The Cavt Chronicles
#1 of Cavt
I am back and I am happy to be. Have had technical problems, life problems, etc etc YOU KNOW WHAT LIFE IS LIKE! Anyway, I plan on doing two things with this story. The main line will follow the storyline of Kahlae and those she meets. It won't likely have much smut in it (but it'll probably have some.) The OTHER thing I'm doing with this story are the side stories. The sidestories are based off of the main storyline, but aren't critical to know to continue reading the story. In short, I'm gonna try to write a good story and have plenty of tasty stuff on the side. Sorry for putting the intro here, I don't know how to put it above the line. Feel free to comment, and absolutely feel free to point out grammatical errors- nothing makes reading quite so hard as misplaced modifiers and their ilk. I'm going to try to post the other story up and link it to this page, so here goes.
Kahlæ stretched her arms as far back as she could. Morning guard duty had been her regimen for the past three weeks, but disappointed her- the excitement she had anticipated only came to fruition once, and that was when she had to use her sword to keep Ralgos the lech out. He had done something devious to an adolescent years ago, and so he was banned from the town. Still, every few months or so, he'd try to sneak in on the bottom of a cart or the inside of a crate. Kahlæ inhaled the cool morning fog. She was glad she didn't have the daytime hours- after ten o'clock or so, the sun rose high enough over the mountains and forests to actually start drying up the fog. She didn't much care for standing in the sun with a full leather tunic and calf high leather boots. The neck-guard was especially bad in the heat- when the bottom of her jaw or her neck got too sweaty and it rubbed on the collar, it irritated her skin. She hated that. Of course, she also didn't enjoy the idea of guard-duty in the rain. Thunderclouds had been rolling in all of last night, and even now the fog was almost a black gray. If it weren't for the torches at the gate, she wouldn't be able to see farther than ten paces. She exhaled and looked out at the road ahead, spying for trouble. She didn't see so much as a rogue rabbit. Staring at the road for the next two hours wasn't likely to be any more entertaining. If she had been looking in the bushes to her right, however, she might have been more worried about living than being entertained. Two men were laying down beneath the growth on the side of the trail, scoping the new guard out. They were trained at one of the best bandit camps known throughout the land, and they escaped before the Cavt government banned together and burned it to the ground. Still, they had taken on students of their own, and today was going to be their first day in action. Barlk looked at Ygdra and began speaking with his hands. "How old?" The portly bald man asked. "Fifteen? Sixteen? Fourteen if she has a hot mother," the skinny bearded man replied. Barlk was confused. "Hot mother? Why you say that?" Ygdra pointed. "She's bony, but she's growing into her body. If her mother came in early, she likely is too. On a relevant note, I don't see another guard." Barlk looked around. Other than the green-eyed black hair, the only other people around were their own recruits. He eyed the girl again. "Why one girl? Think she's good?" Ygdra shook his head. "Hick village. They have walls, a guard for both entrances, and a guard for the port. They think their alarm system is enough to call the men to fight for them, and they think people are chicken enough to run away if they start fighting. They're usually right." Barlk looked across the road into the bushes. "You're still in charge of giving the signal to attack, but maybe we should have someone act as a merchant and try to get near enough the guard and take her out? Less screaming, likely we'll raise the alarm slower." Ygdra thought about it. "We'll send Moudin. He's a weasel if I ever saw one, he can get close enough to neutralize her." Barlk flinched. "YOU WANT TO KILL HER?" Ygdra shook his head again. "I said neutralize. So long as she can't fight, that fits the bill. If that means kill her, kill her. If that means knock her out and gag her, it means knock her out and gag her. Barlk licked his lips. "Okay, I see. And that's another one for the ship goin' south and another coin in our pockets. I'll send the message." And with that, the portly bald man wiggled out of the trench he had dug last night and silently slunk through the dark morning woods. Kahlæ sighed. The morning breeze always came off the ocean, so it was always a little chilly and humid. The salt smell was relaxing, but she was on guard duty- she couldn't afford to relax. She wished she had at least brought some fish bone, then she could carve up a design with her knife. As it was, she was going to go crazy from boredom. She heard it before she saw it- someone walking. She looked up and peered through the fog. In the distance, there was a single person walking. She couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, but she could tell that they were human. She was a little disappointed. The last non-human to come through Norlan was a Fenrish, and that was before she was born. Today was just another human. She sighed. It was one thing to read or hear about things from far away places, it was another to see them. She wanted to see all the things she read about- the proud unicorns, the mischievous fairies, she wouldn't even mind seeing a tryl, as long as it was from a distance. She stopped daydreaming and stood at attention when the person was close enough to hail. When they got within ten feet, she drew her sword. "What business do you have in Norlan, traveler?" She knew her voice wasn't deep enough by itself to be threatening, so she always upped the volume when she asked that question. The little man with big blue eyes and short blonde hair jumped and looked startled at the sword. He was sweating heavily, too. Kahlæ suddenly felt bad for being so brusque with the man. "I-I'm a merchant-t, m-my lady, I bring f-foods from the southern Isle." He was leaning back, away from the sword. Kahlæ felt ashamed to have drawn her sword at so meek a man. He was even shorter and skinnier than she was, and she was only slightly tall for her age. This man even had a slight beard, so he was at least her age and still that small. She sighed and stepped well off to the side to give him room. She waved her arm towards the town. "Okay, go in. Sorry to have troubled you sir." She didn't even check his wares for the illegal tryl slime that had recently gained popularity. Moudin started walking towards the town. He hadn't intended for her to step so far to the side; now he couldn't reach her with his knife if he tried. Nervously, he walked towards the gate, knowing he had failed his superiors. "Still," he thought, I might redeem myself if I take her out from the bac-" Kahlæ heard motion behind her. She spun around and swung her sword in one fluid motion, cutting off the bearded man's arm and head with a quick slash. She looked at the body for a second, wondering why he would attack her when someone behind her grabbed her arms and pulled them back. She tried to break her attacker's grip, but he was strong- he had pulled her arms back so tightly that she couldn't hold her sword and it fell to the ground. Two more hands reached over her head with a cloth and tried to put it in her mouth. She raised her knee to her chest and sent a kick flying backwards at waist level at the person holding her arms. She felt something give and they let go. Her arms now free, she grabbed her knife from her belt and stabbed it into the inside of the elbow of the person trying to gag her. Hot deep red blood spewed from the stab onto her face as the man howled in pain, and she spun to her right and smashed her elbow into his head. She turned around and saw that it was the skinny blonde man along with two others, one holding his leg and turning red with pain, and another with a cleaver. She crouched to the ground and grabbed her sword, watchful of the man with his own. As he swung down with the cleaver, she used the energy she stored in her legs like a springboard and flew past the group into the town entrance. She landed the jump and was running into the town. "BAAANDIIITS!" She started yelling at the top of her lungs, long legs pounding the ground as she tried to cover more distance. Immediately someone began ringing the town bell, signaling for emergency. The smiths and tanners and farmers alike who were in town began grabbing the nearest weapons available. Some had pitchforks, others had grabbed kettles. They had been in these situations before. They began running to the north gate. Kahlæ slowed down for a second- the bandits were at the south gate! Why was everyone running to the North gate? She saw Daka the smith and ran to catch up with him, easily done since he was so slow. She jumped in front of him and threw her arms out. "GYA! Gyit out the way, girlie! Thar's tryls at the north gate-" "And bandits at the south gate! There are bandits at the south gate and nobody-" Daka turned around and looked. Armed men were walking into the town, confused at the lack of people rushing to assault them. Daka grimaced. The mothers and children were still in their homes, and were going to suffer if someone didn't block those bandits off. He turned towards the north gate and bellowed. "BANDITS AT THE SOUTH, TRYLS AT THE NORTH! TURTLES SOUTH AND RABBITS NORTH!" Others started repeating the message, making sure everyone heard. Kahlæ turned to go fight the bandits, but Daka grabbed her by the shoulder. "Yer not a turtle, yer a rabbit! Now go cut up some tryls!" She jetted off to the north gate. The larger men were coming back to face the bandits now. Kahlæ knew she could trust them to take care of those, and she was being trusted to keep the tryls out now. Then she saw one. Just like the stories said, they were slimy, scaly creatures with two arms and legs. They were her height, and they were fast. She watched as her neighbors and friends battled the creatures toe-to-toe, blitzing back and forth. One especially nasty one clawed straight through her neighbor's tunic. She didn't like the girl very much, but they were the same age and had trained together. This one would die first. She ran up the mayor's porch, leaped over the line, and swung her blade down on the tryl attacking Vurba. Tangible words left her head, replaced by thoughts of motion- dodging this blade, swinging here, and moving this leg out of the way. She blocked out the sounds of screaming wounded and kept stabbing into the monsters. Then the tryls initiated the second part of the plan: while the first line kept the townsfolk busy, the second would swim underwater and get onto the docks. That's when Kahlæ heard screaming from behind her. Daka met the first bandit stupid enough to charge him. The bandit had swung his cleaver down at his head, but Daka made sure it hit his hammer's head instead. With the man now defenseless, Daka swung the hammer into the skull and pulverized the man's brains. The next bandit was a quick little fellow with blonde hair and a knife wound in his arm. Daka was grateful for that wound- it slowed him down just enough to let Daka break his arm when the fellow tried to stab him. Daka didn't see the third bandit with the injured leg until he had swung his sword straight into the large kettle his wife was swinging that sent the sword flying out of his hands. Had the kettle stopped there, the bandit would have been fine, but the kettle had momentum. The bandit's face became smeared onto the black pot and several teeth were knocked out the same time his nose broke and his eye was squished into jelly. Mrs. Daka was taller than her husband, and her reach was longer than any of the bandits. The remaining group still numbered over fifteen, though, and there were only seven people defending this gate. The bandits did the one thing the townsfolk didn't want them to do- they scattered. Some went left and some went right, and the group had to choose one to follow. Since the ones that went west would have to go all the way to the mayor's house before they could access any of the houses, they pursued the ones that went east. They hoped the Northern defenders could hold up. Kahlæ watched in horror as a tryl tried to claw its way into the mayor's house. His children were still in there, and she knew tryls liked to feed on defenseless cubs. Kahlæ broke away from the main group and climbed onto the porch. The beast had already gotten through most of the thin door when her blade stuck between its shoulders. She looked to her right. The North gate was near the river, so the group could adjust and fight the tryls off with only a little more difficulty. She jumped down on the pier and slashed at the tryl climbing up. It jumped back, but it didn't look at her- it looked behind her. She turned around just in time to parry a swing from a large pale man's club, but the tryl behind her used the break of attention to its advantage and clawed at her back. Its claws caught in the leather tunic, spinning her around, unharmed. It tried to swing at her again, but a club swung into her side and sent her flying to the river. She felt a sharp, intense pain as the air was knocked out of her lungs. She felt her feet leave the ground. She tried to find which way was down, but she couldn't see the ground. She felt the impact as her head connected with the floor of the boat. She tried to sit up, but everything was turning black. Her head fell back down onto the floor of the canoe, eyes staring above. She saw heavy raindrops falling down from the sky. She wondered why she couldn't feel the rope tied to the pier pulling on the boat. Before she could complete the thought in her head, she passed out.
She fell in and out of consciousness, focusing the world and losing it repeatedly. Eventually, she decided that although she was hungry and thirsty, she was still tired, so she kept sleeping. After a lot of sleep, she felt a bump. She tried to open her eyes, but something had them stuck shut. She could smell salt, and the smell of the sea relaxed her. She slipped back into sleep. Shogrun looked into the boat. Inside was a human female with a bloodstained tunic, sleeping as though nothing in the world was wrong. She had no supplies in the boat, and she looked unhealthily skinny. There were no oars in the boat. He sat up and looked at the horizon. He looked for ships or sails, but saw none. "Oi, wake up." He reached over and grabbed the girl's shoulder. "Oi, you there, you okay?" Kahlæ weakly rubbed her eyes clear. Mucus had sealed them shut sometime when she was asleep. She raised her head and looked up at the person in front of her. A wolfish head with black fur... on the ocean... she wondered how long she'd be asleep like this. "Go away," she told the dream. Shogrun grabbed for his canteen. Her eyes were baggy, when she spoke her voice was raspy, and she could barely keep her head up or move her arms. "Oi, I said wake up! He pulled her boat alongside his and started tying them together. "OI!" Kahlæ jumped. Who was yelling at her? She tried to sit up again, but then someone grabbed her, bent her head back, and poured water down her throat. She choked, spitting the water out all over. But it made her realize how dry her throat was. As soon as she could breathe, she blindly grabbed for the canteen again. She chugged the water down like it was heaven and threw it up in the boat. Someone's hand was on her back, and they were talking. It was a quiet voice, and she couldn't make out what it was saying. She drank from the canteen again, slower. She swallowed some successfully, then put the canteen down. She felt the wind at her back. She could smell the salt strongly. She heard waves lapping up against her boat and something else. She had a fever. Her skin felt stretched. And she had a headache. Then she opened her eyes. In front of her, in front of her boat, was ocean. She turned, confused. To her left, she could see a large landmass. To her right, a Fenrish was looking at her. She studied its face through the mental haze. It had a wolfish head, like the stories said, and it certainly looked a little bigger than a normal human. It was hard to tell with him sitting down. His fur was actually black with a little gray stripe running down each arm. She wondered why he was shirtless. "Oi," the Fenrish asked her, "Can you see me?" The Fenrish was asking her questions. She rubbed her head to try and clear it, but the fog stayed there. Dimly, she remembered hitting her head on the boat's floor. She reached her hand up to feel the wound and she bolted awake. Pain coursed through her body. She looked at her hand. Dry caked blood had fallen out from her hair, and she had a large bump. She looked around again, now fully comprehending that she was on the ocean. She looked at the Fenrish, confused. "Yes," she replied, "I can see you. Where am I?" The Fenrish pointed back at the landmass. "You're within two hours' paddle of Fenris, and about a five day paddle from Cavt. What ship were you on?" Fear tingled up her spine. "I wasn't on a ship, I..." She tried to think if she knew how far Norlan was, but shook her head. "I was in my village, in Cavt." Shogrun scratched his head. "What's today?" She closed her eyes and thought hard. "Tuesday? I had guard duty this morning and... She looked behind her at Fenris. "Okay, it was Tuesday and I did have guard duty, yesterday. Or the day before, if it's Thursday now." She looked back at him. "So what is today?" Shogrun looked behind him. He still had a few canteens of water, and he had already gotten a shark, so it was time to head back anyway. He pulled jerky out of the pack behind him and handed her a large chunk. "Eat this." She bit into it, and flavor filled her mouth. She didn't know how long it had been since she had eaten, but she was hungry. She greedily devoured the meat, and he handed her another piece. When she was finished with that one, she wiped her mouth and drank from the canteen he had given her before. "Thank you for the food, but you didn't answer my question. What is today?" Shogrun noticed his boat was slowly tilting. He looked into her boat. Tiny holes filled the bottom, likely from scraping a reef or some rocks. The wood was buoyant enough to render them ineffective, but now that she had stopped moving her boat was sinking. He didn't have enough strength to row all the way with both boats and the shark beneath his. "Tell you what," he told her, "I'll tell you if you get in my boat." She looked at the fenrish cautiously. "I don't think so. I plan on rowing back home." He shrugged. "With what?" She looked at her feet, then frantically searched the rest of the boat. The paddles weren't in the boat! And her feet were more wet than before... She looked at the bottom of the canoe. Tiny little holes where something had scraped it were letting water in at a slow but lethal pace. "Crap! If my boat's sinking, why didn't you just say so?!" She grabbed her sword and the canteen and tried to quickly step into the fenrish's boat. Her foot caught on the edge and she tripped, face flying towards the edge of the boat. The Fenrish jumped forward and stuck his leg out, catching her just short of impact. She stared at the floor for a moment before pulling the rest of her body onto the boat. She looked up groggily at the Fenrish. "If my boat was sinking why didn't you say?" He smiled. "I wanted to see your expression," he began untying the boats, "and it was worth it." He kicked her dying canoe out to sea. "Today," he said, "is Wednesday. If it feels like you haven't eaten in a week, it's because you haven't." Kahlæ's jaw dropped. "Also, I can see up your tunic, so you may want to close your legs." She slammed her knees shut and turned beet red. She had embarrassed herself two times in less than a minute in front of the person who saved her life. When she got home, she decided she'd leave this part out of the story. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she decided to at least thank him. "Thank you," she mumbled. "Don't mention it," he said, turning the boat towards Fenris, "You were lucky I saw you. But you're breaking a rule." She looked up at him, confused. "What rule?" "You're in my boat and I don't know your name. If you don't want to swim, you have to tell me your name." She sighed, relieved- she had heard that the Fenrish could be eccentric sometimes, so she didn't want to offend him. He just wanted her name. "I am Kahlæ of Cavt, daughter of Ruma and Grund. What's your name, fenrish?" "My name is Capitan Shogrun, at your service. Bastard of a bastard, or so my mother says. I don't know if my dad was or not. Why are you out here, bloody, in a canoe with no paddle, Kahlæ?" "A bandit knocked me into the boat with a club and I landed on my head. You woke me up. Why are you out here on the ocean with no shirt, Capitan Shogrun?" Shogrun laughed. "Just Shogrun, I'm not really a captain. Why am I wearing no shirt?" He gestured at the rest of the ocean around them. "I don't see anybody else. You're lucky I'm wearing clothes." He grabbed the paddles and kept up the pace. "Are you still tired?" She leaned her head back and nodded. "My throat is still dry, too." She opened the canteen beside her and drank some water. "I'm going to take a nap." She grabbed a piece of canvas and wrapped herself in it, blocking the sun from her face. "Thank you for rowing, Shogrun." "No problem. Quick question before you go to sleep?" "What?" "Is your favorite color green?" She pulled the canvas away from her face and looked at him. "Yeah, how'd you know?" He shrugged. "Lucky guess. Had a feeling, decided to ask. Go ahead and sleep, I'll wake you up when we get to my mother's." She nodded, turned back on her side and was lightly snoring within minutes. Shogrun smiled to himself, thinking. This girl had fought bandits and still had her sword. "If she ever figures out how I found her favorite color," he said, thinking of her green underwear, "I don't plan on being around." He kept paddling, closing the gap between the ocean and home. "Hope Mom has room for a guest."