Wine of War

Three months ago, I clocked twenty-five. For eighteen years, l have been in Alanor, training, fighting, grooming to be the best, the best of all fighters Bloodrock could ever produce, and for what? For the petty vision of some self proclaimed sacred one. The historians claim that 500 hundred years ago, a sorceress saw a vision of the land loosing its fertility, and the sun coming down on those that dwell in it. But then, in the chaos stood out a maiden, with a huge sword, descending from the moon. She drew her blade and slew the sun, sending it back into the sky, with just its essence present to shine. This was the first moonwalker, at least according to the one who had the dream. She decided to take up arms and strengthen the feminine force, with the belief that the spark found in us would change a world ruled by men, a petty vision.

EARLIER, BEFORE THE ATTACK ON KALAKALA

Dilis sits in his throne room where he is visited by one of his officials.

"My king, you sent for me."

Dilis stretches forth a keg of palm wine and speaks,

"Take this. Move round the ten kingdoms, until it breaks. Start with the weak ones."

"When it breaks, what happens?"

"When it breaks, the trouble begins."

KINGDOM OF ERUE

A convoy of Arida representatives, mainly consisting of military forces arrive at Erue kingdom, heading straight to their king, Magnor. The Arida chief representative takes out a keg of palm wine and speaks aloud boldly, in front of the palace as everyone comes out of their chambers and pay attention to this,

"Here are the words of King Dilis of Arida. Pledge your allegiance and fealty to me and offer your virgins to Gudi for he thirsts, lest be trampled on and wiped out of the surface of the earth. Take this keg of palm wine. Drink from it and be one of mine, or cast it away and perish."

The King Magnor comes forth, accompanied by his guards and palace warriors, while everyone watches. He takes the keg from the hands of the messenger and speaks,

"How do I know this is not poisoned?"

"You can feed it to one of your servants, if you wish, or one of your many wives."

Magnor laughs a little and then takes a drink from the wine, shocking the people as he speaks,

"Erue doesn't want war, we want peace and a smooth relationship with Arida. Tell your king that he has my fealty, and our virgins are his."

KINGDOM OF GOSHA

The messenger arrives at the kingdom and repeats the message he was given. And then, the king, Jeros comes forth and takes the wine, speaking afterwards,

"Tell me, how many kings have sipped from this wine?"

"Three; Erue, Annehile and Larhanath. It is about to become four."

Jeros laughs and speaks,

"I would love to...sip from this, the gods know I love a good wine. But you see, I cannot take a sip from a keg that has been defiled by three mouths from three different kingdoms. Think of it, the drink should be contaminated with saliva of different kind by now. Even you might have been tempted to take a sip too. So, I simply will let go of this keg right now."

Jeros lets go of the keg, and it falls to the ground, shattering to pieces, spilling the wine. Arida's messenger is offended and speaks,

"You have dug your grave foolish king."

Jeros' warriors suddenly surround them as Jeros replies with a wicked smile on his face,

"No son of Arida, you have dug yours."

Gosha warriors attack the Arida convoy and slay them, leaving just one man to run back and speak what he has seen. Gosha might be a small population compared to other kingdoms, but they are the most daring, with glorious historic events to prove their resolve. This people will not go down easily.

AKUZA VILLAGE, OUTSKIRTS OF KALAKALA.

Rona is passing through a market, drawing attention to herself as everyone recognizes who she is. Some are frightened, while some are amazed. Despite their popularity, moonwalkers are rarely seen out there. And when they are seen, it is most likely to kill. "

Seven men come out of the midst of the people and block Rona's route, all armed with swords and crude tools. Rona wears a tough look on her face, not flinched by these petty men. One of them which appears to be their leader speaks,

"What do you want here moonwalker? We don't want your kind here."

Rona doesn't speak, giving them a badass stare, and then she sighs. She deeps her hand in her bag and takes out sharp finger-like objects which she starts attaching to the tip of her hair lobes, puzzling and scaring them.

"Hey, I'm talking to you! What do you want here?"

Rona speaks, almost done with arming her hair with metal talons,

"I am just passing through, with the aim to buy something to eat. And then you showed up, looking for a fight, a fight you will not win."

The men look at each other in amaze, smiling in mockery as one speaks,

"Listen up moon whore, you might be trained among your fellow bitches, but bare in mind that there is no way you will face off seven armed men in our territory and win. I suggest you go back to where you are coming from. You are not welcome here."

"Let her be. You heard her, she's only here to buy something. Don't end up making a mess of things,"

Says a lady as one of the men pushes her back while their leader speaks,

"This is your last warning. Walk away."

Rona takes an apple from a train and bites from it, waving her hair, after successfully arming it. She replies,

"Come on boys, make me."

The men charge towards her as one goes ahead. He flings a sword strike but Rona dodges and slices his stomach open. She catches the hand of the next person and spreads his armpit open, stabbing him in it and slicing his neck. One of the men throws a huge stick at her but she splits it in two, kicking one of the pieces to the neck of another and charging towards the remaining four. She throws a twisting stunt and lands at the center of the remaining four, swinging her hair and slicing the necks of two with her hair talons. She matches the leg of another and dodges a strike from behind, hitting the striker on the face with the back of her sword and piercing his stomach. The last two strike Rona with their stick and sword respectively, but she is fast to counter with her sword and cut off the leg of the one with the stick, getting up quickly. She deflects the sword strike of the other and maneuvers his movement, catching him from behind and burying her sword through his stomach slowly while speaking,

"Can you feel that sudden shock, like everything just got clearer, that's death drawing you down."

The one with the amputated leg tries to get up but Rona matches his head to the ground and draws out her sword, stabbing him through the back to the ground. In just a little time, she had turned the scene into that of absolute carnage, leaving everyone in the scene terrified, even those who were fund of her. Everyone withdraws back in fear as Rona cleans up the blood on her face. And then, she hears a voice from within the crowd, a male voice speaking while approaching,

"I was at home close by, having a nice time with my lady, and then a young boy showed up, told me a moonwalker was in town. I get here, and as expected, I find carnage."

The person speaking comes through the crowd, getting to her, a tall muscular man, holding a huge machete, rested on his shoulder.

Getting to her, he speaks comfortably,

"Rona of Ti'gen, the butterfly, as beautiful as they say, and as dangerous as they also say. Moonwalker, you claim you come for peace and you create conflict. That is the height of hypocrisy."

Rona says with a smile,

"No, the height of hypocrisy is a man telling a maiden that he loves her from the bottom of her heart, when there's still a lot of room for others at the middle and top."

The man laughs and speaks,

"You also have a sense of humor, good. Won't you ask who I am?"

Rona's facial expression goes cold again and she replies,

"I don't care who you are."

The man laughs and speaks,

"I am Giran, the slayer, champion and guardian of Akuza. I do not tolerate misbehavior in my territory, and you are guilty of misbehaving. You've claimed the lives of seven Akuza men, made their wives and children, widows and fatherless. For that, you must be punished."

"And how do you intend to punish me?"

Giran walks towards her, taking his machete off his shoulder as he responds,

"I will let the people decide when I hand you over to them."

"I admire your courage, and your stupidity, thinking you can take down a moonwalker."

"I could get a few bruises, that is if you turn on your chaos. Despite that, you're going down."

That is how we have been conditioned to be. You here horrible tales about us, about our abilities. But when you see us, our innocent and beautiful faces, you think, how could this person be that dangerous? Maybe they aren't that tough after all. That impression we give make us even more lethal.

The man charges towards Rona and swings his machete at her. She strikes it off and punches him in the throat, swinging her long lobes of hair and wrapping it around his neck. She speaks to him on his knees,

"That's the mistake you men keep on making. You judge a person based on his or her looks. You think a person who cries is weak. I think a person who cries is the bravest, brave enough to admit that she is hurt, that she has been broken, and not scared of letting others know this through her tears."

Rona draws off her hair as the talons on them draw his skin along with them, slicing round his neck. She looks around and sees everyone looking at her, scared of her, like they've seen a monster. She then notices a slight cut on her hand and checks her bag, making sure her healing herbs are still intact. She takes a few things from the market and put them in her bag, leaving a few rings of bronze on the table.

PRESENTLY, SOMEWHERE IN KALAKALA

Rona arrives at a village and meets it in ruins and is puzzled. She had not heard of any rumors of war since she left Alanor for a break, a break granted to her by Onelo. She comes close to a corpse and examines the wound on his chest. She puts her hand in the wound and smells it. And then, she blurts out,

"Black magic."

All of a sudden, three mafias surface behind her and smile as one speaks,

"Here's another maiden. Her skin looks untouched. She might be a virgin too, though they tend to be very scarce nowadays."

Another responds,

"This one won't be given to Gudi even if she is a virgin, cause I am going to have a taste of her skin."

The three laugh as Rona makes a wicked grin and gets up.

The men recognize her as one speaks,

"Isn't she... a moonwalker?"

"Yes I am,"

She says, turning and facing them.

"They all draw out their weapons, ready to battle as one speaks through a telepathic link to Gerok, their sorcerer,

"We have eyes on a moonwalker. I think it's Rona of Ti'gen herself."

Gerok replies,

"Don't let her leave your sight or take your head. Stay alert, I am coming."

Rona speaks to them,

"Did you just call for help?"

They are shocked as one of the mafias asks in fear,

"Are moonwalkers telepaths too?"

"No, we're not, not as you know it, but we can perceive the use of magic, as I just did. You should update whoever you spoke to. Tell him that I won't be here when he comes, neither will you be alive."

Follow my account on IG @spectreisawriter for updates and more work.