Book I of III: The Swords of the Sultan (51 page)

Just then, the camper happened to spot the
travelers, and immediately he began to run on over while waving his
arms around maniacally!

About sixty feet away, the camper cried out,
“Help—my caravan was just attacked a few days ago, and most of our
people were killed—I am pretty sure that I’m the only survivor, but
I’m very lost! My horse died this morning. Can you please help
me?”

He realized that this man was one of the
members of the slave-trading caravan, and so he hopped off the back
of his horse, while drawing his sword.

Perhaps thirty feet away from the camper,
Baltor stated using angry tones, “I know exactly who you are—you
are one of the worms who stole my wife away from me!”

Despite the fact that this man could not see
Baltor’s face due to the darkness of night, he immediately
recognized Baltor’s voice—instantly he became afraid and took off
into the night.

Meanwhile, Baltor had already decided that he
needed to serve justice to this criminal, and after he quickly told
his wife that he’d soon be back, he then began to chase him down on
foot.

Once he had entered the perimeters of the
darkness, he first notched his sword back onto his belt, and then
his body instantly transformed into a beastly vompareus through a
willed thought. Only moments after that, Baltor’s fangs took a
chomp into this man’s neck.

After having consumed Kartan’s blood and
knowledge, Baltor felt unbelievably powerful. In fact, his mind
felt so powerful that with but a willed thought, he could fly to
the moon, to the end of the galaxy, maybe to the very end of the
universe.

Only a moment later, he began to think about
his love for Brishava, and this is the sole factor that stopped him
from literally flying off into space.

Instead, Baltor landed on the ground not too
far away from the caravan that was still traveling eastbound,
transformed back into human form, and called out so they would know
that it was him returning, “Guys—I’m back!”

Brishava called out, “Good to know, my
husband!”

Once Baltor had hopped back onto his horse,
the caravan continued their way eastbound for the rest of the night
and well through the morning—it was nearly noon the following day
when the caravan reached the fork, and then took the southern
route.

Two nights later, which was the third night
since he had feasted—the caravan finally reached the borders of
Valakan. After he had awoken, and he and Brishava had reassumed
riding on Grasha, they soon arrived at Yaush’s home.

Once there, and the two had dismounted, he
knocked upon his friend’s door, and moments later, the doorknob
turned.

As soon as the door had fully opened, Yaush’s
mouth dropped open in astonishment at seeing his good friend
standing on the other side. A smile formed, and immediately he
proceeded to close his eyes, and give Baltor a good bear hug.

Another astonished look crossed Yaush’s face
upon opening his eyes a few seconds later, and discovering all the
beautiful women who stood right behind Baltor—the girls including
Brishava, all bore their own astonished faces at the size of the
ten-foot, six-hundred-pound giant.

Yaush released the embrace, and with a
friendly gesture of his huge hand inside, he said to all, “Vlaidim
zaus!”

Even though Baltor understood the physical
prompt, what surprised Baltor was the fact that his mind actually
translated the words for him. Yaush had said, “Welcome all!”

Just before Baltor entered the cabin, he
thankfully replied, “Gemne mao, Yaush.”

Yaush, in turn, replied, “Mao sahu vlaidim,
Baltor.”

As Baltor remembered, his mind didn’t have to
translate Yaush’s words, “You are welcome, Baltor.”

After entering the cabin and quickly looking
around, Baltor immediately began to walk over to Jimnee who sat in
the couch by the fireplace.

It was only in the next moment that Jimnee
turned her head to look over at Baltor, and with a very surprised
look on her face, she ran over, gave Baltor a tight hug of her own,
and said, “Baltor, mao’ve platha caloph!”

Baltor’s mind quickly translated, “Baltor,
you’ve come back!” At the same time, his peripheral vision observed
that Brishava was now standing nearly right behind him.

Once Baltor and Jimnee had released the hug a
moment later, he introduced the two to each other. Meanwhile, back
where Yaush stood on the outside porch to his cabin, he had counted
out eleven young and beautiful women bearing a warm and friendly
smile, as they entered through the door.

With an amused cock to his head, Yaush closed
the door behind them all after he had reentered his home. He then
had to slither his massive body around the young attractive women
in order to get to Baltor.

As Yaush began to draw near, he soon observed
that his friend had his arm wrapped lightly around a beautiful
though dirty woman’s waist, and her arm wrapped around his
waist.

Baltor asked in Valakanese, “How are you, my
good friend?”

With a warm smile, Yaush replied back in
Valakanese, “Very good, my friend!” With an inquisitive gesture
while using both of his index fingers to point at all the ladies,
he asked, “Now, who are they?”

Once Baltor’s mind had interpreted, he
explained in the same language, “To explain in a nutshell, my wife
was kidnapped from me about a week and a half ago by a caravan of
slave traders. Soon after, I caught up with them and killed nearly
half of them while the majority of the caravan fled like cowards
into the desert. Not only did I rescue my wife from a locked cage,
yet all these other women.”

With a cock of his head toward the woman
within his arms, he added, “By the way, this is my wife, and her
name is Brishava.”

Yaush shockingly realized that Baltor had
said all this in Valakanese! “How is it that you have learned and
mastered my language so well? You don’t even have an accent!”

“A very good teacher.”

Yaush shook his head in shock for a moment,
but then he laughed out, “I have so many more questions for you,
Baltor—however, I hardly know where to begin!”

With a gesture of his hand toward Brishava,
Baltor introduced, “Well, let me once again introduce you to my
wife, Brishava.”

Brishava didn’t understand what Baltor had
just said, but she could tell that there was an introduction made,
due to the gesturing prompt of his free hand. She slightly curtsied
while bowing her head in greeting, as was her custom.

Baltor then spoke in Pavelian, “This is my
friend, Yaush, the one I told you all about?”

Brishava threw a warm smile, and extended her
hand out. Yaush took it, but he did not shake it, or even hold
it.

Instead, he gently brought her hand up to his
lips and gently kissed it. A moment later, he released her
hand.

Baltor then asked in Valakanese, “Yaush, I
need to find some rooms for us all, as we have nowhere else left to
go. We should have whatever money it might cost. Is there an inn
that we can stay at for awhile?”

“Well, I’m not sure what and how many rooms
there might be at
Hungry Bear
, but there’s only one way to
find out. Jimnee, would you like to come?”

Jimnee replied with a smile, “Of course,
Yaush.” She immediately stood up, set her sewing materials onto the
chair, and walked over to her husband’s side.

They, the whole group, departed from the
cabin, untied the horses from the wagon still parked outside,
brought as many of their horses into the barn as possible, tied up
the horses that wouldn’t fit in the stalls, and then they walked
their way into town.

It was during this trip that Jimnee informed
Baltor, “Tell your beautiful wife that it is a pleasure to meet
her!” Baltor translated.

Brishava said, “Tell her that it is a great
honor for me to have met one so highly spoken of by my
husband!”

Baltor translated, to which Jimnee and
Brishava clasped hands and smiled.

Jimnee turned to Baltor, and asked, “Did you
find the furs to be of help for you in your quest?”

In Valakanese, Baltor replied, “Yes, they
were of great help, thank you very much. But unfortunately, my
camel took off into the jungles; that is, after I had gotten
poisoned and captured by some sneaky cannibals. The fur suit you
made was in my camel’s saddlebags. Sadly, I have no idea what
happened to Valuspo.”

Yaush sadly said, “Valuspo was a great
animal, too. Say, can you tell me of your quest, now?”

“That,” Baltor suggested, “should be told
before a roasting fire with a mug of ale.”

Yaush laughed at his comment, and confirmed,
“You’re right! Indeed, it should. I guess it is quite fortunate
that we are on the way to the restaurant and inn now, isn’t
it?”

“Yes, it is.”

Once they had reached the inn, they all
entered. There were only three male patrons in the place, drinking
up the suds. When they saw Yaush and Jimnee enter, they greeted,
“Good evening.” When all of the beautiful girls entered their
haven, however, their mouths instantly dropped open, and their
conversations forgotten.

Meanwhile, Baltor and Yaush approached the
bar. Yaush asked the bartender, “How many rooms do you have,
Jerishan?”

Jerishan replied, “Of the fifteen rooms I
have, twelve are currently available, Yaush.”

“Great!” Baltor said, “We’ll take them all
for a week.”

After figuring out the costs in his head for
a second, Jerishan said, “That’ll be ninety-five baushans,
please.”

Baltor asked, “Will you take a precious gem
as payment?”

“Well,” Jerishan answered with a question,
“is it worth ninety-five baushans?”

Baltor turned to Brishava who now stood by
his side, and simply asked, “Can I get a gem, please?”

Brishava pulled out an emerald the size of a
chicken egg from her backpack, and as she handed it over to Baltor,
she replied, “Of course, honey!”

Baltor extended it out toward the bartender
while asking, “Will this cover for a week, Jerishan?”

Without having even touched the emerald to
feel its quality, Jerishan’s eyes bulged as he declared, “That’ll
easily cover a month!”

“Deal,” Baltor replied. As he handed Jerishan
the emerald, he asked, “Say—will that buy us all a round of ale,
too?”

“Sure thing, buddy!” he replied, as he took
the emerald. He then began the process of pulling out mugs, and
then filling them up with for everyone in the entire bar.

Baltor picked up one of the mugs and
pretended to take a small sip from it—Yaush didn’t, however.

Instead, he grabbed his mug and chugged half
of it down in one swallow!

“
Ahhhh
,” Yaush sighed deeply. “I
needed that.”

A mug was set before Brishava, but she
cleared her throat. When Jerishan glanced up, she shook her head
negatively and pointed at the mug.

Jerishan bore a curious expression on his
face.

Brishava grabbed the sleeve of Baltor’s
shirt, tugged it a couple times to get his attention, and asked,
“Honey, I don’t like ale. However, do ask him if he has any wine,
preferably red, please?”

Baltor translated her request.

Jerishan threw Brishava a smile and a nod
with his head. He then disappeared into the backroom for a minute.
When he returned, he held a corked bottle in his hand, and then
told Baltor, “Tell that pretty woman that this is my best
wine—reserved for only the most special of my guests!”

Once Baltor had translated, Brishava smiled
at the innkeeper very appreciatively, while nodding her head, and
saying, “Thank you very much!”

Baltor translated.

Yaush had just finished his second mug of
ale, and then he asked Baltor, “So will you tell us about your
quest—well, what you can?”

“Of course!”

Yaush stood up from his barstool, and then
pointed at the three elongated tables that sat in the middle of the
room that each held six chairs. The rest of the group got the idea
and casually moseyed their way over there.

After the ladies had grabbed a chair or two,
the two men pushed the three tables together, the ladies slid their
chairs up to the table, just before everyone took a seat.

After another round of drinks had been
distributed out, nearly a minute later, Baltor began to relay his
tale from beginning to end, and in both languages—as before, he
omitted any parts that regarded the rod, Trendon, and vampires. He
also omitted the info that the wife he had rescued twice was
actually the daughter of a Sultan. Meanwhile, the whole bar hovered
over every word he said.

Just as Baltor’s mouth had finished relaying
his tale, his eyes spotted a new patron sitting in a very shadowy
booth at the far end of the room, alone.

This person was dressed completely in black
attire, including the gloves that extended not only past the
elbows, yet vanished under the shadows of the black cape and hood.
As this person was currently leaning forward in their booth, Baltor
assumed that this person was listening very attentively to every
word that he had to say.

As soon as the hooded figure became aware
that he or she had been spotted, that figure stood up and began to
approach—Baltor did not make it look obvious, though his hand
rested upon his sword, just in case.

Once the cloaked person reached the table,
and without warning, raised his or her left hand up in order to
draw back the hood. Goosebumps surged up and down Baltor’s body, as
he shockingly saw Humonus’s face smiling down at him.

“Hey, Humonus,” Baltor exclaimed. He stepped
out of his chair, turned to face his old friend, and extended his
arms out for a hug—Humonus returned the embrace.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group looked over
to check out the commotion. Baltor finally pulled back from the hug
a moment later and asked, “So how are you doing, my old
friend?”