The Guide, Wulfshard [management books to read txt] 📗

“Silence is the enemy
Against your urgency
So rally up the demons of your soul”
~Green Day, Know Your Enemy

Cattails and knee-high grass waved in the same cold, cloudy water as spruce, maple, elder, laurel and willow trees grew. A crane swooped down to take a fish from the water. Before it could lift off an enormous Alligator swallowed it whole and sank beneath the mucky surface. Then all was still again.
Suddenly there was a hiss and ripples broke the tranquility. Blood tainted the water with a cloud of scarlet. A narrow, long and round dark silver reptilian muzzle thrust itself into the air. A moment later murky green eyes gleamed in the sunlight as a head with at least twenty crimson red quills followed it. An inner eyelid flicked over the eyes. For a time it crept along slowly, gazing warily about.
Then the nostrils flared and it gradually came above the surface. A large reptile that stood erect like a human slithered onto the peaty ground above the water. Balancing it was an alligator-like tail. The tip of the tail’s three-inch spikes folded down a see-through fin-like membrane. Scaled and clawed fingers gripped an elder and ebony spear in one hand. In the other the creature dragged the alligator out by its tail. The creature sniffed the air.
“I smell Demi.” A female voice growled in a unique, strange and guttural language.
Soon a green and brown reptile slightly larger than her joined her. It approached her from the undergrowth. It was taller with a broader muzzle. There were no quills on his head, and amber eyes warily watched her. Two axes were grasped in its hands.
Behind it came a black tiger with white strips. Next to that cat stumbled a white tiger with black stripes. Streaks of blood clotted the white one’s fur from brambles, branches and perhaps animal or insect bites. Both stood like human, and their eyes gleamed with troubled intelligence.
“They’re clients. Chief said they’re all yours, Visam.” The voice was deeper, and male.
The Alligator thudded on the ground. She looked the tiger-humans up and down. “Another couple of Demi wanting to head south, hmm?” She switched languages. Her accent was heavy, but the grammar and words were precise.
“Actually, we wanted to head east. The weather is too hot south.” The black one said quietly.
There was instant suspicion in the lizard’s eyes. “The path east isn’t traveled often, Tigress; not by the humans, and not by your kind. There are other tribes who do not take well to ours, as well as sacred grounds meant to be avoided. It’s dangerous at best.”
“Look, if you can’t do it –” The white one taunted.
“I never said I can’t, cat. I couldn’t call myself a Mozori if I couldn’t.” Her hiss matched a snake perfectly. “Whether or not I will entirely depends on you. I don’t go that way for cheap. I’m warning you; if you go that way, there’s no returning home. There’s no talking to your people. You’ll be completely alone. Just getting through the eastern swamps will be a challenge – even with me as your guide. If you won’t stick to the trip and don’t have a damn good reason to go in the first place I ain’t taking you anywhere.”
“You need a reason?” The first tiger sounded not only shocked but frustrated. “I thought you just needed payment.”
“For the south, I don’t give a rat’s ass. It only takes a few days and I have a clearly marked path I’ve traveled a thousand times. But I’ve only gone east twice in my entire life, and both times I nearly died. There’s no way I’ll risk it for somebody who’s gonna turn around half-way through a three-week trek.” She knelt down and began to gut the gator right there with a dagger. “We’ll be going through the damn swamp’s center. There’s no marked path. There’s places I won’t travel through even with a blade to my neck. And I’m no diplomat; if I see an enemy we fight or we die.”
“Look, we’ll pay well. I’ll handle the trip. I can fight. She can help you hunt and survey the land. Neither of us will insist on you trekking anywhere you don’t think is a good idea. We need to get to the east of the swamp.”
The crane and fish suddenly fell from the stomach to the ground, still intact. The white tigress cringed.
“Why? Why is it so vital you go to a no man’s land, Demi?” The green male demanded before she could say anything at all. “There are little more than wilds to the east, even past the swamps. The Lost and Forsaken haunt the forests. Bird-men fight the drakes and demons in the mountains, and beyond that the dragons plague the undeserving with their flames. There is nothing but war that way. It’s how it was from the beginning, and how it will always be. Humans and Demis are better off in their comfortable town homes, nomadic caravans and well-placed farmlands. Go back to the tidy, neat and controllable life your kind live now, before you kill yourself in the name of treasure or promise or adventure.”
“You talk too much, Surudu.” The female snapped. “Look, the price is high because it’s dangerous. I won’t take a meek trader there, or a weak-bellied fugitive too dishonorable to fight her own battles." She tossed Surudu the crane and fish, then handed the black tigress the alligator’s shell. She dumped the entrails back into the swamp before stuffing the alligator’s meat into an otter pack.
"Well...we're none of those." Kukka told the lizards. "We need to go east...because our brother is waiting for us. Our brother and our mother were taken that way by humans. They went over the mountains instead of through the swamps."
"Are you being followed?" Surudu asked quietly.
"No." Tuphanu replied hastily.
Visam contemplated it for a moment, looking them over carefully. Then she abruptly turned away and began walking.“Until we work out payment and I’ve worked out a path with the bit of map we do have, we’ll stay at the village.”
The tigress dropped the alligator carcass. Instantly the spear was to her throat. “Pick it up and don’t drop it again. That skin and those bones are important to me and my people.” Visam snarled; her forked tongue flicking.
She tentatively picked up the gator’s remains.
“Now, if you can just manage to respect me long enough to get to the village, we’ll talk.” The two lizards quietly led the way back. Every time the cat snapped a twig or tossed a pebble into the water they flinched.
“Mind learning to walk?” Surudu demanded when she tripped and sent a flock of cranes into the air. “Do you want to get us killed?!”
“S-sorry.”
“We’re not used to this place.” The white one snapped, getting in his face. He snorted and turned away.
“This is going to be a long trip…”
Thankfully they reached the village without event. Wooden buildings on stilts, connected through a system of raised walkways and bridges, wound their way through an open wetland. The wide open sky showed the mid-day sun.
Several guards of the same lizard-human race rushed to take the carcass, satchel, crane and fish.
“Your father was getting worried. I’m glad to see they found you.”
“I can handle myself in the swamp, thanks. We’ll be at the inn. Make what you will out of those.”
She led the cats and the axe-wielding lizard up the ramps to a rather large building. They walked into a well-designed dining area. A fire place roared in the back. The smell of hot food and strong drink made the hungry stomach growl. There were six doors, two of which closed, that led to bedrooms.
“Ah! Welcome, Visam! Come, sit! Talk! We’ll get you something warm and filling for you and your guests!” A colorful and muscular Mozori commented. He was so light green that some mistook him for yellow.
“Thanks Tayken.” She answered just loud enough for him to hear. “If you still have that tapir that Surudu killed it’s a better idea than eel for these two.”
“Of course, of course; no reason not to give it to her,”
“Well, I don’t mind…” One of them began.
“Nobody else will eat the thing anyway. It’s best for everybody if you eat the meat. Your kind is why he kills the furry things in the first place; you and the humans who aren’t accustomed to our native cuisine.”
They took the seat right in front of the fire.
“Now, I don’t need coin, Demi, so what’s your offer in payment?”
The black Demi took out a beautiful, huge fur. It took on the colors that hit it; red and orange from the fire, yellow from the candle light. When the Mozori ran her pawed hand over it, it was strong and bristled.
“What do I want with a pelt? We do a whole lot of swimming, cat.”
“It came from a great big bear that lived in and around the ice flows where I came from. They swam for miles every day to hunt, like your kind – only in colder waters. You could make quite the outfit out of this; something thick that blends in to the environment on its own, without staining. It’s rather light, especially if I make the outfit for you; we do it all the time. The bears are common where I lived.”
“Hmm…then produce the outfit. We will leave at the dawn of the next day. Until then, you will eat and drink for free. Your service is already decided. Although, Demi, if they need your hand, it is expected that you provide your help in our community. It is how things are done.”
Surudu cleared his throat. “Also, you’ve not said your name.”
She hesitated. Then the cat said quietly. “My name is Tura.”
The white one cleared her throat. “I’m Ku.”
Tayken appeared to give the Demi a plate of roasted duck and a handful of berries, as well as a cup of tea. Visam and Surudu were handed a plate of stuffed crab. A slab of spiced fish and a crayfish were side dishes. They were given cups of the same, though slightly darker, tea.
“Tea?” Tura asked with some shock.
“No worries, you two, we’ve sifted the nasty out. There aren’t a lot of berries ‘round here to make wine, and ale is rather rough to come by. So we make tea, though the water is cleaned first real good. It’s a bit bitter for your pallet, but do try to stand it while you’re here. The tapir went bad, so I gave you wood duck.”
She took a sip and made a face. But they ate and spoke quietly. Tura took the measurements she needed shortly after they were finished with the meal. Then Visam and Surudu were ready to leave. They said goodbye.
“You will have a room here. Anybody can tell you where I am throughout the day and night – although I prefer not to be bothered with business after dark, so try to leave it until the day if you can. Just ask Tayken where you’ll sleep. Respect our ways and we’ll respect you.”
The two walked out. Surudu stopped. “They’re lying through her feline teeth, Visam.”
His friend nodded. “I know. But neither of them is lying about