Chapter 10 Mika, philosopher warrior from the Grass Sea

Of all the warriors he’d met in the war, Mika was, by far, the most fascinating to Bjorn. Tall, slender, well muscled, lithe and quick, with long, sun bleached auburn gold hair, dusty blue eyes, deeply tanned body, with movements of a dancer, a quiet countenance and the innocent appearance and features of a child, he was an enigma in the fierce battles he so readily participated in. His air was that of a philosopher and not a warrior. Still, Bjorn, like many others who had fought along side him, would be sure to tell anyone that they would have been less likely to survive the war if it had not been for his presence.1

Bjorn’s first encounter with the quiet warrior was in the midst of a heated battle aboard one of the large ships of the Kensen. As the war progressed, the Kensen Empire had attempted to win back ground by producing a new, larger vessel, heavily armored, with oars added to its sail in an attempt to match the power of the Sudren Biathon. The Kensen vessels were awkward and clumsy and very slow in comparison to the Biathon and the Sudren preferred to attack them with two or three Lancers at a time. The ships would race through the cannon fire of the Kensen vessels and hurl nets to the sides, and ropes into the rigging. Then the rangers would scale the walls of the vessels and leap onto the main decks
That day had been quite hectic with the battle going back and forth all morning. Bjorn fought his way towards the center of the vessel, seeking to mount the forward cannon station. He was hacking through the mass of humanity with his customary attack, scything through air and flesh with his war axe when he heard the comment, “Bountiful style, sir!”
Looking over his shoulder, he saw a tall man moving about with a fluid movement which left him stunned. The man whipped a falchion about, disarming one man while he speared another with a short javelin. He used that man as a shield to parry the attack of a man with a trident, then turned his attention to the disarmed man, jabbing him in the vitals. He pulled the spear free, spinning, decapitating the man with the trident and sweeping the legs out from under two men with the javelin. He then buried the javelin in one of these two slicing the other up the middle and using the javelin as a lever to lift both his legs free. He drop kicked one man into two more advancing. Who naturally shoved him off and right into the javelin, which the tall warrior had pulled free just in time to skewer the unfortunate pirate. The other two he dispatched as quickly, sweeping the falchion across the two of them, back handed slitting both their throats with one motion. He then stabbed both the javelin and the sword down into the deck and performed a back flip across them, regained them and went on to cut down others as they advanced with a strangely detached movement. It was as though the man was an observer outside the body which labored so expeditiously while creating havoc on a scale unmatched.
Watching, Bjorn, for a second was lost to the battle and the advances of several men coming at him. Fortunately for him the tall man was not. He swung about, hacking one man in the ribs and that man’s sudden jerking turn literally sliced one of his own comrade’s arms off. The tall man finished off both with a whirling sweep of his falchion and smiled at Bjorn, while kicking another man in the leg, breaking his knee and stabbing him with the javelin. “Fine style sir, but I suggest you employ it.” And, with that he was back in the battle.
For the rest of the day, Bjorn fought like a mad man against the pirates and by early evening the remaining pirates had been slaughtered in an unparalleled scene of carnage.
At battle’s end, the men set about pushing the pirate corpses or parts there of over the side, putting their own comrades into bags to be buried at sea, as was the custom of the rangers. It bothered Bjorn that the rangers carefully placed the bodies of their own comrades into the bags for burial while pitching the others over into the sharks. Certainly, he had no love for the Kensen, vile beasts that they were, but he still saw them as noble warriors and they deserved to be properly buried as well. He was hard at work with the rest when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up he saw the tall man.
Immediately he rose.
“I want to thank you sir, for saving my life,” he extended his hand. The man took it and nodded. “I know that you would have done likewise, if the fate had been mine.” And he helped Bjorn to carry the body bag to the side where the men were preparing to carry out a form of funeral.
As they stood there, a priest chanting over the fallen, he shook his head.
“You disapprove?” The tall man said.
“I don’t disapprove of the funeral for the men; they deserve it, having fought so well. But, the pirates, they deserve some dignity in death, I feel. They were carrying out their orders as well, and to their families, I’m sure, they were much beloved. It seems sadly inappropriate to see them as chum for the beasts of the sea.
“I understand your feelings sir, Bjorn, was it. But, ask yourself this. Are the men being buried in ceremony any better off in the scheme of things? Now, they reside on the bottom, but they will lie there only so long as the bags last, until the bottom feeding fish take them, or they rot into sewage. Then, like the sharks that eat the pirate’s bodies, they will return to the sea and to the earth. As will we all one day. And, that is the order of things. We are all merely agents in the order and we do what is meant. In that light, there is no sorrow, and there is only the passage of what was always inevitable. “
Bjorn thought of what the man had just said. In a strange sort of way, it made perfect sense and put his mind and heart at rest. Yes, he had never seen things in this way, but it did indeed seem proper when he thought of it as the man had said. He realized, he hadn’t even learned the man’s name and he turned.
“I am Bjorn, and who are you?”
“Mika of Sampa, in the great grass sea, I come to the war late, but I come with the intention of helping to hasten its end, as do all those who arrived with me. We Juds are a peaceful people, dedicated to life and the simple existence, but we have seen the need to right the forces of Atoz. And, so we come.”
Bjorn had never been to the grass sea, though Korok had told him of the many tribes of people who lived there. He knew the Kensen lived there somewhere, taking slaves of the tribes there as they did along the Gulem, but he knew little of any others. If this man was an example of the people he called the Jud, they must be a fascinating people indeed, he surmised.2

The ships were towed back to shore by the lancers, where it was dismantled and the armaments and shot and powder removed to be used in constructing a fortress along the shore. The Sudren had begun building fortifications with captured vessels the year before, now that they had taken so much of the sea and the surrounding country. With the arrival of more and more soldiers from all over the realms, it was becoming easier to turn their attentions to building in protections which would insure them the Kensen would never be able to menace the people again. Using their own ships and guns against them was an ironic way of demoralizing the enemy still further. It was a very successful one.3

Bjorn was standing along the shore, when he felt the clap of a familiar hand on his back. He looked up to see Korok smiling down on him. Brother, you are alive and well, I see. Good we both survived the battle and we can now go and take part in the revelry. I know this village well, and the women. They will want to show their gratitude for our rescuing the people and driving off the evil ones. Come, there are many spirit houses, with the best wines and the best food. And, then,” he winked, “We’ll have a wonderful night with the women folk.4

Bjorn was about to accept the offer, when he saw the tall man standing by the rail a ways away from him. Quite suddenly he changed his mind. As he watched the man was going through a series of movements, and seeming to carry on some sort of conversation with blank space. He turned to Korok.
“Perhaps another time brother Korok, I would like to rest tonight.”
Korok shrugged in his usual good natured way and laughed. “As you wish brother, it only leaves more women for me.” And he clapped him on the back one more time, turned and set off towards the bow to help clear the bodies remaining on the deck.5

Bjorn moved to the man’s side and watched. He seemed to be chanting something and going through some sort of ritual movement. As he watched the man swept low with both hands, coming up into a circle, he turned slowly about and bowed down, kneeling and standing in one smooth movement. He lifted both arms and clapped his hands together, then spun about on his toes, finally dropping down bringing down both arms to his side and settling his hands, fisted at the hips. Then, his eyes opened and he smiled.
“Ah, come to show me the axe fighting style of yours have you?”
I doubt there is much I could teach a warrior as gifted as you certainly are, Mika”, he exclaimed”. I have never seen such skill in fighting as you displayed in the battle. What manner of fighting is that?”
“The style is called Karuke,” the method the people of the plains use to fight.” It is also our religion, and our exercise for strengthening our link with the powers of Malgi, the will of the universe.
“Could you teach me that exercise, Mika?” he asked, still in awe of the man’s skills.
“In trade for your tutelage with the axe, I would be most happy to Bjorn. But, I must tell you, it is a religion that takes dedication and devotion. You will have to become one with Malgi before it will truly work for you. But, if you are willing to make the commitment, I am sure I can deliver you to the higher power from whence it comes and you too will learn to fight with Malgi in your heart.”
“Then,” said Bjorn, “I am committed, and I will be a very dedicated pupil.” 6

And, so it was settled. Everyday after that Bjorn spent his free time with Mika. At first Korok seemed a bit put off by the loss of his friend, and jealous of Mika. But, when he saw the improvement in Bjorn’s fighting skills, he soon forgot this and joined in the daily exercise himself, with his great sword and spear. Even the commander, joined in and the four were soon doing daily exercises and ritual together, while spending hours sparring with one another to heighten their skills. As Bjorn grew more aware of the “link” to Malgi and the eternal net and more engrossed in the practice, he spent hours of his free time in meditation. Finally, his Karuke meditations progressed to the point that he succeeded in freeing himself of the corporeal body and drifting on the energy flow into the “net” as Mika described it. It was then that he realized he was awakening to a new and better way that would make all life orderly such as it had never been before.7

There were other things about Mika that Bjorn found intriguing. He would sit at the edge of the deck of the Lancer and strum and play at a harp, sometimes with two tiny bows, singing songs of his own composition and some of the traditional songs of his people. All were mesmerizing to the passer by and many would sit and listen to the music, lost on the melody. Bjorn longed to learn to play the harp himself and Mika was only to glad to teach him. One day he presented Bjorn with a small harp and began to teach him. Occasionally, Korok would join in with his flute and others would meander in and add their own instruments as well. It was a grand time for all and the ship soon had a wonderful orchestra, entertaining the other soldiers and sailors in the evenings. But, Bjorn and Mika were a special pair, when it came to the music, having found a common element they could bond on and Bjorn knew he had finally found peace as well through the quiet one of the grasslands.