The Last Sundancer (34 page)

Kaichen ducked as a spear was thrust with force into the place where his face had been.  He moved with an easy grace, long practiced under the tutelage of Azin.  His sole thought was to destroy those that challenged
them, offering death or capture should they succeed. 

Even though Kaichen knew that
Tamol and Farren might reject his help, he fought for them and the men that they led.  He quickly dispatched two men, though he noticed that their faces were painted and their ears pierced. 

A man with a pierced nose stood before him, looming in threat.  Kaichen never stopped moving, even as the man shouted his battle cry.  Kaichen was too close to make use of his bow and quiver of arrows. 

He spun on his heel, ducking the massive blow of the man’s war club as he forced his body to turn faster than thought. His open palm connected with the man’s nose.  Bone and blood smeared his palm, but Kaichen barely noticed.  His hunter’s knife was in his hand and though it went against the purpose of the weapon, he used it to defend himself. 

Azin had shared the weak places on the body with Kaichen.  He understood a man’s weaknesses and he knew how to exploit them in battle. 

Azin’s voice was in his head as he stabbed first at the upper chest of his opponent, feeling the carefully honed blade sink to the hilt.  His opponent’s arm was suddenly numb and swung uselessly at his side. 

Kaichen then
aimed for the hollow between the raider’s jaw and neck.  The man did not accept death easily, but the rage that flowed through Kaichen gave him strength. 

He could hear Azin telling him to let go of anger and pride, find the warrior’s way and keep hold of it.  Azin warned him to seek his center while in battle with a worthy opponent.  Kaichen had practiced doing just so, but it had never mattered more than it did now. 

He saw Tamol fall and he roared in fury.  Antuk guarded his back as he made his way toward the two men. 

“Guard
them.” Kaichen’s voice was a dry rasp as Antuk immediately stood in front of Tamol and Farren with his spear held high.

There was no time to see the surprise that registered upon
Tamol and Farren’s faces.  Kaichen instantly began to fight beside Antuk, fighting with all that he had.  As if someone had called a halt with a loud cry the fighting began to slow and die down.  It was obvious now that they had surprised the raiders. 

“They run from us, now that we have outnumbered their band.”
Tamol was the first to speak, though he clenched his teeth in pain as he bent over his injured leg.

“
We have learned of a weakness possessed by our enemy.” Kaichen turned to Tamol and Farren as he included them in the sweep of his hand.  He wiped the blood from his hunting knife upon the body of one of the fallen raiders.  “The raiders will never fight fairly and they flee from a show of strength.”

Amara waited in silence as she listened intently to the sounds around her.  The last of her water had come and gone without the sound of Kaichen’s voice.  She told herself that he was delayed because of their need to make certain that the raiders did not pursue them. Kaichen would return for her.  He must.

When the sound that had first captured her attention came again, Amara tensed in fear.  Kaichen would have called out and let her know that he had returned for her.  But the sound that she heard was furtive and light.  It reminded her of the small river that had flowed beside the village of her birth.  Water.

Amara had been afraid to move from her hiding place before now but the enigmatic pull of thirst gave her courage.  She noticed that the dark sky was heavy with clouds.  But she did not see any sign of rainfall.  The clouds appeared to be moving fast toward her but it was difficult to see in the darkness, without the light of the moon.

The sound that had caused her to come out of
hiding came again.  She knew the fast moving sound of water when she heard it. 

Icy tendrils of fear coursed up and down her spine.  There should not be any water nearby.  If there had been even a still pool the hunters that Kaichen traveled with would have pointed it out. 

Amara pressed her lips together as she leaned against one of the tall boulders.  She told herself that Kaichen had left her in a place of protection.  But she did not feel safe.  The vast loneliness of the land around her was enough reason to tremble in dread.

Suddenly,
the sound of thunderous pounding driven by nature’s fury drowned out all thought and reason.  One glance around the large boulders that offered their protection caused Amara’s heart to cease beating for one unending moment.

The white froth drifting toward her moved like a living, breathing being of the night.  As the water coursed toward her she knew for a certainty that death had finally found her and she would never be able to outr
un its vengeful call.

Amara’s breath came in sharp gasps burdened with the weight of fear.  Climb.
She had to reach higher ground.  As a woman of the canyons, spires and sand, she knew how to climb.  The highest place that she could make out in the darkness seemed much too far away.  The water did not appear to flow with any great height, but the speed with which it grew near told a far different story.

Flash floods had killed people that she knew and loved more times than she could count.  How often had her mother warned her to seek high ground when the dark thunderclouds appeared heavy in the sky? 

Amara almost reached down for her waterskin as she stumbled forward in the darkness.  The urge to laugh at her foolishness was strong.  Panic engulfed her and she realized that her fear was the only reason she would reach down to lift her waterskin from the ground instead of using the time left to run for safety. 

Amara put all her will behind her flight.  She forced the fear inside of her to grow still and calm.  If death came for her then it would not take her willingly.  She would fight. 

It was the secrets of the warrior’s way that brought calmness to her mind.  Kaichen had prepared her for this very moment though he could not have known it.

Amara vowed that she would liv
e to see him again and she would tell him what she had discovered in the desperate moments between life and death. 

The water swirled around her feet as she stumbled and righted herself, only to fall again.  Brave words coursed through her mind, she heard the whisper of things that were
indeed great feats of the mind, nothing but meaningless dreams.   The water was up to her knees by the time she reached the first spire of rock.  Fear engulfed her as she heard the terrified screams of animals of the night.  It was a fight for the right to live. 

Just as she reached up to grab the first handhold that would pull her to safety a strange sense of weightlessness came over her.  The water was up to her waist, lifting her from her feet with ease as it rushed along, heedless of her fear and despair.  Kaichen’s words came back to her as she lost her grip and water filled her open mouth. 

“Do not fight the desert, it is a battle that cannot be won.”

“Twice you have lost time.” Antuk’s voice was filled with irony as he clicked his tongue and leaned over Kaichen’s prone form.  “I would lift you up, but they dropped you here for a reason.”

Kaichen blinked his eyes again and again as Antuk’s words rang within his mind.  Pain seared the back of his skull and he winced as Antuk continued speaking.

“They told me to remain with
Tamol and Farren, but I told them I am your friend. I remain at your side.” Antuk chuckled as Kaichen tried to raise his head.  “I would not do that if I were you.”

“Antuk?” Kaichen’s voice was a dry rasp that was almost inaudible. When Antuk raised his eyebrows in question Kaichen forced words forth. “Cease speaking.”

Kaichen took stock of his surroundings.  His mind was foggy.  As he sat up, despite the pain in his head and the spinning ground, he forced himself to remember where he was.  The last thing that he remembered clearly was traveling with Antuk in search of Amara. Before he could brace for an attack the remaining raiders had come upon them, taking them unaware.  

If the blow to his head had not rendered him senseless Kaichen was certain that he would have fought his way free.

“What happened to Tamol and Farren? Were they all killed?” Kaichen felt his fingers come away from his head and he knew without looking that he would find blood upon his hand. 

Silence greeted
him and Kaichen spun his head around before he could think better of it.  Pain lanced through his skull and he fell back with a groan as Antuk simply stared at him without speaking.  Kaichen allowed the darkness to take him even as he cursed himself for asking Antuk to cease talking.

“Antuk, tell me what happened to the others.” Kaichen’s garbled words were forced from dry lips. 
Water.  He needed water more than he needed his next breath.

Antuk handed him a
n almost empty waterskin and then scratched his head.  “Tamol and his men let the raiders take us.”

Kaichen tried to envision such a thing. 
Tamol had remained behind as Farren left with those of his band. It had been his intention to burn an offering in thanksgiving for the lives that had been saved. Why then, would he allow Kaichen and Antuk to be taken by the raiders?

Kaichen’s jaw ached as he checked his body for injury.  H
e tested the plains of his face with his fingertips, relieved to find that nothing had been broken.

For the first time he was able to see that they were sheltered by the base of a wall of rock.  Thunderclouds, lightening and rain fought battles in the sky far into the distance. 
Amara.

“How long have we been in this place?” Kaichen pressed his teeth together and opened and closed his mouth as he took in his other injuries.

Scrapes, bruises and scratches ran up and down his body.  The injury done to his head was by far the most troublesome. 

“Two days.” Antuk appeared unconcerned as he studied the sky and then glanced behind him.  “The dark man approaches.”

Kaichen growled low in his throat as he lifted his head and glared at the raider that had gotten the best of them.  He refused to think of the reasons why the man had not killed them outright.

Kaichen tried to stand and failed. 

The man crouched before him and grabbed hold of Kaichen by the hair, jerking him to a sitting position.  Despite the pain Kaichen remained silent.  He understood that the man baited him with his actions in the same way that other men looked for fish in a river. 

“
Are you the man that killed my brother?” The man’s question appeared merely curious but there was a threat hidden within his tone.  “Are you the one that slaughtered my men when they brought back the spoils of their journey?”

Antuk had called the man dark and Kaichen could see his friend’s reasoning.  The raider still wore the dark war paint that slashed in angry lines across his face.

The raider struck before Kaichen
saw the blow coming.  His fist knocked Kaichen’s head back on his shoulders and Kaichen grunted as he took the brunt of the blow.  Antuk moved to stand but Kaichen placed his hand upon his friend’s shoulder.  The raider was looking for a reason to harm Kaichen and he would not hesitate to kill Antuk as Kaichen watched. 

“Sakyma.” Kaichen spoke the name of his father’s father.  His grandfather. 

The raider crouched low so that he was eye to eye with Kaichen.  “So you do not fear the dead?  Perhaps you wish to join them?”

Kaichen did not turn his gaze away
as the man stared at him without speaking.   He sensed that he would invite sudden death if he showed even a hint of fear. He knew with sudden certainty that the man before him grew powerful when others quaked in his presence.  Rage bloomed anew inside of Kaichen’s body. 

“Why have you brought
us here?” Kaichen’s teeth were clenched in anger.

“You
do not know me, but my brothers and I know you.” The gruesome smile that appeared on the man’s face was terrible to behold.  “Those that lead our band wish to know more about the power that you wield.  If they find your power worthy then they will make use of it.”

The raider
’s silence let him know that in his eyes Kaichen and Antuk’s lives had already been forfeit.

It was evident in his tone and in his threatening stance.  Never once had
the raider removed his hand from his hunting knife.  Kaichen also caught sight of two men that stood as guards nearby.

Kaichen did not wish to invite death, but he worried more for Antuk and the others than for himself.

He quickly took stock of their surroundings.  They could not have traveled very far.  Discolored rocks, long faded by the sun’s light were all around them.

The raiders
took shelter in the shady places amongst the sheltering rocks, but Antuk and Kaichen had been staked out in the open where they could be watched.