Amazonia - Leaving Bukhara

Bells of Hades, I hate traveling the countryside with a hangover.

Last night was worth this morning's headache, though. While Troll and the Nomads helped Prince Timur's Bloodguards, Argat and Gur, carry Jebe's body out and arrange it for transport, Prince Timur sat with me and the rest of my Wardogs and began trading stories. Little Paulus woke up and found me, which led to my telling the story of Eurax wanting to change him into a girl against his will. As the others returned, the prince shared my righteous anger and indignation over the Empire of the East's decadence, then shared stories of his own children, two boys and a girl, along with warm words concerning both of his wives.

Then Titan and Asena began sharing war stories, and the rest of us listened until we either passed out from wine or staggered off to bed. Last night I learned more about Titan than I'd ever imagined possible. He'd been a general for Alexander the Magnificent, with Asena in the front lines of the attack that had broken the army of Indus, leading to its conquest. Even more fantastic, Asena forged the alliance of the Etruscan kingdom and Alexander, with Titan the general who defeated the Roma republic, despite their legions. Had Alexander not suffered that puncture wound, which he’d let fester until it was too late to save him, the world might be a completely different place.

But he died in Asena's arms and his Macedonian empire broke apart soon after. The Etruscans adopted many of the Roma ideas like their legions, while keeping it a kingdom led by the demigod Remus until he was overthrown and it became an empire... which in turn broke apart as well. Everything shatters into pieces eventually.

But not today. As we left Bukhara behind us, Paulus, my little tyrant, was sitting in front of Greywolf on the Shadow-walker's Daemo mount, an ugly beast resembling a six legged lizard without spines or a tail. As usual, he was peppering Greywolf with questions. "Why do you ride a giant lizard? Wouldn't a horse be better?"

Greywolf patted the side of his grey-green beast as we plodded along the dusty road. "A lot of caravans travel through lands where there isn't a lot of water. Rocky, being a Daemo, doesn't need any, and while he can't go any faster than a trot, it's rarely a problem in a caravan."

"Do you let it drink your blood?" Greywolf nodded, and Paulus screwed up his face. "Yuck."

The Daemo Mount's head swung back and gave Paulus a withering look before it swung forward again. "Daemo never need much," Greywolf patting the side of the creature's neck, "especially from someone like me." He lowered his voice. "Best be careful in what you say. Rocky's sensitive, and you might hurt his feelings."

Rocky's head swung back again and snorted just like Asena. "Oh, please."

Paulus' eyes went wide. "It talks!"

The Daemo rolled its eyes and looked forward again as Greywolf laughed. "All of the Daemo are intelligent, and most of them know our languages, even the creatures." He patted its neck again. "Rocky's been a good friend to me, and he's not the least bit afraid of the Shadowlands."

"Speaking of which," Karl said as we crested the top of a hill, "the ruined temple's just ahead." My Wardogs formed up alongside me as we looked down into the small valley below.

In its day, the temple must have been impressive, with Greco columns and white stone walls, a large dome overhead and fountains. Now, the fountains were dry and the columns fallen, choked with vines and other weeds, as were the walls. Pieces of the dome had fallen in while the rest was cracked. Yet in the center of all this ruin, a dead grey tree stood with nothing but bare earth in a large circle around it. Greywolf turned in his saddle. "It's best if everyone stays here while Fox and I walk down to the tree."

Greywolf swung down before reaching up to help Paulus off, who balked. "I don't want to stay here. I want to see the Shadowlands."

Titan plucked him off the mount and set him on the ground. "Best if you don't."

"We took a job with a merchant once who wanted to save time by traveling there," Asena said. "Along the way, we were attacked by Shadow Raptors, and before Greywolf and I drove them off, one of the caravan guards had his head lopped off." Asena made a cutting motion with a claw near the boy's throat, who flinched away. Asena smiled as she bent down. "Want to know what happened? He didn't die, but had to carry his head in his hands until we reached the next weak spot, where he did die when Greywolf opened a large gate again."

Troll made a face. "You're telling a tale."

Greywolf shuddered. "I wish. C'mon, Fox; grab your sword and let's go."

Fox, dressed like one of the Bukhara women with her midriff and feet bare, shook her head. "Since I don't know how to fight, I don't have one."

"You don't..." He blinked. "But what do you do when a Shadow creature goes after you?"

Fox shrugged. "Run."

Standing near us, Titan rumbled, "I plan to guard her should anything attack while we are in the Grey, as you Shadow-walkers call it."

Greywolf gave him a dubious look. "If you say so. Since no one's used this entry in a while we should be fine, but every time one of us opens a large gate into the Shadowlands, it sends vibrations out in all directions which alerts the Shadow creatures. Papa used to call it 'Ringing the dinner bell'."

Titan chuckled. "I actually know your father from a long time ago. He came out to watch Amazonia and I fight last year, and bought wine for the entire Ludus."

Greywolf's face lit up. "Is papa alright? What did he say?"

"Greywolf," Asena growled, "the day's not getting any longer."

"Yes, Asena." He grabbed his sword and led Fox down the hill towards the ruin, Fox asking him questions as they went. I swung down off my horse and stretched, Dancer taking the reins as I continued watching them.

Once they were out of earshot, Titan turned towards Asena. "You know Muzen might not be bluffing about the girl killing herself."

I expected Asena to deny it. Instead, she sighed. "What do you want me to do? If I give in to Muzen's demands, he’ll train Greywolf to be his assassin and corrupt my son once he's gotten me out of the way."

Prince Timur moved his horse closer towards us. "If we are to attack this Muzen, you could certainly take this Blood-Wysper as your slave, should you decide to come with us."

Asena glowered at him. "Prince Timur, I don't want to insult you, but I'm not letting that girl anywhere near my son. She's a mortal, and mortals die."

He shrugged. "Everything dies in time, even you Oldenbloods."

"It's time that's the problem. Greywolf's like I am; he's going to fall in love with her, and even if she doesn't die by violence, he's going to watch her grow older and older until she's finally gone. It'll tear his heart to shreds and I won't allow it."

"You mourn," Titan said in a quiet rumble, "and then you move on."

Asena shook her head. "No, you don't move on," she snarled. "You find another who loves your wildness and you watch them die. Then you lose another, and another, and even more, until every night the wine you drink to help you sleep wears off, and in the early hours of the morning you relive all their deaths. Oh no, I won't put my son through the same torment I've gone through, not if I can help it."

Dancer and I traded a troubled look as Argat called out, "Look, they've reached the tree."

Down the hill, Greywolf had his sword out, an Artifact blade shaped like a katana from the far east, and he seemed to be explaining something to Fox as he gestured. Nodding eagerly, Fox moved her hand towards a tree branch as they seemed to count down together: three... two... one... Both touched a tree branch and a wolf-like halo the size of Titan appeared around Greywolf for a moment before it vanished.

Like a rock hitting a still pond, a single ripple spread outward, robbing the area of color behind it as it moved in the space between one breath and the next, until it reached its limit. Fox and Greywolf were still visible, but moving incredibly fast, Fox's arm a blur of motion as she touched the... it's not a tree but a mass of tentacles! Then the ripple flowed back, color returning to the area as the tentacles became a dead tree once more. Fox waved her arms. "I did it," she shouted. "I've learned how to use the Grey." I smiled and wave back.

"Is she sure?" I could hear the frown in Prince Timur's voice. "Because if she is not, and we find ourselves trapped..."

The thought of being lost in the Shadowlands was enough to make me shudder. "Are you sure?" I yelled back, cupping my hands over my lips. "Try again by yourself."

They both waved, and Greywolf held his katana at the ready as Fox grasped a branch in her hand. The grey wave rolled out once more. Fox began darting about like a hummingbird, Greywolf seeming to laugh as Fox's arm whipped up... a hairless, birdlike creature the size of a mastiff darted towards them, Greywolf a spinning blur as Fox turns and ran... a split second fight, Greywolf chasing after Fox… and the grey wave rolled back as color returned. I raced down the hill as their movements slowed, their bodies losing their greyness as the creature flew over them like a ghost and vanished.

Fox collapsed on the ground, her face in her hands, and Greywolf knelt beside her as behind me, Asena roared, "Damn you, Daemo slut, I'm going to kill you!"

Greywolf looked up at me as I reached them and drew my sword. "Back off," I yelled, spinning around to face her as the rest of my Wardogs leapt off their horses. "To kill Fox you've got to get through me."

Asena roared in defiance, her claws extended and hair bristling as Titan yelled, "HOLD!" Asena glanced over her shoulder.

And tripped on a stone slab. She went sprawling, sliding across the surface and into a patch of weeds as I grabbed Fox and moved us to a more defensible position. Greywolf sheathed his sword and ran towards her. "It's not her fault," he said as she picked herself up. "The Shadow Raptor snuck up on us, but I scored its flank and it shot upward-"

Asena grabbed him by the front of his armor and flung him right towards a leaning stone column. He's going to hit it hard...

A grey oval appeared and he shot through it, the oval disappearing and reappearing a moment later in front of Asena. Greywolf stepped through. "If you're trying to keep me from getting hurt," he yelled, waving his arms, "you're picking a really strange way to do it." Asena snarled as she glared down at him.

Then she turned around and stalked back up the hill. Titan met her and reached out, but she snatched her arm away and continued stomping up towards the top. Titan shrugged and continued walking our direction as I sheathed my sword. "Greywolf-"

"I'm fine, not even a scratch, no thanks to Asena," Greywolf trying to curb his temper and failing miserably. "Is Fox alright?"

"It never touched me," she replied.

"Good." Greywolf drew a deep breath and shouted, "Because right now I need to kill something, not that you care." Asena made the gesture of her four fingertips touching her thumb and held it up, meaning she thought Greywolf was making an arse out of himself. Greywolf snarled as a gate formed and he stepped through it.

Turning around, Fox was trembling. "Domina-" Greywolf appeared, threw down his katana and sat beside it, crossing his legs with his back to all of us.

I put my hand on Fox's shoulder. "I need to know if I can trust you to stay with the group when we travel through the Shadowlands. If you panic and disappear-"

"I know, Domina. I... I think if Titan's guarding me, I'll be alright."

"Get someone with a large shield and crouch with him behind it," Greywolf said with his back still towards us. "Shadow creatures go for weakness, and usually won't attack a Shadow-walker if there's other people around, since we have power over the Grey. Wound a few, and they'll leave you alone."

"I wish you were coming with us," Fox said.

Greywolf hung his head between his knees. "I can't leave her or she'll die," he said in a quiet voice, "but I can't keep going on like this."

Titan knelt down beside him. "Your mother is caught between the cliff and the cavalry, terrified of making the wrong choice."

"No offense, Syr, but Asena's not afraid of anything."

"You might be surprised. She is terrified of losing you, yet even more terrified that you will make the same mistakes she did, and suffer the same regrets she must now live with."

Greywolf turned his head and looked up. "But it's my life she's interfering with. I should have the right to make my own mistakes and learn from them."

"Some mistakes you can't learn from until it's too late." I walked around Greywolf and knelt down on one knee in front of him. "When certain tribes of the Mauri people revolted against the Etruscans, I joined the Javelin Corps against my mother's wishes and learned to fight." I shrugged. "The rebellion was crushed and I ended up a slave in Thrace, sold to a Ludus and trained as a gladiator. Had I listened to my mother, I'd still be living in our village with a husband and children of my own."

"But you wouldn't have become a champion of the arena."

I unconsciously touched the piece of boiled leather protecting my throat. "I made the best of the fate I'd brought upon myself and never looked back. But I also listened when the other gladiators gave me advice, and acted upon it, so I didn't have to make the mistakes they'd learned from the hard way."

"Do you regret going against what your mother wanted?"

I couldn’t help but snort. "Maybe when I'm your mother's age I'll have time for regrets, but right now I'm too busy living my life and trying to stay alive." I extended my hand towards him as Titan stood up. "Now, grab your sword and let's get going before anyone else throws a tantrum."

Greywolf grabbed his weapon in one hand and let me pull him up with the other as Titan rumbled, "By the way, did you kill anything in the Shadowlands?"

A smile touched his lips despite himself. "The Shadow Raptor took one look at me, turned tail, and flapped away."

"Which is a lesson you have just taught me," Fox said. "Show no fear."

"True, unless it's a Night Hag," Greywolf said as he let go and the four of us started up the hill. "Then you run like a Daemo Oliphaunt was after you. Fortunately, they tire quickly, letting you escape if you..."

Greywolf went on as Titan gave me a satisfied look and held out his hand. I took it, the two of us walking hand in hand and smiling at each other in a rare moment of peace.