Flame Soul

by Sandler L Bryson

  Kasim looked up to see Tumo standing triumphant on the dune. No further spirits accosted him. The big warrior looked down at Kasim and gave a lopsided grin.

  “Well come on boy!” Tumo said. The Banula’s voice cracked with humor. “Are you going to stand there looking like a hurt puppy all day or come face me like a man?”

  Tumo laughed. It was a harsh mocking laughter. The Banula gripped his falchion in both hands and raised it above his head. The gold of the blade shined like a slice of sun.

  “Come on boy!” Tumo spat. “The golden steel of Kifo Moto finds the souls of your tribe a paltry snack. The actual flesh of a Naban dog will provide it a more substantive meal, even if it is from a whelp of a boy who has probably never even felt a woman!”

  Tumo gave another round of mocking laughter.

  At that moment the rest of the battle was forgotten. The Banula dying around him, the spirits of his tribe fighting along with him were gone. All that remained in Kasim’s mind was Tumo and himself. Kasim gripped the hilt of his blade so tight his knuckles changed color. He felt the power of the spirit energy filling him. It was liked being dumped into an icy river. Yet, even the ice of that river could not dull the fire Kasim felt in his heart. That fire was directed at one person: Tumo. With a howl like an angry wolf Kasim darted forward. Today he would kill Tumo or die trying.

  The two warriors’ weapons (scimitar and falchion) clashed together in a clang of steel and a shower of sparks. Kasim felt his arm go numb from the blow from the blow, but the young Naban did not loosen his grip despite the stunning force. Instead he flowed with the blow. Kasim spun clockwise and brought his blade around to disembowel Tumo. The larger warrior anticipated the move and leapt backwards like a kangaroo. Kasim’s blade swished harmlessly passed his gut, missing it by less than an inch.

  “You are fast young one! I’ll give you that!” Tumo said. “But I am faster and stronger!”

  Tumo lunged forward as he spoke the last part. He swung his falchion over his head and down at Kasim. Kasim easily parried the blow but again felt the strength of Tumo’s swing reverberate through his arm with bone numbing force. Kasim stumbled backwards under the force of the assault. Sensing an opening Tumo growled like an enraged lion and pressed the attack. This time he aimed the gold blade towards Kasim in a rightward swing.

  Instead of parrying Kasim ducked and rolled underneath the blow. He then tumbled to his feet and attacked from the left. He swung first high and then low. The force of his attacked forced Tumo to take a few steps back but the big warrior easily parried both swings. Kasim continued his assault. He gave a high swing to the right. Tumo moved to block but the move had been a feint. With a speed like a biting mamba Kasim darted forward and brought his scimitar in low. The blade was aimed straight at Tumo’s torso

  Tumo realized the feint. He cursed. The larger fighter jumped back. In the light of the moon both Kasim and Tumo saw a thin red line appear on Kasim’s blade. Tumo looked down to see a similar red line running across this chest. A small amount of blood was seeped through his now cut shirt.

  “You are not so fast eh dog?” Kasim said. His lips curled into a sneer, his smoky eyes glared at Tumo. “You don’t seem all that strong either. Strong enough to kill children and old men but not strong enough to kill one who fights back! Is that right cretin?”

  For a moment Tumo stood still. Yet the labored breathing in his chest and widening of his nostrils belayed his wrath. Then like a dam the anger broke. Tumo howled with rage as he charged at Kasim. This time Tumo’s attacks came so fast that his falchion was a golden blur. Kasim who was forced bacwards. The young warrior parried each blow as best he could but as soon as he parried one another blow another one came. The attack was unrelenting.

  Tumo gave a wide overhead swing. There was a metal clap as Kasim raised his sword to parry. As soon as Kasim blocked the swing Tumo lunged and swung his falchion in a leftward motion. Kasim jumped back and again blocked the gold blade with his scimitar.

  “You can’t run from me forever little boy!” Tumo yelled.

  A wolfish grin was on Tumo’s lips.

  As if Tumo’s words were prophecy Kasim stumbled.

  Sensing an opportunity Tumo laughed and renewed his attack aiming a wide swing at Kasim’s midsection. With a burst of speed fueled by adrenaline and instinct Kasim leapt into the air. Tumo’s golden falchion swished under his feet. Kasim landed and swung his blade at Tumo’s neck. Tumo ducked under the blow. He stood facing Kasim.

  Kasim used the brief few seconds he had to glance behind him. Tumo’s words were indeed accurate. He was standing at the lip of the dune. His heels hung over the edge. The formation was rather steep. If he tried to back away any farther he would grant Tumo the high ground. Kasim knew to yield any advantage to the big Banula meant certain death. He could barely fend off the warrior as it was.

  As if sensing his thoughts Tumo smiled.

  “Aye, you stand on the edge now Naban cur. The edge of many things: your fate, this fight, your life. Be joyous though boy for today you will soon speak to the ancestors you have come to avenge.”

  Again Tumo’s words proved to be prophetic though not exactly in the manner the big man indicated. Inside his mind Kasim heard a voice speak to him. It was the voice of the chief, his father.

  When fighting a scorpion do not aim for the pincers my son. Strike at the tail.

  The last few words faded off into a whisper but Kasim understood. It was a combat maneuver his father had taught him when he was younger. A grin came to Kasim’s lips. It was the grin of a cheetah before he pounces on a deer.

  “I would rather die and be amongst warriors than live and be amongst hyenas,” Kasim said.

  He spat on the ground indicating his disdain for the Banula.

  Kasim’s words had the desired effect. Tumo screamed in rage as he raised his falchion overhead and darted forward intent on cleaving Kasim in two. Kasim raised his own blade as if to block the blow. Then as Tumo swung downward Kasim shot forward and to the left to surge past Tumo. Tumo’s cleave hit empty air. Kasim’s feint maneuver left him unbalanced. Kasim took advantage of his opponent’s misstep. He gripped his scimitar in reverse so that the handle tip of the pommel was in front of him and the curved blade was facing behind him. With a scream of triumphant rage Kasim plunged the scimitar straight back and upwards using the scimitar more like a spear vs the slashing weapon it was designed as.

  “Murderer you die today!” Kasim yelled.

  Tumo realized his mistake too late. The curved blade of a Kasim’s scimitar burst through his chest in a geyser of blood and bone. The golden falchion Tumo carried fell from his hand. A small cloud of dust rose as the weapon crashed into the sand. Kasim drew his scimitar out of Tumo’s body and crouched into a battle pose. It was a movement of instinct rather than necessity. Kasim knew he had won.

  A testament to Tumo’s fortitude was that the big man didn’t immediately fall down. Whether through pure shock, adrenaline, or just rage the large Banula turned to face Kasim. His eyes were wide and glassy. His breath came in quick, sharp gasps as his lungs tried in vain to take in enough air to keep the warrior alive.

  Kasim gave the man a cool look. It was a look of victory sans pity.

  “When facing a scorpion it is not the pincers but that tail that kills,” Kasim said,

  The ruse had worked perfectly. The trick was that when facing a superior opponent let the warrior think you mean to strike from the front (with your pincers), but instead dodge to the right (or left) to go past your opponent and strike from the rear (the scorpion’s tail).

  Tumo tried to speak. No words came out.

  “That trick was from my father!” Kasim said.

  Kasim tightened his grip on this weapon.

  “This one is from me!”

  Kasim struck with blinding speed. When he was done Tumo’s head fell to the left. His body stood still for a few seconds before falling to the right. Blood spurted from the headless neck. Tumo’s head hit th
e sand and rolled down the hill. His eyes were wide open in shock. The sand didn’t seem to bother them at all.

  ◆◆◆

  IV. Truth of Spirit and Shadow

  Kasim remained poised in battle mode for a few moments. He let the profundity of his victory sink in. A woman’s scream followed by the cries of a child off to the right caught his attention. Kasim looked to see a young Banula woman being attacked by what appeared to be the spirits of his ancestors. A swarm of spectors was around the woman. She held a baby clutched to her chest and slashed at the ghosts with her knife.. The blade passed harmlessly through them. The attacks from the spirits however were far from harmless. They converged on the woman and her child like hornets defending their nest.

  The woman continued to fight valiantly but her attempts were futile. Kasim watched as the Banula maiden went down under the glowing swarm of spirits. Her screams became strangled cries. Those cries eventually stopped as did the wailing of her child. Kasim looked around and saw that spirits were attacking everywhere. To his left he saw a group of children being chased by a pack by his ancestors. The children were running with tears in their eyes and cries of “Mama” on their lips. The only answers they received were the ghostly hands of his ancestors. Kasim watched the children’s bodies collapse in heaps of dehydrated husks.

  “Why? Kasim asked, a look of confusion and horror was on his face.

  The Naban were honorable people. Yes, like all the tribes of the Sudin they occasionally fought other tribes and even raided but innocents were never harmed. The warrior code that all honorable tribes of the Sudin followed relegated warfare to warriors only, certainly children would not have been attacked. The Banula were the only tribe that did not follow this rule. All other tribes considered such actions dishonorable.

  As Kasim looked closer he saw that something was wrong. The ghosts were those of his kinsmen but their faces were distorted with anger and sadness. Before when the ghosts were helping him fight their eyes had been filled with a sense of pride and righteous vengeance. Now, Kasim only caught glimpses of wrath and despair. He could have sworn he even saw one of them crying.

  “NO! My grand baby! Get away!”

  Kasim heard the scream to his left. He looked over to see a hosts of spirits moving towards a child. The child was an infant. He was lying in the sand wrapped in a red cloth. The baby was wailing as loud as he could. A gray haired woman, who looked to be at least seventy summers old was struggling to pick up a scimitar and defend the child. The woman could barely lift the blade from the ground. Beside the child were two dried bodies that Kasim assumed were the infant’s parents.

  In his mind he heard his mother’s voice whisper to him.

  “My son! O’ my son! What have you done?”

  “Mama!” Kasim called.

  There was no response. He called again. Silence was his only answer.

  A sense of dread and indignation overcame Kasim. He did not know what was going on. He did not know why his ancestors were acting in this manner and at this point he did not care. The Banula may have been curs willing to kill innocents but the Naban were not.

  This old woman maybe powerless to defend this babe but I am not, thought Kasim.

  Kasim inhaled deeply. He allowed the power of spirit energy to fill him. Calming his anger and again putting him in a near trance-like state. His eyes became opalescent as the energy filled him.

  “This ends now!” Kasim yelled.

  He gripped his scimitar tightly as he turned and ran towards the old woman.

  He didn’t get very far. A tail slammed into his face. There was a bright blue flash and the feeling of a sledgehammer crashing into his skull. Kasim lost the grip on his scimitar as he went sailing backwards. He hit the ground with a thud and slide five feet through the sand. A cloud of dust swirled like a sand devil around him. Kasim raised himself up and covered his mouth. He coughed as he struggled to catch his breath. Through the swirling sand Kasim saw a kaleidoscope of colors: soft purples, and pinks, and canary yellows, and fiery oranges all swirling together in a miasma of hues. Small clear bubbles floated in the colors and in the center of it all his tail rattling stood Ya-Sudala.

  It was his segmented tail that had slammed Kasim to the ground.

  Kasim cleared his throat as he climbed to his feet.

  “Demon! What is the meaning of this?” Kasim demanded.

  Ya-Sudala opened his reptilian maw. The creature’s triple pronged tongue that bore the three saliva covered heads eked out of the open mouth. The baby head smiled at him and cooed. The Hag was the first to speak:

  Hag Head: “Kept our promise to ye we have? Granted ye the power and vengeance ye sought Ya-Sudala did!”

  Male Head: “Yes. Our obligation to you has been fulfilled. Look around you. Tumo is dead! Your enemies are routed. What more could you ask for?”

  Baby Head: Giggles

  “What more could I ask for?”

  Kasim’s skin turned darker as anger sent blood rushing to his face.

  “What more could I ask for?” He was nearly screaming. “Look around you creature! This was not vengeance this was a massacre! Yes, I wanted to kill Tumo and the warriors of the Banula that raided my village. Elderly people and babies had nothing to do with the slaughter of my people. Yet somehow my ancestors are attacking and killing them too! What is the meaning of this?

  Kasim was so angry he trembled

  “SPEAK?” He yelled.

  In response Ya-Sudala laughed. This time the male head spoke first.

  Male Head: “We increased your ability to draw upon the spirit but that increase in power was influenced by the nature of your request.”

  Hag Head: “Aye, the vengeance and anger ye felt increased those emotions and wants in the power ye used. The spirits ye summoned would be influenced by it. Ye emotions guide ye power!”

  The Hag cackled. The Baby head giggled.

  “You knew this already!” Kasim said. “You knew my power would be tainted, my ancestors shamed by this when I made the bargain with you!”

  Baby Head: A happy scream of childlike laughter

  Hag Head: “A great many things Ya-Sudala knows! Wise Ya-Sudala is! One of the oldest of the Nguvu Ya Kale we are!”

  Male Head: “Foolish boy! Yes we knew your hatred and anger; your desire for vengeance would influence your power and change it. Did you really think you could make a deal with us and it would not change you too?”

  Kasim shook his head. A red haze of wrath tainted his vision.

  “You foul creature! I hate you! Forget you and your bargain. Whatever arrangement we had ends now! There is no deal between us!”

  Again all three heads laughed at Kasim. The main tarantula head that housed the tongue-heads also shook with laugher. The guiro like sound of it grated on Kasim’s nerves worse than the mocking laughter of the tongue-heads. The demon’s tail rattled with excitement or perhaps amusement. The ophidian body swayed from side to side but the three heads each resting on the tip of the trident like tongued remained still. The deformed male head answered him. The others followed.

  Male Head: “Your anger changes nothing.”

  Hag Head: “Aye, a deal we made; a bargain. Kept our end we did. Keep your end ye will!”

  Baby Head: (Coos)

  Male Head: “Indeed! Your request of us was to increase your power of the element of spirit and to assist you in getting revenge on the tribe that slaughtered yours. We have done that!”

  Hag Head: “Aye, dead your enemies all are; man, woman, and child!”

  The Hag Head burst into a fit of hysterical cackling that sounded somewhere between a laugh and a phlegmatic cough. The male head continued speaking.

  Male Head: “We have held our portion of the bargain. That you don’t like the results that you requested is inconsequential.”

  Baby Head: (Whines)

  Male Head: “You will adhere to your promise. Not now but in the future we shall call upon you for a favor and you will aid us. We may call
more than once because surely we have given you a great boon.”

  The Hag had gotten over her bout of laughter and rejoined the conversation.

  Hag Head: “Yes bonded eternally now we are. Ye may call upon us again in the future and we will assist ye but ye will aid us when we call upon ye; a hand for a hand.”

  “No! Kasim shook his head.

  NO! You are wrong!”

  Ya-Sudala tail rattled rapidly.

  Kasim gave a yell of fury. He rushed forward intent on slaying Ya-Sudala or die trying. He had only taken a few steps before he felt a numbness come into his limbs. The numbness grew and Kasim felt himself growing slower. It was like trying to move through water, then mud, then quicksand, and then everything just stopped. Kasim flexed his muscles but for all his incredible strength all he could manage to do was blink and barely that. The Naban warrior stood frozen in place. His eyes burned into Ya-Sudala’s. The creature’s three faces all smiled at him. The misshapen male head spoke. The other heads followed.

  Male Head: “It is you who are wrong. You made a deal.”

  Baby Head: Giggles

  Male Head: “You and I are now bonded. This bond will last until it is fulfilled.”

  Hag Head: “Aye. A symbol of our bond we will give ye. A sign of our deal ye made.”

  Through force of will Kasim managed to squint.

  What sign were they referring to?

  Again all three tongue-heads of Ya-Sudala laughed.

  Hag Head: “Confused ye look! Confused the boy is!”

  The Hag burst into a fit of cackling. The Baby head giggled as well. After a time the male head answered.

  Male Head: “You do look confused young warrior. Allow us to show you! Allow us to give you a symbol of our bond.”

  The male head gave a throaty chuckle.

  Kasim felt a wave of pain surge through his right hand. Whatever force was immobilizing him released its grip. Kasim instantly screamed and fell to the ground clutching his hand. It felt like someone had taken a hot poker and stuck into his palm. The pain was so intense it caused unbidden tears to come to his eyes.