Blood Lily Company - Afghanistan, year 1

XXVI

The three syllables sounded like "toorpekesh" but I'm none too sure about it. Still, Tito jumped up to stop in front of Alkan, barely three feet away from him.

They exchanged some words and they understood each other very well. So, Alkan is from Albania, too.

The tone rose, the gestures became aggressive. There was Katja's name and Alkan's finger pointed at Erk, who raised an eyebrow in surprise, there was Tito's middle finger brandished like a flag and I distinctly heard the words "homo" and "kanun".

And suddenly, the two guys came to blows. Tito had the advantage of his small size and carrying only his Behemoth, Alkan that of his larger size and strength.

I must admit Tito made us proud. In any case, he did justice to the teaching of the Icelanders, because once or twice he got out of a difficult situation with a vicious veehema blow. He even threw the other one, who picked himself up like a cat and went back to it.

I was tempted at one point to pull them apart, I even started to take a step forward, but Kris put his arm in front of me. I looked at him without understanding.
- I don't approve, but it's sometimes the only way to end a quarrel, he whispered in my ear. And look at my brother, he's ready to intervene.

And indeed, I could see the Viking who had come within range of the fight. What I could also see was the giant's glare. He was standing on the ball on his feet, ready to rush to the fighters.

The others had separated by camp, subconsciously, although it didn't much show. I returned my attention to the two Albanians. These two jerks had blood on their faces, knuckles completely scratched, Tito was favoring his right leg, Alkan his left arm.

Suddenly, the Albanians' hot blood caught fire and two blades sprang out, the two assholes pounced on each other, lethal weapon in hand.

Erk let out an angry roar, nabbed them by the collar before they made contact and lifted them off the ground, before our astonished eyes. He threw Tito in my direction, I caught my buddy and then I had to hold him back, with Kris's help, because his feet had barely touched the ground that he was trying to jump back into the fray.

Alkan flew towards Katja who stepped aside and Vlad received his own Albanian and, for the exact same reason, had to hold him back.

The two opponents were close to each other and facing a Viking on the edge of berserker rage. We saw him take a deep breath and the he let out a roar, the mighty roar of a dragon. Like that, just a howl, without words. Even Kris and Lin looked surprised. Well, shit...

Second deep breath, we prepared ourselves for another roar. But the giant straightened up, put his keffiyeh back in a sling and slipped his left arm into it. Ouch.
- I can understand you wanting to fight it out, but knives are a no-no.

Damn, he looked so calm. It was creepy, right after the roar and the show of force. Because my little mate Tito still weighs 60kg and the Viking lifted them at arm's length, those sixty kilos and when I received those same kilos, I felt the power of the throw. And because Alkan, in my opinion, must be around 80kg with all the shit on his back and, similarly, Erk lifted those kilos at arm's length. And Vlad, receiving his colleague, had to put a foot back to compensate.

That Erk could have done that with his injured arm freaked me out too. I remembered berserkers didn't feel pain or exhaustion and would fight until they died from their injuries or fatigue...
- Now you are going to explain to all of us why you decided to fuck each other up like that. Even though, Alkan, I heard the insult you hurled at Tito. Even though, Tito, I saw your finger.

The two guys looked at each other and, perfectly in sync, bit their lower lips and finally spoke.
- It's the Kanun, they said in unison.

Erk turned to Tito for an explanation
- It's the law of the mountains, Erk. The Kanun.
- That's a hell of an explanation! Be clearer!
- It's something for our country. You can't understand.