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Episode
I The Corsair
Melissa turned away from the burning Hian
Dai village in grim satisfaction.
She now had her revenge and had removed a serious threat to the
Silvani. It had taken her several
weeks to recover from her experience at the hands of the Dog
People. The return to the Silvani
homeland had been an ordeal she did not care to
recall. Not that she remembered
much of it. To her it was a muddled
memory of spending day after day stumbling down forest paths, trying to evade
Hian Dai patrols.
If it had not been for Shasara and Che Sha
she never would have made it. Often
her strength had failed her and at those times her companions carried her
or helped her walk. The first
night after her rescue Shasara had disappeared for an hour into the forest
and returned with a few pieces of cloth that she fashioned into some sort
of garment to cover Melissas
nakedness. Then they had let
her sleep. But long before she
was rested or even close to recovery from her injuries she was rousted out
and forced to struggle through the seemingly impenetrable
forest.
Shasara led her and Che Sha along paths that
were little more than animal trails, not suited for use by
humans. But it was a way of avoiding
the Hian Dai, and preventing their
recapture. It was not a way Melissa
would have chosen, but then she probably would have fallen prey to the Dog
People once again. Shasaras
choice of routes probably saved all of their
lives. But it was very tough
for someone as badly injured as Melissa to navigate trails that she could
barely see. Only her iron
determination to survive kept her going.
That and her burning thirst for vengeance.
Eventually they had made it back to the Silvani
village and Melissa received the medical help she
needed. It took her awhile to
heal, as injuries such as she had received were extremely severe and even
the use of the Green Heart had not healed her
completely.
But she did
recover. And as her strength
returned and she began her training once again, a plan formed in her mind
for dealing with the Hian Dai. The
Dog People needed to be taught a lesson, and she now had the motivation to
carry out such a mission.
Her plan was not
complex. The Silvani and Hian
Dai had been warring for centuries.
Her expedition into Hian Dai territory had shown her that it was possible
for a small party to penetrate their
defences. Her plan simply called
for using the incredible Silvani talent for stealth and infiltrating enough
Silvani rangers into the Hian Dai territory that they could strike at their
traditional foe and eliminate them as a threat.
The Silvani elders had been reluctant to support
her idea. They regarded themselves
as a peaceful race that did not take war to their neighbours, a position
that had forced them to endure centuries of victimization by more aggressive
peoples. What had changed their
minds was Vayashas declaration that she would go with Melissa no matter
what. Che Sha and Shasara had
been the next to support her. Other
young Silvani had pledged themselves, and faced with the possibility of dozens
of the best and brightest marching off under the leadership of a Shang Dragon
Warrior, the elders had decided to support Melissas
expedition. For the first time
in hundreds of years the Silvani took the battle to the
enemy.
It had been a most one-sided
contest. The Hian Dai, used to
having their way with the passive Silvani, had been caught totally off
guard. Melissas small army
had penetrated their defences easily, picking off the Hian Dai sentries and
arriving at the Dog Peoples village
undetected. Then the Silvani
had simply surrounded the village and attacked simultaneously from all
sides.
The Hian Dai never knew what hit
them. The slaughter was horrific,
but the Silvani were not in a merciful
mood. After centuries of being
harried by the Hian Dai and having their children and loved ones carried
off, they wanted revenge. From
trees and rock outcroppings surrounding the village the Silvani rained arrows
upon the Hian Dai. Some of the
arrows were smeared with burring pitch, setting the Dog Peoples crude
huts ablaze. When the killing
ended barely a soul remained alive.
It was a brutal slaughter, but Melissa felt
it was warranted. In their long
unprovoked war against the Silvani, the Hian Dai had shown no
mercy. Now they received none
in return. It was
an
extermination. As Melissa
regarded the flames and the heaped bodies of the Hian Dai she felt no
remorse. The Hian Dai had been
a cruel and ruthless enemy. They
had ravaged the peaceful Silvani for
centuries. Now that threat had
been eliminated. No more would
the Dog People kidnap and ravage the wives, sisters, and daughters of the
Silvani.
Melissa had avenged the wrong done to
her. But there was still one
more wrong to avenge. She could
not rest until her fathers murderer had been
punished.
As the Hian Dai village
burned she sought out her companions.
I leave tomorrow, she said to
Che Sha and Vayasha. I
must return to my homeland.
Che Shas almond eyes widened in
astonishment. Why must
you leave? Surely there can be
nothing better for you there than you would find
here. You have found an honoured
place among the Silvani.
That is true, said
Vayasha. You are now one
of us. Your home is far
away. How can you hope to return
on your own?
I must go, answered
Melissa. Her motives were something
that she did not wish to explain.
She had never told Vayasha nor Che Sha of the murder of her father
and her rape and degradation at the hands of the dukes
soldiers. It was something she
believed she should attend to herself.
She did not want to involve her newfound companions in her quest for
vengeance. They had their own
lives to live. She would go
alone.
Shasara entered the
conversation. Melissa had found
that the tall silver-haired ranger was more perceptive than either Che Sha
or Vayasha when it came to understanding the emotions of
others. She showed that
now. You are not telling
us something, she said.
You have a reason for leaving us that you do not want to share,
but that has nothing to do with your position amongst
us.
Melissa
nodded. That is
true. Why I must leave is none
of your concern. You have your
own lives to live, just as I must live
mine. Returning to Dakmora is
something that I must do.
Then I must do it too, said Che
Sha. Had it not been for you
I would have been ravaged by my own brother and forced to bear his
child.
Had it not been for me you would not
have been placed in his hands, replied
Melissa. You owe me
nothing.
Nevertheless, the Shang princess
replied, you will not go alone.
If you are leaving then I am coming with
you.
Melissa opened her mouth to protest, but it
was Vayasha who spoke first: And I will follow my Shang
sister. You will not go without
me.
This is something I must do myself,
said Melissa. I refuse
to take you with me. I will not
let you follow me.
And how are you going to do that,
sister? asked Vayasha gently.
I am a Silvani ranger.
There is no place you can go I cannot
follow.
Nor I, added
Shasara. I have an obligation
to look after my little sister. If
she follows then I will go too.
Vayasha made a face at
Shasaras little sister remark,
but let it pass. You
see, she said, you cannot
escape. When you leave, we
leave.
Melissa sighed resignedly. It appeared that she was not going to leave unaccompanied. Alright, she said. We leave tomorrow.
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