Alien Courage (Rise of the Empress) (35 page)

Url
nodded his understanding but Teni looked up confused.
“What would Url do there?” he asked.

Url
leaned across and whispered in Teni’s ear, “hostages,
destroy food supplies, kill Chief.” Teni sat back stunned. The thought of such
a thing made him feel very nervous. He stood up and turned to warm his back but
remained silent, now understanding the gravity of the situation.

Url
tied the Beclin boy to the base of a large rock. He
looked at the young boy and slowly shook his head. He had a bad feeling and did
not quite know why, he leaned close to the boy and whispered so no one else
would hear,
“
You run you die.” The boy withdrew as far
as he could and looked away.
Url
frightened him greatly
even without the death threats.
Url
stood up and
looked around, he knew if this boy got away and back to the Beclin it would be
bad for them. He made his way to a slight rise in the shelter floor, giving a
commanding view over the surrounding area. Cradling his gun and having another
one captured earlier beside him he took first watch.

Brakin made his way to
Url
and sat beside him. He put his hand on
Url’s
shoulder
and spoke softly. “What is it my friend?”

Url
told Brakin of the Beclin Warrior and produced the
large tooth he got from the encounter with the two bears. “That Beclin no trust
own kind, I know. We raid, get daughter, fight Beclin their village, no like
they know where we are.”

Brakin’s face was now etched with worry. Maybe
Url
was right, he thought. Simply ambush their village. He
then dismissed that idea as the thought occurred to him his daughter might not
be at that village and he may never get her back if they did that. He turned to
look at the Beclin boy who was now curled up like a ball. “At least my daughter
is useful as a female and will probably remain alive no matter what happens
,
there will always be a chance to find her. That boy might
not be so lucky if there is treachery”, Brakin whispered solemnly.

Url
spoke without taking his eyes off the clearing in
front of them. “I miss wife, no children. Your daughter, daughter of friend, no
Beclin life she
live
.”
Url
turned to face Brakin, his rough bearded features softened, and Brakin saw grief
in his eyes.

Brakin stood up defiantly. “By all Great Spirits we
posses and will posses my friend. She is your daughter as much as she is mine
we seek. Let your aim be true and your strength be of many bears, the revenge
is ours,” Brakin said looking down at
Url
, he turned
sharply to walk to his sleeping place. He was exhausted and fell asleep very
quickly. The hours disappeared quickly for him.

‘CRACK!’ went the sound of a gunshot and Teni quickly turned
his gun around and blew down the barrel, clearing the flash hole. With
practiced fingers, he the weapon reloaded in quick time.

“What is it?” Brakin said now awake with
Url
directly behind him cocking his gun. Sasra was kneeling
on one knee with his gun aiming out into the clearing and squeezed the trigger
again. His aim was true and his bullet smashed through the undergrowth and into
the chest of the lead wolf. With a gurgling yelp, the animal thrashed and
dropped dead into the snow. The pack of wolves in the undergrowth quickly
dispersed and disappeared.

Teni turned to Sasra and smiled. Sasra stood up
reloading his gun. “The wolf spirit will be good for your journey,” Sasra said
and came forward to stand next to Teni, “his pelt is yours my friend.”

Teni nodded and ran forward to skin the wolf.
Url
went with him.

Brakin walked back to the boy and untied his tether to
the large rock. The boy smiled his relief, stood up and started jumping on the
spot to get his circulation going. Brakin gave him some preserved meat. “Thank
you,” the boy said. Brakin smiled at him and went to the fire Sasra was
tending.

“You will need to go with Teni. That wolf pack will
remain in the area and may follow a single trail,” Brakin said kneeling down
and helping with the fire and enjoying the warmth.

“Yes, I was thinking I should go with him.” Sasra said
looking around and continued talking out of the side of his mouth, “that is if
you think you can do without my help with our ferocious prisoner.” Both men
laughed and sat back as the flames built quickly.

“He’s a good boy, that one,” Sasra said thinking of
his brother who was just a little younger.

“Yes, it is hard being close to him. I keep getting
the feeling I want to teach him things,” Brakin said.

“That was no accident you shot his gun was it? You
were very close.”

Brakin looked at Sasra and slowly nodded. “I feel we
might be able to bridge a friendship with the Beclin at some time. They are the
same as us…”

“But there is always someone who commits violence.
Either them or us,” Sasra cut in. “Our fathers and their fathers and beyond
have always fought the Beclin.”

“Yes. I have often thought about our endless enemy
too. At least a wolf or bear kills for food or protection, we kill other men to
feel different in here,” Brakin said tapping his head.

Sasra nodded his head, slapped and rubbed his knees
then stood up. “You will make a good Chief Brakin,” he said but added as he
picked up his gun. “We need someone who can use his head, but right now this,”
tapping his gun, “does my thinking. I will prepare for my journey.” Sasra moved
back in the shelter and knelt at his sleeping place opening his carry bags to
start preparing for the journey.

Teni and Sasra trudged across the clearing and when they
reached the tree line turned and waved.
Url
and Brakin
raised their arms in farewell and saw the two men disappear into the
undergrowth. “They should return after three or four sleeping periods with many
men,” Brakin said turning to tend the fire.

“
Ya
,” grunted
Url
as he sat down beside the fire and started to braid
freshly cut strips of hide from the moibla. His fingers seemed too stiff to
closely plat a rope. His frustration led him to use his teeth and roared with
pain as his teeth slipped off the leather and gnashed tightly together.

Suddenly the Beclin boy sat beside him and took the
leather from him.
Url’s
eyes opened wide with surprise
and became wider when the boy held his hand out and indicated with the stare of
eyes and a nod of his head for the knife on Url’s belt.
Url
quickly put his hand on the knife handle and shook his head indicating no.

Brakin leaned toward the boy and held his knife out.
The boy took it very slowly without taking his eyes off
Url
.
The boy leaned toward the fire and moved the end of a half burnt log toward him
then cut a series tight Vs in the end and jammed the leather ends tightly in
the Vs. He handled the knife back to Brakin and with deft fingers round platted
the leather into a tight cord. His skill was impressive and soon was platting
new strips into the ever increasing length of rope.
Url
and Brakin watched with great interest and they both rushed to cut the rest of
the moibla hide into fine strips.
Url
had a collection
of animal fat and mixed it with the bark of a common tree in a leather satchel
and placed it on a hot rock near the fire. Soon the mixture melted and
Url
mixed it thoroughly and applied it to the leather rope.
It immediately went soft and would be cured in a few sleeps.

“You are a fine rope maker,” Brakin said to the boy
who smiled.

“Get another moibla and we’ll make plenty of rope. I
know how to made gun sling and pouches. You hunt moibla and I make many things,
green hide cure slow, not shrink much if prepared correctly, I know good recipe
for curing green hide for rope,” the boy said to
Url
.

“Good idea,” Brakin agreed. Even
Url
was impressed and stood up and made a move for his bag and gun but halted. He
turned and looked at the boy and then Brakin.

“No,”
Url
said with steel
hard eyes. “Brakin, you hunt. Not go far. Plenty game follow cliff. I stay,” he
said moving back to his seat by the fire and busied
himself
with the rope. In his mind he didn’t trust the boy, and Brakin he knew was too
trusting. “You go,” he insisted of Brakin, who shrugged his shoulders, gathered
up his gear and disappeared along the cliff line.

Luck would have it that a shot soon rang out and
Url
with the boy tethered to him rushed along the cliff
line. Brakin had shot a large buck moibla, while its meat would be tougher its
hide was enormous. They quickly burnt the hair off the hide, then skinned the
animal and roasted the meat over a spit fire. The three men ate well,
then
preserved the cooked meat by hanging it out to freeze.
They kept busy with the leather and gained many useful articles.
Url
wasn’t very happy but finally relented and allowed the
boy with Brakin’s insistence to keep a long section of rope and two belt
pouches.

Three sleeps later from his high position in a tree
Url
spotted the movement of a large body of men in the
distance. Even though he saw them for only a moment before they vanished into
the trees he knew it was Teni and Sasra returning with the men from the
village. He climbed down and made his way to the shelter. Brakin was warming
himself
by the fire and the boy was asleep.

“Teni, Sasra bring many men, soon here. Get much wood
and maybe new moibla. Here soon,” he said slinging his gun and starting
gathering firewood. Brakin woke the boy and all three soon worked hard dragging
large branches close to the shelter.

The three men heard a number of shots and
Url
ordered Brakin to take the boy and hide in the
undergrowth while he ran across the clearing. He crashed through the
undergrowth following an uphill route. He made it quickly to the top of the
rise and slowly looked around a large conifer. He relaxed and released the
hammer on his gun. A group of skin clad villagers bent over two moibla dressing
them out and Teni was walking directly toward him but didn’t know he was there.

Teni nearly died with fright when he walked past the
tree
Url
was behind and suddenly a hand grasped him
firmly on the shoulder. He stared horrified at
Url’s
grinning face. “You have the spirit of a wolf,” he exclaimed in relief and
shook
Url
by his arm while calling out to Sasra.

Sasra came forward with half a dozen villagers and
much greeting and back slapping ensued. Brakin who had heard the familiar
voices of his tribesman came trotting out of the trees with the boy in front of
him. The sight of the Beclin boy making his way through the trees brought alarm
to the men who dropped to their knees and raised their weapons.

“No!” shouted both
Url
and
Sasra. Teni stepped in front of the men and waved the guns down. The boy
looking at so many of his enemies guns aiming at him he dropped to his knees in
shock, expecting to be shot at any moment. Brakin who stood directly behind him
gasped.

The guns were lowered. “That’s the hostage I was
telling you about,” Sasra explained. The tension dispersed quickly and Brakin
picked the boy up and directed him to the large tree beside them. “Wait there,”
he ordered.

As soon as Brakin turned toward the group of villagers
the boy jumped around the tree and ran. The tree blocked his figure from being
seen as he raced across the clearing, around the shelter and started scrambling
up the rocks. A loud ‘CRACK’ of a gun sounded below him and the rocks in front
of his face exploded into fragments. He looked down and saw
Url
put one gun down and take another off his shoulder and calmly aim it directly
at him. Men were running across the clearing, their guns at the ready.

“Down now,”
Url
shouted. The
boy froze. “Down now or die quick, down now!”

The boy looked up; there was a long way to the cover
of the trees at the top of the rise. In apathy he worked his way back down.
When he got down he had his hands tied tightly and was led roughly to the back
of the shelter and tethered to a large rock by the leather rope he recently
made and was allowed to keep.