The Last Sundancer (44 page)

Kaichen’s voice was a harsh command as
Tamol took the lead.  “Show me.”

Tamol stood upon the place that he had been standing when the raiders had taken Denoa from him.  He pointed out the place where he had sensed another presence but there was nothing to see.  Kaichen and Antuk searched the area as Tamol walked off into the distance dreading what he would find.  He did not have to turn to see that Kaichen trailed after him with Antuk on his heels.

Kaichen was the first to signal an alert to the others.  A group of men stood close to a wall of rock and they made no effort to conceal themselves.  A woman lay upon the ground between them but they were too far away to see her face. 

“My men have come too late.” Tamol recognized the clothing of his men as well as the colors that they wore. 

Before long Kaichen made out the familiar faces of men that had betrayed him, handing him over to Ni’zin without a fight.   But it was not their faces that he searched as he ran forward, heedless of
Tamol’s limping run.  He looked at the dark haired woman that lay bruised and broken upon the ground and then his world stopped moving. 

Denoa gazed up
with her uninjured eye and she felt tears well from the depths of her soul as she looked upon the face of her son. 

Kaichen fell to his knees as he clasped his mother’s hand.  “You are alive.”

Denoa smiled through her tears as she nodded. “Yes, I still live, though the raider that attacked me tried his best to take life from me.  I should be thankful that he preferred to leave me to suffer and die a slow death.”

Kaichen could not help but consider his own circumstances over the last few days.  “Death was too easy.”

Denoa flinched as if Kaichen’s words had been a physical blow.  “Mother, did you know this man that tried to harm you?”

Denoa considered whether to tell her son the truth or keep the man’s identity to herself.  If she identified the raider to Kaichen, he would seek the man out and put himself in great danger.  Denoa did not want to be responsible for more bloodshed.  She had lived through Ni’zin’s attack and she told herself that her scars would fade and her wounds would heal, but she would never recover if she lost Kaichen.

Kaichen took Denoa’s silence as an answer.  He had never seen his mother appear so small and fragile.  Denoa was wrapped in an animal skin parka that was not her own.  Her hair had come undone and the bruises upon her body were plain to see.  Her attacker had not pulled back any of his strength when he used his fist against her. 

“You have found Cloud Bringing Woman by now?  I am relieved that you did not leave her with our people, they would not have been able to protect her
from the raiders.”  Denoa saw flashes of darkness as her vision started to fade away.

Kaichen was frozen in place as he watched his mother’s eyelids flutter and close. 
He checked to make certain that she still lived and sighed with relief.  The pain of her injuries had forced her into an unnatural sleep, but she had not died as he had feared.

“What did she mean when she spoke of
Amara?  You said that you did not see her.” Kaichen’s voice was accusatory as he speared Tamol with his gaze. 

Tamol
had not spoken from the moment that he caught sight of Denoa’s face until now.  Kaichen could see that Tamol was stricken by his assumption that Denoa had died at his brother’s hands. 

“I would not have left her had I known.”
Tamol stumbled back as if he could undo his actions by sheer will alone.

“She is alive,
Tamol.  She will yet live if we protect her and care for her injuries.” Kaichen’s voice was firm as he stood, settling his mother back into place. 

Pele
silently watched the interaction between them and Kaichen acknowledged him with a nod.  The man had obviously taken care of Denoa and it was also clear that Pele had given Denoa his parka to wear.  

His mother shivered despite the warmth and moisture in the air.  She had also been wet to the touch, but Pele had chosen a place of concealment where Denoa could rest untouched by rain.  

“I saw no sign of your wife, but perhaps Denoa was able to see what I could not.  There was a moment when she froze but I thought that it was her dread of the raiders that caused her to know fear.  I tried to protect her and I failed.” Intense grief caused agony to rise up into Tamol’s chest. 

Kaichen was immediately before him. “You could not have known that she still lived. 
The raiders do not show mercy.  I need you to help me search for my wife.  Are you with me?”

Tamol
nodded as Pele also offered his assistance along with the rest of the men present. 

Tamol
took a deep breath and instructed three men to stay behind with Denoa and the rest were to come with him and help search for Amara.  He spared a glance at Denoa and his hands ached to touch her face and see for himself that she would live.  But he knew that she would not welcome his touch and so he forced himself to turn away.  It would have to be enough that she still lived.  

Pele was by his side the moment that
Tamol faltered and he bore his weight silently as his father regained his balance.  Kaichen was already taking the lead as he raced back to the place where Tamol and Denoa had been challenged by Ni’zin. 

In the back of Kaichen’s
mind, his heart ached for Amara.  She had been so close to rescue and yet so far away.  Fear gave Kaichen speed as he ran to the river’s edge. 

He scanned the area for hiding places or crevices.  There was nothing except the river which had continued to swell due to the rain and the rock face that reached into the sky.  There above him was a ledge that he had not noticed before and when Kaichen’s eyes cleared of
rain, he saw a slim figure standing upon a ledge. 

“Amara!” Thunder boomed and the sky rumbled in anger as Kaichen shouted over the storm.   Amara swayed and for a moment Kaichen feared that she would lose her balance. 

“You cannot make the climb.”
Tamol’s voice was the voice of reason as he urged his men to spread out. 

The warriors quickly rushed downstream, flanking the nearest side of the river.  Kaichen shrugged off
Tamol’s hands as the man tried and failed to restrain him.  

“The rock is too slick, you will both fall if you try to climb down.”
Tamol called out to Kaichen. 

Heedless of the danger to himself
, Kaichen did the only thing that he could do.  He plunged into the fast flowing water.  He was immediately submerged by ice cold rain water that propelled him forward.  Kaichen swam with clean strokes that cut through the frothing liquid until he reached the rock wall that kept him from Amara. 

Sound was a thing of the past as thunder and the crash of the water worked together to drown out the world.  Kaichen’s hands were numb with cold but he forced his fingers to grab hold of the rock wall as it sped past.  Rock sliced into his palm but Kaichen managed to grab hold and haul himself out of the water.  

Fear and hope had brought him this far, but he had no way to reach the ledge above him where Amara was trapped.   Kaichen looked up and he saw Amara staring down at him.  Her face was thinner than it had been before and her eyes were shadowed with worry.  Worry for him. 

Kaichen threw himself upward with a mighty heave and he found the slightest indentation in the rock.  His feet were bare and he was thankful for the instinct that had caused him to rip the moccasins from his feet before plunging into the water.  He found a
toehold and used the force of his body to hang above the water, suspended by strength, urgency, skill and good fortune. 

There was no way up but Kaichen remembered the stakes that had once been plunged into the ground by Ni’zin’s men.  He pulled these free of their place upon his back, four stakes had been all that he could manage to carry.   With painstaking slowness Kaichen worked two of the stakes free
even as he shivered from the cold.  Amara’s tear streaked face flashed into his mind’s eye and he let loose a war cry that battled against the fury of the storm.  His voice was inaudible as he used all of his strength to wedge the first stake into the small crevice above, creating a handhold that was secure.   Kaichen did the same with the next hollowed bone and the following. 

He was able to peer over the ledge to catch his first
clear sight of Amara.  She was on her knees on the ledge and her lips moved without sound. 

“You kept your promise.” Amara’s voice was a caress that reached out to Kaichen and grabbed hold of his heart.

Kaichen could not speak. 

The sight of Amara, alive and alert was enough to send him to his knees, but instead he forced his limbs to still their trembling and he reached for the ledge.  Amara helped Kaichen gain his footing
by instinctively shifting her weight.  The water from the storm had prolonged her life, but the cold weather had stolen the warmth from her body.  The ledge was barely wide enough for the two of them to stand on.  However, Kaichen easily stood in front of Amara, pressing her shivering form against the slick rocks so that she would not fall. 

“I thought if it rained that I would be able to jump, but the distance is too far.  The river was much higher three days ago.”  Amara had tried to find the bravery needed to jump but she had not been able to force her limbs to obey.

Three days.  Kaichen knew that most men died after three days without water.  Today was the first day that rain had come and it was the first day that Amara had been able to take in water.

“
I will carry you down from here.” Kaichen looked down at the water below and he knew at a glance that it was much too far of a distance for them to survive should they fall.  The thought of Amara jumping to her death caused his heart to clench.  

He
clenched his teeth together as he felt Amara trembling behind him.  She did not speak, but he knew that she was afraid.  If they fell, it was highly unlikely that they would live.  Kaichen tried not to think of the jagged rocks that wound through the river below them.  Debris was swept along by the rushing water which only increased in intensity as the storm pounded out its fury.

“We have to go now, while there is still time.” Kaichen shifted so that
Amara could climb onto his back.  She wrapped her arms around his neck but her grip was weak. 

Before she could protest, Kaichen used the short length of rope that he carried to secure Amara to his back.  He could not risk her strength failing as he carried her down the steep incline.  Kaichen pressed his lips against Amara’s arm, the only part of her that he could reach and he breathed in the gentle warmth of her skin. 

She was chilled and shaking but when he spoke soothingly, she nodded her acceptance.  It humbled Kaichen that Amara would trust him with her life.  Her first words to him had been full of hope and confidence.  She had faith in him and she believed in him.  Amara saw him as he truly was and she measured him fully with her compelling gaze.  Kaichen wanted to tell her that there was no danger, that they would make it safely to the ground without falling, but he could not form his lips around a lie.  All that was left to him was to try his best and force his fatigued body to heed his commands.  The thought of failure was unbearable. 

“Remember the warrior’s way.” Amara’s whispered words were clear despite the rain and blowing wind. 

Kaichen inhaled and exhaled slowly.  His memories of long ago intruded as he returned to the time when he was a boy, learning from Azin day by day.  In his mind ’s eye, he was with Azin as his weathered voice reached out to him. 

“Have you learned to release fear and doubt so quickly?” Azin watched as Kaich
en balanced upon a rock high upon a narrow spire. 

Those that watched from below held their
breath; they were almost certain that at any moment the young man would fall.  Azin had expected Kaichen to show some sign of fear and doubt as he gave him the instructions that would have set greater men to trembling.

Kaichen had only looked at Azin with eyes that were far wiser than his youth allowed and he had climbed the spire with ease.  Azin had been behind him the entire way.  Once they reached the top, Azin pointed to the rock that had been set by hands greater than
those of man. 

“Look and see that life and death has been set before you.  The man that climbs to the top of the rock and waits there will receive a secret thing, known only to a few.” Azin’s eyes had traveled the length of the spire and then returned to Kaichen. 

Kaichen was silent, watchful and aware of the challenge that Azin set before him. 

“If you climb up and find your place upon the boulder, do not look to me to save you.  I will not hand you a guide rope to brace you should you fall.  You are on your own.  But remember, if you succeed, the reward is a secret thing that you must never share.”

Kaichen grew absolutely still, it was not simply a cessation of movement brought about by limbs that were familiar with the stone that he pressed against, but an absolute stillness of being.   Azin’s voice was with him, but the silence of his mind was greater still.  He recognized the challenge set before him but he also realized that he would not lose face should he decline.  Kaichen lingered for a moment in thought before he nodded once and silently climbed to the top of the spire.  Azin had informed him that the challenge set before him would test his strength, endurance, agility and balance, but mental control was paramount.  He told Kaichen that he would have to release fear and doubt while embracing peace and beauty.