Cultural Exchange Ch. 01

Everyone stood up while I was using a flat stone to gather sand and pour it over the campfire, not only killing the flame, but preventing it from giving out any more smoke.

Ralya ordered me to go to her, and then the rest of the party took positions around us: the lancers in front, the swordsmen at the sides, and the archers behind us. At one move of her hand, all of us started walking.

I had Ralya at my left and Elam at my right. I nodded at him and said with faked seriousness, "I leave my safety in your hands, Sol'Elam." He groaned slightly and Sil snickered.

The landscape, as well the hours, passed us by slowly, so I was looking everywhere for anything to start a conversation and kill some time. Did I say before that their armors were all the same, save for the chest? Well, forget that. As they were sitting down I didn't think to look at their legs. Both sexes had the same armored boots with knee protection, but where the men had leather trousers, the women had leather stockings to half thigh and a white, long loincloth.

You may ask, "Why is he ogling Elven girls when he stated before that women had treated him like shit?" The answer has two points: One is that Human women have treated me like shit, and the other is that my psychologist says that the lack of affection while raising me has resulted in making Love is one of the highest things in my scale of values. That's why I keep trying. Because I firmly believe that failure only comes when you surrender and stop trying.

I was looking at Ralya when the idea crossed my mind. "Van'Ralya, do you mind if I ask you why you don't carry a sword or any other weapon? It strikes me as odd to see you dressed in armor but carrying no weapons with you. Or is it that you are some kind of sorceress?"

She nodded "no" with her head before starting to explain. "My primary specialization is Nun, a female Monk. We are forbidden to use normal weapons. Instead of that, Monks and Nuns from the Mountain Elves learn Tang'Shu." She moved her hands to her back, only to take them out covered in gauntlets that had been hidden inside her cape. Finger less, metallic gloves to half forearm with sharp blades in the back of the hand and short claws in the knuckles. "We use these gauntlets to practice what you would call..." She frowned a moment looking for the word. "Mixed Boxing? Fist fighting mixed with a few leg moves. Tang'Shu combines mixed boxing with a form of shamanism. We summon certain spirits and allow them a limited possession of our bodies so they can help us in combat. For example, the style of the Hare Totem increases our ability to dodge, and the style of the Bear Totem increases our defense and our capacity to deal stronger blows."

I was momentarily dumbfounded and she noticed the expression in my face. I immediately tried to rectify. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful in any way. It's just that this is the first time I have heard someone to speak so casually about Magic, like it was an everyday thing."

Ralya nodded her understanding. "Well, to us, magic is an everyday thing. Even you could be found capable in certain branch of magic and educated in its use."

Now that's something to think about: little old me turned into a wizard throwing fireballs with my staff. In that moment I felt like a kid dreaming about Christmas presents.

I wanted to ask her about the words Elam and Sil has used earlier, those that my pill hadn't been able to translate earlier, but I didn't dare to. Both of them were really close and in the hearing range of all the group, so it could create a really awkward situation.

Instead I decided to just keep looking at the landscape (including the movement in Sil's butt walking) and thinking about what would be a good question for the next topic of conversation.

That's right when I saw my first indigenous creature. Something so incredible that my brain had to admit it slowly and by stages.

First I saw the red eyes glowing in the clear of the forest. Then I saw that those eyes belonged to a Panther. A Black Panther around the height of a Pony. A Black Panther high as a Pony with its back covered in natural armor. And another two pairs of glowing eyes above it made me realize that this creature had another two heads, similar to Moray Eels protruding like tentacles from its shoulders.

Remember what I said about attractive predators? Well fuck that. This thing was plainly fucking scary.

Elam tried to jab me with his left hand without stopping to look ahead, what ended up in him slamming my shoulder with his shield. Then he spoke fast and low. "It's a Kharnager, don't look at it directly or it will take it as a challenge. We may not be able to bring it down without receiving some severe injury."

I whispered my answer while forcing my head to keep looking at the front. "I know it's fucking big and that it's well armed and protected naturally. But how can it be so much dangerous for seven trained warriors?"

Elam looked at me as if I was plain stupid and then answered with his voice filled with disdain. "Because it is not only well geared for physical combat, it has a magical ability called 'Shadow Walk'. Kharnagers can physically sink in any patch of shadow as if it was water. And then, as if they were part of some kind of underwater network, emerge from any other shadow to attack from almost any direction you can imagine. That, if you have not noticed yet, is the reason why we are walking faster. Before he decides hunting us eight is a good enough challenge." He turned his head to look at me directly, and the bones of his neck cracked lightly to prove the tension he had been putting into not enraging the predator. "It would feel vastly disappointed with you."

My patience with this asshole was running lower by the minute.

We didn't slow down our pace in around one hour, until the group wasn't fairly sure the Kharnager hadn't been following us by using its Shadow Walk.

The sun was starting to set. The sky was turning orange in front of us and I, just for curiosity's sake, looked back to see the phase of the moon.

And if the Elves and the monstrous creature of the forest weren't enough hints, the sky also told me that I was in a totally different world. There were two moons rising up the sky. One of them seemed to be pink and a little bigger than our dear white moon. The other was crystalline green and at least the double size of the pink one.

Before I could comment something, Ralya's voice sounded loud and clear at my side. "Company, when we leave the next cross roads behind at a secure distance, we set camp for the night."

Content sighs of relief came out from almost everyone. And their steps became a little more springy with the promise of food and rest.

Then, as we approached the cross roads, I felt a knot in my stomach that had nothing to do with hunger. I was feeling a pressure similar to when the Kharnager was watching us earlier. I cleared my throat to attract as much attention as possible and spoke warily. "Why is it that all the animals in the area have gone silent?"

At that, Elam snapped before anyone could answer and snapped at me with contempt bordering open hate. "Because there is a damned Kharnager in the area. They have gone silent for the sake of not attracting attention form the predator." He looked to his front again and mumbled in a way that made his words perfectly clear. "Damned Qui'Leh just arrived in this world and he thinks he can lecture us even when he is less than a child. We should tie his neck and drag him like the animal he is"

The whole company froze in their steps and looked askew at Elam.

I was frozen too for a second, but I was gonna answer him, and I saw that Sil was about to do so, too.

But our answers were stopped in our open mouths at the sound of the slap Ralya administered in Elam's face.

He was just dumbstruck, rubbing his cheek, when Ralya spoke to him. "Apologize for your insolence to our new brother."

Elam looked back at Ralya with angry eyes, straightened his shoulders, and answered slow and clearly. "I may apologize to you, but I am not going to apologize to a Qui'Leh. He is no brother of mine, just a savage sent to spy on us."

Ralya slapped Elam again before speaking in a more menacing way. "He has come to live between us. He has come to learn our ways. He has received a novice hunting knife so he can prove himself and become one of us. By all standards, save by blood, he is now one of us. Call him Qui'Leh again and I will challenge you personally."

Elam's face went white (or as white as it can get when you are naturally tanned.) and started stuttering in search for a response.

I took the chance to ask. "What does Qui'Leh mean, exactly?" I said, fighting with the pronunciation. "It seems that it didn't enter the linguistic treatment I received before coming here."

Ralya sighed at my question, obviously awkward with it. "In ancient times, when the Elven kind were young and unified, the Qui'Leh were a race of simian creatures very skilled at ambushing and attacking long range. They were close to conquering us and turning us into their slaves. In fact, they are the cause of the division in the race of the Elves. Some of us stood and fought in the plains, giving birth to the High Elves. Others learned to ambush and hunt in the forest, becoming Sylvan Elves. Our ancestors moved into the mountains, where the work of building fortresses and protecting them made us physically strong and tanned our skin. Some others went down into caves to study dark branches of magic, becoming Cave Elves or Elves of the Deep. And the last faction trusted in El'Dara's favor and stood close to lakes and rivers. They ended up becoming Undines, or River Elves as the Humans call them. Now that we talk about it, the Empress of all of the Elven kind is always an Undine."

After thinking for a second, I said, "Why would I feel offended for being called like that? Well, I obviously don't like being called monkey, but I don't really see it as more than an insult a child would use."

Someone snorted behind us before Ralya answered me. "Because given the fact that the Qui'Leh haven't been seen in this world for millenniums, there are those who think that they found a way to enter one of the World Towers and that your kind are not really Humans, but descendants of the Qui'Leh."

I turned slowly to look at Elam and ask him in calm, controlled tone of voice. "Please. Tell me, Sol'Elam. In what way do I deserve your hatred for what you race suffered tens of centuries before I was born?"

Elam grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, ripping it in his rage, and opened his mouth sucking air to scream at me.

But he never could do so.

With a zzuuumm, a wet noise and a splash of blood, an arrow came from behind us and pierced his neck from back to front.

In that instant, his last act was to take my hand and put it in the hilt of his sword. Someone screamed, "Ambush!"

In a sort of daze, I realized that it had been me the one who had given the warning.

Another arrow came flying and punched the shield of the swordsman that was behind me. One more came flying toward me. Our own archers found out the source of the enemy arrows and started shooting back.

Muffled, hissing screams came from the top of two trees. Quickly I untied the knife from my belt, tightened Elam's shield in my arm and tied the knife with its scabbard in the inner side of the shield.

I had just finished doing this when a force of huge green humanoids came out roaring from the edges of the forest.

My guards came into action.

Ralya took out her gauntlets and screamed. "I call forth upon the Spirit of the Bear to grant me his strength and resistance!" And I swear that I could see the smoky figure of a bear roaring silently while its shine faded at the same time it entered Ralya's back. Then she punched her first enemy in the face without giving him time to raise any defense.

The archers shifted their positions to cover our rear, firing round after round against the enemy. The swordsman and both lancers were already exchanging blows with them. I could see Sil deflecting an attack and using the momentum of her movement to turn her weapon and hit her opponent in the jaw with the mace-like end of her spear, making green blood spurt from his mouth.

Then I heard a scream from my left. Three creatures had ganged up on Ralya and taken her to the ground.

I looked terrified and disgusted as two of them had her immobilized, keeping her legs open for the largest one as he loosened his belt to enter in action with her.

I stood up and charged shield first to the boss and jumped with the whole weight of my body to embed the edge of my shield into his neck, throwing him to the ground.

Then I saw the one at my left, jumping to strike with the whole weight of his body.

I shifted my shield slightly to a side to make the attack slide across the surface. Neither my shield nor my arm broke, but I felt almost instantly my shoulder starting to go numb.

I took that chance to throw the tip of my sword at him. It slid along the face plate of his helmet to enter the eye visor. I was just lucky.

I could feel through my arm how the tip of my weapon collided with the bone entering the skull.

Instant death.

Ralya was fighting the one that was still trying to keep her to the ground when the boss stood up spitting moss-green blood and words in his guttural and brutal tongue.

For sure he was not praising me.

He slammed the bone handle of his axe against his shield taunting me to attack first, but I moved slowly sideways looking for an opening in his guard.

Then a gurgling scream behind me told me that Ralya had finished her last opponent.

A silence fell upon us. I was the last one fighting and everyone was looking at us. It all happened in the few seconds before they could come to my aid. The big leader charged at me with a vertical attack from his axe, but I barely avoided it by jumping back. He imitated my shield punch and struck me in the chest. I don't know what madness took over me, but I rushed at the ugly creature, feinting a thrust to his chest to make him raise his shield. He fell in the trap, I locked my shield with his. I dropped my sword, and used my right hand to take out the knife from inside the shield and stab my enemy twice in the gap between the shoulder armor and his helmet.

The first hit entered his throat cleanly, severing his windpipe. I felt the second one scratching his vertebrae before piercing between two of them and breaking the medulla.

He fell to the ground, taking with him my knife. I was still in some kind of combat shock. I screamed incoherently and waved my shield around when someone touched my shoulder.

I heard words said in a soothing tone, but I could not understand them. Now that the fight was over, my mind was reliving the whole fight, the things I had seen, the things I had done.

I untied the shield, letting it fall along with the scabbard of my knife. Then I stumbled across the path to the edge of the forest, using a hand to support myself against the trunk of a tree before leaning to vomit noisily on the grass.

I stood there an undetermined time until I could more or less present myself again in front of the others. All of them were inspecting the zone of the fight searching for clues.

All of them but Sil, who was crying and screaming loudly with her face pressed against Elam's chest.

I had a chance to examine the enemy dead. Ralya called them Orcs, and they were very much like the fantasy creatures I thought of. They had olive green skin, and even though they were taller than me, their arms were longer than their legs. They had small red eyes and wide, square jaws with thick fangs coming out form the lower jaw. Their wide chests were covered by crude iron plates tied together with animal skins, and their hands grabbed unrefined stone and metal axes and shields made from thick tree barks reinforced with bands of iron.

I had no idea how I had managed to not only stay alive, but overcome these enemies. Then I realized that I must have dug up memories of the many movies, novels and video games that had helped me survive. Remembering a T.V series about King Arthur and the way Lancelot trained some soldiers had led me to untie the knife from my belt, tighten Elam's shield in my arm and tie the knife with its scabbard in the inner side of the shield, between the plate and my arm. Lancelot had taught his recruits that it would be hidden from view and would be more comfortable to draw in case of need. When I needed this tactic, my mind brought it forth.

I realized that in the fight against the boss Orc, I had used movements I had seen from the character Sophitia from the video game series Soul Calibur, dropping my sword and using my now free right hand to take out the knife from inside the shield and stab my enemy twice in the gap between the shoulder armor and his helmet. Again my memories sprang forth when needed. I was amazed that I, an untrained fighter, had been able to draw tactics and skills out from my subconscious during the frenzy of battle.

Quickly we did what had to be done. With hard work we were able to separate the bodies and all of us started gathering our things to march at full speed in case the they had any kind of reinforcements.

I was looking for my knife when Ralya handed me the belt with Elam's sword sheathed, along with his shield. "I have something I have to do with your knife, Sol'Brandon, so use Sol'Elam's gear. You have proved yourself more than capable to wield it."

"Are you sure it is appropriate for me to have it?" I asked cautiously sending a meaningful look at the poor Sil. She was still trembling and trying to keep herself from busting into tears, but she used all of her strength to nod 'yes' at me with a broken smile.

"I appreciate your delicacy, but we may be attacked again. Please, gear yourself up so we can get moving as soon as possible."

I rapidly fastened the belt around my waist and once again I tied the shield to my arm while I heard Ralya whispering into Sil's ear. "We have no choice but to leave him here for now. But for my name and rank, I promise you he will rest in his home." She just nodded before taking up her spear and moving to her post in the formation.

I had an idea concerning Elam's body, so I offered it to Ralya, as she was the boss of the group. "Van'Ralya..." I was immediately stopped by her finger on my mouth.

"You and I have something serious to talk about, Sol'Brandon, but that will have to wait. For now, I inform you that you have my permission to drop the honorifics when we are not in an official act. Now, what did you want to ask?"

It took me a second to reorder my ideas after what she had told me before talking. "Well, first I thank you for your permission to speak to you more closely, you too can stop using them with me if you want to. Second, I just noticed that since the fight ended, you have started addressing to me with 'Sol' instead of 'Veil'."

"That is due to the fact that you have slain in single combat a Chief Orc and one of his guards in front of six witnesses. According to our traditions, that is several times more than necessary to prove you a man of worth and an adult before our eyes."

I felt my face blushing and I shifted my weight awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Didn't you see how I threw up after the fight? It was my first time in a real combat." I moved in closer to her and lowered my voice. "What are we going to do with Sol'Elam's body?"

Ralya rubbed her arm where one of the Orcs had held her. "It is a problem. We cannot take him with us, and if we leave him here, scavengers or worse thing will take it."