The Fifth Book: EPOSTA

(Novel length: 85,000+ words)

A planet with four continents, Eposta, Radia, Aciram and Aysal. All of them with distinctive features and different religions. Each one of them based on the teachings of their four holy books.

But in the sea between Aciram and Aysal lies an area which is classified as unexplored. Only legends tell us that there are a number of islands that hold many secrets. Will there also be the fifth book?

Samot lives with his parents outside a small village on Eposta. Their peace is shattered when troops of the Duke of Asitis arrive. The parents are killed in the raid. But before they die, they give their son some papers, which seem to be extremely important. What are they?

Samot looks for revenge. On the way he meets with Harekah and his people. They have come a long way looking for the papers as well. It turns out that they are part of a precious, secret book. The hunt is on . . .

William Pitt was born in Vienna, where he studied music and drama. He worked as an actor and director in the theatre and radio and as a journalist.

Roaming around the world for quite some time, he finally settled in Australia. After doing a multitude of jobs and improving his English, he worked as a journalist and in television. This was followed by setting up his own puppet company. He toured Australia and New Zealand for nine years. He even was invited to the Festival of Vienna as the Australian representative.

After selling his puppet company, he became a journalist again and later the editor of a magazine. This was followed by lecturing, ending up as the course-coordinator for a group of colleges.

He retired in 2007 and has since published seven books.

He plans to continue the saga of Samot at some time in the future.

Here is an extract:

CHAPTER 1

The villagers came running from all directions. They were curious. And frightened. Anything out of the ordinary created an upheaval in their lives. For them, a predictable monotony meant comfort and security.

The stranger had ridden at a leisurely pace to the center of the village. He looked like he was belonging to a class of people the poor peasants could only whisper about. It was an uncommon sight. Nobody had seen anything like it for many, many years. In fact, most of them couldn’t even remember hearing about a similar event. The only connection to the outside world were the occasional tax collectors. Sent by the count who ruled over this part of the land.

But that was nothing special! The villagers knew what they had to do. It was part of their way of life. They handed over some of their animals and a percentage of what they had harvested.

The stranger had stopped his horse. He was now in the middle of what the villagers called their meeting place. His armour looked forbidding and awe-inspiring. He had a sword hanging on one side and a dagger on the other. Stuck in his belt was a longish piece of metal. Nobody here had ever seen anything like it.

“I want to talk to your elder. Bring him here!” It was a command. Not fulfilling it would have been foolish.

A little old man pushed his way through the crowd. Usually, the villagers showed more respect for him. They would have moved aside. But this was different. The tension was rising constantly. Nobody knew what would happen next.

“Here I am, Sire. My name is . . . ”

“I don’t care what your name is!”

A whisper went through the crowd. This was getting unpleasant. The fear they had first felt when they heard about the knight, returned.

“What can I do for you, Sire?”

“Tell your people to disperse and get back to what they have been doing.”

The little old man collected all his courage. “They are just afraid, Sire. They believe they might come to harm.” He didn’t exactly point the finger at the stranger but it was clear what he meant.

“If they do as they are told, nothing will happen to them. But you might as well know that your village is surrounded by my soldiers.”

Although it was fairly clear the stranger hadn’t come alone, the last comment sent most of the villagers trembling. 

The little old man opened his mouth. For a while, no sound came out of it. Then, suddenly. He knelt down. As if to surrender to the stranger. “Certainly . . . most certainly . . . we are no fools . . . ”

“I am sent by the Duke of Asitis. Somebody in this village is hiding something that belongs to the Duke. We are going to search every house. Any resistance is senseless and will be punished immediately.”

The villagers knew they had escaped lightly. After all, the stranger could have called in his soldiers. They might have been slaughtered. Their houses burnt to the ground. Only corpses and dead ashes.

One by one they walked back to their own places. Muttering to each other or to themselves. What was it the Duke of Asitis was after? And here? They were poor folk. No possessions that could be of value to a nobleman. It surely was a mistake! However, not one of them was brave enough to argue with armed men.

In the meantime the stranger had turned his horse around and had ridden out of the village. When he was a short distance from the last house, he stopped.

“Captain! Come out! We have work to do!”

Some bushes parted and the figure of a big man appeared. He looked somewhat brutish and not a person you could easily call your friend. His sword was half drawn. Just in case he should have been tricked.

The man on the horse smiled. “You won’t need that here. They’re all cowards and slaves.”

Now it was the captain’s turn to smile. Or try to smile. On his face it looked more like a sadistic grin. “You know my motto: if you’re always ready to fight, your chances of winning are much better.”

“I agree. But this place is easy prey. They’re not even dreaming of resistance.”

“What a pity! I wouldn’t mind kicking some peasant butt.”

“Conserve your strength for a more worthwhile task.” Suddenly, his voice changed. He was once again the commander of this small expeditionary force. “Call your men. I want every house in the village searched. From top to bottom. Until we find what the Duke wants.”

“What if one of them resists?” The captain obviously didn’t want to give up that easily.

“Hit them or kick them or kill them. I don’t care. But remember: only if it’s necessary. Concentrate on your task. We don’t want to waste too much time here. The sooner we find what the Duke wants, the sooner we get paid. And I don’t have to remind you that it’s quite a big sum.”

The captain’s disappointment of not being able to kill as many peasants as possible changed into glee. It always happened when he heard about money coming his way. It was still preferable to listening to the last moans of a victim before he was silent forever.

“So be it”, the captain cried. “Your wish is my command.” Then he turned to the bushes to the side of him. “Come out, men! We’ve got work to do!”

Out came several armed soldiers. The captain pointed to one of them. “Give the signal!”

The man took an instrument hanging from a cord around his neck. It looked like a funny cross between a horn and a trumpet. He put it to his lips and played a sequence of four notes.

Immediately, there was movement. The same would happen all around the village. It really was surrounded by their troops. A necessary precaution so that not one of the peasants could sneak out. And possibly take with him what they were looking for.

“You all know what to do! Search every house thoroughly. We start from the outside and work our way in. The Duke was quite sure we find our treasure here!” The commander paused for a little while. Perhaps to let his words sink in. He looked at the captain and the soldiers in front of him. They were a motley bunch! More like thieves and robbers. Ready to do anything as long as they got paid. He would have to be careful. They might try to outsmart him. Not now of course! They were all after the same thing. But later when it came to deliver their findings and collect their reward. “Alright – let’s get started. The sooner we have what we want, the sooner we can move on!”

The search began. Luckily for them, it was a fairly easy task. This was a relatively poor village and most of the houses had very little in them. The peasants’ belongings usually consisted of only a few pieces of furniture. A very basic kitchen, a table, a few chairs and a few beds. Some of them didn’t even have that luxury. They slept on mattresses or rags on the floor. The more prosperous ones had cupboards and even the occasional ornament.

It was all too easy for some experienced eyes and hands to make sure whether there was something of interest or not. They even tapped on the walls and stamped on the floors. If there had been any hollow sounds, they would have immediately assumed to find some secret space and search for it.

Nothing! Absolutely nothing! The soldiers started to get bored. To make their work more interesting, they decided to tease the peasants and even brandished their weapons to scare them. They found great amusement in telling the poor shaking creatures they would cut off their tongues. Just to make sure nobody could tell what had happened here. 

And then there was a more serious incident. Two soldiers walked into one of the houses and found a young pair. At first, they searched the place like all the others before. Losing interest in this monotonous and senseless effort, one of them turned his attention to the girl.

He looked her up and down. His eyes seemed to undress her. “Well . . . well . . . what have we here? A pretty young maid . . . ”

The soldier moved closer. His comrade was still busy knocking on the walls.

The girl just stood there. Like frozen. Her eyes portrayed her terror. Her mind went completely blank. She had no idea how she could avoid the impending disaster.

“I’m sure you don’t know what a fighting man is like. You had to be satisfied with peasant meat.” With one quick movement the soldier stepped behind the girl and embraced her from the back. “Well . . . let’s see what I have found here.” His hands started moving up her body until they came to rest on her breasts.

Until now, the young peasant had just stared at the scene in disbelief. Suddenly, he came alive. “Leave her alone! She is my wife!”

“That’s still no reason why she can’t enjoy a real man.”

“If you don’t let her go, I’ll kill you.”

“Yeah? . . . And how will you do that?” The soldier’s tone was sarcastic. One of his hands started to pull on the girl’s dress. He turned his head to where his comrade was still knocking on the wall. “Forget the house! You’d better take care of our friend here. He’s getting a bit too saucy!”

“Come on! This is stupid! You’ve heard what the commander said. Finish here as quickly as possible. You’re wasting time!”

“Don’t be such a coward! Let’s have a bit of fun! And when I’m finished with her, we can switch places!”

“I still don’t like it. We might get into trouble. You know how tough our commander can be!”

Luckily for all of them, they couldn’t continue.

Suddenly, a burst of sound from the outside. It came from the instrument which was a mixture between a horn and a trumpet. A call for everybody to assemble.

Then the captain’s voice. “Everybody come here! Immediately! We think we are in the wrong place!”

He was standing at the spot where the commander had first talked to the villagers. The soldiers came running from all sides. They knew how brutal the captain could be if you disobeyed him. They remembered the few times when some of them had been ordered to his quarters. The cries of pain piercing the air. One of them had even disappeared altogether. They were fairly certain what had happened to him.

The knight had dismounted from his horse. He stood not far from the captain. In between knelt a little old man. Shaking in terror and expecting the final blow at any minute.

When all the soldiers had assembled, the commander addressed them. “We have been looking in the wrong places. This old man who happens to be the village elder, finally came to our rescue. With a bit of persuasion he told us that there is one more house some distance from the village but still belonging to it. It is owned by a certain Yoran who lives there with his wife and son.” He turned to the little old man. “So far, is everything correct?”

“Yes . . . yes . . . ”

“Good!”

One of the soldiers interrupted. “Why didn’t we see it when we arrived here?”

“Good question! But we can’t be blamed. The house is well hidden behind some trees and bushes. Obviously, Yoran likes to have an undisturbed rural life.”

The captain and most of the soldiers chuckled. That knew they would soon make an end to the peace.

The commander stopped them. “Our friend here also tells us that Yoran is harboring a secret which he doesn’t share with anybody. Everybody in the village knows about it but nobody talks about it. Has been a secret of his family for many generations.”

A murmur went through the assembled soldiers. Could that be what they were looking for? It sounded very encouraging. Especially after having found nothing at all in the village itself.

Then they fell quiet, looking at the commander. Expecting him to verify their assumptions. The silence became unbearing and loud.

Finally, the commander broke it. “Yes. I have a feeling we will find there what we came for.” He turned to his captain. “It’s time that we march to Yoran’s house.” And to the village elder: “You are no longer of any use. I will spare your life. Although you held back the whole story for a while, in the end you came good.”

The little old man bowed. He would have fallen on his knees if he hadn’t been in this position already. “Thank you . . . thank you . . . you’re too kind, Sire . . . ”

“Besides – you’re already looking death in the face anyway. What a miserable figure you are! But you have to do one more thing. You have to accompany us to the edge of the village and point out where we can find Yoran’s house.”

The commander turned and mounted his horse. The little old man got up and started walking. He was still shaking with fear. So far, he had escaped the worst. But then, anything was still possible. Trusting soldiers and armoured men of any kind was like dancing on a steep slope. Only if you were lucky you survived!

The commander, the captain and the troops followed him. Actually, they were only a fairly small number. But then, they didn’t expect to fight any serious enemies or be prepared for a bloody battle. And they wouldn’t have to split their reward for this expedition into too many parts. 

There were fourteen of them. The commander, the captain and a dozen soldiers.

However, enough of them to create terror in people who possibly had never seen any fighting men.

Before long, they reached the edge of the village. The commander turned to the little old man. “You can go home now. And praise your luck that today wasn’t your last! But before you go, point out where we will find Yoran’s house.”

“There . . . there . . . if you continue straight, you can’t miss it. See those trees and bushes over there? Behind them is Yoran’s house.”

“Good. You can go now.”

The little old man didn’t wait to hear that s second time. He took off as quickly as his rickety legs would allow it. The soldiers laughed and mocked him until he finally disappeared.

“He is a lively one. It would be really scary to meet him in battle.”

“You wouldn’t meet him there. I bet he’s too busy looking after all the women in the village.”

“Don’t forget the goats and the cows. They want to be served, too.”

Everybody laughed. When their merriment had died down, they continued their march.

It wasn’t long before they reached the row of trees and bushes. And now, being so much closer, they could see the house in front of them. It really had been hidden cleverly from prying eyes.

The captain chuckled. “Just as well we made the old man see the errors of his ways. We would never have found this place otherwise.”

“Maybe Yoran doesn’t like any visitors”, suggested one of the soldiers. He was proud of his smart observation and looked at his comrades as if he had solved the problems of the world.

“Well . . . he will get some now!” The captain’s remark made everybody laugh.

They looked at the house. It was much more sturdily built than any in the village. There were stone walls and bars in front of the windows. The heavy door was made from solid timber. This was not the house of a poor man. Not of a wealthy one either. But of somebody who was living comfortably and totally self-sufficient.

Maybe that was the reason why the little old man in the village had given away its location. Envy could easily turn anyone into an informer.

The commander put his hands around his mouth as if to guide his voice in one direction. 

“Yoran! Open up! It’s no use resisting!”

No reply. They waited a bit longer. The silence grew full of tension.

“Did you hear me? Or do you want us to destroy your house?”

Again nothing.

“We’d better get ready to storm the place.”