Tharalek's Rose

2

The hut was nothing to be happy about. It was large enough for two beds and some extra room for maneuvering, but it still seemed small compared to my dorm room at The Great School.

"Well, here it is. I made it myself," Raspy said proudly, "All warriors are required to make their own hut that can house two."

"Why two, if there is only yourself?" I asked.

"Because of situations like this, and for... other purposes," he explained.

I sat on the bedding of leaves and furs and made myself comfortable. What a strange place, I thought.

"How does your leader, Malonna, expect me to train with these wretched stitches in my back?"

"I assume that the healer put something on the wound to speed your recovery, you should be better in several days, if not I am sure our leader will change the schedule she has put you on accordingly. She is very wise and compassionate."

"I noticed that there are very few young here, why is that?" I inquired.

"Most of the fifteen young are out with their mentors, you will see them later today, and the other five might still be out on their assessment. There are also three groups of five adult warriors patrolling our borders and two sets of ten spies in enemy territory returning today."

I whistled, "Wow, you don't seem that desperate for fighting men to me."

"Our tribe is not as weak as Windswipe, the commander, makes it seem."

"Oh."
"Come on; let me show you the camp."

Raspy walked out of the hut and help the flap open for me as I followed him. He showed me the defenses and the area where they ate and shared the news of the day. There was only one way in or out of the camp, it was a tunnel in the wall of dirt that they had erected around their borders. I was surprised to hear that they actually cooked there food, I was dreading the eventuality that I would have to eat, but now it didn't seem so bad.

"We eat any type of meat we cat hunt down. Our main source of food is the massive amount of squirrels and gerwisps."

"Gerwisps?"

"It is a large animal similar to the deer in the plains to the north."

"Windswipe mentioned a fight, but I don't see any weapons, what you fight with."

"Mostly the warriors use spears and small layers of armor, the spies use shortened spears and blow-darts."

"Do all the tribes fight with the same weapons?" I asked, fascinated.

"No," was all he would say.

We continued the tour and I realized that the camp was split into five clearings. Each clearing was a large circular hole in the endless array of trees, with varying numbers of huts ringing the perimeter. With the exception of the nursery clearing, it was on huge tent that had a leather ceiling that strung from all the trees around the clearing. There was the meeting clearing, the elder's clearing, the warriors clearing and the spies clearing. The apprentices stayed in their master's huts until they became warriors.

"So, am I going to be your apprentice?"

"No, Malonna will teach you, however everyone is forbidden to enter a leaders hut unless summoned."

"This is a really magnificent place, compared to what my leader said of you people."

Raspy spun around, "What does he say?"

"Umm, he called you savage barbarians that knew nothing of knowledge or pity," I answered uncomfortably. Raspy snorted and continued walking.

Toward dusk we went to the meeting clearing and met the returning patrols and spies. They looked at me with interest and seemed not to be hostile. At least they give me a chance, I thought. Then they roasted the meat and we all shared the catch of gerwisp meat.

"You should go rest," Raspy told me, "you will need your strength tomorrow." He walked off toward a group of women huddled around a small fire laughing. Yeah right, need the rest, I thought.

I awoke to a poke from Raspy.

"You should go to Malonna now. You don't want to train with her when she is cranky."

"Oh, okay."

"Where do I go?"

Raspy sighed, "Into the Elder's clearing, and she will be waiting for you there."

I walked into the main clearing, and I walked into the Elder's clearing, and Malonna was standing in the clearing. She was wearing merwith skins with lizard kins covering the vulnerable areas with thick red scales. She was leaning slightly to one side impatiently.

"Your late, soft-skin."

"Sorry..."

"Well, we better get busy then."

"Then follow me," she sounded rather disgusted.

I followed her out of the camp entrance and into the training fields. There was a row of targets of one side of the field and the was a row of ten spears.

"Today I am going to teach you how to hunt and to throw a spear. That way you will actually help by supplying the clan with food."

She picked up a spear and expertly threw it at a target. The spear soared through the air and smashed into a target's center.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

"Now you try."

I picked up a spear and tried to copy her position. She stepped in closer and adjusted my position accordingly. Her smooth hands pushing softly on my muscles and causing them to change in position. She stepped back, showing me that I can throw. I released the tension that had built up in my muscles and the spear soared through the air and... missed the target completely. My shoulders sagged and I looked at Malonna. Amazingly, she was nodding her head.

"With some training you might actually become something of a warrior."

"Uhh, thanks... I guess," I said uncertainly.

She walked into the hut at the side of the field and held a short conversation with someone inside. She returned with a blow-dart tube and a bag of darts. The tube was a hollow wooden cylinder that was a half a foot long. The darts were tiny; they looked almost like toothpicks to me.

"Alright, let's see how you do with this. Watch carefully."

I watched as her hands expertly loaded the tub and brought it up to her lips. She blew a short, but sharp pffft through the tube and the small dart flew quickly across the clearing and hit one of the smaller targets, toward the center.

"Now you try."

She handed me that tube and darts, but I fumbled around with it for several moments before I finally got a dart in the tube. I lifted the tube to my mouth and aimed at the target. I blew a short breath of air into the tube and the dart hit the target, but nowhere near the center.

"Good, that was better than the spear anyway. Now come with me and we will see if you like hand spikes or a quarterstaff better."

She walked briskly through the trees and we arrived at something like a pit in the ground. It seemed to be about ten feet across and there were two people sparring in the center. There was a guy and a girl and they both had quarterstaffs in their hands. They dueled back and forth magnificently. There was a flurry of thudding as the staffs collided the girl seemed to be winning. She couldn't be that much older than me.

"Here is Alyssa and Jorus. They are siblings. Both very promising spies."

Alyssa swung the left end of her staff towards Jorus' face he barely blocked it and she used the right end to block a desperate counter-attack. She attacked him again, this time leaving no time in between blows to allow a counter-attack. Finally Jorus surrendered.

"Good fight, sister, but we have an audience," he turned to me and Malonna. "Hello, what brings you to this training pit on such a fine day?"

"I am training the new apprentice. May we see the staffs?"

"Of course, Malonna," he handed his staff over and gestured for Alyssa to do the same.

"So you're Lighthand," Alyssa said to me as she handed over the staff. "Your mentor probably won't let you spar for awhile yet, but I would be pleased to try my skills against yours someday."

"It would be a pleasure. As soon as I am fully healed I will come consult you," I said to her as Malonna handed me a staff. "We should talk later, at the evening fire."

"Of course. I always relish the chance to meet the new apprentices."

I stepped down into the circle and waited for Malonna to attack. I had done some play fighting at my school, and I hoped that I still would be able to at least stall her attacks.

"Spies use shorter staffs than warriors, because of the need to sneak; they also wear protective skin gloves of their arms and hands, so that if they lose their weapon they can still attack whatever they want, without fear of injuring their hands."

"That is a brilliant idea."

"Quite."

She lunged at him and he blocked it shakily. She attacked again and again, but each time I found a way to protect myself without causing pain to my back. I attacked and she blocked it easily, beginning a whole new series of attacks that tested my skill to the limits. I attacked again, but this time I allowed my grip to relax and the weapon spun in my hand causing the bottom end to stroke upwards. I put all of my muscle into the blow and it hit her staff just as Malonna brought it down to defend herself. The blow glanced off and I struck on the other side. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity I made a clumsy move and my defense failed. Her staff stuck my upper thigh, and I fell to the ground.

"That was amazing, for your first time. However, I don't think that this is your first time, is it?" she panted.

"I don't know," I groaned.

"Well go to Healer Carmes, she will look at your back and teach you the history of the tribe and the Code of Engagement."

I picked my sorry self off the ground and limped my way out of the pit. There was movement to my right, among the trees, and I looked over, right into Alyssa's face.

I jumped, "Geez, don't do that."

"What did I scare you?"

"No!" I growled.

"Well then, we're all okay, then."

"Yeah, well whatever you're doing, I have to go see Healer Carmes."

"I saw you in the sparring pit."

"Really?" I said, ashamed that she saw me lose.

"Yep, that was some loss. I am sure you will get better though. I have to go hunting now, so see you at the fire," she said happily and bounded off into the woods.

Healer Carmes had a lot to say. She talked about how the Code of Engagement did not only govern rules of combat, but also a warrior or spy's whole life. It gave rules on when to eat, how fights should be conducted and the severe punishments that were the effect of not upholding these laws.

"And most importantly, is that you never ever kill in a border dispute," she gazed at me, her green eyes boring into mine until I nodded my head.

"Good, you understand. Now get up on the mat, and let me see your back." She ran her hands down my back, prodding several places carefully. She then rubbed her hands in some sort of poultice and applied it to my back.

"My herbs are working. If you don't open them tonight you should be back to normal tomorrow."

"Great!" I said sincerely.

"Now go eat, and leave me to rest."

I half ran half walked out of her hut, anxious to get something to eat. I was almost to the clearing when I was confronted by Alyssa.

"I caught a gerwisp. You can have part of it if you like, but you had better hurry, the other apprentices will eat all the food if you linger."

"Thanks."

I walked into the clearing and got a small piece of meat and went to sit next to Jorus.

"Hey, I never really got a chance to talk to you."

"No, you didn't. What is it that you would like to discuss?" he replied as he finished chewing his mouthful.

"Well, what put Alyssa in such a good mood?" I asked, half expecting him to get angry. To my surprise, he began laughing.

"She got a complement on her hunting from our mentor, Windswipe. She also beat me in a spar, all in one day. She is not always so..." he trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Energetic?" I supplied.

He nodded his head, "No, when she is hunting or on a mission she is quite agreeable to work with."

I chowed down on my food, pondering what he had said. Talking with Alyssa had raised my spirits if nothing more.

The next few days was basically the same deal, I would spar with Malonna, and practice my throwing with Windswipe. On the fourth day however, I got to choose what I would specialize in. Malonna explained the responsibilities of both choices. I was either to become a warrior or a spy.

"So a spy goes into enemy territory and gathers information and goes on special missions?" I asked, confused by all of the rules and explanations.

"Exactly!" Malonna beamed.

"The warrior uses the spy's information and does all of the hard fighting?" I guessed.

"Not exactly, they also protect the camp and they do border patrols. The spies will also engage in border fights, however."

"How could one person do that much in a fight?" I inquired.

"Spies go out in pairs, so that they are never alone."

I thought for a moment then replied, "I think I would like to be a spy."

"Good! That will help, we were short on spies. I will no longer be your mentor. Windswipe will give you to one of his senior spies. You should go see him after you go hunting."

"Hunting?"

"Yes, you will go out and see if you can catch a gerwisp. If you can, Windswipe may put you in a more agreeable position. You should leave immediately. Oh and by the way, it you can kill a gerwisp we will use its pelt for your apprentices garment."

I gathered a spear and some soft boots and set out, but on the way to the main entrance I bumped into Alyssa.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Yes, hunting."

"Can I come?"

"I'm not sure. I was ordered to see if I could catch a gerwisp."

"Hmmm... in that case I'm coming with you," she said as she hefted her spear. "Wouldn't want you to get caught by a merwith again." She laughed and followed me out into the forest.

As we walked I looked for the subtle signs that meant a gerwisp was around. Finally I saw some broken ferns and stalked closer to take a look. There it was, it had blue fur and it seemed to be grazing on the thin layers of tall grasses that grew here. I snuck slowly forward, and drew my arm back to throw, when my foot snapped a branch. The gerwisp looked up and bounded away, faster than I could blink. Alyssa laughed, the sound like a thousand flutes playing a happy tune. Her mirth was contagious so I chuckled a little too, in spite of my disappointment.

"Come on, I think I can see another one over this way."

I followed her until we had arrived near another one. This one had its back turned to us and it seeded that it would be an easy catch. I threw the spear exactly as I had been trained. It pounded into the gerwisp and the animal screamed in pain. It tried to run, but I used my second spear to finish it off.

"Good! You go back to camp and show Malonna, but don't mention me. I need to go catch another one, so that it looks as if I have been doing something useful."

"Thanks," I said and began to retrace my steps, carrying the heavy gerwisp corpse. I barely reached the camp, because of the weight. I hadn't realized how far I had gone to catch the gerwisp. I looked up and saw Malonna walking towards me.

"Good, you actually caught something," She was saying when she saw me. "Did you go all the way to the Rushing Waters Tribe, jeez?"

"No, but the weight of the gerwisp is considerable."

"Be happy that you caught a small one!" she laughed.

A small one, I thought! I didn't want to catch a big one, unless it was really close to camp.

"Go give that to the meat keeper, he will take it from there."

I ran to the meat keepers hut and began to talk to him.

"I haven't seen you in here before, are you new?"

"I have been around for several days; I am the boy that got slashed by the merwith."

"Oh, you don't even look like him; well I have to get to work, before this meat spoils."

He began cutting it up and putting lots of salt on it.

"The meat that I ate at the fire was actual meat, not salted, why do you have to do this with this set of meat?"

"Because the meat that you ate was freshly caught, but you eat this for the rest of the day. Malonna must have had someone catching meat for you if you haven't eaten this yet."

I said goodbye and left his hut, only to run into Alyssa, who was going in with a gerwisp twice the size of mine. She wasn't even sweating.

"How did you carry that all the way back here?"

"I didn't, I put it on a hunting sledge and dragged it." I was mad that I had carried the stupid corpse all the way back here and she hadn't said a word, but she smiled winningly at me and I let it go.

The next day I was awakened early, because I needed to see Windswipe about my assessment before he leaves on a hunting party. I walked briskly through the camp and saw him coming out of Malonna's command tent.

"Hi," he said absently.

"Hi, I am here to see if you have decided on a mentor for me yet," I asked in an equally bored tone. He shot me a hard look and I relished the fact that I could have annoyed him so easily.

"Yes actually I have. A warrior was disobeying strict rules while checking out the border with a spy; he will be your mentor."

Great, I thought, he is using me as a punishment.

"The warrior is Raspy; therefore he shall be your mentor until a spy is free to mentor you."

No he just doesn't want me to waste his precious spy's time, I thought. He walked off briskly, I didn't bother to follow. Instead I walked to Raspy's tent to tell him that he is my temporary mentor. He didn't take the news well. As a matter of fact it was a bad thing for him. He muttered something about losing popularity and the fact that Windswipe was an ass and walked out of the tent beckoning me to follow.

We walked out into the training pit and he threw me a spy's practice staff.

"I am going to evaluate your skills so far and see if you are ready to start more advanced training."

I waited anxiously for him to swing. After a slight hesitation he sprang. I blocked it easily and began a series of blows that were bewildering to the eye. He blocked all of the and attacked again, this time he began with a feint and threw a quick jab towards my midsection. I saw through the feint, however and blocked it easily. Raspy was becoming frustrated and began to attack harder, pushing me to my limits. We each struck each other several times before I finally began to push him back. He lost ground a step at a time, and gaining confidence I began more complicated and longer moves. This allowed room for a counter-attack and he struck swiftly at my shin; before I could bring the staff down to defend myself. It stung sharply and I began to lose my balance as I pulled a hasty retreat. Raspy wasn't going to give me time to regroup though. He attacked again and my defense got weaker and weaker until I had no choice but to sacrifice a hit. As he swung again I didn't bother to block it, instead I let it roll over my body as it struck. I used the momentary confusion to strike a quick disarming movement causing him to drop his staff.

"Extremely good! Here let me show you several more moves to add to your arsenal of blows."

He showed me several new moves that tested my agility to the limits. All of the new moves had something to do with a complex stretch or jump. Finally he said that I should go and rest while he reports my progress to Malonna. I walked away limping from the strike to my shin and sat down in Raspy's hut. The skin at the door was pushed in slightly from the wind providing a calming rustling sound. I knew that I should get up and do something but my muscles were screaming for rest. Finally I let myself fall asleep.

It felt like only several minutes before I was awakened again, and ordered to see Malonna. I walked slowly out of the hut, the harsh cool of morning air sharpening my senses. As I walked to her hut, I noticed that people were looking fearfully at me. I had never noticed this before and it shocked me that they should be afraid of a boy that was dragged in from almost being killed.

"They fear change, and you represent change," I heard Malonna's voice behind me.

"But, me!" I asked, bewildered.

"Our tribe is Peace. You are the symbol of hope, and the war with the War Tribe will only be resolved with more war. Unfortunately that is the way of things. In the past we were content to stay hidden in our defendable camp, and stay protected as they hunted in our hunting grounds. But now, it seems we may have to fight," she said gravely.

"How can I help though? I am just a boy!"

"You already know all of our fighting moves, and you know our customs. You are more special than you know. Healer Carmes saw it when your body began to push the poison out of the cuts like some vile vent. I was there, when she said that you were going to recover without scars. You have power, but you may not be able to use it."

I was aghast. How had I gotten these powers? My parents? I didn't even know who they are! I thought for a moment. That would explain why he was always treated as an outsider, even in my own Kingdom! Even my sister seemed slightly distant. My parents were unknown, I was strangely fast, and I learned quickly.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked finally, bravely standing up to my responsibility with these powers.

"The powers you possess are more character traits than anything else, but they still make you a dangerous enemy and a valuable ally. You need to make your hut in the spy's clearing, and make you spy's raiment. You will also need a spear and a blow dart if you want. You should get to work immediately, but I need to tell you some things that you may need to know. The hut must house two people, so that if you get a woman to like you they can stay with you. Also the hut must have enough privacy that one person can sleep while the other arises in the morning. Your spear is of your preference; however it should have a point and be at least a yard long. There are no rules regarding you raiment, other that the fact that it must not be made of gerwisp skin."

"Okay, I will do the raiment first."

"You will need a spear for that."

"I know, I will borrow one from the training ground," I jogged off, my mind whirling. I had so much responsibility, and it only just happened. In one day, I have the entire Tribe's lives in my hands. I neared the training ground, and snatched a spear, sneaking stealthily out into the forest. I heard the slow thudding of paws on the forest floor and hid quickly. A merwith was coming into the training clearing.

Two apprentices rounded the bend in the trail and saw the merwith. One of them screamed. It would have been over for the two children, when a strong urge drove me out of hiding and I pounded into the merwith, raining blows on it fiercely. The huge cat was surprised and retreated from the onslaught. It backed up quickly until it could gain its confidence again. Its feral yellow eyes locked onto me and its dripping jaws snapped wetly, sending bits of saliva everywhere. A drop landed on my arm and it began to sizzle and steam like acid. It hurt fiercely so I wiped it off just as the merwith sprung. It soared over my head, realizing that I had ducked it swung its deadly claws down, narrowly missing my face. I sprang off the ground and kicked it hard in the side of the head. Dazed it tried to retreat, but I was faster diving onto it I pounded its face with the stick of the spear. Several times the tip struck leaving a bloody rip in the skin. Finally the cat threw me off and struggled to its feet. My gerwith raiment was torn and ripped exposing the skin on my chest as I circled the huge cat. I saw the two apprentices staring, and I signaled for them to run. Not needing to be urged they ran hurriedly back to camp leaving me alone with the merwith. Blood dripped from several cuts on its face, the crimson drops killing the grass below with a deadly poison.

Finally the merwith sprang again. Its claws outstretch as it reached for my neck. I rolled quickly to the side, dodging a painful death by a split second. I was tiring quickly; I knew that the merwith would kill me if I didn't win the fight soon. I got an idea and as the merwith turned I threw a rock at its face. The cat flinched in surprise, buying me the second I needed to drive the spear's sharp tip through the merwith's eye and into its braincase. Raspy and several other warriors came running from the camp just in time to see me kill the merwith as it reared backwards. Falling on its back it writhed on the ground for a moment before it finally died from its wounds.

"Well, at least you didn't get hurt that time!" Raspy said as they approached. "Good job, now you can use the merwith's skin for you warrior's raiment."

I looked down at the black cat. It's usually glowing eyes were dim and its sleek fur looked cold. "Actually I think I will use this skin, but I need to catch a gerwisp also."

"Why?"

"I am going to put leather protective plates over the raiment so that this," I said gesturing to my tattered clothing, "doesn't happen."

"Good idea! But... what is leather?"

"It is hardened animal skin. Come on I will show you."

Raspy told the others that we should be fine now and we left to find a gerwisp. After quickly finding one and taking it down we made a hunting sledge and dragged it back to camp. We gave the meat keeper the body and told him not to damage the skin. It took forever, but when he was done we took the skin to the stream. It was there that I realized that you need special solution to harden the leather.

"Oops," I muttered.

"What?" Raspy said as he walked up.

"I forgot that you need special solution to harden the leather enough to be any real improvement."

"Well, what are we doing here for then, Malonna will have your raiment finished for you soon!"

I bent down and looked at the skin. It seemed weak and pliable right now. I walked over to a tree and cut several thick but short branches with the spear tip. Watching carefully, Raspy raised his eyebrows. I took the brackes over to the skin and stretched it between two of them. Then I proceeded to brace the other sticks to the skin, until eventually I had a shield the size of my back.

"Wow! That is amazing, let's go show Malonna," he walked off. I followed him smiling.

The shield that I had made had a great effect on my reputation. The other Tribesmen began treating me with more respect and now a shield was required for every warrior. Despite these events, the war with the War Tribe was going badly. Their weapons were superior, their tactics unpredictable. I was in the process of building my hut and weapon at the moment and it will take awhile.

Alyssa was about to be promoted to full spy. I was jealous. She was just as old as me, and she was a full rank higher than me. She never talked about it in front of me however, and she never treated me like I was below her in rank. The hut was huge, bigger than all the others. It was sturdy and could house three people, and it would if everything went according to plan. I hoped to get an apprentice soon after being made a senior spy, and hopefully maybe there would be someone else there too.

The spear that I was making had two tips, each around six inches long and four inches wide. It was wickedly sharp, and the handle was carved specifically to provide ease of use and speed. The length of the spear itself was around three feet. I had gotten many complements on it since I had finished it.

I was almost done in my assessment. I had gained favor by saving the apprentices from the merwith and Malonna seemed to tolerate my progress. Even when I had failed to get through the agility course three days ago she had nodded her head and said, "Better luck next time!" I was happy and pretty soon my hut would be finished and I would get my new rank as a spy apprentice one of the other spies.

As I placed several sturdy logs into position around the base of my hut, Malonna came through the gate entrance. She was covered in blood. I got up, forgetting my hut and helped support her, until she made it to the main clearing.

"Get the Tribe," she breathed raggedly.

"You need help; I will go get Heale..."

"No! Gather the Tribe! IMMEDIATELY!" She spat angrily, blood dripping from a broken nose.

I ran off, quickly finding and talking to people. Their faces clouded with worry instantly and they rushed to the main clearing. Healer Carmes swore, surprising me, because I had never heard her say a foul word before, and rushed into the clearing with cloth water and herbs.

Finally when everyone was assembled Malonna began to speak.

"We are facing hard times my friends," she shivered and coughed for a moment before continuing. "The War Tribe has unleashed the monsters of Tharalek upon us again."

Everyone's eyes widened and several people screamed. They were all kneeling in the ground now, obviously grieving.

I leaned over to Raspy, who was one of the only people still standing. "What are they doing?

He looked at me his eyes grim, "They are grieving for the deaths that will come."