Goliath Prince - Prologue - Defeating the Boar God Calydos
The start of my novel project.
“My Prince Selim, wake up.” Dragonfly’s soft, measured voice nudged his ears. “We have movement.”
Sixteen-year-old Selim groaned and opened his eyes. If he had his way, he would have loved to sleep a little more on Dragonfly’s lap.
But they had a mission entrusted by his father the Damat. It was Selim’s first and he wasn’t going to fail, so he sat up and looked to where Dragonfly was gazing. “Is it the Boar God?”
“I don’t know yet.” Dragonfly was ethnic Elanite and five years older than Selim. His sole amethyst eye was like an eagle’s searching the landscape. Viewed from the left profile, Dragonfly had quite the handsome face. That is, until one saw the other half of his visage that had been badly burned and took away his right eye.
From their vantage point overlooking a glade and a creek, they spied movement from the bushes beyond them. Selim tightened his grip on his halberd, while Dragonfly slowly drew his throwing blades with his left hand. Selim gulped and could hear his heart pounding in his ears.
To his surprise and relief, it was no boar god that emerged, but a sounder of half a dozen little piglets that dug around the dirt with their snouts or dipped them into the water to drink.
Selim sighed and relaxed. “So much for camping all night here, covered in smelly boarhide.”
“We don’t have a choice. We need to hide our human scent or he’ll never appear.” Dragonfly sheathed back his weapons and sat back down.
Selim stood up to his full height of seven feet and stretched his mighty muscles, groaning and yawning as he did so. He shrugged off his boarhide cape. “Well, I’m going to have a closer look at the piglets. They seem really cute!”
“Be careful, my Prince. The mother is surely nearby and will attack if you get too near to her young.”
“That may not be a bad thing. I’m eager to taste wild boar. You know how us Sanjarid are forbidden from eating swine but I’m curious and you won’t tell me what it tastes like.” Selim descended swiftly from the hill and approached the piglets.
Dragonfly shook his head followed in his master’s footsteps, so to speak. “And don’t lose that boarhide!”
There was a loud cracking sound like thunder. Dragonfly shouted, “Watch out!” and charged, ramming full force into Selim so that they both fell over on the dirt and rolled down the hill.
A mighty tree came crashing down to where the young prince and his servant were just moments earlier and started rolling after them.
Dragonfly rolled to his feet and stood to face the approaching tree-trunk, but Selim suddenly leaped in front of him and brought his massive halberd down. The halberd glowed with concentrated magical energy just as it came into contact with the tree-trunk, which shattered into a thousand wooden splinters that showered harmlessly over the two young men.
“You saved my life, my Prince.”
Selim looked over his shoulder and grinned, hefting his halberd proudly. “Just as you saved mine, my Dragonfly.”
Dragonfly stood up straight and called out to the hilltop. “O Boar God, enough games! Show yourself!”
There was a low, echoing growl, followed by a reverberating voice that seemed to make the earth tremble. “Insolent mortals. You dare trespass in my realm?”
A massive marble-white boar the size of a horse appeared, with menacing and massive tusks. Its eyes shone with a bluish flame.
“Only because your people… uh… boars have been attacking our farmland and peasants!” stormed Selim. “If I had it my way, I’d –“
“Prince Selim!” Dragonfly barked in admonishment. He then addressed the boar god. “We come here to parley and seek a peaceful settlement, not to start more conflict. But before we continue, I am Dragonfly, and this is my master Prince Selim Bey-Effendi, grandson of the Padishah Tefvik Han of Sanjar.” Dragonfly bowed at the waist. “We come as envoys of Sanjar to seek an end to raids by the boar tribes on our farmland and trading posts along the forest frontier, O Divine One.”
“I care not of your human rulers and countries. All I know is that you humans have been felling my forest and killing my kind.” The boar god snorted and tossed back its mane.
“Those actions were in defence against wild boar intrusions onto Sanjarid territory, which had not occurred in the last twenty years. We want to know why the boars have moved closer to our lands, why the attacks? More importantly, what it will take to stop this conflict?”
“Useless talk, human. You have enraged the great Calydos and my brethren of the Five Boar Tribes. We will sweep over your land and wipe out every last human to reclaim our forest.”
“Not on my watch you won’t, you stupid old pig!” shouted Selim, flourishing his halberd.
“Impertinent whelp!”
“Enough!” shouted Dragonfly, planting himself between the two. He turned to Calydos the boar god. “If you will only listen to the language of the jungle, Lord Calydos, so be it. I challenge you to a duel. If you win, feel free to continue with your mission. If I win, you will lead us to the Council of the Five Boar Gods. What say you?”
Calydos lifted his head and roared with laughter. “You are bold, one-armed mortal. Audacious, even, to challenge a god. Do you not fear death?”
“My Dragonfly!” Selim grabbed Dragonfly by his crippled shoulder – Selim was the only one allowed to touch Dragonfly in that manner. “You can’t fight that old pig by –“
“Stop calling me an old pig!” raged Calydos.
“- by yourself. He’ll kill you!”
“Stay alert, my Prince,” whispered Dragonfly. “Look at how the boars are moving.”
From the foliage, more and more boars were appearing from all directions.
“They’re trying to corner us.”
“Exactly, and we need to get you out of here quickly.”
“I’m not leaving you, Dragonfly!”
“Selim! You and Erved Pasha will need to lead the army to stop Calydos if he decides to march on Sanjar.” Dragonfly patted Selim’s massive hand on his shoulder before shrugging free. “I’ll be fine.”
To Calydos, Dragonfly shouted and unsheathed the yatagan from his waist. “Calydos! I challenge you to a duel. Victory is called when the opponent yields or die. Do you accept?”
“If you’re so eager to die, then I’m eager for human blood! Come at me, whelp!”
“You don’t need to say that twice!” Dragonfly dug into his feet and shot forward faster than an arrow fired from a bow.
“Dragonfly!” yelled Selim.
There was a loud clang as Dragonfly and Calydos came to blows, sword against tusk. Dragonfly barrelled forward and rolled to his feet, while Calydos crashed into the dirt and slid a distance, two of his four tusks broken by Dragonfly’s attack.
“Do you yield, Calydos?” demanded Dragonfly, pointing his short-sabre at the boar god.
“Damn you, human!” snarled Calydos. “I’ll have you both trampled to death! My warriors!”
The boars perked up their ears.
“Stand down! All of you!” another voice thundered.
The multitude of boars parted and another boar god appeared, this one with a golden pelt and eyes that shone red like rubies.
“L-Lord Erymanthes!” cried out Calydos.
“You have lost the duel, Calydos. Accept your defeat with what little dignity you have left.”
There was a gurgling sound from Calydos before he sank back into the dirt, conceding defeat.
Selim charged up the hill and hugged Dragonfly off his feet. “You did it, my Dragonfly!” Laughing like a child, he twirled them both in circles.
“My Prince, stop.” But even Dragonfly could not stop a smile from appearing on his scarred face.
Eventually Dragonfly managed to coax Selim to put him down and they both paid their respects to the second boar god.
“I am Erymanthes, and my tribe is the largest and strongest among the Council of the Five Boar Gods,” said the golden-pelted boar god. “What business do you have with us, human?”
Selim and Dragonfly smiled in victory and nodded at each other.
“Great Lord Erymanthes, we come as envoys from the Empire of Sanjar…”
End of Chapter