Salvation: Saving Setora Book Seven

by Dark, Raven

  “No chairs?” Pretty Boy remarked. “You always sit on the floor to eat?”

  “Always,” Savak said.

  Setora whispered to me about the mats, whispering to me about what we were doing and what was on the low table in front of us. The mat under me was cushioned, covered in material that felt like silk under my hands. She sat cross-legged like me, close enough that her knee brushed mine.

  Fuck, this was awkward.

  “Why no chairs, though?” Steel asked. “This has to get uncomfortable, man.”

  When Savak answered, I heard the smile in his voice. “We use only the furniture we need, Mister Steel. Nature provides us with all that we require. We do not dishonor Her by taking more than we need. In fact, we find chairs uncomfortable.”

  So that’s why Hawk often squatted down with us, ignoring chairs when there was one for him to use.

  “Ah, our guests have arrived.” Master Leif’s voice drifted across the room from my left, coming closer on silent feet. “Good. I was not sure Hawk would be able to convince you to join us, Sheriff.” Cloth rustled as he took a seat across from us.

  “I didn’t, Master Leif,” Hawk said next to me. “That was Setora’s doing.”

  Leif made an amused sound. “I am not surprised. I have seen for myself how…persuasive she can be. The Liberator bends the will of man to her, rearranging the ways of the very world around her without even trying. It’s remarkable to watch.”

  Setora cleared her throat.

  I couldn’t help a smile. I didn’t like this man, but at least in his summation of Setora, I understood him.

  “That she does.” I found her hand and held it.

  A plethora of unfamiliar aromas filled my nose, food brought out and set down on the tables for us. Fish and some sort of meat spiced with a rich scented seasoning that made my mouth water.

  Setora guided my hand to the table, to a plate where three wraps lay, along with round pieces of fish. “It’s all finger food, so no utensils needed. There’s a mug of…something interesting a little to the left.”

  “Smells good,” Steel said before I could say the same. “What is it?”

  There was a slap and Steel grunted.

  “You’re supposed to wait,” Hawk told him with an audible smile.

  I snatched my hand away from a wrap before I’d picked it up.

  “What for?” Steel complained.

  A musical chime sounded from the across the room.

  “That,” Hawk said. “It’s a blessing chime, to give thanks to the World Mother.”

  Steel’s stomach rumbled. Picking up one of the wraps, I almost laughed at his impatient growl.

  I bit into the soft bread, expecting the food to taste bland, but the mix of spiced meat, lettuce and tomato and a thick cheese sauce exploded on my taste buds. I hummed in surprised approval.

  “Life in the Order takes a great deal of discipline and patience for outsiders at first, Legion,” Leif said. “Our many rituals are hard for others to understand, but following our ways requires order and a strong will of the highest degree.”

  “I get it,” Steel said. “Being a Gladiator takes a hell of a lot, too. You gotta train yourself, be in tip-top shape at all times, and that takes discipline, but nothing like this.”

  We ate mostly in silence, Leif or one of the other warriors at the table asking the occasional question, us asking some of our own. With such a small helping of food, I expected to be left starving, but I wasn’t. The wraps hit the spot, leaving me feeling sated without that heavy sensation that came with being overly full. Setora had made me feel for my mug, and my fingers worked at memorizing the placement of it each time I lifted it to take a drink. Whatever was in it was way too fruity and sweet for my taste, but it drove away thirst like nobody’s business.

  “This is a woman’s drink,” I muttered in Setora’s ear. “I’m guessing there is no beer here.”

  She giggled.

  “There isn’t,” Leif supplied, apparently having heard me. “If you wish to imbibe, you’ll have to find your drink in Ran Tama, I’m afraid. Only the village offers that.”

  “You don’t drink at all?” Pretty Boy sounded aghast.

  “But Hawk drinks sometimes,” Steel pointed out.

  “Yes. I know.” Leif’s voice obtained a tight edge.

  Oops.

  “It looks like the whole Order really is here,” Setora whispered to me around a mouthful of food during a lull in the conversation. “There must be two hundred men here.”

  Two hundred? I glanced around, trying to visualize them in the dark. At most gatherings I’d been to, if there had been that many men in the room, the noise would have been deafening. These people hardly made a sound.

  “Leif...” I took another figurative glance around. “I only hear men. Do you not have slaves?”

  He sipped his drink. “No. With the exception of a few special circumstances, no woman is allowed beyond the temple walls. The Yantu guard too many secrets to afford ourselves slaves.”

  “So you take care of everything yourself.” Doc said from what sounded like a few places down the table. “Fascinating…”

  While Doc and Leif talked, I leaned toward Setora. “Speaking of special circumstances, where is this woman everyone keeps talking about? The one whose been training you in that mind stuff?”

  For some reason, she swallowed hard enough that I heard it. “Oh. Ali’san. I’m not sure where she is.”

  The hint of nervousness there didn’t go unnoticed. A smile tugged at my lips. I was pretty sure I knew why she was so anxious at the idea if me interacting with the woman. Privately, I was looking forward to it.

  “What do you think I’m gonna do, sweetheart?” I half teased. “Order her to cook me dinner?”

  She gave a shaky laugh. “Honestly, I can’t wait for you to meet her. I mean, you met her at the gates the first day, but I’d love for you to really talk to her.”

  I allowed a hint of a smile around my mug as I took a drink, the kind of smile I knew would send her imagination running rampant. “Can’t wait.”

  “Oh, I’m sure, Master,” she drawled with a laugh.

  Conversations went on for a little while longer until our plates were taken away and another warrior joined us.

  “Dark Legion, this is Ka’hatma Tae, a sixth level Tai Dan, and one of our best warriors,” Leif said, clearly introducing the newcomer. “He will be the focus of the presentation you are about to see, the gift we have brought you here to receive, Sheriff.”

  “What exactly is this gift, anyway, Kam…kaham…” Steel asked after Leif had introduced us all by name. I tried my best not to laugh at the way he massacred the man’s name.

  “It’s a mouthful, I know, Mister Steel. Just call me Tae. And you’ll see.” He laughed. “Wait…Hawk, right?” He latched onto the name. “So you’re the biker warrior. I’ve been hearing about you for years.”

  “I’m sure you have.” Hawk’s voice was pleasant. “I’ve only been back here once since I left years ago, and I think you were visiting another temple at the time.”

  From somewhere to my left, perhaps the front of the room, the beating of drum sounded. A hush fell over the hall. The drums grew louder, ominous.

  “That’s my cue,” Tae said. “Mister Sheriff, I’m glad you came. I hope you enjoy the show.”

  Tae departed, his voice fading as he spoke to someone else in the room.

  Irritation bubbled up in me. “Wait, Hawk, this is a presentation?” I hissed. As in a show I was supposed to see? “How the fuck is that supposed to work?”

  “You’ll understand shortly, Sheriff. Just wait. Setora will describe what’s happening. Your mind will fill in the blanks, you’ll see.”

  The drum beats grew louder still, echoing through the room until they carried from a distance right at my left.

  Hawk leaned closer to me. “By the way, Sheriff, there is something you should know about what you’re about to witness. This presentation is called O
ma Dar. It’s a show of skill and mastery in battle, usually reserved for visiting temple leaders. It’s only ever been shown to an outsider once, a king, years ago. What you are about to witness is called a gift for a reason. Being presented with the Oma Dar is one of the highest honors someone who is not Yantu can receive.”

  That made no sense to me at all. However little hint he gave of it now, Master Leif didn’t approve of us, and yet here he was, granting us the honor of a rarely seen presentation as if we were visiting rulers of great renown.

  “But why would—” I didn’t get a chance to finish.

  The drumming stopped with a final, heavy beat, leaving the room in silence. About fifteen-feet away, bare feet padded across a floor, as if across a stage.

  “Maker…” Setora rasped.

  “What is it?” I demanded softly. “Someone about to be sacrificed?”

  Her hair brushed my arm as she shook her head before she pressed closer to me. When she went on, her voice was hushed with awe. “It’s Tae. He’s standing on the stage at the front of the room, but he has the most amazing tattoos, all over his arms and chest.”

  She knew I loved tattoos.

  “They look like the four elements, all swirling across his skin. Water, air, fire, earth. He’s moving through fighting forms. Blocks, kicks, parrying; every time he moves, the flames and the water seem alive.”

  Something about the softness of her voice and the momentous inflection in it created the feeling of hearing a story larger than life, one that wrapped around me, rendering images in my mind’s eye clear as day.

  Tae’s feet thumped the floor when he completed certain key foot moves, collided with blocks, filling the room with resounding cracks. His breath came out in long hisses or sharp, perfunctory battle sounds that made him sound lethal. Every sound, every movement brought the images to life so that I could see him moving fluidly through the air and across the floor, could imagine the swirls of water and air and fire flowing as though they were living things.

  I wasn’t into dancing. I’d die before I allowed my limbs to submit to such a feminine act, but I saw Tae’s movements as a dance even I could appreciate—a lethal, dangerous dance capable of bringing death with every strike.

  Tae stopped, and there was a soft thump.

  “He’s kneeling now,” Setora said softly. “Wait…what is he doing? It looks like he’s meditating now.”

  It was clear from her tone, from the silence on the floor, something was about to happen.

  Footsteps sounded across the stage again.

  “Two more warriors just came out onto the stage. They’re closing in on him, both with staffs spinning in their hands. Tae’s right between them. Eyes closed. He’s sitting perfectly still.”

  I could imagine what was about to unfold. They would attack him, and he would have to fight them. My heart sped up with adrenaline.

  There was a soft whoosh of something—a staff—slicing the air, the sound nonetheless carrying throughout the room.

  Setora gasped. “One of the warriors just struck him. Tae… he grabbed the staff from him.”

  Clack. Thump. Tae had slapped the staff down and leapt to his feet; they hit the floor with a slap.

  “This is incredible. He caught the staff without seeing it. He just struck the man in the chest.”

  Whoever Tae hit, fell to the floor and rolled away, probably coming up onto his feet. There was another whoosh—the other warrior’s staff swinging out at him.

  I literally heard Tae whip around so fast it cut the air before his palm clasped the staff. The staff struck the second warrior, and he slammed into the floor.

  Silence fell before another soft thud.

  “He’s on his knees again,” Setora said breathlessly. “Eyes closed. His opponents are leaving….”

  Again, I could feel that something big was about to go down.

  More footsteps across the stage.

  “Oh Maker. There are four warriors this time.”

  Four warriors coming at an unarmed warrior who sat there with his eyes shut, putting himself at a huge disadvantage. Staffs spun, cutting the air as they approached him, by the sounds of it, circling, moving in from all sides.

  “Fuck, he’s going to get creamed.” I said.

  Tae must have gotten to his feet. Staffs clacked and spun, feet slapped the floor. Tae punctuated his strikes with sharp yells. Bodies fell. I felt like I could see it all, this single powerful warrior taking out all four of his opponents in seconds.

  “He just took them all down,” Setora said. “And on his knees, he goes. He doesn’t even look out of breath.”

  “That was fucking awesome,” Pretty Boy rasped.

  “Six warriors this time,” Setora said, as once again feet padded across the stage. “These have swords.”

  Steel unsheathed from all directions around Tae.

  “He has one of their swords. Maker, the blade… the blade is everywhere at once, blocking, striking…. Now he has another sword, one in each hand.”

  Steel clanged, Tae’s shouts filled the air, and warriors dropped to the floor, as if pretending death and marking them out of the game.

  I heard them leave.

  Once more, footsteps cross the stage, only one warrior this time.

  Setora gasped. “Ali’san…”

  The air filled with the sounds of punches and kicks, fists and limbs colliding hard enough to break bone. Tae’s shouts rang out. Female shouts followed, filled with an incredible strength and power that felt alien to me.

  Silence prevailed for an instant before light footsteps slapped the stage, then a thump.

  “Light, she just flew over his head, flipped right in front of him. She’s wonderful.”

  While Setora continued to narrate the thrilling spectacle before me, the fight continued at a breakneck pace. The woman shouted as she shoved him backward. He slammed into the floor. The sound he made gave the impression he’d thrown himself to his feet. A few more strikes from both of them, before at last, Ali’san dropped.

  She might have been female, but I had the strong impression that the battle could have gone either way. The idea made my head spin.

  I heard her depart, and then the familiar sound of Tae going to his knees again.

  I could just picture him, sitting there, almost unnaturally still, his breathing even, not a mark on him, as if he hadn’t just beat almost two dozen warriors, one of them a woman who’d somehow almost got the upper hand.

  I was impressed.

  “It’s over,” Setora said, and she sounded as breathless as me.

  Applause rippled around the room.

  I squeezed her shoulders. “You’re a prime storyteller, sweetheart,” I whispered in her ear. “I felt like I could see everything on that stage.”

  She rubbed my arm.

  I directed my unseeing eyes toward Leif across the table. “That was impressive. A hell of a display. That Tae must have been training for a long time.”

  “We are glad you enjoyed it.”

  “Not that I don’t appreciate the presentation, but I get the feeling there is a lesson in there somewhere. If there is, I missed it.”

  “Did you?” He sounded amused, and I didn’t understand why. “Oh, Sian Ali’san, come here,” he called out.

  Setora cleared her throat nervously. I held off the urge to chuckle.

  “Master Leif. Liberator. Dark Legion.” The same voice I’d heard on the steps when we’d arrived at the temple that first day spoke near Setora. Cushions rustled as Ali’san got on her knees.

  “Ali’san,” Setora said, and I had the impression the two women had embraced. “You were amazing.”

  “Thank you. Tae is a great fighter, I’m surprised I lasted that long.”

  “You didn’t use your sword,” Setora said.

  “No. The truth is, I rarely use it. It’s not often necessary. In this case, we wanted to showcase Tae’s skills with hands and feet more than weapons.”

  If I had been able to see
her, I’d have stared. She spoke of using a sword, or not using it, as the case was, the same way most women talked of cooking a meal. I wondered what the hell she must look like.

  When Setora got up to relieve herself, Ali’san took her spot next to me.

  “What did you think of the presentation, Sheriff?” she asked. Her voice sank into me, a strange mixture of soft and hard, the tone of a warrior used to command.

  That the woman sat beside me without invitation, and that she spoke to me as an equal should have bothered me, but it didn’t. She made it feel natural.

  “It was impressive. Tae is a credit to the Yantu Order,” I said awkwardly. “But as I said to Leif, there’s something I’m missing here. What is it?”

  “You’re right, there is.” I could hear her smile. “There’s something you should know about Tae, Sheriff.”

  “Which is?”

  “He’s blind,” she said.

  Chapter 24

  Agreement

  The woman warrior’s words made my head spin.

  That brilliant fighter, that man who had taken out so many with such astounding speed and ease, was blind?

  Well, shit.

  Bewilderment flooded me. I turned my head to Hawk’s master. “You’re pulling my damn leg.”

  “Not at all, Sheriff.” Leif’s amusement was palpable.

  The other men spoke up, equally stunned.

  “Bullshit,” Steel said, but his audible grin took the bite out of his words.

  “No fucking way,” Pretty Boy said.

  “That’s…astounding.” Doc.

  “No, he is,” Hawk said slowly. His cushion rustled as if he’d moved into a more comfortable position. “I mean, I had no idea before, but now that you say it, I can see it. There’s a way he has of moving… Wow.”

  Setora returned, setting her hand on my arm. “What’s going on?” she said curiously.

  “Tae’s blind, sweetheart. Could you tell?”

  “What? Maker, no. I had no idea. Now I know why you did this, Master Leif.”

  Her thoughts echoed mine. Focusing on Leif, I was about to tell the crafty shit that I got the not so subtle message he was imparting here, but he didn’t give me the chance. Falls of cloth, what sounded like a dozen robes, rustled as he stood.