Kudaldan was in an uproar over the movement started by Amiro in the Jukhmahan. Riders left the city in all directions, carrying the message far and wide: The steppe tribes were preparing for war.
Of course, such an important decision could not be made lightly and in the absence of so many great chiefs. Only when the majority of the tribes were in agreement could a coalition of this magnitude be formed. And two of the greatest tribes, the Ishtemur and the Shaankhor, needed to be consulted first.
Thus, Amiro and his contingent remained in Kudaldan and awaited the arrival of the other chiefs while drafting preliminary plans. While Viyal would have liked to watch, only the chiefs were allowed in the strategy meetings. Since there was nothing else for her to do, she explored the town with Yunil every day. Tashi naturally followed her, and Rowen accompanied them as their guard.
Viyal wore her simple travel garb and covered her white hair in a scarf. The peddlers' attitude toward her was quite different from when she rode on a Shinoon in her silken dress. They paid her little attention and instead focused wholly on Rowen, whose black plate armor stood out among the woolen clothes of the steppe people.
If not for the hooked nose and beard poking out from underneath his crimson hood, she would have considered that he was an animated suit of armor. She had asked him about his species a few times, but he always found a way to avoid answering outright. Someday, she hoped to learn what he really was, but she was not curious enough to find out at the expense of his goodwill.
Kudaldan was unlike any permanent settlement, lacking even the most basic planning of streets and alleyways. It developed organically, with paths forming where people treaded so much that nothing would grow from the dirt. Tents appeared to have been placed haphazardly, but somehow, there was always space for people to walk.
"Are you not the daughter of Chief Amiro of the Zakhira?" somebody suddenly called out to Viyal. She turned her head to see a pair of male Mosyvvi twins with reddish brown hair approaching. They were perhaps two years older than her, still childlike but already in their growth spurt. In their hands were grilled Shinoon shanks, and the corners of their mouths were oily. Four guards, two Bavadi and two Jagul, stopped a short distance behind them.
"And you are?" Viyal inquired with a nod of greeting. Judging by the four men guarding them, they were likely the sons of a chief. Most Mosyvvi on the steppe were either leaders or wandering warriors, after all.
"Dobro, and my brother, Tabro," the older of the two introduced them with an eyebrow raised at Viyal's dismissive attitude. Perhaps he expected a female Mosyv to be coy toward him. "We are the sons of Chief Bairo of the Khadarta."
"Should I know that name?" she wondered, genuinely confused at his self-important attitude. It drew an irritated glare from Dobro, but his brother grabbed his wrist to hold him back from saying anything.
"Where is your sister? I have not seen her in the Jukhmahan," Tabro inquired, changing the topic. He seemed the more level-headed of the two, hiding his feelings at Viyal's implication that their tribe is not significant enough to remember.
"She is here," Viyal took Yunil's hand and declared. She noticed that the Nokkoy had already shut out their conversation and seemed far more interested in the food the Mosyvvi twins carried.
"What even is that?" Dobro saw his opportunity to shoot back and asked with an exaggerated look of disgust.
"My sister, Yunil," Viyal ignored the boy's provocation and responded with a straightforward expression. Shizuru knew his type well: Entitled and insecure brats whose only worth lay in their parents' position. There were plenty of his kind at her school.
Yunil snapped out of her appetite-induced trance and glanced at Viyal, sensing her tension through her touch. Even if she was used to dealing with such people in her previous life, she remembered that this world was different. They had fewer inhibitions against resorting to violence. And even a young Mosyv was deadly if they wanted to be.
"That's your sister?" Dobro took a step toward them and eyed Yunil with a look one gave a dirty animal by the roadside. He was almost a head taller than her, but she stood her ground and parted her lips to reveal her fangs. "What manner of creature is it?"
"Brother," Tabro tried to stop him, but the older boy pointed his Shinoona shank at his face to shut him up.
"Do not disrespect my lady and her sister," Tashi stepped between them and glared up at the Mosyv. He was only slightly shorter than Yunil, so his presence did not dissuade Dobro from pressing further.
"A Gadat," he spat out as if cursing. Then he looked past Tashi as if he did not exist and grinned at Viyal, "You keep strange pets for company."
"What?!" Tashi reached for his curved short swords.
"That is enough, boys," Rowen suddenly put an armored palm between them and declared firmly. "Do not start trouble here."
Dobro stared at the armored knight, confusion and fear written on his face. Now that he stood so close, he could tell that this was not an opponent his teeth and claws could harm. The Gadat had metal armors, but they were made of many small plates sewn onto padded vests. He had never faced a person whose entire body seemed to be made of steel before.
Viyal noticed that the twins' guards had already moved into position and were ready for an altercation. They carried spears and curved swords in scabbards, weapons taken from the Gadat. These four men were likely formidable warriors to be given the task of guarding their chief's heirs.
"Come on, let's go," Tabro grabbed his brother by the wrist and pulled him away. Dobro shot them another glare before tossing his Shinoon shank aside in anger and following his more reasonable half. Yunil looked between the wasted food and Viyal with an expression of despair. She smiled wryly and petted her hair.
"Now, young lady, that was not very wise," Rowen turned toward her and sighed. "Your father is in the process of making history, so it would be best to maintain good relations with the various tribes."
"I merely said I didn't know their tribe. They were the ones who insulted my sister," Viyal argued and hugged Yunil tightly. The Nokkoy smiled contentedly and nuzzled her nose into her hair.
"They also insulted me," Tashi commented dejectedly, but Viyal ignored him.
After that encounter, Yunil used her sense of smell to guide them to the stand where Dobro and Tabro bought the Shinoon shanks. It was operated by a Rausam, causing the two girls to chuckle at the comparison with Mannogur, the Zakhira's chief cook. They each got a large shank in exchange for small leather goods as payment.
Tashi did not like meat and was more interested in a nearby stand that sold bread. Viyal had not seen baked goods on the steppe before and wanted to try some. Still, she feared being unable to stomach it since Mosyvvi were purely carnivorous, so she did not want to buy a whole loaf and then have it go to waste. Instead, she snatched a piece from Tashi and popped it into her mouth.
As expected, she had no molars to grind it down properly and could only cut it into smaller pieces with her sharp teeth. Her jaw was not made for masticating either, so she had to wiggle it around awkwardly. Yunil stared at her with a funny expression, and she felt her cheeks growing warm from embarrassment.
"How cute," Tashi said with a dreamy look. Viyal did not feel happy about that assessment coming from him at all.
"It's good," she said after swallowing it. The bread was aromatic, with a hint of herbs sprinkled in. She could not tell what kind of grain the flour came from. The memories of how food tasted in her previous life had all but faded, so she could not make a comparison.
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Sated and content, they made their way back to their camp at the edge of the city. Along the way, Viyal looked at the stalls curiously but decided not to buy anything. Although she was interested in the trinkets and leatherwork on display, she knew not to waste their bartering goods on decorations.
They passed an ironware trader, and she stopped in surprise. The steppe people did not have blacksmithing, so these were likely looted from the Gadat. A suit of scale armor complete with a helmet was displayed on a mannequin. Weapons of all kinds leaned on a wooden rack.
"They have swords from the empire," Tashi commented with a disapproving look. Viyal followed his gaze and beheld a collection of straight and curved blades lying on a cloth-covered table.
"Oh, are you looking to get a better set of swords, young Gadat?" the merchant, a man resembling a taller and more muscular Shangra with black hair, emerged from inside his tent upon noticing their presence and asked with a businessman's smile.
"They are all I need," the monkey boy absentmindedly touched one of his scabbards and responded. From what Viyal saw, he maintained them religiously, oiling them regularly and sharpening them after each draw, even if they were not used. He clearly had a connection to those three curved swords that went beyond being reliable tools for battle.
"Then for you, mighty warrior?" The merchant immediately looked to Rowen once it became clear Tashi would not be a paying customer.
"I am confident in saying I will not find any replacement for my trusty companion in these lands. Nightfall is a special one." Rowen patted the pommel of his straight sword. The black Shangra looked at it dubiously; the leather grip was faded and tattered, and the cross guard was blackened from lack of polish.
"What is the story behind its name?" Viyal's curiosity was piqued.
"It is a long story. One for another time, young lady," responded the old knight and laughed heartily. The weapon merchant seemed to grow impatient and turned to Viyal in hopes of netting at least one sale.
"Perhaps a small blade for the young lady to protect herself?" the black Shangra picked up a curved dagger with a simple bronze scabbard. He drew the blade and showed it off under the afternoon sun. It was made from polished steel, reflecting her face like a mirror.
"A small thing like that? Her teeth and claws are better protection," Yunil commented, furrowing her brow in doubt. She hugged Viyal from behind, grabbed the corners of her mouth, and pulled them up to reveal her sharp teeth.
"Fa ah fu foin!" Viyal struggled against Yunil's rough handling, and she let go and squished her cheeks instead. It was an unexpected gesture from the Nokkoy, but she was not angry enough to get out of her embrace.
"Ah, you are a Mosyv!" The merchant's eyes lit up with newfound hope. Perhaps he could make a good sale yet. "Then how about this spear. It is from the Gadat's cavalry, very light and perfectly balanced. You will soon grow into it."
"I am a girl," Viyal declared with a frown. "There is not enough growth for me left to wield one that long. The bow is my weapon."
"And even that you are not very skilled with," muttered Yunil behind her.
"I'm getting better!" Viyal pulled away from her and argued with a pout. Then she looked her sister up and down and considered her thoughtfully. Yunil never trained, but her natural strength and reflexes were incredible. Surely, she would head into battle one day. For that, she needed a weapon beside her teeth and bare fists. "How about you get a spear?"
"Not my thing. I fight better with my hands," Yunil responded, causing the merchant's face to darken again after it lit up in anticipation.
"If you ride out into battle, you cannot fight with your fists alone," argued Rowen.
"I don't intend to ride. I run faster than any Shinoona." The Nokkoy sniffed in disdain at the thought. It was true that her legs were strong, and she could sprint almost as fast as an unburdened Shinoon. When it carried a rider, she could even surpass the fastest among them. Still, she would not come out on top when fighting mounted enemies with their advantage in size and reach.
"Perhaps now is not yet the time for her," Rowen conceded with a wry laugh. The steppe tribes were preparing for a huge war, so Viyal had to convince Yunil to start learning how to ride before then. She did not want her to learn the hard way that her fighting style that prevailed in sparring might not work in a real battle.
"Sorry for taking up your time, but we won't be buying anything." She waved at the black Shangra merchant, who sighed in resignation and returned the gesture. They left his wares behind and headed in the direction of their camp once more.
After only a few tents down the path, Yunil's ears suddenly perked up. She heard the weapons merchant shouting in the distance and footsteps approaching rapidly. As she spun around, she found half a dozen men with their faces covered in scarves carrying Gadat weapons coming into sight. They had stolen them from the black Shangra, likely to hide their tracks.
Rowen saw her expression of alertness and looked back but was too slow to react. A glaive cut right through his neck, sending his head flying. The other men spread out as best they could between the tents and tried to surround Viyal, Yunil, and Tashi, who drew his three curved swords. They all wielded polearms, so he was at a range disadvantage.
"What?!" one of the men suddenly screamed when Rowen's decapitated body did not fall and instead drew his sword. Before he could overcome his confusion, the headless knight bridged the distance with blinding speed. The blackened steel longsword cut into the assailant's shoulder. It embedded itself at the center of his chest before being withdrawn in one swift motion.
Even before the man fell, Rowen had already moved on to the next opponent. The masked man stabbed his spear at the old knight, but it slid off his breastplate without even leaving a scratch. In one fell swing of his sword, the second man was relieved of his raised arm and then his head.
Viyal, Yunil, and Tashi watched in both terror and fascination as Rowen made short work of the remaining four assailants as all their desperate attempts at attacking him glanced off his armor. The headless knight cut down the last man from behind as he threw down his weapon and tried to run away.
The three children were stunned as the headless knight whipped down his sword to slide off the blood and sheathed it. He walked past them and bent down to pick up his head by the tassel of his crimson hood. Viyal noticed that black mist obscured the place where his severed neck should have been, much like in his headless horse. Rowen then put his head back onto his shoulders and turned to look at them.
"Are you unharmed?" he spoke as if what he just did was the most natural thing in this world.
"What manner of apparition are you?" Tashi stepped in front of Viyal to cover her.
"Hrmm, this is your first time seeing this side of me, so it is no wonder you are surprised," Rowen said, stroking his beard. "You could say I am one who returned from death, seeking vengeance on the wicked, the traitors, and the murderers."
Shizuru recognized the legendary Dullahan in his appearance. She did not know much about it besides that it involved a headless rider on a headless horse. She should have realized the first time she saw his mount, but she had not connected the dots before seeing him lose his head.
"I trust you, Rowen," Viyal nodded, and the old knight's gray beard shifted into a visible broad smile. He had been with her tribe long before she was born, so they likely knew about this aspect of his. And now she had finally witnessed the reason her mother said he was a mighty warrior.
"Are you not afraid of this uncanny being?" Tashi was unconvinced and questioned Viyal's seemingly ill-considered acceptance of Rowen's casual headlessness.
"He is like a grandfather to me, Tashi," she declared, putting a hand on the boy's arm. He hesitated for a moment but lowered his weapons. If his lady said so, he would trust her.
"My, to be considered family by the young lady, I am honored," Rowen bowed his head before her, and it fell off again. He caught it before it hit the ground and raised it back onto his shoulders. "Oops, it would seem I did not reattach it properly."
Tashi stared at him with an aghast expression, but Viyal chuckled. Then she turned to Yunil, who had been surprisingly silent throughout the ordeal. The Nokkoy's eyes were fixated on the old knight, her pupils narrowed into slits. Her hair stood on end, and she seemed frozen in fear.
"That was amazing! Please teach me how to fight like that!" she suddenly blurted out, shocking Viyal and Tashi. Rowen laughed heartily at her enthusiasm.
"Now, now. I wear this heavy armor one cannot find in these lands." He knocked on his breastplate audibly. "Without it, I would not even be half as effective against the people of the steppe. They are too fast for me."
Yunil furrowed her brow at that obvious lie. He moved as fast as the assailants did while not needing to avoid their attacks. Some tribes had a culture of wielding round shields in combat, usually to compensate for their lack of physical prowess. Rowen's armor was akin to a shield that encased the whole body, yet his skills were on par with some of the strongest species of the steppe. Viyal even wondered if he could perhaps defeat her father in single combat.
"You run faster than I can ride. You are nimble enough to catch arrows in your hands. Do not rush to learn from this old fool." He sighed and concluded with a smile, "You have your own way of fighting."
He was right in that regard. Not about the part where he was too humble about his skills, but his fighting style. It was powerful and efficient, but somebody without such fine armor could not dare to replicate it. Padded vests offered some protection, but the spear thrusts and glaive slashes that glanced off his plate earlier would have been fatal if he had worn only that.
Yunil looked dissatisfied but seemed to accept his reasoning for now. But Viyal knew she would not let the matter rest for long and bring it up again some other time. She looked past her and noticed Tashi bending down to take off the scarf covering a dead assailant's face.
"It's one of the guards that was following those Mosh twins from earlier." He dropped the scarf again and straightened his back to look around. "It seems they held a grudge."
"This might complicate some things," said Rowen in a worried tone.
Viyal furrowed her brow, and her mind started to race. They were attacked for a perceived insult and merely defended themselves. Yet, it was undeniable that they killed six warriors from the Khadarta tribe. Regardless of the circumstances, there would be repercussions.