Chapter 2
The first day among the Apachenegs
Cyrus awoke inside a small tent. He looked around and judged it to be quite spacious for something so small. His eyes then froze on something beautiful. A song from the greatest bard would not be capable of describing her beauty to him. Her eyes were as brown as the trees from his home village but they shined like the sun itself. Her hair was a flowing dark brown and her face seemed to expose no flaw. He had seen beautiful women before, but nothing like this. He had to know more of her.
Then, he was startled by her heavenly voice as she said to him "You have woken up. That is good for your recovery." "WH-where am I? How long have I been … like this?" "You are among the Apacheneg nation and you have been like this for three days." "What about my men? Are they all…" "Dead? Yes. My brother and his warriors killed them all. You should thank the Great Spirit for their swift death. Itza-lupan ordered that your men are to be buried properly and not be scalped. That is strange." "Why was I spared? There were others. Why not them?" "I do not know. It would be better if you asked my brother." "What is your name?" "Sonsee-array. It means Morning Star. What is yours?" "I am called Cyrus. What happened exactly to me? All I remember is being shot." "You were shot by a tranquilizer arrow. People with those are out for three days and die in two weeks if untreated." "How long before I can move?" "One hour. My brother and my father want to see you after you recover." "Why did your brother attack my men? We did not attack them at all except in defense." "My people do not take kindly to the Imperial Horsemen since they have raided us many times."
He looked at her again. She was too stunning to him, so he stopped. Sonsee-array then said "It is fine with me that you look at me like that. Most that look upon me are stunned by my looks, so I am fine with it. It is only a year before father allows me to marry again." "What happened to your husband?" asked Cyrus. "He died. It still pains me too much too think of it. You should rest because the rest of the treatment may be too painful for you awake." "Thank you but I think I should stay awake. I do not like being alone amongst your people because I feel unsafe." "Whatever you think is best. Be careful."
The treatment started and he felt a rush of pain swelling through his body. He saw a younger version of himself, running. He was ten and that happened almost twenty years ago. The boy stopped and he saw that his parents' burning house and the galloping Imperial Cavalry were too close. He saw his dead parents on the ground, scalped. His older brother was impaled. His father had told him to run before he got killed, so he started again. Suddenly, a bullet hit his leg and he fell down. A horseman galloped towards him with his lance raised high, but a voice cried "Stop!" and the horseman halted. Another horseman rode up to him and said, "Why did you attack this poor boy? The Emperor specifically ordered that no one under military age is to be killed." he asked "His family revolted against the empire therefore he must die!" "How dare you disobey a direct order from the Emperor himself? Men, arrest this man for insubordination and prepare the firing squad for his execution." As the horseman was being dragged away, the other horseman, who was his commander rode up to the wounded Cyrus.
He turned him over and raised his head onto his knee. "I am Major Luke Arnold of the Imperial Army. What is your name?". "C-Cyrus." was the only answer the boy could give before he collapsed. "Don't worry, kid. I will get you to my personal physician. You will be fine." Twenty years had passed since that day when he was saved by the man he almost called father. He had become a good officer who only lived to see his comrades-in-arms slaughtered in a war that he barely knew by a people whom he had never raised arms against for an emperor he never knew. Why did he fight, then? His training answered for the glory of the empire. Then, he thought why die for the glory of the empire when you will never live to see that glory?
His eyes suddenly opened to see her face again. Surely these tribesmen could not have produced such a beautiful flower if they were as savage as the Empire claimed. He would stay with this tribe for a year to find the answer to one question: What made these people worth fighting?
"Do you think you can walk?" she asked. "Yes. I think so." He slowly arose from the bed and she gave him some mare's milk to drink. Cyrus then put on his boots and attached the baldric that sported his saber and began to walk out of the tent. "Wait" she said and she gave him a necklace that sported a small bit of bison horn. "Wear this for luck. My father's tent should be just across from this tent." "I will not wear it for luck but rather in exchange for your kindness." he replied and he walked into Itza-Shalla's tent.
"Welcome, Cyrus of the Farendra Empire. Please sit and ask for whatever knowledge you require." said Itza-shalla. "Let me ask, why was I spared? Why were my men given proper burial and not scalped?" "You were spared because of a vision that I had when I was a boy. In order to reach manhood, every warrior in this tribe must ride out to a quiet spot in the steppes and rest until he sees the vision that chooses his true name. In my vision, I saw a man on a dragon riding through a battlefield. One soldier of the Empire after another was scorched by the dragon's flame. Its rider leapt off its back and cut a bloody swathe through the enemy. Alongside him was a giant wolf that fought just as ferociously. I looked inside the wolf and I saw myself beneath its fur. After the vision, I choose my name Itza-lupan, which in our tongue means Great Wolf. After my vision, I was attacked by the great wolf known as Bardalph and I slew him and took his fur coat for my own. I searched for the dragon rider that I saw for years and now he sits before me. I buried your men because I respected them. They fought well and we only killed them to sate the bloodlust of my warriors who want to kill on sight any horseman from the empire. Their only flaw was that they were soldiers of the empire." "Know this: I will never fully forgive you for killing my men but I shall not seek revenge because of the kindness your sister has shown me. I will stay with you and learn if I am worthy of being the man in your vision and why this war is fought." "I thank you for listening to my son and we shall treat you as our honored guest for there is no greater honor in being anything else. Come hunting with us and you shall learn our ways." "I would be honored in being your hunting companion."
Soon after that, Cyrus and the two chiefs found a great herd of bison. Arrow after arrow streamed from the bows of Itza-shalla and Itza-lupan. Cyrus' rifle joined them as well and they killed five bison. They took the carcasses back to the camp. "Come with me now, Cyrus." said Itza-lupan and he showed him how to skin the bison. They parceled the meat and gave it to Sonsee-array and the other women of the camp.
That night, the tribe prepared a magnificent feast around the campfire. As the food was about to be served, Itza-shalla arose and addressed the tribe: "My fellow Apachenegs, Let us give thanks to the Great Spirit for our good food and our honored guest." "But Itza-shalla, I have only spent one conscious day among your people. I have not done too much to be considered honorable." said Cyrus. "You helped us gather food today and you killed your first bison. You have given kindness in return for our kindness towards you. If there is no honor in that, then honor is meaningless. You are more than an honored guest. You are an Apacheneg and this tribe will always be your home if you so wish it."
After the feast, several tribesmen pulled out their traditional drums and began to play. The tribesmen rose and danced to the rhythmic beat of the drums. Cyrus did not rise with them but the drums sang to him the home he had once known: his family on the Isle of the Shadowfaces. He remembered playfully wrestling his brother outside their tent in the grasslands and his father teaching him how to hunt the lions. He smiled as he glanced at the stars. Those days were long gone but now he knew he had a new home and perhaps this one would not be scorched from existence.