{"id":5666,"date":"2020-02-27T21:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benjamincheah.com\/?p=5666"},"modified":"2020-02-27T21:00:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T13:00:54","slug":"bayani-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/?p=5666","title":{"rendered":"Bayani Part 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Kerala,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Maestro led the way, and Bayani followed. The conquistadores<\/em>, mounted on their horses,\ntried to keep up. But the jungle was a poor environment for horses, and the\nHesperians had to lead their mounts through the trees on foot. Alejandro\nretraced his footsteps, stopping occasionally to look for sign. Bayani was\nnervous; as night fell, he could hear the conquistadores<\/em>\ntrashing behind him, and if he could, then wouldn\u2019t the Inrun hear them too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alejandro had the same thought too. He doubled back, ordering the conquistadores <\/em>to leave their horses behind. Then, using hand signals, he indicated Bayani to follow him and remain silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stalking through the jungle, Alejandro barely made a sound. Bayani stepped where the Maestro stepped, carefully avoiding vegetation where he could, brushing very slowly past them if he could not. It was like tracking prey, only this one could fight back. The conquistadores<\/em>, however, were trampling through the trees. Branches snapped and leaves rustled. Under the moon, their bright uniforms and pale skin reflected too much light. It was almost as though they wanted<\/em> to be spotted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shot almost came as a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayani jumped. Alejandro crouched, ducking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More shots. First ragged, individual shots. Then, as men yelled orders above the chaos, they coalesced into disciplined volleys of fire. The musket fire seemed to tear the jungle apart. Unseen Inrun answered with war cries, their shouts tearing through the night. Bayani looked around him, hearing footsteps but seeing nothing<\/em>. He couldn\u2019t tell who was shooting at what, where the Inrun were, only that people were firing and shouting and dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something crackled up ahead. Alejandro, his bolo <\/em>drawn, hid behind a tree. Bayani did the same, hand on his ginunting<\/em>. Moments later, a screaming Inrun stormed into sight, his sword arm held high. Alejandro slipped out from his hiding spot, swift as lightning, and moved<\/em>. Suddenly a severed hand flew through the air, a blade went flying in another direction, and with a crash the Inrun was facedown, Alejandro kneeling on his back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver here, Bayani!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayani came over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to treat the prisoner. Watch my back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the Inrun are still out there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo are the conquistadores<\/em>.\nIn this light they can\u2019t tell between us and the Inrun, and some of them may\nnot want to. Stay low until the conquistadores<\/em>\ncome. Or the Inrun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayani stayed low, scarcely breathing. The Maestro\nrummaged through his backpack, whispering to the wounded man. The Inrun\nalternated between cursing and whimpering, before finally giving up to silence.\nAlejandro wrapped the wound in a thick bandage, tying it off with sturdy knots.\nThe gunfire grew louder, nearer, thicker. An acrid scent infiltrated Bayani\u2019s\nlungs, and he coughed. Heavy bootsteps resounded in the night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long, long minutes later, the shooting and the\nshouting stopped. The Maestro still stayed low, so Bayani stayed low too.\nHesperians shouted out at each other in the night, and the occasional shot\nfilled the world with sound and fury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaestro!\u201d de Cruz called out. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver here!\u201d Alejandro replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hesperian strolled into view, accompanied by four\nsoldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere you are!\u201d de Cruz said. \u201cWe were getting\nworried.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou were doing so well, we decided to do something\ndifferent.\u201d Alejandro grabbed the Inrun, standing up. \u201cI have a gift for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA prisoner?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. Maybe he can convince El<\/em> Duc <\/em>that the threat is real.\u201d Alejandro\u2019s teeth flashed in the moonlight. \u201cExcellent. I shall send him back to the city with a messenger. By the time El Duc<\/em> gets this <\/em>message, he can\u2019t fault me for moving on my own.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDe nada<\/em>.\nThe Inrun are as much an enemy of your people as they are of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soldiers collected the prisoner, binding his arms\nwith rope, and led him away. As they faded from view, Bayani said, \u201cThis\u2026this\ndoesn\u2019t seem right. The Hesperians fighting this battle for us. It\u2019s not\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot right? Not fair?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, yes. This is\u2026this is our land. Our home. The conquistadores<\/em> aren\u2019t born of this land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are here now, and like it or not, they are here\nto stay. They have left their mark here, in everything from language to money\nto technology. We should make use of them as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy asking them to fight our wars?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they are willing to, yes. Or would you like to\ncharge Inrun muskets by yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t. But they defeated Chief Pula so many\nyears ago and stole our land. It\u2019s not right. It doesn\u2019t feel right to ask them\nfor help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeelings are nice, Bayani, but reality is more\nimportant. We have much to learn from them before we can be our own people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsider this. We call our art eskrima. That comes\nfrom the Hesperian word \u2018esgrima\u2019. To fight with swords. Esgrima, though, isn\u2019t\nlike eskrima. They prefer the point to the edge, and thrust to the slash. The\npoint gives them range and lethality. I took that from them and incorporated it\ninto our art.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s why people call you Maestro.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. You remember the first man you killed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayani swallowed, and nodded. \u201cI can\u2019t forget his\nface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat means you are a man. You recall how you killed\nhim, no? The thrust came from the Hesperians, the cut from us. The thrust lets\nus outrange the Inrun, and the\ncut finishes them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see. I\u2026I have to ask you something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpeak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a mestizo<\/em>. Why do you live with us negritos<\/em>?\u201d Alejandro exhaled sharply. \u201cThe Hesperians treated me like a mestizo<\/em>. Our people treated me like a man.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Faith and firefights, street samurai and corporate cults in neon-drenched streets!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stay up to date with my latest writing news and promotions, sign up for my mailing list here<\/a>!\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maestro led the way, and Bayani followed. The conquistadores, mounted on their horses, tried to keep up. But the jungle was a poor environment for horses, and the Hesperians had to lead their mounts through the trees on foot. Alejandro retraced his footsteps, stopping occasionally to look for sign. Bayani was nervous; as night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[69,136,143,208,253,289,304,306],"class_list":["post-5666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-bayani","tag-fantasy","tag-free-story","tag-martial-arts","tag-pulprev","tag-singlit","tag-steem","tag-steempulp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}