It was well over two hundred years past that Torrin Ka'lil lived, fought and died in honor and glory for the Shining Land and the Sultan of Zuhayr. This then is his story, shared with the people of the Twelve Nations in order to keep alive the memory of bygone days, and to pave the way for the return of the Hero.
The murkiest of rumors surround the birth and early life of Torrin Ka'lil. It is said that D'haris himself fathered him upon a woman in return for his intercession on behalf of her soldier husband. Other rumor places him as the true son of the Sultan by a woman taken from among the Xavonan people. What is certain is that the boy showed considerable talent and war-like inclinations from his very first breath. Before his fifth year he was handling sword and shield like a born Warrior, and so he came to the attention of the Sultan and was adopted into the royal family.
Ka'lil received the best training and led the Sultan's elite Guard for many peaceful years. He was at the Sultan's right hand day and night, steel bared to shed the blood and claim the head of any of his patron's enemies. It was he who stood watch outside the Sultan's bedchamber on the night the Kirstari faction attacked in an attempt to force out the Altan dynasty, of which the Sultan was the last.
Ka'lil was cut in fifty three places by the twenty men who stormed the Sultan's inner sanctum. There were six arrows in his body, leaching his life away even as he fought with all his strength to protect the Sultan's life. The great Warrior slew all but one of the attackers and held the leader safely until the other guardsmen were able to quell the uprising in the city and palace and come to his aid. When they found him, he lay in a great pool of blood, near to death, waiting only to discharge his duty. The guard commended his soul there and then to D'haris and Kurig, using the Sultan's own ceremonial blade as a reward for his loyal service. Ka'lil's sword and shield hang in the Audience Chamber of the palace as a tribute to the Warrior son of the last Sultan Altan.
It is said among the Warriors that D'haris received the spirit of his son and cherishes it whole against the time when Zuhayr will again stand in need of loyal defense. And Torrin Ka'lil will come again, to take up his sword and shield for the honour of the Shining Land.Copyright Jennifer Doran, 1999. All rights reserved.
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