The Last Sundancer (48 page)

Slowly, one by one, the men decided for themselves which way they would go.  A handful of men decided to return to the high cliffs that they called home. 
Pele reluctantly joined them at his father’s behest.  The men refused to fight at the side of people that were not joined to them by blood or vow.  Tamol refused to risk Pele’s life and he silently watched as his son disappeared from sight.  The majority of Tamol’s men stood with their leader and their eyes were bright with determination. 

Kaichen glanced at the group of men that had decided to
join his fight against their common enemy and while he was not under the illusion that they would become brothers, the first hand of friendship had been extended and they were at least tentative allies. 

Ni’zin looked back at the men, women and children that he had taken captive.  Some of the women were openly weeping as their hands were lashed together and secured.  The children were confused and frightened by the sight of men riding upon horses as they charged into their small village. 

The raiders that walked with Ni’zin were full of boasting and pride as they recounted the ease with which they had taken the village. 

The men that had fought against the raiders were rounded up and ready for the slaughter.  Ni’zin had not expected any resistance and he was both surprised and irritated by the brief show of spirit displayed by the men of the village. 

He relished the thought of marching the people back to the lands that he had claimed for himself.   Soon he would have willing slaves eager to do his bidding.  By keeping the women and children alive, he had all but ensured the compliance of their husbands, fathers and sons. 

“When will I be given my choice of the women?” One of the men boldly questioned Ni’zin only to draw back slightly when their leader turned his cold, soulless eyes upon him. 

“Soon.” Ni’zin’s voice was full of promise.  “First, we will march the captives back to our village and then you will have your pick of the women before you.”

Ni’zin felt a since of doubt that vied for his attention even as he ordered his men to make ready.   He ignored the instinctive reasoning that told him that the taking of this village had been too easy. 

It was true that the men had tried to stand as warriors, even going so far as to engage his men in battle.  But where were their old ones and the very young? And why did it seem almost as if the people had expected them?

Ni’zin did not have an answer to the many questions plaguing him and as the sun moved overhead he realized that there was little time left to make his first conquest more certain. 

“Bring one of the men to me.  I will make a demonstration out of him, so that the others will know what to expect.” Ni’zin’s order was met with a round of gruesome smiles from his warriors.  The men were covered in war paint much like their leader.  Ni’zin alone wore the identifying stripes of black over the right side of his face, neck and chest.   He wore only a breechcloth and well made moccasins upon his feet.

Two warriors carried one man forward while securing his hands behind his back.  The man’s feet dragged behind him as he grunted from the blows that rained down upon him.  The men picked him up only to throw him at Ni’zin’s feet. 

“What is your name?” Ni’zin spat upon the ground as he spoke in the tongue of the harvesters.

“I am Urri.” The man looked him directly in the eye though his body shook in fear.  Ni’zin nodded as he walked around the kneeling man. 

“Wrong answer!” Ni’zin shouted as he whirled and
slapped the man across the face.  “What is your name?”

The man’s body jerked from the punishing blow and he struggled to remain upright.  

“Hold him.” Ni’zin enjoyed the flow of power and the rising crescendo of weeping that besieged the women. “You are nothing more than a slave.”

The man raised his head as if to defy Ni’zin’s proclamation and Ni’zin took that moment to withdraw his hunting knife.  The edge of the blade was sharp and untouched by blood or gore. 

“I am Ni’zin. Hear me!” Ni’zin stepped forward so that all could see him as he spoke. “We were once strong, we were once a great people that thrived under the hand of my father.  I will restore my people to their rightful place and you are now the possession of a great man.  I will ask you once more to tell me your name and I will not ask you again.”

Ni’zin turned his attention back to the man before him and he saw that the man’s eyes were now appropriately lowered to the ground at his feet. 

“Tell me, weakling, harvester of the ground, what is your name?” Ni’zin’s face was so close to the other man that he could smell the stink of the harvester’s sweat.  

“Slave.” Urri shook with anger and fury as the admission was ripped from his throat, urged forward by fear.  

In the silence of his mind, he heard the weeping of his people and he felt only regret in his heart.  Denoa had been right all along.  They were ill prepared for the ferocity with which the raiders had fought. 

They were ripe for the plucking as they tried to battle against a much large
r force.  Urri turned his face away from the man called Ni’zin only to stare into the defeated eyes of his wife and children. 

Denoa had tried to warn them of the dire fate awaiting them.  Urri’s wife and children looked to him for protection and strength and now they saw things as they truly were.  He was weak, he was powerless and he could not protect what he had claimed as his own. 

Ni’zin’s men cheered loudly, as the people openly wept.  No one could withstand the power of the raiders.  Ni’zin had proven himself to his men once and for all.  No one would challenge the great warrior before them.  Their dark gods had been with them and soon, they would all reap the benefits of this great day.

“By now our people have already been taken.” Denoa spoke quietly to her son as they walked. 

Tamol
’s men scouted ahead as they searched for signs of danger or ambush.  Kaichen’s jaw ticked as he turned to look down at his mother.  She had insisted on walking on her own, though he had offered to pull her along on a makeshift carrier. 

“It is too late for guilt.  I did what I could for our people
and if they heeded my warning then they took shelter before it was too late.” Denoa’s voice trembled though she tried to hide her fear and upset.

“The rock cavern
that serves as the food cache over the warm season is a good place to take shelter.  We will circle around the village and check that area first.” Kaichen did not say it, but if there were survivors of the raid, they would be found amongst the rock caverns.

“Yes.” The simple word was tinged with sadness and Kaichen caught his mother’s arm.  Her eyes widened in surprise at his touch and the consideration that she saw upon his face.

Denoa could not find the words to question her son but she sensed a difference in the way that he viewed her.  No longer did hatred and anger stir within his dark gaze.  No longer did he look through her as if she was not standing directly before him.  The regard that he showed for her health and wellbeing brought tears to her eyes and Denoa tilted her head back so that the tears would not fall. 

Kaichen felt his mother tremble and he instinctively stepped closer to her.  Amara shadowed Kaichen’s every footstep and he was
taken aback by the depth of tenderness that he felt toward his wife.   She had shown a spirit of bravery and strength even when all hope had been lost. 

Her belief that he would come for her had never
wavered.  Kaichen was humbled by Amara’s trust in him and he wanted to give her the life that she deserved.  A life free from fear and heartbreak.  Already she had lost so much. 

Kaichen gently clasped Amara’s hand, silently reassured by her presence, though he was the one that sought to reassure her.  He would not make any promises or speak words that could prove untrue, but he vowed silently to fight against
the band of raiders and bring them to their end. 

Kaichen felt the full strength of the blood that flowed
in his veins.  He was not Shale, but he was indeed his father’s son. 

“It is worse than I expected, far worse.” Kaichen spoke quietly as Tamol and two of his men crouched beside him, overlooking the village below. 

Anger stirred in Kaichen’s heart as he surveyed the easily defensible knolls, ridges and bluffs, overlooking their fields.  His mother had warned her people that they needed to become more than men and women that brought forth green shoots from th
e land. 

Denoa could not single-
handedly turn hunters into warriors.  The villagers sheltered had not heeded the warning of their Beloved Woman and because of their refusal to change all of their hard work had come to nothing.  The men and women that had bravely struggled against the merciless landscape had not been able to stand against the raiders. 

Kaichen watched as a man walked forward with confident steps to stand before a kneeling hunter.  He could not hear the words that were spoken, but the
chilling shouts of victory told their own story.  Their village had fallen to the raiders. 

“
The raiders outnumber us two to one, even with the help of your men.” Kaichen thought furiously as he considered how best to ambush the men below.  “We will need the help of Farren and his men, along with the men of our village if we are to overthrow those below.”

“You do not
fear so many men?” Tamol’s voice was harsh, though pride could be found there.

“
They are men, like any other men. I will not show them undo honor by giving way to fear.  We all die.  Death will come for me whether I fear it or not.” Kaichen silently vowed that he would not fear the raiders. “If the men of my band had taken up weapons to fight against our enemies perhaps they would not be bound with rope and called captives even now.”

“You have no sympathy for your own people.
  They are harvesters of the land, not warriors.” Tamol was surprised by Kaichen’s hard response to the capture of his village. 

“
I call the men of my village weak, not because they seek to harvest food from the land but because they were not able to fight against the raiders.  They did not take up weapons against men that would kill them, striking down the small along with the great. ” Kaichen gestured to the same peaks and bluffs that had drawn Tamol’s eye.  “With carefully aimed arrows they could have driven the raiders back or at least held them off until our enemies tired of losing their own men.”

Tamol was silent as he took in Kaichen’s words. 
If Farren was present he would say that the men should learn to stand as protectors of their people as well as harvesters of the land. 

“We must retreat and choose a place that will give us the advantage.” Kaichen spoke quietly, urging the men that were with Tamol to back soundlessly away from the precipice overlooking the village below. 

“
You seek to rescue your people?” Tamol’s voice was incredulous.  The outcome of such a battle was clear to him.  Kaichen was outnumbered and outmatched.  “You must decide if this is worth your life.  I know that you seek to help your mother’s people out of a sense of duty and responsibility, but they did not help you when the raiders used force to take you away.”

Tamol
’s words served as a reminder of the sense of betrayal that burned within Kaichen’s heart.

“I have already made my decision. I will hold firm to the path that I have chosen.” Kaichen did not stop to consider any other course. 

Tamol was not surprised by Kaichen’s words.  He expected no less from the son of Shale.  He nodded to himself as if coming to a sudden decision. “You must give the people something to believe in.  Do this and they will have the heart needed to win this fight.”

Kaichen considered all that he knew about
the raiders.  The leaders of the band of raiders were ruthless and full of guile as they sought to gain power.  If left unchecked, the raiders would become an unstoppable force. In order to survive, he would have to become the same.  

Amara sat with Denoa as they waited for the return of the men.  Antuk stood guard over the women and they watched as he restlessly circled their position and returned. 

“The men return!” Antuk called out cheerfully and Amara smiled. 

Antuk’s good cheer was contagious though their situation was dire.  Kaichen strode into view, his presence almost preceding his form, in the same way that power swelled in the air before a storm. 

Though Denoa’s face was still bruised and her injuries pained her, she could not forestall the pride that caused her mouth to curve into a smile.  This was her son, born of her body and he was so much like his father that it brought tears of remembrance to her eyes.  Shale would have been proud to call Kaichen his son. 

“We must move to a position that allows us the advantage.  You were right, the village has been taken.  There is nothing more that we can do until
the raiders decide to move our people.” Kaichen quickly filled the women in on all that they had discovered.