"That is true," I said. We had speculated on this matter before. To be sure, it had not seemed to be of much concern to Cuwignaka until now.
"You seem alarmed," I said. Cuwignaka's anxiety made me uneasy.
"It cannot be," said Cuwignaka, firmly.
"What?" I asked.
"Was there anything else unusual about Watonka, and the Yellow Knives?" pressed Cuwignaka.
"He, and his entire party, including Iwoso and Bloketu, wore yellow scarves, or sashes, about their bodies," I said.
"Why?" asked Cuwignaka, frightened.
"To identify them, I suppose," I said.
"To whom?" asked Cuwignaka. "They are well known in the camp."
I suddenly felt chilly. "I do not know," I said.
"Do you recall, Tatankasa," asked Cuwignaka, "some days ago, when we spoke with Bloketu and Iwoso outside our lodge. I was scraping a hide."
"Yes," I said.
"Iwoso was to become important, it seemed," he said. "From this we conjectured that Watonka, and Bloketu, too, would then be even more important."
"Yes," I said.
"How could one be more important among my people than to be the civil chieftain of a rich band?" asked Cuwignaka.
"To become, I suppose, a high chief of all the bands," I said, "a chief of the tribe, as a whole."
"But there are no first chiefs, no high chiefs, among the Kaiila, except maybe, sometime, a war chief," said Cuwignaka. "It is not our way."
"Perhaps there could be prestige, and riches, garnered in gift giving, as the result of arranging the peace," I said. I recalled we had thought about this matter along these lines before. It had, at that time, seemed a sensible way of viewing matters.
"Watonka is already rich in women and kaiila," said Cuwignaka. "There is only one thing he cannot be rich in, among our peoples."
"What is that?" I asked.
"Power," said Cuwignaka.
"What are you saying?" I asked, alarmed. "I am becoming afraid."
"What time is it?" asked Cuwignaka.
"It must be noon, by now," I said.
"There is no time to lose," said Cuwignaka, leaping to his feet.
"What is wrong?" I asked.
"The camp is going to be attacked," said Cuwignaka. "The pickets, the guards, have been withdrawn from the west. The Pte were early! Watonka looks to the sky, to the southeast!"
"I do not understand," I said.
"Why were the Pte early?" asked Cuwignaka.
"I do not know," I said.
"They were being hunted, being driven, by a new people," said Cuwignaka. "Something is behind them. A new force has come into our country."
"But Watonka was looking to the sky," I said.
"That is what makes me most afraid," he said. "It is like the old stories, told long ago by travelers, warriors who had ridden farther than others."
"What can we do?" I asked.
"We must alert the camp," said Cuwignaka.
"Even if you are right," I said, "even if the camp should be in danger, even if attack was imminent, no one will believe us. You wear the dress of a woman. I am a slave. We will be only mocked, only laughed at."
"One will not laugh at us or mock us," said Cuwignaka. "There is one who will listen."
"Who is that?" I asked.
"Hci," said Cuwignaka, angrily.
He then rushed from the lodge and I, rising to my feet, hurried after him. Outside he looked wildly to the sky, to the southeast, and then began to run between the lodges. I, too, looked at the sky. It was clear.
20
Kinyanpi
"Behold," laughed Hci, sitting with cronies, cross-legged, outside the lodge of the Sleen Soldiers, "it is the pretty sister of Canka, and Canka's slave, Tatankasa."
"Listen to me, Hci," said Cuwignaka, "please!"
"Kneel," said Hci to us.
We knelt.
"She tried to enter the lodge of the dance," laughed Hci, pointing at Cuwignaka. "She is not permitted to do so!"
There was laughter from the young man sitting in the circle.
"I must speak to you," said Cuwignaka.
"I am busy," said Hci. There was laughter.
"I must speak to you!" said Cuwignaka.
"Do not come to plead lenience for your foolish brother, who tried to kill my father, Mahpiyasapa, this morning?" inquired Hci.
"The camp is in danger," said Cuwignaka.
"What?" asked Hci.
"The Yellow Knives with Watonka are not civil chiefs," said Cuwignaka. "They have been recognized by a blond slave, once the property of Yellow Knives. They are war chiefs."
"That is absurd," said Hci.
"The pickets and guards have been drawn in from the west," said Cuwignaka. "Watonka has not gone to the council, nor have the Yellow Knives. The Pte were early! Watonka looked to the sky, to the southeast!"
"To the sky?" said one of the men with Hci.
"It is as in the old stories," said one of the men.
"These are lies," said Hci. "This is a trick. You are trying to make me look foolish."
"The guards have been drawn in from the west," said one man. "I know that."
"The Pte were early," said another. "We all know that."
"Who says Watonka is not in the council lodge?" asked Hci.
"Shortly before noon," I said, "I saw him still in the camp of the Isanna, with the Yellow Knives. I do not think it is his intention to go to the council lodge. I saw him watching the sky, to the southeast."
"Others were in the council lodge?" asked Hci.
"Most others, yes," I said. "I think so."
"The greatest men of our people, most of them, are in that lodge, Hci," said Cuwignaka, "gathered in that one place. Surely you understand what that could mean?"
"This is all a trick on your part," said Hci.
"No," said Cuwignaka.
"If what you say is correct," said Hci, "Watonka would be a traitor. He would be betraying the Kaiila."
"I am convinced that that is the case," said Cuwignaka.
"It cannot be," said Hci.
"To achieve his personal ends," said Cuwignaka, grimly, "even a good man can sometimes do great wrong. Can you believe that, Hci?"
Hci looked down, angrily.
"Can you believe it, Hci?" asked Cuwignaka.
Hci looked up, angrily. "Yes," he said.
"Act," said Cuwignaka. "The Sleen Soldiers have police powers in the camp. Act!"
"It is a trick," said Hci, angrily.
"It is past noon," said Cuwignaka. "There is little time."
"It is a trick," said Hci.
"I swear that it is not," said Cuwignaka. "Had I a shield I would swear by it."
Hci looked at him, startled.
"That is a most holy and sacred oath," said one of the Sleen Soldiers, frightened.
"Would you truly swear by a shield?" asked Hci.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka. "And when one so swears, then one is to be believed, is one not?"
"Yes," said Hci. "One is then to be believed."
"No one would betray the shield oath," said a man.
Hci trembled.
"Are you so fond of Yellow Knives?" asked Cuwignaka. "Have you not fought them?"
Hci looked at Cuwignaka. His hand, inadvertently, went to the whitish, jagged serration at his face, the residue of the canhpi's slash years ago.
"You probably know Yellow Knives as well as any man in the camp," said Cuwignaka. "Do you truly believe they desire peace?"
"No," said Hci.
"Act," said Cuwignaka.
"Would you truly swear by your shield?" asked Hci.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka.
Hci rose to his feet. "Agleskala," he said, "go to the council lodge. If Watonka is not within, use the powers of the Sleen Soldiers. Empty the lodge."
"What are you going to do?" asked Cuwignaka.
"I am going to blow the whistle of war," he said. "I am going to fetch the battle staff."
Ther
e was a scream from somewhere among the lodges to our left.
The sun seemed suddenly dark in the cloudless sky. The sky itself seemed blotted out with swift torrents of terrible forms. It was as though a storm had suddenly materialized and come alive. Over our head there was the snapping and cracking of a thousand thunders.
"It is too late!" I cried.
"It is the Kinyanpi!" I heard. "It is the Flighted Ones! The Kinyanpi!"
21
Yellow Knives
One of the Sleen Soldiers, rising to his feet, spun awkwardly, kicking dust, the arrow having entered through the chest, its point protruding above his left hip.
Hci looked upward, wildly.
The tarn alighted, its talons seizing Agleskala. In its strike I think his back was broken. Hci and I stumbled backward, swept to the side by the strokes of the wing, the blows of the air. We could scarcely see for dust. The rider, clad only in a breechclout, his body bright in purple and yellow paint, thrust towards us with the long tarn lance. In the movement of the tarn, again taking flight, the thrust was short. Hci and I, from the dirt, looked upward. A hundred feet in the air the body of Agleskala was released.
"Weapons! Get weapons!" cried Hci.
An arrow struck near us, sinking almost to the feathers in the dirt.
I smelled smoke. I heard screaming.
"Kaiila!" called out Hci. "Get kaiila!"
"Run!" cried a man. "There is no time to make war medicine!"
"Arm yourselves!" cried Hci. "Get kaiila! Rally by the council lodge! Fight!"
"Run!" cried another man.
"Run!" cried another.
"Look out!" I cried.
Another tarnsman, low on the back of the mount, it swooping towards us, only a few feet from the ground, lowered his lance. I seized Hci and dragged him down. I saw the feathered lance, like a long blur, sweep over us. Then the bird was climbing again.
"Tarnsmen cannot take the camp," I said. Lodges were burning. Women were screaming.
The men who were with us had scattered.
"Do not touch me!" cried Hci, in fury.
I removed my hands from him.
"The people will run to the west!" said Cuwignaka.
"They must not!" I said.
We saw a rider on a kaiila racing towards us. Then, suddenly, he reeled from the back of the beast. He struck the ground, rolling, scattering dust. We ran to him. I lifted him in my arms. His back was covered with blood, filthy, now, too, with dirt. "They are in the camp!" he gasped.
"Who?" demanded Hci.
"Yellow Knives!" said the man. "Hundreds. They are among the lodges!"
"They have come from the west," said Cuwignaka, grimly.
"Watonka must die," said Hci.
I put the body of the man down. He was dead. A woman fled past us, a child held in her arms.
Hci rose from our side and went into the lodge of the Sleen Soldiers. I looked upward. This section of the camp was no longer under direct attack. The primary interest of the tarnsmen, I had little doubt, would have been the council lodge and the area about it. The lodge itself, because of its size, would be conspicuous. Too, they had doubtless been furnished with a description of it by Watonka or those associated with him. It was no wonder he was not eager, this day, to enter the lodge.
"I am going to Grunt's," I said. "My weapons are there. He has kept them for me. Too, Wasnapohdi is there. She may need help."
"There is a lance in my lodge," said Cuwignaka.
"We will get it on the way," I said. This was the same lance which had been fixed, butt down, in the turf beside Cuwignaka near the scene of battle several weeks ago. He had been staked down naked, to die. About the lance, wrapped about it, had been a white dress. It was that which he now wore. I had freed him.
We saw two men running past.
"Let us hurry," I said.
22
Cuwignaka Requests Instruction
"Use the lance!" I cried.
We had turned, startled, not more than a few yards from our lodge, from the interior of which Cuwignaka had recovered the lance.
The rider on the kaiila, bent low, his lance in the attack position, charged, dust scattering back from the pounding paws of the kaiila.
Cuwignaka ducked to the side, lifting and raising his arms, the long lance clutched in his fists. There was a shiver of wood as the two lances, Cuwignaka's on the inside, struck twisting against one another. The point of the other's lance passed between Cuwignaka's arms and his neck. The man was taken from the back of the kaiila by Cuwignaka's lance. The kaiila sped away.
"He is dead," said Cuwignaka, looking down.
"Free your lance," I said.
Cuwignaka, his foot on the man's chest, drew loose the lance.
"It is safer in such an exchange," I said, "to strike from the outside, fending his lance away, trying to make your strike above and across it."
"He is dead," said Cuwignaka.
"If he had dropped his lance more to the right you would have moved into it," I said.
"I killed him," said Cuwignaka.
"It is unfortunate that we did not obtain the kaiila," I said.
"He is dead," said Cuwignaka.
"Attend to my lessons," I said.
"Yes, Tatankasa," said Cuwignaka.
"Hurry," I said. "We are near Grunt's lodge."
* * * *
"Are you all right?" I asked Wasnapohdi, entering Grunt's lodge.
"Yes," she said, kneeling fearfully in its recesses. "What is going on?" she asked.
"Watonka has betrayed the camp," I said. "It is under attack by both tarnsmen and Yellow Knives. Has Grunt come back?"
"No," she said. "Cuwignaka, are you hurt?"
"No," he said, trembling. "The blood is not mine."
"Where are my weapons?" I asked Wasnapohdi.
"I killed a man," said Cuwignaka.
"Here," said Wasnapohdi, going to a bundle at the side of the lodge, unwrapping it. Within it was my belt, with the scabbard and knife sheath, and the small bow I had purchased long ago in Kailiauk, with its sheaf of twenty arrows.
"Tatankasa," said Cuwignaka.
"Yes?" I said. I took the belt in my hands. I had not worn it since I had accepted the collar of Canka.
"Do not arm yourself," said Cuwignaka. "You might be spared, as a slave."
I buckled the belt about myself, I lifted the short sword in the scabbard and dropped it back in place. I tested the draw of the knife. The sheath hold was firm but the draw was smooth. I bent the bow, stringing it. I slung the quiver over my shoulder. I would use the over-the-back draw. I took two arrows in my hand, with the bow, and set another to the string.
I looked at Cuwignaka.
"The camp is large, and populous," I said. "It cannot be easily taken, even by surprise. There will be resistance."
Cuwignaka shook his head, numbly. "I cannot fight," he said. "I never could."
"Come, Wasnapohdi," I said to the girl. "We will try to find others. I will try to get you back to Grunt."
She stood, to follow me.
"If necessary, Wasnapohdi," I said to her, "fall on your knees before Yellow Knives, and tear open your clothing, revealing your breasts to them. If they find you attractive they may not slay you. They may only put their ropes on you."
"Yes, Master," she said.
"But I do not need to tell you that, do I," I asked, "for you are a woman."
"No, Master," she whispered. Men are the warriors and women, she knew in her heart, were among the fitting spoils of their victories.
At the interior threshold of the lodge I turned again to face Cuwignaka.
"I killed a man," he said, shuddering. "I could never do that again. It is too terrible a thing."
"The first is the hardest," I said.
"I cannot fight," he said.
"If you remain here," I said, "you must prepare to lie down and die with the innocent."
"Do you respect me, Tatankasa?" he asked.
"Yes,
" I said, "but death will not. It respects no one. It respects nothing."
"Am I a coward?" he asked.
"No," I said.
"Am I wrong?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
"I do not know what to do," he said. "I am troubled."
"I wish you well, mitakola, my friend," I said. "Come, Wasnapohdi."
I briefly reconnoitered, and then left the lodge, Wasnapohdi following me. We threaded our way among the lodges, some of which were burned. Meat racks, with the sheets of dried meat, had been overturned. Pegged-down hides had been half torn up and trampled. I turned once, suddenly. It was Cuwignaka. He was still visibly shaken. He clutched the lance in his hands. "I am coming with you," he said. We then continued on our way.
* * * *
"Back!" I said. "Down!"
We stepped back and crouched down behind a lodge. Eleven riders passed.
"Yellow Knives," I said.
In the belts of several of them were thrust bloody scalps, the blood run down their thighs and the sides of their legs, across their paint.
"If you do not fight," I asked Cuwignaka, "who will protect the weak, the innocent?"
"I cannot fight," he said. "I cannot help it. I cannot."
"Where are we going, Master?" asked Wasnapohdi.
"Toward the place of the council lodge," I said.
"That was doubtless the center of the attack," said Cuwignaka.
"We do not have kaiila to flee with," I said. "If there is resistance it seems natural to expect it at that point, particularly if it is organized. That is the center of camp. Men can reach it most easily, and strike out from it most easily."
"That is true," said Cuwignaka.
"Come along," I said.
"Step carefully," I said. "Several have died here."
We picked our way through twisted bodies.
Wasnapohdi threw up.
"These are your people," I told Cuwignaka.
"I cannot fight," he said.
* * * *
The girl, lying on her back, nude, looked up at us, wildly. Her knees were drawn up. Her ankles were crossed and bound. Her wrists, behind her, were fastened at the small of her back and, by a double thong, looped twice, tightly, about her body, held in place there. I ran my finger under the belly thongs. She winced. In her body there were deep marks from them. I then let the thongs return to their place. The fellow who had tied her had done a good job. The thongs were merciless. A woman, of course, too, because of the glorious nature of her beauty, the sweet flaring of her hips, the lovely swelling of her upper body and breasts, cannot even begin to slip such a bond. A strand of leather, too, short and taut, pulling up her legs, connected her wrists and ankles. It is an efficient tie. In it a woman is utterly helpless. Nearby, in the dirt, its tying string cut away, lay a leather, beaded collar. The girl squirmed. On her left breast, in black paint, probably traced there with a finger, there was a rude mark, to identify her. So easily may a girl change masters.
Blood Brothers of Gor Page 26