The Last Sundancer (5 page)

Yet,
in this instance he wished that Antuk was able to help.  Kaichen grimaced as he considered what would happen to Antuk if they were unsuccessful.

“If I do not return, you must go back to
your people.” Kaichen saw Antuk’s eyes dim as his friend considered his words. 

A sand beetle crawled over Antuk’s foot and his friend studied it, momentarily distracted.

“Antuk.” Kaichen could not keep the irritation out of his voice.  Antuk was easily distracted by even the smallest things, but he needed his full attention. 

It could very well mean his friend’s life.

“I am listening.” Antuk’s face was red and his frown was in place. 

Kaichen knew that this was his friend’s most serious expression.  Ordinarily Antuk’s antics would amuse Kaichen, but he needed Antuk to listen carefully. 

“You can follow our tracks back to the mesa with ease.  If you need to leave without me, return to Azin and tell him what has occurred.” Kaichen held up his hand to forestall Antuk from speaking.  “You will do as I have asked.”

Antuk simply nodded even as he returned to the place where they had both watched the scene below. 

Kaichen smiled when Antuk removed his bow and set it in place.  He knew that this was Antuk’s way of telling him that he would watch out for him. 

Kaichen appreciated his friend’s show of loyalty, but he secretly hoped that Antuk would not make use of his weapon.  If he did, he was as likely to hit Kaichen as he was to shoot their enemy. 

Kaichen moved as one with his horse as he made his way carefully down to the canyon floor below.  Only moments had passed from the time that he had last caught sight of the woman until now. 

It was possible that he was already too late. 

Amara took shallow breaths.  The last blow to her midsection had
injured something within her.  She was concerned that it was not simply an injury to her ribs that affected her.  It seemed that the men that kept her as a captive had finally succeeded in breaking her spirit. 

Amara no longer held out any hope that she would ever be able to return to her village.  She
had run from the village, just as her mother told her to do, if the men should ever come.  She had fled on feet that knew the course well. 

Yet, at her mother’s scream Amara had stopped and looked back.  She saw her mother sprawled upon the ground and a man stood over her looking down.  Amara’s breath had hitched in her chest at the man smiled cruelly and glanced up to catch sight of her.  

“Run!” Leija’s scream was cut short as she called to her daughter. 

But her mother’s voice spurred her into action.  Amara tore her gaze away and ran. 

She would have made it into the sheltering canyons if not for the weapon that the warrior had thrown at her.  Amara’s legs and feet were entrapped by the warrior’s disabling weapon. 

It wrapped around her ankles before she could take another step.  The most that she had been able to do was thrust her hands out and brace herself for the fall which knocked the breath from her lungs. 

She screamed with all her might as the man advanced upon her.  She did not scream because of the warrior who pulled her to her feet by sheer strength alone. 

She did not scream at the agony she felt when he jerked her forward by her hair.  She screamed because her mother, the only family that she had, no longer moved. 

Leija lay silent and still upon the ground as the warrior dragged her daughter away.  

Amara forced her thoughts back to the present as she stumbled.  How many times has she stumbled and fallen?  How many times had she landed upon the ground only to be forced back to her feet by the tip of a spear? 

Amara had lost count of the many times that she had felt the prick of a spear at her back or upon her arms and shoulders.  The men that marched her ever forward had no souls.  They were soulless raiders that would kill anyone that stood in their way. 

A
mara did not understand why the men had not killed her.  Last night she had been almost certain that she would be killed.  Knowing that she would die had given her freedom. 

She tried to escape, because to sit passively was to welcome death.  If the men planned to kill her then she would hasten the act.  There was no reason to wait. 

Amara already felt dead now that everything had been stripped from her.  She remembered her father’s strong arms, lifting her high.  She remembered her mother’s laughter and the strength in her small hands as they worked side by side. 

For a time she had not remained within herself.  Her body continued to function, but her spirit drifted.  She walked when prodded and rested when directed to do so. But she did not exist inside of the shell that was her body.  Her spirit had flown away. 

Brutal, intense pain brought Amara back to herself.  She hated the man that had taken his spear and swung it against her side so hard that she heard the crack resonate within her body. 

Tears flew from her eyes regardless of her vow not to cry.  The pain called tears forth without regard for her wishes or desires. 

Worst of all the man had laughed over her pain.  His laughter caused icy tendrils of fear to sweep over her and Amara realized that this was what the man wanted.  He wanted her to learn to fear him and perhaps she had. 

Amara looked to the ridges of the canyon walls above her.  She yearned for the high places where freedom rested.  She could almost feel the burn of rock and sand as her hand met with stone so deeply did she yearn to climb far and fast, away from those that held her captive. 

Freedom.  Amara’s soul cried out for it.  Peace.  Amara yearned to know peace once more.
The prod of a spear broke into her thoughts and Amara forced her legs to lock into place.  She would not stumble or cry out in pain.  She would not fall, not yet, not now.  

When the man held her by her hair and again looked into her eyes, she knew what he saw.  Her eyes were a curse to her, though others said that she was specially marked. 

Amara would have given anything to be just like everyone else.  But she knew that when the warrior looked at her this was the reason that her life had been spared when so many others of her village had died. 

The warrior saw what she could not hide, unless she closed her eyes forever.   Those of her family and of her village had dark eyes the color of the midnight sky.  But Amara had eyes the color of the sunset and when her mood shifted her eyes lightened or darkened considerably.  This was the reason that the man took care not to kill her with his massive strength.  She was valuable. 

Amara shuddered as she considered whose orders the warrior followed.  Her entire body trembled as the man shoved her to the ground.   She could not understand all of their words but their language was similar to hers.  Yet she knew the words that had been whispered through the villages that wreathed the small river where they gathered water. 

Raiders came on horseback to attack the villages that were unarmed and defenseless.  They took captives, food
, horses and anything of value. Her people had taken to sheltering within the caves that were nestled into the side of the plateaus that rose from the land. 

Amara had hated to be concealed inside of the many caverns and caves that her people knew so well.  Her mother needed her and so she often returned to Leija’s side.  They would not eat if she did not work alongside her mother as they begged the earth to grow their crop
. It was this that gave Amara the strength to rise to her feet once more despite the pain in her side. 

Leija would want Amara to fight, to survive, for as long as she could until she could escape.  Six men surrounded her and they watched her constantly
. Amara knew that there would be no escape for her. 

Kaichen raced upon the back of his horse as he entered into a canyon that ran parallel to the warriors that held the woman captive.  He knew that he was running out of time.  He needed to find a defensive position where he could take down at least four of the men before they determine
d which direction his arrows came from.

He held his horse’s mane tightly within his grasp and he knew that the animal responded to the urgency that pounded through his body.   Kaichen did not wait for the horse to draw to a stop. 

He leapt from the animal’s back and began to climb the face of the rock set before him.  If he did not make it to the top of the ledge before the warriors started past, then he knew that all was lost.  He could not face six men upon the open land that lie ahead of them and hope to win. 

Kaichen climbed as if he had been born to do so and perhaps he had.  The people that lived upon the land of canyon, mesa and red rock and stone had long ago dwelled within the cavern walls. 

Their legends said that the great waters had receded as the world gave birth to red rock and canyon floor, caverns and caves had been created which sheltered their people. Kaichen had climbed with ease from the time that he could first walk until now. 

His skill only grew with time and he was able to position
in a way that would be impossible for others.  His breath did not hitch in his chest and his body did not grow tired from the strain of holding his position as he braced one foot against a rock wall and the other behind him. 

He did not feel fear over the sheer height of his position.  Height gave him the advantage and that was all that he had at his disposal. 

A sigh escaped his chest, but even this was done with single-minded purpose.  Kaichen released his breath as he caught sight of his target.  It did not occur to him to feel thankful that he was not too late. 

Emotion did not enter into his mind at all, not when the warrior’s blood that lived inside of him flooded through his body.  He
decided to take out the lead warrior first and those closest to him next.

Kaichen knew that the woman could be killed by his actions.  But he reasoned that if he did not act, she would certainly die. 

He allowed his eyes to lose focus and then he called the target to him just as he had been trained.  If Azin could see his student in action then he would know only pride.  Kaichen let his arrow fly and quickly notched another. 

His movements were smooth and fluid and he did not give in to the temptation to check that his targets had fallen. 
Instead, he focused on the next man that would die.  He aimed for the largest part of their bodies as they walked forward.  

The first three men took arrows directly to their chests.  The forth man moved out of place as he searched for the threat. But he was too late, Kaichen’s arrow found his throat. 

The man gasped as he held both hands to the wound and stumbled forward.  Kaichen did not spare another arrow to ease the man’s suffering as he aimed at the fifth man.

Kaichen’s
hands were steady though he had just slaughtered four men.  The fifth man had his full attention.  The sixth man had run for cover even as the first arrows flew. 

Kaichen saw that he had made a mistake. The man that he sought to kill held a knife to the girl’s throat as he turned to face the rock wall.  Even from this distance
, Kaichen could see that the man sought to bargain for the girl’s life.  He did not hesitate.

Kaichen let his arrow fly
even as the young woman shifted out of the man’s grasp. The man screamed in agony as an arrow pierced his eye.  The woman’s hair whipped around them as his fingers tightened upon her arms and then fell loose. 

Kaichen turned his attention to the sixth man. 

Already the man had made it to the canyon wall and taken shelter.  The woman stood, frozen in place, as the men that had not died writhed in agony from their wounds.  Kaichen slid down from his exposed position and carefully descended the rock wall. 

The woman had fallen to her knees and he glanced around
as he searched for movement.  Somewhere nearby their enemy had taken cover and Kaichen did not think for a moment that they were out of danger. 

“Get down!
” Kaichen yelled to the woman though she did not even glance his way. 

It was possible that she did not understand his words or perhaps she simply did not hear him.  The man with the wound to his eye continued to scream in agony.  Kaichen threw his body over the woman just as a spear flew toward them. 

“Will you come with me willingly?” He spoke to her even though she continued to stare with eyes that were wide with fear. 

His spear was upon his back, but as he crouched over the woman’s still form he turned and faced the sixth warrior. 

Kaichen knew at once that he had made a mistake that could prove fatal.  He had sought to take out the leader with his first arrow.   But somehow he had mistaken the actions of the first man as those of a leader. 

The man that approached him with a
battle-hardened gaze challenged him with the ferocity of a wild animal.  Kaichen held a spear but the fury of the other man let him know that such a weapon would have to be hurled with great force to stop his opponent.