Eudaimonia: Maya's Journey

Looking for the Temple of Doom

Fresh from a good night's sleep, they left Mazake behind. Maya was pensive and was haunted by the image of the man with the mask. This was something she had never felt before, a fearful connection to this man. Was he real? Was it a dream? Was it a warning about the dangers lying ahead of them?

They started out on the next stage of their journey and it took them through previously unseen scenery and past bizarre trees with unusual shapes and colours with pink leaves. They marvelled at the enchanting landscape. After a while they needed to replenish their food supply and they came across a village.

As they entered, people suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at them. The tension was palpable, and the travellers could see fear on the villagers' faces. The atmosphere was uncomfortable. North approached one of them, who looked like he was about to run away. He introduced himself to the young man, who had been collecting water from the well. The young villager looked at him with bewilderment, but once North had finished his story he appeared to relax, smiled, and went to spread the word to the other villagers.

From this moment they were all very warm and welcoming, and they offered them food and shelter. Because Beramute was an unconventional height, he instantly attracted the villagers' attention. With his good heart and his patience, he soon gained the trust of all of the kids. They jumped into his arms and he put them on his shoulders. He played with them for hours, and women were looking at them with extreme fondness.

The chief of the village came to present himself to Maya and North. His name was Tao Pai-Pai. He was a middle-aged man in his forties, of average height and with very large shoulders.

He invited them to sit and served them tea.

Maya wanted to know why they looked frightened when they first arrived, which was in total contrast to how they were presently behaving.

Tao Pai-Pai explained to them that the village of Manol lived with the rhythm of harvesting. They were a community of farmers and their crops ensured their survival. With the reaping they could feed themselves and surrounding towns. Once a year they went to Sunu, the capital, to sell the remaining stock. They had a comfortable lifestyle. With the extra money they bought clothes and much-needed pieces of equipment.

But a few years ago a group of thieves had formed. They terrorised all the villages in the region and three or four times a year, they would appear out of nowhere, steal food, and demand payment in return for their protection. They had killed several villagers who dared to rebel and kidnapped people for ransom.

"The previous chief of Manol decided to face up to the criminals. They made an example out of him. They tied him up with a rope attached him to their mounts and making their horses gallop, dragged him across the ground in front of us for hours. We begged them to stop. They obliged eventually when offered a big sum of money. He died a few days later from the injuries he suffered," explained Tao Pai-Pai.

In order to deal with this militia composed of about twenty men and women, all hiding their faces and armed with swords, they had reported the situation to the authorities and had requested help from the Empress Momoko. The problem was, the country was in conflict with their neighbours on the eastern border, and most of the Samourais were there to secure the frontier. With limited resources, the Empress sent aspiring Samourais to protect her subjects and capture the outlaws.

These aspiring Samourais were called the Budokais and they were students at the Samourais Academy. Only the best of them would become Samourais, the rest would become simple soldiers.

The Budokais had been in the region for three months. They had crossed with the bandits only once, a brief encounter that saw the renegades retreat and disappear into the surrounding woods.