My name is Kantu, and these days I make my living as a fur trapper. I was a soldier once, but ever since I lost my sword arm some eight, ten years ago now, I've had to get by. You know how it is. But lately things have been crazy around here -- the jungle acting strange, normally peaceful creatures turned rabid or worse, attacking people. Some say the animals have been possessed by demons! Maybe it's true...
Things have gotten so bad, it's hardly safe at all to leave the dockside any more. That's where the elders are holed up, protected, for the moment, by an enchantment. Even so, I can't trap in town, so I still have to venture out, or else go hungry for lack of money. I've had my share of close calls, but none as close as one time recently. I would have been a goner if not for... well, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I'd checked my traps, bagged a small catch (had to throw one mangy thing away), reset the traps and was heading back to the docks. A pack of those Cloud Stalker bats decided I smelled like their next meal and started attacking me. (I know that's ridiculous, but it's true!). I thought that was bad enough, but as I ran from them, down some infrquently used jungle path, I stumbled right into a village of Fetishes. I knew I was in for it at that point, but I tried to double back. The Stalkers caught me and a couple of them took bites out of my arms. Ouch! I was bleeding, running, stumbling, and finally collapsed in a heap on the ground. As the Stalkers and some Fetishes were still chasing me, I knew I had to get up or I was a goner, but to make matters even worse, I turned to discover my only way out blocked by Thorned Hulks. My first instinct was one of relief, for these are the guardians of the great spider forest, but no, no something was wrong. Their eyes seemed deadpan and they were closing in on me, not my pursuers. I knew I was about to die.
And then out of nowhere she appeared. I mean that literally! A spiraling trail of lightning, like a miniature twister, glowed brightly before me. I heard a short singsong noise and some sparks crackling, and there she appeared, like an angel right out of heaven come down to rescue me. She wielded an axe as big as a man, and in one tremendous blow, she cleaved right through the first Hulk like he was made of straw!
As the first Hulk crumbled, she spun like a wraith and closed on the second one. She swung! Down he went, axed, his tortured spirit evaporating like steam, leaving behind only a small, burnt bit of wood. She was among them now, an angel of death dancing with precise movements, felling them one after another with one huge, quick, devastating blow apiece. In mere moments, they had all been slain.
In my astonishment, I hadn't even noticed the swarm of Fetishes about to butcher me with those knives they carry that are larger than their small bodies. Yet my angel was the same, for I saw now that she was a tiny thing, a mere waif of a girl, and her shrill battle cries seemed almost comical except for the frightening way in which she mowed down those hulks like they were jungle weeds, her petite frame a mere flash of green and silver amidst a blur of giant axe swings. She spotted the fetishes and I heard that singsong crackling noise again, and she vanished! But then I realized that she was BEHIND me now. What happened? Had she moved so quickly that I missed it in a blink? Or had she used some sort of magic I had never seen before?
Cloud Stalkers were charging her in large numbers, but they could not even touch her, even on her blind side. They seemed to hit some sort of sparkling barrier around her, and would freeze up and shatter into tiny shards. It was truly the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Is this what snow is like??
My angel completely ignored the bats and let them suicide against her sparkling defense, while she hacked through the fetishes two and three at a time, her axe sparking and flaming with every hit. And just like that, it was all over, and somehow I was alive and well and, for the moment, actually safe.
"Thank you for saving me," I managed to say.
She grinned a bit shyly, shrugged her little shoulders, and offered me a hand up off the ground.
"I am called Kantu," I told her.
"Hi," she answered, sounding like she was 10 years old even though she was clearly at least 16, perhaps 17. "I'm Sissy. I'm a Barbarian warrior from the north lands." Her huge axe gleamed in the sunlight.
"A Barbarian you say?? Well, uh..." and I laughed. I didn't mean to, but I couldn't help it.
She frowned at me. "What's funny about that?"
I shrugged apologetically. "Only that I've never seen nor heard of a Barbarian warrior wearing a sun bonnet into battle."
She leaned right toward me and, though she was shorter than me by more than a foot, she gazed fearlessly up into my eyes with a serious expression. "You got a problem with my bonnet?"
She smelled like wildflowers. I was feeling very confused. "Uh... no, my lady. I do not."
She backed off, eyeing me warily. "You better not. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't beat you silly if you make fun of me. This bonnet is a tried and true warrior's sun bonnet and don't you forget it!"
I laughed, and she frowned harder. She was so serious about it! "Forgive me," I said. Then, to change the subject, I said, "That's a fine looking axe. How strong is it?"
She spun like a whirling dervish, startling me! Her axe whipped out in an instant and cleaved right straight through not one but TWO decent-size tree trunks. I thought for a moment that it was some sort of illusion, but then the trees actually started to topple, and I watched dumbfounded as they crashed to the jungle floor. Not ancient trees, but not saplings either. Sissy stood in the same position as before, as if she hadn't moved. It dawned on me that she'd done that to impress me. Consider me impressed!
"Wow! That's amazing. Where did you get that axe?"
She grinned. "I took it from a Demon Lord. Buy me some milk and cookies in town and I'll tell you all about it."
Demon Lord? Milk and cookies?? What a fascinating thing this girl was turning out to be.
"All right."
...
Sissy and I sat in the tavern and I had the barkeep chase down some fresh cow's milk from the inn, along with a loaf of banana bread, which would have to do in place of cookies. As Sissy dunked her bread in the milk and ate dainty little nibbles, she swung her feet and twirled a finger through her long dark hair, blinked her dark lashes at me with childlike cheerfulness and told me about her axe.
"It all started when I arrived in Lut Gholein. I was... following someone there, someone I have some business with before I can go home and show Father how I've become a real warrior." She rolled her eyes and sighed quietly. "Father is such a man! Sometimes he's as dense as a log. He won't accept that I'm a warrior with just talk, though. I have to prove it to him! And I will.
"I was carrying a fat cudgel that I'd been using to smash my enemies with, but it was kind of slow, you know? I decided I needed something a little quicker, so I went to the smith and bought myself a dagger. It was a Warrior's dagger, mind you! So don't you make fun of me using a knife like some unblooded trainee!"
I shook my head seriously, trying to keep a straight face. "I'd never laugh at you, my dear."
"You better not, or I might axe your head off. Anyway... so I got my dagger. It had a curvy blade and they had some fancy name for it, but it was a dagger, plain and simple. Now this lady in town hired me to avenge her son, who was killed by a monster in the tunnels beneath the city. I went down there and the tunnels were thick with undead." Her voice quavered a little.
"Were you frightened?" I asked.
She stiffened and glared at me. "The only thing that scares me is powerful magicka, and even that is more of a respect than true fear."
"They would have scared ME," I said. "And I used to be a soldier, once."
She relaxed and went on. "My shiver armor dealt with them nicely. When they tried to attack me, they would be hurt and also frosted. A few were killed, and I finished the rest with my knife. I had many such fights, and had to fight archers with flaming arrows and even undead magi who shot firebolts at me. Eventually I worked my way down through all the tunnels and came to a niche where a giant mummy was holed up with a mass of undead that he seemed to command. This was my target.
"However, as I slew his minions, he would use his own magic to restore animation to them, and this, this frightened me." She glared at me. "Only a little bit, though. I retreated into the next room and the skeletons all followed me there. The mummy's magic seemed to have a limited range, as he did not revive his minions. I lured them all away from him, smashed them, then went in after him. He breathed a cloud of vile fumes and I felt ill, but I stabbed him so many times, that he eventually dropped dead. Mission accomplished! Among the treasures I found an ancient scroll. I could not read it, so I took it back to town and showed it to my friend, Cain. He speculated that the monster I'd slain was one of the ancient Horadrim undead guardians set to protect the Tomb of Tal Rasha, and that he had somehow been corrupted. The scroll was also Horadric, and it revealed that a Horadric staff could uncover the secret entrance to Tal Rasha's chamber.
"That night I had a vision in my dreams. I saw myself deep in a dusty tomb, standing before a secret opening that had been revealed to me."
"I knew that it was my destiny to realize this vision, and I was heartened. I ventured out into the desert, and in a tomb I found there, I encountered plenty more undead, but also a mummy with a cold magic that nearly killed me in one mighty hit. I used cunning to defeat him, though. In another tomb, I saw the most vile sort of magicka you could dream of: an undead maker. It was summoning or even creating undead from thin air, and I braved a small army of skeltons and mummies to attack it.
"In that tomb, I found another lost Horadric treasure, and Cain told me how to make use of it. He also said that pieces of a Horadric staff would have been hidden underground, and heavily guarded, and that I'd have to venture down into more tombs to find them. So that's what I did!"
Sissy dunked the last of her banana bread in the milk and nibbled off of it like a small bird. I wondered how such a small girl could have such a strong will. Perhaps it is her barbarian blood.
"I did eventually find part of the staff," she said, "deep inside a huge insect lair. I found the other part in a temple of snake-men who had placed a curse on the desert to block out the sun itself. The snake-queen had a terrible magic that spewed sparks every time I stabbed her. Her defense was even stronger than my shiver armor, and I had to teleport away from her to save myself. I found a spot she couldn't reach, however, and enchanted some spears I had found to slay her and some of her guards."
"Spears?" I asked. "I thought you preferred to hack your enemies to bits with your own hands."
"I do!" she said. "But I learned the hard way that too much pride is dangerous. Is it my fault that this enemy was not cunning enough to reach me, while I slew her from afar with short spears? I think not!"
I smiled at her. For all her childish and feminine mannerisms, she was wiser than she looked. I only had to recall the vision of her axe mowing down monsters in the jungle to renew my respect for her. "What about your axe, Sissy? Where did you find the axe?"
"I'm coming to that." She finished the milk and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Now that I had a staff, I had to find Tal Rasha's tomb. But first there was a crisis in town to deal with. Demons were pouring up from the Palace cellars and the guards were unable to deal with them. I had to help out! I took my dagger and went down there, and after clearing out the cellars, I came upon a magic portal. I asked around in town and the local sage gave me some useful answers. I also bought myself a new sword and shield from the smith. My shield had Deflecting magic, and my sword was a gold scimitar of carnage! Nearly as fast as my dagger, and also stronger and much more accurate. I had to test it in battle, though.
"I went through the portal into a strange, magical place filled with demons. I had four paths to choose from and took the one to the west. I'd barely gone fifty paces when I heard a shrill cry and saw an undead spirit commanding a small army of ghosts to attack me. There must have been seven or eight in his group alone, and many more came from the other direction to chase me. I was a little concerned," she said, her eyes large with reflections of a deeper fear than she was letting on. "I had very little retreat room, and I nearly panicked as they all swarmed after me in one tight pack, their ghostly forms moving right through one another. I ran back and took the north passage, but found myself cut off by more demons. I was about to be squeezed, so I teleported desperately to the west, then again and again, and somehow I actually lost them! They must not have seen where I went!
"So I worked my way westward, slaying demons. At times I enchanted some spears or knives I had found to thin out mobs on adjacent platforms. Eventually I found a journal that revealed to me the true location of Tal Rasha's tomb. I could have gone on from there, but that would have left the poor town to deal with all these demons. So I knew it was my duty as the only powerful warrior in the city, to slay the rest of these foul demons myself. I found an altar and prayed for strength, and my prayer seemed to be answered. I summoned up all my courage and went back to confront those ghosts."
"My new sword worked nicely, particularly with my enchantments. After finally clearing out all the demons, I went to Tal Rasha's tomb and once more had to fight entire hosts of undead.
"In this tomb, I hoped to catch Tal Rasha himself, as I believed this was what my vision had told me. But I was wrong. I was too late. Tal Rasha and the one I pursued were already gone. They left behind one of their minions to slay me, though: a huge insect demon with terrible claws and a sort of shiver armor of his own. I did fierce battle with this demon and he wounded me gravely many times. If not for rejuvenation potions, I would surely have died! I drank six minor potions and three greater ones, and had only three more greater ones left when this mighty Demon Lord finally fell dead to the ground."
"It was there I found my beautiful axe!" Her eyes lit up, rapt, and she smiled fondly as she reached over to stroke the handle of the weapon, which leaned against our table. "After all my struggles, my courage was rewarded in the end with a weapon truly fitting for a barbarian like myself. A magic axe! An artifact of great power. Not even Father's axe is quite as nice as mine!" She grinned happily. "It's not only strong, but oh so quick! As quick as that skinny little scimitar I used to slay it's former owner!"
I drank the rest of my ale and was further drugged by the wildflower scent about this girl. A tavern is normally a stinky place, but her presence was too strong even for that, as if her warrior's will alone could push back the stink and fill the tavern instead with her cheerful aura. I was getting a little drunk by now and my eyes were drawn to her thin shoulders, her strong arms, and that lovely dark hair.
Sissy leaned toward me a bit, propped her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. "Now tell me about you. How did you lose that arm?"
"I lost it to a monster! A vile, brutal beast in the spider forest. I was a soldier, too, once. A child had gotten lost near the Spider Cavern, and the militia was called out to find the boy. We called out for him and heard his cries coming from the Spider Cavern itself. This was not good news, as there are giant poisonous and flaming spiders who dwell there. But we had to rescue the boy, so I led my men inside. I was a fool! I thought our swords could slay these beasts and our shields protect us from their venom, but I was wrong, so wrong."
Sissy's eyes widened. "What happened? Did the spiders eat all your men?"
"No, not at first. We were charged by a small mob of poison spinners but managed to deal with them well enough. Spiders DO bleed when you stick them. The boy was nearby and wailing loudly now.
"And then HE came out after us. A terrible spider he is, with flaming eyes and flaming claws. We call him Sszark the Burning, and he is a terrible monster indeed. He would be bad enough alone, but he is also cunning and commands a swarm of his brethren to attack with him all at once. Eight of my men died and HE bit off my arm. It was a terrible day. We managed to save the boy, but at what cost! What cost!"
"Did you slay this monster?"
"No." I hung my head. "He is too strong, and there is an evil about him that seems to make luck turn against you, for every man he fights takes mortal wounds with one or two blows. He is still out there."
Sissy stroked her axe handle. "Tomorrow I am going to the Spider Cavern."
"No! Sissy, you mustn't! It is too dangerous."
She patted my one hand as if I were the child and not her. "It's all right. I have faced far worse than some old spider and lived to tell about it. It is my duty to take vengeance for you, my friend. Sszark will eat steel." She nodded so calmly I didn't know what to say.
Finally I found my tongue again. "You be careful, now. Don't let them swarm you. You stay away from him until you've killed his brood. Do you hear me?"
She smiled gently. "I will heed your advice, Kantu. I will follow your battle plan, and I will bring you proof that he is dead."
I drank the rest of my ale and went to bed but could not sleep. All the next day, while Sissy was out in the jungle, I tore at my hair and paced the floor like an expecting father. As the sun set, this barbarian girl came striding back to town, as calmly as always, and dwarfed by her tremendous axe. I met her at the dockside gate and she handed me a giant red spider's leg.
Sissy grinned up at me. "Buy me some milk and cookies, and I'll tell you all about it."
...
We sat in the tavern again, and Sissy dunked her banana bread in the milk and nibbled at it like a tiny bird.
"It was just as you said, Kantu. At first there were a few scout spiders to test me out, and when I dealt with them, Sszark charged out at me with a whole army of spiders."
I tensed up, remembering my own ill-fated battle with that beast. Sissy sipped tiny bits of milk and then sat back. The scent of wildflowers filled the air around our table.
"I did what you told me, Kantu. I stayed away from Sszark and chopped through his minions instead, and when he finally charged out after me, I teleported myself into a corner, away from him, and continued to thin out his army."
"He was frustrated and a battle fury came over him, but still I evaded him and slew his minions, both spiders and giant maggots. When he was the only one left attacking me, I lured him to an open space and laid into him with my axe. He fell dead in four or five chops." She grinned happily. "You have been avenged!"
I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back. I gazed at this girl and was amazed by her contradictions of strength and vulnerability. I knew then that I loved her, but I also knew then that she had a higher destiny and it would take her away from me. I bowed my head and drowned my longings in my ale.
We talked and swapped more war stories the rest of the night, and I went to bed with a heartache the size of Sissy's mighty spirit. She had struck my heart with an axe even greater than the one she wielded with her hands. Again I could not sleep, and I would not sleep easily ever again, wondering always where Sissy was, whether she was safe or not, and whether she even remembered me, a poor jungle trapper with one arm whose life she saved, avenged, but also ripped away with her lovely little smile.
...
- Sirian
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