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XXXVIII

Trial by Combat (Day 370 on Tashoo)

For the first time since I arrived in Talo-Vy, I didn't have a nightmare the night before I experienced stress. I was glad because, when I would have the nightmares, I tended to be unusually tired and a bit disoriented when I woke up and I didn't need that today. After I woke up, I lay in the bed for a few minutes and stroked Chy's coal black fur. He rolled over and allowed me to rub his belly as he nibbled on my arm. I looked into his amber colored eyes as they looked at me from an upside down position and I smiled at him. I reached up and scratched him under the chin causing him to purr as loudly as I have ever heard him purr.

After a few minutes of this, I got up, got dressed and walked into the dining area. Ara and Rora were at the dining table waiting for me. I called Chy and he bounded out of my room and headed straight for Ara. Despite the fact that she had grown quite fond of him, her eyes got real big. After all, it was a half grown Kootona running up to her with unbridled happiness. But, he dodged around her and headed for Rora. Again, he dodged and bounded to my chair. When he got there, he leaped up and landed on it with all four feet on the seat. He landed so lightly, the chair didn't move a millimeter. We all laughed at him and he seemed to enjoy it because, without being coaxed, he put on his "smile pretty" face. I got Chy to get out of my chair and he walked over to his food dish and started eating. I sat down and, after the rare blessing from Rora, we all ate. Rora was not blessing the food, but my sword arm. He asked the Great Being to be on my side in my coming combat with Nachoo and he also asked that the Great Being prevent any dishonorable thing from happening to me.

After we ate, it was still about three hours before we needed to be at the Atasho Chyzakoo'do. But, I wanted to take a walk around the village a bit before we left. Rora started to prepare to go with me, but I told him I really needed to take this particular walk alone because I needed the time to clear my head. Even though he really wanted to accompany me, Rora understood my needs and walked into the kitchen to assist Ara with the morning dishes. I left the house and headed toward Joola's house. I wasn't planning to visit anybody. I had to prepare myself for the fact that either the Ka'yno or I would be dead before lunch. Except in extremely rare occasions and by previous agreement, Trial by Combat always ends in the death of one of the combatants. That is one of the requirements of the law but, I believed that Lo-Nachoo would want one of us dead even if it wasn't a requirement of the law.

As I passed Joola's house, I saw Joola and her entire family sitting outside of her home. I was going to keep on walking, but Joola called me over and, despite my desire to be alone, I walked over to them. Joola asked why I was not accompanied by Rora and I explained that I was walking to prepare myself for the upcoming Trial by Combat. I also told her that despite the fact that the Trial by Combat had to end with the death of one of us, I wasn't looking forward to that situation. My statement shocked her and her family because of the fact that they knew how many warriors I had killed since my arrival in Talo-Vy. I told her that those deaths had been necessary for the protection of Talo-Vy's resources and the residents. I also said that I considered the death that would occur today to be one of the unnecessary deaths that happen on Tashoo on a regular basis.

After talking with them for a few minutes, I continued on my walk, but not before I looked into Tyarza's eyes and saw the sadness that was in there. Instinctively, I walked over to her and took her in my arms and held her for a few minutes as she, once again, cried on my shoulder. As she cried, I stroked her hair and talked soothingly to her. I also told her that, no matter what happened today, she would soon be going back home. For the first time since we met, I kissed her before she kissed me. However, unlike her kisses, I kissed her on the top of her head as she continued to cry softly.

Finally, I returned to my walk. I walked aimlessly until I reached the marketplace. I passed by the booth of Cha-Zanoo and she called to me. I walked over and we had a short conversation. She was soon joined by Moo-Nasha. They told me that they were going to be closing their booths shortly before it was time for the Trial by Combat. They also told me that they had prayed for my success against the Ka'yno. I was a little shocked. Twice in a day I had heard someone make the statement about praying for my success. After a few minutes of this conversation, I realized how late it was. I excused myself and went back home. When I returned, it was time for us to go. It only took us about ten minutes to arrive at the Atasho Chyzakoo'do, but a crowd had already gathered. When I arrived, a loud roar of approval met my ears. I now knew exactly what Ara meant last night when she said that ninety percent of the population of Talo-Vy despised Nachoo. The crowd even overlooked the fact that I had violated the Dangerous Animals Law. I guess they believe that The One Who Will Unify could do no wrong.

As I walked out to the center of the Atasho Chyzakoo'do, Rora, accompanied by Chy on his leash, followed me. Nachoo also started walking to the center of the grounds. When he arrived, he snarled at me and said, "This is the day I have been waiting for, Uany. Are you prepared to die?" "If that is the will of the Great Being, it does not matter if I am prepared or not."

I turned around and walked back to Rora. When I got to him, I said, "Rora, I would like to use your short sword."

He had a curious look on his face as he handed me his short sword. He knew that I had had the sword smith make me a couple of special swords that fit the size of my body. But, he made no comment.

When I took it from him, in a voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, I said, "Rora, I invoked the Trial by Combat for two reasons. First, it is because I believe the Dangerous Animals Law is wrong. It is too general and should be changed. Second, I do this to avenge your norothu and chorothu." I made sure I made these statements loud enough for those within one hundred meters to hear me.

He looked at me with a strange look. "What are you talking about, Mvilu?"

I looked at Nachoo as I continued, "Your norothu(1), My-Tara, was murdered by the Ka'yno after he forcibly mated with her. This occurred about three years after he murdered your chorothu(2) who was the previous Ka'yno of Talo-Vy."

When he heard these revelations, Rora grabbed for his long sword. "Stop," I said, more softly. "This is my fight. You are not a good enough swordsman to meet him in battle; I am."

In a louder voice, I said, "But, the biggest reason I am doing this is to avenge the affront he made to your norotha the day I arrived in Talo-Vy. I know you want to see the Ka'yno dead after he called your norotha a novyshoo." Once again, I wanted all the crowd within twenty meters to hear what I had to say.

I heard a sound as if someone had crept closer to us as I spoke. I did not want what I was about to say to be overheard, so I added softly. "But, what I just told you is only part of what you need to know. I know who your chorotha is."

Shocked, he replied, "What? You know who he is? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I believe you have a right to know this information. Your chorotha is Lo-Katoo, the Ka'yna." Rora looked as shocked as I knew he must be. "There is more. Your norotha is in love with him and he loves her as well. Before I do battle with your chorotho(3), I am going to let the whole village know the truth about him. So, please do not do anything rash. I do want you to keep an eye out for someone that will attempt to aid him. If you see someone, let me know so I can be prepared for the subterfuge."

"Yes, Mvilu, I will do that for you."

I turned around and headed back to the center of the dueling ground. As I walked, I happened to see Joola and her family, including Tyarza, standing with Ara. Now, everything was as I would have hoped it would be. Now, when I reveal what I know, the ones who need to know will hear it firsthand.

When I arrived at the center of the Atasho Chyzakoo'do(4), the Ka'yno said, "Do you have any last words, Uany."

"Yes, I do, Great One," I said loud enough for everyone within the Atasho Chyzakoo'do to hear. "I want to let the people of Talo-Vy to know something very important. What I am doing today has four reasons. First and foremost, I disagree with the generalizations in the Dangerous Animals Law and I hope to have it changed to be more specific. Secondly, I am doing this to avenge the former Ka'yno and his mate, My-Tara. Lo-Nachoo dishonorably used his chorothy, Lo-Tamoo. Lo-Tamoo threw the rock that hit Ne-Raro on his sword arm causing him to drop his sword. When this happened, Lo-Nachoo took advantage of this and killed Ne-Raro while he was unarmed, a despicably dishonorable thing to do. Thirdly, about three years later, Lo-Nachoo forcibly mated with and then murdered My-Tara by breaking her neck, leaving My-Tara's norothoo, My-Ara, an orphan. Fortunately for My-Ara, TaJoola was a close friend of her norotha and took the rothoo in and raised her as her own. Lastly, I do it because of an affront that Lo-Nachoo gave to My-Ara on the day I arrived in Talo-Vy. On that day, during my interview with the Ka'yno, he called my former master, and great friend, a Chorothoo Novyshoony."

The Ka'yno looked shocked beyond words. He was completely at a loss as to what to say. Finally, he composed himself and, with complete disdain, said, "How do you know that is how I defeated Ne-Raro? How do you know that I was the cause of the death of My-Tara? Were you there? No, you were not. Therefore, you do not know."

Now I played my trump card. "Great One, why did you want me killed on the day I arrived here? Was it because you were afraid that My-Rora was right and I was The One Who Will Unify? Well, I have news for you; I am him. One prophesy of The One Who Will Unify is that he will know things that are kept hidden. Is this not correct? I will soon fulfill another prophesy of him today when I kill the Ka'yno of this village."

I looked at Nachoo and saw the nervousness in his eyes that I know he was feeling. I said, "Great One, defend yourself."

When I said this, he tightened his grip on his sword and rushed at me. When he got within striking distance he feinted to his left and whirled around, just as every other warrior had done on their first day of training. Once again, I was prepared for this move and met his sword with mine. The look of shock on his face was comical, but I didn't have time to laugh. However, I did smile at him and it worked like a charm. Now, Nachoo was worried as to what else I knew. He, however, continued swinging his sword like a double bladed axe. I met every one of his swings with a defensive perimeter that he couldn't penetrate. My years of sword training were paying off in spades. Like every one of my trainees when they first started my training, the Ka'yno telegraphed every move he made which allowed my defense to be all but perfect. I was working the training that I had tried so hard to get the warriors of Talo-Vy to learn. I knew that the best way of training was to allow the trainees to see their training in action and see that training they did. I fought defensively. Naturally, this caused Nachoo to believe that he was the better sword-fighter. However, as I tried to stress during my training, I was allowing Nachoo to wear himself down.

Suddenly, I saw him look behind me just as I heard Rora hoot out a warning. I listened and heard the heavy footfalls of someone running up behind me. I waited until I figured that the assassin was within reach of my sword, then I lunged at Nachoo. When he jumped back to miss my swing, I turned quickly and swung my sword in a circular motion and down as hard as I could. My sword cut the other warrior from his left jugular to his right hip in one swift move. He was dead before he hit the ground. It was Jy-Choona, Nachoo's spy who had been following me around several days ago.

Just as Jy-Choona hit the ground, I heard Nachoo cry out. "My chorothoo! You have killed my chorothoo!" He rushed past me and to the side of Jy-Choona. He cradled the head of his son, even though Choona would never respond. Now, Nachoo would be fighting full of anger. It still amazes me how he planned to assassinate me and got upset when I defended myself by killing the assassin. His anger and attempted deceit would be his undoing. However, I offered him an opportunity to mourn the loss of his son. I made this offer in a voice loud enough for everyone within the Atasho Chyzakoo'do to hear.

For reply, Nachoo jumped up and rushed me. His blows came fast and furiously. So fast and furiously in fact, I was barely able to defend against his blows. He even managed to touch me a couple of times. Once again, he feinted to his left and whirled. Unfortunately for him, I had sidestepped and wasn't where he thought I would be. Before he could recover, I had driven my sword into his right shoulder and removed it. This action didn't slow him down. He continued fighting, only now he was fighting the fight of a desperate warrior. This was what I needed for him to do. I parried all of his blows. A few seconds later, I stabbed him in his left thigh. Now Nachoo was fighting even more desperately. The blows were coming even more furiously. Because he continued to telegraph his moves, I continued to put up a defense that he couldn't penetrate. After a few more seconds, I reached up and stabbed his left shoulder. This elicited a loud roar of anger and pain. I wouldn't let Nachoo's sword come anywhere near me. Once again, I stabbed him, this time in his right thigh. Now, Nachoo was more desperate than ever. He was swinging his sword like a mad man, or mad Mory rather. His blows were the blows of someone that knew his death was just a matter of time. Now, he realized he had made a big mistake in not befriending me and by choosing to be my opponent in the Trial by Combat.

I said to him, "Ka'yno, this does not need to end in your death. If you yield, I will be more than happy to spare your life."

He said, "There can be no yielding in Trial by Combat. Trial by Combat is to the death of one of the participants. You heard Ka' Mu-Naka say that yesterday." Then, he looked at me as if to say he knew his time was over.

Suddenly, I parried one particularly maniacal swing, twisted my sword quickly and wrested his sword out of his hands and sent it flying about ten meters away. Before he could move, I had my sword pointing at Nachoo's heart. The fear in his eyes as he thought how close he was from death told me all I needed to know. I said to him, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "Great One, I did not want this fight. I tried ever since I arrived in Talo-Vy to avoid it. Now, despite the fact that I do not want it to happen, one of us will have to die today because it is what you wanted. Go, retrieve your sword and prepare to die."

Nachoo retrieved his sword and returned. He assumed the ready position and started swinging. He rushed me and, once again, I had to retreat momentarily. He continued using every Mory sword fighting trick I had ever seen and knew how to defend against. After several more minutes of this, I went on the offensive and before Nachoo had time to think, I had buried my sword into his heart and pulled it out. It happened so quickly that Nachoo saw his blood on my sword. Nachoo fell to his knees, then keeled forward onto his face. The crowd became as silent as a graveyard at midnight.

Suddenly, I heard a voice cry out, "He has murdered the Ka'yno!"

I turned to see a female rushing toward me. It was Jy-Tamy and she had murder in her eyes. Rora could do nothing due to the chivalry that is inherent in Mory warriors. All he could do was call out a warning to me. I couldn't do anything because it is against Mory Law for a male to harm a female unless and until she has harmed the male first.

Jy-Tamy was carrying a dagger. I knew she fully intended to do me harm. However, before I could react, I saw another female, Kyta, rushing up to meet her. I called out, "Kyta, no!" It was then that I noticed that Kyta had a dagger in her hand. I looked toward Kyna and saw him grabbing at the sheath for his dagger and knew where she had gotten hers.

I don't know if Tamy heard my cry, but she slowed slightly allowing Kyta to catch her. Kyta caught Tamy from her blindside and took her down. Tamy and Kyta were rolling around on the ground and Tamy was striking out blindly at Kyta with her dagger. Fortunately, she was missing. However, due to the fact that she was a nojasa and had been protected by Kyna and Rora, Kyta was not used to fighting. So, she soon found herself under Tamy. Tamy struck at Kyta's heart with her dagger. Kyta had the presence of mind to block the thrust with her arm and, as a result, she received a deep wound. Despite her obvious pain, Kyta managed to roll Tamy off of her and was soon in the superior position. That, however, didn't stop Tamy from continuing her attempts to harm Kyta and she managed to scratch Kyta on the face with the claws of her left hand.

I started to go to Kyta's assistance when I felt a large hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Katoo looking down at me shaking his head. I gave him a questioning look and he said, "This is a fight between anojasa, Mvilu."

"What are you talking about, Katoo? Kyta is not a fighter. She could wind up dead."

"I understand how you feel, Mvilu but, it is the Mory way. We do not interfere in fights that do not directly affect us."

"Katoo, your chorothoo loves Kyta and you know it. If Tamy kills Kyta, Rora would be devastated."

All Katoo did was point to where Kyna was holding one of Rora's arms and Ara was holding the other. Rora was struggling mightily against the restraints that prevented him from coming to the aid of the nojasa he loved. I saw him look at Kyna who shook his head and then to Ara who also shaking her head. Even from the distance between us, I could see the look of worry on Rora's face because he didn't believe that Kyta could succeed.

Kyta and Tamy continued to roll around on the ground and exchange the superior position. After a few more minutes, Kyta was once again on top of Tamy. I saw the look on Kyta's face and could tell that Kyta didn't want to do it, but she finally plunged the dagger into Tamy's heart, then jumped up prepared for more attempts on my life.

As several others started toward me, Katoo stepped up and said, "Enough!" These few stopped in their tracks.

Katoo looked around the circle of spectators. In a loud and authoritative voice, he said, "There will be no violence allowed against Mvilu without a proper challenge and now is not the time for challenges. He did not challenge my chorothy to combat. He merely refused to accept death without a chance to fight for his life. My chorothy then issued the challenge by demanding the right to be his opponent in the Trial by Combat. By killing my chorothy in a fair fight, he should be the new Ka'yno; however, by Mory Law, he is not allowed to become Ka'yno. Therefore, the Aka' have to select another to replace Lo-Nachoo as Ka'yno."

As Katoo spoke, I walked over to Kyta and examined her arm and face. Joola, Kyna, Ara, Tyarza, Naka, and Rora also rushed up, especially Rora. Kyta stared at the hole in her arm, started breathing shallowly and started wavering. I knew she was a very few seconds away from hitting the ground. With a little bit of pressure on her shoulder, I pushed her into a sitting position and had her hold her head between her knees.

Talking softly, I said, "Well, Kyta, you are going to have a good scar on your arm and a smaller one on your face but, you will be fine. I am certain that a few sutures on your arm will close the cut and the Voocha, Hachy and Lyvoo will help you as well.

"I also wanted to thank you for saving my life. You are as good a friend as any Uany could ever hope to have."

"It was the least I could do, Mvilu. You have done too much for Talo-Vy to allow someone so short sighted to kill you."

During my short conversation with Kyta, the Aka', all of whom were in attendance to witness the Trial by Combat, as required by Mory law, selected Naka as their spokesman. He said, "Mvilu Uatusun, the Ishoo'se Aka'ny has decided that because you were the one to kill the Ka'yno in a fair fight, you have the right to select the new Ka'yno."

I stood up, walked over to Katoo and said, "Lo-Katoo, my friend, I believe I will receive overwhelming support from everyone in attendance here today by naming you as the successor to your chorothy." If anyone opposed my suggestion, they were drowned out by the cheers of the supporters. After the cheering died down, I looked at the crowd and continued, "As the Ka'yna has already said, I did not desire to fight, nor kill, Lo-Nachoo but, from the day I arrived in this village, he plotted to kill me. I was on trial before the Ishoo'se Aka'ny yesterday because I knowingly and willingly chose to violate another of the laws that I have always believed to be stupid, unwarranted and unnecessary, the Dangerous Animals Law. The proof of my violation is seen here in the person of my Kootona, Chy; however, neither Lo-Nachoo nor any, but the closest of my friends, knew of Chy's existence until one of his spies, Jy-Choona, peeked into the window of My-Ara's home and saw him. When I admitted to the willful violation of the law, Lo-Nachoo declared that I, along with Chy, should die immediately. I chose Trial by Combat because I believed the Great Being would support and defend me. I also wanted everyone in Talo-Vy to know what I knew about Lo-Nachoo."

Katoo said, "Mory-Talo-Vy, what Mvilu had said before the Trial by Combat concerning what my chorothy did to Ne-Raro and My-Tara is the truth. I was there when my achorothy planned the death of Ne-Raro. I was opposed to it. I told them it was dishonorable, but they planned and carried it out anyway. When I threatened to tell the Ishoo'se Aka'ny, they bound and gagged me. By the time I was able to free myself, it was too late to have the Ka'yno Challenge postponed and Lo-Tamoo's subterfuge prevented. No one in Talo-Vy was angrier over the dishonorable act than I was.

"I came to My-Tara's home with my achorothy the morning she was discovered dead. Nachoo showed no concern about her death and declared she had died of natural causes even though everyone could see that her neck was broken and she had been sexually violated. I could not believe that my chorothy could be so callous and unable to see the truth; however, later that day, Mu-Naka told me of the argument he had overheard several days before her death. He told me that My-Tara and Nachoo had been arguing over his desire to mate with her. These factors, if no other ones, show me that the Great Being chose to use Mvilu to exact retribution on my chorothy.

"Mvilu has been a greater friend to me, and all of Talo-Vy, in the time he has been here, than my chorothy was for the many years he was Ka'yno. He has saved countless anohachy lives by designing and digging the mota, which also brings us a relatively easily obtained protein source in the fish we catch daily. The mota has also saved us several times from attacks by unfriendly villages.

"Not long after he was granted his life by the Ishoo'se Aka'ny, over the wishes of my chorothy, Mvilu defended our food storage trees from a raid by warriors of the village of Te'ka-Jy. In this battle, he single-handedly fought the Ka'yna of Te'ka-Jy, Sha'-Daky, and killed him. For these actions and the honorable way he handled himself when he met Sha'-Naky, the Ka'yno of Te'ka-Jy, he was adopted as ToKa'yna of Te'ka-Jy. For these, and many other things, we of Talo-Vy owe Mvilu Uatusun a debt we could never fully repay. But, I do have a suggestion, and want the Ishoo'se Aka'ny approval. I want to adopt Mvilu as my ToKa'yna."

Without being asked, each and every member of the Ishoo'se Aka'ny called out his name and fairly shouted, "Yes, I agree."

I was taken aback by the unanimous vote but, I was not nearly as taken aback as I was when the entire population of Talo-Vy shouted their approval as well. I looked at Rora and Ara. Then, I looked at Joola and her family. Finally, I looked at Tyarza. She had tears of joy streaming down her face. All of them, including Rora, Chy and Kyna, were running toward me to give me their best wishes.

After the shouts of joy and adulation died down, Katoo continued speaking. "One of the reasons my chorothy fought to become Ka'yno of Talo-Vy was because Ne-Raro had decided it was time for two archaic and unnecessary laws to be removed from Mory Law in Talo-Vy. These are the Chorotha-Rothoo Law and the Mating Law. As Ka'yno of Talo-Vy, I can legally remove these laws from the books of Mory Law in Talo-Vy by fiat. However, I want the Aka' to vote, here and now, to overturn these laws. All it will take is for six of you to agree. Will you vote before the citizens of Talo-Vy and let them know if you agree."

From out of the enormous crowd each of the Aka' stepped into the Atako Chyzakoo'do, stated his name and gave his vote. There was no elaborate explanation of his reasons. Each one merely let everyone in Talo-Vy know his opinion of Katoo's suggestion.

First was Sheshoo. "I agree with the suggestion. These laws should be abolished."

Next was Naka. He said, while looking at Joola, "I am in agreement with Re-Sheshoo, abolish the laws."

Kikoo, the timid one that had saved my life so many days ago, was next. He said, with finality and succinctness, "Abolish the laws."

Then came Thaty. "The laws are archaic and unnecessary. I agree with abolishing them."

Mooky spoke up saying, "I have long thought that these laws were no longer necessary. So, I agree with the Ka'yno. They should be changed."

Kavy stepped up and said, "Like Ja-Mooky, I have long thought the laws needed to be changed. If the Ka'yno wants the laws changed, I have no reason to oppose him."

Kavy was the sixth Ka' to vote in favor of the change in the law. This meant that the law was officially overturned. However, the other two Aka' wanted their votes heard. Ludy said, "Even though six of the Aka' have voted in favor of abolishing the laws as the Ka'yno has requested, I wish to be heard. I agree that the laws should be changed. We have lived too long under those laws and we need the freedom to choose the kind of life we wish to live."

Chakoo said, "Even though with the sixth vote in favor of changing the laws, it was considered unanimous, I wish to make it officially unanimous. Those two archaic laws were handed down during a time in which the Mory were on the brink of extinction because of our formerly extreme warlike actions between each other. I am happy to know that we finally have a Ka'yno that is willing to make the necessary changes in the laws."

After the vote, Katoo looked around at all of the Aka' with a smile on his face. Now, he could fulfill a promise he made to me. He walked over to Rora, put both of his hands on Rora's shoulders and said, "With the abolishment of the Chorotha-Rothoo Law, I wish to acknowledge publicly, what I could not acknowledge privately before now. My-Rora, chorothoo of My-Ara, chorothoochy(5) of My-Tara and Ne-Raro, you are my chorothoo and I am proud of you." Turning to me, he said, "Mvilu, I know you told him I was his chorotha before you battled my chorothy, because I had snuck to his side while you were preparing." I know I looked shocked, because he continued, "I acknowledge him because of the promise I made to you. One of the requirements of honesty is to keep a promise made."

Then, he turned to Ara and said, "My-Ara, with the abolishment of the Mating Law, I can now legally acknowledge the feelings I have for you. I love you more than my own life and I want to ask you to come to the Suala Ka'ynony, live with me and be my Noka'yno. Will you do this?"

Ara looked at me for guidance. I said to her, "TaAra, follow your heart. I know you love him; he knows you love him; you know you love him. He has now publicly acknowledged that he loves you. You have to make this decision on your own."

She turned back to Katoo, stepped closer to him and said, "Yes, I will be your Noka'yno, just as my norotha loved Ne-Raro and wanted to be his Noka'yno." She reached out and gave him the first public hug in over one hundred thousand years of Mory history and gave him a Mory "kiss".

When Katoo and Ara made this public announcement, what I had suspected all along was proven true. Hundreds, if not thousands, of couples stepped forward and publicly announced that they wished to be mated and live together. In shock, Katoo turned to me and asked, "What am I going to do?"

"Let me handle it." I turned to the crowd and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Because the Mating Law has been in effect for so long, the Mory do not have a ceremony to affirm a chohachyny and nohachyny desire to live together and mate exclusively with each other. However, if you do not wish a ceremony, there is no reason you cannot do so immediately. If you do wish to have a public ceremony, please give the Ka'yno and me a few days to create one. When the ceremony is created, Lo-Katoo and My-Ara will be the first ones to experience it. After that, the ceremony will be performed on a first come, first served basis."

A warrior stepped forward and asked, "What if there are those of us who do not wish to mate exclusively?"

"That will not change. The exclusive mating ceremony will only affect those who so desire to do so. There will be no requirement that anohachy and achohachy mate exclusively. However, all achohachy must respect the fact that some anohachy will not be available for them to mate with. It is now an option that no one can refuse to allow them to do. However, I do believe that if a nohachy wishes to bear arothoo without the benefit of the mating ceremony, either she must inform the arothoo as to who is their chorotha, or the arothoo, chojasa and nojasa, should be required to leave Talo-Vy and move to different villages to prevent possible inbreeding."

Everyone seemed satisfied by my idea and they all left for their respective homes, almost as many as couples as not. As they were leaving, I saw my other adoptive brother walking up to me. He was smiling the most ferocious looking Mory smile I had ever seen. When he got close enough, he placed his right hand on my right shoulder. Then he repeated the gesture with Katoo, Naka and Rora, in succession. He also acknowledged Ara with the respect one would normally give the Ka'yno himself. In fact, males of ancient Terra could not have been as chivalrous as he was when he took Ara's hand, held it to his face and then rubbed his cheek against her hand. He seemed to accept the thought of a Noka'yno, even though there had not been a Noka'yno in many thousands of years, if ever. Ara accepted Sha'-Naky's attention as gracefully as any queen would accept the attention of any head of state that came to visit her. Even though I could see Sha'-Naky was a bit nervous around Chy, he gave Chy the attention that Chy practically demanded.

After he petted Chy for a few seconds, I saw that he was enjoying Chy's playful bites. He said to me, "Mvilu, I had been informed that you had been put on trial before the Ishoo'se Aka'ny for violating the Dangerous Animals Law because you had a Kootona in your possession. I had also been told that you had managed to tame the Kootona. It was difficult for me to believe, but, knowing what I knew about you, I had no doubt that you had, not only obtained a Kootona, but had tamed and trained it as well. Now, I see my beliefs about you are right. I have also heard rumors that you may possibly be The One Who Will Unify. With your ability to tame one of the most dangerous animals on all of Tashoo, I now believe that you are him. Only The One Who Will Unify is supposed to be able to do that. I also heard that you had chosen Trial by Combat to prove that you had a right to keep the animal.

"I came to witness the combat to see for myself how well you handle a sword. After watching you today, I see that the reports my warriors gave me concerning your abilities with the sword were not even remotely exaggerated."

He turned to Katoo and said, "Great One, I hope you will allow me to be completely honest with you. After meeting your chorothy the day I adopted Mvilu, I was not impressed in the least with him. He did not show the honor to Mvilu that any other Ka'yno, including myself, would have shown him for fighting for and protecting your food storage trees. You were not in attendance in the Ishoo'se Choko Aka'ny that day; therefore, you did not see how angry Lo-Nachoo seemed to be with Mvilu. I believe he planned the attack on the village, in the hope that Mvilu would be killed.

"I will admit to you, we had received a report that the Ka'na we attacked would be virtually undefended. One of my door guards told me that a warrior had a message for me. The warrior gave me the information that was used to plan the attack. He said that he had recently been forced to leave the village due to some minor infraction of Mory Law and he wished to cause consternation on the Ka'yno, Lo-Nachoo. My chorothy left Te'ka-Jy for Talo-Vy the next morning with thirty warriors, by that afternoon he was dead and I was being given the report of how it had happened. The eight Te'ka-Jy warriors that attacked your food storage trees and engaged your chorothoo and the Ka' Ky-Kikoo explained to me how honorably Mvilu fought against my chorothy, even agreeing to a short rest in the middle of combat.

"After meeting Mvilu, I had to agree with the assessment of my warriors of his honor. He honored my chorothy by returning his ceremonial swords and dagger. He also showed great honor toward me and your chorothy despite your chorothyny hateful attitude toward him. He had, and has, so impressed me that, if it were not for Mory Law, I would gladly step aside and allow him to be Ka'yno of Te'ka-Jy.

"Today, you showed a great amount of bravery having the Aka' officially overturn the Chorotha-Rothoo Law and the Mating Law. Like you, and so many others among the Mory, I have long thought those two laws needed to be abolished. Every year, each Mory village loses hundreds of warriors and only the lucky ones are able to replace the ones they lose. Now, with the abolishment of those laws, Talo-Vy's number of warriors will only increase, because, besides maintaining your home born warriors, other warriors will come to Talo-Vy seeking a place to live when they are expelled from their home villages, while the other villages will lose warriors and the warriors that might normally go to these villages will now come to Talo-Vy because they will soon learn that they will be able to find a mate that they will be allowed to stay with, have many arothoo with and know the arothoo. I am going to try to convince my Ishoo'se Aka'ny to follow your lead. I will use the example I just described to you to convince them to accept the idea.

"There is one more thing, I would ask. I have heard a rumor that Mvilu has been training your warriors to fight the way I saw him fight today. Is this true?"

Katoo said, "Yes, it is true. Mvilu has trained over a thousand of our warriors. I would say that they are as good as the warriors of Te'ka-Jy, some may even be better. The best part, to me, is that none of our warriors are seriously injured in this training. Mvilu uses adauanka in his training. So far, the worst injury we have had is a broken bone. Of the few injuries that have been experienced, most are simple bruises."

Sha'-Naky said, "Thank you for that information, Lo-Katoo. With your permission, I would like to have my warriors trained along with yours. All warriors can learn how to better handle a sword and I cannot think of anyone I have ever seen that would be better suited to do this training than Mvilu. May I do this, TeKatoo?" Katoo simply nodded. "I will send a few, perhaps twenty, warriors soon to start their training. I will also send money to pay for rooms in public houses for them to live while they stay in Talo-Vy for their training. When they finish training, I will send more.

"I must be leaving, but I will return and soon. You and I have a lot to discuss since we are sharing a tochorothy." He signaled his entourage and they left.

Katoo turned and looked at the bodies of his brother, nephew and Jy-Tamy. I could see that he was considering what to do with them. Finally, he turned to me and asked, "Mvilu, my chorothy was the least honorable of any Mory warrior I have ever known but, he was still my chorothy. What should we do with his body?"

"Katoo, my friend and brother, despite the fact that he was not honorable, he was still a Mory warrior as was Choona. Therefore, the only honorable thing to do is to take them to the local Tree of Dead Warriors and place them there. I would also suggest placing Jy-Tamy there as well. I know it is against tradition, but, because of her relationship with Nachoo, she deserves the honor as well."

Even though the Aka' were mildly shocked at my suggestion, none of them actually complained about it. Katoo asked six warriors to do the honors of carrying the three bodies to the closest Tree of Dead Warriors. When the twenty-two of us arrived at the tree, Katoo said a succinct eulogy for his brother and nephew leaving out any mention of the lack of honor in each of them. He also mentioned Jy-Tamy and how she was the mother of Choona and mate of Nachoo. After Katoo completed his speech, each of the dead bodies were consigned to the Tree of Dead Warriors.

After the "burial" of Nachoo, Choona and Tamy, we started back home to have lunch. As we walked, I turned to Tyarza and said, "I hope you do not mind waiting a little longer before I return you to your home. There is much that I need to help the Ka'yno with before I can fulfill my promise to you."

She smiled and said, "I will wait as long as it takes, Mvilu. I know now that you can, and will, keep your promise to me."

(1)-Grandmother

(2)-Grandfather

(3)-Uncle

(4)-Dueling Grounds, lit. Land for Duels

(5)-Grandson