“What waswhatlike?”
“Your old life. Killing for a living.”
“It wasn’t justkilling,” I said. “Most of it was guarding something, or retrieving some warlord’s kidnapped mistress or—” I cut off before I was asked for stories I had no stomach for telling. “It was exhausting,” I replied.Much like this conversation.I didn’t add that part out loud, but my tone was heavy with the implication. Maybe that would make him go home.
Alas, it did not. He nodded. “Exhaustion. Yes. Our ancestors told stories, passed down through the generations, of the days when we broke free of our cruel imprisonment. The weariness is the theme that remains unchanged through every retelling.”
So that’s how they looked at it—that they broke free.Interesting.
“Those must have been dark, hard times for your people.” I grunted. “Life is never easy when you’re oppressed.”
“Tell me ofyourpeople, Gilrox. Do you remember them well? Why did you not return to your home world when you retired?”
He sounded like he really wanted to know, so I answered. “My home world was taken over by the Ku’pak,” I said flatly, hoping there would be no follow-up questions.
Of course there were. “Why?” he asked.
“We had a mineral underground that was used in the production of power cells. They came in, killed almost everyone, and took over the planet. Destroyed it, actually. There are not many of my kind left.”There. That was the long and the short of it. A complete answer.
These were things I did not dwell on, tried not to think about. The loss of my family, the oceans, the beauty that I remembered as a child—that had been Belaga.
“Have youevergone back?” he asked.
I stopped walking. We were in the forest now, shaded by trees. “There is nothing to go back to, Pasek,” I said. “I was recruited by the mercenary guild at the tail end of the destruction. My choices were to stay and die, or leave and try something new.” I gritted my teeth. “I tried something new.”
He blinked. “Well, you had no other choice.”
I tipped a finger in his direction. “Correct.” We started walking again.
“Why did you retire?” he asked.
I chuckled and gestured toward myself. “Fighting is for the young. There comes a time when you just can’t do it anymore.”
“That’s what my father used to tell us fishermen. The sea lets you know when it’s time to step away from it. And if you don’t listen, it’ll swallow you whole.”
Now that I could relate to. “My old mentor said something similar.”
“Your mentor was wise.”
“That he was.”
“What happened to him?”
I shrugged. “He stepped away. And I took his advice and did the same.” I waved a hand toward the village. “Although now it seems I’m getting drawn into the happenings in your village.”
He chuckled. “Could be. Maive likes you.”
I stopped in my tracks. “What?”
“Maive,” he replied, looking at me like I was slow. “You know, our leader.”
“I know her name,” I said crossly.
“Well, I should hope so,” he replied. “She thinks you are a good thing for our village. And it’s clear she’s right.” He went on as we continued through the forest. “We will have to learn more about that device you used on my brother today. Perhaps we can get one of our own from the Durbok.”
I frowned. “The what?”
“The Durbok. He’s a trader that comes to this planet. He used to come once or twice a year, but now he comes once a month.” He waved a hand to the east. “Sells us some things we can’t get here.”
