In a house on the outskirts of one of the smaller desert cities in the South, live Drakthar and Kali who have continued their life together after returning from their vacation with their old friends. Drakthar continues to train the boy, Valdemar, who continues his constant quibbles with Kali.
They live there accepting challengers who find themselves brave enough to test themselves against a legendary hero such as Drakthar. But to Drakthar’s dismay, none have even come close to meeting his lofty expectations.
At midday, Drakthar hears a familiar sound, a knock on the door that surely means a new challenger has arrived. He opens the door, eager to assess his potential opponent before he looks down to see a teenage girl standing before him.
“Who are you?” He asks bluntly, knowing there is no way this girl is here to challenge him. “Hi, I might be at the wrong place. I’m Sati Strazar, I think my sister Kali is supposed to be living here,” Sati timidly introduces herself.
“She does, let me check if she’s here,” Drakthar responds, closing the door before going out back to find Kali. He phrased his response the way he did, knowing Kali is trying to avoid her family so he is unsure if she would be willing to talk to her sister.
“Hey, your sister Sati is at our front door,” he informs her after he finds her training in the backyard.
“What? Are you sure?” Kali asks, starting to panic internally. Drakthar nods. “Um… was it just her or was the rest of my family there?” Kali asks, this being the determining factor whether she starts running or not.
“Just her,” Drakthar responds calmly.
“Okay, it should be fine then,” Kali exhales, relaxing again after that minor fright. “Hello Sati,” Kali greets her sister with a smile. “Kali!” Sati jumps into her older sister’s arms excited to see her again after so long.
“I’ve missed you, Kali. I’ve heard about all the amazing things you’ve done, you're famous now, everyone knows exactly who you are, that’s really cool,” Sati praises her, having looked up to her older sister since growing up.
“It’s good to see you too Sati but why are you here? Tell me father didn’t send you,” Kali has to ask, deflating both of their excitement to see each other.
“Yes, he wants you to come back to the family,” Sati informs her.
“What so he can kill me for being a failure?” Kali asks, knowing that’s probably what would happen after she failed to protect the fountain, her family's one sacred duty.
“No, he will scold you but I don’t think he’ll kill you. We aren’t too bad off Kali. In the beginning, it was scary after hearing you abandoned the fountain and that it was dry but a few months later Indra came back and found us work so we are doing okay. The family didn’t collapse because of your mistake so mom and dad want you to come back to the family so we can all be together again,” Sati informs her, letting her know the family is getting by.
“Indra came back? That’s a shock,” Kali comments, her brother had left the family many years ago to venture out on his own against their father’s wishes.
“Yeah, it’s a good thing he did. Father was so angry before Indra came back,” Sati mentions, trying to keep a smile on her face as she thinks back to the bad memories from that time.
“Sati… I can’t go back. I have a new life now, new friends and family. I can’t just abandon them to rejoin the family,” Kali tells her, not wanting to leave her current life with Drakthar behind.
“I knew this would be an issue. I’ve heard some songs about you and the famous Drakthar. I love you Kali so I’ll warn you, when I go back I’m going to have to say you refused to come along, and then father and Indra will come here and try to take you by force. Will you still not come?” Sati pleads with her, not wanting her family to fight.
“Sati… it’s difficult, let me at least think it over,” Kali responds, struggling to think of what to do.
“Here,” Sati hands her a scroll of parchment, “If you change your mind this is where we are living. If you don’t show up in two weeks I can’t keep them from coming after you”.
“I love you, Kali,” Sati hugs her one last time.
“I love you too,” Kali responds before the two of them let go and Sati departs to rejoin their family. Kali slips down into a chair around the table, starting to sulk as Drakthar joins her.
“You know if they come we can defeat them, they cannot take you,” Drakthar points out, almost relishing the thought of what he’ll get to do if they even try.
“I’m not so sure about that. They aren’t like the pushovers that challenge you every day. My family is full of warriors, I probably should have told you this before but all of us are trained to fight at birth, the goal being to gain the honor of being the one selected as the guardian of the fountain of luck. Obviously, I won, but I shouldn’t have. My father was the only one of his siblings that had kids so growing up Indra, Sati, and I always knew one of us would be the guardian. We all thought it would be Indra, he was the strongest by far, father was already starting to train one-on-one with him because it was a foregone conclusion. But the day before the ceremony where we were supposed to fight to determine who would succeed my uncle, Indra vanished leaving me as the guardian. Father was so angry, he used to curse Indra’s name every day since I became the guardian but I guess they have reconciled now. What I’m trying to say is if Indra kept training he is probably still stronger than I am and maybe stronger than you,” Kali admits, having been hiding the strength of her family from him to avoid a situation where he would challenge them.
Drakthar ignites his eyes gleaming at the incredible news. “If that’s true, then let them come,” he tells her, more fired up than ever at the opportunity to face someone Kali considers strong.
“I know exactly what you are thinking but it’s not a good idea. If they come here to get me they won’t be fighting fair. They’ll do whatever they can to get me back,” Kali warns him, not wanting his desire to fight them to cloud his judgment.
“Then we will go to them. I will challenge you, brother, where he lives,” Drakthar declares, having a one-track mind on this subject.
“But… I don’t want to face them,” Kali notes in an apprehensive tone.
Drakthar can suppress his excitement as he sees the slight fear in Kali’s eyes. Despite all they have been through, Drakthar forgets how young Kali is and right now she is just a girl afraid of her parents.
He considers her feelings before finally laying out another potential option, “We can run. The way I see it we can either run or you’ll have to face them. We can always go to Gwendolyn for help, the Silent Brotherhood will take us in if we ask”.
“No, you were right before. We should go to them. I have to face them eventually, better to do it now before they get angrier with me,” Kali decides, realizing the repercussions of continuing to hide from them.
“If that’s what you want. I’ll let Valdemar know to pack his things, we’ll head out tomorrow,” Drakthar declares, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder before going outside to inform Valdemar of the situation.
“Thank you Drakthar, I appreciate you being understanding on this,” Kali thanks him as he leaves the room.
“Boy! Pack your things, we’re traveling in the morning,” Drakthar tells Valdemar, the ladder assuming it's going to be a trip dedicated to training.
Four days later, after traveling through the hot dunes of the desert, the three of them notice a natural oasis. All around a bunch of pools of fresh water, flowers miraculously growing as they encircle these pools. The building surrounding, constructed unlike other buildings in the desert, their outer walls encrusted with gold. The gate they stand at is gold as well, and the entire complex is circled by buildings.
“How have we never heard of this place? I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much water in the desert,” Kali notes as she looks at it. Before Drakthar or Valdemar can say anything in response, they hear a voice shout from the front of the gate, “Halt! This place isn’t for the public. You lot need to leave”.
“My name is Kali Strazar, my family told me to meet them here, if I have the wrong place I’ll gladly leave,” Kali formally introduces herself.
“Yes, we have been expecting you. Who are the others?” The same man inquires.
“They are my friends. If they aren’t allowed in, tell my father I’ll leave,” Kali declares, trying to convey she won’t meet her family without them.
“No, it’s fine. The three of you may come in. Let me notify your family. Wait here with my associate until I return,” the man tells them before walking off.
To Kali’s surprise, the man returns alone, no members of her family in sight. “Follow me,” the man orders, heading towards the largest building that sits in the center of the complex. As they walk through the entryway they notice elaborate fountains and some palm trees, similar to the ones they saw on God’s island, scattered around the main courtyard.
Once they enter the building they are taken aback, by a long purple carpet leading up to a lavish chair at the center of the room, eerily reminiscent of God’s chambers where Drakthar first met him.
Unlike before, it is not a man sitting in the chair but a woman. Her shiny long black hair drapes down her back as her pensive face stares directly at her visitors, her amber eyes piercing through them.
Despite her interested expression, her posture is relaxed, lounging back on her throne as Drakthar, Kali, and Valdemar approach. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Zala Verleiden. I am the head of Special Services throughout the desert,” she rises to introduce herself. The large gold jewelry contrasted with her brown skin.
Both Kali and Drakthar internally question her last statement, never having heard anything about an organization known as Special Services before or what being the head of it might entail. As they do Zala continues, “I have recognized your family’s usefulness and employed them as my protectors, I believe you, Kali, are here because they wish for you to join them. However, I am reluctant to let someone such as you have any role in protecting me seeing as how you failed the very same job in the past. I hope you understand your history doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in your abilities”.
Kali’s anger starts to rise as Zala continues, intensifying not because of what she is saying but because Kali cannot refute it. “Good, she doesn’t want to rejoin her family. The two of you agree so we can leave after I settle something with her brother,” Drakthar speaks up, seeing as Kali isn’t in a state to do so calmly.
Zala’s eyes fixate on Drakthar, she glides towards him, setting her hand on his arm before lightly tracing it up from his shoulder down to his hand. Drakthar doesn’t resist, knowing doing so would likely lead to more problems for Kali.
“Yes… the mighty Drakthar lives up to his reputation. Now you are someone I would love to have under my employ,” she tells him seductively as her eyes remain upon his muscular body.
“I’m not interested,” Drakthar responds in an indifferent tone.
“Of course, you aren’t. It would take much more than a job offer to tie down a man such as you. But maybe while Kali reconnects with her family we could discuss some sort of arrangement, just the two of us,” Zala suggests, winking at Drakthar before backing off and sitting back down on her throne.
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Her tone shifts from sultry to serious as she questions, “Who is the child?”
“I’m not a c…” Valdemar isn’t able to respond as Kali covers his mouth, knowing he is going to say something rude.
“He’s my student. I’m training him,” Drakthar declares.
“Okay, I might as well get to the point. Kali, I can tell you have no intention to serve me whether I wish for you to or not, so why is it that you have come here?” Zala asks her outright.
“They wanted me here. I’ve come to make amends and to make them accept that I have a new life now, one I don’t intend to let go of,” Kali explains, wanting to just get this over with.
“What will you do if they do not accept your wishes, what if they demand you remain here?” Zala inquires, curious to know what will be needed if this, the more likely scenario, unfolds.
“Then I shall fight,” Kali states, not wanting it to come to that but being prepared for it if it does.
“We shall fight,” Drakthar adds, trying to convey to this woman that opposing them won’t be an easy task.
“Yeah! I’ll kick all of their asses!” Valdemar screams before anyone can stop him from doing so.
“I see, you understand that if it does come to that then I will be forced to help your family defeat you, I cannot ignore the wishes of my subordinates,” Zala warns them, not hoping for it to come to that.
“Subordinates? I can see you hold them in very high regard,” Kali notes sarcastically, not enthused by Zala describing her family as such.
“Does my choice of words offend you? It is merely something I chose at the moment, if you like I can make it a point to describe them as my employees or protectors in front of you if you would like?” Zala suggests, finding Kali’s tone too confrontational for her liking.
“It doesn’t matter what you say. I’m done looking past your condescending tone and fake pleasantries. Just take me to my family so I can get this over with,” Kali demands, not wanting to remain around Zala any longer.
“If that is what you wish. But sweetie you should calm down, if you have that look on your face all the time you will start to wrinkle. You wouldn’t want that now, would you? Especially if you’re trying to keep a man like Drakthar to yourself,” Zala suggests as she waves for the guards to take the three of them from the room, trying to get under Kali’s skin one last time before they leave.
“What a bitch,” Kali mutters to herself once they are outside, counting another reason why she wishes not to rejoin her family.
“You’re going to get wrinkly and look old,” Valdemar determines that this is a good time to taunt Kali.
“Not now,” Drakthar glares down at him, giving him a look conveying that the punishment for disobeying will be severe. Valdemar closes his mouth, looking forward trying to avoid eye contact with anyone to ensure his survival.
The man leads them to one of the smaller buildings on the left side of the complex, before he opens the door to let them inside, Drakthar puts his hand on Kali’s shoulder, causing her to turn back and look up at him. She is met by a reassuring nod, Drakthar trying to make sure she knows she isn’t alone in there.
They enter and find four people, Sati, Kali’s younger sister that visited them, sits in the corner of the room while the other three, two of them on the older side, Kali’s parents, and one around the same age as Drakthar, Indra, Kali’s brother, sit on opposite couches having a discussion.
They all look up at Kali and her companions enter the room, Sati and Kali’s mother have welcoming smiles, unlike the other two, Indra’s expression is indifferent as Kali’s father’s face scowls at his disappointment of a daughter.
“So you’ve returned,” Kali’s father greets her coldly.
Kali can tell things are going to go exactly as she expected them to as her head starts to lower in shame as she responds, “I have”.
“I am very disappointed in you Kali. What you did will bring unending shame upon this family for the rest of our lives but… despite that, I am glad you finally decided to come back to us,” Kali’s father scolds her before admitting.
“We’re all glad you’re back honey,” Kali’s mom adds before hugging her.
“I didn’t come here to rejoin the family. I don’t want to work under this Zala woman. I want to live my own life,” Kali tells them, letting them know this isn’t the reunion they want or expected.
“Do not mention Ms. Verleiden in such a casual manner, she has done so much for this family unlike you who have brought us nothing but dishonor. You should be grateful I don’t…”
“Now now Kurma, that’s enough. We can get down to business later, right now our daughter has returned home and we should all enjoy dinner with her before anything else. Plus she has brought some friends. Who are these two with you?” Kali’s mother interrupts her husband to ask.
“I’m Drakthar and this is Valdemar, a student of mine,” Drakthar introduces the two of them.
“It’s nice to meet you Drakthar and Valdemar, I’m Cecilia and this is my husband Kurma, It’s always a pleasure to meet friends of my children,” Cecilia pauses, “That is what you are, isn’t it, Drakthar?”
“That’s enough mom,” Kali knows exactly where her mother is going with this.
“I see,” Cecilia notes, Kali’s response confirming her suspicions.
“Okay, it looks like dinner is almost ready, why don’t all of you join us and we can leave the fiery debates until tomorrow?” Cecilia offers.
As they all move into the other room Drakthar sizes up Indra who is the only one who hasn’t said a word since they arrived. He’s tall, a few centimeters shorter than Drakthar at one hundred and ninety, and his clothing is baggy, making it so Drakthar cannot quickly evaluate his build. He has no reason to doubt Kali’s assertion that he is strong.
They sit down around the table, beginning to eat the less-than-modest feast before them. Valdemar in particular is impressed with the quality and amount of food since it is much higher than that of Kali’s everyday cooking. He starts to scarf down food as fast as he can while everyone else starts to eat silently.
A few awkward minutes pass before Cecilia starts up a conversation, “So Drakthar, how did you and Kali meet?”
“In the desert, we both challenged the same man to a duel,” Drakthar responds plainly, taking a break from eating a piece of chicken.
“Was this before or after your mistake?” Kurma interjects to ask Kali.
“Before,” Kali responds, trying not to make eye contact.
“So this is how it happened, you left your post with this man,” Kurma angrily concludes.
“No, I returned to my post after that. No one drank from the fountain while I was gone,” Kali explains, still holding back on what happened with Fore, a mere wolf drinking the entire fountain himself.
“Then when? You allowed it to happen while you were at your post? Were you so weak that you couldn’t uphold this family’s honor?” Kurma harshly begins to question his daughter.
“It’s… yes,” Kali admits dejectedly, knowing that would be easier to explain than the truth.
“Tell me at least you hunted down and killed the man that drank from it. A man with such luck cannot be allowed to live,” Kurma implores, ready to order her to do so if she hasn’t already.
“I did,” Kali lies, knowing it isn’t a man who drank from the fountain but a wolf.
“Good, at least you aren’t a complete failure. Still, after disposing of this man you should have returned to the family instead of going on your little escapades in the Sacrosanct Empire with this man,” Kurma continues to admonish Kali.
“But dad, she’s considered a hero because of that. If she wasn’t there maybe the Athaulfs would still rule over there and the war would still be going on,” Sati points out, trying to defend her sister’s actions.
“She took even more work away from us then. We could have charged the desert a nice sum for our services if the war continued. She’s done nothing to redeem herself in my eyes. Until she agrees to rejoin us and contributes towards the betterment of the family,” Kurma declares, seeing the ending of the war between the desert and the Sacrosanct Empire as a bad thing.
“You’re foolish,” Drakthar comments after hearing Kurma’s words about the war continuing.
“You, it’s not your place to say such a thing to me. You don’t understand the circumstances of this family so I don’t need to hear what you think of my opinions. I’ll be honest with you Drakthar, I don’t like you. A savage like you doesn’t deserve to associate with my daughter. You and the ingrates you call friends do not deserve to associate with my daughter even if she is a failure,” Kurma states as he and Drakthar rise to their feet, both men ready to tear each other apart.
Everyone watches as they glare at each other, the table the only thing stopping the altercation that is sure to ensue. Cecilia tries to defuse the situation, “Dear, please calm down…”
“No! I will not dine at the same table as this man. He destroyed our daughter’s future,” Kurma cuts her off, not able to come to some sort of understanding after what Drakthar said to him.
“Stop! It wasn’t his fault. It was my fault that I failed and that I ran. It was my decision, no one else’s,” Kali intervenes, not wanting this confrontation to escalate further.
“That doesn’t change what this man is. An animal without a leash that doesn’t understand when he should heel,” Kurma states, continuing to verbally tear into Drakthar.
“Dear, what are you saying? Drakthar has been polite unlike you. You’re making a fool of yourself,” Cecilia tries to warn her husband.
“I want him to leave, Drakthar, get out of here and never come back. And take your child with you before he eats all the food in our storehouses,” Kurma declares, also bringing everyone’s attention to how shamelessly Valdemar has been shoveling down the food in front of him. The child stops with half a shrimp hanging out of his mouth as the looks up at everyone.
“No, you are the animal. If I knew you were like this I would have come alone to eliminate you. Kali’s mine. If I’m leaving then so is she. If you don’t agree with that then please, try to take her from me,” Drakthar grins, hoping this will lead to the battle he’s been craving.
“I have no problems with that. Indra, show this animal why it is the Strazar name is feared throughout the desert”.
Indra, who has been sitting to his father’s left with an indifferent look on his face through the entire verbal conflict, rises, starting to walk around the table to deal with their unwanted dinner guest.
Cecilia stands, grabbing onto her son’s shoulder as she tries for the final time to get this to stop, “Indra, you sit back down now. There’s no reason to fight”. She knows her own family were the ones who instigated this, and if Drakthar was willing to put up with it for Kali then he truly cares for her. She doesn’t want to drive away a man who feels that way about her daughter so hastily.
“You heard your orders,” Kurma repeats, signaling to Indra that he should ignore his mother. Indra continues, standing right up to Drakthar at the other side of the table. He grabs onto the hulk of a man, intending to remove him from the room.
Drakthar stands firm, not budging in the slightest as Indra pulls at him. “If it’s a fight you want dog, go grab your weapon, I’ll give you one,” Drakthar tells him. Indra looks to his father who is shaking his head, he doesn’t want to have Indra fight on Drakthar’s terms, just to remove him from his sight.
Watching this unfold before her, Kali’s had enough, she goes over to Indra and pushes him off Drakthar. “I’m done with this. Come on Drakthar, let’s get out of here. I thought I could at least talk to them but it’s clear they’ve forgotten how to listen,” Kali grabs Drakthar’s arm as the two of them start to walk out.
Cecilia runs after them, knowing Kurma and Indra will if she doesn’t.
“Kali please, I’m so sorry. Your father is out of line and I apologize for that. But please stay, we have a room prepared for you to stay in. You can go there now I’ll talk to Kurma and get him to realize he is being ridiculous. Please, just give us one more chance, I don’t want it to end like this,” she pleads, desperate to not cut ties with her daughter.
Kali looks up at Drakthar to see if that’s okay, he nods, intent to find some sort of fight in all of this before he leaves, even if it is civilly. “Okay, this way. I’ll make sure they don’t bother you two and we can try to put all of this behind us tomorrow,” Cecilia exhales as she shows them to a room.
Back at the table, Kurma and Indra stand nearby, discussing what just happened. Sati watches Valdemar continue to eat as they are the only two around the table. “You really are hungry aren’t you?” She asks, trying to make small talk with the boy.
“Yeah, this is way better than what Kali makes,” Valdemar takes a small break from stuffing food into his face to respond.
“That’s good to hear, I made most of it. Maybe I’ll have to give Kali a tip or two while she’s here,” Sati comments, smiling as Valdemar continues to gobble down her food.
Cecilia bursts back into the room to let her husband have it. Indra sees this and goes back over to the table to tell the other two, “Let’s clear out of here”.
“But the food,” Valdemar notes, not willing to let it go to waste when he could eat all of it.
Indra grabs a few plates and fills them for Valdemar so the three of them can leave the room. “I can’t believe you acted like that in front of the kids. And what’s wrong with Drakthar? He’s a good man and he cares about Kali so why do you hate him so much? This was supposed to be a civil conversation but you couldn’t help yourself could you?” Cecilia starts to go off on Kurma once the others leave the room.
“He disrespected me. I couldn’t stand for that,” Kurma explains himself, thinking back to when Drakthar called him foolish.
“You’re a hypocrite, you know that. You need to check your ego, sometimes it’s too big for me to live with you,” Cecilia tells him as she sits down and puts her face in her hands.
“Is this not a good time?” They both hear from behind them, turning to see Zala has entered the room.
“No Ms. Verleiden, what is it that you need?” Kurma asks as he bows, his tone now centered despite it being angry seconds ago.
“I wanted to see how it went with your daughter. Not well by the raised voices I heard earlier,” Zala explains, letting them know she heard everything.
“Our daughter is stubborn but she will join us in your service in time,” Kurma assures her, determined that much is certain.
“That is good to hear. I also came here to discuss the arrangements for tomorrow. As you know we must begin to travel to the capital for the conference. How will our new guests factor into that?” Zala inquires, wondering if is best to leave them here by themselves.
“I think we should take them with us if that’s okay with you Ms. Verleiden. I’ll make sure that Kurma doesn’t cause any more trouble. We can settle things after the conference. It will give the family more time to get to know Drakthar. I know you desire him to be under your employ as well,” Cecilia suggests, able to easily read Zala’s intentions.
“Very perceptive Cecilia, yes you are correct. Kurma, I expect you will not let me down again. You will have to learn to work with Drakthar going forward if you want your daughter here. It’s decided. They will accompany us to the capital. I will have them notified of this in the morning. Goodnight,” Zala wishes them before departing.