01

"Remember, brave men!" said the chief, "We will show that no one can defeat the Pahrya Empire. Stand firm on this plateau and shoot the enemy with your bows."

The brown-skinned archers cried in response. The chief surveyed his men proudly, clad in leather vest and red langotti wrapped around the legs. Bracelet stud with glowing red stone on their right hands. They stood in perfect rows. Arrows aimed down on the ground.

The promotion was his tonight.

When a wave of enemy tribesmen rushed in, the chief cried, "Shoot!"

The arrows fell like a merciless rain. But the tribesmen seemed to refuse to drop dead, as the chief noted nervously. Ofcourse. Those tribesmen had garland full of mayastones hanging on their necks!

The rough cut magical stones glowed in various colours. Red for strength, blue for shield, and green for recovery. Some tribesmen climbed near enough to throw spears and his archers began to drop. He was not important enough to give his soldiers more than the red stones.

The chief barked a command to aim the heads. He glanced over the scene before him and noted that the enemy tribe, quite rich in mayastone, was giving a hard fight to the whole military. Damn those lawless savages.

The battle seemed to go on endlessly. Until the tribesmen below were finally defeated. They won! The archers cried in joy. The chief heaved a sigh of relief. He turned around to praise his men but found them winding down the plateau with hungry faces.

"Fools! Come back or the enemy will secure this place!"

No one listened. Instead, they kneeled over the dead bodies and eagerly pulled out mayastones from the garlands. They fought each other for large pieces. The chief slapped his head in frustration as he watched the stones being taken before his eyes. Then climbed down as well. It would be alright. They would take the spoils and return shortly.

He marvelled at the beauty of the sacred stones as he picked them. Mayastone, the most precious thing to have fallen in man's hand. That was until they exhausted their light and turned into dull rocks. He picked out the used ones from the garland and threw them away.

An arrow struck down an archer and all the men froze. The chief gasped as he looked at the head of the plateau.

The tribesmen had their bows aimed down at them.

--

Karma sat in a small dark tent. Empty save for a spear with its end dug into the muddy ground. It stood before him as he meditated, cross-legged and eyes closed. The moment he heard shouts rising outside, he slowly let out his breath. Then he rose, yanked the spear out and walked outside.

A messenger nearly bumped into him.

"Whoa there, buddy." Karma steadied the young man by the shoulder.

"The enemy has broken in!" He shouted. Some soldiers nearby were pointing in a direction.

"The tribesmen have seized the left plateau and gained land." One soldier announced.

"Their chief is captured and the battalion is forced to flee. What do we do?" Asked another.

Karma smiled, ready for action.

"Find me some glowing mayastones, green ones," He ordered to the young man next to him as he tugged out the dull ones from his metallic armlets, bracelets, headband and the belt around the langotti. He had used them before the break.

"Sir, won't you need red and blue ones as well?"

"Nope, now hurry," Karma said.

He raced toward the battle scene in no time. The soldiers were left to round up, then follow. Warriors of his rank were not minded for running by themselves. They were expected to. Like a beast released among cattle. Mayastones loaded to boost their ability.

The enemy saw him. Their stone garland glowed over the chest. Karma spun his spear and blew away one man's attack. The butt of the pole struck another in the stomach as he pierced the blade into the first one. He easily spun his spear among them, striking and poking, and the men fell one after another. Some knew to run away.

An arrow reached Karma's shoulder, another on his back. Green smoke released from mayastones after he picked them out. He absorbed it, healing his body scarless.

These savage tribesmen could not use mayastone properly.

He looked down at the dead, the stones in their garland still glowed brightly. A couple of blue ones or maybe red were used. The stone bestowed its full power only to the capable. The best of people. The ones born and raised for excellence.

"Wow, look at you!" A voice rang from distance. Karma spun around and found Druva up on top of the plateau. He kneeled, grinning. Looked like he had beaten the enemy archers. "You look terrible."

Karma found himself covered in blood, mostly from his healed wounds. Then shared the grin. "I did walk into a lot of spears practically unarmed. Except for green stones."

"Using red and blue ones won't kill you. Blood loss can," Druva said. "No, forget it. You are too strong to be killed by an army, leave alone a blood loss."

Karma did feel a bit lightheaded. Druva had grown and trained together with Karma. Now they fought side by side. Both were tall, muscular and had tanned skin. Both had recently reached their twentieth year and ranked among the top warriors of the Pahrya Empire. Both lived for the honour of a warrior-born.

Their differences were minor and insignificant. Druva had red hair, inherited from his foreign mother. He was a royalty while Karma came from a village.

"I am going to catch their chief," Druva said. He stood up and turned to the battlefield ahead. "Entertaining this tribe is getting costly."

"If you catch him first," Karma said.

"Competition then?" Druva climbed down to stand nearby.

His mayastones were of red and green colours. Strength and recovery. A good balance, since his attacks were quick and brutal. He did not need the blue ones to boost defence. Karma nodded and they took off.

--

No one had spotted the enemy chief until now. Druva was right. If the battle stretched on, they would likely lose. As Karma ran, he saw a lot of his soldiers among the dead. Attacks came his way and he dodged them.

The best possibility was that he was in the forest, either hiding or fleeing to the safety of another tribe. So Karma entered the dense trees.

And the arrows zipped in his direction. He was right. He had trailed signs of people passing. The chief was hiding ahead, now spotted, his men were trying to kill the invader. Green light smoked around Karma as he walked. He tried not to catch the arrows but a few scratched his skin.

The shooting stopped. Karma walked to a small clearing of ground, confused. Were they out of arrows or… was there a trap?

A young warrior with thin body stepped out of a tree. More tribesmen followed and surrounded Karma. They included an old dark man wearing an intricate headset and necklaces. The chief. The young warrior held two shortswords in his hands. Curved blade. He wore his mayastones both in a chained garland and a belt.

Karma studied the boy's physics and shook his head. Only blue and red with that body. Only desperate new fighters did this.

"Go back from where you have come from or we will kill you all," the young warrior said, he had learned the royal language. Although his grammar was broken.

"Join our empire," Karma said. "Believe me, it's better for all of us."

"You people destroy," the young warrior responded, falling into fighting stance. "You rob homes, wealth and culture. There is no honour in you people."

"I am a warrior," Karma said, falling into fighting stance as well. "And a warrior's honour is in fighting for the right."

"Tashshi, kill him!" The old chieftain ordered.

Tashshi charged in, slamming both his blades against Karma's spear. The pole immediately shattered in two. Green smoke crawled out of mayastones to reknit them. Karma thrust the spear blade to make the boy step back. Red and blue smoke surrounded him threateningly. Everyone preferred red stones. They made you stronger. But Karma believed that only green stones were necessary. And preferred to throw his own strength.

The fight carried on as they clashed again and again.

Tashshi dashed about with swiping his blades. Karma swung and thrust his spear. The boy was a good opponent. Even if he showed a lack of proper training, he made good use of his speed instead of depending on mayastones. His movements were raw. Honest.

Karma found himself smiling.

"Bastard! I will kill you!" Tashshi growled, provoked by his smile.

He charged with a single sword thrust. Karma tried to slap it out but it turned out to be a trick. Instead, Tashshi rammed both the blades on the pole of the spear and it broke, again. This time it did not mend. All the stones had turned into dull rocks.

The tribesmen watching took the chance to attack. Despite Tashshi shouting them to stand back. Those honourless savages! They had been waiting to exhaust his light to kill him.

Karma held the half-size spear in one hand and took out the shortsword hanging on the belt. He held onto his life, clashing with several weapons at a time. They had him surrounded alone in the forest.

Shouts came from a distance. Soldiers. And in the next moment, Druva appeared. Three men already dropped from his spear. Everyone froze at the sight of his scowl. "You are growing to regret this."

Soldiers finally caught up to them. Now the tribesmen were the ones surrounded.

"Kill every single one of them," Druv ordered to the soldiers.

"No wait." Karma stood straight on his spot and inspected his new wounds. No serious cuts. Then he turned to the old chieftain who remained unmoved on his spot, scared now. "Come with me to negotiate with the prince."

"Karma!" Druva protested.

"I like this one," Karma simply replied, pointing his thumb at Tashshi. "There are probably good potential fighters among them. I don't want to see it go to waste."

"Seriously? After what just happened? You could have died," Druva said incredulously.

"Eh," Karma said, then grinned. "Thanks for coming for me."

Druva relaxed and rolled his eyes. "It's not everyday that we get to see you in trouble. I guess today is something."

--

It was a huge gathering. The old chieftain, Tashshi and other tribesmen stood on one side. Crown prince Ahinara, some important priests, Karma, Druva and other warriors and soldiers on the other hand.

"All praise to the great goddess Rosani. Whose light guides us. Granter of the Mayastones," Prince Ahinara proclaimed. "May she watch over us today so we can come to a righteous decision."

"You are a monster!" One tribesman interrupted.

"We will never listen to someone like you!" shouted another.

A chorus of shouts began. Karma and Druva exchanged looks as Ahinara looked lost. Karma started but the prince remembered himself and raised an arm for silence. "If you are willing to listen then I, prince Ahinara, am willing to grant your demands."

"We want you to leave and never steal this and nearby tribes land again," the old chieftain spoke for the first time.

"The land of your tribe is rich in mayastone, a resource important to us. The Pahrya Empire will offer you much more if you become a part of it. Trades that will grow your tribe so rich you won't have to worry about food. Food, clothes and pieces of jewellery from different parts of the world." He nodded and a group of men laid out trays bearing the riches he just mentioned.

"These things belong to your few elites," Tashshi said with his arms crossed.

"You must have heard of the social system our empire works on. Each person is given a place of his birth order as they should be. If you join now, you can be reborn as whatever rank you choose. As you have none now."

"No thank you," Tashshi said. "Vasha created every creature with no rank, you respect nature, and nature respects you. This is what our tribe believes in."

The old chieftain considered quietly. Then said, "Swear an oath that you will provide everything you have offered. And I will give my tribe to you."

"What!" Tashshi gaped at the old man.

"You are a man of practical wisdom who immediately recognized the good," Ahinara said, maintaining his calm tone. "My priest will see to the necessary rituals."

He turned to go, blocking out protests from Tashshi.

Karma jogged behind him. "Well, this is a big achievement."

"Our supply of stones is secure now. We don't have to worry about running out of them anytime soon. Good thing the old chief easily agreed after seeing his profit," Ahinara said. He did not stop pacing away. Guards followed behind by a little distance.

"What? No. I meant what you did was glorious and honourable, convincing them to join with words alone. We were going to have a large number of dead. Wait, did we conquer them only for the stones?" Karma said.

Ahinara stopped and turned back. He was shorter and slender with a pointed chin and eyes stretched like a north-easterner. Karma's hair was short and ruffled. Ahinara's were long and braided. He also wrapped a black cloth with colourful design over his chest. To anyone else, he looked reserved, cold and calculating.

Karma and Druva knew he was just soft and timid. Working hard to fulfil his role as a warrior-born and heir to the throne.

Today, he was actually withdrawn. "No."

He walked on, ignoring Karma.