Fever Blood

Chapter 36: The Isle of Torment

There, he had lived in a safer environment. An Alberion colony. The many tribes of the Circle had one thing in common with the Alberic colonists. Humanity. When your enemies were the Kai'Draen or Calixa, any other human was your ally.

And that was why Raddas had good Alberic. He wasn't born as a tribal warrior. No, thanks to Alberion's influence, he had been apprenticed to a shopkeeper. He hadn't known how to fight, which meant the Ajandi raiders merely enslaved him, instead of killing him. That was who he was before. Raddas the coward, Raddas the good and humble obedient slave.

Then, the dragon-Changed came. Laidu. And somehow, he managed to get them out of there. Raddas owed that boy his life.

The three of them lay there, under the warm and burning sun, for a while. And then they heard a bell. Raddas looked up, glaring at the horizon. Hmm. What had been dark spots before had grown to a lush green island, a veritable paradise. Pale white buildings rose from the green foliage. It was beautiful. Surrounded by pristine sapphire waters, it was like an emerald fit for a king.

That is, except for the last island. It was by far the largest island, yet unlike the others, it was a patchwork of sandy tan and slate grey. A jewel of the world, it was not. But somehow, Raddas had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't the brilliant green island that he would be staying on.

You didn't forge a master weapon through ease and comfort. You got hot, sweaty, and you beat the piece of metal until it bent in just the right way. Raddas had seen what the soldiers of his colony had done to train his friends. It was the same for men. 

The Ranger ship slid into the dock of the largest green island. Wrinkling his nose, Raddas frowned. The smell was disgusting, a combination of half-rotten fish, sweat, and shipbuilding pitch. He followed a few other recruits down the gangplank as soon as it was set down, yanking the vest on over his head. Gial followed him, and Laidu stood up, still obviously tired.

They walked down onto the dock, the trainees' rough canvas shoes making a dull thud on the wood. Raddas looked around, and saw the strangest thing.

Denan, Invidia, and Adran, he had long ago realized, were the commanding officers. The Erinyan's hair flickered like flame, and Denan glared at the dragon-Changed. Of course he did. Everyone saw his humiliation. But they stood, green uniforms neatly pressed despite the heat. They were the commanders.

Raddas turned to look as another ship glided slowly into the port. Ropes were tossed off, anchoring the massive vessel to the dock, and the gangplank was lowered. Raddas stared up at the  deck of the ship. He saw their commanding officers and stopped.

The first was a Kai'Draen. He had seen plenty of those before, but none had worn a uniform before. Really, the most he had seen one wear was a cloth bandolier-like strap along with the loincloth. But that had been a savage from the Circle. Not civilized. Like them, this Kai'Draen had bulky muscle and long hair, but his black hair was kept in a ponytail, the sides of his head shaved. He must have been eight feet tall, and the bulk of his musculature was hidden inside his uniform. Only his massive forearms showed.

Next to him was what looked like a man. Well, it couldn't be a man, mostly because of the hair. It was cut in a similar fashion to the Kai'Draen next to him, with shaved sides, but the ponytail wasn't as long. Maybe a few inches in length total. Oh, and it was bright green, the color of fresh grass. A Calixa. It had to be. He also had a small beard, thin, that traced the edge of his jaw. He stood next to the Kai'Draen.

The Kai'Draen were, in general, a warlike race. That was why they attacked humans and others. But that never explained their venomous hatred for the Calixa. It had to do with the Fall of Elysion, Raddas had heard. Or a Calixa queen who was brutally murdered by the Kai'Draen.