A horrific scream was so loud and so close, but did it come from his own body? If it did, there was no way to be sure. All was blinding light and blazing heat! Little Fish concentrated on getting out of wherever this was before he got lost within this surge of energy. Suddenly, all around him got amazingly cooler. Yet something was definitely wrong. Blue light still surrounded him but it was far less intense and very familiar.... Little Fish's stomach lurched abruptly bringing a fearful understanding of his predicament. Above him was a bright cloud filled sky. Far below, was the sea!

   "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" was the high-pitched scream given by the boy as he plummeted toward azure blue waters waiting to embrace him. To his additional surprise, someone else was screaming nearby. In mid-scream Little Fish looked to his right and laid eyes on an older, sun-damaged and ragged Ragmar, Chieftain of the Vanir! The much larger and more powerful man hung onto Little Fish's much aggrieved tunic with a death-grip. His cold blue eyes were frighteningly steady in spite of their awful predicament.

   "I have you at last demon!" screamed the Vanir. As the calm sea surface drew closer Little Fish did his best to knock away the gaunt, but wiry hand. No matter what the boy did, the former Vanir Chief held on tight while ranting over the sound of rushing air. "You took me from my lands and flung me into darkness! But I survived!”

   At the moment Little Fish could have cared less! Soon they would feel the hard embrace of the ocean. He remembered all too vividly the pain of falling into the hidden place at the Great Dam where he first found the Black and learned how it could be used as a 'road'. The impact was enough to stun him and from the heights they now fell, the 'sudden stop' would be deadly! "Shut up! Stupid ol' man!" yelled Little Fish. The Ragmar’s ranting was interfering with his frantic thoughts. In bare moments, they would meet the water and that would be the end of it. Unless....

   That story the Knight told Little Fish about what to do with a Lion in a pit slammed into the front of his mind. 'When in a pit with a lion and you have no knife, you better teach the damn thing some tricks.' Far as the boy could tell, this was one serious pit! But what was the 'lion' this time? "The water...," whispered Little Fish. Once more, the fish scale flashed bright red as it was smashed against the youth's chest from the rushing air. "I don't want to go to the water, I need it to come to me!"

   As if a massive stone had been dropped into the sea beneath them, the surface of the ocean fell and then shot upwards as a spiraling column of water! Both the boy and the Vanir screamed as they were engulfed by the upward reaching water. Little Fish was rendered inert by the surprisingly hard entry into the water column. He felt himself float listlessly as they descended down towards the ocean's surface. through the power of the fish scale, he could breathe easily within the salty water. Strangely enough, the 'smell' of the sea water was very familiar. However, that would have to wait. Little Fish suddenly realized that for the water to have reached so high to catch them, it would sink just as deep... and take them with it! 

   Forcing himself to rouse, Little Fish looked through the clear column as it descended and saw they were still above the surface of the ocean. If he didn't want to be dragged down into the depths and get crushed, he would have to swim out of the column at the right moment.  Little Fish noticed the Vanir still hung onto his tunic like a hyena. The boy paid him no mind.  Whether the 'oathbreaker' hung on or not was his own problem. Just when the height of the column looked right, Little Fish rippled his body from head to toe in one powerful wave and shot out of the water column with the Vanir Chief in tow.

   As they rocketed toward the ocean surface, Little Fish knew just getting out of the column wouldn't be enough. They would have to get clear of the sinking water's drag even at the surface, so the boy prepared to put all his might into swimming far as he could. There was another hard impact as they struck the water. Forcing his body to angle upward toward the surface at speed with the Vanir dragging behind, caused Little Fish's bones and muscles to strain to the point of breaking. Yet, upward they went ahead of the collapsing water and the pair broke through the surface in an arcing breach! Desperate to put some distance from the still collapsing column, Little Fish bore down like a dolphin and swam for his life.

   Swiftly, the youth skimmed the slight waves and even the ever-persistent Ragmar managed to hang on. On one of his breaches to get his bearings, Little fish saw a sorely welcome sight... land! With great eagerness, the youth bore down once more and shot through the azure waters. This time however, the Vanir was unable to maintain his grip after hours of holding on. With the heavy drag created by the Vanir now gone, Little Fish streaked across the small waves fast as a hungry shark!

   After a few exhilarating moments swimming at such high speed, Little Fish shot out of the water over the sand covered shore. Unable to control his momentum in the thick sand, the youth tumbled end-over-end and came to a far from graceful stop. Covered from head to foot in sand, Little Fish's arrival met with the uproarious approval from the group of children who witnessed it. "Whoa! Can you do that again?" Little Fish looked at the boy with sand encrusted eyes and thought better of his answer to the question. Standing up, the youth suddenly understood how the Chief felt after a sparring session with the Valley Knight. "Oh my back...."

   The group of smaller children all giggled at Little Fish stretching like an old man with evil glee. The largest boy fearlessly asked, "How'd you jump from the sea like that?" With his back returning to normal Little Fish snarkly responded, "A giant fish spit me out ‘cause I taste bad!" The looks on all the Children's faces met with Little Fish's approval. Pointing to the fearless boy, Little Fish took on an imperious air and demanded his name. The nearly black-skinned boy scrunched up his face and rudely replied, I don't have to tell you nothin'!" Suddenly angry, Little fish stamped his foot which caused the beach to shake and made all the sand within thirty yards jump two inches!

   All the children stood petrified with eyes wide with astonishment. That met with Little Fish's immense approval. Squinting his eyes against the sun and sand still covering them made Little Fish look far angrier than he was. He too was surprised by what happened and recognized it would be smart to exercise caution. In a calm quiet voice emulating the Knight, Little Fish replied, "Yes you do. Tell me, where is this place?." The boy before him suddenly had a dark stain growing on his plainspun loincloth. He fell to his knees and the rest followed his lead down to the sand.

   "M-Mbari i-is my name great Spirit of the Sea! Please don't destroy our village because I was mean to you!" In an instant, Little Fish understood how the Priestess felt when people fell to their knees in her presence. "Get up already," said an exasperated Little Fish. Gently pulling the boy to his feet and looking him in the eye Little Fish gave him a smile and said, "It's okay. I was mean to you first. Now, where’s your village?" He had seen the Priestess do this dozens of times. Where everyone expected her wrath, instead she gave a smile and everything went her way. An amazed Little Fish saw how well that worked as the group of children happily led him to their fishing village.

   The wide smile fell away from Little Fish's face as he saw two faces among the crowd of adults who came to see the commotion. The two men's faces were younger, but unmistakable. They were his real father and the Valley Knight! He had returned home but just like Chief Svengald, Little Fish was in his own past! Before he could hide from the two men's gaze, a beautiful woman with golden-colored skin waded into the crowd of noisy children scolding them sharply. Other women joined her in the shooing and swatting of small backsides. The ruckus was quickly dispersed and the woman leveled bright cedar-colored eyes upon him and said, "What is all this uproar you've brought boy....?"

   Little Fish immediately caught the look on the woman's face and her sudden change of voice as she sharply asked, "Where did you get that necklace?" Unsure why this stranger would ask such a thing Little Fish took a step back and said, "It was a gift from a friend." Off to the side, the boy Mbari blurted, "Marta, Marta that boy jumped out the sea like a fish!" Then a little girl also blurted, "Uh, huh and when he stomped his foot the whole beach shook!"  Little Fish cut his eyes at the two blabbermouths but then remembered to 'smile'.

   Before he knew it, Little Fish was sitting in his father's stilt-house over the water with the woman Marta and the Valley Knight! It was quite strange for neither his father or the Knight recognized him. It was apparent the woman Marta belonged to the Knight and not his father. Yet, they all lived together as would a family. It was the Knight who started asking pointed questions of Little Fish and for some reason, the boy found them uncomfortable.

   "So what is your name boy?" Little Fish held his tongue while Marta filled his bowl with salted fish stew and rice. He was grateful for the time to come up with a believable answer. Unsure if a lie would work, Little Fish just went with the truth. "My name is Fish." Looking to the expectant man who would one day be his hero Little Fish continued with, "I grew up in a fishing village like this one with my father." The Knight seemed to accept the answer as Marta cut in scolding, "Kifo, let the boy eat!" To Little Fish's surprise, the younger version of the Knight sat back and started eating without another word. The man who would one day become his father chucked and said, "It took a strong woman to bring you to heel brother!"

   Little Fish was astonished! His father never mentioned he had a brother. And for his brother to be the future Valley Knight was amazing! Nice as Marta seemed, to Little Fish this wasn't right. The Valley Knight's wife was the Priestess and no one else! The boy made a strong effort to calm down. As he ate the thankfully delicious stew, Little Fish tried to keep in mind that this was the past. How far back, he didn't know. It was then a baby started wailing in  a small fishing net filled with plainspun cloth. Another look of astonishment took over Little Fish's face for it was the Knight who got up from low lying table and went to the squalling baby.

   It was Little Fish's father who said, "Look at the bad example your setting for our young guest! Let Marta take care of the baby." Cradling the child still wrapped in its blankets the Knight said flatly, "You would think since I named the boy after you, you’d take more of an interest in his care. Besides, Marta needs to eat. Soon it will be time for her to feed the baby." Spooning up another mouthful of stew Marta interjected with, "Why thank you Kifo my love. You could learn from your brother Dadisi."

   Little Fish suddenly stuck a large mouthful of stew in his mouth to keep it from falling open in surprise. He had been named after his father... and he was in his father's house in the past. Looking to the man he would call father Little Fish asked, "Who's baby is that?" The younger version of his father threw up his hands and said, "Don't look at me! That's Kifo's son Dadisi." Stunned, Little Fish stammered, "D-da...." Laughing, the man finished his words with, "Dadisi. My crazy blood brother gave his firstborn son my name instead of his own!"

   Little Fish was submerged in a thick fog of disbelief as his mouth without direction asked, "That's D-dadisi... he's not your son?" It was Kifo who the boy knew as the Valley Knight who replied, "Hmmph! He sounds disappointed you are not my son's father...." Little Fish quickly broke free of the mental fog as he realized the perilous situation. The child being handed from his 'father' Kifo to his 'mother' Marta was him!  Marta looked to the boy and said, "Child, you don't look well. finish your stew and can rest under the palms where it is cool."

   Little Fish lay in the fishnet hammock with a cool breeze and the dappled shade of palm fronds overhead. He watched as Marta quietly sang the song he remembered his father Dadisi hummed to him when storms blew in. He had no memories of his mother and his father only mentioned how beautiful she was. Never did he mention the Knight who is his real father! Did the Valley Knight know all the time they spent in the Valley he was his son and said nothing? Why would he and his mother leave him with an uncle never to return?  The question gnawing at Little Fish most was; why was he here and now?

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© 2011 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.