Chapter 22

When Mairek had introduced himself and Ishar as traveling merchants, Ishar had felt something odd about the words his friend had uttered. Sure, he understood that Mairek had sensed danger and had resorted to words as a means of salvation but there was just something about pretending to be merchants that seemed genuinely crafty. For some reason a crafty approach to their current predicament didn't sit well with Ishar, he felt like it was limiting, like it bound him to a specific path that led to a place he didn't want to be, a place he'd been before.

Ishar didn't want to be crafty, neither did he want to bow to the whims of another, what he wanted was to choose a path that led him to something grand, something that was completely beyond the scope of his thoughts and expectations. He felt that something when he bellowed a challenge to the big Talisi man and the excitement that came with the feeling heightened when the soldier took a step closer to him, the tip of his spear inches away from Ishar's face.

 "What did you just say to me, Kolotian scum?" The giant of a man asked.

Ishar took a step closer to him while avoiding the spear head and his chest bumped into the larger man's stomach. Ishar looked up at the soldier's face, meeting his green eyes and not faltering under their intensity. There was something odd about the man, he was the only one talking and he was giving off an air to suggest that he was in charge but the whole idea of him leading the men surrounding them didn't carry with it the weight of truth, and was that something Ishar spotted in the man's eyes? It was difficult to take note of but Ishar thought he'd seen doubt lurking beneath the man's glare.

"What do you doubt?" Ishar whispered.

"What?" The man asked, his voice carrying into the hills surrounding them.

"I've spotted doubt in you, it's well hidden but it's still there. It's kind of like shit, you don't have to see it but when it's present you will know where to find it." Ishar said.

"Ishar.. ." Mairek started.

"What did you just say to me? I will cut off your hands as you watch Kolotian and then I shall kill you." The large man proclaimed in a rage. Ishar laughed a bubbling laugh with his shoulders shaking and his foot occasionally stomping the ground.

"You will cut off my hands as I watch then kill me if and only if you are commanded to do so." Ishar replied and laughed.

The big man's eyebrows arched in surprise and something else. Was that shame? Ishar was enjoying himself, enjoying all he could tell from the simple reactions brought out by the man before him. Was there a possibility of violence? Yes, but not by the big man's hands. A laugh filled the air, gentle yet loud enough to turn every head. The laugh came from one of the soldiers standing furthest from them all. He had a blade of grass between his lips and his thin face carried with it a rugged white beard that fell to his chest, he had his spear jutting out of the ground and he leaned on it with causal ease.

Ishar observed the man, took note of his uniform that was a green shade darker than those of the other soldiers. He wasn't the biggest neither was he the smallest, the man carried with him a neutrality upon his slim build that allowed him to fade into the background and remain unnoticed until he chose otherwise. "Dhiliaf," spoke the man. "It looks like the lad has you figured out."

"Sir? Give me the order and I shall serve you the Kolotian's head upon my spear." Dhiliaf said.

The man who was apparently the leader of the group of soldiers pulled his spear from the ground and gently brought it onto his right shoulder with his right hand pivoted lazily upon it and started making his way towards Ishar. Mairek took a step to stand before his friend and whispered, "We better cut our losses and make a run for it."

"No, if it comes to the worst you take down six of them and I'll take down five including the big man." Ishar said not exactly in a whisper, drawing the attention of Dhilifi who was only inches away.

"Gods! Meena help us! Help us enter Tabrimas for we are knocking at the doors of the realm of the valiant." Muttered Mairek.

"Do not pray to her." Ishar said calmly. "If she answers, you'd have doomed us all." Dhilifi turned his eyes to Ishar's face, Ishar was aware of the large man's questioning gaze but he ignored it, preferring instead to meet the eyes of the leader who now stood before them.

"Sergeant Goki here." The leader said with a jolly tone. "You clearly aren't merchants so you better tell me who you are and what your business is or the order to have both your heads on a pike shall be given."

The words were spoken with sincerity, that much Ishar knew. What he didn't know was what answer would be valid enough to quench the man's thirst for knowledge regarding them. He'd put on a tough bravado with words before the muscle head but something told him that the same won't work on Sergeant Goki. The man was dangerous, that much Ishar knew too, there were subtle hints surrounding Goki that supported this fact ranging from the way he'd placed his left leg before his right, ready to shift his body and thrust with the spear at a moment's notice to the way his mouth curved gently at its ends, blade of grass between the lips, it was a smile that had no doubt seen its fair share of bloodshed.

Mairek started to speak again but Ishar reached out and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Mairek," he said, "shut up and let me think." Mairek looked at Ishar as if he'd just suggested to lick his armpits. "These kind men around us won't accept our mission, they shall turn us away or kill us where we stand and whatever lie we give them, no matter how smart it may sound, will only serve to delay our mission longer. I cannot afford to delay our mission, every moment that passes binds Niada's fate."

"Ishar I don't know what you're thinking or planning but one thing is for certain, you've gone insane." Mairek replied.

Ishar tilted his head up to observe the noon sky. A brick red bird with blue tipped wings circled the sky. Ishar envied the bird and a part of him wished he had an arrow at hand, he would have tried to bring it down, drag it from the comfort of open space and damn it to a life on fixed ground. Ishar smiled and let go of Mairek's shoulder, he dropped his makeshift bag made of a bedsheet onto the ground. He flexed his shoulders and met Goki's green eyes. Words of bravado would not work on such a man, only actions will.

Ishar saw the way the sergeant's hand tightened upon his spear. He felt more than saw Dhilifi shift his weight to fully face Ishar. He took note of all the other soldiers around them leveling their spears and he heard Mairek take a step back, away from Ishar's side. Ishar smiled, this was the path he wanted to be on, this was the path that would lead to something grand, something new. Ishar felt each thought he had was drenched in fear, the fear was foreign yet familiar, something forgotten that he ached to remember and understand. There was only one way to do so, Ishar pounced on Sergeant Goki.