The Last Sundancer (35 page)

The hope of escape quickly faded.  Fatigue and quiet despair battered Kaichen’s already pounding head.  

Antuk had long believed in the Sundancer and all the stories surrounding Kaichen’s father. His friend had loyally joined him in his quest, but Kaichen would not be able to live with himself if Antuk died because of his false beliefs.

Kaichen held his breath as the raider
considered Antuk for a moment and then easily dismissed him at a glance.  He did not want Antuk to draw attention to himself.

“When our leaders return, you
r life’s blood will stain the ground.” The raider peered into Kaichen’s eyes before moving away.

E
ach footstep held a threat.  Kaichen could see that the man’s eyes burned with hatred and rage.  His hands were clenched into fists.  He wanted Kaichen to suffer. 

“I am not afraid of death.” Kaichen’
s voice held contempt for the man that taunted him. 

“Death? What is death to
a man that does not fear it?  Death is too easy.  I will not allow you to die.  I will make you watch as I raid your village and take captive those that are too weak to fight.  I will make you watch while I decimate the place that your band calls home and then I will burn it to the ground.” Before Kaichen could respond the man turned and walked away. 

Kaichen’s chest ached with his inability to break free of the bonds that held him. 
He wondered how Amara would survive if he did not return for her. The overwhelming need to protect his wife caused him to struggle against the bonds holding him in place.   Antuk’s voice forced him to stop thinking and listen.

“Did you look into his eyes
?” Antuk’s voice was a low murmur. 

Kaichen nodded in response and then wished that he had remained still as his head pounded with even more force.  His stomach rolled and he fought the sickness that would drain him of nourishment and water. 

“He lost his soul long ago. Does it remind you of anyone?” Antuk shook his head as if he struggled with some difficult notion.

Kaichen did not answer.  There was no need. 

Though his grandfather had died long ago, he remembered everything about the man.  In truth, he would never forget. 

The raider
’s eyes held the same blank stare that had once belonged to his grandfather.  The raider had already traveled well beyond the place where mercy and kindness dwelled.  He had long since lost his hold on that which made him a man of their kind and he would not turn back from his vow to decimate their way of life, destroying all that they valued. 

Kaichen did not need to look at Antuk to know
his thoughts.  Antuk did not know fear, he knew only hope and he was firm in his belief that Kaichen was the last hope for his people. 

In that moment
, Kaichen wished that it was true. 

He watched as his friend settled nearby but even the darkness did not hide the white flash of Antuk’s teeth or the smile that lit his face.  Kaichen closed his eyes and willed strength into his tired limbs and with each breath he thought of the one which held his heart in her delicate hands.  Amara. 

Tamol
was torn between the knowledge that the raiders would kill Kaichen and his long held stance of living for himself.  It was true that Kaichen was the son of his friend and the young man had come to the aid of their men, without thought for himself.  But risking the lives of his men now as they searched for Kaichen and Antuk was foolhardy.  

“I could wash my hands of K
aichen and never look back.  He has chosen his path and I have chosen mine.” Tamol sighed heavily.  Farren was not here to disagree with him.  Farren did not even know that Kaichen and Antuk had been taken by the raiders.  He had gone on ahead with those of his band, the men were eager to return home and with food that would see them through the time of long cold.  Tamol and his men had remained behind to bury those that had fallen during their battle with the raiders.

Pele looked at his father knowingly.  After the unexpected attack on their band, Pele’s view of Kaichen had been forever changed.

“He stood with us when most men would have looked the other way.” Pele’s words remained with Tamol, even now. 

Tamol
respected Kaichen’s actions but he could not say the same for himself.  What use was a burnt offering if he did not express his thanksgiving with his own steps?

Kaichen sought the impossible. He wanted the backing of
Tamol and Farren when they had always stood apart, as three bands instead of one. He wanted to blame Denoa, but he knew that Azin had raised Kaichen from the time that he was a boy scarred in mind and soul until now.  

“
Father, I will stand with you.” Pele offered his support. He offered to help his father rescue the man that had once defeated him before his entire band.

“Have you changed so much, my son?” Tamol did not question his son’s willingness to stand with him, but
he was surprised over Pele’s change of heart.

“Life has a way of humbling a man down to the belly of the world.  Only a fool turns away from the lessons that life seeks to teach.” Pele’s voice was solemn
as his father nodded in understanding. 

His chest swelled with pride in the son of his hearth.  His children were the reason that he lived, though he often wondered if they knew how he felt. “I am proud to name you a son of my hearth, Pele.”

Pele placed one fist over his heart and his father knew that he heard him.  Tamol noticed that the other men gave halfhearted grunts, though some remained silent.    

If
not for Kaichen’s timely return they would not have lived through the onslaught brought on by the raiders.

Tamol
did not have to know the raiders to imagine that they kept women as captives until they were of no more use.  He did not have to see their resting place to know that those who lived amongst them were treated no better than the most lowly animal. 

He told himself that he did not care.  He had nothing to win and everything to lose if he
challenged the raiders. 

He should not have been surprised that t
he remaining raiders had doubled back and taken Kaichen and Antuk unaware. “What will I benefit if I interfere?  Kaichen is not long for this world no matter if I stand against the raiders or not.  His mother’s people are on the cusp of starvation.  The game has already been lost, they simply do not know it yet.” Tamol raised a clay pipe to his lips and inhaled the fragrant grasses.  He inhaled and exhaled sharply, unable to catch his breath as he choked. 

Denoa’s angry eyes flashed into his mind and he looked over his shoulder
to see his son standing behind him.  Watching.  Waiting to see the path that his father would choose. 

When only shadows danced outside of the fire’s light
Tamol breathed deeply.  Easily.  Denoa would not blame him for the loss of her son but she would blame herself. 

Why did he wish to spare her that singular pain
of a mother’s grief?  She had turned her gaze away from him when he arrived willing to help her band survive another season of cold.  Now she would lose her son.

The men around him
were ready to leave.  They were eager to return to their women and the warm resting places of their high cliffs. 

Guilt surged to the fore as
Tamol looked at the men that he led.  He had never been plagued with guilt before, not when he had taken the place of leader over the scattered remnants of his people and not when he had been forced to make hard decisions over seasons and time. 

Why then should he feel guilt now?  He owed Denoa nothing.  She would not look his way if he crawled on his knees and begged. 

But Kaichen…Tamol knew that he would never forget the sight of Kaichen and the other warriors joining the battle against the raiders.  They had risked their lives for men that would not stand with them when harm came their way. 

“He was a fool.”
Tamol reasoned, but his words felt false on his tongue.  

In truth, Kaichen had acted with honor, protecting those
that would not have been able to protect themselves.  Tamol inhaled the smoke from his pipe and hardened his heart against Kaichen.  Shale’s son was not his concern.  He would not weaken in his resolve to return to the place where his band rested and wait out the coming cold season.  He heard his son Pele sigh heavily as he stood ready to walk at his father’s side.  

In an instant,
Denoa knew that something had gone terribly wrong.  The moment that their hunters returned without Kaichen, her breath caught in her chest.  Where was her son?  Where was the woman that he had claimed as his wife?

Her questions were answered with
sidelong glances and shakes of the head.  She felt disappointment rise up from her breast as she looked at the men of her band.  She saw what Shale must have seen so many seasons ago.  Men that could fight and would fight if they were pressed, but they were not warriors.  Men that could protect themselves if they stepped forward, away from the footsteps of a hunter and into the path that was walked solely by warriors.

“You left my son to be taken as a captive to the raiders that plague our people?” Denoa tried to keep the anger and frustration out of her voice as she addressed Urri. 

He was the most seasoned hunter of their band and it was to him that the other men looked for direction.

Urri’s craggy face was grim as he looked Denoa in the eye. “Your son was felled by one of the enemy raiders. 
Tamol would not aid him and we were outnumbered.  What more could we do?”

Denoa allowed the silence to reign for a moment as the rest of her band looked on.  There were no secrets between them and she would not have asked the others to turn away.  She did not hear remorse in Urri’s tone of voice and she did not see shame.  It was the lack of these emotions that caused the anger inside of Denoa to grow.

“I expect nothing of Tamol and Farren, they are not of our band, and they broke from us long ago.” Denoa looked at the faces of the men that had hunted at her son’s side and no doubt fought alongside him as well. “But you, I expected more from you, the men of my band.  You have turned your backs on my son and yet that is not your greatest shame.  Your greatest shame is that you have turned your backs on the last hope of our people.  You have pushed us even closer to death.  When you look at the faces of your women and children, remember your failure.  When you divide the meat from the buffalo hunt that was led by Kaichen, Tamol and Farren, remember the choice that you have made.  You have betrayed your own band with your actions.” Denoa trembled with barely contained fury. 

Urri’s face blanched at her dire pronunciation and Denoa remembered that she had once been known for the allure of her voice.  Did he take her words to be a warning born of prophecy? Good. 

Denoa had no claim upon power and yet she believed that some greater force watched over the world.  She felt no compassion for those of her band that walked without honor. 

Shale
would have never tolerated weak men that made excuses for their behavior, he said that such a man was not fit to live.  Denoa had always thought that his judgment on such matters was harsh, but no more. 

“We brought back as much meat as we were able to carry.  This will see us through the cold season and our band will survive.” Urri spoke proudly as if their efforts had not been in vain, despite Denoa’s contempt.

“Yes.  You have been successful on your hunt.  You are fearless hunters.  But what of the time after the long cold has gone and the ground grows soft once more?  What will we feed our children then, when the time of long cold comes to an end and our lands begin to flood?  You have food enough for three moons, perhaps four.  But what of our future?  Have you simply tossed it aside?” Denoa’s voice shook with barely suppressed fury. 

“What do you want from us Denoa? You ask for much without a guarantee for anything.” Urri’s words caused a murmur to rise up from their band.

Denoa did not have to look to see that her band was now divided.  She was their Beloved Woman, she was the bringer of peace for her band and she always had been. 

Some believed in
her son and the blessing that he could bestow upon their people and some did not.  But Urri was eager to show their band that he was indeed brave and fearless. 

“What do I want?” Denoa’s
voice was full of scathing fury as she repeated Urri’s question. “I want our people to replace fear with hope.  I want our band to fight for their survival together, instead of standing forever apart.  I was wrong to ask you to place your hope in one man.  You should place your hope in the strength of your own hands and the bond of blood that makes us one band.”

Denoa stared into the faces of those around her.  She saw that they were undecided and she closed her eyes as she tried to contain her hurt and anger.  There was no outlet for it; shouting to the heavens would not bring back her son and his wife. 
Amara.