Denoa did not know what the future held. She could not say what might happen if only she tried her hardest to protect the fragile gift of life held within the heart of the woman that her son had chosen for himself.
She cast her thoughts to the young woman that the others called Cloud Bringing Woman. Denoa whispered words into the wind as the night closed in around them. “Please remain alive.”
Chapter Nineteen
Amara clung to life with a tenacity of will that surprised her. She told herself that Kaichen would come for her. She searched her surroundings and found that it was night. When had the sun faded from its blazing trail in the sky?
Exhaustion weighted her movements as she shifted upon the hard stone beneath her. Amara clung to the rocks that had given her a measure of shelter from the water below.
How had the land changed so quickly? It had been dry and parched with thirst only to give birth to flood waters within a moment’s notice.
A raging river moved beneath her and Amara was numb with cold. She knew that the cold that afflicted her came from spending a night and a day upon the rocks as the river ran by beneath her.
She would have moved if she could have done so without risking a fall to her death. The river had not ceased flowing even though the storm and high winds had moved away. The only reason that she had survived the life taking flow of water was because of unstable rock that had allowed her a moment to catch her balance and jump before crumbling beneath her feet.
Amara felt wild laughter bubble up from her chest and for a moment she gave in to it. She laughed until she cried and then she clung to the rock and closed her eyes.
Kaichen would come for her. He had promised and she knew that only death would keep him from honoring his vow. If he did not come soon, she feared that she would not live to see him again. Shards of pain lanced through her body as she struggled to remain still.
“Fight for life.” Amara whispered as she thought of Kaichen.
How long had she known that she loved him? How long had she known without speaking of it?
They had never sealed their joining as man and woman together. Amara regretted that failure with every breath that she took. Kaichen had wanted to give her time to adjust to their circumstances and she had not spoken up in disagreement. Her fear had kept her silent and she regretted her inability to give herself to her husband completely.
Amara had forced her arms and legs to move with the current as the water took hold of her. It was by chance that her hand caught the branch of a young sapling tree. She had clung to it with all of her might.
When breath filled her lungs she pulled herself up the tree branch until her fingers scraped against the slick rock spires that braced the river and directed it. Amara was a capable climber. But her strength had flagged and faded with each attempt. Only Kaichen’s promise kept her going.
She forced breath into her lungs and lunged upward until her fingers caught and held fast to the first handhold. After that it was an effort of will to heave her body out of the fast flowing water. She told herself that in order to make certain that Kaichen could save her, she first had to save herself.
“Be smart, be strong, and use everything at your disposal to survive.” Kaichen’s voice whispered to her, beckoning her to try harder, stretch farther.
She was battered, bruised and bleeding by the time that she found a small ledge that would hold her weight. She could not climb up any further, sheer rock walls prevented any attempt to do so. She could not move from the ledge or she would risk falling back into the river below.
When the sun had reached its zenith Amara had known thirst beyond imagining. The rushing water below had tormented her with its nearness. It called to her and she ignored it with the same strength of will that helped her cling to the belief that Kaichen would return for her.
Amara hoped that Kaichen would be able to find her. Kaichen had no way of knowing that Amara had taken shelter in a dry wash.
They were children of the desert and as such, they both knew the inherent dangers of the land. Amara’s people had been protected from certain dangers, but like all children she had learned to climb before she could walk and she had learned to swim before she could run. Kaichen was no different from any of them except that his strength appeared to be superlative.
When Amara asked him about the source of his strength, he told her that Azin had seen to his training. It was evident in Kaichen’s tone of voice that he held the man called Azin in high esteem, perhaps even thinking of him as a father.
Amara did not know the man and had gleaned only a few pieces of information about him from Kaichen and Antuk, but already she loved him. He was a part of Kaichen and Antuk and together they held more strength between them than they did apart.
“Come back to me.” Amara whispered through parched lips.
She knew the answer to the question of how long she could survive without water. Three days if she was strong, even less if she gave in to the temptation to close her eyes and sleep. Chills wracked her body and she turned her eyes up to the sky above. The moon was almost full and the luminaries twinkled as they danced a path through eternity.
Kaichen had refused to dance. The raiders rage had been fearsome to behold as they met out blow after blow upon Kaichen’s body. Bound as he was, he could not fight back.
“Bind him to the stakes.” The man that had captured him pointed to the four stakes that were upon the ground and the others were quick to heed him.
Antuk groaned low in his throat as he fought those that held him.
Kaichen fought, but his strength was nothing compared to the four well-rested men that pulled his arms and legs out in four directions. They took pleasure in the pain that they caused him and he ceased fighting. They would bind him no matter what he did and he could not stop them.
He forced his mind to back away from the pain as his hands and feet grew numb. He was almost successful but one of the raiders stepped forward, blocking out the early morning sun.
“You seek to turn your mind away do you not?” The man was surprisingly accurate despite Kaichen’s expression, which was carefully blank. “It is said that your father did the same and you see what became of him.”
Kaichen remained silent. The man hoped to wring a response from him; instead he did as Azin had taught him and cast his mind away.
“Beat his companion.”
Kaichen’s head snapped up as he heard the raider spoke in Kaichen’s language. Kaichen knew that the man sought to elicit a reaction from him and he managed to remain silent as Antuk received the first blow meant to break his will. Antuk was a large man and well suited to the role of hunter and warrior, but he did not deserve to die for the loyal friendship that he shared with Kaichen. The raiders had no empathy as they rained blows upon Antuk without cease. They meant to kill him in front of Kaichen.
The raw fury in Kaichen’s eyes was enough to draw the raider’s attention back to him. Never before had Kaichen felt such a white hot rage overtake him.
It gave strength to his limbs and with an effort that cost him dearly, he wrenched his left hand free, twisting his smallest finger until it moved unnaturally. He ignored his injured finger and reached out, grasping the leg of the raider that stood closest to him.
With a swift pull, the man fell and Kaichen gathered the raider’s knife in one swift movement. He sliced through the bonds that held his right hand even as he rolled to his feet.
The raider that had captured them was there in an instant as all eyes turned to the evenly matched men. Kaichen roared with fury as his opponent tried to knock the weapon from his hands.
When his efforts failed, the man stepped back and nodded to the others.
“Do not kill him. Our leaders will deal with him when they return.” Four men approached and they appeared eager to do the man’s bidding.
Kaichen fought with all of his strength against his opponents before he was once more overtaken. Through it all Antuk watched helplessly as Kaiche
n was forced to the ground. As soon as the attention was diverted from Antuk and placed upon Kaichen, he ceased fighting.
“Is your finger broken?” Antuk asked quietly as if he discussed nothing more than the weather.
“No.” The inside of Kaichen’s mouth was cut from a blow that he had taken to his face. His finger was swollen and pounding with pain but it was not broken. “I pulled my finger free of the place that holds it.”
“Oh, that is a good trick.” Antuk struggled to laugh but the sound came out like a dry heave.
The raiders gave them only enough water to keep them alive. They were staked out upon the ground, spread to the four directions as they awaited the return of the men that led those that had captured them.
“When they return you will free yourself once more and this time you will be successful.” Antuk’s words were hopeful and Kaichen remained silent.
He did not wish to destroy the hope in Antuk’s voice, but he had come to accept the inevitable. They were outnumbered and despite his attempts to win the loyalty of his people he had failed.
Tamol had done as he always had and in the end it would cost Kaichen his life. Kaichen also knew what Antuk did not. By fighting as he had to avoid the death of his friend, the raiders now knew of his weakness with a certainty. Antuk would be the first to die when the men that led the raiders returned.
“She was here.” Tamol read the signs upon the ground and he saw nothing. He knew only that the footsteps of many men led toward the place where he now stood. It was the only sheltered area within any line of sight but the only problem is the large boulders were now almost covered with water.
Denoa did not understand why Tamol persisted with his efforts at tracking what was not there. “The men of my village said that a flood came and washed Cloud Bringing Woman away.”
Tamol looked up as he caught Denoa’s look of challenge. She silently dared him to try to correct her. She persisted in calling Amara by the name of honor that she had been given.
He did not respond to the challenge in her eyes. Denoa believed that names were something for a person to live up to. Tamol knew this just as well as he knew many other things about the woman that had taken his heart from him and kept it with her these past many seasons.
Tamol followed the river. He kept his eyes open for any sign of danger as he walked upon the burning sand. During the night they had fallen into a light run simply because Denoa’s urgency had communicated itself to Tamol. He knew that she was remembering Siada and he understood that guilt still plagued her, even as it did with him. They had been too late, moments too late, to save Siada. Throughout the night Tamol heard Denoa say the words, “Not again, please not again.”
He was not a man to give in to the inherent urge to believe in a spirit world or a world other than this one. There was no god that had come and protected him as a boy and he had grown to manhood under the hand of a heartless father. He did not pray now. Instead, he used the strength of his body, gathered over a lifetime lived upon the desert sands and red rock of his birth. He relied upon the skill of tracking that had come to him unbidden from the time that he first looked upon the ground until now.
“There.” Tamol pointed to the rocky spires that had been there long before people had ever walked the land. “If she is still alive then that is the only place where she might have found safety.”
Without a word Denoa ran beside Tamol and she never took her eyes off the place that he had pointed out to her. She moved with the strength and grace of a woman far younger than her many seasons. A mother’s love drove her forward, giving power to her tired limbs and fatigued body.
Chapter Twenty
“Look! What do I see?” Ni’zin heard one of his men shout as he pointed out two distant figures. If not for the angle of the land and the way that the canyons opened and fell away, Ni’zin would have missed seeing the pair. As he moved closer, he recognized the limping figure of Tamol.
“I thought that I had beaten you and spared your life, but I see that you still walk upon land that I have claimed as my domain.” Ni’zin spoke to himself as he caught sight of the woman that ran alongside Tamol.
Black hair the color of the night trailed down the woman’s back. Her body was that of young woman but the strength in her limbs belied that observation. “It cannot be.”
Ni’zin was pleased. His father had died without ever destroying the woman that had caused his son to grow weak and turn away from all that he had been taught. Denoa. No other woman had ever compared to her.
Ni’zin had planned to raid her village with his men and bring back captives that would cause Kaichen the most agony. He would start with Kaichen’s mother and then move on to the rest.
Tamol and Denoa were on foot and he and his men were on horseback. They would ride down into the canyon and overtake the pair. He would deal Tamol a fatal blow, once and for all.
“Amara!” Tamol’s strong voice called out as he approached the sheer rock face that stood tall above the rushing water. He did not see her, but his every instinct told him that if she lived, she was there. It was the only place of safety.
“Are you here?” Denoa’s voice called, challenging Tamol’s use of the young woman’s name. “Amara! Cloud Bringing Woman!”
Silence met their calls and Denoa’s heart clenched in despair. Tamol’s limp was more persistent and his shoulders were slumped with fatigue but she did not fool herself. He did not feel sorrow or regret. Those emotions were foreign to him and she would not allow herself to think otherwise.
“She is not here.” Denoa turned to Tamol as he came to stand at her side. She noticed that he stood behind her and his posture was rigid. She followed the direction of his intense gaze and her blood ran cold. Men on horseback raced toward them. The rushing water had drowned out the sound of their approach. Denoa instinctively moved to run, but Tamol held her wrist fast.
“Let me go! We must flee.” Denoa was wild with fear. She knew that only those men that had fought and killed rode upon the backs of horses. Horseflesh was valuable and men died for the right to possess such a beast. She knew who rode toward them with their black hair streaming out behind them and their bodies painted for battle. The raiders that had pillaged her village and killed those that tried to fight had returned. It did not matter that they were few in number, the raiders knew that they had the advantage.
“It would be futile to run. Show strength, not fear.” Tamol shook Denoa to gain her attention and then he released her.
She took several calming breaths before she was able to raise her eyes high to the heavens above. It was only then that she saw the small foot dangling over the edge of a ledge high above the river. Cloud Bringing Woman.
Amara heard voices.
“Amara! Cloud Bringing Woman!” Someone shouted and Amara opened her eyes. Despite her best efforts she had fallen asleep. Her lips were dry and her tongue was thick in her mouth. Death had not come for her yet, but it was near. For a time she had been lost in dreams and painless oblivion.
She forced her body to heed her command as she tried to shift into a better position. If it had been Kaichen that called for her, she would have recognized the voice. But it was difficult to hear over the rushing river below her. Her legs were numb. She had been sitting for so long that she had lost all feeling in her lower body. Amara fell onto her side and caught herself with her hands. She peered over the side of the ledge and gasped at what she saw below her.
Armed men on horseback surrounded a woman and a man. The woman was Kaichen’s mother, Denoa. She recognized Tamol as the man shifted to stand in front of Denoa. Why were they here? Where was Kaichen? It was difficult to connect her thoughts together. The sun had drained most of the life from her, stealing her reserve of strength, burning away her will to live.
Her skin was dry to the touch and she had lost the never ending thirst for water that had plagued her throughout the night. It was early morning. The sun was not even directly overhead yet and the heat was alread
y intense.
Amara shifted again, pulling her knees toward her chest. She was too afraid to call out. Denoa did not look up and neither did Tamol. The men that surrounded them were known to her. She did not know their names or faces but their bodies were painted in the same patterns used by the warriors that had taken her from her village and killed many of her people. Amara could only watch as down below things progressed from bad to worse.
“I have no fight with you.” Tamol struggled to keep his voice firm.
He did not like the way that the raiders stared at Denoa. He tried to stand in front of her but the leader simply moved his horse so that he could advance without interference.
For her part, Denoa tried to control the trembling in her limbs. She recognized one of the raiders. The man that stared down at her had once been a vindictive boy with cold eyes. She had feared him then and she feared him now.
Denoa’s reaction toward the raider was a visceral response to the memory of the vile acts he and his men had committed. Because of this man and men like him, Denoa knew that evil stalked the land.
The man dismounted and stood facing them with a look of superiority upon his face. Denoa knew what was to come, but she was not prepared for it. Without warning the man struck Tamol across the face.
Tamol fell and he did not rise again. Denoa feared that the raider had landed a killing blow upon Tamol but she did not move. She knew that the men before her enjoyed fear.
He fed off of terror the way a predator feeds upon the dashing path of the one that it stalks. Tamol moaned and Denoa breathed deeply, momentarily relieved that he still lived. She forced herself to inhale and exhale as she tried to conquer her fear.
The raider drew close to Denoa. She watched him warily and she did not move when he pressed his face against her cheek and inhaled sharply.
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