"Ah! Champion. I've been expecting you. I'm afraid I have another assignment."
iNkosi Zwelithini Bafana, like the rest of his family line, was tall, dark, and thin with high cheekbones and a pointed chin. His physique gave him a looming, imposing sort of presence even when he didn't mean for it to.
Afraid? He does know I live for this, right?
"Not a prob, iNkosi. Who or what do you need me to kill this time?"
"No one."
Huh?
He continued, "Our allies in Dulatarth have fallen silent for some time now. Nearly a season, in fact."
I looked around iNkosi Bafana's modest hut. A painting of him, his wife, and his two kids hung on a wall just below an antique hunting spear. I didn't know much about it. Given how old and blunt it was, the weapon had to possess more sentimental value than utility.
My eyes held the photo as I made a guess at the purpose of this next quest.
"So you want me to make sure they're OK?"
The iNkosikazi Nandi Bafana was a diplomat and at the moment traveling either to or from Nentadyre with her thirty plus bodyguards trained by yours truly. iNkosi Bafana's second-born, Sipho, was a current student of mine. It was his eldest that I knew more intimately. Daria and I had history.
Whatever this quest had in store for me required supplies. I decided to visit her shop first once I was done here.
"I want you to make sure they're still on the same side," iNkosi Bafana clarified. "And to dissuade any schemes they may have against us if they're not."
"Can do, iNkosi. Count on it."
"Then I'll see you when you return. Don't worry about the students, I'll finish up the class. You just gather what you need to prepare for the journey ahead."
I nodded in thanks and strolled out of his hut and back into the sweltering heat. It always felt good to start a new quest.
Several weeks since my last one seemed to inch by like glaciers, but now it was like that ice had finally melted away. Without any further delay, I straightened my posture and went to see the village healer.