Waylander 3 – Hero in the Shadows By David Gemmell

He then forgot his original purpose and decided to head north-east, filled with a desire to see foreign lands. It was most peculiar, and sitting in the sunshine of the Bay of Carlis he could not, for the life of him, remember just why he had thought it was such a fine idea.

Two days later something even more mysterious occurred. He came upon a merchant who was travelling in a cart with two pretty daughters and a retarded son. The wheel had come off the cart and the group were sitting by the roadside. In his new life as a robber and an outlaw Yu Yu should have stolen the man’s gold, ravished his daughters and left the scene richer and more relaxed. Indeed this had been his plan, and he had marched forward, adopting what he considered to be a menacing expression. Then, to show his intent, he grasped the hilt of the sword, ready to draw it and terrify his victims.

An hour later he had repaired the cart, and escorted the merchant to his home village some six miles to the east. For this he received a fine meal, a kiss on the cheek from both daughters, and a small sack of supplies from the merchant’s wife. You are too stupid to be a robber, he had told himself, as he resumed his journey.

And now that stupidity had brought him to Kydor, a land where men bearing Chiatze features stood out like . . . like … he struggled for a simile, but could only come up with ‘warts on a whore’s arse’. This was not entirely pleasing and he stopped thinking of similes. However, the point was a good one. How could a Chiatze warrior become a robber in a land where he would be instantly identified wherever he went? It was a nonsense.

At that moment a young, blond-haired woman emerged on to the small beach. To Yu Yu’s surprise she ignored him and began to remove her dress and undergarments. Once naked she ran across the sand and dived into the water. Coming to the surface she swam in long, easy strokes, curving round to approach Yu Yu’s position. Treading water, she threw back her head, and swept her hands through her wet hair. ‘Why are you not swimming?’ she called out to him. ‘Are you not hot sitting there in wolf fur?’

Yu Yu admitted that he was. She laughed and swung away, swimming out into deeper water.

As swiftly as he could Yu Yu struggled out of his clothes and hurled himself into the sea, landing on his belly, which was painful. Not, however, as unpleasant as what followed. He sank like a stone. Thrashing his arms wildly, he fought for the surface. His head broke clear and he sucked in a great gulp of air. For a moment he bobbed in the water, but then he breathed out and disappeared once more beneath the cold water.

Panic swept through him. Something grabbed his hair, hauling him up. He struggled wildly, and broke through the surface once more.

‘Take a deep breath and hold it,’ the woman ordered him. Yu Yu did so, and bobbed alongside her. ‘It is the air in your lungs that lets you float.’

Reassured by her presence, Yu Yu relaxed a little. What she said was true. As long as he held air in his chest he floated.

‘Now lean back,’ she said. ‘I will support you.’ As she floated alongside him he felt her arms below his spine and he gratefully dropped back into them. Glancing to his right he found himself staring at a pair of perfect breasts. Air whooshed from his lungs and he sank. Her arms pushed him back to the surface and he spluttered for a while. ‘What kind of an idiot leaps into the sea when he cannot swim?’ she asked.

‘I am Yu Yu Liang,’ he managed to say, between great gulps of air.

‘Well, let me teach you, Yu Yu Liang,’ she said.

The next few minutes were a joy as she taught him a rudimentary stroke that allowed him to pull himself through the water. The sun was warm upon his back, the water cool upon his body. Finally she bade him make his way to the shallow water close to the beach. Then he watched as she waded back to where she had laid her clothes. Yu Yu followed her.