by Sam Puma
Jankaro gave him a nod. He kept his breath even as he strode forward. He was counting on the yanigo to protect him. In a sense it protected him before, but he remembered that in that same instance he was slain. He felt like he could trust Anhael and Orion to protect him, but he still wondered what kind of test he was in for, and it gave him a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Together they walked the city streets. Anhael and Orion led the way while Jankaro followed in his hooded suit of armor that wrapped him like a mummy. He drew inquisitive looks from passersby. Some of the soldiers were curious and followed them to see what was happening.
They led him outside the city center to a huge circular building. It was much like the one he had seen in Calixo. There were pictures of great beasts carved into the walls. “Look,” he pointed up as they approached. “Is that an Ashtari? I have seen one.”
“That would be a rare thing for a jungle man like you,” said Anhael. “Not many Ashtari left these days.”
“My father thought they were extinct. He thought humans killed them all.”
“He was obviously wrong about them being extinct, but humans have killed many of them. Now there are so few. To see one is truly a gift from Sagaya.”
“My heart is warmed by that sentiment, but it was an experience I barely survived. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like a gift.”
Anhael frowned at Jankaro’s comment as they reached a large gate. Orion turned his fingers down and let go of the rings to lock his leg. With his leg fixed firmly in place, he used both arms to lift a heavy latch and push two heavy wooden doors apart.
They walked through a tunnel that opened into a large circular space. “This is the Arena,” said Orion. “Look up and see the rows and rows of stone steps and imagine a crowd of people gathered to watch.” Jankaro looked up and saw only a group of a dozen soldiers, including Rafael and Titus. “This is where the Caladonians have hosted duels for centuries. Many men and beasts have seen this battle floor, including Oranos himself. You see that gate on the far side? That is where your opponent will emerge. The Juruga is back there. He is the only one we have taken prisoner.”
“Good luck,” said Anhael, as he blew smoke over Jankaro. Rafael lowered him a rope and he climbed up the wall to be with the other soldiers on the wall walk.
“We won’t let you get slain, as long as that armor holds true,” said Orion when it was just the two of them standing alone in the entrance to the arena. “One of my gifts that I have given in my service to this war is the lock. It is a device that I invented that secures the Juruga’s jaws shut. We were able to secure it on him at the first battle in defense of Dorfin.
“So here is what is going to happen: See that long spear over there? You pick that up and get ready for the Juruga. He will be bound by a long chain that holds his hands behind his back and won’t allow him to pass the center of the arena. You can take shelter behind that wall over there if you need to. When I release the lock on his jaw, provoke him with the long spear. Once you get some spit on you, we will shut his jaws and pull him back into his chamber.”
“What if it doesn’t work out?”
“Well Anhael is here to help if you suffer an injury. If he needs to cut off your leg, I will help you build a leg like mine.” He grinned and knocked on his leg. “Don’t worry, this will work out exactly the way we’ve planned it.”
Jankaro thought it sounded too easy. He thought about the chains breaking or his armor failing. Orion made his way to the far side of the arena, grabbed a roped that hung down and was lifted up by two soldiers at the top of the wall. As the other soldiers moved to higher locations to avoid the spit, Orion prepared to open the gate from behind a small wooden wall set up on the walkway above the arena’s wall. Jankaro set aside his worries and put his faith in his grandfathers as he picked up the long spear.
“Ready?” Orion called from his fortified position above the far gate.
Jankaro nodded. The gate lifted and the Juruga slowly emerged into the arena. Jankaro’s hands clenched the spear tightly, but the fear subsided quickly as he watched it emerge. He felt calm. He saw that it was weakened by the sunlight and the time spent in captivity. It kept its head down, away from the light. Its hands appeared to be tightly bound behind its back, and sure enough, a long metal chain bound it to a wall in the chamber behind it. Jankaro felt like he was a safe distance away from it when Orion called out “opening the lock!” Orion pulled on one of two ropes that were connected to the clamp that wrapped around the Juruga’s head. The device came open, and the Juruga’s mouth came open, and he breathed in through it. Jankaro crept forward with the spear. The Juruga was coming to his senses. He looked up to see the soldiers in the seats and in response he wriggled his wrists wildly to try to break free.
“Go get him!” One of the soldiers cried out from above. The Juruga looked down and saw Jankaro coming on with the spear. He bent his head down and started to charge at full speed. Jankaro braced himself and aimed the spear at the Juruga’s chest. But the chain snapped taut before he got that close. The Juruga struggled to break free and failed.
Jankaro stood still, waited for the Juruga’s spit to fly and prepared to turn his eyes away. But the Juruga just stood there and struggled with the chain.
“Get on with it,” Titus stood up and shouted from the seats. Jankaro stepped forward and jabbed the Juruga in the gut, piercing his skin and causing some of his fluids to trickle out. He lifted his leg and tried to trap the spear with his foot but Jankaro pulled it back. Still the Juruga did not spit. He stood there poised to defend against the next thrust. “Again!” Titus cried out from above. “Keep doing it until he spits!”
Jankaro thrust again and dug the wound deeper. The Juruga tried to trap the spear with his foot again but was too slow. Jankaro looked up at Titus. “It’s not happening.” He let go of the spear and backed away from the Juruga.
Titus was at the edge of the wall, and he was flushed with anger. “What’s wrong with that stupid thing?!”
“He can’t do it any more.” Jankaro didn’t know how he knew, but he just knew. He was looking up at Titus when he saw his eyes go wide. Titus slid down the rope on the wall and ran toward the Juruga. Jankaro turned around and saw that it was trying to control the spear with its foot to free itself from its bindings.
Titus raced past Jankaro and wrestled the spear away from the Juruga. “You can’t spit any more?!” He cried out and plunged the spear into the wound that Jankaro had created. The Juruga twisted away and the spear sank into his back. Titus held on as the Juruga twisted back around. The spear whirled around and Titus’ feet were lifted from the ground. He held on as it swung him back and forth until he collided with the wall. He collapsed to the ground as the spear rattled to the floor beside him. He was in the Juruga’s side of the arena, and it charged him. It lifted its foot to stomp on his head but he pulled out his sword and drove it straight through its foot. He twisted the sword and the Juruga toppled down. Titus leapt over it and grabbed the spear.
Rafael cried out, “Titus, wait! That’s the only one we have!” Titus didn’t seem to care as he thrust forward and drove the spear through the Juruga’s neck. It made a few more feeble efforts but didn’t get up again. Titus twisted and wriggled the spear until it was dead.
He let go of the spear and turned around. “Orion! At the next battle, capture one that can spit!” He shot a glare at Jankaro and the other soldiers as he strode swiftly out of the arena.
“We will capture another one,” said Rafael. “Jankaro, if you are hit with the spit when they attack here, show me.”
Jankaro nodded his compliance, but he couldn’t help but notice a certain antagonistic sentiment coming from Titus.
“As you may notice,” said Rafael in a calm voice, “my brother carries a lot of rage. We all do. Our rage was expressed through him today.” Rafael nodded to Jankaro and departed with the other soldie
rs.
Anhael came to Jankaro’s side. They watched as Orion removed the lock from the Juruga’s corpse. He carried it over to them. “You see, it works like this. I pull this rope and the lock locks. I pull this rope and it opens up again.”
“What happens if the ropes break?” Jankaro asked.
“Hmm.” Orion looked up and rubbed at his beard. “Chaos would ensue, I suppose.”
“Jankaro,” said Anhael. “You need to get changed, we are gathering to eat soon, and then we are summoned to a tactical briefing with Oranos. I will help you remove your armor.”
“I’ll catch up with you there,” said Orion. “I need to help them get this dead Juruga out of here before it stinks up the whole city.”
Jankaro was disheartened by what transpired. He had imagined himself, Anhael and Orion leading a major operation to outfit the rest of the soldiers with yanigo armor. It would all have to wait, and many more soldiers would have to suffer grievous injuries and deaths after the test that failed. He didn’t blame himself, or Titus in his fit of rage. After having seen what happened to his mother, he knew exactly what Rafael was talking about. Titus was channeling everyone’s rage. What had happened to the Juruga’s acid spit? Jankaro imagined they must have deprived the Juruga of some dietary element needed to produce the spit. He may have suffered some injury that rendered him unable to spit. Or he may have recognized the yanigo and realized the futility. Jankaro renewed his hopes that the latter could be the reason.
“You already know we don’t have another captured Juruga to test it on,” said Anhael.
“I will wear this armor in battle,” Jankaro declared.
“Yes, I know you will,” said Anhael.
When they returned to the workshop, Anhael began removing the pins from the yanigo armor. “Let’s refine it before you test it in battle. And we need to work on your swordcraft and archery skills, as well as brief you on the defense scheme,” said Anhael. “There is not much time left. Oranos has called for a convergence of all the soldiers this evening after dinner. The Cruxai are mobilizing.”
Jankaro imagined himself on top of the wall, firing arrows down on the Cruxai.
“There,” Anhael said as he removed the last pin. “I need to get cleaned up for dinner. You should do the same and meet us out in the front courtyard.”
Jankaro luxuriated in the warm water that flowed from the tube on the wall of the rinse room as images roamed his mind’s eye. He saw the Juruga charge him and impale itself on his spear. Somehow it didn’t seem right that it was chained up with a lock on its head. He just wanted to kill one for himself, in the heat of combat. He didn’t like the fact that multiple soldiers were needed to overpower a Juruga. He wanted to kill them on his own. All he had needed in Dorfin was the element of surprise and a timely thrust with his dagger. Deception lured him to his fate in the underworld. But after that death he was given many gifts, and was reborn stronger than before. He wondered what he was capable of. When he was clean, he dried himself, donned his formal uniform and brushed back his hair. As the sun set he strode to the front gates of the city.
The front wall loomed high. He saw himself standing up there under the crescent moon, firing arrows down across the chasm and onto the bridge. He looked around and saw the soldiers in their decorated uniforms. His own was decorated with woven white trim. Many of their uniforms bore elaborate multicolored Galdean symbols.
“One day we will teach you how to read,” said Orion as he approached in his decorated uniform. A brightly colored jaguar head was stitched on his sleeve, its face locked in a permanent snarl. “But first I need to see you fight with a sword. Meet me back in the arena tomorrow after you rise. How was the rinse room, jungle boy?”
“Bathing never felt so good.”
“Sometimes the little pleasures in life can help us survive the pain.”
Jankaro looked up at the wall. “Looks like we could hold them off forever.”
“I like the way you think. We need to do something we’ve never done before: reclaim a fallen city. And that’s my city I want back. They took my leg, but they won’t take my home.” Orion looked out amongst the tables and the crowd of people gathered, and his eyes rested on a woman not far ahead, who waved to him. “My wife and boys, Damien and Joram. You sit over there,” he pointed to a row of tables on the north side of the courtyard, “with the new soldiers.”
Jankaro sat down with the other new soldiers and looked around at the people of Caladon. The wives of the soldiers dazzled with their beauty and extravagant garb, but many of the more simply dressed young women of his age range dazzled him with their vibrancy. He felt a stirring in his loins and the curiosity that he had once felt for the jungle shifted toward the women who paraded before his view. He noticed them noticing him and he felt the prestige of being a soldier. He felt excitement and curiosity as he noticed some of the other new soldiers had already taken a mate, and he wondered when it would be his time.
King Oranos stood and prepared to address his people, and all who had gathered wrapped up their conversations, corralled their children and listened. “People of Dorfin and other regions that have been lost, we suffer with you at the loss of your homes, and we vow to fight with you to recover and restore all of Galdea. Until that time, we welcome you to shelter here with us at Caladon. Tonight we dine together and I ask that you steady your resolve, for the time is soon to come when we will be besieged again. Music!” At the king’s behest, a group of musicians bearing strange instruments stood and struck up a galloping tune.
A plate of steaming meat and vegetables was set before Jankaro. He watched the women dancing in unison to the music, shaking their hips and sending multicolored strings of beads flapping from side to side as a gentle mist glided down from the low hanging clouds. He bit into the meat and the savory juices filled his palate. He savored the flavor of his meal, the sound of the music and the beauty of the dancers. He heard Orion’s booming laugh from the other side of the courtyard, and he let the message of that laughter fill him: that there was life again after loss. The culture of Caladon lifted his heart, and for a moment he took refuge from his burdens.
As he ate his meal, the mist became rain, and the rain became a downpour. The gathering dispersed, and the soldiers were summoned to convene in the center of the pyramid of Borazos, the paternal ancestor of Oranos, who had worn ram’s horns into battle and overseen the construction of the pyramid and the expansion of the city of Caladon.
Jankaro followed Anhael into the pyramid and down a long torchlit hallway that opened into a large hall filled with soldiers. Many rows of benches were arranged in a semicircle that surrounded a stage where the king stood solemnly with his two sons and watched as the soldiers arrived and took their seats. For a brief moment, his eyes met Jankaro’s eyes. His gaze penetrated into him, and seemed to scan his courage. Jankaro felt an aching in his chest where the arrowhead had been placed by the ram man. He looked up to the wall above the king to see a stone carving of a ram’s head. He recognized that there were forces at work he did not comprehend as he took his seat and stared into the fire.
When the hall was full, Oranos raised his hands and addressed his army. “We have been informed by our scouts that the Cruxai are mobilizing from Dorfin and they are on their way here. If they defeat us here at Caladon, they will most likely defeat us at Calixo, and that will be then end of our people.” He paused, as a silence fell upon the hall. He raised his chin and a look of pride crossed his face. His voice deepened and thundered as he cried, “but Caladon, built by my ancestors, is the greatest stronghold in the known world!” He roared the last few words and the drummers in the front row pounded their agreement. He lowered his voice and the drums subsided. “So we will NOT… EVER… allow them to take this city.” Jankaro felt Oranos’ stony resolve resonate in his gut. He was ready to draw his sword and charge into battle.
“They can attack as many times as they
want but they cannot take our home. From here we will reclaim our empire and rid the land of them forever! And if Agustin is still alive, I will kill him with this, my grandfather’s sword!” Oranos cried out. He raised his sword and it gleamed in the firelight. “My son Rafael will present the plan for our defense.”
Rafael scanned the soldiers, looking into them just as his father had, taking inventory of the collective courage gathered in the hall. “When they come, we will welcome them with quick deaths,” he said. “We have two million arrows and we are making thousands more every day, so don’t hesitate to fire if you have a target. They will come at us just like they always do, but they will have to use the bridge to cross the chasm and that will slow them down considerably, creating a narrow funnel for us to pick them off. We will shower them with arrows while they batter the gate. When they finally enter, we will fight them as they come through. When the front courtyard is filled with as many Cruxai as we can soundly defeat, we will destroy our own bridge, leaving their reinforcements behind to stand and watch arrows fly into their chests.”
“Those who make it through will be slaughtered!” Titus interjected with a raised fist.
“We must capture another Juruga with Orion’s lock device,” continued Rafael, “and some of the other Cruxai, for training and research purposes.”
Titus scowled. Clearly he was not happy with the idea of taking prisoners. Jankaro imagined capturing another Juruga and testing his armor. He was glad Rafael intended to follow through with putting the yanigo to the test.
“We will sweep their bodies into the chasm, clear away from our kingdom,” said Titus.
“Titus and I will lead the defense,” said Rafael. “My father and a select group of soldiers will be stationed in the back of the city with the women, children, elders and some tradespeople should an evacuation become necessary. We must always prepare for the worst.”
“But there will be no evacuation!” cried Oranos as he strode forward again. “We will crush the Cruxai and then we will have a great feast to honor the brave victors!” He spread his arms wide to indicate all of the soldiers who had gathered. He picked up a pair of large mallets and started banging a booming rhythm on a huge drum to his left. The other drummers joined in as the soldiers raised their fists and chanted “Galdea! Galdea!”