Talon of the Unnamed Goddess, a Fantasy Adventure
Page 1
TALON OF THE UNNAMED GODDESS
by C.R. Daems & J.R. Tomlin
Talon of the Unnamed Goddess
Copyright © 2011 by C. R. Daems & J. R. Tomlin
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from Clem Daems or Jeanne Tomlin.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Version 1 of the Talon of the Raptor Clan, an EPIC 2011 finalist, was first published in July 2008,
Version 2 of the Talon of the Raptor Clan, renamed Talon of the Unnamed Goddess, was published with a new cover in June 2011.
Version 3 of the Talon of the Unnamed Goddess was revised and published in July 2014.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9888251-1-6
ISBN-10: 0988825112
Check out all our novels and maps at:
Talonnovels.com
Visit J. R. Tomlin's Blog:
http://jeannetomlin.blogspot.com
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The Four Kingdoms
Granya, Valda, Salda, Jaddah
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
The Aerie: The Ordeal
CHAPTER TWO
Road to Savona: Duty calls
CHAPTER THREE
Savona: Treachery at work
CHAPTER FOUR
Savona: Hard truths
CHAPTER FIVE
Road to Valda: Assassination attempt
CHAPTER SIX
Road to Valda: Royal caravan attacked
CHAPTER SEVEN
Escape into Jaddah: Encounter with warriors
CHAPTER EIGHT
Zenjir: Temporary safety
CHAPTER NINE
Zenjir: A duel—Talon vs. Fang
CHAPTER TEN
Zenjir: A Jaddah proposal of safety
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Zenjir: A counterproposal, the Plan
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jaddahan warriors to Dassel: Shadow tactics
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Dahab: Talons called to war
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dahab: Raising an army
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Army moves into Granya: Implementing the Plan
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Terni: Liberated
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jaddahan warriors in Dassel: Eagles arrive
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Hazwood Forest: The Plan needs revising
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Livorno: Liberated
CHAPTER TWENTY
Dassel: Eagles challenge Talons
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dassel: Life can be complicated
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Savona: A kingdom liberated
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Race to Dassel: Usurper killed, peace restored
Novels by J.R. Tomlin & C.R. Daems
CHAPTER ONE
The Aerie: The Ordeal
I knelt on the hardwood floor with the other five remaining members of my seventh-year aerie. We waited for Master Jiang to speak. He was a thin man, average height with long gray hair and goatee, and the piercing gaze of a deadly bird of prey. I froze when his eyes settled on me for a moment.
"You six are what remain of the one hundred and four candidates we admitted seven years ago. You have demonstrated your suitability to be considered for membership into the Raptor Clan through your hard work, adherence to our rules, and by surviving your first four Ordeals," Jiang said, pausing as if considering his next words. "One more Ordeal awaits you. The three who triumph will be allowed to continue training. The other three must leave."
I detected no hint of an apology or concern as to where the others would go. Each Ordeal purged half of the remaining students, the clan's method of extracting the best. Ninety students had failed to survive them, and eight were asked to leave because of poor performance in their studies, laziness, or failure to obey the rules. I loved my life as a student, but I hated the Ordeals.
"Your Ordeal will begin tomorrow at first light." He waved his hand to dismiss us.
I bowed and rose. My aerie exited the room in a solemn line.
As the door closed behind us, Kolek grabbed my arm. "Aisha, where will you go after you lose tomorrow?" He smirked. "You survived by luck and treachery over the years. Many made the mistake of feeling sorry for you, and you took advantage of them. I hope you're my opponent tomorrow. You'll get no sympathy from me."
My stomach twisted. I had arrived at the Raptor Clan's remote fortress, the Aerie, with vengeance as my only thought. Raiders had destroyed my life when they attacked my village, killed and kidnapped my people. I was off in the forest exploring when I should have been working in the village. I returned to smoking ruins and dead bodies, the only survivor not dragged into slavery. After burying the dead, I made the week-long trek through the mountains to the home of the legendary Raptor Clan, hoping to be accepted as a student, to become a skilled fighter, and to find and kill the raiders who had killed my parents and kidnapped my younger brother. If I failed tomorrow's Ordeal, I had nowhere to go, no family and no village.
"I'm not lucky enough to draw an easy opponent like you, Kolek." I refused to back down, although he was one of the better fighters. He said something under his breath as I walked away.
I had been frail when I came to the Aerie. I could not have competed against any of the others in a fair fight, so I learned to outwit them. I've become stronger than most women because of my rigorous training and developed excellent reflexes and balance. My speed makes me a good knife fighter. Constant training keeps my figure lithe and trim. My face is typical of the mountain people of the Camori: long and narrow with high cheekbones, dark-brown almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, full lips, and pointy chin. I love my long midnight-black hair worn in a horsetail with a small blade woven into it.
* * * *
I stepped out of my room onto the portico the next morning. Students in their simple brown cotton tunics and pants crowded the edges, a zealous audience. A group of clan members, clad in black, were among them. I stopped for a moment to survey the courtyard where my Ordeal would soon start, a two-acre-square yard, covered with white gravel. A portico led from the yard to hundreds of rooms that abutted the massive gray walls of the fortress, their roofs forming a wide parapet. Above the walls, I could see the snow-covered peaks of the Camori Mountains.
The sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky. Above the foothills, the midsummer air carried a chill. I stepped onto the gravel of the courtyard where the rough surface improved our sure-footedness. I would need that today.
Normally the area would have been swarming with activity: students exercising, stretching, and practicing fighting techniques with swords, knives, bows, or with nothing at all—using only the natural weapons of the body. Today, only my seventh-year aerie was there as I walked over to join them.
We waited without looking or speaking to each other. After a few minutes, Master Jiang strode toward us, followed by three other masters. He would control the Ordeal from inside the circle. The others would judge it from the outside.
"Seventh-year students," Jiang said. "The Ordeal today is with knives. The winner is the one who draws, in our judgment, significant first blood or who force
s their opponent out of the circle. You will cease fighting immediately upon my command. If a contestant dies, it will be the decision of the judges whether the death was intentional or accidental. If it is determined to have been intentional, Master Dragos will decide the student's punishment. Is this clear?"
"Yes, Master Jiang," we said in unison. Ordeals are serious contests. Real blades increased the risk. My hands shook. Only the best would move from student to Talon, from nestling to bird of prey.
"We have paired the three strongest students with the weakest. This is in keeping with the clan's intent to select the best to become a Talon." Jiang pointed to two students to enter the circle, marked off in the gravel. The student considered the best would be paired with the fourth best, the second best with the fifth, and the third best with me. I felt no surprise when Tellac, tall and lithe, entered the circle, although I would have thought Olsim, his opponent, would have been rated lower than forth.
The two opponents circled each other. Olsim seemed cautious, his motions jerky. He scored first, a scratch to Tellac's arm, but received two cuts to his arm in the exchange. The contest ended a few seconds later when Tellac darted in to leave a shallow slash from Olsim's neck to his belly.
Several minutes later, as I expected, I wasn't summoned into the circle for the second contest, but my stomach knotted when Kolek wasn't called either. He was a skilled knife fighter, fast, aggressive, and sadistic. My blood pounded in my chest as he looked at me and his lip curled into a contemptuous smile.
I didn't fear being hurt. I feared being forced to leave the Aerie and having my dreams smashed. Think, Aisha. Keep your wits about you. I struggled to slow my breathing. I was prepared for this Ordeal even if my preparation had been with cunning. I couldn't help but smile and felt his glare.
Time after time, Master Jiang had told us, "Emotions kill." Kolek always got excited when he fought. He enjoyed causing pain and often lost his temper. I could use both against him, but I would need time, skill, and my wits.
I must gain control of my raging emotions. But how? I could do that by not caring, but I did care. The Aerie was my life. I forced myself to think calmly about what fueled my fears, losing the Ordeal, having to leave, or not being a Talon. I needed to blur my feelings, to stop thinking about what might be. I focused on slowing the rapid beat of my heart.
"Too scared to move, Aisha?" Kolek said, jolting me back to reality. The second contest was over. Melor had won, as expected. His opponent's blood dripped in a line on the gravel as he was carried out injured but alive. "Take a good look. That's you in a few minutes."
"I'm more worried you'll cut yourself, Kolek," I said with a chuckle. I had reached a strange place. My vision had changed, expanded. I drew my knives at Master Jiang's "ready" command and could sense Kolek's confusion at my composure.
"Begin," Jiang said and moved away from us. I looked toward Kolek but not at him. I could see more than I had ever seen before. I saw Kolek's slight coiling as he prepared to lunge and sidestepped him as he thrust at me. I made a puny thrust with my left hand. I could have cut his extended arm when I sidestepped him but held back. It would only have been a shallow cut.
"Dung face," I muttered loud enough for him to hear, hoping to enrage him. It did.
Only seconds later, he lunged at me with both knives, going for my throat. I sensed this was more an attempt to scare me than to score a winning cut. He didn't move in close enough for a killing blow. He needed me to be scared. He craved it. I parried and jabbed his arm hard enough to draw blood. He answered with a slash that left a few drops of blood running down my hand.
I held back any left-handed blows I knew wouldn't end the match. The longer we fought, the stranger I felt, as if I watched from above. I saw Kolek's subtle shifts in weight and muscle tension as he prepared to slash. I heard his breathing. He muttered a curse. Behind me, I heard Jiang's movement as he shuffled out of our way.
Kolek dove in, scoring another nick to my right arm. His right hand dropped. I knew his anger had overcome caution as he plunged his knife in a fierce thrust toward my stomach. I twisted sideways, using my left knife to block his blade. With an upward move, I slashed across his wrist. A gush of blood splattered over my hand and onto the gravel.
I stepped back as Master Jiang shouted, "Stop."
Snarling with fury, Kolek threw his knife down and grabbed his wrist. "Damn you, Aisha!" His face twisted in anger. He turned toward Jiang. "She cheated."
"You're right, Kolek. I had a sharp knife." I had won. With one stroke of my knife, I had become clan.
Master Jiang walked over to Kolek and examined his wrist. "The gash is deep but not fatal. Aisha, you, Tellac, and Melor are declared the winners of the fifth Ordeal."
The three masters left the courtyard. Jiang motioned for me to join him. "Aisha, do you know why I placed you in the last rotation?"
"Because I was the weakest."
"No, we considered you third best, Kolek, last. You have a distinct disadvantage if I consider strength or reach. You are smaller than the average woman and much smaller than the average man. But you are two steps ahead of most students. You survive because you are always thinking, ‘What if?' I believe you could have defeated Tellac had I paired you with him." He cocked his head and a smile twitched his lips. "Was your left blade ever weak or did you always fake that?"
I grinned. "I faked."
"Tellac, too, would have relied on that supposed weakness. And you are fast. At times I almost felt sorry for you letting student after student beat you using your pretended weakness. You almost convinced me until I saw you practicing your left-handed techniques on your own a few months ago. I knew then that you were already planning for the next Ordeal. Tellac would have been a real loss to us."
I blinked in surprise.
"No more faked weaknesses, Aisha. For the next three years, we need to know everyone's real strengths and weaknesses. If one of you has a weakness, we must eliminate it. A Talon can have no weaknesses."
* * * *
The next three years flew by in a glow of happiness. I no longer worried about having to leave. I belonged, and I was learning the secrets of the Talon.
The state of mind I had achieved during the fifth Ordeal was called "battle mode." Talons quiet their minds. In so doing, they achieve a heightened awareness of their surroundings. And the strange finger motions I had seen from the Masters and clan members were the Talons' battle language. The hand and finger signing allowed the Talons to communicate in silence. I learned about herbs for healing injuries and for killing, along with secret fighting techniques and tactics unique to the Talon. By the end of my tenth year, I could shoot a short bow and could put an arrow or throwing dagger into a target from twenty paces. And I made good friends.
Before the fifth Ordeal, I had kept a distance between me and the other students, my future opponents. The Ordeals made real friendships too painful. Who wanted to be responsible for a friend being asked to leave? Who wanted to have to say goodbye to good friends, or possibly kill one? With the Ordeals over, Tellac, Melor, and I became close.
We trained, studied, and ate together every day. It was a joy to watch Tellac use weapons. Each seemed to become a part of him, but with knives, he was already a master. He practiced every day with Melor and me so that we became deadly with all of our weapons. Melor took to book learning and helped coach Tellac and me in our studies of battle tactics and the customs of the four kingdoms. I found battle mode easy. We often sat together on the gravel of the courtyard as I taught them how to reach a quiet place inside to heighten their senses.
And for the first time we took our meals together and spent time exchanging stories about before we came to the clan. Then the pranks began. One morning it was honey in Tellac's boots, another, salt in the syrup I put on my porridge. We talked among ourselves. It must be one of the younglings. But I awoke late one night to see Melor sneaking out of Tellac's room after pouring water into his bed. Our studious Melor was the prankster.
Tellac sat on him in his room while I ran out with his books. Once Tellac let him up, he followed. He swore he'd reform, although I didn't quite trust the twinkle in his eyes. Yet that was the last of the tricks he played on the two of us.
As we approached the end of our tenth year, Master Jiang introduced us to hi'Blessed Tasilaba, the ancient one. Her gray hair hung in a braid down to her waist and, although straight and slender, she leaned slightly on the tall staff she held in her hand.
"Hi'Blessed Tasilaba will be your instructor for your remaining time as students. It is she who will pronounce you a Talon."
I was shocked. We had all seen her around the Aerie for years but had never thought to inquire about her function. Talons didn't have maids or cooks, but we still assumed she performed some unimportant task.
"Come students, I find the Aerie confining." She led us out of the gate and up the mountain slope on a narrow rocky path. A chill breeze blew from the heights, but she didn't seem to mind, nor did the steep trail slow her. At a wide spot, she stopped and sat on a flat rock, gesturing for us to take our places around her. The view was beautiful from this vantage point, looking down into a valley where a tall waterfall fell in a veil into a distant river. Above towered the majestic snow-covered mountain peaks.
"What do you know about the living sigils?" she asked. Melor and I just stared at each other shaking our heads.
"My father has one," Tellac said. "It's a Truth Sigil. I know he got it at a temple. He said it keeps him from being cheated. He's a trader."
"Hi'Blessed Tasilaba, those are the red scar-like marks the Talons have on their arms?" Mellor asked.