The Last Sundancer (17 page)

He kept his eyes averted from the man that hunted him.  It was said that a true hunter of the desert plains and canyons could feel the stare of a frightened animal.  Kaichen believed this to be true. 

How many times had he felt unseen eyes upon him before he spotted the animal that would come to the call of his spear or arrow?  More times than he could count.  Kaichen took quick glances at his opponent so that he did not lose sight of him, but he did not allow his eyes to linger.

The man before him was a formidable enemy.  His long black hair hung almost to his waist in a single tale brought forth by a patch of hair at the crown of his head.  The rest of his head was shaved close to the scalp in a way that Kaichen had never seen before.  

The man’s ears were pierced through and large flat stones had been placed in both holes.  His chest was bare and he wore a loincloth and knee high foot coverings.  Kaichen knew at a glance that the man had returned to the place of ambush and retrieved his weapons.  He would have also taken the waterskins of his fallen companions. 

They were thirsty beyond measure, but this man had benefited from the deaths of men that he called brothers.   The danger of returning to the area where they had saved Amara was too great to risk.  Yet, this man dared. 

Azin’s first rule of defeating the enemy came back to Kaichen. 

“Never leave your enemy alive.  A vengeful enemy is worse than a grassland rattling snake when its resting place has been trampled upon.” Azin’s wise face came to mind for a moment and Kaichen reached for a sense of calm. 

He had not been given a choice in the matter of the warrior’s life or death.  At the time, he had only considered saving Amara’s life and getting safely away. 

Only now as he faced his enemy anew did he realize that he should have found a way to track down the man that in turn hunted them.   Amara had quietly told him that she would never be safe.  He remembered her words clearly.

“The warrior that you injured will not cease until he has kept his promise to his leader. He will find me, of this there is no doubt.”  Such utterly desperate words from a woman with more courage than many could lay claim to in one lifetime. 

In that moment
, he would have done anything to wipe away the look of fear from Amara’s wide eyes.  If he lived, he swore that he would never again miss an opportunity to fill his wife’s eyes with gladness.

Kaichen became like the sand upon the ground.  He was completely still, utterly quiet.  He listened as the man bellowed for a time in frustration, though he could not understand his words.   He waited as his enemy searched the darkness around them and then picked up Kaichen’s weapons and left. 

Kaichen did not move.   He knew the man’s actions to be a tactic of a hunter.  He was not so easily fooled though the man seemed to think that he had the upper hand.   Kaichen had one advantage.  This land was known to him. 

He was his father’s son and before his
father walked upon the land, his ancestors walked before him. His enemy walked with bold steps as if he possessed the very ground beneath his feet, as if he owned the land that no man could claim for himself.

Kaichen could only hope that Antuk would not race to his aid.  His friend was loyal to a fault and he would not hesitate to rush to Kaichen’s aid.  

Kaichen wanted Antuk to remain silent and hidden.  He was relieved to find that after Amara’s one shrill scream, she had remained silent. 

He could only hope that his companions continued to use guile and stealth to re
main hidden from their enemy.  Kaichen studied the ground where the warrior sat as he waited for his prey to show himself.   The man had silently fallen to his knees directly in front of him and he waited without motion or sound. 

Amara felt her palms burn as she slid and clawed her way to the bottom of the high bluff where she had seen the attack upon Kaichen.   Her scream had been enough to warn him of the threat.   It was only by chance that she saw the injured warrior that pursued them as he stepped out into the open.  

Ignoring her burning palms and the way that the rocks bit into her flesh
, Amara ran toward Antuk.  She heard the pounding of feet and for a moment, she thought that the worst had happened and that their enemy had killed Kaichen.   When she saw Antuk running toward her, relief coursed through her body. 

“The warrior that you injured is trying to harm Kaichen.” Amara pointed toward the place where she had last seen Kaichen. 

“Go hide.” Antuk spoke roughly, as he clasped her shoulders and then ran off in the direction that Amara had indicated. 

It was only as he disappeared into the darkness of the night that Amara remembered that Antuk could not have possibly understood her words, uttered in a foreign language.  It was obvious from the way that he had urged her to run that he expected her to seek a place of refuge until the battle was over. 

Amara started to do just as he had directed and then she heard the first battle cry.  She raced toward the sound even as she considered what chance Kaichen had of fighting a well-armed warrior.  Her breath came in ragged gasps from her hurried journey through the rocky canyon.  She had been shocked to feel her feet fly out from beneath her body as she came down into a hidden pool.  

Water had sluiced over her body, causing her to gasp in shock. 
Life-giving water bubbled up from the ground in a place of concealment.   Even though Amara feared for her life as well as the lives of her companions she could not stop her body’s visceral response to water.

She swallowed convulsively before she stood in the small pool and clawed her way free.  She stumbled onward, heading toward the area where Kaichen faced the enemy warrior.

She slowed as she approached the place where their enemy hid.   She feared that both men could hear the harsh sound of her breathing. 

After a time,
her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she was able to see the outline of two men.  One man knelt like a spider behind the other as he crouched with coiled energy, ready to spring from his hiding place.   Amara could not tell which man was friend and which was foe.

Kaichen was in danger because he had saved her life without knowing anything other than th
at she was a woman in danger.  Amara remembered the moment before Kaichen had ambushed the warriors that held her captive.

During that one endless moment she looked up at the sun and felt a presence there just as surely as if her eyes could see the image of a man looking down at her.  Kaichen had been that man, though she did not know it.   He had willed strength into her, just as she willed strength into him now. 

Amara stared at the unmoving figures and she knew that one or both men would die.   She would gladly take the life of the lead warrior but she was not skilled with a weapon of any sort.   She knew that her strength was no match to the raw power of a mighty warrior.  Yet, she refused to be the cause of Kaichen’s death.  

With a shaky
exhalation of breath that caused her entire body to tremble, Amara stepped into the moonlight.

Kaichen had never seen a more beautiful sight than the woman that appeared before him wreathed by moonlight.  Water trickled over her glistening skin, and her long black hair hung over breasts that stood out proudly in the eerie light.

S
he was First Woman recreated.  Her waist tapered in only to blossom at the swell of her hips and his eyes traveled over her in an instant as water pooled at her feet.

Kaichen forced himself to remain still as his ene
my sucked in his breath and sprang forward in eager anticipation.  He saw Amara tremble violently as the raider stood before her like a great beast of the land, finding amusement in the weakness of his prey.

Amara
shook from head to toe but she did not run.  Her lips parted and Kaichen saw the flash of white teeth as she sneered at the man before her.  His brutal grasp brought a flush of pain to her face.

“I will go with you.” Amara spoke loudly so that Kaichen and Antuk could
hear her.

She knew that Kaichen was close by and she would
not see him sacrifice his life for her.  The man sneered and for a moment, she thought that he might strike her.  But a sound from the pine-scented forest stole his attention.

“The woman is mine.” Gazhin spoke loudl
y, staking his claim.  He was certain that the man he hunted was hiding nearby. 

Amara shuddered as the guttural sound of the man’s words slid over her. She took in his words t
hough her ears rejected them.  She understood the possessive gleam in his eye as he looked at her. He felt as if he had already won.

She would not fight him.  She no longer had the will to fight, not if it meant
sacrificing Kaichen and Antuk. Kaichen had saved her when she could not save herself and she thought perhaps that it was enough. It was enough.  There would be no more bloodshed, no more hiding, no more loss of those that she called friend.

It was too late to share her thoughts with Kaichen. 
However, in her heart she knew with a certainty that she had held in her hands the precious chance of a life spent with a man that she could have loved fully and completely.

“Come out!  Show yourself!
” Gazhin did not release his hold on the woman, but he turned to face the shadows. 

All was quiet.

“Do not come out.” Amara’s words were meant for Kaichen.

She did not look at the place where he crouched.  She did not dare give away his hiding place
, not even with the direction of her gaze.  If Kaichen understood the man’s words then honor would demand that he show himself.  But Kaichen could not know, he had no way to possibly comprehend that their enemy would not fight fairly.

As the man slid his hand
over Amara’s arm, she cringed.  He grasped her firmly by the neck and closed his hand into a rock hard fist.  Amara felt herself thrash against the strangling hold, though she had promised herself that she would not fight when Kaichen’s life was in danger.

The warrior shook off her attempts to claw at his face.  She saw bla
ck stars as she gasped for life-giving air and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the warrior lips tilt into a cruel grimace that spoke of his pleasure over her suffering.

Kaichen knew that he ran toward his own death but he could not stop himself.  It was for this reason that his enemy worked to flush him from his hiding place, but even with this knowledge, Kaichen was determined to die fighting.   He could not allow Amara to suffer, though he knew true humility of spirit as she offered herself to the man that she feared above all. 

“I would have given you to my leader as a gift. 
Yet, you have shown your true weakness and I will kill you now just as I killed your mother.” Gazhin squeezed his hand around the woman’s throat even as her eyes widened in understanding. 

He had spoken in her
language so that he could be certain she understood his words as she entered the world of darkness forever. 

Kaichen flew toward his enemy, hoping that surprise would give him the advantage. 
The warrior sensed his presence just as Kaichen released his hunting knife sending it hurling through the air.  Amara felt the wind created by the spinning knife as it flew past her face. 

She heard the warrior that held her howl as the knife
entered the flesh of his arm.  Kaichen ran forward without giving his opponent a chance to rally and he hit the man as hard as he could, landing a glancing blow to his midsection.  Amara was flung aside as the warrior released her.   

A knife flashed as Gahzin stabbed through the air, aiming for Kaichen’s exposed back.  Amara clamped her hands over her mouth in an effort to hold back her scream. 
Kaichen rolled away from the raider, but he took his blade with him, causing an enraged shriek to bellow forth from his opponent. 

Antuk’s war cry split the air, causing all eyes to turn his way.  Kaichen held up a warning hand as his friend ran forward with his short spear raised. 

“You are outmatched and outnumbered.  You are injured and weak.” Kaichen knew by the look in the warrior’s eyes that he understood his words.  “You are defeated.”

He did not hope to reason with the enraged
warrior, the man’s eyes spoke of his hatred and his thirst for vengeance.  Just as he expected, the warrior charged forward again and this time Kaichen did not hold back as he whirled toward his opponent, stepping into the space of the warrior and thrusting his knife toward his heart. 

The raider grunted as Kaichen’s knife entered his heart.  Kaichen stepped back, pulling the blade free and accepting the slash of the man’s knife as it blazed a fiery trail across his torso. 
The raider took two steps before he fell to the ground, releasing his life’s blood in an ever-widening circle.

Kaichen
immediately knelt beside his wife, clasping Amara to his chest in relief.  

She trembled in his arms like a leaf flailing in the wind and without
thinking, he pressed his lips to the top of her head. Suddenly, he realized that Amara was soaking wet and he remembered the water that had pooled at her feet.