The Labors of Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head Series

In the 30th century, Earthers make first contact with an intelligent lifeform called the Shshi, which evolved from termites. Following that contact, the Champion of the Shshi, the Warrior Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head, and the bard of the fortress of Lo’ro’ra, Di’fa’kro’mi the Remembrancer, are moved to set off on a quest to reach the sea, the existence of which was unknown to them until the humans came. Joined by two Worker helpers, they head first for Ki’shto’ba’s home fortress of To’wak, where they find that the local Tyrant, who has long feared Ki’shto’ba’s power, is holding citizens of Lo’ro’ra prisoner. We learn of our Champion’s hatching (it has a twin) and of a Seer’s revelations that Ki’shto’ba was sired by the Sky-King and that it can be killed only under unusual circumstances. Ki’shto’ba undertakes to ransom the prisoners by agreeing to leave To’wak and perform twelve wonders before returning, thus freeing the Tyrant from the fate of being killed by its more powerful sibling. The Companions then set off again, joined by the twin A’zhu’lo and by a fifth Companion, an outcast Worker named Za’dut, who is an outrageous trickster and thief. Their journey takes them to the fortress of Thel’or’ei, which has been at war with its neighbors for nine years over possession of a river ford. Ki’shto’ba is duped into supporting Thel’or’ei, which in fact has committed an unspeakable crime against the Shshi Way of Life. When Ki’shto’ba learns of this crime, it renounces its oath and goes over to the other side. There, with the help of Za’dut the trickster, plots are devised to steal Thel’or’ei’s protective talisman and to breach its impregnable walls. But with a crime so heinous and with flawed local Champions who are either craven, cunning, or willful and unpredictable, it is unlikely the outcome can be favorable ...

Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head and its Companions are summoned back to Marcher lands where the High Commander Zhu’zi’a’ro’a and its Warriors have been engaged in a war with the Southern Nasutes over possession of the land to the south of Pol’ki’shtot (the Valley of Thorns). Having little luck keeping the treacherous Sta’ein’zei at bay, Zhu’zi’a’ro’a has decided to take A’zhu’lo’s advice and attempt to negotiate peace, with Ki’shto’ba’s help. Now, however, the Sta’ein’zei are advancing on the new fortress of Wei’loi’bao’cha, which lies immediately south of the Valley of Thorns. Ki’shto’ba decides it will cast its lot with the Marchers and fight alongside A’zhu’lo to protect Wei’loi’bao’cha. However, the defense of the fortress does not go well. The Marchers decide they must abandon Wei’loi’bao’cha, taking its Mother with them inside one of the trickster Za’dut’s wheeled conveyances. The Marchers withdraw through the Valley of Thorns, granted sworn assurances of safe passage by Pai’it’zei and Lin’tuk’ko (the Commander and the High Priest of the Sta’ein’zei). Ki’shto’ba is assigned to lead the vanguard that escorts the Mother while Zhu’zi’a’ro’a, A’zhu’lo, and Lug’tei’a command the rear, intending to use the lightning horn to summon aid from Ki’shto’ba’s forces should there be any treachery. And indeed treachery is fated to be the order of the day ...

The Storm-Wing is a tale of high adventure and battles with strange monsters (with a theme of sibling rivalry running through the mix). At the end of v. 1 (The War of the Stolen Mother), the Champion of the Shshi (termite people) Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head and its Companions set out to cross the dangerous Nu'wiv'mi Marsh on their way to visit a friend in the mountains. They soon encounter and do battle with the Marsh Guardians – huge sauro-avians that attack from the air with beak, claw, showers of poisonous dung, and barbed feathers. Ki'shto'ba lops off the leg of the King-Bird but fails to kill him, with consequences that will prove ominous. The Quest is then diverted in a southerly direction, where a fortress being terrorized by a water monster requests Ki'shto'ba's aid. As a reward for slaying this creature, Ki'shto'ba is granted the surname of Monster Slayer. Finally the Quest heads west, where the Companions find themselves in the domain of the Marchers, a Shshi people ruled by another great Champion. After an eventful sojourn among the Marchers, whose Seer pronounces some disturbing prophecies regarding the Quest, the Companions at last turn northward into Northern Nasute country. There they find that the fortress of their friend Sa'ti'a'i'a is being invaded nightly by a monster that resembles a primitive Shi. Ki'shto'ba kills this formidable enemy, only to find it must also eliminate the monster's mother, who lives in caves under a lake and is even more fearsome ...

As Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head and its Companions venture into the lands of the People of the Root, they encounter the Ninth Companion, an eccentric Alate named Bu’gan’zei who practices a strangely hypnotic type of word craft that is totally unknown to the questers. He has visited the legendary Mountain of the Glorious Root seeking a deceased friend to whom he was exceptionally devoted, but he failed in his attempt to extract her from the World Beyond. Bu’gan’zei agrees to guide Ki’shto’ba and its friends to the Mountain, where the Champion can seek resolution for its guilt and where the personal quest of Is’a’pai’a Gold-Seeker will finally begin. After several adventures with the monsters and giants of the Mountain, as well as new prophetic pronouncements by the resident Seer, the Companions again head south. Near the fortress of Ra’ki’wiv’u they encounter the Tenth Companion, an Intercaste Warrior with her own bizarre story. In order to win her friendship, Ki’shto’ba (with the trickster Za’dut’s unsolicited assistance) must prevail over her in the Warrior Games during Ra’ki’wiv’u’s annual festival. At that same festival, Di’fa’kro’mi takes part in a Remembrancer’s competition. This light-hearted episode is a welcome relief after the stressful events under the Mountain and soon the Companions are ready to set out for Yo’sho’zei lands, where the sea is no longer a distant dream and where Is’a’pai’a can learn its true destiny.

The Companions arrive at the Hidden Fortress and meet Vai’zei’a’parn, the Leader of the Yo’sho’zei, who was Is’a’pai’a’s mentor. Is’a’pai’a finally learns the story of its origin – how its egg was laid in Hwai’ran’chet at a time when that mighty fortress had come under the domination of an invading tyrant named Wei’thel’a’han. Here the treacherous No’tuk’a’nei, a power-hungry Alate Seer-Sorcerer who happens to be the hatchmate of Vai’zei’a’parn, convinced the new Commander that a nymph of a certain lineage would be the agent of its death. Since the current King of the fortress was of that lineage, Wei’thel’a’han ordered the destruction of every egg laid and every individual hatched since that King came to the Mother. In the midst of the ensuing slaughter, one egg was rescued and taken to the Hidden Fortress, where it was given to Vai’zei’a’parn for safekeeping. Is’a’pai’a hatched from this egg and now it learns that its destiny is to be the Champion who delivers Hwai’ran’chet – and its own Mother – from the clutches of the Tyrant and its evil Sorcerer. The Companions linger in Zan’tet, where a seemingly harmless adventure ends in disaster. Ultimately, Ki’shto’ba and its Companions depart to finish the Quest to reach the sea before venturing into Hwai’ran’chet. Accompanied by the newly acquired 11th Companion, the group soon encounters the 12th, who guides them to the shore. Arriving at sunset, they can at last see the Golden Path on which they must tread. Many prophecies will find their answer as the future continues to unfold. In the final chapter, a ship has been built and the Quest for the Golden Fungus is about to begin. The leadership of the Quest then passes to Is’a’pai’a even as the Companions learn the meaning of “The Wood Where the Two Moons Shine.”

In this final volume of The Labors of Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head, the Quest ship makes its way westward, passing the Point of the Monster and heading into uncharted seas. The Questers visit the fortress of Thai’no’no’gwai, where to their astonishment they find an entire citizenry composed only of female Alates. After barely escaping with their lives, Is’a’pai’a, Ki’shto’ba, and the Companions make off with a fertile female, who becomes Mother to the ship’s fertile male Vak’wum’a. Following a peaceful interlude at the fortress of No’chet Li’lo’akh, the pace intensifies. One of the Companions is lost in a battle with pirates. Later, at the fortress of Kwi’thaim’chet, Ki’shto’ba experiences the second unexpected sorrow that was foreseen in the World Beneath, while Ti’a’toig’a the Twin is forced to fight a battle to the death. The Questers arrive next at an island where an aged Seer is imprisoned, and Ki’shto’ba must engage an old foe in a final confrontation. The Huge-Head is victorious, but it is gravely injured. Even as its body is beginning to heal, certain prophecies are fulfilled, bringing the Labors of Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head to an unexpected and tragic end.

While many of the participants in the Quest for the Golden Fungus have been lost, the Quest continues under the leadership of Is’a’pai’a Gold-Seeker. Di’fa’kro’mi’s Scribe Chi’mo’a’tu, with the help of wandering Remembrancers and the Star-Brings, undertakes to compose the tale of the final adventures, with the Seer Da’sask’ni’a as the principal narrator. As the remaining Companions set forth on the last leg of their voyage, new additions to the company lead to both jubilation and tragedy. Then they must dare the dangerous Wandering Rocks and the Closing Gate before sailing to the End of the World to find the Fungus. After planting the reptile’s teeth and dealing with the results, Is’a’pai’a finally returns home to Hwai’ran’chet, bringing along a surprise addition to the company – a Sorcerer and Seer who may be far more dangerous than she appears.