Bey Javindar glumly peered out the porthole. While they were in the shade, he could make out the sailors hard at work along the jungle shoreline. They were chopping tropical hardwoods, gathering vines and weaving them into ropes, and making some sort of pitch out of sap and tar. Instead of carousing the exotic streets of Aaslin, sampling its sights and tastes, he was forced to spend his time in the noisy cabin outside a steaming stinking jungle.

All of this was because Captain Wissam panicked at the sight of a few flagless ships. Admittedly the Mermaid's Tail was damaged and unable to reach full speed, but the mysterious vessels were both War Kaylons, juggernauts of the ocean but slower ships similar in design to his own Gold Eagle. They could have evaded those lumbering galleys and reached the patrolled coasts of Aaslin easily. In fact, given that they were War Kaylons, Javindar highly doubted that they were engaged in petty piracy. There were few nations in Vinraj that could afford and maintain such mighty vessels, and none of them stooped to high seas robbery. There was a possibility that some grubby pirate clan might have salvaged a Kaylon scuttled by storms and restored it to aid in their wicked ways, but two Kaylons? Ridiculous. None to his knowledge have ever been captured. Only lawful nations like Ghata, Nashputt, and the Indra Isles had the craftsmen to build such mighty vessels, and they maintained only small fleets. It was a point of pride of the Ghatian Prince of his people's accomplisments, knowing that even the High Khan of the southern plains came to him to purchase Ghata's older mothballed ships because they could not construct them themselves.

Now, because of Wissam's decision, the Bey sat idly in his cabin, waiting for the repairs to be finished so that he could continue his sacred quest.

"Nahbob, I'm bored," yawned Javindar. "Do the dancing lights thing, or the spray of colors or whatever it is. Amuse me with your magic. Or better yet, read me some passages of 'Musings of a Condor'. I think we were at the part where the hero discovers his love is actually…"

"A thousand pardon's my lord," interrupted his servant from outside the room. " But that is not possible at the moment. The currents are high, and the nearby tidal pools are submerged. I only have a short window of opportunity."

"What's this?"

"I need to take your leave for the rest of the afternoon oh mighty Bey. "

Javindar turned and saw that Nahbob was standing in the doorway of the cabin, with nets and ropes draped over his shoulders. "If you need me, I should not be too far from the ship. Just wave a lot on the deck, and I should spot you."

"Explain yourself! What can be more important than my entertainment?"

Nahbob pointed at the serrated Khanda on the table, or more specifically at the missing teeth of his feared weapon.

"The shark teeth I've been able to scrounge off the crew are more decorative than utilitarian, too small for your Khanda. I will need to gather larger specimens from the local fauna," explained Nahbob.

Javindar frowned. While his leisure was important, his martial readiness was more so. With a wave he dismissed Nahbob with a sigh of concession. It was dreary enough watching the crew work with Nahbob to keep him company, now it will be more boring with his servant gone. He considered offering him a hand, but he knew what was involved. As a boy he watched his father's men capture sharks for their fins and teeth. At first he thought it would involve harpoons and risking one's life against those deadly predators, but instead it proved to be a tedious affair involving nets, snares, and …chum.

Javindar shivered at the memory of chum. Despite his new found appreciation for the consumption of fish, the sight and especially the smell of that foul mashed seafood concoction physically repulsed him.

"Go," waved the Bey in his best indignant tone. "Do what must be done. And if you use that disgusting chum concoction, make sure you bathe yourself properly to remove the smell before you approach my presence."

"Yes my lord. Very good my lord," bowed Nahbob as he exited the doorway. "Pardon me sir, if you find yourself with free time this afternoon, perhaps you could aid Lady Whelp. She intends to forage deep into the jungle for berries and fruits to supplement our diet, as well as rare 'healing' herbs. Though she's quite capable, I'm sure she could use the company."

Javindar raised an eyebrow at his servant. "Eh? I thought you did not approve of Whelp in my company? Especially after that big long winded speech of yours."

Nahbob smiled as he shook his head. "No, no my lord. You misunderstood our earlier conversation. Whelp is an intelligent worldly woman of good heart. Given your…err… limited experience in dealing with women who are not servants or of your family, I think it will do you good to spend some more time with her. My only objection arises when you do something foolish like propose to someone you just met. Let's not have any more of that okay?"

Javindar caught the insult, but let it past. "If I'm going out to the jungle, I'll need more than my dagger. There's wild beasts out there, and I will not sully 'Red Flight', by using it as a hunting bow."

"Of course not my lord. Might I suggest one of the belaying pins found on deck, or perhaps one of the crew's scimitars?"

"Bah. Those are not weapons worthy of a warrior…."

"hmmm….perhaps that scimitar you took as a trophy from that demon you bested?" suggested Nahbob. "Given that it belonged to a mighty adversary, and it did not radiate an evil aura as most demonic weapons do, I believe that it should be a suitable armament for a noble such as yourself until your Khanda is properly repaired."

The Bey had almost forgotten about the scimitar he took from that half snake six armed Asura. He had presented it to Holy Sampada, but like all his gifts she either did not accept them or seemed disinterested. The fact it was leaning on the far side of the table in a new scabbard next to his Khanda, it seemed that Nahbob had remembered it though.

Javindar grasped the weapon and drew it. It had a winged hilt and a gleaming edge. It was light, well balanced, most likely possessing some magic, but nothing extraordinary. As he narrowed his vision towards it, rechecking it with his 'vision, it was as Nahbob said, it did not possess an evil presence like most weapons recovered from demonic foes. Javindar guessed that Asura took trophies too, and assumed that this one came from some hapless adventurer or a holy warrior such as himself.

"This will do I guess," shrugged the Bey.

"Very well then," said Nahbob as he then incanted a spell and laid an enchantment on the Bey. "That should protect you from the jungle heat for a day. Though I doubt you'll encounter anything you can't handle, I'll be at the tidal pools just north of the ship if you need me."

Javindar shrugged." I doubt anything will happen. We'll just be gathering fruit."

Though he was immune to the humidity and heat, Javindar had second thoughts about trudging through the jungle in his armor. While he was accustomed to the weight, the vines and barbs and leeches and bugs and more barbs and vines and leeches seemed magnetically attracted to armor. Twice he was entangled in the jungle undergrowth, once he was painfully bitten by a tick like insect, and he lost count of how many times he had to peel a leech from his person.

Whelp on the other hand seemed to glide through the terrain. Javindar suspected she had a similar enduring element spells placed on her like Nahbob had done to him, but she seemed unimpeded by the thorns and vines. He wasn't sure if it was a higher level enchantment that Nahbob did not have access to, her natural grace and agility, or merely the fact she was wearing simply high boots and a leather cuirass.

Not that Javindar was complaining. Though he had plenty reason to turn back, Javindar was enjoying every minute of this ordeal. While he struggled through the jungle the sight of Whelp in her figure hugging armor easily motivated him to tough it out and continue. Even after Nahbob's nagging lecture, he found himself drawn to her brazen allure, mesmerizing him to bear the jungle's indignities and keep up.

This tall athletic woman was nothing like his future wife, he thought to himself. Whelp had a more carnal appeal compared to his future wife's 'classic' beauty. While Whelp was tall, muscular and admittedly 'thick' in the hips and shoulders, Holy Sampada was more delicate and petite. More importantly to Javindar was that Whelp actually talked to him, something that Holy Sampada never did. At first he told himself that her holiness was too shy or perhaps too ….umm…'holy' to make small talk with him, but the more he conversed with Whelp, the more he realized that Holy Sampada simply wasn't interested in him. He was just a means for her family to secure economic and military ties. Not that there was anything wrong with that, his family had married off many of his own sisters and brothers in such a manner, but the more Javindar thought of it, the more it seemed like a business arrangement rather than a romantic affair.

"Hey Javi! Hurry up! Stop daydreaming. Those berries aren't going to pick themselves," shouted Whelp from ahead as she slashed a trail through the jungle.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," grumbled Javindar with a smile. Even when being scolded he enjoyed his talks with her. "Are you sure you came this way before? Everything is overgrown."

Whelp stopped and scanned her surroundings. It looked like a solid wall of vegetation to Javindar as he caught up to her, but the warrior woman eventually nodded and pointed slightly to her right. "I came this way two days ago and found that patch of berries by accident. The plants here grow fast, even faster than our own jungles back in Vinraj. While the plants seemed to have swallowed up the path I cut, you can still see the snapped branches and the occasional cuts I've made in the trunks here."

"Eh? What did you mean by accident? Were you looking for something else?"

Whelp nodded. "Aye. Captain Wissam said he had landed on this island before, and had previously encountered a tribe of frogmen of all things. He wanted me to scout them out."

Javindar grinned as he drew his scimitar in a showy manner. "Frogmen? Excellent! I didn't realize this was going to involve combat. This gets better and better."

Whelp laughed and shook her head. "Sadly, I'm afraid not. These frogmen were quite helpful last time Wissam landed and the Captain was hoping we could trade with them for supplies and building materials. So unless we get jumped by a wild jungle cat or perhaps a dinosaur, I'm afraid the only fighting you're going to do is with those ticks and leeches that are so fond of you."

"A pity," sighed Javindar as he sheathed his blade. "My hopes were raised for finding a sparring partner."

"A sparring partner? Hmm…." Purred Whelp as she sauntered towards him. As she approached she stopped, eyeing the scimitar and pointed towards it. "Is that the blade you took off the Asura general? The one you offered Sammy…err Holy Sampada?"

Javindar shrugged." Yes, my other sword is being repaired at the moment. It's err… missing some tettch. The Khanda is a great weapon, but it is a bit high maintenance. As for offering it to Sampada, she didn't accept it. Which is fine I guess. If the fates would have deemed her to take my gift, I would be using one of those …bongo pins Nahbob was talking about."

"Belaying pin," corrected Whelp as she began hacking her way through the undergrowth again. "And…don't give me that crap about fates. Sammy should have taken it, but …but I think she's a bit pig headed at times. I don't think she's fully accepted that you will be marrying her in a year or so."

"Really? That makes no sense. To my knowledge, Sampada's uncle, Sardar Milan, chose me for marriage. It is said that those two were close, and I doubt he would make a decision that would displease her. You would think if her beloved uncle made that decision she could at least accept it?"

Whelp sighed. "As her bodyguard, I can say in some ways it's a bit more complicated than that, and in others its much simpler. Let's just say you were on the short list of candidates. I'm sure you understand that your family's wealth and power were factors in choosing you as a groom, but believe me, despite her 'choice' in this matter, she's as much a prisoner to this arranged marriage as you are."

"From your tone, it seems you do not approve of your mistress' future," noted Javindar as a large vine snagged a piece of his armor. The more he pulled on it, the more entangled he became until Whelp doubled back and began chopping away at it with her machete.

"And you do? " laughed Whelp as she finished untangling Javindar. "I'm not high on social graces, but weren't you the one that proposed to me before you even married your first wife. "

Javindar grew red, but forced himself to laugh along. " That was a…poorly worded proposal I suppose. Regardless of how many etiquette rules I broke, imagine how crest fallen I was when you turned a noble like myself down. I'll be the laughing stock of the first caste if word gets out."

Whelp laughed and then sighed." My lips are sealed. You'll find I'm good at keeping secrets. Maybe too good. Besides, people like us, we don't get to make decisions like that so freely. "

Javindar shrugged. "Well people like me anyways. No offense, but I suppose a person of your social standing could marry anyone she wants. Which leads me to believe that the reason you rejected my proposal is there's someone else in your life isn't there? Someone special I assume."

Whelp rolled her eyes as she pushed forward ignoring his question.

"What? You can't leave me hanging here? I've been eaten alive by bugs and leeches, while torn apart by thorns, vines, and now I'm the target of your humor. I think I deserve an answer for being such a good sport."

Whelp stopped and turned to face Javindar. The Bey wasn't sure but he thought he saw a tear in her eye.

"There was someone, but ..but I left…no…I drove him away. I told him my duty to Holy Sampada was too important, and that I couldn't see him anymore. He didn't accept that, and I was forced to say some pretty harsh things to make him go. Things that I regret saying as soon as I said them."

Javindar looked at Whelp and saw her shoulders were slouched and her head was bowed. The merry atmosphere of laughter and jabs at each other suddenly took a drastic turn to the dramatic. He didn't realize that being a body guard to Holy Sampada demanded such a toll on one's social life.

"When I marry Holy Sampada, I'll convince her…no I'll demand her to either release you from her service or at least loosen it up. Perhaps some time off, say a year? You'll be free to find this Jimmy of yours and make amends."

"That's..that's nice of you to say Javi, but I doubt that will be possible. "

"I'm the Bey of Ghata. I don't care how pious and important Holy Sampada is. On my honor, I will demand this concession from her," said Javindar pounding his chest.

Whelp gave him a forced smile, a sad smile. Javindar was about to assure her of his intentions when suddenly the warrior woman's eyes grew wide and then darted to the left.

Lightning fast, she ducked and dragged Javindar down with her into the foliage of the jungle. Javindar was about to complain when he heard a heavy rustling nearby and his hand instinctively fell on his scimitar's hilt.

Frogmen? Tigers? Treants? Were they going to fight or was it simply Whelp's cautionary bodyguard instincts?

As his mind went through the possibilities, he was disappointed and then confused when he heard what sounded like humans talking. Not the guttural 'common' tongue used by Wissam and his sailors, or even the elegant language of Ghata and Nashput, but the short barking speech of the southern plain Khanates.

Javindar's mind was thrown into confusion as dozens of questions popped in his mind. Why were the Khan Vaidya's men here? They were Horselords, not sailors. Were these actually representatives of the Khanate or were they simply mercenaries? Even if they were mercenaries, it did not fit the narrative. The nomads of the southern plains were a powerful people, but young in the way of civilization, very few of them leave the confines of their country except while on campaign for their lord, and even less by sea. And even if they did leave, how did they find themselves on a tropical island south of the Sea of Dawn. This area was supposedly shielded by magic. Did they sail? Did the Khanate even have ships that could sail this far? It was true the Ghatians sold them some older Kaylons, but could they have mastered them so easily? And if they did, wouldn't it be more logical if they were patrolling their own shores instead of sailing, literally a continent away ?

As Javindar contemplated these questions in the brush, the men approached but it appeared that they had not detected their presence. There were three of them, and they appeared to be talking loudly amongst themselves. Though his Khanian, or Khogolian, or whatever their language was called, was not fluent, he understood enough.

"I think ..noise…more Bullywugs this way…."

"Care not … get food…back to ship…back to search…. "

"Goat humper…horse shit…donkey dong…flies attracter…"

Javindar stifled a laugh at that last voice . They were from the Khanate alright, though he wasn't sure why they were here or what they were searching for. As the voices faded off into the distance, Whelp released her grip and the two rose from the brush.

"Those were humans, and not from Wissam's crew," said Whelp. "I can't pin their dialect."

"They were from the Khanate, or at least that's what it sounded like. I've had diplomatic contact with them several times"

"Diplomatic? You mean in battle."

Javindar shrugged. "The Khanate is invincible on the open plain, but one can't always choose their battle grounds. When I was a boy, I fought as a spear carrier in my father's armies. They drove us off in their first incursions, but after luring their men into the jungle and swamp, my father defeated them decisively and forced a peace. After that, they've been fairly honorable neighbors."

" Fairly rich neighbors," corrected Whelp.

Javindar nodded. "They use to fight against us, and now they fight with us. Plus they are rich with gold from all their conquests. What more do you want? Anyways, I couldn't make out everything they said, but I got the gist that they were after the frogmen. They were also searching for someone or something else. It sounded like they had a ship nearby. Should we introduce ourselves? The Khanate and Ghata are currently allies after all."

"They could be renegades, pirates…"

"Horselord pirates? Please…." Sniffed Javindar at her ridiculous notion.

Whelp shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to take a closer look first."

Javindar nodded in agreement as the pair tracked the three out of place Horselords from a safe distance. While they weren't trained in stealth, they were evasive enough for their quarry not to notice. Though Javindar had trouble traversing the jungle, the three Horselords seemed even less capable than he was, as they stumbled, fell, and entangled themselves multiple times in a span of a few hundred yards.

As they followed them, Whelp waved Javindar off to the side, breaking off their slow pursuit. The Bey did not question her as she led them off a short distance and into a clearing.

They had come upon a small village, made mostly of short crude mud huts that were piled atop of each other like a rough honeycomb. Judging by the number of doors, Javindar guessed it could have housed a hundred at the most. At the center of the village, there was a large pool with dark green rocks surrounded by tall wooden totems adorned with carved abstract faces of animals and birds.

To Javindar the village look both alien and idyllic at the same time. He would have liked to explore these strange surroundings, but his eyes were drawn to the signs of battle. Dried blood on the ground, a few smashed huts, arrow embedded in the walls and the surrounding trees, and even broken weapons scattered on the ground, but oddly no bodies. "Well, here's Wissam's tribe of frogmen," sighed Javindar. "There was a battle, roughly a day ago by my guess, but I wonder where they all went. I see no bodies."

Whelp had no answer as she scanned the village. "I'm going to take a better look," she said as she pointed to a totem. The tall muscular woman then began to scramble up the wooden pole, using the carved faces as hand and foot holds.

Not wanting to be outdone, Javindar began climbing up an adjacent pole. While Whelp was a good climber, he managed to reach the top of his pole roughly the same time as she did. Instead of bragging however, the Bey simply took in the panoramic view.

The totems broke the forest canopy, and Javindar was treated to a cool tropical breeze from his new altitude. After savoring the refreshing wind for a moment he began to scan the area. He thought he could only see more jungle from this spot, but was surprised to see the totems had a line of sight to the far shore of the island. While Wissam's boat was moored in a natural cove, Javindar spotted three large War Kaylons anchored roughly a hundred feet from the rocky shore. Though his vision was obscured, he could definitely see what appeared to be Horselords in their heavy lammelar armor, loading roughly fifty hunched dark green frog men in irons, onto long ships.

"Why? This doesn't make any sense," said Javindar shaking his head. "These can't be the Khan's warriors. I don't know who they are, but why are they here, and why are they capturing frog men? They can't be simply capturing slaves, I doubt it would be economically feasible given the cost of running War Kaylons. I suppose they need rowers, but the ships don't appear to be damaged, and who needs to replace fifty rowers in the middle of a voyage?"

Whelp then gasped as she pointed at the large pool below them. From his overhead vantage point he saw that the rocks in the pool were not rocks at all, but roughly two dozen dark bloated bodies of humanoid looking frogmen.

Though Javindar didn't know these creatures, he knew that whatever happened to them was wrong. Regardless of what might have happened, they didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved to be slaughtered like this.

"I don't know who they are, but I suspect they aren't people we want to meet. We should tell Wissam immediately and get his assessment," cautioned Whelp.

Javindar could hear the reluctance in her voice. Her plan was the wisest course of action but he could tell she wanted to help them and for some reason he felt the same way. As a holy warrior of Puranas, he was charged to help people. Specifically the people of Vinraj, but he didn't recall anything against helping Frogmen. He wasn't quite sure what lead to the events in the village, or if the frogmen provoked the Horselords to attack, but clearly a line was crossed. Justice and retribution needed to be meted out.

"I have another idea," suggested Javindar as he drew his scimitar. "How about you and I, make our way to the beach and discuss our issues with these displaced Horselords diplomatically. "

Whelp seemed surprised at the suggestion, but grinned and nodded as she patted her spear. "You know, I'm starting to like you more and more."