Ch. 5: The Heiress of the Kutolah
"Yes…I am," said Sue as she recoiled.
"I am merely an acquaintance of his…," I answered, "Please allow me to introduce myself…I am Carybdis. Rath and I once traveled together…" I realized my mistake and immediately added, "When I was a youth…and he was considerably older…by about twelve years."
In actuality, Rath was around seven to eight years younger than me… Rath would now be thirty-eight… The "twenty years have passed" phenomenon was quite difficult for me to accept…especially due to the fact that I apparently had not aged…
"Forgive me," apologized Sue, "I did not mean to sound hostile… It's just that…well his disappearance has caused me great pain…. It's not like me to be so rash…"
Rath, whereabouts unknown, eh? Knowing Rath, this was not too astonishing... He was known for silently appearing and disappearing like the wind…
Hugh tilted his head to one side and said, "Wait…don't I know you? Oh yeah! No wonder that name sounded so familiar… Sue, don't you remember me? It's me, Hugh! We met in Roy's army!"
"Hugh? Ah, if I recall correctly, you were the lecherous and avaricious magician who bargained with Lord Roy Pherae…," said Sue.
"Well, that's not exactly how I wanted to be remembered…," sighed Hugh.
"To be blunt you were not too bright either…," added Sue, "You were tricked by that child sorcerer called Ray into giving him the rare Nosfer…well, dark magic tome, had your money stolen by that female thief…I believe her name was Cath?"
"That does not come across me as a surprise…," I admitted.
"Hey, that little rogue gave me my money back!" exclaimed Hugh.
"Hard to believe, but I will take you for your word…," said Sue, "By the way, the third main clan of Sacae was the Djute…," explained Sue, "traitors who voluntarily allied themselves with Bern… By now, they are likely to have become mostly eradicated as well…"
"Why are you here anyway?" asked Hugh.
"I saw a radiant pillar of light and bursting into the sky…," replied Sue, "I thought it was a message from Father Sky and Mother Earth…You would not have anything to do with it would you?"
"Oh that…that was a summ…," answered Hugh…
Noticing his fatal error, I reluctantly but firmly stepped on my loose-lipped son's foot before he could finish… Hugh…please forgive me…
"Ow! What was that for?" exclaimed Hugh.
I ignored him and asked, "No…we were attracted by that same illumination…then we came across the bandits… You informed us that you were forming a Kutolah renaissance, am I correct? How many of you remain?"
Sue regrettably admitted, "Nineteen…far from the original population… At first there were only three of us Grandpa, Shin, and me… We were lucky to find other survivors… Few are gravely injured, but they will eventually be nursed back to health… But we have not given up hope…we will find more Kutolahs…"
"I'm not sure if I understand the situation entirely, but I perceive that Rath isn't one of the current survivors…," I noted.
"Well, as I said earlier…we are unaware of his current situation…he may be alive or dead…but the latter is more likely," acknowledged Sue, "Please forgive me for my hostility earlier… To make up for my actions, I will escort you to out tribe…what's left of it…at any rate…"
"We appreciate it," I answered, "We have been traveling for quite a while and it would be quite beneficial… You two go on ahead…I have some…business…to tend to."
When they had left, I unlocked the portal of the Abyss and cast our spoils into it…
When I had caught up, Hugh exclaimed, "Oh no! We forgot to…"
"Do not worry," I appeased him, "I assure you they are all in here…," I patted my satchel.
"You know what, Cary? The grass looks greener here?" said Hugh…
"The grass may have been burnt…" explained Sue, "but like the Kutolah they are reborn."
When we came across the Kutolah, I realized that the survivors were composed of gravely injured men, women, and children…
"Hmm…including you, I only make out sixteen…," I observed, "where are the rest?"
"Oh….my father, Shin, and Kaspar are most likely in the chief's tent…allow me to bring them…," said Sue as she dismounted from her horse.
"Shin…he's the quiet worrywart who always told you to stay in the rear, right?" asked Hugh.
Sue nodded. As she left, I noticed that the survivors were glaring at us with amalgamated expressions of alarm, anxiety, and hatred…
"My, my…I don't know how to say it, but we seem to be not wanted…," I remarked.
"No kidding…I can't make out what they're saying, but they obviously aren't fans of us…," said Hugh.
Sue came back with three figures…a tall and stout man, a rather frail looking youth, and the lattermost was obviously the chieftain…
"Hey Shin! Long time no…," before he could finish, one of the nomads, the brute, had shot an arrow that narrowly missed Hugh's head.
"Someone seems to possess an affinity of being cut off in the middle of speaking," I alluded.
"Whoa… What is your problem?" yelled Hugh.
"Kaspar! What is the meaning of this?" exclaimed the chieftain.
"I must attack all foes on sight, Chief Dayan," said Kaspar.
"They are not our enemies, Kaspar…I recognize one of them, he is our ally…the other…he does not seem to be an adversary," said the one who hadn't spoken yet…I guessed that he was this Shin.
"Still, they have intruded on our grounds!" exclaimed Kaspar.
"They are not intruders, they are our guests," said Sue.
"You trust them? They might be spies bent on destroying us!" said Kaspar.
"Sue has invited them as guests," said Dayan, "We absolutely cannot evict them…"
"We must dispose of them!" exclaimed Kaspar, "They are obviously an ill omen to us…"
"Ill omen, eh?" remarked Shin, "It's quite surprising that you believe in omens… I thought you were an atheist…"
"Of course, how can you believe in this Father Sky and Mother Earth, when they did nothing to stop the Bern soldiers from attacking us?!"
"Hold your tongue, Kaspar! How dare you question the divine entities!" exclaimed Sue.
"Curses!" Kaspar muttered as he angrily stomped away…
"Please pay Kaspar and his explosive nature no mind…," said Shin, "We rescued him from the very brink of death… He feels extremely insecure around outsiders… The atrocity done to the Kutolah is still haunting a few of us…"
"I see that your warriors are gravely injured…," I said, "I am capable of basic healing arts… Shall I be of assistance?"
"For a fee, of course," said Hugh.
"No, no charges necessary," I added.
Hugh grunted.
"We appreciate it…," said Sue, "Our healing herbs of Mother Earth were capable of healing minor wounds… But Father Sky's divine blessings will be quite beneficial…"
"Father Sky…Mother Earth… Geez is that all you care about?" asked Hugh.
One by one, I mended their wounds…then…
"Do not trust him!" exclaimed Kaspar who had returned, "He is merely doing this so you will believe in him! Then he will stab us in the back!"
"Cease this foolishness, Kaspar!" exclaimed Dayan, "Can you not see that he is being merciful?"
"Even if you are the renowned Silver Wolf and our clan leader, I cannot standby and watch as more of our kin pass on to the next world!" shouted Kaspar, "How can you trust them?! One is a rambunctious money-grubber, and the other is a scheming sorcerer!"
I guessed that he had overheard what Hugh had said…
"How dare you call him a schemer!" exclaimed one of the nomads.
"He is a dark magician, for heaven's sake! No doubt he is planning something behind that kind face… Evil magic is obviously used by evil spellcasters!"
"That is a common misconception…," I clarified, "the dark arts are merely archaic spells cast by elder mages… Their enigmatic properties often confused others into associating it with evil… This misapprehension often dies hard and slow…"
"You know what? Prove that you are worthy of being among us!" sneered Kaspar, "Show us your strength! Let's do this the old-fashioned way!"
"You mean a drinking contest?" asked Hugh.
"No, you buffoon… Sacaen wrestling!" snickered Kaspar as he rested his right elbow on a table.
"What's Sacaen wrestling?" asked a baffled Hugh.
"You have not heard of Sacaen wrestling?" I asked "It is a form of wrestling in which two opponents, usually facing each other across a table, rest their right or left elbows on the table and, placing their corresponding forearms upward and parallel, grip each other's hand… the objective being to force the opponent's arm down so that it touches the table."
"Oh you mean arm wrestling… Well, why not? I see no problems with that… Hah! This is the perfect opportunity to show how strong I am!" laughed Hugh…but as I expected he lost against the brute.
"Hah!" laughed Kaspar, "you magicians are all geeky wimps…"
"Kaspar! How dare you insult our saviors!" exclaimed a woman.
"Heh!" snorted Kaspar, "Now that their deed is done they may leave… Unless that other weakling wishes to challenge me…"
"Can we not settle this amicably?" I inquired.
"Pulling in the towel, huh?" asked Kaspar.
"As much as I want it to happen…it appears to be impossible… It's against my policy to use brute force…but…it appears I have no choice…," I muttered, "I fear that you will be humiliated that you are defeated by a 'weakling'… If I win, do you swear you will not hurl any more of your abusive language at us and will remain docile no matter how irritated you are?"
"Hah! It's a deal!" Kaspar chuckled, "It's not like I'll lose!"
We both sat on opposite sides of a table interlocked our right hands and firmly planted our elbows into the surface…
"Cary…win for my sake," said Hugh.
No longer than a few seconds had passed before Kaspar's arm slammed down on to the table. Yes…to everyone's surprise, it was I who emerged as victor.
"Ugh…I admit defeat…," said Kaspar, "Darn…I'll remember this… I'll…uh…go out for a walk… Yeah…a walk. But my comrades, do not forget that as long as they are here, no one is safe!" then he fled in mortification as fast as his broad legs could take him…he would return…but he would return humbly.
"He just has to be Kaspar till the end, huh?" asked Hugh, "Cary–"
"Would you stop calling me Cary?" I asked…being called a nickname of a pseudonym was…irritating.
"And would you stop cutting me off?" retorted Hugh, "Fine, but Carybdi…bleagh! Your name is too freakin' long! I'll call you Canas…your name kinda sounds like my dad's… You beefed up your arm using magic didn't you?"
I quietly whispered , "Stick with the Cary… And if you were an adequate magician, you would have been able to detect that there was no magical energy focused on my arm…"
"Then how did you beat that guy?" asked Hugh…, "Ah! That ring on your finger is an Energy Ring!"
"In fact, it is not… Do you not see the runes inscribed on it? It is a Guiding Ring, a sorcerous ring that greatly amplifies your magical potential…not physical strength… You wish to know how I defeated him? Tsk. Tsk. You'll find out soon enough," I smiled and wiggled my forefinger…and thought, 'This would not have been possible without your training…Bartholomew "Bartre" Guerrero…'