The Last Sundancer

by Quinney, Karah

  Amara pressed her lips together as she leaned against one of the tall boulders. She told herself that Kaichen had left her in a place of protection. But she did not feel safe. The vast loneliness of the land around her was enough reason to tremble in dread.

  Suddenly, the sound of thunderous pounding driven by nature’s fury drowned out all thought and reason. One glance around the large boulders that offered their protection caused Amara’s heart to cease beating for one unending moment.

  The white froth drifting toward her moved like a living, breathing being of the night. As the water coursed toward her she knew for a certainty that death had finally found her and she would never be able to outrun its vengeful call.

  Amara’s breath came in sharp gasps burdened with the weight of fear. Climb. She had to reach higher ground. As a woman of the canyons, spires and sand, she knew how to climb. The highest place that she could make out in the darkness seemed much too far away. The water did not appear to flow with any great height, but the speed with which it grew near told a far different story.

  Flash floods had killed people that she knew and loved more times than she could count. How often had her mother warned her to seek high ground when the dark thunderclouds appeared heavy in the sky?

  Amara almost reached down for her waterskin as she stumbled forward in the darkness. The urge to laugh at her foolishness was strong. Panic engulfed her and she realized that her fear was the only reason she would reach down to lift her waterskin from the ground instead of using the time left to run for safety.

  Amara put all her will behind her flight. She forced the fear inside of her to grow still and calm. If death came for her then it would not take her willingly. She would fight.

  It was the secrets of the warrior’s way that brought calmness to her mind. Kaichen had prepared her for this very moment though he could not have known it.

  Amara vowed that she would live to see him again and she would tell him what she had discovered in the desperate moments between life and death.

  The water swirled around her feet as she stumbled and righted herself, only to fall again. Brave words coursed through her mind, she heard the whisper of things that were indeed great feats of the mind, nothing but meaningless dreams. The water was up to her knees by the time she reached the first spire of rock. Fear engulfed her as she heard the terrified screams of animals of the night. It was a fight for the right to live.

  Just as she reached up to grab the first handhold that would pull her to safety a strange sense of weightlessness came over her. The water was up to her waist, lifting her from her feet with ease as it rushed along, heedless of her fear and despair. Kaichen’s words came back to her as she lost her grip and water filled her open mouth.

  “Do not fight the desert, it is a battle that cannot be won.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Twice you have lost time.” Antuk’s voice was filled with irony as he clicked his tongue and leaned over Kaichen’s prone form. “I would lift you up, but they dropped you here for a reason.”

  Kaichen blinked his eyes again and again as Antuk’s words rang within his mind. Pain seared the back of his skull and he winced as Antuk continued speaking.

  “They told me to remain with Tamol and Farren, but I told them I am your friend. I remain at your side.” Antuk chuckled as Kaichen tried to raise his head. “I would not do that if I were you.”

  “Antuk?” Kaichen’s voice was a dry rasp that was almost inaudible. When Antuk raised his eyebrows in question Kaichen forced words forth. “Cease speaking.”

  Kaichen took stock of his surroundings. His mind was foggy. As he sat up, despite the pain in his head and the spinning ground, he forced himself to remember where he was. The last thing that he remembered clearly was traveling with Antuk in search of Amara. Before he could brace for an attack the remaining raiders had come upon them, taking them unaware.

  If the blow to his head had not rendered him senseless Kaichen was certain that he would have fought his way free.

  “What happened to Tamol and Farren? Were they all killed?” Kaichen felt his fingers come away from his head and he knew without looking that he would find blood upon his hand.

  Silence greeted him and Kaichen spun his head around before he could think better of it. Pain lanced through his skull and he fell back with a groan as Antuk simply stared at him without speaking. Kaichen allowed the darkness to take him even as he cursed himself for asking Antuk to cease talking.

  “Antuk, tell me what happened to the others.” Kaichen’s garbled words were forced from dry lips. Water. He needed water more than he needed his next breath.

  Antuk handed him an almost empty waterskin and then scratched his head. “Tamol and his men let the raiders take us.”

  Kaichen tried to envision such a thing. Tamol had remained behind as Farren left with those of his band. It had been his intention to burn an offering in thanksgiving for the lives that had been saved. Why then, would he allow Kaichen and Antuk to be taken by the raiders?

  Kaichen’s jaw ached as he checked his body for injury. He tested the plains of his face with his fingertips, relieved to find that nothing had been broken.

  For the first time he was able to see that they were sheltered by the base of a wall of rock. Thunderclouds, lightening and rain fought battles in the sky far into the distance. Amara.

  “How long have we been in this place?” Kaichen pressed his teeth together and opened and closed his mouth as he took in his other injuries.

  Scrapes, bruises and scratches ran up and down his body. The injury done to his head was by far the most troublesome.

  “Two days.” Antuk appeared unconcerned as he studied the sky and then glanced behind him. “The dark man approaches.”

  Kaichen growled low in his throat as he lifted his head and glared at the raider that had gotten the best of them. He refused to think of the reasons why the man had not killed them outright.

  Kaichen tried to stand and failed.

  The man crouched before him and grabbed hold of Kaichen by the hair, jerking him to a sitting position. Despite the pain Kaichen remained silent. He understood that the man baited him with his actions in the same way that other men looked for fish in a river.

  “Are you the man that killed my brother?” The man’s question appeared merely curious but there was a threat hidden within his tone. “Are you the one that slaughtered my men when they brought back the spoils of their journey?”

  Antuk had called the man dark and Kaichen could see his friend’s reasoning. The raider still wore the dark war paint that slashed in angry lines across his face.

  The raider struck before Kaichen saw the blow coming. His fist knocked Kaichen’s head back on his shoulders and Kaichen grunted as he took the brunt of the blow. Antuk moved to stand but Kaichen placed his hand upon his friend’s shoulder. The raider was looking for a reason to harm Kaichen and he would not hesitate to kill Antuk as Kaichen watched.

  “Sakyma.” Kaichen spoke the name of his father’s father. His grandfather.

  The raider crouched low so that he was eye to eye with Kaichen. “So you do not fear the dead? Perhaps you wish to join them?”

  Kaichen did not turn his gaze away as the man stared at him without speaking. He sensed that he would invite sudden death if he showed even a hint of fear. He knew with sudden certainty that the man before him grew powerful when others quaked in his presence. Rage bloomed anew inside of Kaichen’s body.

  “Why have you brought us here?” Kaichen’s teeth were clenched in anger.

  “You do not know me, but my brothers and I know you.” The gruesome smile that appeared on the man’s face was terrible to behold. “Those that lead our band wish to know more about the power that you wield. If they find your power worthy then they will make use of it.”

  The raider’s silence let him know that in his eyes Kaichen and Antuk’s lives had already been forfeit.

  It was evident in his tone and in his threatening stance
. Never once had the raider removed his hand from his hunting knife. Kaichen also caught sight of two men that stood as guards nearby.

  Kaichen did not wish to invite death, but he worried more for Antuk and the others than for himself.

  He quickly took stock of their surroundings. They could not have traveled very far. Discolored rocks, long faded by the sun’s light were all around them.

  The raiders took shelter in the shady places amongst the sheltering rocks, but Antuk and Kaichen had been staked out in the open where they could be watched.

  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, your life’s blood will stain the ground.” The raider peered into Kaichen’s eyes before moving away.

  Each 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.

  Chapter Eighteen

  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 Kaichen 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 the 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 bat
tle 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.