A Cruel Beginning

Chapter 1

Levek Kagon looked across the dunes of Nhamma's great desert towards the setting sun. Such peace was rare among the xaela, but the Kagon were not a vicious tribe, preferring to avoid contact with the warring tribes. Tomorrow, they would move north, towards the Azim Steppe – a thought which gave Levek a sense of unease. Migration always made Levek uneasy. There was always the chance of an ambush by one of the other tribes, notably the Dotharl, who also wandered the borderlands between the Nhamma Desert and the Azim Steppe. Unlike the Kagon, the Dotharl were a tribe of brutal warriors who preyed upon the other tribes, although without much success as their casualty rate was quite high.

Her main worries were her flock of sheep and her four year old son, Saharin, who would see his fifth year come summer. It was he who gave her strength and purpose, and she worried about the future that nomadic tribal life would give him. Levek thought to send Saharin somewhere beyond the xaela lands, perhaps Doma, to live a life less likely to result in an early death – or perhaps to the Mol, a tribe of the Steppe that almost never saw conflict.

As the last of her sheep laid down for the night and the small camp of Kagon Iloh began to quiet, Levek left the pen and went inside her yurt, where Saharin was asleep on his dzoskin bed. The fire in the center of the yurt burned softly, keeping the interior cozy and warm. Levek gave her beloved son a gentle kiss on the forehead as he slept. "Nhamma watch over you," she prayed in the au ri tongue. She herself would lay down to sleep as well, as the Kagon were to take down their yurts and prepare for the journey to the steppe at the first light of dawn.

Chapter 2

A commotion outside awoke Levek. "It's much too early to be gathering to move," she thought to herself. She looked towards her son, still asleep on his bed, then got up and headed towards the entrance of her yurt.

Outside, the commotion grew louder. The Kagon men were arming themselves and rushing outside their yurts. "Are we being attacked?" she wondered, worried for her tribe and her son. To the north, where they were to be headed in just hours, sounds of fighting came over the hill beyond her line of sight.

"Gather your belongings and make ready to move," Dalmaq Kagon, the khan of Kagon Iloh, told Levek, ensuring everyone was preparing to move.
"Is it the Dotharl?" She asked, concerned.
"Nay." he replied, "There are men in black armor, who walk with metal beasts. They defeated the Dotharl war party with ease. We will be no match. We must move quickly."

Swiftly and filled with dread, Levek ran inside and awoke her son. "Saharin, we must make ready to leave. Gather your things and let us away." Together, they gathered what they could into saddlebags and prepared to leave what they could not take behind. Though Levek was loathe to release her flock of sheep to the wild, she would rather leave with her son.

Outside, a group of men in black and crimson armor entered Kagon Iloh, led by a man clad in thick black steel and wielding a large blade with a strange contraption at it's hilt. "Who is in charge here?" he demanded.
"I am," Dalmaq responded in their foreign tongue, approaching the leader of the intruding group. "You enter Kagon Iloh. We are herders and hunters, not warriors. I beg you leave us in peace."
The man in armor laughed. "You mean to tell me those were not your men who attacked us as we crossed beyond the Steppe?"
"They are Dotharl, another tribe of our kind. They act of their own accord. We have not given you any trouble. I bid you leave us" Dalmaq pleaded.
"I see," said the armored man, drawing his blade from behind, "Well when one crosses Garlemald, one must be made to pay. Though they may have not been your tribe, they were certainly your kind. Examples must be made" Before Dalmaq could respond, the intruder pointed his blade at the khan and squeezed his hand. A loud bang was heard, and the khan dropped to the ground, lifeless. The man turned to his men. "Eliminate the rest and burn this filth, then we continue on Doma."

"Doma?" thought Levek, watching the scene unfold from within her yurt. "This is a seige force!" she realized, hopeless in the fact that if these men had brought enough weaponry to lay seige to Doma, the Kagon could be crushed mercilessly before they had a chance to escape. Levek ran to her son and picked him up, ready to flee while leaving all their belongings behind – but as she made for the door, the armored leader of the invading men entered, accompanied by two of his soldiers.
"It's rude to leave when you have guests visiting," he said with a smirk, "but of course, I couldn't expect a savage to understand basic manners."
His soldiers produced oil and poured it it onto the fire in the center of the yurt, creating a trail to set fire to the yurt and their possessions.
Frantically, Levek grabbed a nearby stone knife and charged at the leader, who pushed her to the ground and drew his blade, shooting her in the knee, crippling her. "No! My son..." she exclaimed, looking to her son.
"Leave her and the child. Let the fire take them," the intruder said to his men. Together they turned and left the yurt to the flames, Levek and Saharin with it.
"Mama!" screamed Saharin, frantically trying to help his mother up as their yurt began to collapse around them.
"Go Saharin, you must leave me." pleaded Levek, wanting nothing more than her son to live.
"No mama, I'm not leaving you here," cried Saharin, struggling, frightened.
"Please Saharin, you must live. Tell others what happened here Warn the other tribes. And live...live my son. Live for me."
"Mama I don't want you to go" sobbed Saharin, terrified and alone.
"You'll never be alone my child. I will always be with you," Levek said, her breath fading. "Go my love, and may Nhamma always watch over you."
Levek's limbal rings within her eyes dimmed as her life was extinguished. Saharin, hopeless and alone, left his mothers corpse behind as he ran for the door. Before he got to it, the yurt fully collapsed, burying them both.

Chapter 3

A war party of Buduga warriors who was following an Imperial seige unit bound for Doma happened upon the now burned ruins of Kagon Iloh. "It would seem the Garleans and their machines got here before we did," said Mohnen, leader of the war party. "Search for survivors. Check the yurts. Assist anyone still alive, even the women."
"Cheif, I found a survivor!" exclaimed a Buguda warrior. Mohnen arrived quickly to see a young boy buried in the rubble of a yurt. "He's in good condition. Wounded, but he will recover," Mohnen said as he examined the young boy. "What's your name boy?" he asked as the child awoke, disoriented and confused. One of his horns had broken in the collapse, but it would be regrown in time.
"Sa-Saharin," said the boy. "My home was burned by men in black armor. My mother..." he paused, looking back at the rubble Levek had been buried under.
"We'll find her, and bring her with us." assured Can you stand? We must return to the Dawn Throne and inform the khagan of what has transpired here."
"I think so," said Saharin. "My mother, I think she's gone."
Mohnen was silent for a moment. "We will give her a proper sendoff. She was a follower of Nhamma I take it? We shall pass the Dusk Throne on the way and leave her in sight of the dusk mother. "
Saharin took comfort in his words. Though he was still devastated over the loss of his mother, he was relieved to be in the company of a tribe who could continue to raise him, at least until he came of age.