Eagle People (18 page)

Back at the village, Ora and Byron selected one young girl and one woman for themselves. The warriors, depending on their status divided the other women, and two older ones were pulled for the young men to enjoy. The young girls would all stay together until they were old enough to marry, but they'd be taught how to live as Wolf People, how to cook and how to please a man. The ones selected by the two warriors would be tattooed with their owners marks.

Byron didn't select the woman he'd raped in the village. He'd seen a different one that caught his eyes during the return trip. He had her placed in his lodge, chained to the support beam and left alone.  He'd let her starve for a few days and provide her just enough water to stay alive.

He and the other leaders were to meet with Asa in his lodge immediately when they returned.  He walked to the lodge, entered and was seated beside the leader. A small fire burned in the center of the one-room structure and the men were sitting in the dirt around the dancing flames.

“I have had a vision.” Asa said.

Bull shit, you've likely had an original thought,
Byron thought and laughed internally.

“What was in your vision?” Ora asked. Since they'd returned to the village, the man had moved closer to Asa, supporting him in all things.

Sucking up to the leader, huh, Ora
, Byron thought.

“In my vision, we overrun the village of the Eagle People and take many women captive. Their village is totally destroyed, with few survivors. A handful of men and women run north, but we let them go, so they may carry the danger of the Wolf People with them to others.”

“Why do we kill all the males? Male slaves are worth much if traded with the tribes across the big river or with those in the mountains to the west.” Luken asked.  

“Each time we kill all the males and keep the women our village grows stronger. We will soon have many babies born of Wolf warriors and they will be our future. Trade we do not need, but we soon will control the most land of any tribe.”

Byron said, “We will need many warriors to keep control of even the land we have now. As you know, we cannot scout it and protect it from trespassers, because we have few men. And, you want more land? What good is land?”

Asa smiled and looked at Byron as he would a young child just before he said, “The land itself is nothing, but the animals on the land and the roots will feed us, just as the river and streams provide plants, pure drinking water, and fish. I would have thought a great warrior like you would have thought of this.”

“I worry of getting too much land too quickly and not being able to guard it. We can own land for a thousand miles in all directions, but it does not make us safe, not if we don't have enough warriors to scout the land and fight invaders.”

“The tribes are all weak from the sickness. The last trader that passed by said all the tribes have small pox and most have lost at least half of their men, with many losing up to seventy-five percent.  Now, while the tribes are at their weakest is the time to strike them!”

All of the warriors except Byron screamed and yelled in agreement, but the warrior knew they were moving too quickly, and in the end it could cause the collapse of the Wolf People.
Land is no good if you cannot protect it,
he thought,
but he said nothing.

“Three days from now, we will move against the Eagle people. We will strike fast, hard and be vicious as we fight. Not a single male will be left alive and all women between two years of age and thirty-five will be kept to populate the Wolf Clan! All others will taste the sharp bite of our swords.”

 “This cannot happen yet!” Byron yelled to be heard over the yells.

“And, why not?” Asa asked, his eyes narrowed in anger as he stood.

Shit, I've pissed him off,
Byron thought and after it grew quiet, he said, “We need to scout the village once more before we attack. The last time we visited, many were ill and most of the men were not well enough to be walking. Now if we scout, we might be able to get a better estimate of how many men we will face. No man in this room is a coward, but there is no need to risk all our lives by attacking without gathering intelligence first.”

Asa smiled, looked around the room, and then said, “Your suggestion is a valid one, and one I have already considered. I'm glad you're thinking better than you have in the past,
my old friend
. That is why, a week ago I sent a four man team to check the village of the Eagle People. They are due back any day now.”

If they come back at all,
Byron thought.

“Now, I want each man to prepare for the coming battle. We will take half of our warriors and leave the remainder to guard our village. That is all I have to speak about, but Byron, I want to speak with you once all others have left. Leaders, see to your men.”

“Yes, Asa.”

The men quickly filtered out of the lodge, leaving the two alone. Long minutes of silence filled the room, until Asa said, “The next time you confront me in a meeting, I will have you drawn and quartered! You will
never
question my decisions ever again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I'd already thought of the scouting, but one day you'll go too far and anger me.
I
am the absolute ruler here—
not you
. I will not warn you again. Now, get the hell out of my lodge and leave me alone.”

Byron left and realized the Clan was entering a dangerous time, and if it existed as a people in a year, it would surprise him.
All it would take is for a stronger tribe, there are many around us, to realize half our warriors are gone and then they'd take our village. A long trip like this with an attack at the end of it should be planned out in great detail. Asa wants to mount his horse, ride to the Eagle People, kill them all and then return home. He must know a thousand things can go wrong and while I'll never speak against him again, I'll keep my ass covered at all times, he thought as he walked to his lodge.

Four days later, as they awoke an hour before sunrise, Byron moved to the woods to relieve himself and as he peed, he felt a terrible burning sensation. He'd never felt such pain before in that part of his body. He returned to camp and made his way to Aquilla, the shaman's helper. The shaman never went along on attacks, due to his age, but usually one of his helpers did. Since Ninian death, an old man who'd once been a shaman was again in the position.

Aquilla listened to his complaint and then said, “You may have passed a kidney stone, so if the pain does not go away in a day or two, return and speak with me.”

“What do I do about the pain?”

“Drink whiskey, because we have no other painkiller.”

Each time they stopped for a break, his pain would be severe as he urinated. Finally, in late afternoon he pulled the whiskey bottle and began to sip it.

Asa watched him and then said, “Go easy on the drink. A drunk man cannot fight.”

“The shaman's helper ordered me to drink this. I have pain.”

“And, where is this pain?”

“In my penis when I pee.”

“I think you passed a kidney stone, as I have in the past. Drink and kill the pain, because it burns. But, on the day we are to attack, no whiskey for you, agreed?”

“Agreed.”  Byron said, and then took a large gulp of the strong drink.

The next morning when he awoke, his penis was covered in a greenish-yellow pus, which scared him. Aquilla looked him over and then said, “You did not pass a kidney stone. You have a disease that the Old Ones called the French Pox. It is transmitted by sexual contact and there are no known treatments or cures. The Old Ones had a cure, but it has been lost over time.”

“What can I expect having this disease?”

 Aquilla lowered his head and said, “The disease is rare among our people and you're the first one that I've seen to contract it. A person you had sexual contact with over the last three to fourteen days gave you the illness. If you've had sex with any others, they too will have the illness. From the papers the shaman has, which we are required to read and memorize, the disease will eventually kill you.”

“You mean to sit there and tell me because I screwed some bitch, I'm going to die? Are you insane? I've never heard of such a thing.”

“I'm being honest with you and if you don't want to know more, then I'll shut up.”

“I'm pissed.”

“I would be as well. I suspect, well, from what I heard, the woman you took at the last village may have been soiled.”

“I will cut her damned throat when we return.”

“Byron, the disease will kill you in stages. Over the next week or two the leaking from your penis will stop. Then, at some unknown point in the future, sores will develop on your manhood and they'll vary in length as to how long they last. Years from now, your sight will slowly get worst until you are blind.”

“Blindness is bad, but it won't kill me.” Byron was looking for any aspect of hope.

“The last stage is when the disease will start eating at your brain, and eventually you'll go insane. Death follows shortly after.”

“Good God, and this is cause by what? What causes this?”

“Our papers do not say, except that it is transmitted between people when they have sex. I'm sorry, but I can't do a thing for you. I will say, for the rest of your life, you must avoid having sex, or you'll transmit it all over the place. If you want a woman, then take her during a raid and then after you're finished, kill her.”

Byron was destroyed and completely shocked at the news.
There must be some mistake. I am to die as a warrior, not babbling like a fool and drooling down my chin, as I sit blind. I am never to know a wife and family? I need a drink,
he thought as he moved for his gear.

He spent most of the night thinking nonsense and drinking. Finally, a little after midnight he fell asleep. Morning came too soon and his head was pounding, with a hangover, so he took another long sip of whiskey. He moved to the bushes, peed, and grimaced as he did the job.

“Byron, you and three other men have point today and keep your eyes open. According to Ora, we're getting close.” Asa said.

“We can do that.”

“The shaman's assistant told me of what ails you, so when we return, the woman is yours to do with as you wish.”

The leader of the Plains People chuckled when his scouts returned and said, “Most of the warriors of the Wolf People are gone. We count only a few in the village now.”

“Prepare the men to attack; it is time they feel the wrath of the Plains People. When I give the order, have all the men attack the village. Save only the women. All males, even male children, are to be put to the sword or spear. Right at dawn we will attack, but wait for my command.”

A short time later, the Chief raised his right hand, which held a spear, and he gave a loud war cry. He ran for the village, found resistance light and the slaughter began. In minutes the village was burning, the bodies of men were left where they fell, and the women were rounded up.

Then the mutilations started on the dead and the injured.

Two men who'd been captured, were brought before the Chief, who said, “Burn them alive on the fire poles in the center of the village. I know some of our brave warriors met death tied to those very same poles, so I find it ironic Wolf warriors will now burn there.”