So far, my journey east had been going quite well, the second day of my trip was coming to an end and I had yet to have any major incidents. The only thing to really come up was a rainstorm. Which that was more of a blessing than anything else because I was worried about running out of water since I was only able to pack enough for three days, but in the early hours of the morning a rainstorm came up from the south and I was able to replenish all the water that me and the horses had drunk so far. Meaning, I should be able to make it to my destination before I ran out. Even if the rain was a good thing overall, I was still drenched and that made riding Batzorig a rather uncomfortable experience. But now that was a thing of the past and by the end of the day, I was finally dry again.

I was currently setting up for the night in a thicket of small gnarled trees that were desperately trying to live in this unforgiving land that my people called home. Seeing these hideous excuses for trees was a good sign since it meant I was getting closer to my destination. I should be seeing some real trees by midday tomorrow and I may even make it to town by nightfall if I really push it, I thought as I unloaded the two pack horses. The hardest part of my trip so far, other than the loneliness, was the lack of shelter and my unwillingness to light a fire for fear of drawing unwanted attention my way; however tonight I would at least have a little shelter thanks to the thicket I had come across. For the most part of the first day I was overjoyed with being alone and not having to worry about the day to day tasks of running my home but at some point, I went from enjoying my solitude to despising it. Being out here alone allowed for my mind to wander and it was making me question all the decisions I had made recently. I kept second guessing myself over and over wondering if the path I had chosen was the right one and if I was leading myself and my family to ruin. The worst part about it was the fact that all I could do was think, I was unable to act, so all my worries just stayed bottled up inside me with no way to escape and it was slowly driving me mad. Out here all alone I had no one to vent to other than Batzorig, who was a great listener but that was all, she couldn’t respond to my questions or offer support in any way when I vented to her. She just listened to my rants and walked along as I commanded her to.

After I unloaded the horses and let them loose to graze, I sat down with my back to a tree with some jerky in one hand a handful of berries in the other watching the horses graze on some grass unbothered by my sour mood. I was about to go back to questioning myself again when I stopped myself and thought of Yesui instead. The girl who caught my eye the moment I saw her and the only reason I was where I am now. She was the reason I made many of the decisions I was currently torn over, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t blame her for any of it. from the moment I saw her I knew I wanted her and was willing to do anything to have her. I was definitely rushing things to try and secure a future for her which was leading to most of my stress but even then, whenever I thought of her waiting for me and willing to follow me no matter what, I felt refreshed and my worries drifted away like they were never there in the first place. I felt like I could take on any hardship as long as she were there by my side helping me see it through to the end. I closed my eyes picturing her sweet face letting it calm me down after my long day of travel. Letting myself be completely taken over by the exhaustion was a mistake and without noticing I had fallen asleep sitting up against the tree leaving my meal left untouched.

I awoke to the sound of horses panicking. I quickly got up of my ass, crouching low, and grabbed for the sword at my hip. I scanned my immediate area and found my three horses looking nervously towards the way we had come. They were anxiously stamping their feet and neighing, I could tell without a doubt that something or someone had spooked them. Shit someone could’ve trailed me, I thought as I made my way deeper into the brush as quietly as I could. I needed to see what was going on before being seen myself, if that were even possible at this point. Someone or something was out there, and I needed to take any advantage I could get, hopefully I could get hidden and get some intel before it all went down. Once I found myself in a particularly thick piece of brush I hunkered down and watched the direction my horses had their eyes set on. I stayed as quiet as possible and listened carefully trying to pick up on anything that would shed some light on the situation, but the horses were making far too much noise for me to hear anything other than their panicked neighing. My heart started beating wildly in my chest to the point it felt like it would beat right out of my skin.

I sat there deathly silent and still for what felt like hours, but couldn’t have been longer than ten minutes, without seeing or hearing anything. I was getting to the point of thinking that there really wasn’t anything out there and thought maybe it was just a fox or some other harmless animal that had spooked the horses. I was about to stand up from my hiding spot when I heard it. A stick breaking off towards my right, I nearly missed the sound over the racket coming from the animals, but luckily for me, I was still able to make out the sound. I held my breath and tried to locate the source of the noise, but for the longest time I could see nothing but the gnarled trees and brush. Finally, I caught some movement in the corner of my eye. Whatever it was it was moving in the direction of the horses and would soon walk parallel to my position and when it did, I would finally be able to see what I was dealing with. There, I spotted a man slowly making his way through the thicket towards the clearing I had set up in, its humans at least. I was worried that it would be a bear or a wolf pack either of which would be very hard to deal with in this brush, but humans would have the same disadvantages as me in these tight and dark spaces.

Now if I could only figure out their numbers and could get the drop on them that would make things much easier. So, bided my time and waited for my chance to act. If there were a lot of them, they would’ve attacked me in the open instead of waiting for me to set camp to lay an ambush like this, I thought while waiting. I figured there were no more than ten which weren’t great odds, but also weren’t impossible if I got really lucky, so I hoped for less than ten. Less than five would be ideal but I’d take what I could get at this point. The sun had already dipped below the horizon some time before I woke up and the land was draped in shadow, the perfect time for a sneak attack. I was just holding out hope they didn’t spot me moving to my current position since if they were watching the clearing, they could have easily seen me get up and move. But if they didn’t see me move and noticed I was gone from the clearing, I hoped they thought I had made a run for it when I caught wind of the danger coming my way.

Apparently, that’s what was going on, because all at once six figures moved into the clearing including the man that was to my right. They had encircled the clearing and were now standing in a large circle around the edges of the trees and brush. “See where he went?” one of the men asked. Thankfully for me the answer was no, meaning that I still had surprise on my side, even if it was one versus six it was still possible to get out of this alive, I just had to make my move before they came searching for me. They all turned to the horses and my goods laying about the clearing, leaving their backs wide open to me, and I knew I wasn’t getting a better chance than this, so I had to make my move before they took off with my things or came hunting for me.

I took out my knife since I could get it out of its sheath much quieter than my sword and locked my sights on the closest thief. When he bent down to go for one of my saddle bags I jumped from my hiding spot and lunged for his vulnerable back, knife poised to strike a killing blow. One of the other thieves saw or heard me, and called out to the others but it was already too late for my target and before he could even fully stand up, I plunged my knife between his ribs eliciting a pained gasp from my target. I pulled the blade from his back sideways trying to cause as much damage as I could, while I could since I had to immediately face the other five now alert men surrounding me. with the knife removed from his back he fell face first into a growing puddle of his own blood as I unsheathed my sword to face off against my next opponent. I moved to put my back to the woods keeping my enemies in front of me where I could keep an eye on them, I couldn’t afford to get taken from behind right here with the odds stacked against me. I began to skirt around the clearing, looking for an opportunity to quickly take out another thief and even the odds a little more in my favor.

I didn’t have to wait long, one of the thieves pressed his luck and lunged for me breaking away from the group of his friends. He rushed At me, sword raised over his head, poised to take my head off. I waited for him to get close and when he did, I side stepped his all or nothing attack bringing up my own sword and shoving it through his gut. I went to swiftly remove my sword that was embedded in the dying man but before I could get it out two more thieves came rushing at me so I had to abandon my weapon for the time being and retreat back a step to avoid a sword strike that nearly took my hand off. Shit, this is bad. “we got him,” one of the attackers said as him and his friend closed the distance with me. left with only my knife and no where to run I pressed my attack which caught the two men off guard. I launched for the one closest to me shrugging off a sword blow with my knife, his attack having failed and his weapon deflected away I got inside his reach driving my knife home into his gut, I then used my weight to turn his body and use it as a shield against the second man who was rearing back to strike me with his own sword. I let him attack, and used my newfound shield to take the blow for me, the shield got a nasty cut across it’s back for its work, but I couldn’t care less.

I dropped my shield and attacked my next target which had an appalled look on its face for what he had just done to his friend. I used that moment of shock to end his life by lodging my blade into his throat. He fell to the ground hands grasping for his throat trying to stop the rush of blood, but it was too late the damage was already done and he was not long for the living. As I was stepping away from my fourth kill, my back lit up in pain as if it had just been set on fire. My eagerness to kill these two men had left my back wide open for the last two thieves and I had just paid dearly for my lapse in judgment. The blow forced me forward which saved my life since it put me out of reach from any new attacks, but I was still in a bind since the last two men were now both coming after me. it was now two to one but they both had swords while all I had was my knife and now an injured back which would definitely slow me down and make things that much harder.

I didn’t know how bad my back was and didn’t have time to check but I did know it hurt like hell and I could feel my blood flowing down my entire backside, so it really wasn’t a light wound by any stretch of the imagination that was for sure. I had to end things quickly before the adrenaline flowing through me could no longer keep me upright and in the fight. On top of being injured and outnumbered I was on a tight schedule to get this over with or else I was a dead man, even if I did kill them both if I didn’t get this wound taken care of I could still lose my life in the long run. “You gave good boy, I’ll give you that,” the one who struck me smirked, “but this is it.” The man attacked as soon as he quit speaking followed by the last thief who thrusted out his own sword. If I’m about to die then I’m taking them out with me, I thought as I readied my knife to block their blows. I succeeded in blocking the first swing, but the second man’s thrust caught me on my left arm. Luckily the cut wasn’t deep, but it still hurt like a bitch and would make me favor that arm for the rest of the fight. At least it’s not my strong arm I thought as I kicked the first attacker in the chest knocking him back. The other man wasn’t quick enough to get his sword up and block my coming strike, but he was quick enough to dodge a killing blow and instead received a cut on his own arm.

Before I could press my attack and finish him off the other man was on me once again. we exchanged several blows neither could get in a hit and I was running out of time. Both of my injuries were wearing on me and I was steadily running out of stamina. I was getting slower and slower with my blocks and would soon be unable to lift my blade in time to block an attack. My attackers knew this as well as I did so they were just biding their time wearing me down so they could finish me off without risking their own lives. I blocked another attack, the power of which drove me to my knees. I tried to stand but was unable, I was completely exhausted, all my strength had finally left me, my injuries finally taking their toll. By now my entire back was completely soaked in my own blood and my eyes had begun to lose their focus. There was no escaping what came next and everyone left alive in the clearing knew that. Cruel smiles were plastered on my last two attackers faces as they nonchalantly walked closer to me. “that was the best fight I’ve had in a very long time boy,” my soon to be killer said as he stood over me, “in honor of that I’ll give you a clean death.” “Thanks for that,” I said my voice weak and almost coming out as a whisper. He raised his sword to take my head, all I could do was watch as death came down on me there was no fight left in me anymore. as I watched his blade, that still had some of my blood on it, all I could think about was Yesui and how I wouldn’t be keeping my promise. I closed my eyes and waited, soon I would be on the ethereal plains where I would wait for my family to make it there in their own time and be with me again for an eternity, but death didn’t come as I thought it would. Instead there was a strange popping sound and something warm flew onto my face. Did he change his mind? Is he going to torture me to death? I thought, opening my eyes to see what had happened. As I looked up, I saw an axe embedded deep within my attacker’s skull. I just stared up at him dumfounded as his body fell to the ground motionless, who? I looked over towards the second man thinking maybe he killed his friend but no, he was laying in the dirt, face first with an axe sticking out of his own back. As I stared at the man lying there with an axe placed deep into his spine, a mountain of a man walked up to him, put his boot on the dead man’s back and ripped the axe from its resting place. After he was done retrieving his weapon, he looked over to me and flashed the creepiest smile I’d ever laid witness to, if it could even be called a smile. Now that I was looking, there were three men standing before me, each one was taller than anyone I’d ever seen, each would be a head or two taller than me if I were standing next to them which is saying something since I was one of the biggest people in the clan.

The three of them just stood there staring at me each holding an axe in their hands’. I stared back at them, well at least I tried too but the blood loss and exhaustion finally got to me and I could hardly keep my eyes open or even sit upright properly. Even if they didn’t take my head the thieves still got me in the end. I fell out onto the soft ground knowing that this was the end. At least I got four of them, I thought as I finally let go and lost consciousness.

~

I awoke some time later, as the sun rose on a new dawn, with intense pain racking throughout my body. It took some time of me fighting to gain some focus through the pain to notice the hands that were holding me down and to wonder why I was even awake at all since I was sure the wound on my back had turned fatal. “What the fuck,” I managed to say through gritted teeth. The only response I got for my trouble was some harsh words in an even harsher language that I couldn’t possibly make out even if I tried. Great now I’m being tortured to death by foreigners, I thought as I futilely struggled to get free of their hold on me. I was weak from my previous fight and the wounds it left me with. But still, I struggled, thinking that if I were to die I would put up any resistance I could. I thought they were trying to harm me but a new set of hands finding their way to my wound proved that thought wrong. The new set of hands were busy trying to clean and dress my wound while I struggled against the death grip the other set of hands had upon me. once I realized what was happening, I quit fighting against it and just lay there gritting through the pain. That was proving quite hard since every time the slash across my back got touched, which was happening more often than I liked, sent a shock of pain through my entire body. The pain was the worst I’d ever experienced in my life. It was to the point that it made the regular beatings I had received at Alton’s hands seem tame in comparison. Thankfully the pain did not last forever, and I was granted a reprieve when they were done bandaging the wound. Once my wound was bandaged the hands holding me in place let go and I was left laying face first in the dirt panting, thoroughly exhausted and in a lot of pain even if no one was touching my back. I just laid there for a moment trying to catch my breath and to get some of my wits about me before I sat up and greeted my saviors face to face.

Once I was ready and could ignore the throbbing pain that was my back, I pulled myself up to a kneeling position to get a look at my surroundings and to see who it was that had saved me from certain death. Four men stood directly in front of me staring at me curiously. The three foreigners looked on at me curiously while the fourth man who was clearly a Mansurian looked at me with worry written on his face. The three foreign men were tall brutish looking men with long unkempt blonde hair and equally long beards each of which was tied into a different type of braid. Each one of the men were wearing a strange type of leather and chainmail armor which had without a doubt seen better days. T

hey each had an assortment of axes on their persons. The axes were the likes of which I’d never seen before, each was an implement of killing and would have little use for anything else. The axes were also covered in odd looking runes from the head of the axe going all the way down the shaft of the weapon, making each axe seem to be a work of art as well as a tool designed to take lives.

I was thoroughly confused on the origin of these men since I had never seen the like before or even heard stories of warriors similar, but even more confusing still was why a Mansurian was travelling with these foreigners. Could be a captive, I thought, or a guide one. I looked away from the men and realized we were still in the same clearing I was attacked in with the decaying corpses of my six attackers from the previous night. All my things were still where I had left them, and my horses had been tied up to a nearby tree so they wouldn’t go wandering off. It was now without a doubt clear that these men meant me no harm and had come to help me for some reason. But why is that, I wondered. “Why are you here,” I asked, “why did you save me?” At my words the three foreign men turned to the much smaller Mansurian who was standing behind them. He stepped forward to stand in front of the other men and looked down at me for a moment, the worry that he showed previously completely gone now.

“I am Nurhaci and these three men are my bodyguards,” Nurhaci said indicating the three foreign men standing behind him.

I nodded, “I am Aridan of the Dulfar tribe.” I said bowing my head in respect to my saviors. “But why did you save me,” I asked, “and how did you find me when you did?”

Nurhaci looked uncomfortable hearing my question and took a moment before responding. “well about that,” he finally said, “we were travelling east back to my homeland when we were set upon by a rather large group of raiders, we managed to dispatch them at a great cost to our manpower,” he said a look of sorrow overtaking his features as he recalled the losses he had incurred at the hands of the raiders. “Six of them managed to escape and to take vengeance for our fallen comrades we hunted them down,” he said only pausing to look at the six corpses in the clearing, “our pursuit must’ve led them straight to you, for that I apologize and for killing four of the vermin I thank you.”

“I see,” I said getting more of the picture now. “there is no way for me to hold a grudge against you for running these raiders straight to me since you saved my life in the end.” “but the reason you needed saving to begin with is because we chased them into you,” he said apologetically. “Don’t worry about it,” I said, “I may be a little beat up, but I still live, nothing to apologize for.” “Oh,” he said, “I was told by my men that you still being alive is more to do with your own ability rather than our intervention.” “Nonsense they had me beat and I nearly lost my head before you and your men showed up and saved me,” “Maybe so but you still took on six men on your own and managed to kill four of them before we showed up.” I just shrugged in response. “I was also led to believe that had you not been injured you probably could have killed all six of them without our help at all.” “But I did get injured,” I said holding my hand up stopping a response from coming from Nurhaci. “You may have put me in danger Nurhaci, but you saved me in the end, so I’d say we are even now,” I said with a wince, the movement of my arm caused the pain in my back to flair up. “very well Aridan if you say we are even then it is so.” “good,” I nodded, more pain coursing through my back at my quick movement. “so, where are you fellows coming from and where are you going?” Nurhaci smiled and looked up to the sky, “that my friend is a long story.” “Well,” I said shifting off my knees and sitting down, trying to get comfortable which was hard with the pain shooting through my back with every move I made. “I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, and a good long story might help pass the time.” “Very well,” he said moving over to sit next to me, “the story really starts at my birth some seventeen winters past.” He said a distant look in his eyes. Thus, I became immersed in the tale of a new friend’s life and its many twists and turns.