The Last Sundancer (37 page)

It was in that moment that
he freely admitted to himself that he would have stood at her side in an instant but she had given her pledge to Shale and never looked back.  As she stared at him with cold eyes that saw every weakness and flaw, he realized that she would never turn to him. 

Not even the feelings of love that rushed over him like cold waters would draw her to his side.  Denoa’s heart belonged to Shale and it always would.  Even in death Shale still held
her heart.  Despair fell over Tamol, like the yawning maw of a great beast, consuming all. 

As time slowed to a crawl he saw himself through Denoa’s dark, knowing eyes.  He
would never be the man that she had given her heart to. 

Of the three sons of Sakyma only Shale stood against their father and fought for the freedom of people that were too weak to fight for themselves.   Denoa had chosen
Shale as her mate, long ago and for all time.  She made her choice clear now with her silence. 

“Where do you journey?” The words were forced from
Tamol’s throat as he waited for Denoa to respond. 

“My son
is in danger.  I am but one woman and I cannot hope to free him from the man that has taken him away.  But I will seek out his wife and offer her the safety of our band.” Denoa did not know why she bothered to explain herself to Tamol. 

“The raiders have plagued your people and ours.  We avoided their attempts to raid our band, by taking to the high places that are easy to defend.  But you have no natural defenses in your canyon.  Your people draw strength from the red rocks just as ours do, but your village lies exposed.  The raiders will come against you like a horde of insects and take what is there for the offering.” Tamol issued his warning with a voice that was full of dire certainty.

Denoa felt cold fear wash over her.  “You let
them take my son.”

Tamol
did not deny Denoa’s words but he was surprised by the depth of shame he felt as he held Denoa’s condemning gaze. 

Without another word Denoa turned and walked away.  There was nothing left to say and
talking only delayed her journey. 

When she heard the gentle fall of his footsteps she felt certain that he would try to stop her.  When he silently fell into step beside her she let her pent up breath fall away from her lips freely. 

Tamol set her torch to burn upon a pile of dried grass that she had not noticed before.  She did not question him as he lifted the torch high and led her forward.  His footsteps were longer than hers, though he limped slightly. 

If he helped her, she would see to his wound, but nothing more.  

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.”

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 wa
ters 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 a
nd 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 wrack
ed 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 Kaichen 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.