CHAPTER 6 - HUNTING LIES
THE VEYTRMAR WERE ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVAL FOR THE EARLY TENGSUN. THEY PROVIDED ESSENTIAL FOOD TO TRIBAL VILLAGES WHILE TAKING ONLY A FEW RATIONS FOR THEMSELVES. THEY WERE WELL RESPECTED BY ALL AND PROTECTED BETWEEN TRIBES WELCOME BY ALL DESPITE THEIR ALLEGIANCES. EVEN INTO MODERN TIMES SOME TENGSUN USE A WINTER HUNT AS A RIGHT OF PASSAGE.
TENGSU, A HISTORY 2.3
Ash’s stomach growled at him as he pulled a piece of duran meat from his slingsack. Finally a moment's reprieve from a long day of tracking duran tracks for him to eat and finally regain some strength. He smiled to himself as he lifted the meat up to his mouth to tear into the delicious meat. Before he could open up to tear into the tender jerky a hand covered his hands and pushed back down towards his waist.
“It is not time to eat yet young Ash. Put the meat back in your slingsack.” whispered Isak.
Ash looked over at the experienced Veytrmar, his night black hair hung down loosely past his shoulders matted with dirt and years of disregard. His face was well weathered from a life spent in the wild but behind the scars and worn features lay kind green eyes.
Isak squatted low at the top of a rise scanning the rocky hill below that led to a small canyon with a little river running through. He had not looked up from his search to stop Ash from inhaling the meat.
“But Isak… It is already well past noon, I have not eaten anything yet today. I just want one bite.” Ash pleaded.
“One bite will quickly turn to two and before you know it all of your energy will be gone.” Isak responded.
“I don’t think I have ever gone this long without food, Isak. Listen, you can hear my stomach growling at you.” Ash complained.
“It does not growl at me Ash, it growls for food. That want for food will keep you sharp. Your eyes will see clearer, your nose will smell stronger, and your ears will hear better. Do not underestimate the power of hunger. Come here by me.” Isak gestured to Ash and continued. “What do your senses tell you?”
Ash looked for a second out over the ravine. “That there is a delicious piece of meat waiting for me in my slingsack” Ash muttered.
“Put it out of your mind Ash. A Veytrmar always saves the last of his meat for the kill. It will bring you the strength you need to return the kill to Bjorn. As for now it might as well not be there.”
Ash looked back out towards the river and tried to forget about the meals he had missed. After a moment he noticed that his stomach started to quiet and the scene in front of him became clear. He heard for the first time the water flowing down the river. He smelled the scent of fresh earth like when he removed rocks from the hutshroom fields. Then he saw a number of rocks along the side of the hill with rings of brown from the mud that they had recently been in.
“There” Ash said “The villtur must have come this way. He heard the river from over the ridge and went down to get a drink. He must have turned over some stones on his way down into the ravine trying to stop himself.”
“Very well done young Ash '' Isak said “we might just make a hunter of you yet. Now hurry, let's continue the hunt.”
Isak and Ash continued to track the villtur running along the river bed. As they ran with the river they came upon a small pond. Isak then led them towards a nearby grove of trees explaining to Ash as they went.
“The villtur will often make a burrow near bodies of water such as this. They will find a recess in the roots of a tree and use their snout to dig in deeper. As you get near to their home you will find scratching in the trees as they rub their tough bristly hides to spread their scent around. See, look, we have found one now.”
Ash rubbed his hands along the nearby tree. Deep grooves had been made into the bark. He had to reach up above his head to touch the top of the scratchings.
“This sow is almost as tall as you, Isak!” Ash proclaimed.
“Yes young Ash we did track a rather large one.” Isak replied as he sat down against a nearby tree biting into his piece of duran meat.
“Wait, you’re eating? But we haven’t finished our hunt yet. The villtur is still out there.” Ash questioned.
“We are finished now young Ash you may eat.” Isak answered. “We do not kill the villtur until winter. They grow strong quickly and are not an easy kill. However, in the winter they slow their bodies because of the scarcity of food. Only then might we best them and even then it is quite difficult.”
“So why did we track this one so far?” Ash wondered as he sat down against the tree eager to take a bite from his jerky “You told me at the beginning of the day that it was a villtur.”
“Excellent question young Ash. They are hard to track during the winter as they seldom leave their burrows. They hoard truffles throughout the winter to feed on and lick the snow melts that leak into their homes. However, now we know the place of its burrow, during the second moon of winter we will come back this way once the villtur has lost enough of its strength. Thus our hunt for this day is done.”
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Ash thought of the words of Isak as he continued to eat.
He knows all of the ways of each of the animals he hunts. He knows them like he knows their gods. Father has put me with the best of the Veytrmar I think.
Pleased with the ability of his mentor, a question came to Ash. He stopped his eating to find the right way to ask Isak.
“Isak? How does one find a Rev-vissir?’ Ash asked.
“Find a Rev-vissir?!” Isak snorted. “I do not think there is anything more foolish than searching for a Rev-vissir!”
“Why though? I should know about them at the least if I am to be Veytrmar!”
“Know of yes but search out no!” Isak replied. “We are lucky that the people of Bjorn have not seen or heard from any Rev-vissir for many moons now.”
“Explain it to me Isak” Ash demanded “I want to know”
Isak sat there a moment looking down at Ash with his piercing green eyes thinking before making a reply to the young boy.
“Very well young Ash you are right if anyone should know of the Rev-vissir it should be a future Veytrmar. I will tell you of my first and only encounter with the Rev-vissir. I was one of Bjorn’s watchmen at the time. When I first saw it I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It moved with such ferocious speed. I had never seen anything move so fast. Before I could understand what I was seeing the beast was upon me. I look above me to see its glistening teeth standing at eight or nine feet tall. This was a true monster yet I could help but marvel at its flowing blue and purple coat. I have never seen anything so terrifying yet so majestic. Then while I was still frozen in place it swiped at me knocking me clean off my feet. It even left a dent in my poly-plate so harsh it never grew back. It's the only time that I have ever seen a polyplate truly break.”
Ash hung on every word from Isak, his meal completely forgotten. Could my little Frae really turn into such a beast? Will he actually grow to be that monster?
“What happened next, Isak?” Ash asked, noticing that Isak had paused his tale.
He only then noticed the somber look of Isaks face, his sharp eyes looking dejected at the ground in front of him.
“Then came a loss. I haven't much spoken of young Ash. After I began to come to, I looked up and saw the Rev-vissir towering over my little nephew. I tried to raise myself back to my feet but my body had now strength left. Then from the Hall came my sister rushing to defend her boy. She wielded a torch trying to scare off the Rev-vissir but it only startled the beast more. The monster slashed at her as it had at me, knocking her aside with ease. My small nephew began to cry for his mother and for some reason this scared the beast and it left as quickly as it came. I crawled over to my sister as she landed near me. Without the poly plate to protect her the Rev-vissir had left a lethal blow. I could only watch as she died there in my arms.”
Ash sat there in silence. He now understood why people rarely talked of the Rev-vissir other than to warn about them. What beasts they are. What monster Frae will become. He looked over at Isak and watched a lone tear flow down his cheek.
“I didn’t know that you had a sister, Isak… Why has no one ever talked of her before? To die in such a noble way should be a hero's death.” Ash asked.
“The Chief forbade us to speak of the moment young Ash.” Isak answered. “He sent me away as a hunter because he could not bear to look at me any longer because of my failure. You see he had lost a love that day. The young lad was you Ash, saved by my sister Kristin, the wife of the Chief…”
Ash jolted up in shock, unable to sit still from the revelation. His feet carried him from side to side pacing in front of Isak.
“My mother? Died from a Rev-vissir? No, she died from the end of the first winter because of the fever. Father always told me how we all were able to say our goodbyes before she passed. That she blessed the four of us before she died. What is the Isak? Some cruel prank to make me fear the Rev-vissir?!”
Isak responded calmly and carefully “It is no fiction young Ash. I too wish that it were not true. I lost my sister and my family that day.”
“She saved me? I don’t believe it, Isak. I can’t believe it… Otherwise it's my fault that she died. It's already my fault that Syskon is dead. Why didn’t he tell me… Why didn’t my father tell me…”
Ash fell back down to earth, his legs no longer willing to carry him. The two of them sat there in silence for some time as the light of Joss began to fall below the horizon.
Isak finally broke the silence. “We should make camp, young nephew. It starts to grow cold.”
Ash nodded in agreement and they continued their silence as they made camp. They set up a trio of logs against each other and then Isak pressed a seedspore against the side of the log. This was made up of the same mycelium as the polyplate and it quickly grew around the logs and made a temporary but strong tent for them. Before entering the tent Ash finally broke his silence.
“I need to talk to my father.. I am going back to Bjorn tomorrow.” Ash said.
“You cannot return now Ash, we are Veytrmar we must provide for the people.” Isak replied.
“No uncle, this lie has been told to me for my entire life. I need my father to tell me himself.” Ash answered with confidence that he was unsure where it came from.
Isak looked at his nephew before answering. “Now there is the man your father spoke of… We will return to Bjorn at first light young Ash. You are right this has gone on for far too long.”
Ash lay down to what he felt would be a long sleepless night. So much to think about. So much had happened to him in such a short amount of time. He also had to return and take care of Frae. After the imposing vision of the Rev-vissir given to him by Isak he knew that he could not leave Frae to terrorize Bjorn. After all, what does a man do but protect his people?