Talon of the Unnamed Goddess, a Fantasy Adventure Page 2

  "Yes, those are the sigils of which I speak. And one is a Truth Sigil as Tellac said. In all, there are six. We believe six gods and goddesses created them sometime in the dim unknown past. Six shrines, each devoted to a single sigil, were rediscovered by accident two hundred years ago. Only in the past hundred years have we learned how to use them."

  For the next four weeks, we learned about each sigil, where it was found, the god or goddess associated with it, and the powers that the sigil provided for its holders. The War Sigil, which enhanced the holder's ability and skill with weapons and fighting, fascinated us all. It had been found in Valda and was the sigil of the god Dai. After class, we spent much of our time sneaking looks at Talons' arms. We concluded that many had the War Sigils and sometimes one other, although that varied considerably.

  One day, weeks later, when we filed outside to climb the trail and meet hi'Blessed Tasilaba for class up on her favorite spot, she waited for us outside the gate.

  "Melor and Aisha, come back tomorrow. Tellac, follow me."

  We trudged back to a study room and spent anxious hours waiting for Tellac to return. When he did, his excitement showed as he jumped around pointing to the reddish scars of the War and Energy Sigils on his arm.

  "Look, look! hi'Blessed Tasilaba said I was officially a Talon." Tellac couldn't make another coherent statement all day from excitement. But we were able to talk the quartermaster out of a small pitcher of ale to celebrate. I managed, I think, not to seem too jealous.

  The next morning hi'Blessed Tasilaba told me to go home. I sulked all the way back to the Aerie. "It isn't fair. It isn't fair," I mumbled over and over. But the following day it was my turn.

  Hi'Blessed Tasilaba met me on the trail and in silence led me further up the mountain to a cave. I had to stop several times to catch my breath while she, an old woman, seemed unaffected. The Energy Sigil, I imagined. Inside, the rough unfinished cavern stretched into intense darkness. We walked about fifty paces into it before she stopped in front of a wall with a golden sigil emblazoned into the rock. I stared at the curved symbol, trying to decipher it. I had never seen this sigil, definitely not one of the six.

  "Sit, Aisha," Tasilaba said. She fetched six clay bowls on a tray off a large flat rock that served as a shelf. Knowing the ritual, I extended my left arm. She reached in the first bowl, painted with the War Sigil, placed a reddish lump of something cool on my arm and bowed her head over it. I had longed for the War Sigil and hoped for another, maybe Illusion. I felt nothing, although I knew it should have burned, leaving a reddish scar. Tasilaba tried five more times with the same result. Nothing!

  "Aisha, take off your shirt."

  Petrified, I sat frozen as she brought a seventh bowl forward. She reached into the bowl and pressed something cool to my back. Something moved in a pattern under the spot. It grew into discomfort and then into pain. The pain was intense as it worked its way under my skin. I sat still and gritted my teeth to keep from screaming and running.

  When the burning eased, I brought myself to say, "What did you put on me, hi'Blessed?"

  "The living sigil of the unnamed goddess. Many years ago when I was young, I found her here quite by accident and have dedicated my life to her. Until today she had not yet allowed me to pass the sigil on to anyone."

  I cried, knowing none of the six sigils would be mine. When I looked at hi'Blessed Tasilaba, she was crying too. I wanted to die. Could I be a Talon without any sigils? This was unheard of. With the back of my hand, I wiped away the tears, but they continued streaking down my face.

  "Aisha Talon, you are hi'Blessed," she whispered as if in reverence and turned toward the bowl with nothing painted on it. She knelt with head bowed.

  "Hi'Blessed? You mean they all took? But I thought—"

  "No. None of the six sigils took."

  "But you said hi'—"

  "You are immune to all sigils. They cannot be used against you. The unnamed one has blessed you with the seventh sigil, Negation!"

  "Hi'Blessed, why do you call her the ‘unnamed' one? I wanted to know the goddess I should honor for my gift."

  "Because, if we name her, the world would be negated. That is her power. Would everything be unmade? I am not sure, but her power is great." And so she swore me to secrecy.

  She pulled back the sleeve of her dark-gray silk tunic to expose an intensely red Energy Sigil. As I watched, it moved slightly under her skin.

  "You know what it does. My energy and vitality were always high, even as a girl. Now it never flags, even in my age."

  My mouth dropped open as I realized that I could sense the Sigil on her arm. It was like a melody, one I had always known.

  "Now think on your own Sigil. Nudge it with your mind," she said.

  This was new and seemed hard until I realized it was little different from the battle mode I was so used to. My sigil responded with almost a sigh and hers grew still. I watched it for a moment, waiting for it to continue its slight movement, but nothing happened.

  "Did I hurt it?"

  "No, it only sleeps. Release yours and you will see."

  In a few moments, her sigil again began the small motions that showed it was at work. I knelt and she gave me her blessing before I began the trek back down the mountain with much to think about and consider. How would I keep this secret from my good friends?

  Tellac and Melor made an honest attempt to tell me I didn't need sigils and that I was good without them. That was when I began to understand my gift. Since Melor had received the Truth Sigil in the cave, he should have been able to tell I was lying about my experience. I only thought of my sigil and could feel it moving. I sneaked peeks at his and realized that his Sigil of Truth had stilled. Even with his War Sigil, Tellac was still hard pressed to beat me, much to his amazement. Each time he used his War Sigil, I could see it moving as if coming alive, but it stilled as though sleeping when my back came alive. It was beautiful to watch the sigils as they twisted and grew. In time, they would become more vivid and colorful. I wished I could see mine.

  * * * *

  The days of our student alliance ended soon after we had been declared Talons.

  "Aisha, we have a contract!" Tellac shouted as he and Melor charged into my room and slid to a halt in front of me. I had been studying a manuscript of herbs. "Melor and I are being assigned to the kingdom of Valda as guards to the hi'Lord Radulf."

  I was happy for them but disappointed I hadn't been included. I worried that Master Dragos might have trouble finding a contract for a young woman.

  "That's wonderful. I only wish I was going with you. I'll miss you two." My stomach twisted and I felt tears in my eyes that I held back. They must only see my joy, not my fears.

  Two days later, Tellac and Melor started out for their assignment. I walked with them for a while, trying to put off saying goodbye.

  "Don't worry, Aisha," Tellac said. "Master Dragos will find something for you soon. After all, there must be many assignments where a female Talon is uniquely qualified, and you are the only one available right now." I gave Tellac and Melor each a long, tight hug, not wanting to let them go. They turned and continued their trek down the mountain trail. I waited until they were out of sight before returning to the Aerie.

  "From Tellac's lips to the goddess's ears," I mumbled as I climbed back up toward the fortress.

  * * * *

  A week later I knelt in front of Master Dragos, bowed, and waited for him to speak. He wore black silk. His sash had three beautifully embroidered four-talon feet of a raptor, which proclaimed him the master of the Raptor Clan. Talon masters had two four-talon feet on their sash. A Talon like me had only one.

  "You continue to confuse me, Sister Aisha." Dragos said, his voice soft. "You had been designated the weakest at each of your first four Ordeals, yet you are still here. Master Jiang says that you are always the best prepared, whereas the others rely on their skill alone. That is high praise from the head instructor at the Aerie. Now hi'Blessed Tasilab
a calls you hi'Blessed. Did you receive all six sigils?"

  "No, Master Dragos."

  "Let me see your arms," he demanded.

  I rolled up both sleeves to show my naked skin.

  "None? Why did she call you hi'Blessed?" His frustration leaked through his otherwise calm exterior.

  "You will have to ask her, Master Dragos." I felt trapped.

  "She refused to tell me. Relax, Aisha. Hi'Blessed Tasilaba is a force unto herself. The clan could replace me in a day, but they couldn't replace her in a lifetime. If she says you are hi'Blessed, I will accept it without question." He paused, pursed his lips, and paced with his head down. "I can only hope they are both right."

  He stopped for several seconds and fastened his piercing gaze on me before he continued. "Is it fair that I will place a great responsibility on one young and untried?" He shrugged. "I have no choice. Bakaar has already accepted a contract, and this calls for a female. But this assignment will require more than just skill. The Raptor Clan has been shamed. While Talons guarded the family of the hi'Lord of Granya, his wife, son, and oldest daughter were murdered. Only his youngest daughter survived. I am sending you to protect her. It is up to you to regain the honor of the clan." Dragos never lifted his voice, but his eyes blazed with fury.

  "Valen!" His aide entered the room with a bundle that he unwrapped and laid out neatly on the floor in front of me: a composite bow and quiver, a double-edged sword, two daggers, six throwing knives, and two survival knives. Each piece was an exquisite work of art. The bow was made from antler, sinew, and a rare dark, blood-red wood found only in the Manipur Mountains. The sword and knives were Astrakan crafted with black-wrapped handles and legendary patterned-textured blades, capable of cutting through rock. The traditional weapons given to a new Talon are worth more than the average commoner could earn in ten years.

  My expression remained serene, but inside, my blood pounded in my temples. I was bursting with pride, a deep love of my clan. I bowed so low, my head touched the floor. "Thank you, Master Dragos. I will protect her with my life."

  "Fail not in your duty, Sister Aisha."

  I bowed again, rose, and followed Valen from the room and down the portico to his room.

  "These are the terms of the clan's contract with hi'Lord Varius, the ruler of Granya. You are to memorize them along with Master Dragos's written instructions, attached to the contract. When you are ready, a guide will be at the gate to accompany you down the mountain. A caravan will escort you to Savona, the capital of Granya."

  As he left the room, his fingers signed, **Glory is yours to earn.** Valen's parting gesture was the closest anyone in the clan came to wishing another luck. They believed a person determined their own success or failure. If one were prepared, they shouldn't need luck. I agreed, but I would never snub a helping nudge from Huan, the goddess of luck.

  I spent the next hour studying the contract and Master Dragos's instructions before putting them back on Valen's table. The contract intrigued me. I would be a bodyguard to the heir of a kingdom but pretend to be her chaperone. In a way it was perfect for me. The goddess had heard Tellac's words. I had survived my early years at the Aerie by my wits, pretending to be clumsy, weak on one side or the other as I fought, somewhat stupid and slow with instructions.

  I returned to my quarters and packed my meager possessions into two canvas kits. One I would leave at the Aerie, and one I would take with me to Savona. While posing as a chaperone I would keep my identity secret, hoping an assassin would dismiss me as harmless. I could take nothing that might identify me as belonging to the Raptor Clan except my weapons. Those I'd conceal on my body in hidden sheaths or give them for safekeeping to my Talon brothers who guarded the Granya ruler and his daughter.

  I stopped on the portico outside my room to watch the students in the courtyard, as usual a beehive of activity with ten years of students engaged in the many arts of becoming Talons. I stood there and projected the outward serenity of a well-disciplined Talon while my heart pounded, my face flushed, tears formed in my eyes, and I bit my lip. This was my home and I would soon leave it.

  Master Jiang approached. "Good hunting, Sister Aisha." A traitorous tear escaped my left eye and began its trek down my cheek.

  "Emotions can get you killed, Sister Aisha." He reached up and brushed the tear away. "And that would be a shame after all the effort I've devoted to training you."

  **Glory is yours to earn, Sister Raptor.** Jiang signed. The term "Raptor" was a high compliment from any clan member and an honor from a Master. He turned away, and I strode to the storeroom.

  "Master Bakaar, I need to store a kit while I'm on contract," I said, handing her my bag. Bakaar always amazed me. Small and skinny, she looked like she would be easy to overpower. But I had seen her in the practice yard. She was as quick as a viper and just as deadly, a good reminder not to assume anything about potential opponents from their looks. Assumptions could kill you.

  "Sister Aisha, I have a kit for you from Master Dragos." Bakaar handed me a well-worn kit. When I looked, it contained peasant clothes for traveling, the special sheaths for weapon concealment, a generous sack of silver and gold scrules for expenses, and two letters for hi'Lord Varius. I emptied my kit into the well-worn one, changed clothes, and went to find my guide off the mountain. I found him waiting at the gate.

  When my guide saw me, he bowed and exited the small door in the gate.

  "Duty, adventure, a new life awaits me outside those gates," I mused as my steps quickened in anticipation.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Road to Savona: Duty calls

  "Quinius, these past six days have been amazing," I said as we walked alongside the eight pack horses piled with burdens of trade goods. The caravan included the Merchant Quinius, two Talon guards, six members of Quinius's extended family, and me. My heart thumped with excitement. Today we would finally reach Savona, the capital of Granya. "Remember the first village we stopped at? I thought it was huge."

  Quinius laughed. He was tall, wiry, and not unattractive, though he was at least ten years older than me. "All one thousand peasants. If they didn't produce such exquisite leather work, I wouldn't have bothered stopping."

  "You made a good profit on those goods in the next town."

  "That is what traders do. We buy in one place and sell in another."

  "The second village, when we crossed into Granya, was what I imagined Savona would be like." I laughed at my inexperience. I'm sure Quinius thought me a naïve mountain woman on her first trip off the mountain, which, in a way, I was. Fortunately, it fit with the mountain woman chaperone image I had been told to assume. In fact, I had been raised in a tiny mountain village, and my home for the past ten years had been the Aerie, an isolated mountain fortress. "It did have a castle."

  "That wasn't a castle, merely the home of a minor Fifth Lord," Quinius replied, still laughing. "You really are a gem in the rough, Aisha. I wish you would join my house. I'm wealthy and would take good care of you."

  "What would your wife say?" I grew curious in spite of myself.

  "She wouldn't mind. She's well cared for, and I would bother her less. Besides, she never accompanies me on trips as you would."

  Quinius had been trying for six days to lure me into his bedroll. He tried charm, gifts, money, employment, and now second wife. I admit I was flattered by the attention. Someone trying to entice me was new, and I enjoyed the feeling. At the Aerie, I was a student: neither male nor female. I had been an object to be studied, pushed, and prodded to watch perform. Quinius was attracted to me and showed it. This was fun, even though Quinius didn't interest me in that way.

  "I am committed under contract to hi'Lord Varius. I don't think he would like me or you if I broke my word," I said for the twentieth time.

  "I'm sure we could work something out."

  We stepped past the last straggling trees of the forest and saw a huge white edifice in the distance. "What is that?" I said with a gasp.

  "That
is the city wall. It's close to twenty paces high and over a league long, spanning all the way between the banks of the East and West Mystic Rivers." Quinius swept his hand from one side to the other.

  Walking several hours, we passed small farms and a scattering of stone houses with wisps of smoke drifting from chimneys above thatched roofs. These abruptly ended as we neared the wall. The ground in front of the rampart was cleared for several hundred paces, a killing ground for any enemy attacking the city.

  "Now that is a castle." Quinius pointed ahead.

  I saw the city and the castle above the wall. They were built into the side of a steep hill at the apex of the triangle formed by the fork in the Mystic River. Quinius was right. Even from a distance, the castle was a spectacular structure sitting atop the hill, sparkling white in the morning sun.

  We entered the city through a massive arched tunnel with several iron gates, now open, and many killing slots for archers and burning oil. The guards knew Quinius and passed him and his caravan through with a wave. As we wound our way up the main road, the houses and shops increased in size, better maintained and more elegant. The houses down the side streets looked smaller and a bit ramshackle.

  About halfway up the hill, Quinius turned onto a side street and into a small fenced-in courtyard. "Aisha, if you get tired of hi'Varius's daughter, you are welcome to come live here."

  "Thank you, Quinius. I will consider it," I lied, easier than telling the truth. The exciting part was that he believed me. He had to. He wore a Truth Sigil. I had noticed the amulet around his neck days ago and recognized the sigil as one of the weaker ones that could be purchased instead of having the mark on his body. It wouldn't have mattered, because I could sense its presence and even its kind. I could activate my sigil merely by thinking about it. Though I was lying, Quinius believed me because his sigil didn't detect my lie. Hi'Blessed Tasilaba was right. The Negation Sigil was better than having one or two sigils of my own.