The Warrior's Pet(54)

"You are very unusual. I have never seen your species." Ismat said as he took up his task again.

"I am well aware of the difficulty the Cadi people have had in categorizing me." Giselle couldn't help but say.

"You speak and know my name so what are you called?"

"Giselle, it is nice to meet you Ismat." Giselle nodded her head since her hands were full.

"So Giselle are your people true believers?" Ismat asked.

Giselle did not know what to say. She didn't want to offend the man, plus in some societies religious leaders held great sway.

"My people's beliefs are varied. Many worship a single creator using a different name. But there was a wise man who once said that good deeds though done in another god's name went towards the one god. That I believe. I have no affinity for a particular name for the creator of all that is wondrous." Giselle waved her hand at the beauty surrounding the city. "Even you and I had no names till we came into the world and our parents thought to call us something. I was almost called Elizabeth."

"So true Giselle. It is the limited mind of man that feels the need to name and categorize everything the Goddess has created." Ismat smiled as he showered the row with more ash.

Giselle liked talking to the man of faith. It felt right surrounded by the reminder that life was fleeting. Ismat seemed open minded which was a bit surprising considering how most of the Cadi viewed her.

"Giselle what is the meaning of the warriors ink on your shoulder?"

Giselle found it interesting the man asked because others had stared but not inquired, and it was in essence a mark of faith more than a warrior's mark.

"It's a flower called a rose. I got it because it represented something I had come to learn about myself and my place in the creator's eyes." Giselle said. "There was a story, a fictional tale of a prince among the stars who ruled a little planet. On his planet there was one rose that he guarded against the weeds and elements. The rose told the prince she was rare and unlike anything else in all the universe."

"Well the prince made a journey, and he discovered a garden full of hundreds of roses. At first he felt lied to and dejected. But as the story continued, the prince came to see that his rose WAS unique though there were many." Giselle smiled as she explained. "I am one of many but I too am unique."

"The revelation must have been great for you to suffer the pain of being marked." Ismat nodded.

"I am thick skinned and sometimes thick headed." Giselle smiled at him.

"Aren't we all sometimes?" Ismat chuckled.

They continued with their grim work, much of it spent in silence, which seemed appropriate. At mid-meal Giselle insisted on serving as many as she could so they could relax. She'd slept during the night when so many had not. When lunch was finished Ismat led her to a large temple inside the walls of the city. The carved granite stretched up several stories but it was the larger than life red goddess relief emblazoned on the far wall inside that captured her attention.

"The Goddess Kali, the giver of life." Ismat introduced the deity.

The image of a giver of life holding a sword against a male beneath her feet seemed polar opposites.

"Might I ask then why she appears to be slaying the male?" Giselle asked hoping her question wasn't blasphemous in Ismat's eyes.

"Well there are many symbolic reasons, but mainly Kali is conquering chaos."

"Sometimes that is a battle. Just as it can be a battle to stay alive and bring new life into the world."

"Exactly. Females are often greater warriors in that respect." Ismat nodded seeming pleased. "Come let us prepare more of the cinis if you are not too tired to assist me."



Kagan quo Rordan

"I am glad to see that the communication hub wasn't too badly damaged when the weapon was conveniently dropped on it." Dagaa said.

"We were hesitant to enter the building considering what happened." Grainne admitted.

"Whatever substance did this seems to have dissipated." Kagan added.

"We have reason to believe it comes from the Toufik world. They call it Empty Death. Though we don't know what it is." Dagaa explained to the male.

"You're right. The few Toufik survivors kept telling me that exact thing but I didn't understand." Grainne shook his head.

"Its obviously a chemical weapon. The Jurou Biljana sold it to Vigdis." Kagan informed Grainne

As several of Kagan's engineers got to work getting the equipment up and running Kagan told Dagaa and Grainne the things he'd learned from Giselle and the serious concerns, he now had about the Jurou Biljana.

Kagan worried that the parts he had purchased to repair their aging starships might not be good. If anything could protect the Cadi against unwanted invasion by the Jurou Biljana, it would be a presence in orbit around the planet. At the very least functioning starships would make the Cadi less dependent on the Jurou Biljana's goods, able to seek out other traders. Of course that was a problem that could wait for another day. It was however another reason in a long list of reasons to finish this war.