good support, the blade long enough to touch the rock beneath the snow.
He scratched his bearded face, at the bright white scars on his right cheek where hair never grew, the scars distinct on his red skin.
The time had come to decide whether to return to his home village, fight the Lial, and finally become an Apochal, or to continue his training. Ready? He figured he'd come to a decision as he walked. Either way he desperately needed supplies; fresh furs to replace the ones he wore, a new sleeping fur, and a lot of food. It'd been three long, lonely years since he'd left on his Cubsoz, his solitude training. He'd learnt a lot, fought a lot more, gaining scars any Apochal, or even Lial, would be proud of. To his shame it was the loneliness that he'd found the hardest to endure. His brief visits to villages for supplies were all that'd kept him going. Do all Sehnal feel this? Am I weak?
His stomach grumbled. Food was scarce out here. Lately he'd glimpsed occasional movement. Sehseh? He suspected he was being stalked by a small pack of them. Their barks and growls echoed through the mountains, but there were no tracks nearby. Sehseh taste bad. Better than hunger though. The grey furred creatures were difficult to catch, appearing in the open only when attacking as a pack.
Not see mirac in four moons. The thought of a nice cut of a mirac's rump made his mouth water. Mirac steak good. Juicy, tender, bloody. Vomenic good too. White, flaky meat. Nice in stew. With green leaf. Smells good. Tastes good. Have some nut. Some berry. Yes. When home I'll ask Mal to cook nice stew, if she speaks to me. He shook the thoughts from his mind. Thinking of food made him hungrier. He filled his waterskin with melted snow and took a long draught of it. It helped a little but no matter how much he drank he still felt thirsty and weak.
Dark clouds in the distance threatened another snowstorm. He'd been caught in one days before and wasn't sure his body could withstand another.
An ankaroc's call echoed through the mountains.
Up above, two shadows flew by one of the peaks. Too high to kill. Beroz watched them for a moment before they passed out of sight behind another peak. He swore under his breath. Ankaroc put up almost as tough a fight as the ludenez. But they tasted good.
Something growled behind him.
He spun around.
A shadowy creature shot across the snow, disappearing behind a drift. He pulled Mutumuz out of the snow and unwrapped the fur from around it, daring the creature to reappear. When he was certain it wouldn't show itself again, he moved on, keeping Mutumuz ready.
He continued until the sky darkened. He was certain of being stalked now, though he hadn't seen any sehseh directly. He'd definitely heard them, their growling and barking closer than before.
A small alcove in a large rocky outcrop looked like it would provide both shelter and keep him hidden from predators. Throwing down his rolled up sleeping fur he opened it out inside the alcove and lay down, wrapping it tight around him. He kept Mutumuz close to his chest.
A loud screeching roused him from his slumber.
He sprang up, sword ready. He caught a glimpse of two ankaroc flying by overhead, their shadows distinct against Rez's red light. The sight of them only made him hungrier. It was a long time before he fell back asleep.
Halfway through the next morning he finally sighted a sehseh, its white-spined and grey furred back standing out against the snow. Beroz was far too hungry to let it go. Crouching low, he crept through the shallow snow. It hid itself at the bottom of a low hill. Need be quick. Other sehseh close, no doubt.
The sehseh raised its head, its yellow eyes large and bright. It barked when it spotted him, baring its fangs. Beroz'd never been good at stealth. He dropped his sleeping furs and waterskin, then drew Mutumuz, twisting the long black blade in his hand as he unwrapped the fur from around it.
The sehseh looked starved itself, the creature's limbs thin, its fur shaggy.
Growls from behind drew Beroz's attention.
The pack appeared all around him, advancing slowly
, saliva dripping from their mouths. He braced himself. They circled around, closing in. Their stench was revolting, the closer they got the less appetising they became.
A reverberating roar halted the sehseh in their tracks. Beroz tensed, knowing that type of sound all too well.
Ludenez.
A large, bulky, menacing creature appeared at the top of the rise ahead. It dwarfed the sehseh, larger than three of them combined. Two glowing red eyes glared down at Beroz. Its shaggy fur held an unnatural purple hue that appeared to exude heat. The ludenez roared again and charged, snow cascading down with it, kicking up into a small cloud.
The sehseh scattered.
Beroz gulped, turning around. Nukuk. Not sense ludenez. Careless.
This ludenez was a heavily mutated, deformed sehseh, the spines on its back big and twisted, its tail fat and long. Its fur hung loose from its deformed, misshapen body, its limbs bulging in odd ways, causing it to move lopsidedly. It bounded down the hill, the snow exploding under its feet.
Beroz held Mutumuz ready, but was unsure whether to attack first or wait. 'Never hesitate,' someone had once told him. Waiting just one moment could be the difference between having arms or not.
Focusing his Raiz, he created fire. Flames burst to life over his hand and he formed them into a spinning ball, then immediately launched it.
The ludenez darted to the side, snow hissed as the flames scattered over it. The ludenez roared and leapt, its body casting a large shadow over him.
Beroz threw himself aside. The ludenez crashed down. He sprang back to his feet and slashed at it but it beat the blade away with its tail, spinning him around. It howled, slamming its upper body into him, smashing him down, digging its claws into the bottom of his back. Beroz cried out, but lashed out with his elbow. He struck something hard and the ludenez snarled. Teeth sank into his back and he screamed, elbowing it again and again, desperately trying to free himself from it. Lightning. He created lightning in his free hand and unleashed it, sending the lightning surging into the ludenez when he touched flesh and fur. It howled, springing off him, claws and teeth tearing his skin as they were yanked out.
