Path of the Tiger, стр. 468

‘Ah, and now the questions begin. As it should be, as it should be!’

‘You keep saying that, but this is, this is bloody madness!’ William spluttered, almost frothing at the mouth. ‘This is absolute bloody insanity!’

A sympathetic light glowed in the man’s eyes.

‘It must seem like that to you. I understand, believe me, I do.’

William was starting to feel immensely frustrated with all the vagueness. He could feel his heartbeat hammering in his ears and temples, and black spots began to pool and swirl around the edges of his vision.

‘Please, please, just answer my question, guru ji. Who are you? Who are you people?!’

‘There is who I am now, and who I was in my former life, which ended a long, long time ago … longer ago than you could possibly believe. I will tell you my story nonetheless. I suspect that you will not believe any of it at first, but in time you surely will, when you understand a few more things about who I am, who my friends are, and who you are.

Now, it might not seem like it when you look at me, and I have to admit that this is something that I am deeply ashamed of, but once, a long, long time ago, I was a man of violence. A man of extreme violence. I fought, I killed, I slaughtered other men. I revelled in it, and what is more, I was worshipped for it.’ The man paused here to sigh regretfully and shake his head slowly. ‘I am glad that that old me is long dead, long buried,’ he murmured.

‘You were a soldier? A soldier for who? And what did you do? Did you desert your regiment, like I did? Or were you court-martialled?’

‘No, William. Well, yes, I was a soldier first, when I was a young man like yourself. Then, after a few years, I became a war-chieftain of my tribe. I fought and conquered other tribes. Then we were defeated by a more powerful foe, and I became a slave. After that, I became a gladiator.’

‘A … gladiator? Do you mean a gladiator ay ancient Rome? Surely you cannae mean tha’…’

‘Oh yes, that is exactly what I mean, young cub,’ the man answered with an eerie smile. ‘Yes, “the Beast of the North” is what they once called me, in that awful Colosseum, and other arenas. A vile moniker that was, and I do not wish to ever hear it again. And there were many other things that I became after that, before I found the Way of the Five Flames … none of which I am proud of.’

‘Tha’s quite a name, tha’, “the Beast ay the North”,’ William murmured, half in awe, half suspicious. ‘Well then, what’s your real name? I am William Gisborne, former private ay the 17^th Lancers ay Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Now tell me guru ji, who are you?’

The man chuckled softly, and then looked up at William with a potent fire writhing and crackling in his eyes.

‘Once upon a time,’ he whispered, ‘a very, very long time ago, I was called … Viridovix.’