He locked his eyes on Johan to ensure no mistake was made with what he was about to say. “If, and only if, you stay and let us speak more of that item and what we can do with it together.”
“Why would I do that?” the boy asked. “You’ve killed or wounded so many of my people. What reason do I have to help you?”
“Simple,” Skerd replied, impatient with the child’s lack of vision, “if you do not agree, we kill you all now and any others that come our way without remorse. We’d take it from you if we could, but I’m afraid it is useless to us without a human to hold it. You seem to be a very intelligent boy. Do you believe that each side of a conflict has their own justifiable rights for fighting, as you and I do now, regardless of how one feels about the other?”
“Yes.”
“Good, then you shouldn’t be surprised by our actions. We are older, wiser and much stronger than you will ever be. We will allow all others of your kind to pass our way with impunity. Knowing what I know of what you have, which is more than you it seems, it won’t be difficult to convince my brothers to do the same. I will gladly kill a defiant member of my own kind to ensure the safety of you and that item. It means that much to me. Do you believe that?”
“I do, though I don’t know why.”
“Nor can I tell you, as the Power escapes my understanding.”
A pause for a moment, and then the child’s dark eyes met Skerd’s. “My answer is no,” the boy said, startling some members of his group. Skerd looked him over, expecting more to come from his mouth in explanation. “I can’t stay. I won’t stay. I have a mission I must fulfill, with my knife. You mention justifiable right to fight a battle, well I have that. I have that far down this road, against an enemy I fear more than you. An enemy you and your kind would be wise to fear as well.”
Skerd doubted that, but he didn’t doubt this boy believed it to be true. Then the boy indicated the smashed silver weapon, and Skerd believed he understood.
“I see,” he growled, noticing those high above him getting impatient. “You go to battle the machines.” The boy didn’t answer but nodded to indicate he did. Skerd was unaware of any machines returning to the land, but the nobility of the boy gave him no reason to doubt him. The knife was a handy weapon regardless of the enemy. “You will fight me, here and now, if I don’t let you go?”
“Yes.” His muscles tensed, preparing for an attack. It was all Skerd needed to see.
“Very well. Go. Take your people and fight your battle. When it is over, you will return to me with that knife. Do you know how to use it? How to harness its power?”
“No, I don’t. Not in a way one like you could possibly need.”
“I can tell you this: you’d best attempt to figure it out soon, boy, because you’re useless to me if you return and you haven’t. Now, will you make my deal?”
Hesitation at first, coupled with a look to the young rider. “No harm to me and my people. We may pass freely and without incident.”
“Without incident caused by my brothers or me, yes. Rare is the journey without incident of any kind.”
“And others that may follow?”
“Correct.”
“Alright, beast. I agree. I should warn you, though; the journey I’m on is likely to end in my death.”
“I’d recommend that it doesn’t. Your death, likely as you say it may be, matters not to me. If you do not return as agreed in what I would call a reasonable amount of time, we will not show any more restraint in matters of your people’s incursions. We will leave our mountains, enter your homes, and finish off everyone we find to find that weapon or one like it.”
A look of doubt. “It’s really that important to you I return with this knife? Worth the countless lives you’d end needlessly?”
“Those and a thousand times more, yes.”
“Wow. Well then I suppose I had better return.” A half-smirk on his face.
“I suppose you should,” Skerd agreed, upset by the lad’s hints of mockery at this conversation. “When you do what you must and your affairs are in order, return to the remnants of the village that once was near the base of the Uhluktahn. That is my land and I will see you. I will wait for you. I will not wait long.”
The knife lowered and the boy nodded his head in agreement, smugness removed from his face at the threat. Skerd moved his massive body up the hill, tail still pained from the dip in the river, but otherwise fine. He crossed the road, continuing up the hill to his brethren, turning one last time to the scene of destruction and death below, knowing that shortly the talisman would be gone and the animal inside him would be back. A worrisome proposition, but in this deal, everyone had something to lose.
“I will wait for you…?”
“Johan,” he answered. “Johan Otan’co of Tan Torna Qu-ay. I will be there or I’ll be dead. On my honor.”
“And on my own, Johan Otan’co. That of Skerd of the Uhluktahn. Pray you are not late or otherwise indisposed.”
Even now, getting higher in the mountains, Skerd could feel the clarity
