The Book of Travels

Chapter 3: Changes

I did not get as much time to study The Book of Travels as I would have liked after Masfiri left. It was a series of short stories and biographers that, from what I had read, spanned a truly epic time scale.  The first twenty pages were nothing but a table of contents, listing the names of the various authors. Many of the names were written in strange languages, with only the last two names recognizable as Pundamilian. The first was unfamiliar, but the last was as recognizable as the day. Masfiri.

“Come on Zecora! The sun is up, it is time to go!” she yelled in excitement as she rushed across the room towards me.

“What do you mean? Where are you going?” I asked breaking out of my trance, thoroughly confused.

Akilah stopped and grinned at me menacingly. “It’s my last day as a civilian so we are going to have fun,” she said.

“That’s today?! I’m sorry, there was so much going on this morning I completely forgot,” I exclaimed. I quickly got to my feet and put the book in my backpack.

The sun was just starting to heat the air as we walked past old, run down, shops and residential buildings toward the center of town. Most would undoubtedly find Tamu depressing, but to me it gave the town a homely feel that I had never replicated in any of the other places I had visited.

Akilah glanced over at me. “Are you seriously going to bring your book with us. I figured you got a new one when you weren’t down at sunrise but this is my day and that means no reading,” she said with a smirk.

I looked at her in mock horror, which quickly subsided into a fit of giggles. “I know that, but this a special book and I can’t leave it laying around just anywhere. My uncle would kill me.” I recognized my mistake just as it left my mouth. Masfiri hadn’t sworn me to secrecy but he had definitely implied that most of our earlier conversation should stay between us.

My friend looked at me in confusion “Your uncle? I thought you didn’t have any relatives. Did Masfiri say something last night.”

Well, to late now. “Do you think you can keep a secret?” I asked.

Akilah nodded. “Of course. You know you can tell me anything.” I gave her a searching glance before nodding back. “That’s actually who I mean. We had a talk last night, and it turned out he’s my uncle.”

Akilah stared at me for a second. “While, that’s different.”

I smirked. “No kidding. I’ve had a little bit of time to settle in, but I still can’t believe it. Still, it seems rather mundane compared to some of the other things he told me this morning.” By now we had passed into the market. Usually it did not attract much attention entail after fresh produce was set out after the midday sun had lost its heat, but not today.

A large crowd had gathered around the open courtyard that was the center of the market, despite the lack of wares. I could hear the sound of raised voices coming from within, but I couldn’t make out what was being said over the din of the muttering crowd.

“What’s going on over there?” Akilah asked, as they came into view.

I took a quick scan of the crowd. They seemed uneasy, like they were angry about something. “I don’t know,” I finally said, perplexed.

We quickly made their way across the courtyard and into the crowd, letting the sound of our footfall animate our approach, but we still had to push and shove some people out of the way. Finally, we made it to the front of the mob and could see what had drawn the crowed. An impromptu stage had been constructed out of some readily available packing crates. The whole construct was rather hokey, but it got the job done. Keeping a perimeter around the stage were twelve peacekeepers. Five of them were locals, but I had never seen the others before. I would have laughed at how serious they looked if it weren’t for what they were guarding.

Standing on top of the crate was another peacekeeper, holding Masfiri down with one arm while gesturing wildly with the other. The new peacekeeper wore the black sash of a lieutenant marking him as the leader of the group. He was a big man, one of the largest men I had ever seen. I briefly wondered why Masfiri didn’t get up and clobber the guy, until I saw his legs. They were broken.

Despite the growing heat there was no trace of perspiration on the lieutenants brow. He was saying something, but despite being close enough to hear I still couldn’t make out his words. I could only stare in fascination as my uncle was dragged to the front of the platform. He glared over at his captor, showing no sign of the pain he was undoubtedly in. By the look on his face I figured the lieutenants must have said something he did not approve of. Go figure.

Before he could open his mouth to speak one of the peacekeepers was on him with the shaft of his spear, driving his already kneeling body to the ground. He screamed something, whether it was an animal howl or a cry of resistance I would never know, for like the rest of the scene it was silent. Another one of the guards drew a short, single edged sword and made his way towered him. With one slash to the neck Masfiri’s body went limp. After a few long seconds blood began to poor out of him, staining the platform red.

I moved before I could think, tackling a guard to the ground and ripping the sword out of her mouth. With a quick nock to the temple with the pommel of her own weapon she collapsed, out cold or dead I didn’t care. Now armed with my fallen enemy’s blade I set upon the rest of the patrol.

The first two went down before they knew what hit them, but surprise is a short-lived thing, especially in trained soldiers. Five of them were on me before I had a chance to strike out again. Using the weight of numbers they pushed me back of the platform, allowing them the benefit of the high ground.

Instinct saved my life. Without knowing why I did a lightning fast roll to the side. Maybe it was a slight sound, picked up by my unconscious mind; maybe it was years of fighting experience telling me that there were danger, it would come from behind. Regardless, if I had stayed in that spot even a moment longer the lieutenant’s sword would have impaled me.

I shot back to my feet to meet my new opponent, but even with all my speed I was too slow. Before I could regain my balance he lunged forward once again, stabbing me in my left shoulder, sending a wave of agony through my body. With an animal howl I lunged at him with all my might, but he easily parried the effort. With the brief moment it did gain me I toke stock of my situation. The others had held back thus far, allowing their superior the chance to bet me himself, but they wouldn’t hold out for long. If I were to win it would have to be now.

Unfortunately it was not to be. While I was a trained martial artiest and considered one of the best in my community I was no warrior. I had been fighting the lieutenant as if he was my equal, but that simply was not the case. In my moments hesitation he raised his blade high, swinging with the strength of a giant. I stared transfixed as time slowed, allowing me to see in perfect detail the instrument of my death, but powerless to stop it. But then, just before sword met hide, there was a bright light that blocked out my entire field of vision. When it cleared I staggered back at the sight. The ground was littered with bodies. Guards lay unmoving on the ground with numerous unmarked figures scattered among them, civilians that had been caught up it the light, whatever it was. Most of the crowd had scattered to the wind, leaving the courtyard bare of any sign of their passing except for the dead. I was the only one left standing.

“Zecora…”

I wiped around at the sound of my name. I could not see anything but more corpses. The body of Masfiri began to move, slowly started to roll over so that it faced me. The gash on his neck had stopped bleeding quite so profusely, but the amount he had already lost was massive. He should not have been alive.

“Zecora, come here. There is not much time,” he said weakly.

Quickly compiling to his request, I knelt down next to him. “I’m here uncle. Tell me what to do,” I said. Glancing around I looked for anything I could use to steam the blood flow. Spying a fallen soldier, I ripped off his uniform and pressed it against Masfiri’s neck. The effort was futile. Even at its reduced rate, there was too much blood being pumped out of his body for me to stop.

Masfiri chuckled slightly. “This is it for me. I have grown complacent in my old age and it finally got the best of me. That crate had more in it then some old family trinkets and books. I shouldn’t have moved it during the day, but I thought my position would exclude me from being searched. I was a fool.” His breath was coming in ragged gasps at this point and his voice lacked the straight to project over a whisper. Nevertheless he pressed on. “You can’t stay here now. You may have been able to take down a dozen peacekeepers without contest, but after the little show you just put on the Tani will not allow you to live. Soon you will have real soldiers on your tail. You must be far away from here before they arrive.”

I was dumbstruck. Throughout my life Masfiri had always been a constant. A life without him was incomprehensible. “There has to be some other way,” I said, tears streaming down my face. “You can’t just die.”

“I am already dead. You need to head north to your mothers homeland of Equestria, you may be accepted there. I did not know her but your father loved her, so she would not turn you away.”

“No I won’t just leave you. We can make it. You just have to get up. I know you can make it. Just get up.”

Masfiri smiled up at me. “You were my best adventure,” he said in a quiet whisper before he let out one last shallow breath and was still. I could still make out the gentle smile on to Masfiri’s face.

I sat by the body of my uncle, unmoving. When the world finally came back to me it was with the sound of an approaching army. I looked up from were I knelt to see a huge mob of peacekeepers and villagers coming from the direction of the fort, at least a hundred strong. I could not make out individual faces from the distance, but I knew that many of them were friends.

“Get her. Surround the courtyard, leave nowhere for her to go,” someone yelled. It sounded like Akilah.

Moving quickly I grabbed the sergeant’s sash, making a bandage for my wound and grabbed his blade. Somehow he was still breathing, but I didn’t have time to fix that even if I had the resolve. After that I turned and ran. Even if I had any desire to stay and fight against my neighbors, I was outnumbered. My only option was to take my uncles advice. Where to go I would decide later.

I made it past the last of the buildings in a blink of an eye. Easily dodging out of the way of the few villagers that tried to intercept me. All of my years exploring the country outside of town paid off as I ran through the grass, opening the distance between my pursuers and myself. The main pack could not hope to match my speed and the few who split off did not know the best rout to take.

Most of the towns people stopped before they got to the grove were the library was located but still I ran. I ran through the grass of the open savanna, I ran in small forest groves, I ran across fields of rock, I ran through flooded swamps.

Images would come to me of times from my childhood, passing before my eyes in no coherent order. When Masfiri comforted me after I got bitten by one of the geese we kept. When he came back from a mission laden down with so many books for me to add to my library he didn’t have room for food in his bags. The time he had introduced me to Akilah.

I finally regained my awareness far to the north west of Tamu in a dried out riverbed I had explored with Akilah two years prior. It had taken us a week to make the journey. After a short while I managed to find a small cave where I could take shelter for the night. Just as my eyes were closing did I finally consider what my uncle had said. My mother was alive. She was in Equestria. I did not know where Equestria was other then north, but I knew I would overcome any obstacle that stood in my way to get to it. In the morning.