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XVI

The Battle (Day 115 on Tashoo)

Another nightmare is upon me. Even though I know they are not real, I can't help but fear them. What do they mean? Where do they come from? Why do I have them and why do they occur in two parts? Who are these people and creatures in the second part? When did these events occur? Did they occur? How do I find out? Will I ever find out? Please, somebody help me to find out.

In this dream, I am lying on my back on a red and blue checkered cloth. My head is lying in a woman's lap. I can't see her face, but I know who it is. I can feel her fingers stroking my hair and I feel mild ecstasy from the touch of her fingers. Through half closed eyes, I am looking up into the beautiful blue sky. I am wearing a light blue pull over shirt, tan cargo style shorts, white socks, and blue athletic shoes. I turn my head and I see my beautiful woman, Tyarza. She is dressed differently than she has been in my other dreams. She is wearing a loose fitting light tan blouse, white shorts that reach to the upper third of her thighs and leather sandals. Her blue-blond hair, which is blowing in the wind, and her yellow in blue eyes captivate me. I am drawn into her eyes; I am bewitched by her beauty. Her brown lips part in a smile that reveals her perfectly straight milk white teeth. She bends down as if to kiss me. However, before her lips reach mine, I notice a change in the weather. Suddenly, fog starts rolling in. It is a fine mist at first, that slowly becomes thicker and thicker until, she is little more than an image within the fog. As she fades from my sight, she says, "Please, Mvilu. Do not leave me. Do not die. I need you to be here for me. Please do not leave." Then, she is gone. But, as usual, she is replaced.

I find myself in the sterile interior of a spaceship. I'm back aboard the Khorchan scout ship. I'm in the company of and talking with Dreydos. We are talking about my last visit to the ship. Dreydos seems a bit agitated like he suspects me of something.

As this nightmare begins, everything goes black. It's the blackness of a coal-mine at midnight on a new moon type of blackness. Pinpoints of white light, light bright enough to hurt my eyes punctuated the blackness. "What happened?" crosses my mind. I sense I'm being moved. "What is happening to me?" I think. Even though I'm unconscious, I can hear quite plainly. The Khorcha are speaking their native language, which sounds a lot like grunts, hisses, and growls. Fortunately for me, I learned to speak Khorchan just before the war began. I did this because I, among others, had fears back then that we were on the verge of going to war with the Khorchan Empire.

Dreydos is talking. "Rokshe, did you have to hit so hard? Remember, these humans are a lot more fragile than we are."

"Drey, he knows the truth, and if he doesn't, he suspects the truth. I had to do something. Otherwise, he would have reported it to Admiral Yamashita."

"But, what if you killed him. How will we be able to explain that to Admiral Yamashita? I hear that these humans perform what is called an autopsy if one of their people dies without and explanation to try to find out how they died. I also hear that these human forensics experts, as they are called, are said to be able to figure out exactly how someone has been killed as well as where."

"Do not worry, Drey. We will think of something. I will think of something."

"You have to think quickly. If we get caught with his body on this ship, the Terrans will destroy this ship and our plans." There was a short pause, and then he said, "Look! He is still breathing! You didn't kill him after all. But, what can we do? Why did you have to agree so quickly to allow yourself to be memory enhanced?"

"I didn't think the whole truth about my childhood would come out. You were supposed to stop the recording before it was revealed that we are punished for getting caught, not doing something wrong."

"We have to get rid of his body. He also has to die. He learned too much about our experimental power plant. If he lives, and tells Admiral Yamashita, it will neutralize our newfound advantage."

"I know! First of all, we need to do the memory enhancement and allow the side effect of memory loss to take place. Then, we will take him to Tashoo. We can let the Mory take care of him for us. You know how they feel about humans. They will kill him and there will be nothing to implicate us. But, if, for some reason, they don't kill him and the Terrans rescue him, he won't know anything that could cause us trouble with his memory deleted. If Admiral Yamashita asks about him, we will just say that he mistrusted us so completely that he disobeyed orders and left. We have no idea where he could be."

"I don't know, Rokshe. After all, didn't he tell us several times that a good Terran military man obeys all legal orders and he didn't think that Admiral Yamashita's orders to assist us in our experiments were illegal? That explanation might not work. Why don't we just say that he wanted to see how fast a Khorchan scout ship was and asked us to take him for a ride on the ship? We will need to leave Terra to take him to Tashoo anyway. We could then tell Admiral Yamashita that the natives of the planet we visited attacked us in numbers too great to repel and Commander Watson was captured and most likely killed. We can also say the natives of this planet have been known to eat any enemy they kill to honor the enemy's strength. Does that sound plausible?"

"Possibly. But, it would sound more plausible if Commander Watson told the Admiral himself."

"How can he do that? He is unconscious."

"How long do I have to put up with your lack of intelligence, Drey? We have Commander Watson on video and speaking. All we need to do is have the computer to create a plausible video of Commander Watson informing the Admiral of his desires and the Admiral will most likely agree. Then we can take off, go to Tashoo, drop off the Commander and return with our story."

"Good idea. Oh! We have to hurry. He seems to be awakening."

The two of them drag me to the Memory Enhancer, strap me in and adjust the cranium cap. Just about this time, I come fully awake, although I feign unconsciousness. I watch Dreydos as he prepares the machine. Something doesn't seem quite right this time.

All of a sudden, Dreydos whispers something to Rokshesan and she looks at me. She says, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Commander. Prepare to have your memories enhanced." Then, she laughs that horrible Khorchan laugh that brings fear to the heart of the most stout-hearted of men.

I am watching as Dreydos performs the enhancement procedure. For some reason, it seems he isn't doing it the same way he did with Rokshesan. Dreydos is watching a dial at human eye level. He waits until the needle on the dial reads 95 before he pushes a large lever up. I feel a painfully strong current running through my head. I give out an involuntary grunt from the pain, but that's the only sound I could make. Dreydos steps over to another dial and waits until it reads 95, as well, then he turns a switch that, for some reason, I think isn't the correct one. Instead of hearing my memories being played on a radio speaker, I feel all my memories slowly disappearing until, thankfully, painlessly and finally, I'm unconscious. The last thing I hear as I slip into unconsciousness is a long, drawn out moan that sounds like the howl of a wolf.

I can feel myself tossing and turning in my bed. Another nightmare can only mean one thing; I will be going through another stressful day. It seems that the only time I have these nightmares is when I am about to experience stress or I experienced it the previous day. Yesterday was a day of relative calm for me, well, as calm as life as a slave can be, so that means that today will be stressful to me in some way. My moans are getting louder and louder. I can hear them even in my sleep, but I can't wake up. If I can hear them, then I know that everybody else in the house can hear them as well. Please wake up. Please, somebody, come and wake me up! Just as the last thought crosses my mind, I hear a scratching. I know it is Ara. However, I don't recognize her. But, as usual, I can't wake up from the nightmare. I won't be able to do so until Ara actually opens my door and calls my name.

I hear Ara's voice. She is calling my name. I can sense her approaching my bed. Please don't touch me, Ara. I don't know what I will do if you touch me. Wake up! Wake up before you do something you will regret! Then, as if on cue, my eyes spring open and there is Ara's face about a meter away from mine, just out of reach, thankfully. But, I see a look of sheer terror on her face as I reach for her. No, it isn't terror; it's fear. She grabs my wrists just in time to stop me. She is almost screaming my name now.

Just as suddenly as my attempt to possibly harm Ara ends, my terror goes away. I realize what almost happened and I am ashamed to even look at her. The closest thing to a mother I've had since I arrived in Talo-Vy was almost hurt by me. She looks at me with fear, not fear for herself, but fear for me. It is a motherly fear, a kind fear. It's a fear for my sanity; I can tell; I can see it in her eyes. Call it worry, if you will, but I call it fear. Her eyes, while full of shock at what I almost did to her, are not wide in terror. They are full of sadness.

I hear Ara speaking to me, "Mvilu, was it another of your dreams?"

I turn my head toward the wall because I can't look at her as I answer. "Yes, Ara. I am sorry. Even in my dream, I knew that it was you in my room. But, for some reason, I could not recognize you. In my terror filled mind, you were an enemy trying to harm me and I needed to strike before the enemy did. Please, let me be for a while. I need to compose myself before I can look at you. I am so very sorry."

"You have no need of apology, Mvilu. I understand better than you might imagine. I had to deal with Rora's nightmares when he was a chorothoo. But, I will let you be. I will be in the kitchen preparing the nakyvy whenever you are ready to eat."

"Thank you, Ara. I--I will be there shortly."

After about thirty minutes, I finally summoned the courage to dress and leave my room. I was still embarrassed and upset by what I almost did. I had to fight the burning sensation of tears as I dressed. Surely that incident should convince Rora and Ara that I am not this savior they continue to tell me I am. I just can't believe that this person, The One Who Will Unify, would attempt to harm someone that had befriended him. Because of this, it was difficult for me to leave my room, even after composing myself.

It was almost impossible for me to look at Ara or Rora. I must admit that Ara and Rora acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When I came to the table, I sat in silence. I only spoke when I was spoken to, which, unfortunately for me, was constantly, even Rora broke with normal Mory chohachy tradition and continually spoke to me. When I responded, it was normally in one or two word answers and most of those were words of one syllable. I know that the two of them were trying to show me that they understood. But, I didn't have any excuse for what I had done and I was embarrassed beyond words.

Finally, Ara said, "Mvilu, please stop clawing yourself over what you did earlier. And do not be afraid, it will not go beyond these walls. Rora and I know that the Ka'yno would use that as an excuse for attempting to do you harm. You know that is something that we will not allow. So, please, I beg of you stop scratching your eyes out over it."

I looked at Ara sadly and said, "I will do my best, Ara. It will not be easy. I have a hard time forgetting bad things that happen to, about and because of me, especially when they happen because of me. I cannot see how it is so easy for you to forgive me, but, if you can forgive me, then I will attempt to forgive myself."

"Thank you, Mvilu. Now, eat. You and Rora have a lot to do today and you cannot get it done if you do not eat."

I looked at her and smiled weakly and said, "Yes--Norotha." That brought out roars of laughter from both of them. That made me feel better and I even joined them in the laughter. I guess that even when I am not feeling my best, I can still make a joke.

After we ate, I was feeling a lot better and, therefore, I was ready to get to work planning the watering ditch. To do this, I needed Rora to accompany me as I plotted out the way the ditch would run around the village and garden. I had done some studying on my chronoputer and came to the realization that, even though a straight ditch would take less time to dig, I should put some small curves into the ditch so that any fish that decided to make the ditch their home would have places to hide. The curves were also necessary where the ditch would make any potential ninety degree turns.

I had gathered a number of small sticks, about seventy-five centimeters long, over the previous six days. My plan was to use the sticks to show the workers how I wanted the ditch to run. Even though I feared grumbling from the workers, I hoped that the presence of the Ka' Mu-Naka would assuage these grumblings until the workers saw how it would benefit the village. I also had to show where I wanted to put the bridges, the akatooeka. I was going to use a different type of stick for this; but, I decided to do that at a later time. I wanted the Ishoo'se Aka'ny and, possibly, the Ka'yno to assist me in the location of the akatooeka. I thought that they would better know the best places to put them.

I convinced Rora that we should start on the north garden end of the village at the river. However, it was difficult to convince him that we should dig the ditch at an angle of about thirty degrees back toward the village. He could not comprehend that, unless we dug the ditch my way, water would eventually change the course of the ditch from ninety degrees to the thirty degrees I wanted until, finally, I took some water and ran it down an incline to show him how water will, of its own volition, change direction by following the path of least resistance. When I had him convinced of my good intentions, I was pretty certain I could convince any of the other warriors that would be assisting in the digging of the ditch.

As Rora kept an eye out for any of the numerous dangerous animals in the forest, I started laying out my sticks. I doubted I had enough to do the whole job, but I could make a good start. I set them out, pointed end into the ground, about five meters apart. I had a bundle of about a thousand of these sticks. This meant, naturally, that I could only lay out about five kilometers of the ditch. This also meant that it would take me at least fifteen days just to lay out the ditch, if I only put out a thousand a day. But, I also knew that I had to show some kind of progress, or the Ka'yno would find an excuse to bring me back before the Ishoo'se Aka'ny and try to convince them to have me killed.

The five kilometers that I measured out brought us back to the edge of the garden. Even though we were still in a bit of danger, the wild animals having been known to attack workers in the middle of the fields, we felt we could let our guard down a bit. We talked about the things that Rora had learned from me today and were making plans for gathering more of the sticks and continuing the next day. As we walked along the edge of the clearing where the garden was, I observed that there were numerous sticks that would fit our needs making our future progress much quicker and easier. As I gathered these sticks, I kept thinking that I didn't remember seeing them when Rora and I were walking toward the river earlier in the day. These sticks were as perfectly straight as I could possibly want them to be and the perfect length. I also noticed that the area I was planning on digging the ditch suddenly seemed clear of trees. A five meter wide swath was absolutely free of trees and the trees within five meters of the clear lane next to the tree free zone seemed to be shrinking in size. I kept thinking that there had been plenty of healthy trees in this area when Lo-Katoo and I had walked the perimeter of the village several days ago. I just wrote it off as a lack of proper observation of my surroundings.

Suddenly, Rora and I heard the sounds of metal clanging against metal. We looked at each other because we both knew what those sounds meant. Although I didn't realize it at the time, upon later consideration, it was surprising that a battle would occur so soon after I had been questioned about such a situation. However, without hesitation, Rora and I ran toward the sounds.

As we neared the battle, I called, "Rora! Give me your short sword so I can assist."

Rora was hesitant. He knew the laws about giving arms to a slave. The Ka'yno could send him to the dungeons of the Suala Ka'ynony, expel him from the village or sentence him to death for giving me his short sword. He also knew that I had promised to do anything I could to protect Talo-Vy in the event of an attack. He drew his short sword and carried it in his left hand. I, being on his left side, thought that he was going to give it to me; but, he didn't. However, just as we reached the edge of the battle, Rora stumbled and his short sword fell from his hand; he never looked back. As a result of this action, I saw what his plan was. Now, he had plausible deniability. He never actually gave me the sword, he lost it; I picked it up and I could always say I was trying to return it to my master when I was attacked. Because he dropped the sword, he wouldn't be lying when he said that he didn't give it to me. I must have been a bad influence on him since I had shown him during my Trial of Life and Death that I wouldn't hesitate to answer a question just the way it was asked.

I grabbed the sword and looked toward the battle. I saw that the attackers were also Mory warriors, but they had different markings on their vests than were on the vests the warriors of Talo-Vy wore. As I followed Rora, I found myself accosted by one of the attacking warriors. Since he wasn't expecting a Uany to be willing to defend a Mory village or be as good of a swordsman as I am, I ducked under his wild swing, cut across his chest and quickly dispatched him. (The swords of the Mory are every bit as sharp as a Samurai's Katana sword.) After this quick fight, I managed a quick glance at the battlefield. I noticed several of the attacking warriors break off from the rest and head into the village. I called to Rora and had him come back to me.

"Mvilu, why have you called me back? I am required to protect the village at all costs! By leaving the battle, I could lose my life." He yelled at me. I pointed the short sword toward the small group of warriors heading into the village. "Rora, I believe I know where they are going. Where are the food storage trees?"

I heard a voice behind me saying, "I know where they are. Come with me."

It was Ky-Kikoo, the Ka' that had saved my life so recently. Rora and I did not hesitate.

I knew we were not in Ky-Kikoo's Ka'na. So, naturally, I was a bit curious. I asked him as we ran, "Why are you in this Ka'na, my Lord? You are not Ka' here."

He said, "The Ka'yno sent me on a mission here just this morning. He had a message for one of the warriors assigned here. It was sealed so I knew nothing more than that. I arrived not a minute before the attack began."

"I see." I said, suspiciously. "It is strange that this battle erupted while you were here. I wonder why."

"Likely, it is because I angered the Ka'yno during your trial. Even though I believed you did not deserve to die, I was hesitant to vote for you to live. I knew it could mean my death. But, I believed it would be a travesty if you were to be put to death."

We were slowly gaining on the group of warriors, but I feared we would not be able to catch them in time and I wanted to surprise the warriors by being there when they arrived. I asked Ky-Kikoo, "Do you know a shortcut to the food storage trees?"

He said, "Yes. Follow me." And he made a slight turn to the right. Rora and I followed right on his heels, so to speak.

We arrived at the food storage trees, just as the enemy warriors arrived. Fortunately for us, they were not expecting any warriors to be there to defend the food storage trees. So, they were caught off guard. We were outnumbered three to one, but I did not hesitate, nor, for that matter, did Rora or Kikoo. I jumped at the first warrior I could get to and started swinging my sword. Since he wasn't expecting anyone to follow, I was able to cut him down before he even knew we were there. Rora and Kikoo dispatched their initial warrior also, for the same reason.

I turned to a second warrior just as he swung his sword at my head. I ducked and parried his blow and the two of us went at it. He was a good swordsman. I, having been trained in swordsmanship from my youth and continuing during my training to be a fighter pilot for the Interstellar Terran Navy, am no slouch myself. As the warrior and I fought, I stole a quick glance toward Rora and Kikoo. They were holding their own, but that is about all. Unfortunately, for them, it was better than two to one odds. Fortunately for them, the Mory Honor Code would not allow the attacking Mory warriors to attack en force. But, they had backed Rora and Ky-Kikoo against the tree. Luckily, because their defensive position, the attackers could not surround them. I knew that I had to end my fight as soon as possible so I could help them. However, my opponent was obviously thinking the same thing. We both doubled our efforts and, after a few minutes, chivalry prevailed and he held up a hand.

"Please," he said, "Let us take a short breather. We seem to both be relatively evenly matched."

I nodded and lowered my sword slightly. I wasn't certain this wasn't a trick to gain an advantage. Because the Mory have such a high Code of honor, subterfuge such as I expected is never even remotely considered in a battle of any kind.

During our breather, my opponent said, "I have never seen a Uany protect a Mory village before. Why do you do it?"

"Because it is my home. It has been my home for 115 days, ever since I was found at the edge of the north garden. Would you not defend your home if the Mory-Talo-Vy attacked it?"

"Yes, I would and I have. But, why is Talo-Vy your home? There is no known time in which a Uany has voluntarily lived in a Mory village."

"I live here because I am a slave to one of the warriors doing battle with your companions."

"SLAVE!? Do you not know of the 'Armed Slave Laws'? You could be killed for carrying that sword."

"That is true, but Talo-Vy is still my home and I cannot allow you, nor anyone else, to do anything that could cause harm to my home, even if it means losing my life in the process."

"You are most definitely a brave Uany. It will be a shame to kill you. But, I must kill you to complete my mission. Defend yourself."

I had never before been in a situation where I could talk with someone that wanted/had to kill me or the other way around. But, I didn't have much time to dwell on it, because he renewed his attack. I had an advantage because I was carrying a shorter sword and could swing it faster. After my initial attack, I fell back on defense. He seemed to know what I was doing and didn't press his attack. The only thing we did for a while was just jab and parry. We fought like this for a couple of minutes, but, I knew I had to do something. Finally, I made a feint to his right and, after he went to defend against it, I made a quick slice across his chest causing him to rock back on his heels. I followed this swing by a circular swing in the opposite direction that opened his chest and abdomen. I hated to kill him because he obviously was a brave warrior, but it was either him or me. After dispatching him, I turned my attention to the other warriors and saw that they had quit fighting. The enemy warriors sheathed their swords, turned to their fallen comrades, picked them up and walked back toward the battleground. I looked at Rora and Kikoo questioningly. Neither one said a word, they also sheathed their swords and followed the enemy warriors. Naturally, I joined the procession.

When we arrived at the battleground, all of the warriors saw the procession and stopped fighting. I looked and saw at least thirty warriors lying dead on the battlefield. It looked like it was two to one, in our favor. One of the five surviving warriors that we had engaged walked to Kikoo and spoke with him. Kikoo turned and pointed toward another warrior whom I recognized as Re-Sheshoo. So, this is the Ka'na of Re-Sheshoo, one of the most vocal proponents of my death a few days earlier, but had as quickly voted to allow me unrestricted unescorted movement in Talo-Vy the next day. The two of them spoke for a few seconds. Sheshoo turned and pointed out forty of his warriors. These warriors picked up the dead warriors from the attacking party and followed the enemy warriors into the forest. This confused me and I said as much to Kikoo.

He told me, "Mvilu, I do not know how battles are fought where you are from, but here we treat our fallen enemies with honor. Had the warriors from Te'ka-Jy won the battle, they would have had to carry their dead home and we would have taken ours to the Tree of the Dead Warriors. But, since we won the battle, we have to carry their dead home to their Tree of the Dead Warriors."

I replied, "No, where I am from, we do not do that for our enemies. We return the dead to our enemies, if they want them returned. But, I do not see how we won the battle. While you, Rora and I were fighting, the attacking warriors just stopped fighting. When, and how, did we win the battle?"

"Did you not notice the vest of the warrior you fought?"

"I did not have time to notice it. I was too busy fighting, except when the two of us rested and we were too busy talking for me to notice then."

"In that case, I will just tell you that he was the leader of the raiding party and was Ka'yna of Te'ka-Jy. When you struck him down, the battle was over. In a few days, you will know just how important that single sword blow was."

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell you no more than that, except, if the Ka'yno was angry when you were granted your life recently, he will be absolutely livid in a few days."

I was curious about the Ka' Kikoo's cryptic statement. But, because of his attitude toward me, anything that made the Ka'yno unhappy was all right by me. I also noticed that Kikoo was looking at me strangely. At first, I could not understand why he was looking at me the way he was. Suddenly, I felt the weight in my left hand and realized I was still carrying Rora's short sword. Rora was standing next to me; so, I turned to him and handed him the sword, hilt first, as I had promised during my trial a few days earlier. A look of relief crossed the face of Kikoo.

To give further credence to what Rora had done, I said, "Master, you dropped your sword. As I tried to return it to you, I was attacked by a warrior. Then, we had to defend the food storage trees. As I promised a few days ago, I am returning your sword to you." Kikoo gave me a knowing look, but said nothing.

After the warriors from Te'ka-Jy left, along with the honor guard carrying their dead, Ka' Re-Sheshoo walked up to us and said to me, "Chitekuro, Mvilu. Can you accept the apologies of a foolish Ka' who wanted to see you put to death. You proved to me today that your promise to aid Talo-Vy at all costs was not an empty one. If the vote was held right now, I would most definitely vote to let you live."

I told him, "Chitekuro, Ka' Sheshoo. Do not worry. I hold no grudge against you. You were voting from your heart and the way you had always been taught to believe. I am glad, though, that you now see that perhaps your beliefs about strangers in general, and Uany in particular, may need to be reassessed."

He smiled and said, "You are quite right, Mvilu. I will spend a lot of time in the coming days in contemplation about my belief system." He put his right hand on my right shoulder, looked me in the eyes and gave me a short nod. Now I had at least two friends of importance in Talo-Vy. After this short, but important, ceremony, Sheshoo continued, "Mvilu, if you ever need my assistance in anything, do not hesitate to find me and ask. If it is within my ability to assist you, I will."

"Thank you, my Lord. I hope I never need to impose on you in that manner, but it is nice to know that I can if need be." Little did I know how prophetic this statement would be.

After the battle and our dead were carried to a room in the Tree of the dead Warriors, Rora and I returned home, as was our original intent. Ara met us at the door. She was very much agitated. It seems that news travels as fast on Tashoo as it does on Terra. She inspected each of us from head to toe to alleviate any fears she had about our possibly being injured.

After checking us, Ara seemed relieved and said, "Rora, I am so glad that you and Mvilu are uninjured. What happened?"

Rora answered her saying, "Warriors from Te'ka-Jy attacked the village as Mvilu and I were returning from surveying for the mota. Mvilu and I came to the aid of the warriors of Ka' Sheshoo and fought them off."

"Mvilu? How was he of assistance?"

I jumped in and said, "Ara, ask us no questions and the Ka'yno cannot hold you accountable for what happened."

"Very well, Mvilu. Your secret shall be my secret. I will ask nothing more about the battle. I am just glad that the two of you are all right. Why do you not go ahead and get ready for the nakymoty? We have been invited out to dine tonight at the home of one of our neighbors."

Naturally curious, I asked, "Who would that be?"

"Joola and her family. They heard about your assistance with the battle today and wanted to reward the two of you."

I said, "I must be sure and thank TaJoola for her kind offer."

Rora and I got cleaned up and we joined Ara for the short trip to Joola's home. When we arrived, the traditional invitation to enter and response was given by Joola and Ara. The nakymoty was almost ready and we were told to sit at the table. We were told where to sit and were seated as follows: Kyna at the head of the table, as was his right, Kyta to his right, then Rora, Ara, me, Tyarza, and Joola. I felt a bit strange, but exhilarated at the same time. I also noticed that, as strange as it may seem, everyone sat next to someone that they had strong feelings for, in some manner.

For the first time since I arrived in Talo-Vy, there was something resembling a prayer before the meal was started. Kyna bowed his head and, invoking the name of the Great Being, spoke of how the warriors had fought hard and died well. He also spoke of how all of the warriors had fought honorably and should be respected for that. He named the names of the fallen warriors from Talo-Vy: A-Tena, Ho-Noochy, Koo-Akoo, Na-Nae, Ja-Ua, Se-Kooma, Se-Manu, Zoo-Chaka, Zoo-Myne, and Y-Shysha. He spoke in glowing terms of the dead warriors of Te'ka-Jy without naming them, probably because he didn't know their names. He asked the Great Being to accept the spirits of the dead warriors into death with no concern for the honor with which they fought saying that they proved that their honor was impeccable because they had not taken advantage of any warrior who had been incapacitated or unable to fight.

After about two minutes of talking about the fallen warriors, Kyna finished and, almost instinctively, I replied, "Amen." Everyone at the table looked at me strangely, but said nothing, although I thought I saw a smile on one or two faces. I guess everyone thought I was thanking the Great Being or Kyna, or, possibly, thanking Kyna for finishing so we could eat. (Amen means thank you in the Tashoo language.)

While we ate, Rora and I were the center of attention. Everyone of Joola's family talked with us, well almost everyone. Tyarza still wouldn't speak to me, but even she looked at me with admiration. I continually tried to draw Tyarza into conversation with me. I wanted to find out what I had done or said that had angered her so much that she absolutely refused to speak with me. But, nothing I said would convince her to give me even this bit of information.

As we ate, and since Tyarza wouldn't speak to me, I had a chance to think about how well Rora fought earlier. I had been impressed with his eagerness against his opponents, but I could tell that he wasn't very well trained. Because of his lack of training, he had only taken one warrior down; but, he fought well enough to keep the rest from getting any closer to the food storage trees. However, he received numerous minor cuts in the defense of the trees. I decided that I was going to take it upon myself to give him more, and better, training in the near future.

While looking at Rora, Kyna asked me, "Mvilu, how did you manage to obtain a sword?"

I told the story of how I obtained the sword. I continued with the story of my personal combat with the Ka'yna of Te'ka-Jy. I included my conversation with the Ka'yna of Te'ka-Jy. I even mentioned how I hated to have to kill him because he was such an honorable warrior and great swordsman. As I spoke, Tyarza continued to look at me with admiration, even though she still would not speak to me. How did I know, you may ask? It's because I was looking right at her while I spoke. I guess I was hoping to once again experience the hero worship that Tyarza had given to me before I committed my faux pas, whatever it was. Kyta was looking at Rora with admiration as well. Even though I have never truly considered myself to be a hero because I could kill enemies without losing my life, I must admit I felt good with the admiring looks Rora and I were receiving. Even Kyna looked at us with admiration. The Mory in general and the residents of Talo-Vy in particular have great admiration for anyone that can handle a sword with proficiency.

After we finished the nakymoty, we visited for about half an hour before Ara made her apologies so we could leave. Everybody knew it was getting late and we needed to be home before it got dark. By my estimates, we would get home just before it got too dark and we did just that. After entering our home, we all headed to our respective rooms. I don't know about Rora, but I had a lot on my mind. I had made a new friend in a Ka' that had originally thought I should die. I had killed the Ka'yna of a Mory village in fair one on one combat and, as a result, won a sword battle for our village. All of these things, and more, wouldn't allow me to get to sleep for a long time. Fortunately, the exhaustion in my body from all the walking to lay out the ditch and the sword battle took over and, as the room darkened completely, I fell asleep.