Zu’ji had settled down at home in the back chamber. However, she would not remain in the temple with her few followers for much longer and would return to her village, just as Tu’kesa and her poisonous snakes had done. After Zu’ji had shared her vision with the hostile trolls, they still had some doubts, but she had been able to convince Tu’kesa and told her to go to her priests. Haruk’Zil would surely give them a sign that this was the only right way. But before the herbalist could begin to assert the All-Seeing Snake’s claim on her tribe, she had to accomplish another difficult task – to make the ancestor compliant.
Blood Tusk was with her in the locked chamber, alone and no longer tied up. He was still sedated by the narcotic, but he was already showing more active stirrings and the effect was wearing off more and more.
It was an extremely dangerous situation for Zu’ji, that was clear to her. Her Tiki only pointed her in the right direction, but she could not expect any active help from him. After all, it was also one of the endless tests for the herbalist and support in a test would make it completely obsolete.
After all the time under drugs, without any activity and only the barest minimum of food and water, even the resilient Blood Tusk was pretty worn out. His waking sounds sounded like those of a drunk who had wiped out all memories with too much alcohol the night before and was now having the hangover of his life.
Caring, Zu’ji knelt next to the gladiator and she lifted his head to let him drink from a bowl of fresh water. “Nice and slow, you were out for a long time,” she said in the common tongue.
Blood Tusk drank a little hastily anyway. He was just too thirsty and choked. The hulking giant twisted around, effortlessly pushing the herb witch aside, while he tried to sit up, coughing with a thick head and exhausted body. “What happened? Am I finally back in the arena?”
“You’re safe,” Zu’ji said soothingly and she refilled the bowl at the bubbling fountain to hand it to the bewildered giant. ”That should be enough for now.”
The condition of Blood Tusk made the usually calm giant very irritable, which was made abundantly clear by his expression and growls. “You... I remember you,” he stated and snatched the bowl from the female’s hand. “Your trolls attacked us.”
“A point of view, if one knows only half of it,” Zu’ji admitted. Although she had knowingly put herself in danger and had resolved to remain calm in the presence of the Gladiator, she pressed her hands tensely to her lap. ”Actually, we freed you in the name of Haruk’Zil.”
“You broke your word,” Blood Tusk said. He, as well as the other gladiators and the pucks had kept their part of the bargain. That was what he saw when the ill-tempered giant suddenly grabbed the female’s neck. ”Take me back to the arena.”
Screaming for help wouldn’t have helped Zu’ji. The stone door of the chamber could only be unlocked from the inside after it had been closed. Besides, the gladiator’s hand was already around the female’s throat with ease and he was making it hard enough for her to breathe in tiny gasps. “I-I won’t.”
Man, woman, whatever. Bluood Tusk showed no mercy to enemies or, rather, he treated them all the same. “Then you’ll die,” he promised her, tightening his grip.
It didn’t take much more for the herbalist’s neck to break. “I-I have to do w-w-what I’m told,” Zu’ji replied. She had already thought about how she could get to the simple troll. “Haruk’Zil ordered me, just like you were ordered to fight in the trials!”
The argument worked and Blood Tusk pushed the female away. “Then take me to him,” the ignorant giant demanded. He was still marked by the narcotics and yet he got up shakily on his feet.
Zu’ji had to catch her breath first. “It’s not that easy,” she said, remaining in her submissive position. Her instincts alone demanded it, but it was also in her mind. “Have you forgotten already? He is a Tiki, a god. We should be glad if he blesses us with signs and visions. You can’t talk to him.”
“If he doesn’t talk to anyone, how can he command you?“
”Signs, with signs,“ Zu’ji said while she slowly regained her breath. ‘Everything that happened with the trials was a sign from him and I interpreted them. Do you remember that night when I told you that I thought you were very special?’
”Yes, and?”
“You are even more than that,” Zu’ji assured him. With her words, she dared to look up at the massive troll. ”That’s why we freed you. You couldn’t be a prisoner any longer.”
“I never was,” Blood Tusk snorted indignantly. He truly never saw himself as a prisoner and he clenched his right fist. This unfamiliar situation was extremely trying for him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he simply didn’t know anything else except for the life of a gladiator. He had always been walled up in a small world, in a fixed routine of sweat, blood and lust. That was his life. “You act in his name, so I’ll talk to you after all. Take me back.”
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“Why do you want that so badly?” Zu’ji asked. She knew he was right. She was talking and commanding in the here and now, so the herbalist slowly stood up to show strength. “Why do you want to go back to a place that keeps you weak?”
“Weak?” the giant’s ears rang. It was a statement that tempted him, and he took a threatening step towards the female. ”I’ve killed all your examinees. I could kill you with one hand. The arena makes me strong.”
Zu’ji pulled herself together and didn’t even blink, even though she froze inside. “And if I tell you that’s only half the truth?”
“Then I’ll crush your skull as proof.”
“No doubt you could,” Zu’ji admitted. Of course she knew that the giant was powerful beyond measure but she also sensed that this was not even the beginning of a true ancestor. On top of that he was impure, ignorant and didn’t even know the most basic rules of the wild and she was banking on that. “But then what? You kill me, all the others in the temple and then you’re alone, lost and the jungle will kill you. You don’t have a chance of getting back to the arena on your own.”
“If there’s one thing I can do, it’s fight. I’ll fight my way through your jungle.“
”Is that so?” Zu’ji questioned. Her eyes took the giant in calculation and under his angry, watchful gaze, she walked past him. ‘I’ll show you that you’re wrong.’ She unlocked the stone door and went out ahead of him. ”Come.”
Blood Tusk was wounded but he was no fool. Ready for a fight, he followed the female out to the open part of the temple where the rest of the trolls had gathered. “And now?” he murmured. “Shall I defeat them all?”
“No, that wouldn’t prove anything, because I know you could,“ Zu’ji spoke brutally honest to her followers and with his back turned to the gladiator. ‘Instead, just go. You want to go back to the arena? No one’s stopping you.’
”You brought me here,” Blood Tusk replied. He was ready to strike any second and kept an eye on each of the strangers. ”So take me back.”
“You said you could fight your way through the jungle. Therefore, you don’t need us. No blood needs to be shed, because none of our deaths would change anything, would it? With or without us, you’ll find your way alone. Fighting us now would only cost you more time and be a waste of your strength.”
The aching skull of Blood Tusk also played a role, as he grabbed hold of it, but it was also simply too many words. The female talked and talked, only to tell him that he was the strongest. “It would be a waste,” he at least agreed. “Give me a weapon.”
“Of course,” Zu’ji nodded and she looked at the warriors. ‘Give him a spear and a sword.’
The herbalist’s word was absolute, but the warriors were hesitant to act because of their fear of the giant. One gave his spear and the female guard tied off her belt with her sword, which was more of an shortsword or even dagger for the gladiator.
“You trolls are strange,” Blood Tusk said as if nothing had happened. Despite his mental and physical pain, he felt no hatred and had no desire for revenge. ”Or are you trying to trick me?”
“No, I have been completely honest with you,“ Zu’ji said and she stepped towards the gladiator. She only stopped when the ancestor pointed his spearhead at her and her belly was pushed in slightly. ‘I will show you that you are wrong and when that is done, I demand as a prize that you will listen to me.’
”You make no sense, female.”
“Simply then,” Zu’ji stuck out her chin and she looked at the giant challengingly. ‘The jungle will beat you. You’ll be brought to your knees and realize that you’re not as strong as you think. You’ll find yourself in front of me again and hopefully be wise enough to listen to me.’
Blood Tusk heard a truth in all of this. ”So you will hunt me after all.”
“We are a part of the jungle,” Zu’ji replied, looking at her pendants in turn. ”But since you are stronger, you will defy the jungle, won’t you? Or will you take the weak path and kill us all right here and now?”
No, Blood Tusk didn’t want to do that. “As you said, a waste of time,” he repeated unimpressed. He even gave the herbalist credit for telling him the truth and that he would refute her lies once he had fought his way back to the arena. “And as I said, you are strange.”
No word was spoken by anyone until the giant had left the temple and was out of sight. With his absence, a weight was lifted from the hearts of all and while the simple servants sank to their knees, Zanu tried to make sense of the events. “We let him go to... hunt him?” he asked and it was hard for him not to change his tone after all the exertion. “We just captured him!”
Zu’ji looked at each of them first and they all had the same expression in their eyes as Zanu. “You have and you will again,” the herbalist explained harshly. She folded her hands and strode with heavy steps to the steps leading out of the temple. “The ancestor is what he is, impure, ignorant and yet a source of power that is second to none. We cannot win him over for us in the way we do it. He is deaf to it.”
“With all due respect, but you said it yourself,“ Zanu noted. He wasn’t a coward, but he wasn’t stupid either. ‘He has incredible strength and we’ve seen first hand what he can do unarmed and intoxicated by poison. So how are we going to catch him again, him knowing we’re coming?’
”Haven’t you been listening?” Zu’ji replied. She had expected a bit more from a troll of the jungle. “He is impure and ignorant. What does he know of all the dangers that can lurk under every leaf? All the plants, animals. This ancestor only knows steel, sand and hard stone, but not the call of a dancing cat or the unnatural silence that heralds deadly danger. He might have survived his fights, but he has no idea of survival.”
This explanation made all Troll faces brighten up and nod in understanding. ‘He didn’t even ask for clean water as provisions,’ Zanu remarked. ”He’ll probably drink from the next river or any clear puddle.”
“And he will realize very soon that meat doesn’t grow on trees or lie around on plates,” Zu’ji smirked, encouraging their warriors. ”Follow him, lurk and watch. Make sure he doesn’t die under any circumstances and wait for your chance. You know the jungle, it’s your home. Use that, but be careful. Never underestimate the ancestor and bring him back within two days.”
