Beyond the Valley of Mist

by Dicksion, William Wayne

  Before it got dark, Zen’s group was getting closer. As the evening wore on into night, they continued, but as the light faded, the tracks were harder to follow. At last, they saw the glow of the enemy’s campfire in the distance.

  When they were close enough, Zen and Jok led the Zorians to a hidden spot only a short distance from the raiders and stopped to rest, to prepare for the battle they were going to fight after the raiders had gone to sleep.

  “The rest of you, wait here,” Zen said. “Jok and I will take Lela and Ador and find where the women are being held. We have to determine the best way to rescue them. After we’ve found the women, Ador and Lela will stay with them, and Jok and I will return for you.”

  Lela whispered to the men, “You must be very quiet so you don’t alarm the raiders.”

  The men were calmed by the fact that neither Lela nor Ador were afraid.

  Even though the raiders had more men than the Zorians, they still were only a small band. Jok pointed to their horses and said, “There are only as many horses as I have fingers on both hands. The raiders have raided the non-warrior Zorians before and knew they had no need for a large raiding party.”

  As Zen had suspected, they didn’t even post guards.

  Zen and Jok untied the horses, quietly led them into a canyon, hid them, and then returned to look for the captive women.

  “I see them there, at the edge of the camp,” Jok whispered. “They each have a raider in bed with them. It looks like the raiders are taking turns coupling with the women.”

  “But the women aren’t resisting,” Ador noticed.

  “That’s the smart thing to do,” Zen commented. “They’ll be hurt less if they don’t resist.”

  “We can get closer by creeping through those trees,” Jok suggested.

  “Yes, but since the women aren’t being hurt, let’s gather our Zorians together, and all rush in at the same time,” Zen countered. “We can destroy most of the raiders before they wake up, and if we’re lucky, we’ll cut them down to size with the first attack. Some of them will never wake up."

  “Ador and I will wait here until we hear you start the attack,” Lela said as they crouched behind a big rock, “and we’ll hit the men who are with the women on the head with rocks while they are distracted. Then we’ll take the women to where you hid the horses and wait.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Jok said. “It’s probably best that the husbands don’t know what’s been happening to their wives.”

  “With the raiders being so occupied, they’ll be easy to surprise,” Ador said. “We’ll help the women clean themselves up before their husbands get here. The women won’t tell their husbands what happened, so they will never know.”

  “All right, but don’t take chances with those raiders; I don’t want you to have to clean yourselves up too,” Jok said as he and Zen walked away.

  Zen explained the plan to the Zorians and told them to position themselves around the camp so that they could all move in at the same time and quickly eliminate as many raiders as possible.

  On a signal the rescuers all rushed in, quickly killed the raiders, stripped them of the items they had stolen from the Zorians, and left their bodies for the vultures.

  These killers would never raid the Zorians again.

  The horses were hidden a good walk away, and when the rescuers brought them back, the women were waiting, calm and pure as dewdrops. The two husbands rushed to their kidnapped wives, relieved to see that they had endured the ordeal unscathed.

  The rescuing party wanted to ride the horses back to the village, but only the two captured women had ever ridden a horse. The women showed the others how to climb onto the horses and guide them with gentle commands. Riding was clumsy at first, but after a time, the rescuers were able to stay comfortably on their horses.

  The journey home was almost pleasant because it was much easier and shorter than the run out had been. The villagers were frightened when they saw the rescuers coming, thinking they were the raiders returning. How surprised and happy they were to see the rescue party returning on horses, along with the Zorian women the raiders had kidnapped.

  Zen and Jok were pleased that they had brought horses to the Zorians. Most of the Zorians were glad, too, but also sad, since they had to bury the friends who had been killed by the raiders.

  Zen and his group were heroes. Everyone was patting them on the back and thanking them for saving the women.

  Most of all, Gar’s people were glad that they had at last punished the ones who had been raiding their village.

  “Zen, would you and Jok teach us how to defend our village?” Gar asked.

  “We’ll gladly teach you if you’ll do something for us.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Gar asked.

  “I want your craftsmen to make knives and shields from the bronze, and please make extra sets of strong bows and arrows with more heads of bronze for the arrows, so that we can take them with us when we go to build our own village.”

  “We’ll do that for you,” Gar answered, “and I’ll send men to help you build your village in exchange for a supply of firestones.”

  “Good. Let us begin. Tomorrow, we’ll build an alliance between our villages. We have things you need, and you have things we need. This alliance will work to the advantage of both villages.”

  Gar was pleased. “That is wise. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, I’ll have the Zorians ready to begin their training.”

  Zen extended his hand. “I give you my hand in pledge that I’ll do as I have said.”

  Gar clasped Zen’s hand. “Let this be a pledge between us.”

  “We’ll go to our lodge to rest and be ready when the sun rises.”

  ***

  Just as the sun rose, they began their day.

  “Would those of you who work with bronze come with me?” Zen asked. “The rest of you may go with Jok. He will start your training.”

  When Zen’s group got to the bronze workers' site, Zen drew a picture of a knife and a shield in the sand and asked the leader, “Can you make these?”

  “Yes, but we’ll need more blue and gray stones.” He asked a group of men, “Bring me plenty of these stones.” He requested of two more men, “Build a fire hot enough to remove the copper and tin from the stones. While you’re doing that, Zen will show me the details of what he wants, and I’ll make the first knife and shield from the bronze we already have.”

  The first knife was too thin, and the bronze wasn’t strong enough.

  “Ah,” Zen said. “This is a good start, but the knife needs to be thicker, heavier, and stronger.”

  Zen was very pleased with the second knife.

  “This is a good weapon,” Zen said, as he swung the knife around. “Very effective when used against anything soft, like the flesh of a man or an animal, and yet strong enough to cut wood. We’ll make several different sizes.”

  In time, the bronze workers were able to produce a blade about as long as a man’s arm that was sharp and easy to use. It was a lethal weapon for defending themselves against any attacker.

  Next, they made a shield that a man could carry by putting his arm through a loop that went around his shoulder, with another loop for his wrist. With the shield, a man could deflect the blow of a club or knife and also ward off spears and arrows.

  ***

  Jok was busy with the Zorians, teaching them how to use the bow and arrow so they could shoot moving targets, such as a man on horseback. The Zorian men had been using bows and arrows all their lives, but had not learned to use them in battle. After training for only a couple of weeks, they had become a formidable fighting force.

  Jok and Zen encouraged Lela and Ador to go through the training right along with the men. The girls became very adept at using their lightweight bows and shorter arrows. Their new skills would come in handy, should they be attacked by the priests and soldiers back in Lalock.

  Zen told Gar that he should post sentries to warn the villagers
of an impending attack. This precaution proved effective very quickly. One morning just after the sun came up, the sentry sounded the alarm, and the warriors all rushed out to their assigned stations to intercept the invaders. It was a group of horsemen from the same tribe as the ones who had raided earlier; they had returned to see why the other warriors had not returned from the village. Not expecting the Zorians to be well-organized and well-trained, they lost nearly half their raiding force. Frightened, the remaining invaders rode off, leaving their companions lying where they had fallen. Again, the Zorians claimed the dead raiders' horses.

  The only two Zorians who were injured would recover with care and rest. Gar was happy; for the first time, he and his people had turned the raiders away. Lela and Ador had been a big help in driving off the attackers, each scoring more than one hit with their arrows. Zen and Jok were proud of them, and the girls felt good about themselves because they knew they would be able to help when they went to rescue their parents.

  The village celebrated its victory with a feast honoring the warriors and giving thanks to Jok and Zen for teaching them how to defend themselves. Now the people had plenty of domesticated horses and could start their own herd.

  ***

  Chapter 15

  The New Village

  Zen told Gar and Lox that he and his party would be leaving the next day. He explained that they had to start building their own village and then return to their home village of Lalock to rescue their families. They requested four horses and an extra horse to carry supplies.

  Zen thanked Gar for his offer to help, and told him that they would bring them a good supply of firestones after they had rescued their families. But first, they had to find a way around the Valley of Mist.

  ***

  Early the following morning, the two couples loaded their supplies and mounted their horses. It was sad to bid farewell to their many Zorian friends, but they were eager to build their new village and to see their families in Lalock.

  It was much more difficult traveling up the river on horseback than it had been floating down the river on a raft. The journey up the river had taken Lox and his companions many cycles of the moon. Zen and his friends would take less than half that time, since they had horses to ride.

  Each evening when they camped, they took turns being lookouts in pairs. By having two guards, they could make sure the other person stayed awake, plus the two people sleeping were afforded a few hours of privacy.

  The guards kept a big fire going. At first, the horses were afraid of the fire, but after a few nights, they got used to it. The big cats were always trying to reach the horses, but they were afraid of the fire. The two guards kept the predators at bay by standing behind the fire and shooting them with arrows. After a few nights, though, they started to run out of arrows. When they shot a predator, some animals would run off, the arrows still in their hides. During the still nights, the guards could hear other animals attacking the wounded animals. The following morning, they found the spot where the fighting had taken place and were sometimes able to retrieve the arrows from the dead animals.

  The Zorians had made an extra supply of arrowheads, so there were enough to replace the ones that were lost. All they had to do to make new arrows was to place the arrowheads in new shafts and install feathers in the ends.

  ***

  After traveling up the river for several cycles of the moon, the four friends came to the place where the two rivers joined. The sun had passed its highest point by the time they arrived.

  “I think we should build our village on the other side,” Zen said, “so let’s cross the river before it gets too dark.”

  “How do we get the horses across?” Ador asked. She jumped off her horse, looking worried at the stretch of water before them.

  “I saw horses swimming in the river at Village by the Sea; we’ll just swim them across,” Zen answered.

  “Can we ride them while they are swimming?” Lela asked.

  “I don’t think we should,” Jok, the practical one, said, “but we can hold onto their tails and let them pull us across. I’ll go first with the pack mare. If that works, the rest of you can follow.”

  Jok led the packhorse and the horse he was riding into the water. The horses were reluctant at first, but when they saw what he was doing, they followed him without hesitation. Jok allowed the horses to swim past him, then grasped the tail of the last horse and let it pull him across. When he reached the other side, he called to the others, “Come on, it’s fun!”

  Soon all the horses were across.

  “When we were here before,” Zen said, “I noticed two blind canyons, with small streams running out of them. I think that would be a good place to camp and to build our village. We could corral the horses and prevent them from wandering away by dragging brush across the mouth of one of the canyons.”

  Zen then led them directly to the blind canyons.

  “You're right, this would be a good place to build,” Jok agreed. “The canyon contains plenty of stones that we can use for building our homes. The walls of the canyon will form one end of our houses, which will make them easier to build because we will have a stable wall on which to attach the buildings. The little streams flowing out of the canyon will provide water, and the separate canyon will provide shelter for the horses we have now and for all the animals we will raise in the future.”

  Ador and Lela were excited; they wanted to get started right away.

  “Let’s pitch camp for the night,” Zen said. “We’re all tired, and we can begin building tomorrow.”

  ***

  The sun rose on another beautiful day. Soft clouds floated by and a gentle breeze kept everyone cool. They surveyed the canyons and were pleased with the location of their new village.

  Flowering trees of many different hues dotted the canyon; other trees were filled with fruit ready for picking. Multi-colored flowers were splashed over the ground.

  After eating a quick bite of breakfast, they addressed the problem of containing the horses by dragging brush across the mouth of the canyon. The canyon was a perfect place for the horses; they had grass to eat and water to drink. With that problem solved, they turned their attention to home-building.

  “Now, where shall we build our first home?” Jok asked.

  They discussed it for a little while and agreed on a location near a stream.

  Jok, the house builder, said, “We’ll build the first house with three rooms--one large one and two smaller ones to sleep in. That will have to do until we can build a house for each of us.”

  They gathered a pile of flat rocks, dug an outline for the foundation, and then scraped away a smooth area for the floor.

  “The bottom stones have got to be partly buried so they’ll be secure and not shift; otherwise, the walls could fall,” Jok instructed.

  Zen and Jok placed the large stones while the girls made mud from clay and mixed it with straw. The combination of mud and straw would hold the stones in place, preventing any creature from crawling between them, and would also keep the rocks from falling. This was hard work, and took days to complete.

  Jok told them to make one side of the wall higher than the other. When they asked him why, he explained that the roof has to slant to allow rainwater to drain, thereby preventing the roof from leaking.

  The roof was made of poles with sticks placed between the poles. Heavy grass and mud were stuffed between the sticks and covered with a mixture of straw and clay. The sun would bake the clay, so that the house would remain dry in the worst weather. They created an opening in the roof to allow the smoke from a fire to escape.

  Soon the outside of the house was finished, and the four friends looked at it with pride. Nothing harmful could enter their home, and it would shelter them from animals and bad weather.

  Next, they made beds to sleep in and stools to sit on. The girls adorned the rooms with flowers. Finally, their home was completed. They hugged each other and thanked the Zorians, who gave them
the home-building knowledge.

  Now they could turn their full attention to rescuing their families.

  ***

  “We must plan this rescue very carefully,” Zen said. “The priests failed to kill us when we escaped the first time, and they will be determined not to fail again. If they allow us to defy them, they cannot maintain authority over the people, and they have an army to send against us. We’ll have to organize the villagers who want to return with us and provide them with weapons. The weapons, plus the element of surprise, will give us a big advantage over the priests and their soldiers, who have no knowledge of bows and arrows or bronze knives and shields.”

  “First, we have to find a way around the Valley of Mist,” Jok reminded them.

  “Perhaps if we follow this new river, it will show us a way,” Lela suggested.

  “I think Lela is right,” Zen said. “The river that we followed through the Valley of Mist flows from the north. This new river flows from the west. After we’ve followed it for a time, perhaps we’ll be able to climb to the top of a mountain and see a way around the valley.”

  “Do you think we’ll find where Sun enters Earth?” Ador asked.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so,” Zen replied and smiled at her. She was still concerned about Sun and Earth.

  “We’ll have to load the packhorse with dried food, blankets, and supplies,” Jok said. “It will be cold when we go over the mountains. You can see the snow on the mountain tops from here.”

  “Yes, and we must pack extra weapons for the people we rescue. We’ll need their help if we’re going to defeat the soldiers and the priests.”

  “We have no idea what hardships we may encounter,” Ador commented, “We have to be prepared for whatever may happen.”