The Spirit Within

“Some men are born into greatness…Some men seek it out at all costs…But some have it thrust upon them and still do not falter”

The stranger walked into town, slogging his way through the muddy streets from the direction of the docks, an oilskin poncho covered his garments and the pack on his back, giving him a deformed appearance in the flashes of lightning that would break through the afternoon sky. A salakat made from the upper shell of a large tortoise with a spike attached to the middle sat on his head and helped the poncho in keeping the pack and its’ contents dry. Eyeing the buildings around him, he turned toward a building whose sign proclaimed it as an eatery and Inn in the Chiness dialect. He walked through the open doorway and stood on the landing just inside as lightning split the sky again behind him, followed a split second later by the crack of thunder that shook the building to its foundations with the intensity of the bolt, the nearness of the sound to the bolt told the stranger that the storm was moving fast through the region. A very rotund man came up to the stranger hesitantly, not expecting customers, much less a stranger on an evening such as this. “How are you my lord?” he inquired, a smile on his full face, he went on before receiving an answer “I have never seen a storm such as this at this time of the season. How may I help you?” The tall stranger looked around at the empty restaurant before looking down at the host before him and locking eyes with him “A table” he replied, “For me and my companions.” “Ahhh....yes” replied the host hesitantly, looking to either side of the stranger for his companions, then he started as he spied a movement on the man’s shoulder “Don’t move my lord,” he said as he made a grab for what he took to be an offending creature. His hand was stopped effortlessly by the stranger’s grasp on his wrist, the touch of the hand was cold due to the storm, but the host could still feel a thrumming of power in the man’s’ being as he was stopped in his movement. The stranger looked at the host more intently and the cold ice blue eyes that stared out at him seemed to say that such actions were not tolerated. “No” he replied in a voice that vibrated in tones use to command “This one is one of my companions” The host swallowed and nodded speechless, now staring at a large dragonfly that had emerged from the poncho and was sitting on the stranger's broad right shoulder, he shook his head momentarily because he was sure that the dragonfly had grown in size in the time it had come out but then took a step backwards as a large feline, the size of a large dog, stepped out of the darkness of the doorway to reveal itself, leaving muddy paw prints on the Innkeepers otherwise clean floor, along with the strangers own muddy boot prints. “And this is my other companion” replied the stranger. The Innkeeper numbly nodded his head, trying desperately to think of an excuse to get this madman out of his establishment. The stranger continued on as if a large dragonfly and a feline cat the size of a very large dog were ordinary companions for someone.

“I dislike the title lord” continued the stranger, “If you must call me something; you may call me Cha Riz.”

Again the host nodded, but found his speech and a small amount of courage to ask “Yes my lord….ummmm – Chariz, and how will you and your companions be paying for your meal” asked the Innkeeper, congratulating himself on thinking of this early, for eyeing the well-worn slicker he wore, while of a good quality, it was still the style of a mercenary or fighting man, and it covered a hump in his back that would be a disability for a warrior, so there was a good chance that he could not cover the meal. With the hint of a knowing smile at what the host was thinking as he eyed his coverings, the traveler let go of the hosts’ wrist and his hand disappeared under the poncho only to reappear very shortly and tossed a sizable nugget of gold to the man.

“I believe that”, he said indicating the nugget with a lifting of his chin “should cover whatever we eat and a room for the night and my name is Cha Riz.” Indicating the separation of the two names. The host both bowed and eyed the nugget in his palm and his face broke out into a wide smile, showing all of his teeth at this good fortune thinking “Crazy or not, he had good payment”, and started to lead him to a table in the center of the room.

“No” intoned that commanding voice again “not that one. That table there” and he pointed to one off to the side he had seen earlier, that gave him a view of the floor as well as the door while keeping him out of sight upon an immediate entrance. With a sigh, the host acknowledged his guest’s wishes and showed him to the table that sat off to the side in the style of the Western Kingdoms. The traveler moved toward the table talking at the same time.

“We’ll take whatever meat you have roasting over your pit, pork it smells like.” He continued, ignoring the widening of the host’s eyes at this accurate assessment “along with a platter of rice, some fresh fish; scaled and deboned, and a tankard of your wine to drink”.

The host nodded at this order, and motioned to one of his serving girls standing back; speaking quickly and in a low voice he repeated the traveler’s request and turned back in time to see his guest remove his hat to reveal snow white hair swept back into a braid that disappeared under his poncho. Tossing the hat onto the chair opposite him, the man removed his poncho to reveal a large pack; this explained the hosts’ first impression that his guest was a hunchback. The host eyed the large cat as it made its’ way to the table to sit beside the Cha, it was predominantly black in color with reddish orange spots that ran across his body, it sat there with its back straight and its’ tail curled around its’ paws. The traveler removed his backpack, momentarily dislodging the dragonfly still on his shoulder as the straps moved off them, sitting it on the floor he opened the flap and removed a piece of wood from the side. As he laid it on the table, the host looked at it in interest. The wood was about fifteen inches long, by about four inches wide; it was about as thick as an average man’s index finger. But what caught his attention were five glyphs on the board that stretched from

the end nearest Cha, and ending at a small indentation in the wood that formed a bowl. Stretching out his arm, Cha placed four fingers on the wood and the immense dragonfly crawled down his arm and across his hand onto the wood, and proceeded on down its’ length, stepping almost daintily it seemed, until it reached the bowl depression at the other end. As the dragonfly passed over a glyph in its journey, the glyph briefly flared to life, along with an exact replica in the middle of each of one of its’ four wings, only to die down as he passed it and continued on to the next, as it passed the fifth and final glyph its’ whole body glowed briefly and then died down. The immense insect sat and waited patiently at the bowl for whatever was to come, unconcerned about what had just transpired.

Cha then took out a clay bowl, with pictographs carved into its sides depicting a large cat, and set it on the table, the cat looked at the man expectantly; cocked its head letting out a hoarse yowl. “You have to wait” he replied, the cat sat up straighter on his haunches and wrapped his tail even tighter around his feet and turned his attention to the host with unblinking eyes. The host swallowed without thinking as he stared into the cat’s eyes. One was a deep emerald green with a vertical slit for its pupil, but the other had a scar running the length of its’ face from some old wound and seemed to have a film over it giving it a milky white look with some green still showing. By all appearances, the eye seemed like it should be dead, but the host had a terrible feeling, somewhere deep in the recesses of his brain, that this eye saw much more than the other one. All this took less than a minute or two to set up, but to the host watching it, and captured by the cat’s gaze, it was an eternity, so astonished was he at the appearance of the animals and at their behavior.

A serving girl showed up then with a tray laden with food, approaching quietly, and with just a little trepidation, she moved closer to her master, the stranger, and his unusual companions. She stopped behind her master and cleared her throat to inform him of her presence, she held the tray for him to serve his guest, and the host took the items from the tray and placed them on the table before his guest. First came an empty plate that was set before the Cha, then a platter loaded with roasted meat along with roasted and steamed vegetables, then came a large bowl of rice, a plate of fish, filleted and cut into strips, and lastly a cup was placed before him followed by a jug that was round at the bottom with a long-fluted neck that was so common in this region of the world. Cha looked at the spread of food and inhaled its aroma, looking to the host; he bowed his head as a sign that he was very pleased. The host smiled and backed away as he Cha pick up the utensils and began what was evidentially a ritual for him, tearing off small strips of the meat, he put this first into the depression of the dragonfly’s wood and then into the bowl of the cat. The cat itself watched all of this with an interested eye, especially so when the plate of fish strips was picked up and practically poured into his bowl, all except for a few slices which went onto Cha’s plate and one small piece into the depression on top of the meat that was already there. The wings of the dragonfly began moving slowly, as if it was anxious to begin feeding but knew that Cha was not finished; he held his place until the traveler spooned a mound of rice atop the meat and fish. Immediately the dragonfly moved forward and the cat, having still sat motionless, moved as Cha placed the bowl on the floor and began to eat.

Cha grinned at the appetites of his companions and then loaded his own plate up with food and began to eat also. He picked up the fluted jug and poured himself a cup of the local wine and took a large swallow, marveling at the taste and the reddish color. He looked toward the host who was still standing by and motioned for him, quickly the man was at his table bowing.

“Everything is to your pleasure,” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes, yes” was the quick reply “I was curious about the wine” the traveler continued “how do you get its color, it is rice wine; is it not?”

“Yes, honored guest” came the reply, Cha raised an eyebrow and smiled at the way the host was able to use another title of respect without defying his requests from the outset. “The wine is made here and aged for it to achieve its’ body, the color is the mixture of a small amount of blood to add a unique flavor to it.”

“BLOOD!!” the outraged cry burst forth from Cha’s mouth, his hand darting toward his sword and his two companions stopped their eating to look at the host.

“Not human blood, honored guest,” came the quick reply “It is saved from our animals that we kill for our feast and added just before serving” he replied nervously pointing toward the cooking carcass over the fire pit, being slowly turned by a small boy. “The blood is a trait, a tradition of this hotel and my family. It adds a heady flavor and more robust body to the wine, we are known for it.”

The man stood there wringing his hands, as the traveler’s hand slowly moved away from his weapon and eye the host and then the wine again. This tableau went on for several minutes, the host unsure if he was going to live or not, all around the dining hall not a server moved, unsure what would happen if they did, the tension was cut as a yowl of derision was emitted from the large cat at the table, he stuck his head in the cup and took a sniff and then commenced to lap it up with his tongue.

Cha pulled his cup away “Leave off you lush” he spoke to the cat as if it understood “this is mine.”

The cat looked at the man and let out a throaty rumble, actually more of a coughing grunt, of protest of it being taken away. With a sigh, Cha picked up the wine bottle and poured some into the wildcats eating bowl and then turned to the host. “MY apologies” he offered “if the finicky one over here will drink it” gesturing toward the wildcat “it must indeed be fine. My travels have made me a bit wary of a man’s intentions; blood is a good way to hide the introduction of a poison. But its’ clean if he likes it” the travelers head indicating the cat happily lapping up his share of the wine.

“I would never poison a guest” came the shocked reply.

“I realize that now” Cha replied “come, sit with me and tell me of your district. As my way of apology, join me in imbibing in your most glorious wine”

The host smiled at this offer and sat opposite his guest, putting himself across from the large cat, one of his serving girls came quickly up with another glass for her master to drink out of, and eyeing the large feline, she sat it down in front of him, as for the cat, he gave no attention at all to them, lapping up the wine and finishing off his meal, as she sat it down he instructed her to bring another bottle out immediately for them to share. So, Cha and his host sat at the table talking and drinking the wine and feasted on the platter of food that sat on the table. The common room began filling up before long as the storm passed and the host would get up to greet his guests, some new evidently having come from the same area as the traveler, since he acknowledged their calls of hello, but most were evidently regulars to his establishment. But all eyed the stranger sitting apart; his build and skin color a startling contrast to those around the room for the most part, as well as the large cat sitting by his chair, for the most part, the dragonfly was overlooked, being on the strangers’ far side of the other guests.

All questions posed to the host were politely rebuffed or the topic changed, but every time after his guests were seated and the girl attending to them introduced, the host returned to his first guest and sat down to continue their conversation together. After he had finished his meal and his companions had curled up on top of the table or on the floor, in the case of the cat, Cha continued to quietly drink his wine and talk to the host, at one point Obsidian lifted his head and looked at Cha, voicing a low growl, who lowered the chalice he had at his lips and replied “Well if you need to go. Go. You don’t need me there”.

Obsidian kept looking at Cha as if questioning him. “The streets are mud so I doubt that anything you leave in it will cause anyone distress, but if you don’t want that I thought I saw some trees or a forest behind the Inn, you can go there if you want.” The big cat gave a small snort and got up and started toward the door.

“And try not to cause any trouble. Will you!?” Obsidian continued on toward the door and upon reaching it, hit it with his paw, causing it to bounce in its’ frame and swing open slightly. With a quick move, he caught the door jam and pulled the door open enough for him to slide out into the darkness. Back at the table, Cha had settled back to drinking his wine and picking at the remnants of their meal, while talking with the Inn’s owner, who for his part, was staring at Chas who quickly noticed.

“What’s wrong?” He queried.

The Inn owner cleared his throat and replied “I’m sorry I’m staring. But it looked like you just had a conversation with the large tiger just now”.

“Wildcat” corrected Cha.

“Excuse me” responded the owner.

“Obsidian” answered Cha “He’s a Keanna Wild Cat, not a tiger. I suppose you could say we were having a conversation.” He continued on “I mean; he just woke up from a meal and having finished a whole bottle himself, so it was easy to know what he wanted. As for the rest, it’s more or less familiarity”.

The Innkeeper nodded at this “I should have realized this myself” he said almost meekly “I mean, who can really talk to animals, I mean other than some wizards of course.”

Cha smiled at this, “Of course” he agreed in kind, bringing his chalice to his lips. They began talking again, the Innkeeper answering any questions Chas put to him that he could, and in return getting what news of the outside world he could in kind. They had been talking only a short while when screams came from outside, reflexively Cha stood and pulled his sword, turning toward the door as two young women came running screaming about a night demon. The patrons barely had time to register this; when the door swung open and Obsidian quietly walked in, eliciting another series of screams and sobs from the women. Cha slammed his blade home with an oath “Damn” he looked at the Innkeeper “Give the women something to calm down, I’ll pay for whatever it is” The Innkeeper already on his way to the women nodded in understanding as Cha turned his attention to Obsidian.

“Sid,” he said, “I thought I said not to cause a ruckus?”

The big cat looked at Cha and the following words came into his head “I can’t help it if everyone is afraid of their own shadow, all I did was walk”

Cha’s lips pursed into a grimace as Obsidian went back to his spot under the tables, but not before checking his bowl to see if any liquid was left in it. Cha shook his head in exasperation and sat down to be joined a few minutes later by the Innkeeper.

“Everything was taken care of?” enquired Cha.

“Oh yes” came the reply “No problem, no problem.”

Cha sighed heavily at this “If only” he countered “I’m pretty sure your law will be around sooner or later once this gets out”.

The Innkeeper shook his head “There are no worries on that front, our last peacekeeper met with an accident and died”.

“Really? How!” came the astonished question.

“Well, it seems he was extremely clumsy and fell in a puddle of water in the road and drowned”. Cha raised his eyebrows at this and the Innkeeper shrugged his shoulders at the unasked question. Cha continued to quietly drink his wine and talk to the Innkeeper, all the while watching all the others in the room until the last one lad left the building or had taken a room upstairs. When the host came back one last time Cha looked to him.

“I would like my room for the night, facing North,” he said.

The host stopped to ponder a minute and nodded his head “Yes I have a room I think you will like. It is there” he commented, pointing toward a set of sliding hardwood doors directly across from them. “It is one of our larger rooms, giving you and your companion’s plenty of room and privacy from the other guests”

“That will be fine” came the reply, as he stood up he tossed another nugget to the host.

“It is not needed” came the protestation which was stopped by the travelers’ hand.

“You have been a gracious host, giving me much-valued information about this area. Accept it and speak no further about it” The host dipped his head quickly, for the tone seemed to brook no rebuttal. “Up you lazy beasts,” said the man as he stowed away their now clean and empty bowls” We go to our room for the night”

The dragonfly flew off immediately in the direction of the room, while the cat yawned and stretched itself, showing an impressive arsenal of teeth and claws. He watched the man pick up the pack and start toward the stairs that were to their right, the cat then followed quietly, and walking at the man’s legs, like a well-trained animal, Cha’s hand dropped and scratched the top of the cat’s head between its’ ears, two old companions that were completely at ease with each other. The host watched them climb the stairs and walk around the balcony to the room, sliding one door open; then Cha disappeared into the room, with the dragonfly darting through above his head. As the door closed, the host smiled at this good fortune and motioned for his girls to clear the remaining dishes from the table as he went to show his wife the good fortune that had befallen them tonight.

* * *

Cha approached the rooms’ doors and slid them open, reflexively ducking as the dragonfly swooped in over his head, and the cat leisurely strode in after the man and looked around the room before climbing onto the foot of the bed with the dragonfly alighting on his back. Cha looked at his room for the night and noticed pictures, paintings, and prayers to the deity of merchants posted on the wall, looking at a table along one wall with a wash basin, a fine brush for hair along with other toiletries, and then at the over full-size bed, that was in the style of western states, by being on a large wooden frame, rather than just lying on the floor, as was common with this part of the area, Cha correctly assumed that he had been given the hosts very own living quarters as his room.

On the outside wall was a set of glass doors as well, a luxury that told of the Inn’s prosperity, putting his pack down at the foot of the bed, Cha crossed the room and opening the doors stepped out onto a balcony and looked up and down the street that ran alongside the Inn. Going back inside, he slid the doors partially closed and went to his pack and pulled out a bundle of sticks held together by a crimson ribbon of silk, he began to assemble a stand. Untying the ribbon, he picked up a board that split into two to form an “X” with a two-inch length of wood sticking out in the middle, then rods were placed one on top of the other to end with a piece that sat horizontally on top and this was slid onto the protruding piece of wood at the base to create a three-foot-tall stand. On the ends of the horizontal piece of wood were two depressions, into which Cha sit two ceramic cups, one at either end. The dragonfly left the back of the cat to land on the bar and watched as the man dropped a little honeycomb into one bowl and poured some water from the picture sitting on the table into the other, wings fluttering, the dragonfly walked from one bowl to the other, only to settle down inches from the honeycomb.

Meanwhile, Cha pulled a woven mat from a pocket on the side of his pack along with the cat’s bowl. He laid the mat on the floor, at the foot of the bed, and placed the bowl on the mat filling it with water. Cha, himself walked over to the lit lamp and blew it out and headed back to the bed undressing along the way. He laid both of his sheathed blades down on the bed opposite him, with the overcoat and tunic going to the floor beside him. Sitting down and heaving a great sigh that drew a quick glance from one eye of the cat, the man pulled his boots and socks off and stretched out on the bed still clad in his trousers. From the pocket on the side of his pants, he withdrew a photo and looked at it. With a lighter sigh, he closed his eyes and remembered times long past, happier times for him, slowly his breathing evened out and the frame slowly fell to his chest and the peaceful embrace of sleep overtook him. Within moments the man’s breathing steadied out even more as he fell into a much deeper slumber.

* * *

The young boy standing at the bow of the ship was as far from his shipmates as he could be, both in distance on the ship and in physical characteristics. Having not yet seen seventeen years, he already stood taller than most of his shipmates, but his neck length red hair, clear ice-blue eyes that still held the youth of innocence in them, and fair skin, just starting to turn from a pink red into a tan further made him stand out. He stood at the bow, not to get away from his shipmates, but because after a month at sea, they were finally pulling into their home port and he was anxious to see it, this was the first port where shore leave was authorized, the others had been anchorages for food and water and small trading with the natives.

“Ho boy” a shout came from the stern; the boy tore his gaze away from the rapidly approaching shoreline to the master of the ship, standing on the quarterdeck by the steering wheel. “Get your arse to work and help your mates with the topsail”

With a shout of acknowledgment, Cha, for that was who the boy was, sprang from the foc’sle only to land surefooted on the starboard rail, as they sailed past an already anchored ship and a small oar boat loaded with men. He ran deftly, as if a four-inch plank was a full floor and then leapt over his shipmate’s heads, eliciting some curses but more shouts of encouragement, as he grabbed the rigging and quickly climbed to the top yard arm of the sail. Using the guide ropes he walked across the top to the mast and knocked out the safety pin using the hammer hanging at his side. With the pin hanging by a lanyard to the mast at the top, he waved to his mates on the deck, with his acknowledgment they released the line from the railing by pulling the knockout, and watched as it started down. Grabbing the line, they controlled the sails descent; as Cha rappelled himself down the mast using the center line that was on all the masts. He kept pace with the descending yardarm and when it met the top of the arm below it, he swung his self onto the resting yardarm and went straight to the furthest flapping line and began to secure it down, even as three of his shipmates, moving as surely as Cha had, but coming from a different village, climbed up to help. Barely one and a half minutes passed from the given order and the finished chore. Having finished tying the furled sail down, the four looked at each other and as one jumped onto the billowing mainsail beneath them, sliding down and using its’ guidelines to guide their own slide. Reaching the bottom of the sail, they shoved off straight up, turned in mid-air and grabbed the yard arm to stop their descent and then dropped down to the deck below them. As the four alighted on the deck amid cheers for their display, they looked to the master of the ship to see what he thought, with a barely perceptible nod of his head; his approval was given, eliciting another round of encouraging cheers. While most crews would have thought the time for the chore well done and the approval given; inadequate, these men knew their captain well and respected him even more, so that nod was as much an approval from this man as a flagon of wine would have been from another.

More orders were barked from the first mate, unnecessary for this crew, as the ship made its way deeper into the harbor and toward the pier. Most ships dropped anchor in the harbor and had their own oarboats to ferry their men to and from the shore or some from the harbormaster with a pilot on board to pull them in and get them to the dock, but this ship’s master knew his crew, his ship, and most of all he knew every port on his voyages route as well. As such, he let no one but he or his crew bring in this vessel, usually under her own power, the shipmaster watched the controlled chaos around him as they got closer to the pier, only the bottom main sail was left and he watched as the bumpers were brought on deck and positioned at the rails. These were large woven baskets, stout and filled with grass and cork, which had a rope tied around their middle, both vertically and horizontally. As the ship approached the dock, the ship’s master could see the frantic running of people on the pier that was unused to his approach, others just stood there, calmly marveling, as always at his ships’ approach, gauging the ship’s distance from the pier, the captain barked an order and the anchors were dropped, creating a drag that slowed the ship down further. Once the thick lines that held the anchors reached a predetermined mark, they were stopped and the ship continued forward dragging the anchors and slowing as it approached the pier.

With another shout, the last sail was dropped down and furled and the starboard anchor pulled up, leaving the port down to slow the momentum of the ship and begin its swing in toward the pier. With no sail and the dragging anchor, the ship slowed down rapidly, with a shout from the first mate, the bumpers were heaved over the rails and a crewman, assigned to each bumper, watched over the railing, giving instructions on whether to raise or lower them. With a nod to the helmsman from the captain, the man spun his wheel causing the slowly turning stern to come in at a faster rate and the ship bumped against the pier, the bumpers doing their job and stopping any damage from happening. With no further instructions needed, the starboard anchor was dropped to the bed, halting the forward momentum and with shouts to the handlers on the pier, the crewmen tossed over their mooring lines and secured the ship fast and snug to the pier. Up forward, four men hauled the anchors back into their nest and secured the line’s fast to hold them in place. The captain strode down the steps from the quarterdeck and headed to his first mate, as that same man had a section of the ship’s railing removed and a gangplank hoisted into place from the ship to the pier.

Stopping at the mate the captain spoke to him, “No one leaves until I’ve settled docking fee’s” The mate nodded his understanding as the captain continued “Break out a barrel of our best ale we have and let the men enjoy themselves until my return. Be sure to remind them, no fights onboard my ship”

The mate smiled and nodded at this news of the barrel, knowing that the captain must be extremely pleased with their performance to give them this pleasure so soon after docking. The captain walked down the gangway, acknowledging the shouts of welcome from the local merchants, and the first mate turned to the crew and let them know of the captains’ reward, Cha once again stood at the bow looking out into a city that stretched further than his imagination had ever imagined from the stories he had heard as a boy. Being the youngest of seven, with 3 older brothers and 3 older sisters, he had no hopes of being anything other than a warrior and herder in his village, even though this father was headman, his older brothers would take over whenever his father stepped down. Instead, he had spent his younger days, when he was not at weapons practice or any of the other myriad of chores he had, listening to the stories from the warriors that had traveled and had finally returned, some richer and some poorer for having left for their travels, but all of them with adventures to tell. When he had passed his test into manhood and moved into the warrior’s quarters, the young man wanted to do as the others had done, that he had heard the stories from. So, it was with real enthusiasm that he greeted the ship that dropped anchor in their small harbor to trade for their wool and food. With trepidation, he had approached the ship’s master as he was in negotiations with his father. After a brief introduction and a rather proud announcement of his recent accomplishment from his father, Cha had asked to join his crew, and after a consenting nod from his father, the ship’s master agreed.

So here he was, barely a month later gazing out at a city just like the old adventurers had described, but his limited experience had been unable to fully comprehend the descriptions, and he could not wait to explore its’ limits. He looked down from his perch on the bow as the shipmaster walked down the gangplank to be greeted by a very plump man in merchant garb. From the stories, he had heard, he took this man to be the harbormaster, this was somewhat confirmed as the ships master clasped his forearm in a welcoming shake and started talking to him while pointing at his ship, the man laughed at some joke and the two began to stride down the pier, evidentially toward his office to discuss terms of docking and to set up buyers for their cargo. Cha smiled and knew that he was finally doing something that would be meaningful in his life, just how meaningful it would turn out to be, he had never dreamed of.

* * *

A few hours later, Cha walked along the manicured lanes, looking around at the houses lining the street, they were like nothing he had imagined from the stories that he had been told by the warriors from his tribe. He found himself here at the advice of the ship’s master, insisting that his first night should be spent in a way that was better befitting a chieftain’s son, even one so far along in the line. He listened to the directions and took the letter of introduction, sealed with the captains’ own insignia, from him to the mistress of the house he was going to and placed it within the wide belt at his waist that held his sword acquired at his weapons testing, it was a sword that had been given to him by his father and mother and was indeed unique in its own way from all the others on the island. His father and mother had a sheath made especially for this sword, which allowed him to carry some of the herbs and medicines that he knew how to use, as well as a short dagger on it. His captain had advised him against wearing it since this was, after all, a civilized port, but Cha had looked at the captain as if he had gone crazy, but politely told him that all men of his clan wore their weapons, wherever they went. All the while he was eyeing his fellow crew mates headed for the docks bars and brothel’s that were so plentiful, all his mates except for the same three brothers that had scaled the mast with him earlier, who always took first-night guard duty. They were all headed that way, away from the ship, laughing and causing a general good-natured ruckus. It was with a somewhat heavy sigh that he took the ship masters advice, because he knew that the captain did not offer this to many others of his crew and that it was a unique honor, the captain laughed at the heavy sigh and assured Cha that there would be other nights in this town to get in trouble with his fellow mates.

During his walk and search for the house, he passed a number of the cities guards patrolling the streets, the guards would eye him and his clothing, but as he was not really breaking a law and as he was stouter than any two of them together, they did not stop or harass him. He finally stopped before a large house that was enclosed by a wall with a private guard posted at the gate, around his waist he wore a wide belt with a lion’s head in the center that held an equally wide bladed curved sword found in the lands far to the west of these isles, the man’s dusky skin and tattooed face proclaimed him from that area, and Cha had to wonder at the expense that was used to bring him to these islands, or perhaps he was indentured to the mistress of the house, he knew of these things because on his own island they had indentured people that were taken in battle. The guard was very large and broad across the chest with a hard, flat belly that looked to be made of stone, the guard himself looked at Cha mistrustfully and was about to have him move on when he produced the ship masters letter and handed it to the guard. The guard eyed the letter and noticed the wax seal on it, recognizing the insignia, he motioned for Cha to wait while he stepped through the gate and handed the letter off to a small boy that was just inside sitting on a bench. The boy took the letter out of the guards’ hand and ran off to the house on fast pumping legs and disappeared inside the doors to the estate house.

Cha waited patiently outside the wall with the guard while the letter was delivered to the mistress in the house, it was while he was looking around at the surrounding houses that he heard the woman’s scream, his head, as well as the guards, turned toward the sound, but it was the second cry that prompted action from him. Running in the direction of the scream, Cha was unsure of what he would find, his warriors code for the protection of females and children were aroused now, even though the women of his tribe fought alongside the men in battle. The warrior’s blood within him began to rush through his veins and course through his body faster as he ran, he came upon a small path off the main street and it was from here that he heard sounds of a struggle. With the courage of one sure of their prowess and the foolhardiness of the young, he immediately turned onto the path without slowing, it was but a matter of a few running strides that he came across the commotion that had caught his attention.

There in front of him were a large group of men struggling with a lone female. The evident leader of the group saw the young man come upon them and immediately dispatched two of his men to take care of him, knowing that his master would not want witnesses to the abduction. While it was true that the young man was untrained in the ways of the city, the tactics of warfare he was far from unschooled in as well as the art of combat. Hidden under the tunic he wore, his stomach showed the scars of the Wildcat he had hunted and was to capture to prove he was worthy of his title as chieftain’s son and heir, however, distant it was for him, but he had not, for he discovered that it was a nursing mother, and instead had fought with it and acquired the scars and bit of fur from the Wildcat. It was in their culture that a nursing mother should not be taken and the babies left with no protection or way to provide for themselves.

The two men sent to take care of Cha came at him overconfident and sure of themselves, a bad combination when approaching an armed and unknown adversary. Cha for his part sounded his tribes’ war cry and pulled the sword from the sheath at this side and advanced at the same pace as when he showed up. He studied the approaching men in the little time he had before engaging and noticed what weaknesses he could, a limp here, a favored side there from some previous injury, the way they inexpertly held their swords, letting him know they were not really fighters, all this he took in with his warriors’ keen sense and eyes as he engaged his opponents. With a feint to his right, the young man instead bore left and caught the injured side of the one man with the keen edge of his weapon, with a cry; the man clamped his arm against the gushing wound even as his attacker pivoted around to claim the head of his companion. Before he could comprehend what had happened, the young man’s point went into his throat from the rear and the point emerging out its front, nearly severing his head from his body. Both men fell to the ground, dead before either body even collapsed to the ground.

The leader of the band of men saw what happened and quickly sent half of his remaining men to deal with this unexpected trouble, this time the warrior did not have the luxury of seeing any weakness as he engaged his foes, this time he let his training and the years of schooling and tribal feuding take hold to carry him through. These six approached him more cautiously after seeing their companion’s bodies lying on the ground, but Cha would have none of that and kept his momentum going, getting among the half dozen men before they could formulate a strategy against him and use their own numbers against themselves. His half-wild barbaric sense kept him from being skewered on more than one occasion, with every move, thrust, or feint that Cha did, ever did his sword, acting as if an extension of his own hand and with a life of its’ own, snake out and draw blood from a victim. Many long minutes of intense fighting went by before Cha was disengaged as the remaining fighters backed off, eyeing their brethren on the ground and the various wounds inflicted upon themselves, as well as the few cuts on Cha. They glared at this slip of a man in front of them with hatred and a little bit of awe, the sweat standing on his forehead and hair plastered to his skull, his tunic was ripped in areas where their swords had made it through his flashing defense, but he had only a few minor wounds as compared to theirs.

The leader of the men had watched the pitched battled with both awe and dread at the swordsmanship of the young warrior, shouting to his remaining men, he sent them into the fray now that the woman they had been sent for was bound and unable to escape. They did not need someone such as this young man alive spreading rumors or stories about the abduction, as for Cha, a grim fighting grin parted his lips ever so slightly as he prepared for this final battle.

“Come at me” he called “you civilized spineless dogs. Come and taste the mettle of a true warrior’s wrath”.

Then with a yell that came from some deep primal part of the youth that he had not tapped before, he rushed the men even as they began to encircle him. He was sure this was his last night to breathe the sweet nectar that was life, but he meant to make the men pay dearly for the price of his life. Spying the three men that were left from the battle before, and keying in on them, Cha rushed forward, his adrenaline pumping, and the men’s eyes widened in fright and comprehension as they realized that even with the reinforcements they were to be the brunt of Cha’s wrath. They brought their weapons up in defense, but they were like wheat on harvesting day, and the Cha’s sword was the scythe, he was through them quickly, their streaming intestines falling to the ground from two, and the third screaming as he held his arm in place as though that would miraculously reattach it to his torso. Running headlong at the remaining men in front of him, he noticed that they did not bunch up as the others did, evidentially wanting to give each other room to work with this sudden demon in human form. A good strategy, but it left holes for Cha to use, with a feint to his left, he quickly dove right, going between two of the men. Suddenly he found no enemies before him, save the one in charge guarding the female whose cries had started it all, acting quickly he raced toward the man even as that same man thought to grab the woman for protection. But, so fast was Cha’s progress and so tuned were his responses to his thoughts that even before the captor could grab the girl as a shield, his blade entered the man’s chest and pierced his heart. For the span of two heartbeats, the two gazed at each other, mere inches separating their faces, then the man’s eyes glazed over in death and he slumped to the ground, pulling Cha’s sword with him. With a grunt of exasperation, he pulled his blade from the man’s chest and turned, expecting the remaining men to be closing in on him to kill him for dispatching their leader.

Instead, to his incredulous eyes, he saw a hulking shadow making a swath through the remaining fighters with a great curved blade, behind this man, who was, in fact, the guard from the gate earlier, was a slip of a woman and a small boy. With the damage done first by Cha, and now the onslaught of this monster of a man, the remaining would be kidnappers broke and ran for all corners of the surrounding woods, not bothering to look back to see if they were being pursued or not. Cha turned toward the woman and for the first time really saw her, her hair was a midnight black with a single white stripe of hair that began at her forehead to go down her right side about a half inch from the off the center of her head and about an inch long, stretching the full length of her waist length hair, a quick smile came to Cha’s face as he thought of the small animal with similar markings whose defense was a most unpleasant stench. She had a tanned face with the characteristics of a people who were not known to the warrior, it was clear that she was not of the local populace though, her almond shaped eyes, a deep green that enchanted the warrior, looked at the young man with amazement and as he helped her up, he saw that she was a head shorter than him, and he not fully grown yet.

“Are you alright” he asked as he cut her bonds, but the young woman just looked at him and smiled, a crunch of gravel underfoot brought Cha out of his reverie and back to his situation, with a move that was instinct, he moved the woman behind him and readied his blade for a possible battle. The hulking guard looked at the young warrior, a smile on his lips and admiration in his eyes.

Figure 2 - Netai talks to her guard Gonz

“Gonz” came a sharp retort and the giant swiveled his body to allow his mistress to come by, in a night of shockers, none were more intense than seeing this small woman carrying herself with such authority. The top of her head barely came to his chest, her hair, black going too gray, was worn in a tight bun on her head. A gold dress, obviously tailored made just for her, hung on her body and indicated her apparent wealth, while it was her face that amazed him, he was not used to seeing an old person, other than their tribe’s shaman, those that lived on their island were lucky to see fifty summers, while this woman looked to have seen that and possibly more. Her face while showing the years of her living, still hinted at the young beauty she must have been when she was much younger, her lips pursed together at seeing the stance Cha was in and she immediately hit him with a barrage of languages until astonishingly she hit upon his native tongue.

“Put down that sword boy” he heard, and without meaning too, he started to lower his blade, then he caught himself.

“How do you know my language” he countered.

“I know a great many languages” she replied calmly as if talking to a bloody young man with a leveled sword amid a clearing of mutilated bodies were an everyday occurrence to her, “In my trade, you learn many languages if you stay around long enough. Yours is one that is used by many tribes to the east of here on the islands.

“Aye” he answered “that is where I am from”

“And you are also the one that showed up at my house with this letter of introduction?” she asked showing him the letter written by his captain. Slowly he nodded, he had never seen a woman so tiny with such a commanding spirit, “And who do we have here” she inquired, looking around the young man at the woman he was protecting.

“I do not know” he answered, finally lowering his sword because holding it on this small woman made him feel foolish. “She did not answer me when I asked if she was alright”.

“Of course, not, silly boy,” remarked the woman “very few other than myself know your language in this town, and only those near the waterfront speak trade”

Her last remark referred to the special language that had developed among the trading towns to allow easy communications when trading was actually taking place. The little woman looked at the abducted woman and spoke to her in a dialect he had heard on the piers. The younger woman immediately answered and went on in what was evidentially an explanation of what had happened. The madam calmly took it in and patted the young woman’s hand while she talked with her, interspersed with her comments to the distraught woman, the madam pointed to him, herself, and her guard and at one point called the boy to her and gave him instructions that sent him running. With a small smile, she turned toward Cha as a small juvenile bear crashed through the woods, both Cha and Gonz reacted by bringing their swords up, but the little woman waved their weapons away.

“We do not have to worry about retaliation, the ones who ran will not go back to their master with this story for they will be surely put to death for running, and the lady will be escorted by my man Gonz here and her own protection,” indicating the bear beside her, with her hand “will see that the lady is seen safely home.”

She held up her hand to forestall the protests that were coming to Cha’s lips, “His prowess is well known, and he is highly regarded and feared by all around here that matters. She will be safe. You on the other hand” she said with a tight lip “need a bath. We need to get the stink of this fight and smell of death off of you before you see any of my girls. The boy is having them prepare things for you now”

“I do not fully understand,” said Cha.

“It’s quite simple, Cha Riz,” said Netai, the madam, looking down at his name on the letter, pronouncing it correctly by emphasizing the separate names, and taking his arm in hers, and starting to lead him away. “You are an invited guest of your captain, and your captain is a very good and respected friend of mine, and as such, I, Netai, the courtesan to the rich and powerful, cannot disappoint you and thereby him”. Nodding a little stupidly, he allowed himself to be led, while he watched the young woman who had captured his attention bow to the man Gonz and began to lead him down another path going opposite of them.

“Do you know who she is?” he asked quietly; not really expecting an answer.

“Of course,” the madam replied “That is Marianna; she’s our local healer and witch”

And with that revelation he was led back to the madams’ house, unaware that his life was again forever changed from that moment on.