Ized- the Ancestors

by Esther Barvar

  »Where is this gift, this magician, who is supposed to be such a great fighter?«

  Jabal fell on his knees before the red one and pointed to the bound Adar.

  »There, Red. That’s him. Yesterday he killed five of your Naga. He alone is responsible for it. We did not want their death. But this one there, he was strong and fast and killed your Naga one by one.«

  The dragon lowered his head and once blew through the nostrils, wrapping Jabal in a cloud of smoke. The leader had to cough, gasping for air.

  »He there is said to have killed my Naga, and you didn’t want it? Don’t trick me. Of course, you were grateful when my Naga were killed because otherwise, all the inhabitants of the village would have fallen victim to them. And you are trying to fool me, you little man, you were able to catch him just like that? But then it doesn’t seem to be far away with his power and his fighting skills. Who knows if he is a magician at all!«

  Jabal trembled with fear in the meantime. He no longer sounded arrogant and confident of victory. »I … I drugged him for you. Otherwise, we could never have defeated him. He possessed dangerous weapons and knew how to handle them well. Please, Red, we are proper subjects of the King. Please spare our village. We have always obeyed orders and will continue to do so. We know of your desire to catch all magicians. The man there is one. He could create fire in his hands.«

  The dragon turned his head to Adar with interest. He moved slowly in his direction. Jabal was uninteresting, but the man there had awakened his interest because the Red felt magic in him. And his skin color was so different. A magician from another country. Such a thing had never happened before. Why had he come to Emeishan?

  »So you killed five of my Naga all by yourself? Remarkable when that’s the case. Is it true, or is this unworthy wretch lying who does not honor the law of hospitality?«

  »Your Naga don’t know much about fighting, Red.« Adar turned his face to a painful smile, but puffed contemptuously. »They were no enemies for me. And I don’t fear you. Everyone has his weak spots, including you! You only have to find them«.

  Now the Red laughed loudly, and the big golden eyes sparkled amusedly. »I have no weak spots. You seem to be interesting. You are different, and you show no fear. Is that stupidity or impertinence?« The Red scampered once around the whole tree, looking at the ropes that tied Adar up. »At least it seems to be ignorance.«

  Adar’s eyes shone wildly with a desire to fight, and his nostrils trembled. »Try to find out, beast,« he hissed. »Release the shackles and give me my weapons. Then we’ll see which of us is the better fighter.« »No, isn’t it adorable? A little magician,« the Red mocked. »And how well he already knows how to growl.« The Red turned to the Naga. »Destroys the village and kill the people who live here.«

  »No,« Adar screamed desperately, pulling the ropes even harder. But these were too tight. They hardly moved, cut his wrists.

  Again the Red turned to him, came dangerously close to him with his head, and looked at him extensively. »The little magician seems to be more attached to your village than to you, Leader Jabal.«

  Jabal had turned pale. »I beg you, Red, spare my village. We were good subjects and always did what you asked. Mercy!«

  »Why should I grant mercy to a man who has no honor? You don’t even respect the law of hospitality,« the Red gloated, cast out his contempt. While the Naga invaded the village, he watched with great interest as Adar stood in vain against the shackles, growling, and hissing. The Red enjoyed how the magician rebelled desperately every time one of the humans died. He bared his teeth with relish as he even saw a tear rolling down the cheek of the unknown. Then a better idea came to him. He roared, and all the Naga stopped in their tracks. »Bring all humans here,« the Red ordered loudly.

  Immediately the creatures reacted, drove the surviving men, women, and children to the oak tree. All these innocent people wailed and trembled with fear.

  »Well, who of them shall be the first to die, little magician? You have the choice, choose one of the people.«

  Adar’s gaze glided reflexively and anxiously to the group. The Red had noticed who of the humans he had looked at first and pointed wordlessly to the man. One of the Naga tore him apart just a few feet from Adar.

  Adar screamed, reared up with all his might, and suddenly the rope with which his hands were attached to the tree broke. Immediately he woven fire spells with both hands, and threw them onto the next Naga. Two of the soulless creatures burned.

  The Red drove around roaring and struck with a leading paw. The claws pulled deep wounds across Adar’s chest and arms. His hands sank powerlessly. The pain made Adar groan, almost numbing him. Blood ran down his arms and dripped to the floor. The arms no longer obeyed him, hanging limply down. He could barely hold himself up.

  »I am the Red, and the Red is the Priestess.«

  Adar did not believe his eyes. As soon as the red had spoken that sentence, the dragon turned into a woman. Adar froze, stared at this being in front of him, and gasped in horror. He could not turn his gaze away from her. So, this was the priestess of the Red? She was the dragon herself.

  The priestess growled at him. »You dare to kill my creatures,« she hissed at him.

  »Maioshan? You are … no,« he stammered in amazement and shook his head. »No, that can’t be. You’re not Maioshan.«

  Again he retreated despite the heavy bleeding wounds and the shackles. Angry and in sheer desperation, he shouted at her: »No, you are never Maioshan, you are not! No! No! No!«

  She hesitated in amazement, even taking a few steps back. Then a glow stepped into her eyes, and a cruel smile played around her lips. She pulled the dagger and joined the group of women and girls.

  Adar did not know any of these women, but he feared the worst. The priestess grabbed one of the older women, pulled her by the hair, and dragged her over to him. Then she kicked her from behind and forced her to the floor. Brutally she tore her hair back and put the dagger to her throat.

  »How do you know Maioshan?« she asked.

  He shook his head.

  The next moment she cut the woman’s throat.

  She grabbed her neck, ruffled and dumped to the ground, dying. Her body twitched a few more times before she finally breathed out her life.

  Adar groaned in horror. The priestess acted without hesitation, grabbed the next woman, and forced her to her knees, right in front of him. »How do you know Maioshan?« she asked again quietly and threateningly, the dagger on the woman’s neck.

  »Wait, please wait!« Adar pushed out. He stared at the villagers, who was trembling with fear. He had to answer, or she too would breathe life out of her. »She … she was wounded,« he threw out desperately. »About six years ago, we found her wounded in our country.«

  Maybe she let the poor woman live if he was a little cooperative. He would only tell her the essentials.

  »Six years ago, then?«

  He nodded hastily. »Yes, about six years ago. Maybe a little more. We cared for her until she was better.«

  »Did she spend the entire six years with you?«

  He nodded again. »Yes, she was with us the whole time. Why do you ask that?«

  »I wonder. The priestess of the Brown is dutiful. Why did she stay with you when she had recovered?«

  »She … She never told me or the others, but many times she was depressed,« he whispered, staring at the woman kneeling before him.

  »What? She never told you what she is?«

  He shook his head. »No. Yes. She talked about being a priestess, but she never told us the meaning of that.«

  The priestess of the Red pushed the woman to the side and slowly approached him. »You want to tell me that she was with you for six years and never called the Brown?«

  »She never called the Brown. That means I don’t know if she called him. At least we didn’t notice when she did. I’ve only just learned from you that she’s a monster,« he pushed out and stared into her golden eyes.

 
The priestess grinned at him broadly. »A monster? You don’t seem to like that, young man.«

  He shook his head and stared hatefully at the woman who looked so similar to Maioshan. Then he hissed angrily: »No, I don’t like that. You’re right. I don’t like it at all.«

  She shrugged her shoulders and turned a little to the side, watching him from the corner of her eye. »She is not a dragon, any more than I am. She is a priestess. No more and no less«.

  He stared at her. Then he shouted wildly: »Does that make a difference? You are an animal, a wild animal.«

  A sneaky grin scurried over her face as she turned to him again. »And you? Do you think you are better? There is also such a being in you. A Black. You, too, are only an animal, a wild animal. But your dragon will die with you today. You will not have the opportunity to become a priest, for today is the day of your death.«

  She was now standing very close to him. So close that he noticed her scent, the smell of blood. No, she wasn’t Maioshan.

  He bared his teeth. Then he tried to grab her. But somehow, he did not succeed. He had already lost too much blood and had little strength left in his arms. The next moment she rammed the dagger into his shoulder.

  He cried out in pain.

  Then she pulled him out with a jerk. She pressed the blade firmly against his throat. She pressed the still intact arm in her reach against the trunk of the oak tree.

  She was powerful for a woman, and the wounds she had inflicted on him with her claws made it hard for him to move anything. He stared into this face, which looked so similar to Maioshan’s. But this woman’s golden eyes did not radiate any warmth like that of his wife. They were ice-cold and cruelly directed at him.

  »Pretty and spirited, little magician,« she whispered in contempt at his ear. »Besides, there are feelings for my sister. And he is not afraid of death.« The last sentence sounded almost disappointed. She scoffed at his teeth and growled as she forcibly rammed the dagger into his other upper arm. There she turned it in the wound.

  Adar screamed again in pain. Slowly she pulled the dagger out and gleefully bared her teeth. Adar moaned only quietly and then lost consciousness. He got stuck in the rope at the belt level bent forward. His blood flowed from all wounds and already formed a pool on the ground.

  She squatted down in front of him and raised his face. »Interesting, he knows Maioshan. What has my sister been doing all these years? He is such a beautiful man and so young. With how much fire and strength he fought for this village. How wonderfully he suffered when one of the farmers died here. And now he will die. What a shame.« She let go of his head and laughed. She took a close look at the blood that was slowly spreading on the ground.

  The wounds were deep, the blood loss great. He would not experience the evening. She smiled. Then she turned to the Naga, »Kill them all, except this one and the traitor here. This magician knows my sister and is allowed to bleed out slowly.«

  Then she pointed to one of the Naga. »You fly to Taishan and bring her the news of the pretty young man with dark skin who is breathing out his life for her here. She will hurry here and find him dead. She will also find the traitor alive.«

  She laughed and took two of the ropes lying on the floor. With them, she tied Jabal, who did not fight back, hands behind his back and feet together. Then she pushed him to the ground and left him lying at Adar’s feet.

  While the Naga killed all the villagers and one Naga set out to fly to Taishan, the priestess looked around. She enjoyed the screams of the dying, their fears, the pleas for mercy.

  Mercy!

  She never granted mercy. Then she spoke the sentence of transformation and flew away.

  When finally all the people of the village were dead, the Nagas followed her.

  Balor recognized Taishan at dawn. He had come quite close to the fortress, but it would still take a few hours before he finally arrived. The horse was tired, but Balor kept it going. He was restless, but know he had to hurry. The closer he came to the fortress, the more he could see, and realized that the castle had been built into a massive rock. He had never been here before in his life, and Taishan impressed him very much, made his heart beat faster.

  That indeed was a fortress. Huge, old, and venerable, it seemed to him. When was this stronghold created? It must have happened ages ago.

  The lower third had no opening apart from a large, solidly secured portal.

  In the next third, there were many windows and balconies behind which one could assume the inhabitants of the fortress. Judging by the number of terraces that surrounded the rock, there could be hundreds, no thousands, who lived here. In the upper third, there was a massive opening through which the Brown could enter its refuge.

  Balor frowned. It was said that the priestess lived alone because she was so dangerous that no one would survive near her. But many people were living here. Since he crossed the plain and could see the fortress, he crossed small villages, saw cultivated fields, vast fields that promised a plentiful harvest. As he climbed the top of a small hill, he saw many dark dots moving in front of the fortress. The closer he came, he recognized them as busy people. Astonished, he rode closer. He held towards the portal, finally got off the horse and led it by the reins. Since he didn’t know what to do now, he looked out and discovered two guards directly in front of the portal to which he hurried. They blocked his way with their weapons.

  »What do you want here in Taishan, stranger?« one of the two ask him gruffly.

  »I urgently need to speak to the priestess. It is important. Please, what must I do? How can I talk to the priestess Maioshan?«

  The guards did not show much interest in escorting him to the priestess or reporting him to her. »Why do you think the priestess would spare you any time at all?«

  »Please, I beg you! Tell priestess Maioshan her husband is in terrible danger.«

  »Her husband? What are you talking about? The priestess has no husband! You must have ascribed too much to alcohol,« one indignantly said.

  The other, on the other hand, laughed out loud. »Turn back to your fields, farmer. The sun has burned your mind.«

  »No, I will not turn back unfinished business, and the sun has not burned my mind,« Balor roared. »I believe this man who killed five Naga in our village yesterday. He said he was the husband of the priestess. The head of our village is not a man of honor. I fear for the life of the stranger if the Red should learn of him. Please tell the priestess that a good man with bronze skin is with us. I found him unconscious on the edge of the rocky plain he crossed. His water supplies were empty. Tell her the magician is here for her, and his name is Adar. »

  Meanwhile, an older man joined them in a livery. He had stepped out of the fortress shortly before. His eyes sparkled vividly and attentively. »Is there a problem here?« he asked the two men in an unobtrusive voice.

  One of the guards shook his head, laughing. »No Ugar, only a maniac who is talking something about a husband of the priestess and who is in danger.«

  The older man looked at Balor and his exhausted horse with a curious look. The horse let his head hang, and his flanks trembled in the effort. Ugar drove his hand over the fur and looked at his wet fingers. »How do you know if this stranger, who has gone a long way to inform the priestess, is not right? At least he seems to be convinced of it. Open your eyes. Why else would he rush and torture his horse like that? It’s full of dust, sweating, and letting his head hang. It will collapse here dead if it doesn’t get water soon. The man is not rich. He cannot afford to ride a horse to death. Quite apart from that, do you know what the priestess experienced in the six years that she was away?«

  Ugar’s voice had not changed in any way. She still sounded friendly, almost calm. Nevertheless, the effect of his words was evident.

  The guards stared at him in shame. »No, Ugar, of course not! Do you think there might be something real about his story? But which person would get involved with a priestess?«

  Ugar smiled friendly in
Balor’s direction. »I don’t know. I only said you should look at him. So it does. Look at him. The man here is a farmer from the south. The clothes he wears are worn in the villages near the rocky plain. Besides, the condition of the horse is pathetic. So he rode for hours, maybe all night long. Please, young friend, come, follow me. The priestess will decide what to do. You are lucky; she returned only a few hours ago. I admire your courage to come alone to Taishan Fortress. Leave your animal here. The guards will take care to give it water and something to eat.« Ugar turned around and went ahead.

  Balor handed the reins to one of the guards and followed the older man. His heart was beating up to his neck. His hands were wet and sweaty, and he rubbed them dry on his dusty pants.

  Together they entered the fortress. Balor stayed right behind Ugar. They climbed higher and higher in this tangle of tunnels and stairs. Balor wondered about the many corridors and that all these paths were illuminated. He couldn’t tell where the light came from, but you could always see the way as well as the steps.

  They followed the way up for a long time. Then the corridor ended in front of a wide door. Ugar opened it and stepped through. Balor followed him and stopped in amazement at the next moment. He was in the upper third of the rock, in the large cave he had noticed from below.

  A woman stood alone at the edge of the large opening. She seemed small in the vast vault. She held a cup of tea with both hands and sipped on it. Her gaze wandered across the plain, lost in thought.

  When Ugar came in with Balor, she turned her head and looked at them. She had golden eyes that rested warm-heartedly on Balor. »What is it, Ugar? Who do you bring me?«

  Ugar bowed to the woman. »Priestess, this man asked the guards downstairs to talk to you. He rode far and reported something of a danger to your husband.«

  The cup of tea slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. The priestess drove all the way around to them. »My husband?« she asked, frightened.