Portals of Infinity: Book Four: The Sea of Grass Page 6

  "I've used this more than once, and not just on the unruly suzhen. I've killed narzhum and the wild hogs."

  I looked suitably impressed. I knew she was strong, even if she didn't look it, all that dancing she did not only made her attractive, it made her rather strong as well.

  "If you're so good at hunting, why do you dance?" I asked curious.

  "Dancing is what I love," she said and smiled happily. "Hunting is a skill we all must know, to insure that the tribe never goes hungry.

  "What do you love?" Smoke asked.

  "My wives," I said without even thinking.

  "Wives?" She looked surprised. "You have more than one?"

  I nodded and flattened my ears in embarrassment. "Two."

  She looked me over a minute. "That isn't common among the Hilanders, is it?"

  I shook my head. "No."

  She smirked at me, "Maybe I should try to be number three?"

  I mock growled back at her, "Don't give yourself airs."

  She laughed rather loudly at me then. "Now I know why you avoided my advances as long as you did."

  "I care about my women, and I didn't want any of the females here to get the wrong idea."

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that much," Smoke said with a small laugh under her breath, "most women in the tribes might wish to lie with an outsider to see what they are like, but none would marry any male who has not already become a member of the tribes."

  "Oh?" I was the one surprised now.

  "Yes, how would she know if he could provide for her and her children? That he would commit to live his life with her? If he isn't willing to join the tribe, and if he isn't able to pass the tests, then he obviously isn't worthy to be her husband."

  I considered the life that the tribes lived out here. I suspected at times it could be pretty harsh, so her words made a lot of sense. They needed some sort of standards that everyone must live up to, or they would eventually die out.

  I heard a whistle and looked up. The leader of the party had raised his spear and was motioning to the east.

  "What's that?" I asked Smoke who was pulling her spear out.

  "Food!" She said and laughed, kicking her wolat into a run as several others of the party broke free from the main body and took off at a run.

  I kicked my wolat's flanks and he took off after them, quickly getting my bow ready as I followed.

  We rode around a rise and I saw what we were hunting, narzhum! There was a small herd of them, at least a dozen, and they were a lot bigger than I remembered them being when Fel had shown me one!

  As I watched the leaders of the party rode right into the midst of them, turning and jabbing at them with their spears as they rode through the middle of the herd and out the other side. The Narzhum were turning and trying to attack, bellowing and charging at the wolats that had ridden through the middle of the group. At that point the next group of riders rode through, but turned right and left riding immediately out of the group after they jabbed several of the beasts with their spears as our wolats snapped at their flanks.

  I followed Smoke as she rode through with the last of the riders, and harassed a few more of them before riding out and turning to circle the group. As I watched the first group of riders rode through again, and I could see what they were doing, they were keeping the group from bunching up, they were spreading them out.

  We did this several times until the hunt leader started to force one in particular farther and farther away from the rest of the group. At that point the tactics changed, the first group continued to harry that one narzhum, while the rest of us worked to herd the rest further away from the target.

  There was a lot of bellowing from the lone one, as well as from the rest of the herd, and they tried several times to make a charge, to join up with the other one. Twice I saw Smoke turn one back by jabbing it on the nose with her spear, laughing as she got far closer to them than any of the others seemed to be willing to get.

  When one of the other narzhum turned and tried to body slam her the second time she did that, she quickly reversed her spear and brought it down on the narzhum's head with such force that you could hear the strike and the beast actually stumbled for a moment. Shaking its head then, it gave another bellow and turning it started to run away.

  The others concentrated on any narzhum that stopped to watch the one running, and those suddenly turned and followed. The big bull that I guessed was in charge of the herd, gave a last bellow of its own, and then turned to follow the rest of them as they abandoned the loan narzhum to its fate.

  I turned to look at the remaining narzhum, it was still putting up a good fight, but at this point it had several spears lodged in its sides, and blood was running from numerous wounds.

  The other riders all now started to ride in circles around it, stabbing at it and looking for an opening to lodge another spear. It reminded me of the pictures I'd seen of bull fights as a child. Only this animal was more the size of a small elephant!

  "How hard is it to kill one of those things?" I asked Smoke as she rode up beside me.

  "The heavy fur makes it hard to get a killing blow. So we try to tire it first. Once they have made it too tired to follow the riders circling it, one of us will hamstring it from behind. Then with it unable to move, we will use our spears to open up the juggler in the neck, and bleed it to death."

  "That must take a long time."

  She nodded, "Yes, about an hour. The biggest problem is if the herd tries to come back and rescue it. So we must keep a careful watch."

  "So who is the poor soul who has to run in and hamstring it?" I asked watching as the narzhum turned quickly and almost kicked one of the wolats that was circling it.

  "Whoever gets to it first!" She laughed.

  I looked at her, and noticed the way she was watching it move. "You've done this before, haven't you?"

  She nodded rather eagerly. "Dancers have faster reflexes and are better at dodging hooves. As the best dancer, I get the first chance!"

  I thought about that, and then I looked at those hooves. I was sure she probably had done it before, maybe a dozen times, but I knew it was something that I definitely had no desire to watch. I drew my swords and kicked Tom into a canter.

  "What are you going to do?" she asked looking at me suspiciously.

  "Kill it." I said as I reversed my grip on both of the swords. As it started to turn away I kicked Tom into a gallop, and kneed him to run straight at the back of the Narzhum as it fully turned away from us.

  I heard Smoke yell something, but as I hopped up on to the back of the saddle, everything slowed down as I entered the fight. Tom, my wolat, ran right up along side of the narzhum, I guess he figured out what I wanted to do once I stood up on the saddle, and as he drew near I jumped on to the back of the beast.

  I used a cantrip to improve my balance, and digging in the claws of my feet I took the two steps that brought me right over its neck. I drove both of the swords down over where the spine should be as I spread my legs and dropped down onto the neck, using my weight to drive the swords home.

  There was a moment's resistance, not unlike the time I had fought that armored soldier years back, and then both swords slid in to the hilt. The narzhum gave a mighty shiver, and then collapsed to the ground.

  Unfortunately for me, it started to roll over when it hit, because it had been turning to the left. My right leg got pinned under it and pushing the sword hilts to the side I leaned over the head as it rolled all the way over, pinning me under the head. Swearing as it started bleeding all over me, I started using my strength to pull myself out from under. The head only weighed a couple hundred pounds I guessed, but it was still attached to the body that probably weighted a couple thousand, so getting out from under that was still rather difficult. If I'd been under the body, champion or no, I'd have been crushed to death.

  I pulled myself out from underneath, covered in blood as they all milled about me in surprise and Smoke jumped off her wolat and ran up
to me to check me for wounds.

  "I'm okay, that's his blood," I said and nodded at the Narzhum, which gave another shudder and then died.

  "Don't you ever do that again!" She swore and then slapped me rather hard right across the muzzle making my head turn.

  I turned and looked back at her, "I thought we weren't married?" I asked rubbing the side of my face, she had quite the swing.

  The others all laughed at that and Smoke blushed, then stomped off and jumped back up onto her wolat.

  "She's just mad 'cause now she does not get to show off," Rees said to me walking over and checking out the carcass.

  "You think?" I asked as the rest of the hunting party rode up and started in on the rather large task of butchering our kill.

  "Not really," he said in a much lower voice and winked.

  One of the others directed me to a stream nearby where I could clean off the blood. Between that and a cantrip that I didn't want to blatantly use in front of the others, I was able to quickly clean myself up.

  By the time I got back, they had skinned the body, and butchered it into large sections to be carried back to the village. I noticed that they were feeding all of the wolats, as well as eating their fill of the fresh kill. With this much meat I guess it made sense, it would be less to carry back, and there was a lot to carry.

  After everyone had eaten their fill, and the meat had been wrapped, we put the meat on the back of our mounts and walked next to them as we continued on our way. Only the scouts stayed on their unburdened mounts, so they could see any dangers we might come across.

  "That was pretty impressive," Rees said to me as we walked along.

  "Your sister didn't seem to thing so," I said flicking my ears towards Smoke who was still scowling at me from about ten yards away where she was leading her own mount.

  "She's just getting over the shock of discovering that what she thought was a grass snake was actually a hay snake."

  I shook my head, "What are those?"

  Rees smiled, "A grass snake is a lovely green snake that eats insects, small toads, and is completely harmless and makes a good pet."

  "And a hay snake?"

  "Looks almost exactly like the grass snake, but its bite can drop a wolat or a man dead in seconds, even the narzhum avoids them."

  "Oh", I said, and then thought about it a moment, "Oh!"

  Rees laughed, "Exactly. It's always one thing to hear the stories, another thing to see that the male you've welcomed into your tent really does those things."

  I shrugged and flicked my tail, "I was just worried about whoever had to go and hamstring it."

  "Oh I'd say you were more worried about my sister going and hamstringing it," Rees laughed.

  I shook my head with a wane smile, "Well, there is that."

  "My sister may be impulsive, and at times a bit crazy," Rees laughed, "but she is not soft, and not one who fears. She is very unlike the women you have met in the cities."

  I nodded, she definitely was.

  When we stopped to make camp, I walked up to Smoke.

  "So, am I forgiven?" I asked dropping my bedroll next to hers.

  She looked up at me, "There's nothing to forgive."

  "I'm not what you thought I was," I said, "but to be honest, you're not exactly who I thought you were either."

  She smiled, "Then I guess we are even."

  "Just don't hit me again, that hurt," I said and she laughed.

  Six

  Cooch Tribe Village

  The Cooch tribe and village weren't all that much different than the Glisan tribe and village had been. It was also in a ravine, though this one was a bit wider and had a pond in it. The tents, or teepees rather, were laid out in the same sort of almost random pattern, the only positions I had found that were close to being “set” were the ones of the chief's advisors, who usually set their tents up in the general vicinity of his.

  We were greeted by the chief and dined with him, met his family, and then there was a party that night, mainly because half of the hunting party that returned were from the Glisan tribe. I was surprised that Smoke danced for me again that night and told her as much.

  "Why does that surprise you?" She asked smiling.

  "Because I'm just temporary. I will be gone in a month or two. I would think you'd be more interested in someone serious about you."

  "Are you saying you don't like me?" She asked coyly.

  I laughed, "Hardly," I was still a sucker for attractive women, and I suspected she knew it.

  "Well, I'm still young, and it is my time to waste, though I'd hardly consider it wasted with you." She purred.

  We spent a week there, and Smoke didn't spend it all with me, making it clear that she did understand the temporary nature of our relationship.

  "So how goes the Priest business?" I asked Henry as we were nearing the end of our stay.

  "Rather well. When those four new priests show up, we'll definitely send one here. They're very interested in Feliogustus's words. More than a few are interested in Fordessa as well."

  I looked up at him surprised, "Really?"

  "You've heard their music. We have several interested in her back at the first village as well. They've heard of wind instruments and are very interested in learning more. Apparently some of her followers wandered through here a few years ago."

  "Huh, interesting."

  Henry nodded, "I like it out here actually, it's nice."

  "And the women are as well?" I teased him a little. More than a few of the women had been flirting with him, and he hadn't been sleeping alone the last few nights.

  Henry laughed, "You should talk. But yes, they are rather nice. But there is something to be said for living out on the plains like this. I can't wait for winter when we'll travel to their winter grounds. Yarsha tells me that they rarely get snow, she's only seen it twice in her lifetime!"

  "Well, you're going to be here a while, it's better if you like it."

  Henry flicked his ears, "I'm thinking of making this my permanent parish. Pick one of the tribes that I like the most and stay with them. Marry, settle down. Be a settled priest."

  "I don't see how you can be settled with a semi-nomadic tribe," I said with a smile.

  "My point exactly," He agreed flicking an ear. "So when do we leave for the next tribe?"

  "Two days. A hunting party from the Alder tribe is supposed to show up tonight. When they return, we'll join them."

  Henry nodded. "Good. The previous priests sure did a lot of ground work, too bad they're still not around. There really is a lot of interest here."

  "You know, I always thought that missionary work was pretty hard, but you and Steve have really made it look easy."

  Henry smiled at me, "It's been going easier because we have you with us."

  I stared at him. "What? How?"

  "They know that you're William the Godslayer, and then of course there was your little demonstration with the narzhum. No natural male could have done that."

  I groaned at that, "But how come they haven't said anything?"

  "Because the People don't like titles and honorifics like that. The only time you hear them call their leader 'chief' is when it's something official. They haven't even called you 'champion' like so many do back home."

  I considered what he said, he was right, they weren't very formal here at all. "You know, I hadn't noticed."

  "Oh I picked up on it right away, even Steve likes it. The class structure here is based on if you can help the tribe or not. And if you can't, well they pretty much kick you out. Everyone is expected to carry their own weight, and help the old and the young. It really is just one big overgrown family." Henry said rather happily.

  "Only child?" I asked curious.

  "Worse, Orphan. My family died during a severe outbreak of the coughing sickness when I was a small child. There was no priest in our village and it was late winter, so by the time one got to us, a quarter of the village had died."

  "Is that why
you became a priest?" I asked curious.

  He nodded, "That had a lot to do with it, helping people became a goal as I grew up. I found that working with Feliogustus let me help a lot more, and I find his words to be comforting and wise."

  I nodded to that.

  "Can I ask you something?" Henry said looking at me.

  "Sure, I don't mind."

  "Why are you with Feliogustus? I know you weren't born here, the stories tell us you came from very far away. That you knew nothing of this place, our people, or our god, until you arrived."

  I shrugged, "I was sort of maneuvered into taking the job. Fel had me over a barrel and I had to take it."

  Henry looked rather shocked at that, "You're not here willingly?"

  I held up a hand to stop him, "If I wasn't willing to be here, I would have left long ago, trust me on that."

  "Then why are you still here?" He asked curious.

  I thought about that a moment, why was I? I could quit the job if I wanted to, I'd still have Rachel, and I'd still have Darlene. And I'd be able to spend more time with them then I currently could.

  "I guess," I said gesturing with my palms up as I held my arms out, "I guess you could say he's my best friend and I care about his people, my people." I gave up and shrugged, how do you tell people that you think of their god as just another guy? Sure I knew Fel was a god, and while I was pretty sure he liked me, I doubted that he viewed our relationship like I did. He was a god after all! But to me, he just felt like my best bud and I enjoyed hanging out with him when the rare opportunity gave me the chance to.

  Usually after I got killed.

  "I'm almost jealous of you," Henry said surprising me, "that you get to know our god that well. It must be a wonderful thing to be able to be in his presence."

  I stopped a moment when he said that. Again, to me Fel was just another guy, yes he was an incredibly powerful one, and at times I had trouble remembering what he was, because I thought of him as a friend. But Henry, Henry was among the faithful, the truly devoted faithful. Even Steven fit that description.