The seasons may be changing from winter to spring, but, the cold seems as though it has not yet figured that out. I have lived long enough to see thirty-four winters and seen quite a few battles take place, many of which I have seen firsthand, but this is the first time I have felt so at peace before one.

At first, I felt fear then after I got over my fear it was bloodlust and now I only feel at peace even though I go out to kill others over the rights to some parcel of land for the coming year. It is ironic, that for the tribe to grow and become healthy we must lose some of our young warriors and take the lives of others.

I ease into the saddle as I wait for the enemy that is to come to meet us, they most likely know they fucked up by coming here and challenging the Dulfar tribe for grazing rights, but it is already too late for both of our tribes. No matter what any one of us feels, this battle must happen after the challenge has been made and accepted by both parties involve, that is just our way. So, now all I can do is sit here in my saddle and wait.

Someone rode up next to me and I looked over to see the chief upon his prided white mare, that is the most excellent stock in the tribe, truly the Great Being blessed our tribe with such an animal. I bowed my head in respect to the chief, still eyeing his mount with some well-hidden envy, “Chief, how fares the battle preparations?” The chief brought his mare to a stop and scanned the horizon. “The young ones are in position and those with some experience, like us, are also right where we should be.” The chief spoke in his normal gravelly voice never once turning to me until he was finished speaking. When he scanned over me inspecting every inch of me as if to find fault somewhere, he stopped his scanning at the new wolf pelt I was wearing which was a gift from my eldest son Aridan. “The boy give you that?” the chief asked still eyeing the pelt. I nodded, “yes he gave it to me this morning, said he’d been preparing it for this battle.” The chief nodded. It was no secret in the tribe that my son Aridan was exceptional when it came to swordplay, riding and archery which was all going to make him a fine warrior one day. It was quite refreshing to know that even the chief was taking some interest in him. “sounds like he will do your house proud in the days to come.” He added turning back to scan the horizon waiting on the enemy. I nodded and watched the horizon myself.

The Horn tribe finally arrived around midday. I sat up in my saddle grabbing my bow as I did so, the enemy force was around three quarters of our own force. But being a veteran of quite a few of these battles, I knew that having superior numbers is not always a sure sign of victory. Once they got into my range I nocked an arrow drew back, held my breath for a second, then fired. Sadly, my skills with a bow were not on par with my sword skill so I inevitably missed my first shot but that was normal for me, so it did not faze me. the next arrow however did hit its mark, taking out one of the warriors leading the charge for the horn tribe. The others of my tribe began to loose arrows from their bows as well and we all started to ride out to meet the enemy.

I was ready to get close so I could use my sword, I really do hate using my bow in a fight. A few of our own were taken out by enemy arrows but the losses were not enough to be a serious issue. It did not take too long for both our forces to collide in a wave of horses, blood and screams. The first horn tribesmen I came face to face with was a boy who could not be much older than Aridan but that did not stop me from running my sword through his neck drenching myself in a spray of blood as I removed my blade. I continued to do pretty much the same until the conclusion of the battle, the only difference was I was drenched in some kid’s blood. The battle was an anticlimactic affair since the horn tribe is a weak tribe and the horn warriors were far too weak to give us Dulfar warriors much trouble.

After the battle ended I was promoted to great warrior by the chief for having felled so many enemies with my blade. I was also given first pick for a new slave wife. I picked up a young girl named Taban who had only recently come of age. She was a good pick for me, she was pretty enough to look at and was young enough to produce many sons for my house. I took my new slave wife and spoils to the village that now did not have to move locations since we won the battle to keep our grazing spot.

Upon my return Aridan was outside the yurt teaching his younger brothers swordsmanship or more like teaching them all a lesson to not cross blades with him for real and damn, if his swordsmanship didn’t look good for a boy who had not even left his father’s house yet. I just shook my head and took my new woman to meet the others and above all get myself cleaned up, I hate how human blood sticks, to my skin.