Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (11 page)

Oaka looked stunned as well, although a bit
green. Hopefully he wasn’t going to throw up again.

“
Where have you been,
Fato?” Basha asked, out of obligation, and curious as well when he
wanted to find out if the falcon had traveled far. “And what are
you doing up there?”

“
I’ve been looking around,
now keep quiet!” Fato hissed at him, never minding that the sound
of the crowd swallowed up just about everything else around. The
bird was hunkered down, looking into the dirty little window,
except for when he turned his head around to face the two young men
below. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but there’s something
you two should see in here.” He said. “It involves that girl from
yesterday, and it could be very dangerous.”

“
Monika?” Basha said as he
and Oaka looked at each other, both taken aback by Fato’s
statement. The roar of the crowd seemed to be getting louder, as if
there might be a victor after all.

“
That girl?” Oaka asked,
horrified as he turned away from Basha. “The one that tried to beat
me up? No thanks,” He said, shuddering. “I don’t want to get
involved with her again,” He said, turning to his younger brother.
“Right, Basha?”

Basha frowned, however, and turned to ask
Fato, “What is she doing?” He did not want to get involved in this,
whatever it was, any more than Oaka did, but he just had to know
what was going on in there before he decided.

“
She’s talking to a couple
of guys, four or five, six.” Fato said, tense as he frowned at what
he saw happening inside. “They don’t look very smart, nor do they
look very friendly. She’s got a sword, but she’s definitely
outnumbered by these six other men and they have swords too.” Fato
said.

The falcon usually seemed not to be
perturbed by anything, except for what was dire. Basha thought Fato
had taken a keen interest in this case, and perhaps they should as
well. He wondered again what Fato had been doing this past day, if
he had been following around Monika instead.

The crowd started growing restless, chanting
something over and over again.

“
Oh, come on, you don’t
think we should…”

“
Are they just talking?”
Basha asked Fato. If this was serious, if they should act like Fato
seemed to want them to…he was not sure that they were ready for
such a fight. He did not pay any attention to Oaka just
now.

“
It looks like they’re just
talking, but, you know, it looks like the type of talk you have
when you are about to face an opponent,” Fato said, turning towards
Basha with alacrity. “Sizing up their strengths and weaknesses,
determining where to attack first, that sort of thing.” He said.
Fato seemed to be challenging them.

Basha felt his hand slipping down towards
the pommel of his sword in its sheath, fingering it.

“
Basha, you don’t think…you
don’t want to get involved in any of this.” Oaka said, laughing
nervously. “You don’t want to get involved in any sort of fight
where you might actually get hurt, do you?”

Basha said nothing as Oaka exclaimed, “We
just got out of one like this!” pointing back towards the tent,
where it seemed like another fight had broken out, this time in the
crowd with the way the tent-sides were wavering back and forth. But
he also meant the inn brawl, and the Black Wolves. Basha stood
there, thinking to himself how had he gotten here in the middle of
all this, with everything breaking down around him?

“
Basha, she’s stepping
back, and reaching for her sword!” Fato exclaimed.

Basha said, “But that
was a brawl, not a fight
,
a brawl of pain and pleasure,
not for anything significant.”

“
Basha, she’s saying
something sternly.”

“
And the inn was the
same, but the Black Wolves
…
Sir Nickleby saved us so that we
might be safe, and continue on,” Basha said. “And
Monika
,
what is she doing here? What is she doing here that could be
so important as to risk her own life?”

“
You don’t know anything
about this.”

“
Oaka.”

“
It might not break out
into a fight.” Oaka said. “It could be meaningless, and not at all
important for what you know.”

“
They’re reaching for their
swords, boys!” Fato exclaimed.

“
It could be her fault!”
Oaka shouted. “It might be that she deserves to be
killed!”

“
Oaka, shut up!” Basha
shouted back at him. “No one deserves to be killed, especially if
they have done nothing wrong, nothing important, that is,” He said
before Oaka could object that she probably had done something
wrong. “She is a person like any other.”

“
They’re doing it, they’re
doing it, they’re attacking her!” Fato cried, turning around to
face them. “Help her!”

“
We have to help her!”
Basha shouted at Oaka. “Malakel it, it’s a matter of courage and
honor!” Basha said before he quickly unsheathed his sword and
opened the warehouse door.

Basha and Oaka charged into the warehouse,
Oaka convinced more by Basha’s action than by his speech, when
Basha was doing exactly what he said he would do, and someone
needed to be by his side for this, to protect him from his ‘idiotic
failings’. The others looked up and turned their heads, surprised
and staring. There was a sound then, somewhere in the warehouse,
perhaps a hush descending over the proceedings? The six fellows
toward the back of the warehouse stood at attention with their
swords drawn, and Monika stood at attention in front of them as
well with her sword drawn, but this time she definitely was
outnumbered and she also had a different stance. The other fellows
were sort of lopsided and hulking, always with one shoulder blade
raised at least, but Monika stood in a manner similar to Basha when
he was prepared to attack, though her sword arm was lower.

“
What are you two doing?”
Monika cried.

“
Get them!” The leader of
the six-some cried, and the others charged forward as
well.

“
We are here to rescue
you!” Basha yelped as they clashed, sword upon sword. Was someone
screaming?

“
Oh, that’s sweet, now get
down!” Monika cried as the leader, having diverted them, knocked
down some crates to obliterate them. Basha and Oaka both just
managed to escape, with Monika having already jumped out of the
way, just in time with one of the other fellows getting hit
instead, smashed into by heavy debris.

“
Emph!” Basha said,
slamming against a wall, with Monika shouting, “You two should
never have come in here!”

“
We already figured that
out!” Oaka shouted, getting up as he was forced to defend himself
again. “Fire! Fire!” He kept repeating, for some reason, but
nothing happened.

“
Follow me!” Monika cried,
advancing on the enemy as Basha lied there, stunned and unable to
move for a moment. He wished that he was somewhere peaceful
instead, a place where he wouldn’t be disturbed; someplace where he
wouldn’t have to fear or worry, someplace where he could feel safe,
warm, and welcome instead. He didn’t even get that at home. He
turned his head, and saw that a crate had busted open next to him.
Something was sticking out of it, something that he needed in that
moment.

Basha crawled over there, and reached in,
grabbed it, a black sheath, and removed a sword, but unlike any he
had ever seen. The blade was curved like a fang, a saber-tooth
thick in width even down to its tip with a broad sloping arc,
although it was short, barely more than two feet in length. The
blade was sharp and seemed to be made with the finest quality of
steel available. Wavy lines seemed to be forged within the steel
itself, although it was a bit faded with age. What was this thing?
For some reason, despite its grim exterior and purpose, it
comforted him, made him feel safe.

High above, Fato looked down upon the
proceedings. “Is that…no. No way, no, no, no.” Fato hissed to
himself, watching Basha unsheathe the new sword from its scabbard.
He did not even realize what he was saying, but he knew that this
was wrong, that this should not be happening, that…Fato closed his
eyes, overwhelmed by the sense that he was reliving one of the
worst moments in his life.

Basha dropped his old sword, which did not
bother him in the least, as the old sword did not fit him, nor did
it feel comfortable enough for him anymore, it did not feel safe.
There was a guttural sound, as if people were talking in the
distance. He beheld the blade of his new sword, which felt right to
him, his hand grasping the leather grip that seemed to be almost
black, and he felt something that he had not felt since the first
time he had kissed Jawen, or the last time; he felt something roar
into life inside of him.

“
I am Basha, and I bind
this sword to me, and I need help.” He said, as he turned and
twisted, striking the blade of the sword being swung at him by one
of the bandits with his new sword’s blade. He got up onto his feet
and swung back, without much effort, using the skills taught to him
by Sir Nickleby, yet he was guided by something else.

The blade of the new sword he used just
seemed to know when and where to strike, to topple down the bandit,
the man, within a matter of moments, bleeding all over the floor.
Basha gasped, looking down at the man…was he dead? Fato screeched.
Another man…Basha defended himself again, this time not quite
trusting the process as he was hesitant in his moves, yet still he
understood; this blade seemed to know how to dispatch an opponent,
not quite kill him, but still severely wound him. Basha saw the
actions, and he did not recognize one or two of them, advance moves
he had not learned from Sir Nickleby…what was this?

Fato flapped his wings, and continued
screeching, panic-stricken. Why wouldn’t he shut up? Basha
wondered. It was starting to get annoying.

Two men down, one…Basha turned, Oaka was
severely pinned down, he could sense that even before he saw it,
and he rushed over to attack the man attacking Oaka.

“
Basha, what…” Oaka said,
and then his eyes widened as he saw the two previous opponents
lying behind Basha. He turned, and watched Basha dispatch another
opponent.

“
This isn’t you...” Oaka
slowly backed away.

Basha gasped, and turned; he stared at
Monika, who already had dealt with her own opponents, and now was
watching the proceedings like Fato was. “What have you done?” She
asked, not looking at him, but staring at his new sword
instead.

There were other people
here
. “I needed help...” He said, still
slightly stunned as the warehouse doors opened. Fato finally
stopped screeching, a blessed relief, Basha thought as he lowered
his new sword. He turned around, and a group of men in uniform came
in. He recognized their uniforms, from Sir Nickleby’s descriptions
and from seeing them from afar once or twice, as belonging to those
of the Border Guards. Basha tucked the sword behind his back, not
certain if…

Their commander, a major, stormed forward.
“Monika, what have you done?” He cried. “You were supposed to trap
them until we came in here!”

“
And you were late!” Monika
said. “You were supposed to come in here when I needed help, not
leave me alone until I was about to be killed.” She then pointed at
Basha and Oaka. “And then these two just burst in here!”

Basha and Oaka stood to the side, watching
and listening to all of this in confusion as something flapped over
their heads. Basha was trying to concentrate on the conversation,
but other things swam into his focus; the smells, the horrible
smells, the people crying or else being really silent, their
breaths held in expectation as they tried not to move.

“
We saw them come in here,
we didn’t know if they were after you too or if…” The major shook
his head. “Drop your swords!” He ordered.

Basha and Oaka did just that, raising their
hands up above their heads as Basha hoped they wouldn’t take away
his sword. He lost focus on everything else but what was happening
in front of him.

“
Get the others chained
up.” The major instructed one of his men.

“
They weren’t after me,
they were rescuing me!” Monika sarcastically said. “Or so they say.
One of them, Basha here, I met him a couple of months ago in Coe
Baba. Decent sort of fellow, or so I thought, but I didn’t expect
him and his brother to be here today, following me. And he did most
of the damage here!”

Basha was hurt by what she had to say, but
he also was thinking…oh, Tau, what had he done here, thinking of
those three men he had dispatched, and how easily they had
fallen...

“
We weren’t following you!”
Oaka said. “We didn’t have a clue where you were! We were attending
the fight next door, and then we had a falcon…” He
groaned.

“
A likely enough story for
idiots!” The major paused. “Who’s laughing?” He yelled, looking
around.

“
Me, major!” A voice
called, and they all looked up at the falcon perched on top of one
of the crates. “My name is Fato the falcon, royal messenger bird
extraordinaire. I led these boys in here. I told them what I saw
from that window over there, and I was the one who followed this
girl Monika in the first place, not because of them. My oath as a
royal messenger bird of King Sonnagh, major, their story is true.
They just happened to be here, innocent bystanders who decided to
give aid.”