Chapter 46 – Provocation

The speaker was Tengaar, who was frowning and holding a long cloth bundle in her hands. "Have you been enjoying yourself?" she asked sarcastically. "Out having a good time? Hix and I had hoped you'd join us for The Watch."

Flik couldn't help but let a groan escape his lips. Warrior's Village was one of the few places that didn't celebrate the summer solstice with The Festival of Candles. Instead, they held The Watch, a full twenty-four hour period of meditations in full battle array. The purpose was to reflect on the warrior's dedication to the Way and his willingness to perfect his craft. Since his departure from Warrior's Village, Flik had only performed those meditations intermittently.

He mentally kicked himself for forgetting about Tengaar and Hix's presence at Dunan Castle. "Look, Tengaar, I'm sorry-"

"Is that all you have to say?" Tengaar interrupted. "You spent all day getting drunk and ignoring your duties and that's all you have to say? You've set a very poor example for Hix." She glared at him.

Flik had to fumble through both lethargy and indignation to get his answer out. "It was never my intention to serve as a role model for him."

"Oh, that's good," Tengaar retorted. "Maybe I can use you as an example of what not to do. I can show him how you've wasted your life. That should be enough to get him motivated."

"I have not wasted my life!" Flik shouted. He stopped and shook his head, trying to get a handle on his anger. He continued in strained tone, "You have no right to judge me. I'm an adult; I make my own choices."

"You're no adult, not without having completed your Manhood Journey." Tengaar smirked, adjusting the bundle in her hands. "All you are is a twenty-seven year old child who's running from his responsibilities because he doesn't like them."

"I am not running from my responsibilities. I use my blade to help people, to defend them."

"You use that blade because it gives you satisfaction," Tengaar countered. "You enjoy fighting for its own sake. Even the most common thug could say the same, and that is why you are not a true warrior."

Flik's head was starting to hurt. He did not want to continue this conversation, knowing that it would likely degenerate into a shouting match. He turned away from Tengaar and said, "Go away. I don't want any more lectures from you."

"Don't you turn your back on me," Tengaar demanded, outraged. "A child of Warrior's Village never turns his back on a woman until she has dismissed him, or have you forgotten your manners?"

Flik started massaging his forehead with one hand. "Unless you have preempted the elders by marrying Hix, you are also still a child, Tengaar," he muttered. He faced her again, glaring at her. "Now, since I am the oldest…person here, I'm ordering you to leave."

Tengaar shook her head. "No. Not until I prove to you how far you've strayed." She pulled the cloth off of what she was carrying, a short sword that reflected the moonlight on its blade. "Come on, Flik, show me you remember the Way." She lunged towards him, blade forward.

Disbelieving what his eyes were telling him, Flik almost opened his mouth to protest. Then his warrior's mind interceded, moving muscles that felt sluggish and sore, due to the effects of the festivities. There was no time to draw his blade; he parried Tengaar's first slice by snapping the sheath off his belt and blocking her sword with that.

She hopped away, making a stab for his stomach, which Flik swept aside with the sheath. Heart hammering away in his chest, he finally drew his sword, discarding the scabbard so that it rattled down the stairs. Was Tengaar seriously trying to hurt him? Her weapon looked like it could, if it struck. He tried to speak some calming words to her.

Tengaar didn't let him, rushing back to the attack. The sheer ferocity of it drove Flik back, for a moment threatened to overwhelm him. Still, for all the strength behind Tengaar's strikes, she had no training with the sword, and her slashes were wild. Wrapped in his battle calm, Flik parried each one. Using his greater weight, he locked his sword against hers and pushed her back across the landing, towards the far edge.

Tengaar gave ground, sidestepped, and hopped up on the sloping roof of the tower. Flik blocked a stab at his head and quickly joined her, refusing to allow her the advantageous position. He was less sure of his footing now that he was on the wooden shingles of the roof, but he pressed the attack. Slowly, they fought their way up the slope, Tengaar falling back and trying to remain higher than him. Flik, by a series of feints, backed her up to the widow's walk at the very top of the roof.

The walk was a narrow one, no more than a yard in width and without railings. Flik felt the wind rip at him, threatening to drag him back by his cape. Aware of the danger of his surroundings, he yelled to Tengaar, "Enough! This is pointless."

"Conceding already?" Tengaar taunted. "What's the matter, can't keep going when things get too tough?" She swung her sword in a wide slice, which Flik met. The two blades clanged together roughly.

With their blades locked once more, Flik pressed his size advantage, shoving Tengaar back along the walk, towards the edge. Here he hesitated. His battle instincts were whispering a dozen ways to finish her and be done with the fight, but all of them involved her death. Whatever her purpose was in driving him this far, he wasn't about to kill her.

Tengaar exploited his moment of hesitation to free her sword from his, backing all the way to the edge of the walk. Refusing to yield, she swung at him once more. Breaking form, Flik met her attack with a powerful two-handed swing of his own. A jolt raced up his arms when their blades clashed, then his follow-through lifted her sword out of her hands, sending it sailing off into the blackness.

Any celebrations over his victory would have to wait, because the force of his counterattack had also unbalanced Tengaar, and she teetered backwards on the edge. Dropping his own sword, Flik lunged and grabbed one of her hands with his, pulling her back from the fall. Determination sparkled in Tengaar's eyes, and Flik felt a slight pinprick on his neck. He looked to see that she'd drawn one of her daggers, the point of which rested against his skin.

"I win," she announced. She withdrew her blade, leaving Flik with only a stinging sensation where the point had been. He rubbed the spot, while Tengaar casually walked down the roof. Flik followed more carefully, making sure to retrieve his sword in the process.

Only once he had his weapon securely in hand did he turn to face Tengaar, who was standing over by the stairs. "What were you thinking, doing that?" Flik shouted. "Did you want one of us to get hurt?" All the anger that he'd controlled during the fight started to boil within him.

She looked at him sidelong, her demeanor entirely changed, and answered softly, "Flik, please come home. Haven't you been away long enough?"

The switch in tone surprised him, stilling his anger completely. He tried to sort out his thoughts on the matter. "It's not really my choice. I don't think the elders will accept my return."

"Why don't you ask them? Why don't you try?"

"I don't like the policies that they adopted. I think they were wrong and still are wrong, and I don't think my coming back will change their minds."

Frowning, Tengaar replied, "You think staying away will solve anything?"

Flik didn't like where this conversation was going. Even through the afterglow of adrenaline, he could tell he was being backed into a corner. "I don't want to fight them, Tengaar. It's easier on everybody if I stay away."

"That's what makes you pathetic," Tengaar stated. "You'll fight any opponent placed in front of you, except the one that counts. That was my point tonight. It doesn't matter what excuse you use to soothe your conscience, the fact remains that you're nothing more than a mindless killing machine."

Flik was stunned by the force of her words. He couldn't even open his mouth to respond, not that Tengaar let him. "You are a coward, Flik. A coward who can point out a problem, but can't muster the strength to fight it. That's why your heart is so restless. So, you can keep running and you can keep fighting, if that's what you want. You can keep fighting for the rest of your life, but you'll never find true peace unless you confront the thing that upset you in the first place."

That rebuke stoked Flik's anger again, and he spoke without thinking. "You know nothing about why I left, and I won't let you bully me into meekly going back. Save that for Hix. It seems to work better on him anyway."

Now Tengaar turned her back on him. "Don't think you're the only one who doesn't like the elders, but at least I will do something about it. Keep fighting your meaningless battles, Flik, and see who remembers you when you're dead." Then she walked down the stairs, ending the argument.

Flik sagged back against the roof, deflated by her last remark. To one raised in Warrior's Village, remembrance was an important issue. It was their belief, and his as well, that a person's standing in the afterlife was determined by the devotion paid to him. Thus, storytelling was something of a sacred art in the Warrior's Village. It was why any person of the village would ramble on for hours about the great heroes of the past.

It was why he clung so desperately to his memories of Odessa and refused to allow anyone to take her place. He did not want to lose her in the afterlife due to his own negligence. However, in all that longing, he'd given little thought to the state of his afterlife. He wondered if he could find Viktor and talk to him about it, but decided against that. He didn't think Viktor would tolerate that sort of discussion on this night.

Shuffling his feet wearily, Flik made his way down the stairs, stooped and gathered up the sheath to his sword. He continued down, staggering through dark hallways until he reached his room. Thankfully, no one was waiting for him by the door, so he pulled it open and dragged himself in.

He pawed awkwardly at the dark in his room, until by feeling he managed to find the table in the middle of the room. There were three gifts placed there. Gift giving was another tradition of the Festival of Candles, but the gifts were always anonymous. Despite this, Flik usually knew who was giving him presents. By touch, he determined that one object was a new shield and that the another was a bottle of liquid. These he understood. The third present felt like a long string of beads, possibly a necklace. Who would give him that?

He pried the bottle open and started drinking. It was a thick, sweet alcohol. A warning voice whispered in his head that he ought to hold back, but Flik shoved it aside, continuing to drink. He drank until the liquid started to dribble out of the corners of his mouth and down his cheeks and chin. He drank until his fingers were numb, and he could no longer feel the bottle, much less the chair he was sitting on.

He drank until the empty bottle slipped out of his grasp, rolled down his chest, and clunked on the unseen floor. Dumbly, Flik attempted to get out of the chair, reeling and embracing the darkness as if it had physical form. It was the floor that met him, and he thought that it was strange he should be on the ground when he had just stood up. Then he decided the floor was as good a place to seek solace as any. He closed his eyes, searching for his path to Odessa.

There were no dreams, not that Flik remembered, just a splitting headache that greeted him when he opened his eyes. Midmorning light streamed through the window, causing his eyes to water. For a moment, he had no idea where he was. He was lying on his bed, tucked under the blankets. That was odd, for he was sure he'd passed out on the floor.

Flik tried to sit up and was rewarded by a vision of the room lurching and swaying and the headache redoubling in intensity. He collapsed back onto his pillow, gathering strength for another try. When everything had returned to normal, he attempted to ease himself into a sitting position by slowly backing himself against the headboard until he was upright. The dizziness and nausea returned, but he managed to tolerate it this time.

Next, Flik swung his legs over the edge of the bed and let them rest on the floor. He waited several more minutes before making the attempt to stand up. He couldn't make it upright, but swayed in place, bent double, and then staggered forward to the table and sat down in the same chair he'd been in last night.

His hand brushed against a paper left on the table. It was a message of some sort, and Flik squinted to try and read it. It was from Viktor, who could be alarmingly literate when he wanted to.

Yo, Flik,

What the hell were you trying to do to yourself last night? Damn, it was a good thing I found you before someone like Nina did. It's been a long time since you got yourself that drunk. Listen, stay in bed for a while. Don't even think about trying to train with your men; I'll take care of that. I'll come around later to check on you.

P.S. – Don't even think about getting out of bed. In fact, if you're reading this, get back in bed. If I find you outside, I'll haul you back myself.

Flik would've chuckled, but he was still too woozy to do so. Pride welled up within him, and he stood up, prepared to show Viktor, or anyone, that he was ready to face the world. After his legs wobbled, he decided that a short rest might be in order. He stumbled back over to his bed and fell into it.

He rested fitfully. At various times Flik could hear the sound of practice going on, and each time he wanted to rise and join them. Yet his body wasn't quite ready to obey his mind's commands. His stomach was unsettled, making him not want to eat anything.

Late in the afternoon, Viktor showed up, knocked once on the door, and invited himself in. He was bearing a bowl of chicken noodle soup, which he handed over to Flik with the command, "Eat up. It's from Leona."

While Flik ate, Viktor chatted about the news of the day. Ridley and the kobolds from Two River City had finally arrived, boosting the New State Army's strength. There was still no word on the movements of the Highland Army. Flik, feeling his hunger, savored the soup.

However, once Flik was finished, Viktor's demeanor became serious. "So, you going to explain why I found you half-dead last night, or am I going to have to guess? Not that it would take much guessing, I think. There's only one reason you'd try to drink yourself into the ground."

"Yeah," Flik commented.

Viktor frowned. "Going to tell me about it?" He sat down in the chair by the table, clearly willing to wait Flik out.

Flik's pride tried to assert itself, but he ignored it and talked to his friend. He described the verbal confrontation with Tengaar, though he brushed aside the fight. Then he voiced his fear.

"Suppose I never get to her, Viktor. Suppose that I die and she's not there. Or I'm not there."

"I don't know much about the afterlife," Viktor answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Of course, I've never been there, so how could I?" He chuckled to himself, but quickly dropped the levity. "Listen, Flik, I do know one thing. You really will lose her if you give up hope. I mean, you believe that good exists, right?" When Flik nodded, Viktor continued. "What you've got to do is keep living with that hope, hold on to it, and never let it go."

Flik put the bowl on the floor and flopped back onto his pillow. "Maybe. It's hard not to speculate and worry."

"You can't spend all your time worrying," Viktor answered. He was quiet for a moment, then asked, "What's this?"

Flik propped himself back up. Viktor was twirling the bead necklace around one finger. "A gift," Flik responded. "I have no idea who gave it to me."

"A secret admirer? Maybe of the schoolgirl variety?"

Flik gagged. "Throw it out. I don't want it."

"Nah, that'd be too easy. I'll just leave it here. If you want to get rid of it, you'll have to do the deed yourself." Viktor plunked the adornment back on the table, stood up, and grabbed the bowl. "Keep resting. Tomorrow you'll be back to normal, or close enough. See you later." He ducked out the door.

Having eaten, Flik was felling better, well enough that he even managed to read for a while. After that, he tried to sleep again. His sleep was only sporadic, due to the fact that he'd rested all day. By the time the first hints of dawn were visible through the window in his room, he was ready to get going. He shaved and dressed himself, pausing a moment to consider the necklace. Instead of throwing it out, he put it in his pocket, which he felt was a reasonable compromise.

His next task was to find food. He wandered over to Hai Yo's restaurant and pestered the cook into re-heating the remains of last night's dinner, split-pea soup. Flik gobbled the first helping, which only served to wake his appetite. He held off after the third bowl, since he didn't want to upset his stomach again.

Now fortified, he grabbed the new shield, which had a spike on the face, and went down to one of the practice fields. The morning was mild, with a hint of mist off the lake, and a slight breeze out of the northwest. There were only a few other training fanatics out there, so Flik took a spot in front of one of the dummies and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of it. Wakaba, who'd been training, stopped to watch him, clapping when a particularly powerful strike splintered the wooden arm of the target.

Someone else was walking out onto the practice field as Flik wrenched his sword free from the wood. It was Hix, who was looking in his direction. Still feeling slightly ashamed about the confrontation with Tengaar, Flik tried to ignore the youth and went back to hacking at the dummy. He could feel Hix watching him.

Flik sent a crushing blow into the head of the dummy. Then he turned and addressed Hix uneasily, "Can I help you with something?" It wasn't that he disliked Hix, but Flik didn't want any more reminders of Warrior's Village at the moment.

Hix shifted nervously. "I was hoping you'd let me join your unit again, just like during the last war. Actually, Tengaar said I should ask you. She said that observing you would be good for me."

She said that? Flik shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and noticed that Hix had taken that for a negative reaction. Quickly he covered his mistake. "There's no problem, Hix. You're more than welcome with us. How…uh, is Tengaar doing, by the way?"

"She was upset that you didn't join us for The Watch, but I said that you probably had made your own arrangements."

It was very hard for Flik to meet Hix's eager, innocent eyes. "Yeah, I had other arrangements. Never mind, let's round the men up and get the morning drills underway."

These drills were mock combats on horseback, squad against squad. Flik, Hix, and the senior sergeants watched the bouts. The four officers were very competitive when it came to having the best trained men. Flik also noted Tengaar hanging around, attempting to look inconspicuous as she observed Hix observing him. Undoubtedly, she'd attempt to ride with Hix when Flik went out to battle.

Flik was about to call for a break when an alarm bell began to ring. The signal was quickly picked up by every bell in the city. The men stopped practicing and began to mill about. Flik shook his head, shouting to make himself heard. "Fall into companies! Now!" The senior sergeants heard him and repeated the order. Soon the soldiers were in formation.

Meanwhile, Flik glanced at the keep of the castle, as if that might give him some clue to what the alarm was about. He motioned Rossgard towards him. "I'm going to see what's happening. Have the men stand in place until I get back." Then he heeled Nightstar towards the keep, Hix and Tengaar following uninvited in his wake.

The castle was in an uproar, with soldiers and civilians shouting at the top of their lungs. However, it was the sailors who were moving with the most purpose. Groups of them were sprinting towards the stairs that led to the docks. Out of the hubbub Flik managed to hear that Highland was making some sort of move with ships from Coronet.

The great hall on the second floor was more crowded than Flik had ever seen it. Viktor and Gilbert jostled with Tai Ho, Yam Koo, Tsai, Shin, and Amada, while Freed stood behind all of them and tried to get a good view of the dais. Luc was also there, sulking in one of the back corners. Chaco appeared to have been invited to represent the Winghorde. On the dais, Apple paced nervously back and forth, while Ridley frowned, and Teresa rubbed her hands anxiously. The mood was sour, and Flik distinctly heard someone mutter, "It's a shame that Highland should attack while Lord Riou is away."

Shu suddenly appeared, the last person to enter the great hall. Conversation ceased as everyone watched the strategist ascend the dais. He cleared his throat and spoke to them calmly. "First and foremost, I can assure you that this is not the opening move of a Highland campaign against us." The room relaxed visibly at this statement. "Our scouts have told us that the Highlanders appear to be in pursuit of some refugees who are trying to cross the lake. Now that you know this much, most of you are superfluous to this conversation. Get out, if you would. However, Tai Ho, Amada…, and Flik, please stay behind."

Flik felt a strange prickly sensation on his skin at the mention of his name. He saw Viktor give him a questioning look as he left the room. After the great hall had cleared a little, Shu continued the briefing. "I am not certain why Highland persists in chasing the refugees this close to Dunan Castle, but I do not intend to let this provocation go unanswered. Moreover, it will be an excellent chance for the fleet to get some combat practice against a weaker enemy. We will deploy the fleet at once. Tai Ho, you will command the left wing, and Amada will command the right. I suggest you maintain a crescent formation until the battle dictates otherwise. Your main priority is to put the enemy to rout, but you should also pick up the refugees as soon as you are able. They may have some useful information."

Tai Ho smiled. "I've been looking forward to a good fight. It's time to show those Highlanders who's boss."

Amada's grin was wider. "There's nobody who can beat an Island Nations man in a naval battle, and now I'll prove it."

Shu nodded. "Good. Take that enthusiasm and do battle."

Tai Ho and Amada sprinted from the room, eager to begin the fight. Shu turned to face Flik. "I will need your men ready to move as well."

"Where? And when?" Flik asked.

"The where is easy. We will be going into Greenhill province to help Lord Riou. When is more difficult. In a couple of days, I think. There is one more piece that needs to fall into place. When it does, we will need to move quickly. That is all."

Once out of the great hall, Flik located Hix and sent the youth back to his men with the message to stand down. Flik, on the other hand, went up to his tower to view the progress of the battle. Once up there, he could see that he wasn't the only person who wanted to view the show. People lined the cliff faces, avidly watching the scene on the lake.

The galleys of Tai Ho and Amada were under oars, moving steadily towards the north. In the distance, Flik could see similarly shaped Highland ships, though there were not as many as the New State Army's fleet. The Highlanders were moving south, overtaking a group of smaller craft, which ranged from fishing boats to little more than dugout canoes. For a few minutes, all three groups maintained their headings. Then the Highlanders abruptly swung around to the north, ending their pursuit. The crowd along the cliffs erupted with a hearty cheer when they saw the enemy begin to retreat.

In the end, there was no battle at all. The Highlanders were too far away to be overtaken, so Tai Ho and Amada worked at shepherding the refugees to the safety of Dunan Castle. Flik went down from his perch and gathered his senior sergeants, telling them about Shu's orders. Later in the afternoon he went to see if Templeton had some maps of the Greenhill region.

That night, Flik couldn't sleep. It had nothing to do with having a hangover. It was simply too hot to rest comfortably. Searching for a cool breeze, he made his way back up the tower. Here he was rewarded; the wind off Lake Dunan was refreshing. Both moons were up. The Blue Moon was half full and in the west, the Scarlet Moon was nearing full and in the east.

Flik sighed contentedly and stretched out on the landing, determined to sleep here. He was just about to close his eyes when something caught his attention; the stars were disappearing. Startled, he sat up and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. The sky to the north and east was brightening rapidly, filling with an unnatural silver light that caused the stars to fade.

The light spread, and the night's darkness gave way before it, retreating to the south, over Flik's head, until it was simply a little band of darkness on the distant horizon. The night insects fell silent and even the waves on the lake seemed to still. Flik did not dare to take a breath, lest he break the pregnant silence and call some evil down on himself.

Back to the north, the drama continued. A massive, blue wolf's head ascended into the sky. A second head quickly joined it. The mouths on both heads were open in a soundless howl. As Flik gazed on this, he was convulsed by fear. A primal voice whispered in his mind that what he saw could never be resisted, that he should flee from it now if he wished to live. He tried to resist, but found that he was shrinking away from the light.

Only the fact that the two-headed monstrosity subsided as quickly as it had appeared saved Flik from diving down the stairs to escape it. As he recovered his composure, the silver light rolled back, darkness filling in with each passing moment. Even so, he was aware that songbirds were singing, confused by the brightness.

The two lesser lights of the night managed to reassert their dominance. Seconds later, the whole sky was returned to its natural state. The silver light and two-headed wolf were only memories. Flik unclenched his hands and found that his palms were marked from where his nails had dug in.

There was a footstep on the stairs, and Flik turned in time to see Shu walk out onto the landing. The strategist looked more pale than usual, and he mopped his brow once with a handkerchief before doing anything else. Still, he retained admirable control over his voice when he spoke.

"Ready your men, Flik. That was the sign I was waiting for. The war is coming, and it is time to retrieve Riou."