Welcome! This is the third volume in the series “The Warlord Chronicles” which depict the lives of the Barraki.
This is aswell a direct follow-up to the story “Ambition” about Kalmah. For further understanding, please, read that one first!
One shining red eye have been piercing a paper. The letter had come from Mangai with it’s warlord’s seal- now broken.
The blood-red eye ran from one side of the letter to the other, with no emotion or a shade of thought appearing. It had been a while, after finishing reading, until the Nahoan king finally spoke. „Kalmah has grown tired of his beautiful rivers of lava and black sand beaches, I see?“ the bowing mangaian in front of him looked up in surprise.
Takadox stood from his simple wooden throne, descending to the matoran below him. „You see, my friend,“ his hands touched the mangaian’s shoulders, making him stand up.
„Kalmah was very complicated, the first time I‘ve met him, I knew he‘d be… Troubling. And now you see, his cruelty and ambition have far surpassed his reason.“ He rose the letter in his hand. „This was written by a shaking hand of a child. Moments before it died. Not by the hands of Kalmah, oh, no. That’s not his style. Something far more cruel and horrible was done to that poor little girl, all because of Kalmah’s pride and taste of blood.“
The mangaian’s eyes flashed with emotions of hate, pride and confusion. „The Council of Six Kingdoms was called, all those years ago, because the island was divided, thrown into turmoil, fear and despair. The League had broken that wheel of war and conquest, where regions rotated around, this one on top, then that one on top, crushing the poor ones to the ground. Yet here, after the letters of a child’s shaking hand, sits a message written by the Mangaian ruler. He dreams of conquest, war and chaos. Of ashes raining down on Naho bay, Tiro jungles and peaks of Ihu. He‘s grown tired of peace. Kalmah‘s a warlord, he‘s known nothing but ambition and cruelty, and he will unleash it upon others for his own liking.“
The blue mangaian eyes ran around the floor in confusion, looking for a guiding hand. „Are you willing to follow someone like that, my friend?“ the Nahoan’s one red eye looked filled with compassion.
„I… Am not fit to judge the Mighty Kalmah’s actions…“ words got out of his mouth like a lava worm, crawling out of soil.
„He‘s brainwashed you. Made you fear him, not question his judgement. Don’t worry, my friend. His hand of ashes can‘t reach these beautiful lands. There isn’t any danger looming around, waiting to murder you for saying a wrong word.“
His hand gestured to a male Nahoan, standing beside the simple throne, and then to a female, sitting on a same chair beside the other one. „In Naho, we listen to the opinions of others. We don‘t use fear to gain respect. When we make mistakes, we fix them together, not murder cruely anyone who points them out.“
„You‘ve lived in a land of fear and confusion. But you can live a life of joy, peace and prosperity. Nahoans are forgiving, kind-hearted and peaceful Matoran. They won’t judge you for where you were born. You‘re welcomed here.“
The King’s hand rested on the errand’s shoulder. Now, all that filled the blue eyes was confusion, but a glimpse of hope was just around a corner.
„I… I… Can I?“ the troubled mangaian looked into the gaze of compassion. „There‘s a small village on the far northwest coast of the bay. Peaceful, full of kind Matoran and beautiful girls.“ The king smiled.
He could almost see the mangaian’s vision of peace and family. „We‘ll give you a nice, large house and enough money to live for sevelar years. Vamprah‘ll discuss it with you shortly.“ He pointed to the male standing beside his throne.
Then he guided the errand from the Nahoan throne hall, a female servant took his hand from him, as the mangaian seemed to be overwhelmed. When the large doors closed, Takadox turned around with smile crawling underneath his mask.
„Good job, but what do you plan on doing with him? An errand, he’s useless.“ Vamprah said.
Takadox shook his head in disagreement. „Every less mangaian on Kalmah’s side‘s better for us, I thought you knew that. It will spread rumors of Kalmah’s cruelty and of Naho’s generocity.“
„What about the boy?“ asked the young woman. The ruler smiled.
„He will soon find out how beautiful the Nahoan girls are.“ A blush of pink could amost be seen beneath Pelagia’s mask.
„I will leave you two alone.“ Nodded Vamprah, walking out of the hall.
„Matoran of kind heart, filled with compassion and forgiveness? I thought you said I was unique.“ She smiled, running her hand on the king’s mask.
„You were always unique to me. And you‘ll always be. After all, that‘s why I’ve grown to love you, my queen.“
„And I always admired your gentleness and compassion. There could be no better king of Naho than you, Takadox.“