The face disappeared as a shadow fell across the water. Vatar turned and looked up into the face of another girl. A real girl this time. She was slender, but her light blue tunic barely contained her ample breasts and the corresponding curve of her hips. The color also matched the clear blue of her eyes. From this angle, looking up at her, the sun made a halo of her blonde hair. He’d seen her hanging around, watching the boys drill. He thought she had a brother in the group. Or maybe a sweetheart. Although the boys weren’t supposed to start courting girls until after their manhood tests, sometimes the girls had already made up their minds before that—and made their preferences known.
Vatar jumped to his feet and brushed off the knees of his trousers. “Uh . . . hello.”
She smiled briefly—a flash of white teeth behind those pink lips. “Hello. What were you doing?”
Vatar shrugged. He’d like to seem braver, but there weren’t very many things he could realistically be doing out here. “Trying not to be afraid.” He grimaced. “It’s not working.”
The girl smiled again. “Ravaz isn’t succeeding either.”
Ravaz. One of the javelinists. Lucky . . .
The girl took a step closer and placed her hand on Vatar’s arm. “Ravaz is my only brother. Is . . . is your plan going to work? Is he going to come back from this hunt?”
Her brother. Oh. Then . . . Vatar squared his shoulders and stood straighter. “We have a good chance. And he’ll be safer than some, I think. It’s still going to be dangerous, though. I can’t promise that no one will get hurt. Or—”
“I know. No one can promise that. I just wanted to hear that there’s a chance.” She looked into Vatar’s eyes and the side of her mouth twitched up again. “I’m Avaza, by the way.”
He nodded. “I’m Vatar.” With her standing this close, his mind started to fog with the smell of her hair, the warmth where her hand still rested on his arm.
That quick twitch that wasn’t—quite—a smile again. “I know. I’ve been watching you.” She took another step closer.
Vatar smiled. She’d been watching him. That sounded . . . hopeful. He couldn’t think of anything to say. Avaza’s eyes shifted down to his lips and one side of her mouth quirked up. Vatar drew in a deep breath and swallowed. It seemed like an invitation, but he wasn’t sure. But, if he didn’t try, then he might really never get a chance to kiss a girl. Ever. She could always pull away if she didn’t want him to. He bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. He meant it to be just a short kiss, but Avaza moved closer and locked her arms around his neck. Her lips parted under his.
Vatar forgot about the tigers. He forgot everything. His arms came up to encompass her waist and pull her closer. All his fear and anger evaporated in an entirely new and delectable feeling. He wanted to keep on kissing her. Or rather, he wanted to explore more than just her lips. But . . . was the world spinning just a little too fast for him all of a sudden? With difficulty, he broke of the kiss and stepped back.
Avaza smiled and lifted one hand to his cheek. “You know, when I watched you drill or in your workshop, I wondered what it would be like to kiss you. It was better than I thought.”
Vatar’s pulse was still pounding. He felt light all over, almost like he could soar over the plains. And Avaza, beautiful Avaza was looking at him like . . . like a hero. He wanted to be her hero, to make her keep looking at him like that and keep on kissing him like that, too.
He liked the thought that his kiss, unpracticed as it was, had pleased her, too. Vatar smiled and took her hands. “If we come back tomorrow with the heads of those tigers, will you kiss me like that again?”
Avaza cocked her head to the side and gave him a secretive smile. “If you do that, any girl in the whole tribe would kiss you.”
“But I’m asking you.”
Avaza’s smile could have put the sun to shame. “Then, of course I’ll kiss you. I’ll be waiting for you.”
~
The boys rode in silence to the rock outcrop. They tied their small herd of goats inside the curve of rock as bait and then moved away, out of sight. The moon rose, close to full, giving them plenty of light to see by. They waited. The delay was harrowing as each boy could only anticipate silently what would come. Vatar felt as though he would scream and knew the others felt the same.
The night was unusually quiet. There wasn’t even enough breeze to move the grass. The common noises of night on the plains—the call of night birds, the rustlings of small creatures, even the drone of insects—seemed oddly absent. Maybe that was because Vatar was listening so hard for a sound of the tigers’ approach. He could smell the goats and his own sweat over the clean scent of the grass.
The goats stirred restlessly, bleating in alarm. A rustle of movement in the tall grass drew Vatar’s attention. He caught a glimpse of a striped body and signaled wordlessly to the others near him, pointing to the movement. The signal spread until all the boys were aware of the approaching tigers. Vatar held his breath as the tigers stalked toward the goats.
He turned only his eyes, afraid to move or even breathe, watching the other boys close the trap. Silently and somewhat raggedly, the javelinists closed the circle behind the tigers and began to throw, attempting to drive the tigers back against the vertical rock face. The javelins bit into the tigers, piercing the thick hide, but not deeply enough to kill. The smaller tiger, maddened by the javelins, turned back to attack his foes. Vatar wanted to curse. The plan was falling apart already. It was too soon for the lancers to come in. The tigers weren’t in the trap, yet. They could still escape. Then there’d be a much riskier chase across the plains.
Too soon or not, Vatar couldn’t let the tiger get to the javelinists. He prepared to urge his horse forward. He settled back in his saddle when, with obvious reluctance, Ariad and the other spearmen moved up to protect the javelinists. Ariad thrust at the charging tiger, which roared in pain and veered off. Ariad’s spear was wrenched from his grasp, the point still embedded in the tiger’s chest. As the tiger wheeled, it raked the nearest javelinist with his claws. The other javelinists threw again to drive the tiger back into the trap.
The tiger ran through the frightened goats, right where they wanted it. Good. Now what was happening with the other tiger? The plan would work best if both tigers were in the trap.
Sky above and earth below. While no one was looking, the bigger of the two tigers had run in among the goats and killed one. Now it was trying to drag its kill away. The plan was falling apart. If that one tiger escaped, they’d have failed, even if they managed to kill the smaller tiger.
Vatar turned back to see what was going on with the smaller tiger. All the javelinists were occupied with that tiger and they were needed there to keep it in the trap. The riders were needed there, too. It was clear by now that they couldn’t expect the javelins to kill the tigers. Even Ariad’s spear hadn’t penetrated deeply enough for that. It’d be down to the horsemen to make the kill. But somebody had to keep the other one from getting away. Up to him, then. Daron and Alion should be enough to dispatch the smaller tiger, once it was backed up against the rocks.
Vatar spurred his horse forward. First, he needed to get to the outside of the beast so that, hopefully, it’d run back toward the rocks and its companion. Back into the trap. He had to wrestle his nervous horse back to a stop and then to turn around. His mount naturally wanted to keep running away from the huge predator. Vatar really couldn’t blame the horse; he felt the same way himself, but that wasn’t an option. Briefly, he wished he’d had enough time and materials to make shields as well as spears. If he had a shield to beat his spear against, maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to drive the tiger back without getting any nearer. Well, as Pa would say, you can only use what you have, not what you wish you had. Vatar took a stronger grip on his lance.
The tiger turned to roar at Vatar, making his horse dance even more nervously. Best to get this over with quickly, before the horse panicked. Vatar lowered his lance and spurred his hor
se forward. The tiger leapt at the same instant. Driven by instinct, the horse reared up, flailing its front hooves at the predator. Vatar adjusted just in time to keep from being dumped off his horse’s back. The tiger slid to the side to avoid the horse’s hooves—to Vatar’s right, toward his spear. But the tiger was intent on the horse, not its rider. Vatar adjusted the point of his spear and leaned forward. The horse dropped back to the ground and Vatar took drove the point into the tiger’s side. The tiger roared once, trying to turn to face Vatar. Vatar turned his heels to push the horse forward. The lance, driven by the force of the horse’s momentum, drove still deeper. The tiger went limp. Dead! He’d actually killed one of the tigers!
His victory shout died on his lips. His horse sidled away from dead tiger, and Vatar had to fight for control. The horse whinnied in terror and tossed its head. Vatar looked up. The second tiger, spear still in its chest, was charging right for him, the killer of its mate, ignoring everyone else. Vatar reached over and pulled at his lance, but it was stuck fast in the dead tiger. His heart hammered as he fumbled for his Dardani long knife. It was steel, but if he let the tiger get close enough for him to use it, he was already dead. What other choice did he have?
From the side, Alion rode in, leveling his lance at the second tiger. Just as Vatar let out his held breath, Alion’s horse shied, throwing him. The tiger wheeled to attack the fallen boy. Daron rode in to rescue his Clan brother. At the same time, Ariad darted forward, grabbing up Alion’s lance.
Ariad had just enough time to raise the blade, the heavy shaft still resting on the ground. As the tiger charged, it ran full onto the lance, impaling itself. Simultaneously, Daron drove his lance into the tiger’s side. The sound of the blades grinding as they met inside the tiger’s chest screeched in Vatar’s ears.
It was over. The tigers were dead. They had done it. Vatar didn’t know whether to leap for joy or collapse with relief. So he did first one and then the other.
He watched as some of the boys started to skin the tigers so they could take back proof of their success. Vatar smiled. They’d go back in triumph. And he’d collect that promised kiss from Avaza.
He lifted his face to the moon. Life was good.
Chapter 24: Celebration
Vatar and the others rode into sight of Zeda at sunrise, singing. The whole tribe seemed to be out to greet them and it didn’t look as if anyone had slept that night. All the Dardani stood, watching as the young men rode up and, Vatar was sure, counted heads.
When the assembled Dardani saw the heads and pelts of the dead tigers being pulled on travois, a huge cheer erupted from the front of the crowd and spread to the back. Startled birds rose from the waterhole like fireworks.
The crowd surged forward to envelop the young men. Vatar saw Pa, Mother, and Kiara struggling against the mob to get to him. He pushed through to them and jumped down from his horse.
Pa thumped him on the back. “You did it!”
Mother drew him into a fierce hug. “Let’s get somewhere quieter where you can tell us all about it.”
Kiara bounced up on her toes. “I want to hear everything.”
Mother drew back to look into Vatar’s face. “Yes, and you need to get some rest before your fall down. You’ll never make it through the rest of the festivities otherwise. Our hut will be quiet enough.”
Rest hadn’t been the first thing on Vatar’s mind, but he could hardly walk away and refuse to tell them what had happened. He’d go looking for Avaza later. She was probably listening eagerly to Ravaz’s version of the story right now anyway. Vatar ducked through the door into the darkened hut after Kiara.
Kiara turned back to him immediately. “What happened? I bet you were the hero of the whole hunt.”
Vatar shook his head. “Everyone there was a hero, one way or another.” Vatar sat down on his bedroll and leaned back against the sod wall. Then, between jaw-cracking yawns, he described the whole hunt. Somehow, he seemed to slide lower onto his bedroll as he talked, but he was too tired to pull himself back upright.
~
Vatar woke to Pa’s insistent shaking.
“I know you’re tired, son. But it’s rising noon and the celebration is about to start. You don’t want to miss the jarai tournament, do you? You’ve certainly earned your place in it.”
The jarai tournament was normally the highlight of the Midsummer Festival, but Vatar felt no great need to show off his abilities. They’d just killed a pair of forest tigers. After that, jarai could only be an anticlimax. Still, not all of the young men playing today would have been part of the hunt. He wouldn’t let his clan’s team down.
Vatar tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, afraid he’d be too groggy for the tournament. He needn’t have worried. Between lack of sleep, adrenalin reaction, and pure relief and joy at still being alive most of the young men were as giddy as if they were drunk.
The jarai field was set up on one side of the village, where a very large triangle had been marked out with a large basket in each point. As the winners of last year’s tournament, the Eagle Clan would be in the first round—and every round thereafter until they were eliminated. By the luck of the draw, Lion and Horse Clans would be their first opponents.
The five riders from each team included all the young men from that clan who had just participated in the tiger hunt and as many others from among the younger men as needed to fill out the team. Vatar didn’t know all the riders well. Of those he did know, Daron was clearly a much greater threat than Ariad. He tried to assess the others quickly as they sat their horses. The eldest Eagle Clan chief tossed the hard, wrapped leather ball into the air and the game was on.
An Eagle Clan rider snatched the ball out of the air and wheeled to race for his team’s basket. Vatar and Daron both spurred forward to block the ball carrier from reaching his goal. The young man tried to pass the ball to one of his team mates, but Daron pivoted his horse and intercepted the ball. With a whoop, he was off toward the Horse Clan’s goal. The quick change of momentum left most of the other players behind.
Vatar was nearest. He slammed his horse’s shoulder into the mount of another Horse Clan player, throwing him off balance, and raced ahead to catch Daron. Only Ariad blocked Daron from his goal. Vatar didn’t like that match up at all. Steering with just his legs and his weight as he juggled the ball, Daron swerved sharply to the left, slipping past Ariad, and slammed the ball into his goal for the first point of the game.
Daron tossed the ball up to put it in play again. An Eagle Clan rider caught it and dashed across the field to their goal. Two Horse Clan riders rode in from each side to block him. Ariad and most of his team mates were caught to one side of the field, chasing after the blocker on the right. Vatar decided to trust the Horses to block the basket and positioned himself between the ball carrier and his team mates.
Finding himself isolated with no way to get to the goal, the ball carrier threw to the nearest Eagle, which happened to be Ariad. Vatar spurred his horse forward to push Ariad’s aside and caught the ball. He whirled his horse around, bent low over her neck and sped to his goal with only Ariad to beat. He tossed the ball into the basket that represented his team’s goal. One point each for the Horse Clan and the Lion Clan. It’d take two more for either one of them to win the game.
Daron nabbed the ball as Vatar put it back into play and raced for his goal. Daron’s teammates had effectively bottled up the Eagle Clan, all but Ariad, in one corner of the field where they couldn’t interfere. Vatar attempted to herd Daron straight toward Ariad, who was rushing toward them from the front.
The hairs on the back of Vatar’s neck stood on end and the spot between his shoulder blades twitched. For an instant, he was sure all three horses would collide and fall in a tangle. Things like that did sometimes happen in jarai. Reflexively, Vatar jerked his reins, creating a little more distance between his horse and Daron’s. The prickly feeling eased immediately. Daron spurred past him, slipping by Ariad and threw the ball into his goal. N
ow the score was 2-1-0
Daron tossed the ball to Ariad to put it back into play. Anything to keep the Lion Clan from gaining possession again. That was the nature of the constantly shifting alliances of jarai. Your ally one minute could become your opponent in the next.
Having given the ball to the Eagles, the Horse Clan now joined Vatar and the Lion Clan in trying to stop them from scoring. Daron rammed his horse into Ariad’s. In his mad grab for the reins, Ariad lost the ball. Daron leaned far out of his saddle to grab it up from the field in a move Vatar wouldn’t have dared attempt.
Daron turned again for the Horse Clan goal. One more point would win the game for them. Vatar spun his horse to follow, along with the rest of his team and the Eagle Clan. The Horse Clan rode in front of them, swerving back and forth in an attempt to keep the other riders away from Daron. One of them blocked Vatar’s horse hard enough to push it into one of the Eagle’s. Then Daron was through and dunked the ball into his goal basket. The score was 3-1-0. To no one’s surprise, the Horse Clan had won the first game. Vatar found it hard to resent the win. There was plenty of honor to go around this year and they all knew it. Besides, now the Lion Clan and their horses had a chance to rest through the next game, in which the Horse Clan would defend against the Ravens and the Bears. They’d scored, so as long as the next two teams did no better, they’d get another chance in the third game when the—by then hopefully exhausted—Horse Clan would have to play against the Wolf Clan and the highest scorer of the other teams. At a guess, Vatar would bet that the Horse Clan would still win. Daron was just too good.
The Shaman's Curse (Dual Magics Book 1) Page 13
