by Unknown
“Not like that one. Did you make it yourself?” She asked.
“No. I repaired it. It is in good working order I assure you”.
“It’s not as good as this one,” she said drawing the weapon Kerris gave her”.
“It is unloaded”
A bolt flew past his head to bury its head in the bark of the tree.
“Oh dear”. The would be robber groaned.
Mira looked up at the little man. “You’re not very good at this are you? “
“It was a bad idea.”
“It was a terrible idea. Is this your first time?”
“It is”, he replied morosely.
“Climb down and we’ll talk.
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can, you got up.”
“That was last night. There was something above the trees. It was hunting. Did you hear it?”
“I sleep like a baby”.
“Well, if you had you would have climbed a tree.”
“You can’t stay there-“’
She was interrupted by a cry as he pitched from the branch. Landing with a thump he lay, groaning
Mira crouched beside him. “You’re as skilled at climbing as you are at robbing. What’s your name?”
“Norry”.
“You may call me Lady Mira, or, My Lady.”
“Yes My lady. Are you from the Keep?”
“I am.”
“Oh Lawks” he moaned,” you’re a witch. Please don’t turn me into an animal or something”
“I would turn you into a Sheriff if there was one about. As a thief you are a bigger danger to yourself… I am not a witch.”
“What are you doing here so? He asked sitting up. He was similar to a dwarf in height; without their sturdiness.
“Can you stand?”
Norry got to his feet.
They walked back to the horses. Mira handed him oatmeal cakes and a cupful of Myrd..
“Can you ride?”
“Yes my lady, I used to ride for the Parish”.
“Take the smaller of the ponies. Don’t turn your back on the mule. He bites”.
The Awakening
A woman put something in his mouth; sweet and cool. The sky was blue. He was moving. Sounds of animals, people talking. He drifted again.
A much loved face. Brown eyes,.. Another woman . Unearthly beauty. ..Cool air rustling silk sheets. A door opens . Lovely girl, she places a tray by the bed.
His body went into spasm, eyes flaring wide in a room with high ceilings. Light streamed through a bay window. As his eyes adjusted he looked out on the sea. Sails in the distance. Men running, others practicing with swords. He turned back to the shadows ; a full length mirror by the bed . Easing himself to a sitting position he looked at himself, his feet bandaged, legs, thighs and arms covered in bite marks. On the inside of his left arm, a tattoo of a raptor.
Someone had left a tray by the bedside, a bowl of fruit, apricot and slices of apple dipped in honey. He drank water cooled in a glazed jug. The door opened . An tall man came in bearing a tray.
“Ah, you are awake, good.”
Remembering his nakedness he reached for a linen robe on the sideboard..
“Who are you?” he asked. His voice sounded strange to his ears. The man placed the tray on a table by the window. He was tall with the stoop tall men sometimes adopt. His hair was braided tight to his head. The eyes were those of one who missed little. “My name is Paldor Please” he indicated the food” you must be hungry,”
“.I don’t know you, or this place. What am I doing here? How did I come to be here? What is this place?” He stopped, looking at the old man. “Who am I?”
“This is Holgun . If you look to the South you would see Holgun Volcano .You were brought here se months ago by Gypsies.You were ill .. We received instructions from a client that your expenses would be met and when fit you were to be trained in the use of weapons and … other skills… Loss of memory is common with head injury. No doubt you will regain your faculties in due course.”
“Who is your client?”
“We never reveal information of that kind.”
“I cannot remember my name.”
“Your name is Hawkmoon. The gypsies said so”
He looked at his arm.
“That’s not my name…”
Paldor rose to leave.” Finish your meal and we will speak further... A representative of our client will visit shortly . I am sure he will be in a position to enlighten you. In the meanwhile you should occupy yourself with a full recovery.”
“And if I decide to leave?”
Standing Paldor opened the door. “This is not a prison. You may leave at any time. I suggest you remain here and wait until our client’s representative comes to see you”.
After breakfast he walked on the beach. He tried running but gave up after twenty paces. He sat in the sand waiting while his heart settled in his chest. Fragments of memory, the cold, attacked by dogs. … The ocean breeze was warm on his face. If he was ill there were worse places….
A man approached from the villa. He moved in balance, like a dancer. The newcomer bowed.” I am Chagatai”. He said, waiting to be invited to sit down. His eyes were black, with high cheekbones, golden brown skin . He was small in stature with a physical presence that belied his size.
He looked down the beach, from where the warrior had come. He could see the tracks his feet had made in the sand. Of Chagatai’s there was barely a trace.
There were round boulders to his left. Rising he walked to one of them and sat, inviting Chagatai to sit on the other, twenty feet away.
This one is cautious…Good.
“I tried running back. It was all I could do not to leave my breakfast on the beach”.
“Many breakfasts have been left on this beach. Before we are finished there will be more.”
“What do you know about me?”
“Only what I have been told. I am to see to your training in the use of weapons”
“How long will this take?”
Chagatai shrugged “As long as it takes.”
“Shall we run back”
“If we take it easy”
He had five days while Chagatai finished with other recruits. Training began a week later. Morning runs on the beach grew longer with every passing day. At first they stayed on the hard sand where the surf broke. As time went by Chagatai started to add packets of sand. More sand followed every week. He considered objecting but his pride would not allow it. When he woke the first morning memories lingered in remnants of dreams. As the weeks passed even those faded… At midnight he would force himself to eat the food laid out by the servants before collapsing into sleep.
Hardly were his eyes shut than Chagatai was beating on the door. Weeks turned to months... When he stopped, he no longer vomited. Chagatai wanted five miles. He ran seven. Chagatai wanted seven, he ran ten.
In the Autumn of the year they were twenty miles south on the beach.Chagatai began to talk about his life. His father was Khan of a minor tribe. The one who seized power sent his family into exile. He escaped and watched as they had slaughtered his brothers on the open plain. Chagatai had been to the Royal City, for the anniversary of the King’s Coronation. He had been North twice , once to parlay with the Reivers and once on a trading expedition.. He tried to hide it but his pride in being a Ranger was enormous.
They stopped to eat eighteen miles from the City. “I survived the summer. Living in the hills, trapping Marmots. Winter was coming when I wandered into a village begging for food They fed me well. Then they put chains on me. It wasn’t bad apart from the beatings which I was accustomed to. In the Spring we were taken to Pokhara.. It is a free city on the edge of the Steppe where everyone can come to trade… Reivers, Humans, everyone is welcome except the Wampyrhh. One of the men belonging to the new Khan recognized me. I thought I was dead when he started bidding . Then a round eye put in an offer
As soon as he took possession I told him about the o
ne he had outbid. That they wanted to kill me and it would be better to let me go and take my chances. He thought I was lying but when they followed as we left the city he hired guards. I decided that I wouldn’t cut his throat when I escaped. His name was Palgon . He was a recruiter for the Rangers.. I asked him why he picked me ; there were full grown men on the stocks, some trained fighters. He said he liked the look of me. I wasn’t cowed like the rest.”
Since the first day he struggled to match Chagatai in the use of weapons .The bruises on his chest, arms, and legs testified to his failures. He took to rising before dawn to practise on the Ran, a stake with lengths of chain and blades fitted to copy a human opponent.
A year since meeting the tribesman he faced Chagatai in the arena. People hung about. The slave girl, Ilse sat up in the back with her friends.
Chagatai had brought some of his students to watch ; one a noble with a haughty manner. He grinned insolently and whispered to Chagatai. The little man laughed and walked over. “He told me to go easy on you. Are you ready?”
He set himself and waited while Chagatai did likewise. Chagatai screamed and charged, blade aimed low .. He staggered back and tripped over his feet. Laughter echoed from the walls while he picked himself out of the sand. The girls tittered. Ilse looked at him gravely. The arrogant one grinned and said something to his friends. He stood, wiping the dust from his clothes. Absorbing the rage he calmed his breathing, and waited.
Chagatai attacked. Waiting as the blade came down, at the final moment he moved a half step, swaying to let the sword pass. He tried to bring his sword into play only to have it knocked aside. Rage burned in him. Once more he calmed his mind. Again Chagatai attacked. At that moment the world slowed .It was like he was underwater... The tribesman was screaming, mouth open in a rictus of hate. The blade came up, but slow. Taking a half step he moved past his opponent. Light burst in Chagatai’s head. Moving forward, he continued two paces ,then collapsed in the sand. No one had seen it happen.
Silence fell across the arena. The Blademaster must have stumbled. Chagatai lifted himself out of the sand. They bowed and resumed position. The tribesman stared into the eyes of his opponent. fear tickling his bowels as he understood what stood before him
Chagatai flicked the tip of the blade at his face. The move was countered. He struck at the knee, changing to a thrust at the groin. The move was blocked. .The tribesman stepped back, waiting .
This is a fine death. The Sky God has been good. My sons are brave, my daughters are virtuous.
Rising on the balls of his feet he stepped forward, blade pointed at the chest, allowing it to last long enough that his opponent had no choice but to parry. At the final moment he turned his wrist to bring it to the gut... It was his deadliest move.
His vision exploded in a burst of light. Chagatai fell senseless to the sand His opponent threw the blade at the group and stormed out of the arena. He was passing into the cool of the armoury when someone touched his sleeve. Turning he found a portly gentleman, well dressed, rings on every finger. The fat mans’ eyes shone with excitement.
“My dear fellow, such a display. Truly wonderful. To defeat the Blademaster in such a fashion. Allow me to introduce myself… Halvar Halvarson , I provide gladiatorial spectacles for the great houses on the continent. Such talent;why you could retire in ten years… with the right management of course . Perhaps we can speak later. . I will send my man. In the meantime, a small expression of my interest…”
He held out an open purse.
“Go away” The man’s face went white.
Two guards carried Chagatai to the infirmary..
Paldor closed the shutters; the noise of the arena subsiding.
“What do you think” Shen Tzu was slight, exquisitely arrayed in bright silks. He held a scented kerchief to his nose. The scent of the place was really quite appalling.
“Remarkable. The test was arranged so as to goad him into losing control. He took that energy and turned it against his opponent. What happened then is more interesting. I was watching through this” he held up his spyglass” His pattern of movement changed. He moved unnaturally fast, though I am sure he was unaware of it. Such episodes place great demands on the body. It requires expenditure of a tremendous amount of Chi . The Blademastr knew what he faced and still continued… A brave man. In the Chian we have masters who dedicate their lives to the art. They are old before they are half as deadly as what I have witnessed here today. . Would you be so kind as to send someone to enquire of his present state? I would venture he has retired. Paldor tinkled a small bell.
“We should begin his training in the Occult Arts”
“Is he to be a sorcerer?”
“Heavens no. Not one of those… Tiresome people… There are ways to kill that dispense with the need of bladed weapons…. He has talent, but that alone is insufficient… He will come to Xanshi.”
Paldor sat in front of his guest. “Excellency, your plans for him may not go as smoothly as you would wish”
“O, and why is that, pray?”
“I have observed him over the past year. I find him to be a man of singular independence of mind. He seldom does what others would have him do. If you propose that he should go somewhere because you wish it, he will refuse”
“What do you suggest?”
“He appears to be content here. He has made friends, the principle being his trainer, despite what you witnessed today... Send your instructors here. I will arrange rooms and lecture facilities.”
The ambassador smiled“I bow to your wisdom . I will retire to consider what you have said”
“You will not meet him?”
“Gracious no. The man is exhausted.Tomorrow I will take my leave. With fair weather I will be home in six months.
They sent her to his room a month after he started training. Massage and whatever he desired. They were good to their slaves here but a slave was still a slave. She waited for him, sitting on the edge of the bed The day was warm and she was tired .She lay down and closed her eyes. The room was in darkness when she woke Someone had covered her with a blanket. As she passed the common room he was poring over maps with the tribesman.
Last week, as she was passing the training ground she heard him laugh. . They talked about him in the kitchen. He never made demands. He was appreciative of the smallest service….
They said he had lost all memory of his former life. Undoing the clasp at her shoulder she let the dress slip to the floor. His arms and shoulders were marked with scars and bruising. The night was warm.. .
A soft knock came on the door . It opened and a blond head came round ; Anna, one of the house slaves. Ilse put a finger to her lips. The girl smiled and closed the door.
She traced her fingers from the base of his neck to the hollow of his spine. He murmured stretching an arm across her. She turned her back against his chest, her bottom nestling against his stomach.. Lifting her head from the pillow he put the other arm through and drew her to him. He slept and, after a time she drifted..
She came awake to sounds of people going by in the corridor. It was morning. He was awake, looking at her.
“I dreamt I was sleeping with a beautiful girl.”
“No one knows your true name. What are you called?”
“I am Hawkmoon.”
Fever.
Mira considered her travelling companion. From the look of him he had been finding it hard in the forest.
“Have you anymore?”
She passed him walnuts and the last of the fruit.” We are not stopping until evening. Can you cook?”
“I am quite the chef”.
“You won’t have much to practice your culinary skills with. From now until we part company you will make camp and tend to the animals.”
“Agreed, my lady. There is food to be found in the swamp; despite its pestilential air. I know of a grub that lives in the trunk of fallen trees.”
“How do you cook it?”
“It is best eaten aliv
e”… Mira wrinkled her nose.
“Hunger is a great sauce, my lady. May I enquire as to your destination?”
“I am bound for the Royal City .You are a native of the Parish?
“Indeed I am, my lady, although I have not seen its borders for some years”
“It is unusual to see a Halfman so far from the Parish. They are known as a people who like to stay close to home”.
The Parish, is a flat strip of country close by Shaleen’s Gate. Bordered to the west by Silvlerlode and to the south by the river Ob, its inhabitants are a quiet folk who, while they keep their secrets have a passion for minding other people’s business. In latter times they lived to the north of the Inland Sea where they suffered at the hands the Wampyrhii…. They were at the point of extinction when Hawkmoon came with the Rangers . It was Summer in the High North with long days and short nights. The vampires fought to hold on to their slaves. The mission had not been sanctioned by those in authority. Seventeen men and eleven women died. They were refused burial. It marked the end of Hawkmoon’s official membership of the Free Company.
Chandra refused them leave to settle and Hawkmoon went to Silverlode where he made a petition to their Queen who made a land grant near the Gate . No one could have foreseen the consequences of her generosity..
“We dislike that phrase. While we lack the physical stature of the men we are valiant when called upon…Might I enquire how you knew me? Most people take me for a minor elf.”
“We had a delegation at the Keep last year. They had the same cauliflower ears you do. The sisters were quite taken by them. One of them was closeted with the Alchemist for the duration”
“Actually,” said Norry,” I myself was an Alchemist”
Mira glanced at him from the horse. “A bit young for that profession?”
“Well more of an apprentice ... Well not an apprentice of Alchemy as such. Truth to tell, I was never that keen on it. Couldn’t be doing with turning Lead into Gold . Going on about the Philosopher’s Stone. Not my cup of tea. I wanted to make my mark… I suppose I did.” He said wistfully.“I apprenticed to an Alchemist in Relg… No Alchemist that I know of has turned Lead into Gold. They make potions. It suited me because I could work as an Apothecary by day and experiment with my chemicals at night... The Rangers are very highly thought of in the Parish, you know. They saved our people. Almost every boy and quite a lot of the girls dream of becoming Rangers; of going North to take revenge on the Wampyrh .. I wanted to be accepted as a Ranger” He paused.… That amuses you….”