Chapter 17 Enemies in Kana, city of healers

hear all about the brutal sport Muna (pronounced Moo-nu).

Chapter 17

Enemies in Kana, city of healers

Despite the flaming jackets we were shivering in the morning we started walking as soon as we awoke and ate dried meet and fruit for breakfast which Emily handed out once we were moving. Around midday we got to the top of a hill and suddenly the fire on the jackets went out and as we took a step out of the cold the now charcoal jackets fell apart and then the pieces were blown away on the wind. Then I saw it. The city of Kana. It was huge, bigger than Mlgi and Flinton. An hour later Amy Emily and Amelia emerged from behind some curtains at the gate dressed in the strange jeans Amelia was wearing the pair that had a long left leg. She would play Daniels wife until the girls could wear their normal clothes Amy and Emily both had a pair with a long right leg. We were about to approach the guard too beg entrance to the city when Ryan spoke.

“Hang on Amelia, what do the guys wear in Kana?”  I looked at Amelia expecting an answer to the question that no one had asked when she had neglected to tell us, instead Amy spoke next.

“Wow! Ryan MIGHT be intelligent!” Ryan opened his mouth and I quickly spoke before he could retaliate.

“Amelia? Do you have what we need to wear to get in?” she shook her head.

“The boys wear cloaks or kilts you all have cloaks.” Amelia Answered.

“For now” Amy’s mischievous grin and her statement of ‘for now’ at this piece of information worried me. We approached the guard and he waved us in without speaking we walked to the first corner and crossed to the right side in a diagonal line and walked in the door of the inn the sign above the door had two hand’s one showing a bleeding cut on the top the words read ‘the healers hand inn’ I thought ironic that the name should include a healer when the scene that we were greeted with inside showed that a healer probably visited patients at this particular inn often. People were against the wall cheering and booing as a few men fought one man tipped over a table and a second later a chair smashed as it collided with the top of it. The bartender was ushering a stable boy and serving girl through a door behind the bar. It obviously led to the kitchen. I unstrapped my sword belt and handed it to Emily then drew Amelia And Daniels sword’s and walked out between the two groups as one man on each side drew a sword I stood between them one sword pointed at one man with the other sword pointed at the other man

“Stand back lad” one man growled.

“I’m sorry if you repeate that or take the step your about to take I will impale you with one of these swords I hold” the man looked furious.

“Ha what are you going to do now Ted?” the other man said “this guy has two swords how are you going to fight him?” I turned towards the other man.

“You seem to be under the mistaken impression I’m fighting for you” I said “but like the man you called Ted if you take one more step I will impale you.”

“Ha! Scared now he’s not on your team aren’t ya Mick” Ted said and laughed.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Mick screamed in rage.

“YOU WILL NOT!!!” I yelled before Mick could take a step.

“Come on then!” Ted said.

“Shut your claptrap” I told him. Then I spun to Mick blocked his side swing spun back to Ted and crossed the swords I'd taken from Amelia and Daniel caught Ted’s blade then kicked him in the stomach I turned back to Mick caught is blade with one sword and with the other I nicked his hand he dropped his sword then I held out both swords one facing each man again leave I said calmly Ted left leaving his sword Mick went to pick his up

"Leave your sword and leave now" I said.

“It belongs to the city guard and guards men like me” Mick said.

“What’s your name?”

“Mick Sanglee”

“Are you off duty?”

“Yes”

“What did Ted do?” I asked.

“He didn’t do anything”

“So you were having fun by attacking him?” I asked

“All I did was hit him” Mick told me.

“Oh!” I said “well then, that’s fine isn’t it.” I said sarcastically “Who’s your commanding officer?”

“Sergeant Robertson” Mick said.

“And where, pray tell, can I find Sergeant Robertson?”

“At the door” another voice said. I turned to the door to see a man in guard uniform. I handed Amelia both swords back and picked up Micks.

“Hello sergeant Mick here just tried to kill me and another man he hit for no reason I hope all your guards’ men don’t do that!” I said smiling.

“No they don’t in fact they lose all right to carry any weapon.”

“I thought it might mean that” I said

“Is that what happened man?” the sergeant directed the question at the bartender who had stopped to watch me break up the fight. He nodded.

“You come with me” the sergeant growled at Mick He nodded to me as I Handed him the sword hilt first then he left dragging Mick by the collar behind him the people remaining from the two groups left quickly Emily came over and handed me my belt I strapped it on and as Me and Ryan righted the table Amy and Emily picked up fallen Chairs Daniel put in a order for lunch And Amelia stood there uncertain of what to do then grabbed an extra chair to replace the broken one And sat down.

 

“I really don’t like staying there its small rough and the bed sheets smell like dirt!”

“That’s not all it is you smell Amy, you smell the sweat of men and woman as...”

“Thank you Daniel but I understand” Amy said loudly. I shook my head at Daniels attempt to embarrass Amy. He still hadn’t quite forgiven Amy for the pay out at Dylan’s.

“Rough it may be but it’s the best place to gain knowledge because the men drink freely there which loosens tongues” I said.

“Thank you for stating the blatantly obvious to all but Ryan matt!” Amy responded.

 We had spent the day in the inn and then slept all night a little too peacefully for six teenagers who were in the middle of a war and the assassination targets of many. Then we had spent the morning in the bar getting men drunk and pretending to drink ourselves but our lips were always pressed firmly together. The only thing we really swallowed was our own spit. We had finally heard something from a man that interested us but he was so drunk the rest of what he said was inconceivable

‘Bloody city’s of the ancient language...’ he had said waving his arms around so wildly that he fell of his chair then fell asleep on the floor. Amy was disgusted and Amelia suggested throwing him out of a second floor window and seeing if he woke up or just received a concussion. We did neither but decided we would get Amelia some strings that wouldn’t weaken so she could keep her bow strung and at the same time we would try and find someone that could tell us more about these city’s of the ancient language. “I love this city!” Daniel said eyeing a couple of girl’s slender legs (I guessed the biggest eye catcher for him was the one that wasn’t encased in the denim like fabric). Amy saw what he was looking at.

“If you dare look at me like that you’ll find a knife hole in your body and realise your hope of ever having kids is gone from your life” She said.

“So who has the better deal? Ryan who loses his life if he does something Amy dislikes or Daniel who check’s out Amy’s leg and loses any chance of future kids and receives a lot of pain?” Emily asked. Amelia thought this was really funny and burst into a fit of laughter.

“What do you think of the fashion matt?” Amy asked me. I just shrugged then said

“ don’t care really” that soon changed when I noticed a man doing exactly what Amy had warned Daniel against he was looking at Amy’s leg and he thought because of Amy’s uncovered left leg she was not married which was true but I decided he wasn’t going to get anything he wanted from her not even a ‘hi’ and I stared him down. When he realised someone was looking he looked up and found my glaring eyes he looked to my waist and then quickly hurried along. It was then that I realised I had also half drawn my sword I slid it back into its sheath and then I whispered in Amy’s ear.

“I’ve changed my mind as soon as you can wear normal pants again you girls are” Amy laughed as we continued down the street’s of Kana. We walked into a shop called enchanted enchantments.

“Hello and welcome” a deep gruff but friendly voice boomed out towards us. The speaker was a man behind the counter he was slightly chubby and bald and, unless he was growing a small beard, was due for a shave. “How may I help you today?”

“We either want enchantment or enchanted...” Daniel started but the man behind the counter cut him off with a laugh “which healing spell would you like?”

“We don’t” the man looked confused at this resolution “we want a bow string that doesn’t weaken or snap” Daniel continued.

“Why are you looking here then?” the man asked.

“We thought you might have some or something so we can do it ourselves” Emily said.

“Why would the city of Healers have enchantments like that?” the man asked.

“City of healers?” Amy voiced the question before it registered with anyone else what he had said.

“Yeah, Kana city of healers. The main magic practiced here is healing magic. Haven’t you ever heard of the cities of the ancient language?”

“Not until today”

“Blimy where have you been? Running about in the gutter?” at this Amelia literally hissed at the man and drew her dagger.

“Careful what you say” she whispered menacingly.

“As you may have guessed” I said “one of us has”

“ok I am sorry please, it is said that the ancient language is a set of symbols and each symbol not only represents a letter but a word and that word is a magic like the symbol for H not only represents H but also healing there for anyone who practises the magic of H learns how to heal or cause sickness. The guide to what city is what also contains what the magicians are capable of but that is a closely guarded secret there is only a few copies and it is not to be shared with anyone.”

“And how can we get a copy of this guide?” Ryan asked.

“You must win it”

“That’s it?” I asked “enter a competition and win it?”

“It’s not that simple”

“Nothing ever is” Daniel said “what competition?”

“You must play and win a day of Muna” (Moo-na) “if you play for a day and win the last match you get a copy of the book. They only hold the competition with the book as a prize every thousand years the next game is in 4 weeks”

“Right we have two more questions the first one is do you know anything or someone who can tell us about the city of Gliffandlock and it’s where a bouts and/or the writers that reside within?” Daniel asked.

“No sorry although the guide probably does. Next question?

“Do you know who may be able to sell us a bow string that does not snap or weaken when kept strung?”

“No sorry”

“I have another question” I said. As everyone had said good bye and turned to the door I had stayed put.

“It seems to me it would be beneficial for us to win Muna. Where would we find out more?”

“the man smiled only he looks able enough to participate in the brutal sport of Muna” the man said indicating Ryan “you need six on a team at least because you need six on the field at all time’s but the teams usually consist of 18 players because the game is so rough you need to be strong” I heard Emily activate her pendant while the man was distracted by Amy throwing her throwing knife repeatedly into the wooden floor his attention moved to Emily when she picked up the biggest table in the room, that held the heaviest objects on it, with one hand.

“Appearances can be deceiving” she said.

“You need someone immune to pain”

“That would be Amy” I said.

“Has anyone got a bandage? I just cut myself” Amy said calmly I looked and saw a deep cut across her palm. “I dropped my knife” Amy said I was immediately beside Amy and was immediately punched on the shoulder by her.

“I’m starting to think no matter what I say you will have someone for each position”

I smiled “we probably do. Do you know where we can get the rest of the information?”

“The city centre there is a building with 4 entrances go there”

“Thanks” I said and this time we all turned to the door.

 

“And what do you 6 want?”

“we want to find out about the one day competition of Muna to win a book about the city’s of the ancient language” The man Daniel spoke to was a short chubby man that spoke with a tone that suggested he was always annoyed. However at Daniels mention of Muna it immediately changed and he spoke with an annoying excitement.

“Oh you want to join it! Just the 6 of you! Ha you won’t make it out of that tournament with a win!”

“whatever, give us the details” Ryan said in a, I’d sooner slit your throat and be the most wanted man in the world than stand quietly and listen to you, voice.

“You need at least six people on each team but may have a maximum number of 18. You need 6 people on the playing field at once the rest are reserves. The field is wide enough to fit 7 men side by side but its 16 meters in length. It has glass walls and a glass roof the inside is kept cool with magic. There are 5 positions there is-1 basher usually the strongest player their job is to immobilize opposing team member’s they are usually the strongest player.”

“Sounds fun sounds painful” Daniel said. The man nodded then continued

“If you have that player sign them on this paper here the rules of Muna say that you must pick a position as you are being told about them”

“Yeah but that’s only in this tournament” we turned toward the new voice.

“Hi my name is Marick” the dwarf said to us” I haven’t seen you at any of the muna sign ups before. I suggest you start off with the easier tournaments” the dwarf had no beard unlike most dwarf’s and black hair on his back he had a double ended battle axe and a war hammer. I had no doubt he knew how to use them.

“Thanks Marick but I think we know how to handle it” I told him. He laughed heartily

“That’s the spirit but it may be crushed in the game. It seems like the only thing the healers of this blasted city can’t heal.”

“Marick” the man who had been talking us called out “come to sign up? I haven’t seen you for 7 years though I’ve seen the team play your still the best player I’ve seen” Marick smiled “No I’m not playing not this year my wife forbids it says it’s too dangerous now with my son still only 7 my wife says when he’s older about 50 then I can go when I like but until he’s at least 25 it’s not even up for discussion however I am allowed to come and watch or work for the team as long as I don’t play I guess she’s right he’s still a baby after all”

“Only to the long lived races Marick to everyone else he's a young boy" the man said then when he was about to continue telling us about Muna Daniel called out to Marick.

“Marick if you would like to stay a couple of minutes we would be happy if you joined us so we can buy you a drink” ‘we would be happy if you joined us so I can buy you a drink’ was a dwarf greeting. I wasn’t sure why Daniel used it.  We had learned it from our time in the mountains we had been told also that it was used between only dwarfs so we had no idea how Marick would react. Marick grinned slowly.

“I would be very pleased to join and drink” he said which was the greetings response if the offer is accepted.

 

Later we sat in a much better inn than the one we were staying in. Emily had signed up for Basher. The other positions are - protector, the person who plays protector is sometimes the strongest player but are usually quick with some immunity to pain as the job of the protector is to act as a shield against the other teams basher. Amy with her unnatural ability (that had nothing to do with her pendant) to not feel serious pain got this position. I became the Globe. I am to carry 2 solid metal balls in my hands 1 in each they are about the size of a tennis ball and are usually used as a melee weapon. The globe needs to be quick aware and a fighter as the object is to get the other team’s globe.  Amelia and Daniel got the position of stealers. They try and take the globe’s balls back to their own globe. But they can only throw or carry 1 ball at any one time and even then only to the half way mark Daniel got it for his speed Amelia because of her past life as a thief. Ryan got the position that he liked the most the guard. This was the only player apart from the globe who had any sort of weapon apart from hands and feet. The guard holds two staffs one in each hand they don’t have to use both but they must start each round with one staff in each hand. One staff is usually wedged between the walls to slow the other team down while the guard holds the second staff as a weapon. After we had gotten all the positions sorted and we were told the rules, which were no weapons except the staffs and balls and try and win without killing any one (Daniels response to this had been “I have a problem with Obeying rules... No killing...? That’s a bit restricting, don’t you think?”

“Smart a*s” was added by Amy) we had gone to a much nicer inn than the one we were staying in and while Ryan and the girls went with marick to a table I went with Daniel to get the drinks. I had my own reason for going with Daniel though and it wasn’t for drinks. “Why did you invite Marick to drink with us?” I asked him. Daniel ordered 6 waters with five drops of ale in each and one straight Rum. I knew the Rum was for Marick and the water for the rest of us the drops were to make it look like Ale while really we sipped mostly water we didn’t drink straight alcohol for 2 reasons the first was that none of us were 18 the second was that we needed to keep our heads on straight all the time and have full awareness and alcohol dulls the senses.

“Marick knows about Muna” Daniel told me. “We can get tips from him helpful hints and the like you know”

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re actually intelligent without your pendant? I said.

“You took the words out of my mouth Matt” Amy said from my shoulder. I turned to her smiling.

“Great minds think alike.” Amy looked at me for a couple of seconds then said with a completely straight face.

“Normally I'd agree but after taking into account the fact that your one of those minds I must disagree with the great minds bit.” I made a face at Amy and grabbed three of the drinks the barman had set down in front of Daniel and myself Amy grabbed one herself and brought it over while Daniel paid and brought the other three I set my drinks down in front of Emily Ryan and Amelia Amy kept her drink and Daniel gave marick his one to me and kept the last for himself. After introductions were made Daniel took control of the conversation asking questions about Muna and Marick answered and gave us hints like that while the guard can wedge one of the staffs between the walls of the field if the other members of your team can’t get around it it’s a pointless defence. We found out that the field is only wide enough to fit 7 men side by side an entire game lasts one hour so there will be about 40 games played in the first two hours because there are hundreds of teams that play in the 1 day competition. A couple of hours later Marick stood.

“It was nice talking to you all and I wish you all the best but I really must be returning to my friends now we nodded and said goodbye but stayed. I went to get some water as returned the door opened and when the man in the door way saw me

“you” he said and lunged at me I dropped immediately and overturned a table and put my hands against it and braced myself I felt the man hit the table and I pushed it so that it was now laying on top of him and I ran back to the others as he pushed the table off of himself it was then I saw the large group of men and bloodstains that covered the swords and bodies of Mick and his friends.

Author's Note

This chapter (and all the following chapters) was written at my current age of 17.

Reviews

[Amy]

matt again i say i need to read more oh and i love it the way you act in this chapter is so much like how you actuly are
oh and i get the whole strange cloths thing now and your right thats probably the thret i whold use (in the daniel looking at the girls legs bit)
over all it gets better every chapter
please write more soon