Zachania

by Joseph Henry Gaines

  Talon was given his passes along with a sketched map and a pouch of twenty Krasos so he could buy himself supplies along the way.

  He then headed out of the town of Tallasian north towards the foothills of the Tallasian Mountains.

  As he rode he began to think of his father, he thought of his father’s pride and how the last vision of him was witnessing his friends patting him on the back drunken and merry, suddenly Talon’s thought turned to anger against his father, he felt betrayed by him, joining the royal guard was not what he wanted, but never the less it was now the future he was sworn to.

  Chapter 3

  Once Talon left the civilization of Tallasian he was directed north through the Imperial Mountain pass of the Tallasian Mountains. He rode through valleys of immense beauty and he found himself admiring the landscape. And how the green pastures ran into gentle hillsides covered with pines. Once Talon reached the foothills he soon became tiresome of his terrain as he had to weave his way around twists and turns where on occasions he had to hold his horse tight against the hillsides to avoid the steep drops that were on many parts of the pass.

  It took him five days to cross the mountain’s, where finally in the distance he saw the town of Tavaliso.

  Tavaliso was a small village which lay half a day’s march from the Northern foothills of the mountains; its sole existence was to cater for merchants and travellers who were travelling to or from the inhospitable mountains.

  Talon’s own supplies were now beginning to run low, so the village of Tavaliso came as a welcome respite.

  He dismounted his horse and tied it outside the nearest tavern, then ventured inside and walked over to the busy bar where he was met by the landlord.

  “Good sir I am travelling to Kallick Town and I am in need of supplies to reach Gansaw.”

  “You have come to the right place friend ........ I can supply you with all you need and you’ll find no cheaper wares in town.”

  Replied a rather merry landLord.

  “Splendid!” said Talon “But firstly I would like a cool jug of ale.” he added.

  The landlord filled Talon a large jug of his finest ale and looked impressed when Talon took a few large gulps.

  “Arr., I see someone who drinks like a man.”

  The landlord then invited Talon to take a seat and make himself comfortable where he would fetch a list of his supplies over in a short moment. Talon relaxed in the chair stretching out his legs, five days on horseback had made his body ache and he felt thankful for the table in front of him where he could rest his sore and aching limbs.

  After a short while Talon was approached by two men, the two strangers were dressed in long flowing gowns which Talon immediately recognised as garments worn for desert travel. One of the men was over six feet tall and built like an ox “he should be in the arena.” Talon immediately thought. While his companion was a lot slimmer and of more feeble build where on his back he carried a huge crossbow.

  “Stranger do you mind if we sit at your table.” the smaller man asked.

  “Not at all.” Talon replied even though the men had sat down anyway.

  “I am Bolzar and this is Zephil.” said the slim man as his large companion shouted loudly for the landlord.

  “I am Talon of Tallasian and I welcome you to my company.” Talon warmly replied.

  “Argh Tallasian I have been there many times, the parlours at the docks are legendary.” replied Bolzar smiling.

  “What town are you from sir?” asked Talon inquisitively.

  “It’s been a long time since I was from a town son.”

  “You are travelling merchants?”

  “Travelling salesman.” replied the big man slightly sarcastic.

  “What do you trade?” Talon then asked innocently just making conversation.

  Bolzar suddenly looked sternly at Talon while Zephils face looked on in surprise, almost immediately Talon felt the atmosphere turn tense and he noticed other men looking at him. Zephil sneered at one of them who in turn quickly turned away. Talon’s intuition quickly told him that he had made a mistake, it was now very obvious that these two men were very well known and probably smugglers who dealt in stolen or illegal items.

  “Sir forgive me if I have offended you, my question was one of conversation and not inquiry, I am new to these parts and naive to many customs and traditions in many parts of Kratos.”

  The slim man looked deep into Talon’s eyes as Talon held the gaze.

  “We trade in cattle!” He answered now with a little more respect though is answer was obviously a lie.

  “What of your business stranger, why are you in this stinking town?” he added

  “I am travelling to Kallick Town where I am to be enlisted into the Royal guard. ” Talon hesitantly replied.

  The two men gazed nervously at one another before they both gathered their drinks and began to rise to their feet.

  “Will you not finish your drink with me?” Talon asked as he felt slightly insulted at their sudden response.

  “No we shall decline!” Said Bolzar sternly.

  “We don’t drink with Imperialist scum!” The big man shouted as he leaned heavily onto the table forcing it to tilt and spill Talon’s drink. Talon jumped out of the way from his spilling drink and he became aware that the other patrons in the tavern were beginning to laugh at him.

  The smaller man then grabbed his friends arm and pulled him away from Talon and towards the door. Talon stood motionless as the two men left the tavern to the pleasure of the crowd. Suddenly he felt his adrenaline start to rush and he soon became deeply offended and angry when he overheard one of the patrons saying “he wants to be a big soldier” which was obviously a mock.

  Talon swiftly gathered his bag as the crowd’s mocks and laughter became louder and headed towards the door with determined look upon his face. Once Talon was outside he urgently tried to see where the two men who had insulted him had gone.

  He saw the big one about twenty paces from him “You sir!” He called out loudly, enough for everyone to hear.

  The big man turned quickly only to laugh when he saw that it was Talon.

  “You sir owe me an apology and the price of a drink!” Talon demanded.

  The big man laughed out loudly,

  “Or what?” he said mockingly as he played to the crowd.

  “Or I shall be forced to beat you.” Talon calmly replied.

  Zephil’s laughter suddenly subdued and his body tensed as his persona changed to anger, Talon noted his anger.

  “There Imperialist!” He shouted as he pointed to the middle of the muddy road.

  “Let’s see you beat me then.” he added in a roar like shout. Patrons from the tavern had now all filtered out into the road and waited eagerly for Talon’s reply.

  Talon swiftly threw off his heavy coat and placed his bag on top of it before hastily and confidently walking over to the spot where Zephil had pointed.

  “Come on little man, let me break you.” Zephil shouted.

  Talon noted that the large man had not even bothered to take off his flowing desert gown and that his anger had increased and now turned into rage.

  “I am going to teach you some manners!” Talon smirked as he purposely tried to enrage the man even more “To lose control in order to gain control can only result in no control at all.” Talon thought to himself as he remembered the teachings of Zung-Lu. “I will bend with his force and use it against him.” Talon planned silently and calmly.

  “I am going to break you in two!” The big man shouted as he advanced menacingly towards Talon with both hands held high as if to grab him.

  Talon remained motionless until the very last moment, just as Zephil was about to grab him Talon ducked to his left under Zephil’s arms and crashed a blow with the back of his knuckles striking Zephil on the brow and opening a large gash. Which immediately began to pour blood, Zephil covered his face for fear of another blow, he was surprised at Talon’s speed and power. The blow ca
used him great pain and impaired his vision greatly.

  Talon instinctively felt his opponents fear and uncertainty.

  “Your Slow as well as foolish!” Talon remarked.

  Zephil shouted out in rage before charging at Talon like a wild bull, Talon remained still waiting calmly for his attacker to meet him “Control, I must have Control” Talon thought.

  Once Zephil reached him, Talon dropped down onto one knee as he used Zephil’s great weight and power to throw him forcefully over his shoulder crashing him to the ground. Zephil’s head smashed heavily into the mud as Talon immediately rose to his feet.

  “I’m up here!” Talon taunted as he kicked Zephil’s backside, forcing him back into the mud. Zephil rose to his feet and tried to wipe away the blood and mud that now covered his face. “Fight me you coward.” he angrily shouted.

  Talons face suddenly turned more serious.

  “You have called me scum and now you call me coward, I will show you how I fight.” Talon thought to himself.

  Within the blinking of an eye Talon attacked. Zephil frantically tried in vain to cover his face and defend himself as blow after blow struck him with shattering force. Zephil suddenly dropped to his knees and one more blow later he was hunched over in the shape of a ball. Talon grabbed his hair and lifted his head; the crowd could now clearly see his bruised and bloodied face.

  “Do you yield?” Talon asked.

  “Never.” replied Zephil while spluttering blood.

  “Yield!” Talon repeated only this time more firmly as he tightened his grip. Talon waited for an answer but none came as Bolzar the slimmer man walked ominously over.

  “Release him” ordered Bolzar as he placed one hand on to his crossbow.

  “Kill him and we shall kill you.” Bolzar added as he emphasizing the word ‘we’ now that the crowd looked angered by Talon’s actions.

  “Take your horse and leave town.” came a voice from the crowd.

  “Go now Imperialist!” was another shout as the crowd seemed to close in, making Talon feel threatened.

  Talon released his grip of Zephil who then fell defeated into the mud and slowly moved away towards his horse. The crowd begrudgingly made way for him as he carefully retreated, once Talon reached his horse he hastily jumped upon it and kicked it into a gallop and rode out of town with great speed.

  He headed north once again and once he felt certain that he was not being followed did he pull his horse to a walk. Talon sighed deeply as he tried to regain his composure and breath.

  Once he relaxed he began to reflect on what had just occurred, he was puzzled as to why the town had shown such hate for him “imperialist! They kept calling me Imperialist,” he said to himself.

  “They called me Imperialist scum, why would they hate the Empire so much.” he thought.

  Talon was now very confused, never in all of his young life had he ever heard anyone speak so badly about the Empire. And he felt deeply offended that he had been called scum. Talon then remembered his father saying that the Emperor was a great and magical man who had brought great wellbeing to the whole island so why did these people show such anger for the Empire?, it seemed to mystify Talon greatly and no matter how much he tried to discard his thoughts he found it deeply confusing.

  It took Talon two days of riding to reach the military town of Gansaw. Talon was relieved that after he produced his passes he was treated with good manners and respect. He was given food and water for himself and his horse, and allowed the provisions that he needed. Then bathed himself in a military bath house while his horse was groomed and reshoe’d. Once Talon and his horse were refreshed he once again set upon his journey. He crossed the great river of Tash across the mighty Tash Bridge, he had never seen anything so impressive, the bridge was hand carved from the finest marble across the banks and rapids of the river. This was a sign of the Empires craftsmanship and it definitely impressed Talon, and for the first time on his journey he found himself feeling excited.

  On the other side of the river Talon found himself startled by the beauty of the landscape, the lush valleys he rode through took his breath away, never in all his life had he seen such beauty. Talon’s hometown of Tallasian with its dry and arid terrain which stretched down from the mountains was a beautiful land filled with oasis’s but it was nothing compared to the lush valleys Talon now found himself in, every moment of this forest, Talon seemed to greet with wondrous discovery.

  Talon breathed in deeply as he tried to refresh his head with the sweet smell of the conifers and pines, it was like drinking fine ale or eating a delicious meal, even the grass under the horse’s feet gave him delight as his horse walked upon its springiness.

  As the sun began to set, Talon was now deep into the valley where he decided to use what was left of the daylight and make himself a camp for the night, Talon built himself a fire and fetched water from a nearby waterfall. Once his horse was watered and relaxed he tied him to a tree and gathered his bow from his pack and set about hunting some food. Talon returned to his camp just before sunset, his hunt had been successful, as he had caught himself a small Babbot, a small creature related to rabbits about the same size but fiercer, Babbot’s were carnivores who fed mainly on birds.

  Talon skinned the Babbot and found a stick to skewer it with and then placed it over the fire to cook. He then began to feel tired so he laid back and yawned loudly, his tiredness soon got the better of him and Talon drifted into sleep.

  He began to dream, he dreamt that he was walking alone in a strange mountainous region dressed in strange garments and all though the landscape seemed unfamiliar to him he seemed to know where he was heading and when he was met by a stranger who was dressed in the same garments he felt overwhelmed with warmth at the appearance of the man. The man’s face was unknown yet Talon felt drawn by an unbelievable sense of bond ship towards him. When the two men met they embraced each other warmly, the stranger smiled broadly before placing a pendant around the neck of Talon and then spoke with a voice that filled Talon’s entire being with belief.

  “Your destiny awaits you, you must become what you were born to become. You must return to the home which is in your heart.” suddenly Talon felt confused at the strangers remark and the stranger sensing this grabbed hold of Talons hand, within a fraction of time flames engulfed the two men. Talon felt fear but was calmed by the stranger’s sincere look, then both men were whisked high into the sky. As Talon flew amongst the clouds he was engulfed totally by what he saw for beneath him, he saw battlefields for as far as the eye could see, upon closer inspection he could see that thousands upon thousands of men dressed in the same garments were lying slaughtered on the ground. Surprised and confused Talon became enraged, he was overwhelmed with emotion it felt like every dead and dying body was his family.

  Talon woke violently from his dream with a shout. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as if he had just been in pain and let out a loud sigh of relief as he tried to gather his thoughts at what has just occurred. His mind was then distracted as the smell of burning Babbot filled the air. “Damn!” He shouted as he quickly grabbed it from within the fire, he blew at it forcefully trying to cool it but soon realised that it was burnt through. Talon placed the burnt Babbot down onto the ground and mouthed his anger, then as he turned his torso to his back pack to fetch his knife with the hope that maybe if he cut the Babbot in half he might find some meat that was not burnt, he felt something slap him across the chest, he looked down and to his utter shock he found a blue coloured pendant tied by a leather thread hanging around his neck. He lifted the pendant up to his face and inquisitively gazed at it, he then swiftly turned his head from left to right to see if anyone was around, who could have put this here, Talon saw no one, he felt no presence.

  Then his confusion turned anxiously to shock as realised that he was looking at the same pendant that was placed around his neck in the strange dream he had just had. Talon quickly lifted the pendant over his head and threw it to the ground as a sudden fea
r aroused him.

  “What trickery is this?” he sighed to himself as he rose to his feet with knife in hand now feeling sure that he was not alone “someone must be near” he said as his heart began to pound. Talon ran into some nearby trees as he urgently searched the vicinity but he found nothing, he remained as silent as he could trying to hear if anyone moved but all he heard was the sound the birds and insects of the night and his own heart pounding. He consciously tried to calm himself as his mind focused on his training “Calm yourself.” he whispered to himself “ There must be footprints if I have been approached.” he thought now much calmer. Talon searched and searched carefully examining the ground for signs; only when he felt sure there was none did he finally stop and accept that he was alone.

  Talon then turned his attention and thoughts to the pendant, he walked over to it almost cautiously as he stood motionless staring at it where it rest at his feet. With no explanation Talon found himself being drawn to the pendant.

  The intense feeling grew as he felt urged to pick it up; it was almost if it belonged to him, like a family heirloom it was his. He picked it up and placed in the pocket of his coat before swiftly gathering his belongings then jumped on his horse and rode off into the night.

  The forest no longer felt beautiful to Talon as he now felt edgy and suspecting of it,

  He rode almost frantically throughout the night and the coming of dawn and the bringing of light was greeted with a welcomed sigh of relief. Once Talon left the forest he began to relax, he began to feel shame, shame at his fear of the forest and how quickly he let it arise in him, he noted the feelings that he had had and tried to comfort himself that in the future he would be more aware of his fear and not let it overcome him.

  The next three days passed uneventful with the only obstacles being that in Talon’s mind as he wondered again and again what was the meaning of this pendent, his mind went over and over again what it could mean.

  One thing was certain in his mind though, these past eight days had been the most curious and confusing days of Talons life, and his future now seemed more uncertain than ever.