I quickly took my bow back out, grabbing another arrow, nocking it and aiming at the man who had been giving out the orders. I needed to take out the leader quickly if things turned ugly. I had realized that these people might actually be raiders and I had just showed my hand trying to be the hero. These would be sorry excuses for raiders mind you but still raiders none the less. ‘Even an injured wolf can kill’ as Alton says. I was not about to let myself get killed by a lack of caution at this point so as I aimed my bow at the leader as I guided Batzorig with my legs to slowly back away. While I was inching back I got a good look at this group, sizing them up, trying to figure the amount of danger I had gotten myself into. Why’d you have to charge in and be the hero, I thought chastising myself. From what I could tell it seemed to be two families since there were only the two yurts visible but by the numbers present neither family was very large. There were only twelve people present and only five of those were male, three looked to be younger than me while the man in charge seemed to be around Alton’s age and the other looked to be slightly older than myself. Neither of the adult men looked to be decent fighters, with the way they held their weapons they seemed to be little to no threat to me or Batzorig. The women ranged in ages from toddlers to being around my mother’s age, but they were all very afraid and I could see some were even visibly shaking. Every time I looked over one of the women they quickly looked away seeming afraid to catch my eyes. From what I could tell so far after just giving them a onceover they were in no way raiders in fact, by their body language and the way they were acting they most likely thought that I was the raider instead.

      I brought Batzorig to a stop and eased tension on my bow bringing it to a half draw. “Who are you and why are you here!” I demanded. I was not planning on being nice because in my eyes these people were trespassing on Dulfar lands and as a fighter for the tribe I was not about to let such an offense go by unpunished. The two adult men exchanged nervous looks with each other and the older one with a hint of grey in his hair took charge like I figured he would since I had guessed he was the head of these families. “We are members of the Dulfar tribe just out here settling in our tribal lands letting our animals graze.” With every word he grew more and more confident and by the end he was nearly yelling with his chest puffed out. Clearly, they assumed everyone in the tribe would be further south grazing and not be this close to the mountains which was also my thoughts and why I was out here in the middle of nowhere. But aside from him having the same ideas as me I could not let his lies and trespass slide. I fully drew my bow once more causing the wood to creak as it strained to do as I commanded. “Lies,” I spat with venom in my words, “I am a warrior for the Dulfar and I have never once seen you. So, I ask again who are you and why are you here?” I leaned forward atop Batzorig readying myself to take this man’s life if his answer did not satisfy my demands. In fact, I was running through my head how I would kill everyone here if his answer did not satisfy me. I would start with the men first, probably kill them with my bow. By then the women and children would be fleeing so I would pull out my sword, that luckily, I had remembered to bring, and run them down as quickly as possible before they could flee too far. I’m sure Batzorig would enjoy the sport, she tended to enjoy killing things by stomping on them especially things that I have injured, I had started to notice these habits while out on our hunts. The greying man took a nervous step back nearly tripping over his own feet. “We…” he said before closing his mouth clearly thinking through what he was going to say next, he apparently knew his and everyone else’s lives depended on his answer. He dropped the bow that he had in his hands and threw his hands in the air the way one would do when signaling their surrender. “We are merely refugees we lost the last battle for grazing rights and the land we got simply could not sustain everyone, so we fled, and we wound up camping here when we were attacked by the wolves, so please sir spare us.” After his speech the greying man bowed his head to me followed by everyone else in his company. With everyone bowing their heads to me I felt very proud and accomplished. Maybe riding in like a hero helped after all, I thought smiling internally. I eased tension off the bowstring but not quite yet putting it away, “so then where is it you are wanting to go?” I asked genuinely curious. The group all raised their heads and looked around at each other as if they too were genuinely curious as to what they were going to do and where they were going to go. It was quite evident to me that these people were lost with nowhere to go and would not be able to answer my question anytime soon, so I rode Batzorig right up among the group and dismounted. They all looked a little concerned at what I might do and got well out of my way as I moved in among them. I looked around into each of their faces all of them turning their heads not making eye contact with me. only one of them actually caught my eye among the entire group and that was a girl who seemed to be about my age. She quickly turned away when I looked at her but from the glimpse I got she looked fairly pretty. I was tempted to grab her and force her to look into my eyes, but I shrugged the thought off and went back to what I was doing. “Come let’s go talk inside,” I said motioning to the larger of the two yurts ahead of me. “it would also be nice if one of the kids would collect the two dead wolves for me while we talked.”

     I turned and led the group into their own home. I was making it very clear that I was in control here even if it was their home. You might would think that I was filled with confidence and this was all very easy for me, but you wouldn’t be further from the truth because inside, my stomach was tight due to my nerves and as I walked ahead of the two families I sent up a silent prayer that they would follow and not notice my shaking hands. If it were not for Alton’s harsh training and constant verbal abuse growing up these actions would be impossible but with those “gifts” from Alton this entire scene played out naturally and seemed to fool those around me. It probably helped that no one here was any good in a fight. To my relief shortly after entering the larger yurt the two men in the group followed hot on my heels. Maybe my prayer worked, I thought smug grin plastered on my face which thankfully the two men could not see since I was turned away from them. I walked around the yurt and got a good look at the single room. It was very similar to my own yurt just slightly larger. It also had the same interior set up with the grass fiber matts covering the floor and a sectioned off firepit in the middle with a hole in the roof to let the smoke vent out. But I also noticed that the fiber matts were well worn with some having large tears in them also there weren’t many new animal pelts sitting around airing out like there were in my own yurt. Through my observations I could make some guesses as to the quality of this family’s living situation but before I put my thoughts out there I was going to ask one question that would shed further light on the situation. I quickly turned back to the men startling them in the process. I just ignored their reactions acting like I didn’t notice even though deep down I was happy that I was scaring them and even seen as the dominant person while standing in their territory. “how about getting one of your women to cook us some meat while we talk,” I said looking closely at their reactions, “Its not good conversing on an empty stomach and I am famished after my ride over here” the two men looked at each other questioningly neither giving an answer. Just as I had suspected, it looks like I had rightly inferred that they had fallen on some rough times and probably had no meat to spare if they had any at all. I had guessed this by seeing a lack of pelts meaning bad hunting, and the torn-up floor mats meant the women were working on other things other than house maintenance which was never a good sign; it usually meant the men were failing at their duties to provide. Also, when riding up and in the fight with the wolves, I had noticed they had a small herd of animals for a family of this size. It was almost refreshing to realize that even with all the bad that has happened to me that I was still better off than some. Before they answered me, which didn’t look to be happening anytime soon, I sighed and went and sat in the heads seat. My actions clearly angered the younger man who looked like he was about to speak up, but he was held back by the older man. “be honest,” I said getting comfortable in my new seat, “how bad are things out here?” the older man sighed walking over and taking a seat to my right, a position usually taken up by the head of the family’s wife or trusted friend. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed, not too good.” I nodded eyeing the younger man who was still standing and didn’t look inclined to sit anytime soon. So, I just ignored him and looked at the greying man instead knowing my time was better spent talking to him. “How much longer until you have to start slaughtering the rest of your herd?” I asked leaning in even closer to the man. He looked up at the roof of the yurt in thought. After a few seconds he looked back down at me and looked into my eyes for one of the first times since I had met him. In his eyes I could see desperation and fear. According to Alton the combination of desperation and fear could make the most docile of creature more dangerous than the greatest warrior on the plains. Seeing this in his eyes nearly caused me to flinch back but I refrained since I was still keeping up my tough guy act. “A few weeks at most,” he sighed still staring at me. I was getting very unsettled under his gaze but I fought to keep my cool. “we have truly found ourselves in a desperate situation, that is why we ended up here in Dulfar lands.” I could hear the pain in the man’s voice making it apparent just how bad his situation was. I would say that the people here had even less time than a few weeks before they began slaughtering the rest of their stock which should be reserved for breeding and milking. “well?” I asked somewhat unsettled by the days unexpected turn of events. “has hunting totally failed you? I have been hunting and trapping this area for awhile now and the land has produced more than enough for me and mine.” to my questioning the younger man answered instead of the older man for the first time since I had lent my aid. “father and I were not warriors nor hunters.” He said, finally sitting down beside his father. “he was a leatherworker among our tribe and I was his apprentice we had lived our lives supporting the warriors and chief and in turn they would support us by providing food and shelter from the dangers of the world.” It all started to make sense now, why they were forced to move from their tribal lands, why they lack food and why they struggled against a small pack of wolves. Artisans and others who support the tribe and its warriors tend to be supported and protected by others in the tribe and generally this is a very beneficial relationship for both sides. The artisan gets fed and protected while the warrior gets whatever the artisan makes and can even trade the artisan’s goods to others in the tribe or even the Mansurians for something else he may need.

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       The problem with this agreement however, shows itself when the tribe is struggling. Since the artisans generally cannot provide food or protection for the tribe, they are seen as a leach in bad times so when things get rough they are the first people to be removed. Even if the leatherworker is very useful, as they tended to be among our people, in hard times if you cannot feed yourself and require others to do that for you, you can either starve or find salvation elsewhere. I can guess that they have been looking for someone to take them in and most likely have had no luck up to this point seeing their sorry state. “when did you settle here?”            “less than a week ago.” The father took up answering my questions again. “come across raiders on your journey so far?” I asked sitting up straight in my seat. “no, thankfully the great one has kept them at bay thus far.” I nodded it was very fortunate that they had been spared from the raiders. They would have easily been overwhelmed by any had they come across this group. The fate awaiting them then would only see the men killed and women taken in as slaves. Raiders did not tend to take on artisans, they did not need weak men among their ranks. “what are your plans going forward?” I asked getting back on track. The older man looked to his son and they seemed to be having a silent discussion between themselves as they looked intently at each other. This staring match lasted for a few seconds before the older man turned from his son and looked back to me. “we have been discussing that for some time now,” he said taking on a formal tone, “and my son and I believe that our only hope for survival would be to join with another family.” It was evident to me that he had made that decision long ago and that he had failed to join with another family and tribe at least once already. I nodded, “yes it would probably be best for your families to join with someone who could offer you some protection.” The father and son duo looked at each other once again and this time not wanting to sit and wait on them to finish their staring match I rose to my feet causing them to both to look at me confusedly. “I am going to check on my horse and take a leak,” I said stretching my aching back, “You two continue in your discussion I will be back shortly.”

     Even if I was just dodging out of there and avoiding them I still made sure to let them know I was the one in charge here. I would even bet everything I owned that they would still be sitting in their same positions when I walked back into the yurt. I stepped outside shielding my eyes from the sun as I did. I scanned the area looking for Batzorig, she has become an extension of myself since I got her and honestly, I do not know what I would do if something were to happen to her. I spotted her over by the other yurt where two of the younger boys who, from what I could see were taking very good care of her. They had removed my saddle and saddlebags setting them off to the side as they brushed her down and gave her some water. Batzorig didn’t seem to mind the attention either, she seemed very content to be spoiled not sparing me more than a glance since I exited the yurt. The two boys, actions reminded me of how Erdin took care of Batzorig. Thinking of Erdin I felt of pang of guilt in my chest for having reprimanded him before I left earlier in the morning. I know that what I did had to be done but that does not make me feel any less guilty about upsetting my younger brother like that. I shook the thoughts out of my head and went looking for the next thing that was on my mind, the two wolves I had killed. I wanted to see where the carcasses were and to make sure these people weren’t going to rob me of what was rightfully mine. I looked over to where I had killed them, and they weren’t there, which really didn’t mean much since I had asked for someone to deal with them for me. So, I assumed that they had done what I had asked them to do, most likely to get in my good graces. I assume by the time I walk back into the yurt with the two leaders of this camp that they would ask to come along with me and to join with me at least for the time being. how they chose to do that however I was not sure. I doubt they would easily enslave themselves to me but that really depends on just how desperate they are and with what I have seen they are pretty desperate people, so they just might do enslave themselves to me if it is their only choice. This is one of the reasons I left them alone inside other than wanting to get away I also wanted to give them the chance to talk privately about joining under me and how they would go about doing that. Since Batzorig was by the other yurt I figured that would be the best place to find the wolf carcasses as well. As predicted that is where they were. They were moved to the other side of the yurt which is why I could not see them when I exited the yurt that I was in.

      They had been carried up underneath a lean-to which had been shoddily built up on the side of the yurt where a girl was struggling to dress them. She was giving it her all with a solid effort, but it was obvious she had no idea what she was doing. I leaned onto one of the poles supporting the small roofed structure and watched the girl work. She was so engrossed in her task she did not even notice me standing there just a few feet away. I got a good look at her for the first time and was immediately struck by her beauty. she was the girl I wanted to get a better look at earlier but decided against, but now I could see her clearly and she wasn’t shying away like before. She had black hair, tanned skin lean but still had enough muscle to get work done. Her face looked delicate, almost soft and fragile like something that needs to be protected at all costs, but when I finally caught her eyes and she turned to face me completely I could see fierceness in those piercing green eyes that showed she wasn’t weak and was a fighter just as much as I was who could take care of herself if she needed to. she was startled to see me there and was left speechless which quite frankly, so was I but I was speechless for a different reason. I was mesmerized by her and in my head was going through the checklist of what I would need in a wife and she was filling all of those boxes. She was pretty, seemed healthy and strong enough to work and to fend for herself if need be. I had made a decision and without even speaking to her I turned around and headed back to the yurt I had just left moments before.

       Forgetting about the wolf carcasses I had been looking for, I walked swiftly to the yurt’s entrance. The worries I had before had vanished from my mind. I now moved with a single purpose and would be sure to see my new ambition fulfilled. I abruptly entered the building pushing back the Dulfar skin flap over the entryway so suddenly that I startled my hosts once again. I no longer cared about putting on a front and trying to show dominance over these two men it should be obvious to all, who is in charge now. Both men looked at me uneasily, to them I probably looked mad and like I might even kill them. I ignored there looks and came to stop right before them, I stood there looming over them menacingly even though I was not trying to scare them or even show dominance over them its just that sometimes my face looks scary even if I don’t mean for it to. “join my family,” I spoke so quickly I nearly bit my tongue in the process but luckily, I didn’t, saving me from making a total fool of myself in front of these two. They looked up at me as if I’d said something crazy. “Do what?” the older man asked confusion showing on his face and in his voice. “Join my family,” I said again only this time slower and with more command in my tone. The two men shared a quick shocked look between themselves before turning back to me. “We will not be your slaves,” the younger man said anger showing on his reddening face, “we have not yet fallen that far.” I shook my head at them getting irritated and forcing myself to remain calm and not snap at them both in anger. “that’s not what I meant,” I sighed, “I will marry that girl out there and join your family with mine.” Once again, the two men shared a shocked look with each other before turning to me in disbelief. “what?” the greying man asked in shock, “which girl?” “the black-haired green-eyed girl tending to my wolf carcasses,” I said crossing my arms waiting for their answer. The answer wouldn’t be coming soon however since they both seemed too out of sorts and confused by my words to give me a proper response. “are you serious?” the older man asked still looking to be in shock. “Completely,” I said trying to keep my face void of emotion. The two men shared another look with each other before looking back at me. “She has only seen thirteen winters,” said the older man while his son nodded in agreement. They both looked nervous as if her being so young would make me change my mind. I shook my head at their gazes. “has she had her first blood?” I asked. The older man nodded, “yes she started just this past winter.” “good,” I said unfolding my arms and walking towards the exit. “get your families ready we leave in the morning,” before they could even get out another word I exited the yurt and headed for Batzorig. I wanted to do a little hunting before we set off. Mainly to settle my turbulent thoughts but I also knew with the addition of twelve new people I would need the meat. This is getting exciting, I thought with a smile as I mounted Batzorig.