Brave Souls. (Book One.)

Visiting Old Kostilu's Yard.

It was late evening, the sun had already set peacefully upon the hilly horizons far west. The initiates were hungrily gorging on their evening meal after yet another tough day in the training yard.

A late announcement however brightened up their moods. It was revealed that they would be embarking on the next phase of training under head scribe Terazzi. Weapons training.

This brought up a great din of excitement amongst the initiates. They had been going hard at the physical training sessions. Their bodies felt honed and fit. Now they were about to get into the real deal. Now they were going to handle real weapons like real men. Who wouldn't look forward to this.

But most of all they felt immensely relieved at finally ditching the torturous endeavors they were being put through under head scribe Kondobia's frugal and taxing drill routines.

But.... physical training did continue. There was neither pause nor compromise to this, the initiates soon found out the hard way.

Head Scribe Kondobia and his ever eager deputies stormed the sleeping quarters so early at dawn the stars were still shining up in the sky though not as brightly.

"Up! Up! Up! You lazy ingrates!" Head Scribe Kondobia's loud roar reverberated in all corners of the quiet sleeping hall.

" You thought I was done with you all!?"

"A warrior's training never ends! Get that into your thick lazy skulls!"

"Let's go! Let's go! Sleepy heads I need ten laps chap chap.!" A deputy bellowed out at the confused, disgruntled, disheveled lot. He seemed to be enjoying his job a bit too much.

For the next two hours head scribe Kondobia and his deputies carried out a series of intense work out drills on the initiates until the morning sun peaked up gracefully, embracing the Savannah grasslands with its yellow sanguine warmth and light.

The initiates were then released for their first meal of the day and a brief washing up at the communal spring. The day then took a deserved change of pace as they were ushered into Old Kostilu's residence.

The soft spoken scribe was already sitted beneath a large willowy tree at the center of the compound. With a wave of his hand he welcomed and beckoned to the initiates to join him. They sat all around him setting up a calm atmosphere beneath the large shady tree.

"I apologize for head scribe Kondobia and his deputies. They tend to enjoy their work a bit too much, but its all for your benefit so you all have to grin and bear it. This is part of your life now."

"Henceforth the mornings shall be dedicated to physical drills as demonstrated today, mid mornings shall find you here with me and in the afternoons you shall proceed to weapons training with head scribe Terazzi."

"Now I'm sure you're all asking yourselves why you are here?" Old Kostilu knew and delved right into what most of the initiates were thinking.

"Truth is I am the keeper of the scrolls, I keep the history of our clans. It is an important duty handed down since time immemorial."

"Therefore through years and years of being with this history I am in a unique position to be able to pass down a few things to you."

"The most important being , the way of the warrior. "

All the initiates upon hearing this perked up their ears attentively and looked upon Old Kostilu with a new level of respect. The head scribe was expecting this and smiled back at them.

"Now what is the way of the warrior? The way of the warrior is these three things, listen closely. Your lives and the lives of your people may come to depend on the next few sentences."

The silence that followed could have swallowed the sun.

"The way of the warrior is this. Duty. Honor. Bravery."

"Repeat after me."

"Duty, honor, bravery." The initiates shouted with vigor and conviction.

"Yes, now instill these three words deeply in your heart. May they come up whenever the word warrior is mentioned."

"Now we shall unwrap these three ideals in depth and see what is required of us as warriors. We shall start with duty and to teach of duty, I have a story."

Old Kostilu slowly stretched his old back as he eased further back into his slanted wooden chair.

"Now before I begin, who can tell this old man what we mean by duty."

His relaxed countenance eased the minds of the initiates and the tensions that Kondobia and his minions had inflicted with their sharp words and berating provocations.

"A duty is a responsibility or task that one is required to perform." A Mariani lad sitted next to Johari volunteered.

"Good. We can say this is duty."

Old Kostilu smiled at him. A flash of familiarity hit him as his eyes fell on the tall quiet lad with rough unkempt hair next to the initiate who had kick started the debate.

"Ah so there you are my young friend." he thought happily then continued.

"Duty can be described as such. But this was then, when all you lot did was herd a few sheep and goats."

"Now you are more than just mere herds boys. Are you not. You are now morans, warriors. The lifeblood of your people."

"Therefore duty to you must mean much much more than a mere task."

Old Kostilu's slowly spoken words touched the very core of the young initiates hearts. They felt honored by the declaration and at the same time felt the weight it carried.

Their hearts beat faster and their gazes grew determined as each vowed internally to be a warrior his people could depend on. Old Kostilu of course noticed the change in their demeanors as was expected and he gave the moment a brief moment of silence it deserved.

"From this moment on what you will know as duty shall be this."

"Duty shall be what you breathe, what you eat and sleep, what you think and speak. Duty shall be all that you do and nothing else. And nothing I repeat, absolutely nothing shall stand in between you and your duty as a warrior. Not even your own life."

A deep palpable silence engulfed the entire yard as the elder scribe's fierce declaration deeply struck their souls.

"This is the way of the warrior"

The wise elder paused to sit up straight looking at the young men with deep mysterious eyes.

"Now the question this old man has is this. Are there any warriors before me!?" Old Kostilu's voice soared at once shaking up the hearts of the initiates into a frenzy.

"Yes sir!!" They promptly shouted.

"Oh is that so, sigh .. with the way you've just whispered I pity our people if this whom they will have to rely on."

"I asked a very simple question. Are there any warriors before me?"

"YES SIR !!?!!!" the initiates roared with so much conviction it was akin to thunder in the mountains, filling the entire Shitu shrine and echoing far and beyond.

Adjacent to Old Kostilu's large courtyard, head scribe Kondobia sat quietly neath his favorite tree leisurely smoking his beloved pipe. As the initiates roar shook through the entire shrine, he shook his head and chuckled helplessly.

"That old fogey Kostilu, he must have been a bewitcher in his past life."

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