Melcorka of Alba

Chapter One-2

'Melcorka!' Bradan yelled. 'I'm coming!'

What a place to die, thousands of miles from home on an island whose name I do not even know.

Bradan saw a mass of Kalingo warriors close around Melcorka, clubs rising and falling as they tried to penetrate her defences. Dodging a third arrow more by instinct than by skill, Bradan lunged at the flank of the Kalingos, thrusting his spear beneath the shoulder-blade of a brawny, tattooed warrior. The man stiffened at the unexpected agony, and half turned toward Bradan, who twisted the point to enlarge the wound and tried to withdraw.

The suction of the human body held the spear point fast. Cursing, Bradan wiggled the shaft as his screaming victim struggled to escape, and cursed again as he saw a yelling Kalingo running towards him with his war-club held high.

Bradan grunted. 'That serves me right for acting the part of a warrior. I never was any good at fighting.'

'You never said a truer word.' Melcorka stepped over the body of a man she had just gutted, thrust Defender through the chest of the charging Kalingo, ducked and hacked the legs off another warrior. 'What are you doing in this slaughterhouse, Bradan? I told you not to get involved.'

'I came to help you.' Bradan at last succeeded in freeing his spear.

'That was very kind of you.' Melcorka fended off the attacks of the screaming Kalingos that surrounded them. 'Foolish, but kind. Did you think I had forgotten how to fight?'

'I thought you were on your own against a multitude.' Bradan ducked as an arrow whizzed overhead.

'I was never alone,' Melcorka said.

Bradan winced as another Kalingo charged forward, swinging his great club. 'Who is with you?'

'Why, you are, Bradan. I see you as plainly as I see these savages.' Melcorka parried the swing of the Kalingo's club and hacked off the man's arm. Blood spouted scarlet. 'And you've brought some help.'

'Which help?' Bradan asked, and smiled as the Taino defenders finally struggled over their barrier to run at the Kalingos. 'Well, they took their time.'

'They followed the example of the bravest man I have ever known.' Melcorka began to walk toward the now withdrawing Kalingo ranks.

'Alba!' Increasing her speed to a charge, Melcorka yelled her war cry. 'Alba!' Seeing this blood-spattered woman with the blood-dripping sword running at them from one flank, and the totally unexpected sight of resistance from the Taino defenders on the other, the Kalingos broke. One minute, they were a horde of fierce warriors hoping to kill and eat all they came across, the next, they were a panicking mob of frightened men, all eager to escape.

Only a single Kalingo stood her ground. The lone woman faced the attackers, a female rock in an ebbing tide of Kalingo males. She pointed two fingers at Melcorka.

'Run, you fool!' Melcorka yelled. 'All your friends have gone.'

The woman remained standing. Melcorka slowed down, curious to see why her adversary did not run.

The woman stared directly at Melcorka. Tall and dark, the woman wore a loose cloak that failed to conceal her magnificent physique, while a single white stone gleamed in the golden band that encircled her forehead.

'Who are you?' The woman's voice was clear and calm.

'I am Melcorka nic Bearnas of the Cenel Bearnas,' Melcorka answered at once. 'Some call me Melcorka of Alba. Others know me as the Swordswoman. Who are you?'

'I am a kanaima,' the woman said.

'Why do you not run?' Melcorka was genuinely curious. 'You can see that your warriors are defeated, you can see that your spears and war-clubs are no match for my sword. Your battle is lost, Kanaima. Turn and run. You will not have this village with its peaceful people.'

Kanaima stretched out her arms, pointing the forefingers of both hands at Melcorka. 'You are wrong, Melcorka of Alba. Our battle is only beginning.'

Melcorka hefted Defender. 'I do not like to kill without reason, Kanaima. Go now. Do not give me a cause to end your life.'

In return, Kanaima took a single step forward. 'I curse you. I curse you in your body and in your mind. I curse you in your possessions and your strength. I curse you in your travels and your weather. I curse you until the balance of the world is restored…' She got no further, as Melcorka neatly cut off her head.

'I warned you,' Melcorka said, as Kanaima's head rolled seven times on the grass and came to a stop with the eyes still open, still dark and still staring at Melcorka. 'You could have escaped, Kanaima.'

The laughter inside Melcorka's head mocked her, and for an instant, she thought she felt something long and rubbery slithering around her shoulders. She shook off the feeling. Imagination.

'Let the survivors go,' Bradan called to the now courageous Tainos. 'You've won. There's no need for any more killing.'

I was going to grant them quarter, Melcorka said to herself. Not now. There will be no more mercy.

'Follow them!' Melcorka countermanded Bradan's words. 'Teach them not to come here! Make them so afraid of you that they never come back.' Chasing after the fleeing warriors, Melcorka swung Defender right and left, cutting off legs and arms, slashing deep, bleeding wounds in backs and shoulders, slicing off heads and hands without opposition. What had been a retreat turned into a rout as the Kalingos fled from Defender's blade.

'Face me or flee from me, I still bring death!' Melcorka shouted.

The Kalingos ran to the beach, dropping their weapons in their panic. Some of the Taino villagers followed, thrusting with their spears, killing or wounding a man here and there, shouting to encourage themselves and muster the courage to continue. Other Tainos retched at the sight of so much c*****e, gagged at the stench of raw blood and closed their eyes as they saw once-bold Kalingo warriors writhing and screaming on the ground.

The Kalingo pirauas were pulled up beyond the high-tide mark on the beach, rank upon rank of long, lean piratical craft. The raiders ran to them, pushing the fragile boats into the pounding surf without looking back as Melcorka and the villagers harassed them, killing and maiming.

'Come back!' Melcorka yelled, as the surviving Kalingos paddled desperately away. 'I want to kill more of you.' Charging into the water, she slashed at a piraua, slicing through the hull so it split and the occupants tumbled out, to swim frantically to their colleagues for help. Melcorka watched as Kalingo warriors fought each other with the broad-bladed paddles, refusing to allow others on board their piraua as fear overcame friendship.

'Enough.' Bradan took hold of Melcorka's arm. 'You've killed enough.' He pulled her back as she swung at a final target. 'You don't kill for killing's sake.'

'Let go!' Melcorka pushed him away and dashed deeper into the sea for a final attack on a piraua.

'Melcorka!' Bradan followed, hauling her back, until she lifted Defender to threaten him.

'Melcorka!' Bradan had never seen such madness in her eyes. 'Enough! This is not like you!'

Melcorka nodded. 'Yes, enough.' She was panting, her face and body painted red with the blood of the men she had killed. 'They've learned.' Melcorka took a deep breath. 'I don't think they'll return to this island.'

'I think you are right.' Bradan looked around. Bodies, dead and dying, bobbed on the surface of the sea and the surf, once pristine yellow but now stained crimson with blood, carried yet more corpses onto the beach. Land crabs were already scuttling down from the trees to feast on the bodies.

'This is a beautiful place.' Bradan deliberately looked away from the beach, past the village to the verdant slopes that rose to a range of jungle-clad hills, gilded silver-grey with mist. 'Why does mankind spoil perfection with violence and killing?'

'Because human nature demands it.' Hadali had waded out to join them. Years had added lines of wisdom to her face and sadness to her eyes. 'Long ago, our people decided not to follow the path of violence, even though we knew our decision meant that the Kalingos would hunt us as prey.'

Like the rest of her people, Hadali was naked save for a twist of cloth around her loins. Melcorka tried to guess her age; anything from thirty-five to sixty, although the profound wisdom in her eyes argued for another couple of decades at least.

Hadali put a small hand on Melcorka's shoulder. 'You have done what you think is right, Melcorka of the Cenel Bearnas, but you cannot stay here any longer.'

Bradan sighed. 'I am called the Wanderer,' he said. 'I follow the road seeking knowledge and here, I have found wisdom and the most peaceful people I have ever seen.' He gestured to the Tainos who thronged the beach, shocked at the c*****e.

'You defended us,' Hadali laid a small hand on Bradan's arm, 'and you saved our lives. If you had not been here, the Kalingos would have killed us all and eaten our flesh.'

'That is correct.' Bradan ducked under the surface of the sea to wash off the blood that covered him.

Hadali shook her head. 'Despite your help, in killing as you did, you broke our code and you must leave. Your presence as killers would pollute our village.'

Melcorka copied Bradan in washing off the blood. 'We saved all your lives,' she reminded Hadali.

'Sometimes, lives are not the most important things. Beliefs, morality and the human soul matter more. By encouraging our young men and woman to kill, you have damaged those parts of them that are vital to our culture.' Hadali sighed. 'These of my people who fought will have to endure weeks or months of purifying, before they can rejoin the community.'

'I see.' Bradan took hold of Melcorka's arm before she began to argue. 'It is never our intention to make a custom or to break a custom, so we will do as you wish.'

'We have a prophesy,' Hadali said, 'that sometime in the future, men with clothes will come to our lands and they will kill us all. We know that will happen and we accept that is our fate. Until then, we will live the way we have always lived, in peace and generosity.'

'It is a good way to live.' Melcorka cleaned the blade of Defender as she walked back to the beach. 'One day, humankind will learn to live in peace.' She indicated the c*****e between the beach and the village. 'One day, good will vanquish evil. One day, there will be no need for people like me.'

Hadali followed, with a frown furrowing her brow. 'That day is far in the future, Swordswoman. Tell me about the Kalingo woman that did not run. What did she say to you?'

Melcorka checked Defender and returned the sword to her scabbard. 'She told me her name was Kanaima, and she tried to curse me.' Melcorka shrugged. 'I killed her before she finished the curse.'

Hadali's frown deepened. She sighed and shook her head. 'No, Melcorka, you did not kill her. You cannot kill a kanaima.' She stepped back. 'Kanaima was not her name. A kanaima is an evil spirit that enters people and makes them do terrible things, or turns them into beasts.'

'Oh?' Melcorka glanced over at the casualties. The woman she knew as Kanaima lay as she had fallen, with her head detached from her body. 'Well, she's dead now. Defender is not an ordinary sword.'

'I hope you are right,' Hadali said.

'You are good people,' Melcorka said. 'I am sorry if we have caused you pain.'

'You meant well,' Hadali woman said. 'We will repair the harm you have done.' She smiled again. 'We will provide provisions for your great piraua and pray for you.'

'Thank you,' Bradan said.

Hadali placed her hand on Bradan's shoulder. 'You are seeking, Bradan, but you do not know what you seek.' Her face contained a wealth of wisdom. 'You seek more than knowledge.'

'That may be so,' Bradan said.

Hadali's expression altered to sympathy. 'Then let me tell you what you seek.'

'If you would.'

'You are seeking a truth you will never fully find and a peace you cannot obtain.' Hadali's eyes were compassionate. 'Not until you have fulfilled your destiny.'

'I did not know I had a destiny,' Bradan said.

Hadali touched his forehead with a cool finger. 'We all have a destiny,' she said. 'It is knowing what we seek that guides us toward what we should ultimately become.'

'I see.' The explanation meant nothing to Bradan. 'Can you tell what we should ultimately become?' He included Melcorka in his gesture.

Hadali put both hands on Bradan's shoulders. 'You cannot be greater than your destiny, Bradan the Seeker. What is the greatest thing you desire?'

Bradan returned to his earlier statement. 'I thought that my greatest desire was knowledge.'

Hadali smiled. 'There is much knowledge in the world, Bradan. You are seeking to fill a bottomless pit. You will never satisfy that desire. What else is important to you?'

Bradan met Hadali's dark eyes. 'To share the knowledge I gain.'

'That is a good desire.' Hadali placed both hands on Bradan's head, frowning.

'What's the matter?' Melcorka had been an interested spectator.

Hadali moved her hands slightly. 'There is trouble and great danger ahead of you both.'

Melcorka smiled. 'We always have trouble and great danger ahead of us,' she said. 'We have trouble and great danger behind us as well. As long as I have this,' she tapped the hilt of Defender, 'we can handle whatever fate throws at us.'

Hadali touched Melcorka on the shoulder. 'You are a brave woman, Melcorka. You only need to learn humility to mature beyond your over-confidence.' She looked directly into Melcorka's eyes. 'You have strength beyond your sword, Melcorka. If you find that, you will become a full woman. If you depend only on Defender, you will stagnate into a sword-for-hire.'

'I am no mercenary swordswoman,' Melcorka said.

'You are capable of becoming much more,' Hadali agreed. 'Or much less.'

'You spoke of destiny,' Bradan said. 'What is the destiny of Melcorka?'

Hadali stepped back a pace. 'Although fate will guide Melcorka, she is a woman who will create her own destiny. Her life is in her hands, not in the blade of her sword.' When Hadali touched Melcorka's head, her expression altered.

'What is it?' Bradan asked, suddenly alarmed. 'What did you see? What can you see?'

Hadali stepped back. 'I saw you lying on your back, Melcorka of Alba, with your sword beside you. I saw a tall man standing over you, smiling. I saw blood.'

Melcorka nodded. 'Such is the way of the warrior.' She patted the hilt of Defender. 'Until that happens, we will stay together.'

'One day, Melcorka the Swordswoman,' Hadali said, 'you will meet a warrior who will defeat you, despite the skills inherent in your sword. One day, you will meet a warrior whose sword is superior to your own.'

'May that day be far off,' Melcorka said. 'You have given me a lot to think about, Hadali.'

Hadali's smile was enigmatic. 'Then think, Melcorka the Swordswoman.' A shadow crossed her face. 'Take care, Melcorka and Bradan. You have faced the Kalingo and lived; not many do that in these seas. Melcorka, you have also met a kanaima face-to-face.'

'I cut off its head,' Melcorka said.

'I know,' Hadali spoke softly. 'It will not forget. Be careful that you do not meet it again.'