The Secret Keeper’s Voice

As told by Tömör of Tarbagatai

There are days you remember on the steppe, and then there are days you laugh about for generations. The day Khasar the Fearsome—our tribe’s greatest warrior and a man who would sooner chew rocks than crack a smile—marched back to the village stark naked, belting out a tone-deaf tune, falls squarely in the latter.

But let me give you some context, because without it, you won’t fully appreciate the artistry of this prank. Khasar, the man in question, is a creature of pure intensity. He’s the kind of warrior who could scare a storm off course just by glaring at it. And recently, he’d taken it upon himself to teach a “lesson” to a young girl named Ujin—our best friend and the sister of Saran of Torguud, a woman with a penchant for mischief and the voice-mimicking skills of a trickster fox.