The Crimson Lions (fantasy)

[Andres]

Nice to see this place is getting some new blood

Thnx for sharing your stories, Kahotep (and keep them coming!).

In case you didn't know, there will be a writing contest in the Mead Hall in the near future; I hope you will participate

[Kahotep]

***

Lothar had not drunk anything in days, so he savored the feeling of cool oasis water sliding down his parched gullet. He devoured the loaf of bread Melek had given him as ravenously as a rabid wolf would devour a carcass. A woolen blanket around him provided comfort for his rest. So much time had passed since the Unserlynder had been treated so kindly that he was almost incredulous at his situation.

He noticed that Nefrusobek was smiling at him with her eyes half-closed, giving her a seductive look.

“For someone as starved as you are, you are quite handsome,” she said.

Lothar was tempted to reply with a compliment of his own, but then a tragic memory of his past life came forth and depressed him. Beautiful as Nefrusobek may have been, it didn’t seem right for him to leave the one he once had for her. His mind vibrated again.

“You miss someone,” Nefrusobek said. “Her name was Eadgifu, and she was your wife back in Unserlynd. She was killed by the raiders who enslaved you.”

“Yes,” Lothar responded. “I promised her that I would always hold her in my heart.”

The Cushite witch gently laid her hand on his shoulder. “I understand. At least you married someone you really loved. If only I had the same fortune…”

“What do you mean?”

“A few years ago, when I still lived in Cush, my parents arranged a wedding between me and a rich scribe named Remmao, but he was a controlling and temperamental man who would never let me leave the house. I grew so fed up with that tyrant that I turned him into a rat. Alas, one of our servants caught me in the act and reported me to the town guard. I was lucky I managed to escape before they could arrest me, and I have lived beyond the frontier of civilization ever since.”

“So that’s how you have come to live among Ishmaelites. Now how did you become a witch?”

“My mother was a witch, and her mother before her---it runs in our family.”

Nefrusobek dug her hands into a leather sack and pulled out some glowing green crystals which seized Lothar’s attention. She put the crystals into her mouth and began to crunch on them.

“What in Wodan’s name are you eating?” Lothar asked.

“Heka crystals, the source of every magician’s power. They taste terrible, but I must consume them every so often.”

“Where do you find these crystals?”

“They’re quite rare except in a few parts of the world, but you can buy them at certain bazaars if you have enough shekels.”

“And how do you earn those shekels?”

“I suppose now’s the time to tell you what the Crimson Lions do,” Melek interjected. “Many caravans cross this desert. Suffice to say that we make most of our living off them…”

Lothar’s face turned a deeper red and he clenched his fists. “I know who you people are. You’re a bunch of thieving bandits!”

“In the words of civilized men, yes. But the merchants are not necessarily any better, for many of them are cheats. For that matter, many ‘law-abiding’ wealthy people get their riches from extorting or plundering other people, except they call those taxes and conquest respectively. If anything, we’re more honest than any king, noble, or trader, for at least we don’t pretend to be anything other than thieves.”

“But you are still thieves! I want nothing to do with you!”

Mekel leaned closer to Lothar with a menacing glare. “Would you rather I return you to Yerusalaam, where you were a slave? It would be very profitable for me…”

The northerner said nothing, but his once fierce expression had melted into one full of dread.

“I thought not,” the bandit chief resumed. “Besides, by joining us, you can have your revenge on civilization, the very institution responsible for all your suffering. What say you to that, northerner?”

Lothar pondered what Mekel had just told him. The chief was right; the Unserlynder had no reason to assimilate into Ishmaelite civilization and every reason to spite it. The Ishmaelites’ demand for slaves had been the force that destroyed his village, killed his wife, and brought him in chains to be sold and whipped. What sweeter revenge could he have than plundering them?

He said with a grin, “I accept your offer, chief.”

“Good. But as I said earlier, we must test your strength first, and that should be in a few days when you’ve recuperated.”

“And how will you test me?”

“Don’t worry about that for the moment. You need your rest. Good night.”

On Mekel’s command, Lothar lay down, but he did not fall asleep immediately. He gazed at Nefrusobek and felt a stirring in his loins. As much as he had loved Eadgifu, he now wondered whether it was worth mourning a dead woman for the rest of his life. Perhaps he could have a second chance at love, and if so, he would protect his new mate as fiercely as he had tried to protect his past one.

[A Nerd]

Very good! Entertaining too! :)