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I landed in the center of my home village with Angeni and her five warriors: Chula, Genesee, Huyana, Tama, and Yareli.



The village elders, five old men who were held even higher than the orendi, came hobbling out to greet us with frowns and furrowed brows.

“Merry met, Great Fathers.” I took a knee and bowed to the “honored” old men. Angeni and her warriors dropped to a knee and followed my lead.



“Mayanki, what do you mean by bringing the sky-devils here?” the high-elder, Somas, asked incredulously.



“Great Father, a war has started and we need your help.”



“What?!” The four other elders argued amongst themselves. “What do you mean by bringing your sky-devil problems to us? We are a peaceful people, Mayanki! We want no part of your evil Sky Father-worshipping devil work.”



“Great Father, it is our war.” I stood and indicated the village, where children and the curious were gathering to see the agarats. “The Mar’Nitsi around the coast are being attacked.”



“Then stop attacking them,” one of the other elders said, arms crossed.



“It is not the Kel'revn'k, but the Sha’Nerath. The water folk are destroying the Mar’Nitsi villages.”



“What’s going on?” A little boy ran up to me and poked my calf.



His mother ran up and grabbed him away, and I realized the entire village had gathered. I turned to address them instead, hoping to get through to the people.



“The Sha’Nerath have begun attacking Mar’Nitsi around the coast.” Gasps came up around the crowd, as well as whispers. “We have seen no evidence of survivors, even within prison camps. We know they are slowly moving inland. We have attempted to halt their movement, but were cut down. We need your help.” The crowd began grumbling. “Brothers and sisters, I was raised among you. I am Mayanki, the strange child. I have come to learn that my heritage is not Mar’Nitsi, but Kel’revn’k. That does not change who I am, only what. You helped raise me. As such, I owe you all my life. I would like to repay your kindness by serving as a mediator between the Mar’Nitsi and the Kel'revn'k. The Sha’Nerath have swelled to numbers that can easily overcome both our peoples. In order to save ourselves, we must stand together.”



“Why should we listen to a sky-demon?” The high-elder pushed forward and pointed angrily at us. “They worship the Sky Father and ride atop DEMONS!” He waved his arms at our agarats.



“My Shino is NOT a demon!” Tama started for the elder, but I held her back.



“Great Father, our agarats are not demons. They are gentle creatures except when in danger. If all creatures, even your plowing horses, are gentle except when threatened, are they all demons as well?”



“No, but they fly!”



“So do birds. Are they evil too?”



“Well, no…but…”



“Great Father,” I walked over to Itzel, “if I allow you one ride on Itzel,” I patted her flanks, “Would you be willing? I promise, you will be in no danger.” Itzel leaned down to allow him to mount her.

COMMENTS

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OrionPax
08:12 Mar 24 2010

man...ur gonna haveta help me pronounce every 8th word.lol.;)nice writing.i write a little myself.and paint and draw amd build woth legos.but the only one im good at is the legos..

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POST COMMENT

“DAMMIT, Angeni, what the hell was that?!” I paced back and forth in the meeting room. “Why didn’t we know about this?”



“I don’t know, Maya, I just don’t know.” She sat at the table, her face in her hands.



“What happened to our scouts?” I continued to pace, flailing my arms and yelling. “Did they completely miss the two HUGE SHELLS?! Or did they just forget to mention it?”



I stopped and looked at Angeni. “He could still be alive right?”



“No, Maya…” she sighed.



“I mean, he didn’t fall that far.” I continued to pace



“No, Maya,” she said with finality.



“He could still be alive.”



“Maya.” She stood up



“We should go try and find them!”



“Maya!”



“Let’s go!” I grabbed her arm, but she pulled me back.



“Maya, he’s gone.” She held my face.



I had to sit down. The tears ran anew. “He can’t be d-d-d-I can’t even say it! Angeni, he’s got to be somewhere! I can still feel him! He can’t be…”



“We lost a lot of good people back there, Maya.” She wiped away a tear running down my cheek. “Ajani was one of them. Finding his body isn’t going to bring him back, Maya.” I sobbed loudly into her shoulder.



She held my head up so that I looked into her eyes. “We WILL avenge him, Mayanki. Your love is strong enough to overcome death. When you reach the Great Weir, you will see your Ajani again. But until then, you must fight. Fight for Ajani, fight for Ampah, and fight for your warriors who died. But most of all, fight for those who still live. The Mar’Nitsi, the people who raised you, still need help. Fight for them. Fight, Mayanki, fight for everything you believe in.” She held her hand on my middle. “Fight for Ajani’s child. We need you, still, Maya. Fight with us.” I nodded my head.



She stood up. “My scouts tell me of a settlement of Mar’Nitsi holed up far inland, in the Shel’niri valley. Didn’t you come from there?”



I nodded.



“Then we need your help. We must convince them to fight. Do you think you can do that?”



I nodded again.



“Maya, can you do that?”



“I can do it.” I slowly stood.

I looked down to the oceanic invaders, their slimy, scaly skin glistening in the sunlight. Their numbers continued to swell from each village they conquered. I couldn’t understand it. I saw no Mar’Nitsi, only Sha’Nerath – water folk. Disgusting… They rode atop their mounts: horses that were scaly and slimy just like them. The horses trailed carriages and wagons, two of which were made of stone and nearly three times as large as the horses themselves. Six each had to pull these wagons.



I held up my fist. My clan of sky-warriors halted and looked down at the horde of evil sea-farers. We had one shot at this. There were about ten thousand of them and only about a thousand of us. We had the advantage, though. We had our orendi, our wise folk with us. Our orendi were warriors as well as magic workers; we could not lose.



I looked at Ajani to my left and Angeni, my lieutenant to my right. Their eyes mirrored mine. Ajani, my handsome Ajani, rode atop his beautiful Ampah. His Ampah and my Itzel had a clutch back at home close to hatching. Many of our Agarat – Dragon – Warriors had clutches at home, as did our Kel’revn’k Warriors. We were fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, riding off to save a world that we did not exist in, but knowing that if we did not save this world, ours would be next.



I looked back down at the mass of slow-moving, writhing multitude: they did not see the threat about to dive in and destroy their meaningless existence. I almost felt sorry for them. They were about to lose their lives, and they were oblivious. They were all mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons. I had to wonder if they believed in what they were fighting for, or if they even knew what they were fighting for. I pitied them. I almost gave the retreat signal. Almost.



I whistled.



My soldiers veered down and spread out in the arrow formations. The archers and the riders of warrior agarats – those whose breath froze a man in his tracks – flew at the arrow’s edge, and our orendi flew in the center, blasting the arrows with their magic, helping them fly true.



Ajani and Angeni led their elite warriors to swoop in and take out the head of the horde.



The arrows flew, hitting their marks. Frozen smashed corpses littered the ground. I looked at the riderless agarats, those who were too old to match with a child, but too young to match with warriors. I patted Itzel on her flanks and she bellowed. The riderless agarats dove.



I watched as the frenzied Sha’Nerath ducked, dove, and scurried for their weapons, many of which didn’t reach. Within the first ten minutes, we had dropped their numbers by at least a quarter. This wasn’t a battle, this was a slaughter.



Ajani and Angeni returned to me with their warriors. There was no need for the elite; my regular soldiers were decimating these soft, gutless creatures. We watched as tens after tens were cut down by our least experienced warriors.



I was confused. It didn’t make any sense. Even the Mar’Nitsi, peaceful though they were, could have held their own against such weaklings. A wall made by the Mar’Nitsi orendi was nearly impassable by anyone without flight. Even a grounded agarat would have had trouble, and yet these slimy, scaly creatures seemed to have no trouble whatsoever. I searched the ground, the trees, the coast not but ten leagues away, and saw no reinforcements…and then I saw what was in those great stone wagons.



The coverings came off, revealing two great shells.



“Ajani, what is that?” I pointed at them.



Ajani said nothing but whistled to his men. They all flew straight at the horns.



Two of the Sha’Nerath hurried behind each of the shells. I heard nothing. Trees came crashing down as far as I could see. My warriors closest to it crashed to the ground



“AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Itzel’s bellows of pain nearly caused me to jump from her back. “They’re DYING!” she screamed in my head.



I looked back down. More and more of my warriors dropped out of the air. Ajani was heading straight for them.



“AJANI, PULL UP! IT’S A TRAP!”



He pulled on Ampah and tried to go up. He and his lieutenant, Gerai were the only ones of his elite warriors not to drop. Ampah and Gerai’s mount, Prakasha, flew haphazardly, as if they were stunned.



“Angeni, GO! Get your warriors out of here!” I waved them off and nudged Itzel down.



“I will not go down there,” Itzel said, the sadness in her voice mirroring my fear of losing Ajani.



“Itzel, they are in trouble!” I cried. “They won’t make it back! What about your clutch?”



“I will raise them.” She turned and flew to catch up with Angeni and her five remaining warriors.



I looked back through tear-blurred eyes at my Ajani. Ampah and Prakasha tried to follow. They went limp. They dropped. Ajani and Gerai spiraled down and crashed into the pile of what was once thought to be the best warriors on our planet.