Eldana was much stronger than they thought, and it had been a long time since they had used battle magic. Sinto would help the others unlock the power that the warriors held within themselves. To defeat Eldana, they would need every ounce of power they could gather.
Sinto spoke the word of power, as the warriors paired for training. “Ha ley na ne.”
“The warrior of water, you will fight against the fire-breathing dragon,” Sinto said. His eyes roamed amongst the seven. They watched him, apprehensive.
“Remember the art of fighting,” he said. “You are warriors, not only teachers. We need to remember our skills!”
Sinto sensed that everyone was excited. A lot of energy was in the air, very unusual, much more than before. They were eager; ready. He wondered where this came from. It seemed as if new energy was forming from their hate of the would-be goddess Eldana. They felt betrayed. There was Adonay, the bald-headed warrior had let Eldana drink from his own bowl the very day she arrived. While Sinto had no emotion for Eldana at that time, Adonay was the one who had always given her a silent shoulder to cry on. Then there was white haired Berhun. He had admired Eldana from afar, but he was disappointed now with her actions. Their feeling of betrayal created something that many did not know, the desire to fight again, to win...and then also the desire to kill.
Sinto knew what this meant. The warriors were on the way to becoming barbarians, barbarians who knew that there was no return. The hatred gave them strength and they needed it to continue to fight. Two warriors were fighting so loudly that they all heard it, and not just for fun, but for blood. Sinto came along and yelled,
“What’s wrong with you? This is just training!”
Both turned and the glow in their eyes was one he had not seen in a long time. It was the old warrior’s glow that shone in their eyes. But both stopped with some reluctance, and Sinto could see that they didn’t want to stop there.
“We are sorry, Sinto,” said one with apparent difficulty. “It was just nice to get back to doing what we were meant to do. It makes me feel stronger and more powerful than anything else.”
Sinto knew where the energy came from. Tabeli stood there and laughed joyfully.
“Finally, fire.” He sighed and looked at the two again. “As long as you don’t kill each other, go on, Sinto should be happy with that?”
He looked at Sinto with a smile and knew that he had to help him. Sinto belonged to a time when honor was worth a lot. In those times, everything was different, people didn’t fight each other like barbarians. Even the enemies had respect for each other. This young generation of warriors had never experienced this. It was difficult for them to understand what it meant to fight. Some had never fought before. Their senses were overwhelmed by the power.
While the warriors trained, Tabeli and Sinto went to check on other preparations for the hunt. They came upon two other warriors that were readying their weapons. One of them took a stone and spoke softly the words of magic. The stone started to glow and changed color from green, to red, to blue. The warrior threw the stone into a bush, there it imploded and took everything within a radius of three meters with it. Sinto made a bewildered face.
“Interesting new way to use magic,” he said. “But is it enough to stop a berserker?”
Tabeli and the warrior looked at each other, puzzled. Tabeli decided to answer for them both. “Not yet, but soon,” and added with a slightly sceptical undertone, “Don’t you believe it?”
Sinto looked at him with tired eyes. “Oh Tabeli, we both know that we have been out of proper fighting for far too long to stand against the only son of the Berserker King, so it won’t be easy.”
The two warriors who had been working on the weapons looked at each other, insecure. Sinto noticed their glances and said, “As long as we have two fearless warriors like these, we’ll be fine.” He laughed and slapped one of them on the shoulder. Tabeli noticed the tension and grabbed Sinto by the arm to lead him away.
“More men,” he said in a strained tone.
“For the king,” the answer came back promptly. Sinto’s look revealed that he was incredibly grateful for the rescue. Tabeli only shook his head. He returned Sinto’s gaze with one that said - be quiet!
So they went on through the night and inspected the warriors. The flames of duty burned within them. Even though they had mixed feelings about Eldana, they knew that their duty had to be fulfilled. Weapons were forged and artifacts were fitted with magic. They were ready. The preparations for the Great Hunt were nearly complete. In the morning, they would set off. The only one who could not sleep that night was Sinto. As much as he was happy for his men, he thought about Eldana and how much he missed the little young lady who was so unable to take care of herself. He had been with her every step of the way, refusing to let weakness creep into her body. She was a being of Balance and Chaos, and he had made sure she knew that weakness was unacceptable. Maybe he was a bit too hard on her, but it
