New Year's Resolution Page 6

I wandered about for quite some time. I was beginning to enjoy these moments of solitude. My life at home was always a rush, full of important meetings and social engagements. The opportunities for such relaxation were practically non-existent. Here, where they were practically forced upon me I found them stimulating and thought provoking.

A social engagement in Lahana was every bit as intense warfare  as the more honest sort with swords and bows. However, in these engagements it was a clever turn of phrase, a subtle insult, a plot to bring humiliation on ones opponent. Never was there a moment for peace because one always must be planning their next political machination.

As I walked I began to hear the forest. Had anyone said such a thing to me previously I would have laughed at them and devastated them with a verbal rejoinder that would have humiliated them. How could one "hear the forest"? What sounds could it make?

Yet now, as I walked alone, I heard the forest. It was not just the creak of a tree. Now I was beginning to understand what such a phrase meant...there was a breeze moving through that I would feel momentarily. The chatter of a squirrel was not just random noise but was the effect of some movement. In time I would come to be able to interpret these sounds but that was not yet the case.

At first I was lost in thought as to how I would return home and attend to my duties. Slowly, however, the peace of this place was seeping in. It is perhaps a measure of the calming influence this land had on me that I started thinking about his words regarding my potential future with Spring Salmon and how I would affect the young people.

It was not that I feared for them physically. Even in the short time I had known them I had seen how prepared they were for violence. It seemed to me that the youngest children were taught the use of weapons such as the bow, dagger, and tomahawk. While I was not sure what "counting coup" was, I understood it was some act of war that children as young as 12 had successfully performed. Yes, these were a people skilled in the art of war. I had seen enough of their skills to suspect they would hold their own against even a company of my finest warriors.

As I thought, I had come to an overlook and seated myself. It provided an expansive view that covered a huge amount of country. I could see distant mountains from which the large river descended into the ocean. I saw forests of such grandeur I could scarce believe these trees had any relation to those of my homeland. I saw valleys of such a vibrant green they scarce seemed real to me.

As I sat there thinking and looking I gradually became aware of a mighty eagle soaring on the wind currents. Somehow I knew it was the same one from just a few days before. As I watched he circled in ever-expanding circles that slowly but surely brought him closer to me.

Never before had I indulged in animal watching and yet now I was doing so for the second time in two days. Yet how could I not indulge in observing the beat of those powerful wings, the steely-eyes resolve of this fierce beast of prey, the deadly claws. 

 Suddenly he turned into an incredibly steep dive. I followed the path of his high-speed plummet. I knew I would not be able to see his prey but there was something awe-inspiring in the rush of his flight. Then he wheeled back into the sky just as he reached the tree tops. However, right where he had been heading my attention was drawn by movement.

Had I not been looking, I never would have noticed it, for in the vast expanse of land it was quite subtle. Once my attention was drawn, however, I noticed there was a lot of movement. As I watched several men moved through a clearing in the trees. Casually my eyes traced their line of travel. 

Suddenly it occurred to me that they would run into the village where I was staying if they continued their current course. I did not know how I knew that since I was not completely clear on how exactly to return to the village. I was finding many things coming to me, little bits of knowledge that I was picking up intuitively ever since arriving here. 

I looked back to where I had seen the movement. It took me a few moments to locate them again. As I looked, I saw a lot of weapons. It also appeared there were no women with them. Instinctively I knew this was a party bent on combat.

I have never had a problem reacting swiftly. I was trained not only for political combat but also as a complete warrior. I knew I needed to sound the warning. 

I did not hesitate even a moment, but turned and started back towards the village at a steady lope. While I had no reason believe they were planning to attack the village, I had no reason not to, either. One thing I had always been is decisive. Since I knew of no other local village it just seemed natural they were headed towards ours.

From where I was I knew I could arrive back at the village before these invaders. I was no simpering diplomat but a hardened warrior and it was nothing for me to run at a rapid pace, even over the uneven ground that led down from my lofty viewpoint. Still, it was a long run and I was breathing quite heavily when I ran back into the village. The first person i saw was Wise Owl.

I pointed in the direction from which I believed the invaders were coming and made a few hand gestures, forgetting he could understand my words. Wise Owl was no fool. He instantly understood the situation. 

With a few shouted commands he brought the village men running and in no time flat they were prepared to defend themselves. Someone tried to press a bow into my hands but I shook my head. I would use my trusty rapier. I turned to tell him this and was astonished to see I was standing alone. They had all melted into the ground like they had never been.

I hesitated for just a moment. It seemed to me they should be lining up to receive a charge. Where had they gone? Before I could consider an alternate means of warfare the invaders charged into the village clearing with a series of blood-curdling war whoops.

One man was quite close to me already and running full speed, a club upraised to bash in my head. I reacted instinctively, throwing him with a rolling hip toss and in the same movement drawing my rapier. Before he could rise I had slashed his chest and spun to face another screaming warrior. I parried his tomahawk stroke and my riposte, a maneuver as natural to me as breathing, took him through the throat. Here I was in my element. 

And then Running Bear and the other village warriors were in the fray. It was a melee such as I had not encountered since the unstructured brawls of my early warrior training. My blade darted like a snake, my years of training and practice paying off as opponent after opponent spun away with blood streaming from their encounter with my blade. I do not know how many I killed or wounded but it did seem I was constantly fending off one and only one opponent at a time. This I did not expect...in Lahanish warfare it was not uncommon for 5 or 6 opponents to gang up on me. Facing but one opponent, I was never even remotely endangered.

And then they were running. I do not know what caused them to break but as quickly as the attack had begun it was over and they headed back into the forest, leaving behind perhaps a dozen bodies.