Lightning and Thunder: Ambition and Luxury

By S.Placido.S

In a great land, surrounded of beauties and mysteries, the peace that lasted for twenty years among the kingdoms is about to end. The ambition and luxury of kings and queens, princes and princesses, will put every kingdom against each other in the fight for power. Amidst that, after many centuries, a dark force is about to awake thirsty for revenge and determined to take over the entire earth. The enemy of the ancestors will use an army of evil creatures to put all the kingdoms to their knees. Hope resides in the power that was lost by the ancients and in a skeptical queen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: May 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9786500249170

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Kamoi tried to breath. He was hyperventilating. An instant panic took him by surprise and the stop came in good time. He walked away from the group, kneeled near the fresh water of a stream of water. He put his hands in the sand. Felt a chill in the arms when the cold water covered his wrists. He was trying to calm himself down, but the loss, the change, the fear, the anxiety e anguish, every one of those things rounded inside his stomach. He held some rocks and sand inside of the water and held them strongly trying to search for other feelings, but nothing worked. The sounds of the forest e people talking in the front surrounded him and made him feel bad. A red wolf watched him in the distance. It breathed heavily. He almost closed his eyes trying to contain the panic.

Unexpectedly one hiss put the forest and the men in silence. Everything seemed to have stopped at the moment. They only heard the rustle of the trees and the murmur of the stream water carving the rocks along its course. Standing in a branch in front of Kamoi, the legend Uirapuru took for himself the attention of the boy that now started to calm down trying to stand still to not make him go away. The little bird, that now conquered the reverence that it deserved, started to sing. Its beauty melody surrounded the air, hypnotising everything around it. Nothing in the forest was bold enough to stop the magic of its singing.

Kamoi breathed heavily, then released the air of his lungs and looked the bird as if it was thankful. The singing stopped and the beautiful bird flew away.

― They say that when someone has a meeting with the Uirapuru they will be happy for the rest of their lives - The boy looked to Tarumã without saying anything, but he felt good with those words.

― Come on. We’re almost in Arawak.

Kamoi was the grandson of the King of Krenak. His skin was a little bit red like all of the Krenaks, although it had black stains¹ throughout his body in a symmetrical way. The stains in his hand went till a little further to his wrists. Between his eyes, going down through the sides of his nose and underneath his eyes, through his cheeks. There was a black stain that went from his neck to under his shoulders. E, lastly, a white stain² in a diamond form a little bit above his butt, going through the back.

His unusual looks made the Krenaks associate him to the maned wolf. His stains were distributed through his body in the same way as the wolf, which made them think that the animal spirit lived inside of Kamoi. Something terrifying for people whose legends told, long ago, they would be habitants of the stars, in the region of Ursa Major. And the maned wolf was the responsible for their expulsion of heaven.

Meet with the maned wolf was a sign of bad luck, a precedence of bad things. And having someone with its spirit would be a curse. The king himself, grandfather of the boy, had suffered with the wolf one year before. He was hunting when the ominous animal got in his way. Trying to avoid him he looked for another direction, but stumbled and fell into a ravine. A beast³ that was there frightened itself and attacked him with its claws, ripping the flesh of his chest. He was only saved by the immediate action of his archers.

Kamoi’s father, son of the king, had died two months earlier of his birth. Therefore, when they saw what the boy looked like they believed the father died because of him. With sorrow, the king ordered the child to be killed so it wouldn’t bring disgrace to the people. The reluctant mother agreed. She accepted the sentence, but in the first chance she had she ran away. Never again they saw her e, therefore, they concluded that both died in the forest.

She lived in the margins of Krenak Kingdom for fourteen years protecting her son and dodging every possible danger in order to raise him.

There was one occasion, however, by irony of the destiny, while his mother was absent to get more food, a maned wolf shown up fascinating the boy alone. Generally, the maned wolfs were at the same size that the grey wolves, but less robust. Although, that one was sturdy. But, despite that, it didn’t offer any danger, because differently than the grey ones, the maned wolfs didn’t attack people unless provoked.

Drawn, the boy threw rests of food to the red fire wolf, who remained a while hesitant watching with its head down and the enormous ears standing before finally eating. When the mother of Kamoi returned she got scared seeing the object of her disgrace standing next to her son. She thought about attacking it, but her body wouldn’t move, paralysed of fear of the curse that would come. To her relieve the wolf went away. Yet, from that day on, the animal insisted rounding the place, always surrounding both of them. Just by seeing him around, she had chills.

Certain day, while they gathered fruits, a Ya’Wara⁴came out of nowhere when they were not prepared. The mother tried to confront the beast with a wooden spike, but the animal attacked her ripping her arm and craving its gigantic fangs on her belly. Kamoi jumped upon the beast and crossed its back with a spike. The animal moved with violence throwing him on the ground. Ya-Wara tried to devour him when the guara wolf showed up and bit its leg, ripping it off. The beast yelled of pain and stood down. The wolf advanced barking fiercely making it run.

Kamoi tried to save his mother taking her to the road to get some help. He got off the woods in the same instant as the entourage of Kaluanã, the king Arawak, was coming back from a visit to Krenak Kingdom.

The soldiers drew their swords and arches, but they soon noticed the woman gravely hurt being helped. Kaluanã made his men help, but they said that they couldn’t do anything and they should take her to Krenak in order to try to save her. The woman immediately refused e already losing her strength she explained that her son would be killed if taken there. She only asked that Kaluanã took care of the child. The king agreed promising to take him to Arawak. And the woman died.

Kamoi got scared with the death of his mother e by being surrounded of people he had never seen. He tried to drag his mother into the woods, but he was stopped by the soldiers. Desperate, he ran and sat behind a tree. Kaluanã approached him, sat by the tree e talked for some time with the child until convincing him to go to Arawak, insisting that he should honour his mother will.

The soldiers had already open a pit next to the road and helped the boy bury his mother.

The entourage was getting ready to leave with its grey wolves trailed next to the horses when those started to bark. They were domesticated to maintain away beasts of the nature avoiding surprise attacks. The soldiers thought it were a Ya-Wara, but it was the maned wolf that saved Kamoi who appeared in the woods, not intimidating itself by the barks of the grey ones and leaving everyone impressed by its size and unusual behaviour. After all, the red wolves, as they were also called, always were unsociable e lonely and avoided people and grey wolves.

Finally the entourage left with the maned wolf following them by the distance. At every stop the animal got closer to the group e Kamoi closer to him. By that far, Guará, as the soldiers were calling it, was the most familiar thing that the boy knew. When they were close to Arawak the grey ones didn’t care anymore for the presence of the red wolf. Although lonely, it was now part of their Wolfpack.

― Hey, Boy. ― Yelled Tarumã, son of the king Arawak ―  this is your new home.

Kamoi was impressed by the beautiful palisade of the golden castle made with wooden of Tatajuba forming walls of fifteen meters high.

The castle was positioned with its back to the river of two waters⁵ which was far ahead.

As soon as they crossed the gates, Aneci, consort of the king Kaluanã, noticed the boy and Guara, who was resilient crossing the doors.

The consort received the king in a big and sentimental hug, kissed him and asked how he got a red wolf. Kaluana explained that it belonged to the boy, asking Kamoi to come near while he told the story to his consort.

Aneci was touched by the story and felt compassion in her heart. While the boy got near, her heart beat fast. Kamoi stopped in front of her with his head down. She held his face with two hands making him look at her. The boy could feel the goodness and complacency in her eyes.

Charmed, she put her fingers between the eyes of Kamoi and felt his face, going through his stains.

― You are so beautiful, honey!

The words could not be any more similar, because the mother of the boy used to tell him the same thing, with the same entonation.

Almost involuntarily Kamoi hugged her hiding his face on her lap, making Aneci involve him in her arms like she was protecting him from the world. She looked to Kaluanã with her eyes full of tears and the heart warm, asking him for something. The King Arawak agreed with his head. Both of them wished they could’ve had more children, but due to complications with the birth of Tarumã, Aneci got sterile. Now Kamoi had come to fulfil that wish.

CHAPTER 2

― Is she sleeping?

― Looks like so!

― This way it will easier.

― Let’s do this quickly.

The whispers outside of the tent could still be heard by Yara, who pretended to be sleeping profoundly in her net, while holding a dagger made with a Ya’Wara’s tooth.

She knew that the brothers hated her because of the fact that even so young she already was the best hunter and warrior. Despite that, she doubted they had the courage to kill her. She held still the dagger slightly curved with the tip laying down, ready to defend herself against any attack.

Her brothers entered the tent, each one holding a knife. Yara watched them by tiny cracks in the tent that she was.

― We need to open the net carefully and cover her mouth so that no one can hear her screams - one of them whispered.

The other one agreed with the head and approached the net. As soon as he open the cloth Yara stroke him in the neck with so much violence that the dagger almost opened his entire neck making the head fall to behind. The other brother tried to attack her in the waist. Yara rolled off the net hitting the floor and already striking his leg. The man screamed while he was trying to hit her head, but she blocked the attack with her left hand and with the right she sticked the dagger in the belly, above the belly button, climbing to his chest, ripping his skin above the bones while se quickly stood in one single movement. Already debilitated the man tried one last attack. She hold his arm, twisted the dagger making it stay with the tip pointed up e unleashed one strike going up, tearing his chin up with Ya’Wara's tooth, killing the man.

The other hunters heard the screaming, entered the tent e seeing the dead around Yara, they surrounded her, calling her father.

Seeing his children dead, the man screamed:

― why did you do that? Why? ― But before she could even explain herself he hit her with a punch with the back of his hand, which made her fall stunned. He told them to tie her hands and her feet to a heavy rock. They put her in a canoe e threw her in the middle of the river.

Yara quickly sink screaming in despair. She tried to force the ropes, but she couldn’t get loose e kept sinking and being carried by the waters. Her chest started to burn in the anxiety to breath. She closed her eyes, trying to keep the air within. Anguish tortured her while she couldn’t unleash herself from the ropes.

The rock pulled that her down finally got to the bottom. Yara thought of giving up and let her body slowly get down until her feet touch the ground.

A light shown up and a greenish beam risen throughout her feet, going through her entire body. Yara felt the energy flow. Her lungs couldn’t bear anymore. She wished to go up to breath and the waters that now agitated themselves around her, they seemed to know her will. A vortex quickly formed and her body started to go up even tied to the rock.

When her head crossed the water surface she pulled all the air she could, breathed e pulled again, and then she screamed for help.

Her voice got to the ears of Pavuna, a warrior bathing on the river bank and which went to her rescue.

When Yara saw someone coming to her she wished to go in that direction, e the waters suddenly followed her will. When Pavuna finally reached her, Yara lost her senses, the waters around her came back to their normal course and she sunk. The warrior realised Yara was trapped to something and yelled:

― Knife!

Pitanga, another warrior who also entered the water, even though she was wearing clothes yet, understood her need, drew her knife and dove to cut the rope.

Both of them pulled Yara out of the river.

― Did she drawn?

― No. See, she’s breathing. I think she just lost her senses.

Pavuna tried to wake her up, shaking her and slapping her face gently.

Yara started to come back to herself. Coughed a few times. Her sight still trying to focus on the faces around her.

― Who… Are… You? ― She asked staring at the group of women that surrounded her.

― We are the Ykamiabas.

CHAPTER 3

― Look! Taranians! ― yelled a boy seeing a group with soldiers of white skin entering the gates.

Kamoi rushed himself to inside the palace. Six years have passed since he first arrived at Arawak. The boy had become a strong and handsome young man. Skilful with weapons and an excellent warrior. His red wolf now followed him wherever he would go and even allowed him to hug it.

While Kamoi entered through the doors of the palace, Nawiki, Queen of Taranis, walked inside the gates of Arawak Kingdom with her little entourage formed by soldiers above horses and grey wolves trailed. They brought with themselves a shipment of swords.

All of them got off of their horses and made a line waiting for the king.

Kaluanã, king of Arawak, had become a living legend, being compared even to the Legendary Six. A great warrior standing in front of the best army of the six kingdoms had become known as the peacemaker for putting to an end every war between the kingdoms. His negotiations have been keeping peace for twenty years. Little battles still happen once in a while. But they’re always intermediated and contained before a new war begins.

― Stop with this nonsense and come give me a hug! ― Kaluanã walked in a rush towards Nawiki  ― You know I don’t care with these formalities, especially with you who is like a daughter to me.

― You know that my father made me promise to always treat you with respect and honour. ― Nawiki said hugging the King of Arawak like he was her own father.

― But formalities are dismissed ― Answered Kaluanã smiling.

― You are everyday more beautiful! ― Aneci, consort of Kaluanã, loved Nawiki as the daughter she always wanted  ― Isn’t this the most beautiful smile in all the Kingdoms?

It wasn’t only the smile of the taranian queen that stood out. Nawiki was a beautiful woman with white skin, long arms and legs, black hair, a face covered with small freckles e turquoise coloured eyes. In her ears, beautiful blue feathers, of the same colour as the Caninde Arara that was on the back of her horse. She wore a beige poncho with stripes also blue that covered all of her body till her knees, a normal outfit for long travels.

― Mother… You always leave me without words with those compliments ― Nawiki, who lost her mother when she was a little girl, had in Aneci a motherly figure that treated her the best way possible. .

― Well, I can see a lot of white hair from here! ― The teasing came from Tarumã, son of Kaluanã and Aneci.

― And I know pretty well that you already have a wilt and fallen dick ― Answered Nawiki showing her tongue to Tarumã and already apologising to Aneci for her infantile behaviour. After that, she walked towards the prince and hugged him as well as his consort, while the King and the others said hello to the rest of the entourage.

Nawiki and Tarumã were about the same age and liked the company of each other like they were siblings, besides provoking each other constantly as if they were children. They were also battle companions fighting side by side when they were still young during the pacification of the kingdoms and against the invasion of Guaikurus in Taranis. Nawiki had lost her father in the battle of the Great Valley, but she was saved by his soldiers and Tarumã when fighting against lots of enemies, between them Goití, son of the king of Guaikus. She kept her kingdom after Kaluanã lead the Arawak armies and Taranian killing the king of Guaikus and forcing his army to retreat back to their land. Arawak and Taranis were seen almost like one kingdom even though they were very apart geographically, considering their relations in all areas and even in the personal aspect between the family of Nawiki and Kaluanã. The bad part of this for the taranian queen is that this also made some nobles of Taranis to see her as servant of Kaluanã.

― Where is Kamoi?

― He went to get a gift for you! He was anxious about your arrival.

When he met Nawiki, Kamoi was enchanted by her joy and spontaneity and they formed a beautiful friendship. She hugged him constantly e treated him well. She taught new attack movements and gave to him, as a gift, a nice spear. In the travels that Kamoi did to Taranis Kingdom, following Kaluanã, he ended up being friends with Nawiki’s sons. He always felt welcomed in both kingdoms and their families.

― I’ve heard that he won the last tournament of body combat ― Nawiki said, provoking.

― I let him win! The boy has gone through enough already in this life. ― answered Tarumã.

― Yeah, yeah. ― Nawiki seemed to not believe a word.

Kamoi finally showed up bringing his gift to the queen, who didn’t lose the opportunity to provoke Tarumã one more time: ― There comes the champion! ― while looking to the prince of Arawak ironically.

Kamoi brought with him a beautiful blue stone⁶, with an unusual spark that made it look like it had its own lighting.

― The craftsmen of Wahura Kingdom use to charge a good price for stones like that. They’re used to craft jewels. I don’t think there’s any stone like that in any of the kingdoms. You can order them to do earrings or a neckless to match with your eyes.

Nawiki almost melt with the gesture and the words of Kamoi. She held him in a hug like she used to do with her children.

― You are so sweet… And very caring. The woman that shall become your consort will be very lucky.

― This one have no interest in women. ― intervened Tarumã.

― Men then? ― Asked Nawiki searching for some reaction in Kamoi.

― No. ― answered Tarumã. ― My father says that he was the same, e with time he will be interested in someone. But I have my doubts. But what about your consorts? Why hasn’t any of them come with you? ― Tarumã changed the subject realising how Kamoi was uncomfortable at the same time as everyone started to walk towards the entrance of the palace.

― Tinga’s gone. He was always angry telling me that I didn’t love him. He was upset saying that I didn’t give him a son, even though I had three of them with More. I tried to explain that those were other times and More was always on my side. But… ― Nawiki shrugged.

― I understand the will of Tinga. Like in all kingdoms and times men are proud as parents. E he definitely would like to have a son from the queen. But we also understand your side. Here in Arawak we understand that is the woman who generates the child and suffers the changes in their body, so it’s always on her to decide wether to have a baby or not. As far as the man, he can accept or go look another partner. 

― It’s a shame that it didn’t work. ― Mahyra, consort of Tarumã, said.

― But I told you that having two consorts wouldn’t work. ― Tarumã spoke like he knew everything in the world.

― Just because men are stupid! ― Her answer was because marriage between three people was something normal in all kingdoms, except Arawak, but the marriage between two women and a man used to be more successful than the opposite, which was the case of the queen of Taranis.

― I won’t disagree. That’s why I married a woman. ― Tarumã smiled ironically and added. ― That’s why here we have only one consort.

― Well, if I could I would have three or so. ― Mahyra’s sentence turned down the smile in Tarumã’s face, who stared at her, upset.

― I don’t know why you look at me like this! Don’t you go every year to Ykamiabas' fest? ― She said, talking about the group of women warriors who didn’t allow men into their village, but organised a annual fest to receive them with the intention of procreate.

― Well, I have to agree that I didn’t love Tinga. It was more something fun than anything else. I felt kinda relieved when he left. What I feel for More is much stronger. Our relation is different. He is the love of my life, he understands me, supports me. Makes me feel safe, strong, capable… He completes me.

― If so why did you want another one?

― Because we like to play dirty! ― Said Nawiki, malicious, blinking to Mahyra making both of them laugh and leaving Tarumã stunned.

Nawiki and Mahyra were confidents. Always talked about their intimacies openly, which led them to laugh about it, specially when it came to only a group of women.

The king Kaluanã was paying attention to the conversation between Danito, Nawiki’s son, and Kamoi. It was fun to watch. Danito who was loose and talkative had hugged Kamoi, who loved to hear about the adventures of his friend. The king couldn’t hear them,