By Any Other Name (Saib)

[Razkar]

Fear drove Razkar now, and much of it was born from memory. His left shoulder burned and ached in recollection of the beast that scarred it years ago and a continent away. A monstrous tiger, far larger than the thing facing him now, that was only laid low by a dozen Myrian warriors. Razkar had barely survived that nightmare.

And now it was just him and... well, for the moment, just him.

The leopard roared in pain as the hand ax caught it in the front shoulder, destroying its charge when it was halfway to the two "Myrians". The ax sliced through thick, multicolored fur and lodged inside it, disabling the front left leg. If it had been a lion or tiger, that would hardly have mattered, but leopards were leaner and slightly smaller. The loss of an entire limb was a crippling blow-

-but it still crashed into Saib all the same.

Razkar filled his hands, gladius in his right, kukri in his left, but still they shook.

The leopard snarled, bloody and angry and in pain, sinking its claws into the prostate Saib, who just stared in abject terror Razkar knew he would have to act in that moment, or they were both lost. The beast was focused on Saib, the downed prey, and so-

-Razkar gritted his teeth, heart racing, sweat pouring off his body and onto the hard, cold dirt. He would have to do this himself.

[Razkar]

Whatever reservoir of courage Saib had in him, they failed him. Then again, would Razkar have done any different? One thing to have a leopard snarling at you when you're upright and armed; another to have it on top of you, claws in your flesh, maw like a shark's roaring an inch from your face...

But Razkar did not share his "brother's" pain at that moment. He saw his opening, the only one he would get-

-and knew he would never get a better chance.

He lunged forwards and swung his gladius in a horizontal arc at the leopard's face. The sharp blade bit deep into its nose and muzzle, ripping open a gash up to its eye, making it rear up in agonized shock, claws ripping free from Saib's flesh-

-exposed its neck and jaw-

-and Razkar jerked the kukri under its head, an upward strike that tore the curved blade under its jaw and into its neck, following through with the blow to tackle it across the body. Myrian and leopard were ripped from above Saib and crashed to the dirt, leopard flailing madly, Razkar rolling of it and away, not stopping his desperate roll until he was well clear of those slashing claws

The leopard thrashed and roared and screamed and bled and died badly, half-blinded with agony, throat pierced, bleeding from several wounds. Now Razkar was backpedaling backwards as fast as he could, barely even remembering he still had his gladius, just staying away from those desperate, slashing claws for as long as he could.

The beast slowed. Rich black dirt turned red, then expanded outwards... and with moment, the pool of blood expanded, and the leopard's struggles lessened...

Finally it snarled and lay on its side, panting frantically. Hateful, angry eyes looked up at Razkar as he staggered over, jaw slack. But the Myrian saw something else under the setting sun that day. He saw a beast that had to be killed, or it would have killed them.

And he saw an animal in pain.

"Find your place in the next world," he muttered, raising the gladius high and reversing his grip to the blade was aiming town, towards the back of its head, "And go on swift feet from this one."

A blur of bright silver in the dying sun, and the gladius came crashing down.

[Razkar]

Silence. As if the Sea itself wanted to mark the passing of the beast. Apparently the death of the deer did not warrant the hush. Razkar's stirring feet finally broke the spell, and then the hideous, scarping sucking as he withdrew his blade.

He wiped it clean on the thick, smooth fur. Then he noticed Saib again.

"We need to move. We wait around here and every scavenger in the Sea will be on our heads." He looked between the two dead animals and made a snap decision. "We take the leopard. Better fur, more meat... and you're not short on muscle."

The Akalak walked over as if in a daze, but Razkar could see he was coming out from whatever fog of terror he was in. Blood oozed and seeped out of the scratched in his chest, and he'd need those taken care of, but that was not Razkar's concern. His shock was fading, and soon pain would come.

But his muscle was what they needed. So by the Goddess, he would use it.

He put his kukri and ax and gladius back in his belt and squatted at the rear of the dead leopard. "OK... grab the front legs."

He helped put the leopard over Saib's shoulders. Whatever else Saib may have been, Razkar certainly thanked whatever there was for making him an Akalak. A foot taller than Razkar and much broader, he bore the weight far better than Razkar ever could have. Even the two hundred pound leopard fit over his shoulders, much as he grunted and chafed.

"Don't complain." Razkar said simply, looking back at the tracks they had made to this spot. "You won't have to bear it for long."

The footprints were clear in the dirt. The grass protected them from the wind, and Razkar was sure they would be able to follow them back to Riverfall. The city's walls were still shining above the Sea of Grass, towering over it. He smiled and patted the Akalak/Myrian on the back.

"Let's go."

Both men vanished into the grass, heading west.

[Razkar]

"Well, I will be damned..."

The human courier let his mouth hang open, jaw slack and straw falling from his lips. He didn't expect much in the way of excitement on his dinner breaks. It was a long, hard ride to Kenash, and it was more to relax, charge his chi and brace himself and his mount for the journey. His shady spot outside the walls over Riverfall had become a haven; there was even a groove in the ground from where he'd sat for so long. Caravans and travelers and hunters sometimes passed, but the traffic tailed off when the sun set.

So he wasn't expecting to see a Myrian and an Akalak drag a dead leopard out the Sea of Grass.

"OK, put it down."

As the carcass thudded to the ground, it occurred to Razkar that he'd never checked out what sex the leopard was, so he turned it over...

"... oh. It's male."

Saib sat across from him, panting, and Razkar stared at him blankly. Cowardice was something he didn't tolerate, though he understood that only experience beat it out of a man. But his freezing out there could have killed them both. It pained him to do what he had to do next... but he had said that he would help.

Much as it galled him now.

Razkar knelt before the carcass and dew his kukri. He sliced the belly open and reached deep into his chest. As he hands stretched and groped... he spoke aloud in his mother's tongue...

"Myri... cast eyes on your sons this day. Feast though your warriors on this gift we bring. Goddess, we bring you victory."

Razkar jerked his hand and blood-caked arm back to fast that Saib flinched, and then saw the fat, bloody organ he held.

"Goddess... I bring you blood."

He held out the heart for the Akalak/Myrian to take, and after some hesitation, steady blue fingers took the scarlet organ. The courier watched with disgusted awe, having never seen this in his lifetime. He watched, unable to turn or speak, as the Akalak slowly raised the heart to his lips... and...

"Oh, good Gods..."

Razkar allowed his "brother" to feast on his victory. He watched him consume the strength and life of that Night Lion, then looked down to the carcass itself. Oh, to be sure, he was not going to let him have all the glory...

His kukri flashed again and the front paws of the beast were hacked off. He examined the sharp, curved claws that were secreted so ably inside the thick, furry paws. Frowning, the Myrian ran his hand over the front of one... and felt nothing. Just padded fur. But then he felt deeper... and razor-sharp bone as long as his fingers were there, just waiting...

"You will keep the pelt, Saib, though you did not earn it." He said coldly, rising to his feet and sheathing his knife. His bow was back over his shoulder, along with his arrows, and he stood with a severed paw in each hand. "These two will make a fine necklace. As for the rest... do as you wish. Victory has many names, Saib, and they are not all battlefields. You were not victirous today. You failed. You froze. Your courage fled, and thus, so did your body. You might as well have not even been there. Endangering oneself through such incompetence is one thing. But you endangered me."

He shook his head, face turgid with disappointment, as if all his ancestors and Saib's too were arrayed behind him.

"So this is the end of our partnership, Akalak." He said, deciding that the charade of calling the blue-skin "Myrian" had gone on far enough, and been proven wrong, anyway. "Until you can prove yourself worthy of our race."

Razkar nodded sharply, but there was no glimmer of fond farewell in the gesture. His face was set, and when he spoke again, he was already walking away.

"Good journey... brother."

With that, he took his leave, and left Saib with his trophy. He passed a human lounging by the walls as he went back through the gates.

Oddly enough, he didn't seem interested in talking.

[Jackalope]

Raz

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Hunting	+1	Smelling Like The Wild
Teaching	+3	Teaching a Cheerful Akalak
Tracking	+1	Taking Advantage of a Distracted Foe
Handaxe	+1
Gladius	+1
Kukri	+1

Inventory: Two Leopard Paws


Saib

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Hunting	+1	Deer Poop is Gross
Tracking	+1	Patience is a Virtue

Witty Remark Here

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