The Last Sundancer

by Quinney, Karah

  She only knew that both Denoa and Kaichen deserved the chance to move forward together as a family. With a quiet sigh she realized that she was included within the circle of their family bond and her heart lifted with happiness. With the rising of the sun, Kaichen and the other men would knowingly face mortal danger.

  They faced death, even as they sought to secure their birthright and defend their village. Amara laid the belt out to dry as she listened to the night sounds around them.

  The men shifted constantly as they guarded the small fire where she and Denoa would sleep. The nights were cold, far colder than they had been only a short while ago.

  Soon, the time of long cold would be upon them. Would they live to see it or would this be their last night of life? Amara lifted her eyes to the starry heavens in entreaty. If she were truly Cloud Bringing Woman then perhaps her voice would be heard and her plea for the safekeeping of their loved ones, answered.

  Kaichen was near. Amara could sense him long before he came into view. She knew that he watched over them as the men took their turn keeping guard. It was the darkest part of the night, the time when even the animals were lulled into some semblance of quiet. Denoa slept near the fire, wrapped in a blanket that she had offered to share.

  Amara glanced up from the garment that she worked to soften and when Kaichen came into view she quickly set her work aside.

  “Amara…” The sound of her name upon his lips caused her heart to race but she did not look away.

  His eyes caused her skin to burn, wherever his gaze lingered. Amara’s heart leapt when Kaichen walked forward and reached out his hand. She placed her stained fingers against his palm as he urged her to stand.

  Kaichen knew that he should stay far away from Amara. Oddly enough it was Antuk that had reasoned with him on the matter.

  “Is she not your wife, lifemate of your hearth though you have no hearth to claim?” Antuk’s question made Kaichen smile. Only his friend would point out that he had yet to lay his head upon one place and claim it as his own.

  “Amara is my wife.” Kaichen’s words were meant to remind Antuk of all that had occurred, but they only served to make him consider why he remained apart from Amara.

  Everything inside of him yearned to go to her and lay claim to that which was his.

  “But if you die tomorrow, will it be with regret in your heart?” Antuk spoke of Kaichen’s death as if it would simply become a mere interruption in the course of his day.

  Kaichen’s chest filled with frustrated laughter. This was the friend of his youth.

  He started to respond to Antuk, but as was often the case his friend’s attention had turned elsewhere. Now Antuk’s words spun around in Kaichen’s mind, causing him to reconsider the path that he had chosen.

  What right did he have to make such a choice for Amara? Was he wrong to consider the way that she had clung to him when he carried her down from the ledge? Was he wrong to believe that she yearned for him, just as he yearned for her?

  It was best to leave her untouched in case death found him during the battle to come. Yet, he could no longer ignore the hunger in his soul. Every look, every glance from Amara’s amber flecked gaze, caused him to ache as a man aches for a woman. But what he felt for her went deeper than mere yearning.

  He wanted to claim Amara as his wife, he wanted the joining and mating of their bodies. His conscience forced him to make certain that Amara knew that she had a choice in the matter. She did not have to come with him if it was not her choice.

  He remembered that she had suffered abuse at the hands of her captors, men that were bent upon taking that which did not belong to them. Those men had viewed Amara as a mere possession.

  Kaichen remembered the fear in Amara’s eyes when he had first rescued her and he used the same words now as he had then. “Will you come with me willingly?”

  It was her choice. He would not withdraw his protection if she chose not to respond in the way that he hoped.

  When Kaichen had first spoken these words to her, Amara had not understood his language. But now, as she stared up into his steady gaze, she ached to become a wife in all ways to this man that had quietly laid siege to her heart.

  Amara could not say when she had come to love Kaichen. Had it been on the day that he had first rescued her from men bent on taking her away from all that she had ever known?

  Had it been the moment when he had forsaken his own thirst to sate hers? Perhaps love had bloomed within her heart during her time on the ledge when all hope had been lost. She had known in her soul that Kaichen would return to her, that he would keep his promise and that only death could keep him away.

  “Yes, I will come with you. I am your lifemate and I wish to be joined to you in all ways. You had only to ask.” Amara’s words were murmured against the soft press of Kaichen’s ear.

  From the moment that she had begun to form her answer, he pulled her close and she clung to his lithe frame. The muscular planes of his body called out to the womanly softness within her.

  His arms encircled her waist, bracing her against his chest as she whispered into his ear. She did not have any reason not to tell Kaichen all that weighed upon her heart.

  Nor did she have need of soft words or pretty phrases as he pressed his lips to the hollow of her neck and simply inhaled. Warmth pooled within her belly as he breathed in her essence and reveled in the feel of her body.

  Kaichen’s mouth covered hers as he lifted her into his arms. Though Amara expected to feel the full possession of his kiss, she was stunned by what happened next. Instead of pressing his mouth to hers and exploring the depths within, Kaichen urged her lips open and then gently exhaled until his breath mingled with hers.

  Stars of light exploded behind Amara’s closed eyes as sensation flooded her body, drowning out all thought. A sound came to her from a great distance and she realized that it was her voice lifted in a murmur of pleasure as Kaichen walked into the beckoning darkness, leaving the fire and its occupants behind.

  Kaichen did not glance around and he did not look behind him. If he had spared a glance, he would have noticed the familiar bulk of Antuk as the man kept to the shadows, ever watchful.

  “What happens when Cloud Bringing Woman and the last Sundancer become one? One born of power is created.” Antuk spoke to himself as he watched over Kaichen’s sleeping mother. No one was nearby to hear him speak but his smile was full of hope for their future as he chuckled to himself. “What will this one be called?”

  Antuk did not need an answer.

  Only time would share such knowledge and that ageless one remained silent. If Azin could see him now, then his uncle would surely know pride in all that his nephew had accomplished. Antuk kept watch, just as he was known to do and in his heart, he laughed.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Darkness lingered upon the land, bringing drifts of wind and swirling sand. The fire which had kept Denoa warm throughout the night was carefully smothered and all traces of its presence removed.

  Tamol ordered his men to the high cliffs and he watched as each man faded into the distance. He was painted just as his men were with the colors of the desert sand. Even their hair was covered, so that only the whites of their eyes showed up against the red rocks which gave them shelter.

  Denoa searched for Amara as she tried to ignore the aches of her body.

  “Today, I feel my age upon me.” Her voice was a whisper, meant only to spur her body into motion.

  “Today is a good day to face all that I have become, all that I truly am.” Tamol’s presence surprised Denoa and she shifted to face him directly, as she would an enemy.

  “It is never too late to turn back and choose a new path.” Denoa did not know why she chose to repeat Shale’s words but she knew that she owed a debt of gratitude to Tamol. He had chosen to fight on her son’s side against the raiders. She made a silent vow to seek peace between their bands, no matter the outcome of the battle with the raiders. It was enough.

>   It was all Tamol could do to keep his focus on the battle to come. His heartbeat remained steady as Denoa turned her eyes away from him. He no longer hoped that Denoa would turn to him for comfort or security. Regret walked beside Tamol with every step that he took away from the woman that he loved.

  Kaichen’s heart was full to the point of bursting. The time that he had spent with Amara had been too short, but every moment was treasured, every touch remembered. The joining of their bodies had only solidified the bonding of two souls. He gently deposited his wife at his mother’s side and allowed warmth to spread through his heart at Denoa’s welcoming smile.

  “I see that my son and daughter have returned.” Denoa’s words were welcome and Amara went easily into her embrace, both women supported each other as they looked at Kaichen.

  Kaichen’s gaze lingered upon Amara before he turned to face Antuk. His friend eyed the approaching figure of Pele with barely disguised annoyance.

  “He is like a grain of sand caught between the toes.” Antuk spoke loudly, even as Pele frowned when all eyes turned to watch his approach.

  “I thought that you had returned to your home with the men of your band that decided not to fight at our side.” Kaichen’s voice held a question and then he gasped as he caught sight of those that walked behind Pele.

  “You disobeyed me.” Tamol’s voice was full of fury and threat.

  Pele stood tall as his father stalked toward him. “What do you mean?”

  “I told you to leave Farren and his band alone. Now you have dragged even more men into this fight.” Tamol glared at his son, but Pele did not flinch under his father’s withering stare.

  “I did what I thought was right.” Pele would not budge from his determined stance. Tamol stood silently as Farren and the men of his band approached. They were not outfitted as warriors, some of the men carried tools suited for pulling green shoots from the ground. Others held hastily made weapons and a few were empty-handed.

  “You thought to carry this battle upon your own shoulders?” Farren’s eyes measured Tamol and found him lacking.

  Tamol’s dry laughter was his only response. Farren narrowed his eyes as was his way and then he gestured to the men that followed him. “We are here to add our pledge to yours.”

  “I have not yet given my pledge to fight.” Tamol was shocked to see two of his other sons approach carrying spears better used for hunting than fighting. Without another word Tamol cursed and turned to walk away. All eyes turned to Farren.

  “He does not like to admit when he is wrong.” Farren easily summed up Tamol’s fit of anger and dismissed it with a shrug of his shoulders. “Tell me how you plan to win this fight that is to come.”

  Kaichen stepped forward to speak to Farren but not before turning to search Pele’s eyes.

  “If my father was standing here he would instruct me to gather the women together and hide them during the battle.” Pele cleared his throat as Kaichen’s eyes measured him.

  It surprised Pele that he stood taller and fought the urge to puff out his chest under Kaichen’s withering stare. Pele wondered how he had ever considered it a good idea to challenge Kaichen for the woman that he claimed as his own. The urge to shuffle his footsteps returned as Kaichen silently stared at him.

  “Like a grain of sand caught between the loincloth of a runner.” Antuk shook his head as the others turned to stare at him.

  Amara knew that this might be the last time that she stared into Kaichen’s face. He had taken her with gentleness and tender care, making her feel valued and beautiful.

  After claiming her as his wife and lifemate, Kaichen made a promise that she would never forget. “I will never call you beautiful, for it is a word that causes anger to rise within your heart. But you will always be my desert flower, my Amaranth and in this way you will know that you are the mate to my spirit. I will hold you close as the beloved of my heart and I will vow to stand by your side when we are both as old as the land of our birth.” Kaichen’s promise caused tears to well in Amara’s eyes.

  His insight touched her in ways that she could not fully express, only her mother had understood her need to be recognized for the person that she was inside, instead of her outward appearance. Kaichen saw into her heart with understanding and it was this that drew Amara closer to him. She blinked to clear her gaze as Kaichen spoke to Pele, drawing her attention back to the present.

  “You will make certain that my mother and my wife are hidden in a secure place, far out of harm’s way.” Kaichen spoke to Pele as the man nodded sagely and strode away.

  Kaichen gave Antuk simple instructions that would see him through the coming battle. “Aim only at the men that ride with raiders, try not to hit the men that fight our enemies with us.”

  Antuk’s attention was captured by a blade of green grass and the sky above which was tinged with the colors that signaled dawn. “Keep your focus, Antuk.”

  “I will avenge your injured finger.” Antuk swore as Kaichen tried and failed to withhold his laughter. He had all but forgotten about the finger that he had purposely injured so that he could break free of the bonds that tied his wrists. He looked down at the offended hand and confirmed that the finger was still tied fast to its closest companion.

  Kaichen pressed his lips to the top of Denoa’s head as she clung to him for a moment. “Mother, thank you for all that you have done.”

  “I have not done enough.” Denoa knew that she could not protect him and she could not keep him safe. He was a man that his father would have been proud to stand next to in battle. Denoa only hoped that the coming fight would not take her son from her forever.

  “Take this, it is the knife given to me by your father. He wanted me to always feel protected, even when he was not near.” Denoa held up the thin blade and displayed its sharp edge, along with the bone handle that had been carved by Shale’s skilled hands. She would thank Tamol later for retrieving the weapon for her but for now she focused completely on her son.

  After thanking his mother, Kaichen turned away with Amara’s hand clasped firmly in his own. He stared at Pele for a long moment before extending his open palm. Pele stared at Kaichen’s hand and he saw that the man offered an unspoken truce. Pele grasped Kaichen’s wrist in return. Kaichen nodded his acceptance.

  He put distance between himself and the rest of Tamol and Farren’s men. He had been reluctant to hope that Farren would join their fight against the raiders. Whether he wanted it or not, Pele had won his friendship by his act of loyalty.

  “Our enemies draw near!” Antuk’s voice was an urgent whisper as he drew Kaichen’s attention. Kaichen watched as the raiders appeared on the canyon floor. The captives that walked behind the men on horseback appeared to have suffered much at the hands of the raiders.

  There was no more time for words as Kaichen and Antuk crept forward. They were two men against a band of ruthless raiders and there was little hope of success. Antuk had been tasked with the responsibility of freeing as many villagers as possible. Kaichen knew that he would have to make each hastily drawn arrow count.

  He raced toward the raiders and the captives that were tied one to another. For the time being they had surprise on their side, but they were outnumbered. Kaichen was not under the illusion that they would succeed but they had chosen to take a stand.

  The battle cry of the raiders rose up to the heavens as Kaichen and Antuk ran toward their enemy. It was with arrows drawn from Kaichen’s bow that they brought a few men down.

  Antuk raced toward the captives with his knife drawn. He knew to free the men first and then the women. The raiders formed an impenetrable circle around their captives as they took cover behind their horses.

  Kaichen knew that arrows would be sent his way in return but he ran swiftly, with the intent of taking down any man that stood in his way.

  Kaichen was in a fight for his life, surrounded by men on all sides. He took a glancing blow to his right arm, but fought on, heedless of the pain. He knew that
if he backed away, his life would be forfeit.

  Antuk grunted as he faced several of the raiders, while keeping flush to Kaichen’s back. There was no room for retreat.

  Kaichen realized that the battle was over before it had ever begun. He saw a death blow coming toward him as he faced the downward thrust of his enemy’s war club.

  The man was knocked aside by an object that flew through the air. Kaichen watched as the man tottered and swayed and he did not hesitate to dispatch his second opponent.

  His eyes caught and held as they landed upon the object that had saved his life. A large rock.

  Kaichen raised his eyes to catch sight of Farren and Tamol running toward him as they shouted, “We fight with the Sundancer!”

  A renewed cry went up from those that fought at Kaichen’s side.

  Men screamed in agony at the slashing blows that came from the spears and knives of those that they sought to suppress.

  Tamol did not want any of his men to fall under the well-aimed spears of one of the hunters from Denoa’s band. He and Farren had turned their backs upon the plight of Denoa’s people once before and he knew that they would not expect their help. He continued to shout that he and his men fought on the side of the Sundancer. Farren’s bellowed words echoed those of Tamol.

  With the strength born of season upon season of hard work Tamol threw his spear at a man on horseback who raced toward him. His aim was accurate and the strength of his spear took the man from the back of his horse where he landed with a sickening crunch of flesh against stone.

  Others were not armed with weapons for fighting. Three of Tamol’s sons were with him, fighting at their father’s back. Some of the men held axes carved out of stone, others carried hand crafted tools made from petrified wood and sharpened over time.

  Tamol did not spare a glance for the fallen raider, except to check to make certain that the man would not rise again. He pulled his spear free of the man’s body as the men spread out in an ever-widening circle.