As the sun began to rise me and my family had already packed and begun to move. After executing my brother and taking the chief’s prized horse I decided it was not the wisest decision to stick around any longer than absolutely necessary. We were heading north as fast as possible, my plan was to get to the fringes of our borders, find some good pasture land, a source of water, and set up camp for a while, and let the events of last night fade from people’s minds. I really just needed everything to blow over by next spring when I had to go back to the village, and in order for that to happen I needed to be far away from the rest of the tribe, especially the chief and his lackeys. I knew that most people tended to settle in the southern parts of our territory since it was closer to the Mansurians a country made up of farming villages and people that we traded with regularly. The country Mansuria is located in a very fertile basin and for a long time our people have been friendly and openly traded with one another over the long years, even going so far as to fight alongside each other in times of need. The Mansurians would trade us vegetables, fruits, fish, and even fabrics and other clothing material for goat milk, sheep, horses, wild game, and all manner of hides and pelts. so having territory close to the Manusrians became a coveted thing among our people, and those in our tribe who settled the closest to the black mountains and the Mansurians tended to have a higher status, like my father, that is one of the reasons that I wanted to follow him and settle beside him, but that is all for naught now and I have to move on and forge my own path.

      Doing this was not ideal, however, since I would be a target for raiders who happened to stumble upon me and those who just saw me as an easy target to kill while I was isolated and away from any prying eyes. So that is one reason I wanted to be the first to leave, so that everyone else in the village would be to busy to notice me leave, and in what direction I was heading, so that maybe I would at least avoid some danger. I rode on my new horse in the front of the procession that was made up of my entire house.

      I do have to admit that the hype for this horse was all well founded, she rode so smooth that it felt as if I were floating on air, truly, acquiring her was worth angering the chief and killing my brother. I wanted to be quick and relatively silent when we moved so I rode at the front of the procession while Ulgar brought up the rear with Erdin in the middle while Erhi and Kulan were distributed between my brothers, so we could keep an eye on our surroundings and animals easy enough while still going at a good pace. It was not easy to keep all the sheep and goats in line with this few people however, especially after they had been spooked by the attack last night, but there was nothing else I could do at the moment to change how things were. I just had to move on and see how things turned out and pray to the Great Being that everything would turn out fine.

      I had instructed Kulan to ride between myself and Erdin and to every so often check on things with Ulgar, Erdin, and Erhi and report any problems that came up, to me in the hopes that if anything major occurred I could get moving and fix the problem before it turned into something to large to handle and lose most of my heard in the process. I made it my mission not to lose another animal until I got settled and slaughtered it personally, and I will be dammed if that does not happen. As time passed and the sun steadily rose into the sky banishing the shadows further west, I kept an eye on my surroundings and ears receptive to any and everything. I looked for movement that should not be there, and listened for sounds like the beat of hooves from any direction other than my rear, or the distressed call of sheep. Luckily nothing had happened yet and as I crested a hill I heard hooves from behind and they were getting ever closer. I stopped at the top of the hill and turned my horse to the side  looking back on all my belongings. From sheep and goats being herded along by my siblings to horses laden with goods that ranged from cages filled with chickens, to even the yurt that we would be living in, and whatever rations of food Alton had given me when I left his home.

      Kulan came riding up to me and stopped, pulling her horse up next to mine. With the horses so close to each other I got a good chance to compare the two creatures. The first thing that became obvious was that mine was so much bigger, both in height and in girth (Not saying my baby was fat by any means), the second was the bearing of the two animals. Something about mine just felt more in command, as if she held her head higher and dominated the other horse whose head was turned down in submission. The more I noticed about my horse the more I was realizing that it was all worth it in the end. Kulan bowed her head to me as her horse bowed its head to mine. “It’s all going well brother, the horses are following along obediently, the sheep are attempting to keep in line as usual and only a few goats have tried to run off and get themselves killed but we got them back in order, so all is well.” This is why I hate goats we just left and they are causing trouble, they just wake up every morning trying to find a way to die I swear, I thought shaking my head before glimpsing back to look over the procession. “Thanks, Kulan and keep up the good work, in a few hours we will take a break so until then just keep me posted on how things are going.” After our brief exchange Kulan rode back off towards the procession that was now almost upon me on the crest of the hill. I looked back towards the village which was now just a speck in the distance, before turning back around and heading down the hill.

                          ... 

     Luckily the trip was relatively uneventful, aside from a few stupid goats attempting to get away, it was a smooth one and we all made it to our destination unharmed, aside from some sore muscles. The spot I decided on was in between two hills with a creek that ran through them from north to south, so it had some natural protection from winds coming in from the east or west. And also because of the creek eroding the hillside the land was sloped in a way that allowed for it to drain naturally which would be needed here very soon when the rains began to set in in earnest. All in all, I was fairly pleased with the location itself, it had everything I needed, some grass for the animals, fresh clean water for all of us and some natural protection from prying eyes, as well as from the elements. We got to the location with a few hours left before the sun set, so we had a small window to get things situated before it became too dark to work, and we would have to sleep out under the stars. I dismounted from my horse, that I had decided to name Batzorig, and nearly collapsed due to the weakness in my legs from riding horseback so long. I stayed up on my shaky legs and slowly started to stretch out my aching body before attempting to walk again. After I was certain I could walk soundly I started towards the area I intended to place my yurt. It was a relatively flat place compared to the rest of the hillside that was pretty sharply sloping downwards. I felt pleased with this spot and noted the rocks in the area that I would have to deal with, so we could build the yurt, before I headed back to my siblings who were now dismounted and rubbing their sore bodies as I had done just minutes earlier. “I say we should settle here,” I said looking my siblings over one by one trying to gauge where their heads were at, “this is as good a place as any and I want to be settled before nightfall, any objections?” I decided to ask them for help since they were my only lifeline out here and I needed to use any and every resource at my disposal if I was going to survive this year and make it back to the village come next spring. They looked at each other seeing who, or if anyone would speak up. Nobody spoke up so Kulan taking over as their representative spoke for all of them. “We will follow you wherever you go Aridan and this seems like a fine place for us to set up for the time being but,” of course there is a but, I sighed. Kulan seemed undisturbed by my actions and just kept going with her thought and I am thankful because even if I seem like I know what I am doing honestly, I am just winging it here. “Are you not worried that we are to far from the rest of the tribe? Aren’t we more vulnerable because of our isolation?” Kulan was not technically wrong, we were pretty isolated out here and that could be pretty dangerous but honestly, I feel like we would be in more danger if we were around more of our tribesmen especially since the chief held a grudge against me personally and I honestly don’t know what he is capable of. the tribe might see me as being in the right due to tradition but that does not mean the chief could not sway them to eliminate me if he really wanted to. “You may be right Kulan, but the chief would be more than pleased to see my head brought before him on a spike, so the further we are from him and anyone he can get to kill me, the better.” Kulan and the rest of my siblings nodded in understanding, it did not take a genius to understand that being near the chief was dangerous for all of us right now. “And besides,” I added, “I doubt anyone saw where we went this morning, so I think we should be pretty safe from the chief for now, my only real worry is raiders, or another tribe stumbling upon us.” At the mention of raiders everyone’s body went stiff, that is just how feared these guys are.

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      Raiders can generally be summed up as horse lords who have either willingly left their tribe or been forced out due to a crime. After they leave their tribe they take up banditry in order to survive, they roam the lands from the black mountains in the east, to the sea of sand in the west, pillaging and killing anyone unlucky enough to be caught in their sights and not be able to defend themselves. They usually kill the men and take the women and animals as their own and head back to wherever it is they came from. Raiders are basically the most hated people around, but still nobody does anything about them because they do a good job of keeping the southerners from expanding into our lands. So, they may be reviled and hated but they serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things out on the plains. Some raiders have even formed their own tribes and joined back into society but that has only happened a handful of times and isn’t really worth mentioning. A small house like mine out here so isolated would be a prime target for such raiders. That is why I did not want to be out her alone, but it can’t be helped. “I know it sucks but this is what we have to do, so just pray to the Great Being that we don’t get caught and any raiders in the area pass us by.” Ulgar, Kulan, and Erdin nodded in agreement while Erhi clasped her hands together and closed her eyes in a silent prayer. I didn’t mean to literally stop what you’re doing and pray, I smiled shaking my head. Sometimes things can just go right over Erhi’s head, but that is one of the reasons I brought her with me, she can usually bring a smile to my face even if she doesn’t mean to. I was starting to get lost in my head almost forgetting that I had to get settled before nightfall, so I had to forcibly snap myself out of it. “Alright Ulgar Erdin get the animals situated, Erhi, Kulan, help me set up the yurt.” After giving out my instructions I turned around to get started on moving the stones that were in the way and also so that I did not get side tracked by Erhi again. I heard feet scurrying behind me and smiled lewdly, they really have become completely obedient to me, haven’t they? It really is a nice feeling to have others do as you tell them to without a second thought. This is the power my father always taught me about. I could get used to this feeling, I thought. But, instead of sitting there and getting off on control I got to work moving the rocks and stones out of the way of my homesite.

      I got a rough measurement of how much space I thought the yurt would take up then I added some more just to be safe. I took some sticks for starting fires out of its sack and then used those to mark my roughly measured out space. Then after it was all measured out and marked I felt good about it, so I started removing anything that would cause discomfort once the yurt was set up. I started at the center and began working my way out. I got into a rhythm and before I knew it I had a pile of stones and other debris lying to one side and the space I had marked was clear of everything but dirt and grass. I looked at my work pleased and drenched in my own sweat, but I did not let that bother me since it was a job well done. I had decided to keep the stones, thinking they could come of use later. The stones ranged from pebbles to some being as large as my head. I assumed the creek used to be much larger than it is now and that this was part of the riverbed at one time. But, there is the possibility that when it rains heavily that the creek swells up and this is all under water. I just hoped that that wasn’t the case, otherwise this work would be for naught and we would be having to take down and move the yurt in the rain very soon. I pushed the negative thoughts from my head and turned to see what the girls were doing. To my surprise they had already gotten all the household items unpacked and they were just sitting there waiting on me to finish up, so we could put up the yurt. I had not realized how long I was working on clearing out a place, but it was apparently quite a while seeing how Erhi and Kulan had already finished their task and were just sitting around waiting on me. I kind of felt bad that others were having to wait on me to finish up my task, so they could do theirs. “Sorry I took so long,” I said nonchalantly as if I hadn’t just held everyone up by taking so long on my task. “No worries brother we’ve only been waiting for about an hour or so,” Erhi said with a giggle. My eyes went wide in shock, “An hour?? I’ve been picking shit up for over an hour?” I asked in utter shock and embarrassment. “Oh no not an hour,” Kulan said with a mischievous smile, “more like two and a half but no worries it was fun sitting here watching you get all sweaty.” Kulan tried to wink seductively at me but couldn’t keep her face straight and just started to laugh instead.  My mouth opened wide and I was completely speechless I was just going to ignore Kulan and Erhis’s teasing and focus on just how long I had spent picking that shit up. They said I had been working for over two hours but to me it had only felt like half an hour at most. I looked into the sky checking the suns location to gauge how much time I had till sunset and noticed at best I had an hour, but it was probably closer to forty-five minutes. “Damn, we need to get this up and quick,” I cursed ignoring my sisters’ amused grins. Even if they were poking fun they still had the sense to follow me and get to work as much as I would hate to have to sleep out under the stars tonight, they would hate it that much more. So, they followed me and started to pick up some hides that would be draped over the walls while I went over to the lattice that had been folded up and tied down with leather straps this morning when we left the village, the girls had laid out all the materials for the yurt already so it was easy to find and get to. I undid the ties and unfolded the lattice extending it to its full length checking it for any damage that it may have received during the journey. There were only some minor issues, like some of the ties coming undone and other simple things that did not take long to repair. Once I was done I drug the wall over to the space I had cleared out and set it upright in the position it was supposed to be in. To my dismay I noticed that the space I had spent all that time clearing out was at least double the size that was required for my yurt. So at least half the time I spent working was just a complete waste. Kulan noticed me standing there with a distant look on my face. She looked at me funny for a second before coming to a realization and laughing out loud. “Aridan don’t worry about it, at least it will look good and it will be real easy to walk around our home with all those pebbles and stones gone.” All I could do was nod and go with Kulan’s line of thinking. I did not want to believe I had wasted so much valuable time doing stupid shit. So, I just chocked it up to me trying to make the surroundings of my home look good and kept on working to get the yurt built. After the wall was set up and staked down I got the six wooden poles that would become the roof and placed them around securing them in place with leather straps and a large pole in the center of the yurt that would be removed later. At this time Ulgar and Erdin showed up after having gotten the animals all situated. At this point I welcomed their help even though my intention in the beginning was to finish my end of the work quickly and going over to help them finish their task. But, things do not always work out how you plan. After they showed up, the five of us all worked on putting the hides onto the walls and roof, when that was all done I removed the pole from the center revealing a gap in the roof for smoke to exit. With the extra hands this took no time at all and before the sun had totally set over the horizon we were already inside starting a fire and setting out our bed rolls for the night while eating dried bread that came from the Mansurians and some dried rabbit that I had hunted a few days before the battle with the horn tribe, I dried it specifically for this trip and was thankful that I had. I had things that I should be worrying about and plans that I should be making but for now I just ate my dried bread and rabbit looking around my home.  It was a simple and bare home just like the meal I was eating but for some reason I felt complete for the first time in my life and I wasn’t quite sure why.