I laughed and gave her a good ride. When she was done, she helped me to my feet and said, “Now remember that and let it be a lesson to you!”
We both laughed. This was a side of Rani that I hadn’t expected. But I liked it. Strange, Alexia, at six-foot-two liked a more submissive play and Rani and Sashar who were much smaller, Sashar exceedingly so, preferred taking a more aggressive role where they pretended to be more in charge.
I said, “Belle? Are you ready?”
Without warning, Belle rushed me. She took a swing with her fist at my chin with her right, followed with a left to my ribs, stomped at my instep with her right heel, spun behind me and kicked at the back of my left knee, making me drop to the ground. In the next instant, her sword was around my neck and she began to choke me out. As I collapsed to the ground unable to dislodge her from my back, she let me up.
I rubbed my neck and took a breath.
She faced me and said, “Shall we go again?”
I shook my head and said in awe, “No! Once was enough! Where did that come from?”
She came and stood close in front of me and looked up at me. She cupped her breasts and squeezed them a bit and said, “I think it built up in my tits. You better get it out of me before I do it again,” and she smiled at me.
I ogled her breasts and nodded. I lay down on my back and she positioned herself over my lips and I relieved her of the milk in each side until she orgasmed.
Finally, I came to Sashar. I smiled at her and said very tenderly, “Sashar, what shall we do. It’s up to you. If it’s too much, we’ll practice later.”
I didn’t want to force her to relive a trauma that she wasn’t ready for.
Sashar said, “Mark, I cannot see that horrid fiend in you, or in any person, even pretending. Let me show you my Kata against the demon alone.”
I said, “Of course. It’s just as good.”
The other girls and I stood back to watch. Sashar faced away from us. She took her stance and when she was ready, she took a breath and held her bokken at her belt… and then she started. It was more graphic than any Kata I had ever seen. Because of her story, I could picture every move and even the facial expressions. I imagined the words and shouting that she pictured.
Her demon faced her and sneered. She faced him calmly. He screamed in his rage at finding her worthless… and she stood still. She made it clear without a word that the choice was his: if he chose to die, then he would. Suddenly, he rushed at her and she raised her sword and struck viciously at the side of his closest knee, shattering several bones. The strike continued through the leg and a compound fracture broke through the flesh. The thing screamed; not in pain but in rage. Sashar waited. The demon could stop now if it chose to… but it didn’t. It was insane and had no capacity for rational thought. It tried to stand, and getting to one leg, Sashar looked at it with pity… and smashed its opposing hip, clearly breaking the bone. The demon collapsed, but propped itself on its arms and roared in fury as it attempted to drag itself toward her, still thinking to kill her in its blind rage. Sashar turned her back on it, intending to walk away, but the demon lunged and took hold of her ankle. Sashar wheeled about and her sword struck down on its head, driving it all the way to the ground, its skull caved in.
Sashar looked down at the broken creature and said, “It was your choice. I’m happy for you,” and she turned and walked toward us.
When she came to me she leaned up and kissed me lightly and said, “I’ll take my reward later, when my heart beats for you, not from battle.”
I said, “Of course. You did well. I’m very proud of you.”
Sashar’s knees went weak and I helped her to the ground and we all sat down in a circle close to each other.
Chapter 35
Reviewing Our Practice
All the girls stared. Aeyli put her arm around her tiny friend and said, “Sashar, I never knew. You never told anyone.”
All of them could tell that what Sashar had demonstrated came from life, not imagination.
Tears appeared on Sashar’s cheek as she said, “You can’t know how good that felt. It was like I was able to have compassion on him. I didn’t murder him; he was just a beast without reason. Just now, I wanted him to choose life, but if he couldn’t, um, well, it was my pleasure, and my duty, to end his miserable life for him. If I had known all of this back then, I would have saved myself a lot of pain. But, if I had known it then, I wouldn’t have become who I am and I wouldn’t have been in Tranna and I wouldn’t have become Mark’s mate and I would never have had my milk rush in when he called my name.”
Her tears stopped and she looked at me. She said, “Mark, so much has changed now. Thank you. The training has been more than worth it. Who could have known that it could be healing?”
I said quietly, “I could have. How do the rest of you feel? Tell us what you learned today.”
Sashar said, “I’d like to start. I want to tell you all about my past… finally.”
The girls looked concerned and gave her time to come to terms with her thoughts.
Sashar started an abbreviated version of her tale for the girl’s sake.
She said, “Unlike all of you, I has born before the start of the wars, and I lived through them. If you can call it that. It was a terrible time. For several years, I lived out in the wild, scavenging for food and staying away from people. I was with a small band of travelers for the first year, but the man who became the leader became as evil in his insanity as the green hordes.
Girls, he would beat me, and when he tried to take me by force, I killed him with my bare hands… and teeth. I had become an animal. After that, I walked away from the others and for six years, I lived alone and never spoke. Then, when the wars ended, I finally went to a small village and lived there for another three years, still never saying a word. After that, I went to Tranna, after I taught myself to talk again. I was about 40 when I became an animal, and 50 when I became human again. Aeyli and Alexia, you were born about then. By the time your parents died, I was ready to live again and becoming your friend was the thing that allowed me to be happy and forget that old life. My own Fall of Time.”
Rani said, “So, your Kata was against that man that beat you and tried to take you by force?”
Sashar said, “It was. It was what would have happened if I knew then what I know now. He was insane, and he insisted that I end his life. It’s a powerful teaching.”
I said, “Girls, I want you to know that I have never killed a man. The only beast that I have ever killed was the Great Ape that attacked Aeyli and I before we came to Tranna. I don’t want to kill anyone.”
Sashar said, “But if we must, then we must.”
Aeyli said, “We must never choose to die: we are bound to each other.”
I said, “And not just to me. You are bound to each other. For that reason, we will always choose to live rather than die. So, that’s the reason that we practice. Not so that we can kill, but so that we can live… and hopefully convince others to live as well.”
Belle said, “Like when you were insulted by Narhu! Another man would have fought him and one of you at least would have been injured or killed. But you told him to choose life and now you’re good friends.”
Sashar said, “In my Kata, I gave the demon several chances to stay alive, even turning my back on him when he couldn’t really hurt me anymore. But he refused to live. So I killed him.”
Aeyli said, “Mark, when you killed the ape, it seemed so easy, so fluid. I watched in astonishment and thought how different life would have been if you had been here on this spot that day. You say that you have never killed before, so how did you do it so easily.”