The cold wind whipped the walls of the yurt as Alqa and her brother Dagan covered themselves in another layer of furs to keep warm. Then out of the wind came a horrid howling and screeching, accompanied by the thunder of horses’ hooves on the earth. Alqa stood up, rousing Dagan and, looking outside, in the distance she saw a wall of charging forms as the men and women of the Qutuq rushed from their yurts and mounted horses. Then Alqa’s father appeared with Nergui, a red mare, “Get your brother and ride off as fast as you can! Go to the land of the sunset, you will find friends there. Go, now!” He ordered her.

“I won’t go,” Alqa stubbornly responded.

“There is no time, if you stay, you will die, leave!” her father yelled. Alqa could hear the fear in his voice. She grabbed Dagan and a pouch of dried meat as tears trickled down her face. Her father helped her mount Nergui and she carried Dagan with her as he was too young to ride a horse on his own. They had to ride bareback because putting the saddle on Nergui would have taken far too long. Behind him, she could see the men and women of her tribe battling the raiders. Alqa kicked Nergui’s flanks three times and Nergui rapidly accelerated to a gallop and carried them west.

The rest of the night they fled. Nergui eventually slowed and refused to move and Alqa was forced to let Nergui rest. Looking back towards her home, She could still see the smoke rising from the burning yurts.

“I want to go home,” Dagan cried, squeezing his arms tighter around her belly.

“I know, me too,” Alqa told him. They waited for a bit more and then Alqa kicked Nergui’s flanks twice, sending her into a trot. They continued west in silence. Alqa thought about the events of the night, it was her fault, if only she hadn’t fled. Maybe if she hadn’t been a coward, her family would still be alive. But what if they were alive, she wanted to go find them. But she was scared to go back there, what if she found them dead?

They took frequent breaks to rest and eat, but they couldn’t dismount Nergui because if they did, they would never get back up. It was windy and some time before Alqa saw any life besides some rabbits and foxes. The first large life she saw was a herd of Gere. They watched them carefully as they passed. The male Gere had long horns that made popular drinking horns, even though they were narrow. They were popular for their natural patterns.

They passed the Gere and continued west. As they followed the sun west, Alqa couldn’t help but wonder if Dagan truly knew the desperation of their situation. What if she didn’t know the desperation of their situation. Near the end of the day, Dagan finally spoke again. “Can we eat?” he begged. Alqa reached into the pouch of dried meat and her heart stopped. She felt nothing, she began to worry and felt around for a bit before giving up.

“We are out Dagan, I’m sorry,” Alqa told him. Dagan fell silent. That night they let Nergui rest and Dagan got off Nergui. He wandered around and at one point vanished behind a rock. Alqa’s heart started racing and she immediately spurred Nergui to go find him, he was leaning against the rock, sleeping. Alqa breathed a sigh of relief and sat on Nergui the whole night. Alqa was uncomfortable, she had saddle sores even though she didn't have a saddle and she needed to urinate, but if she got off Nergui she might not be able to get back on.

In the early morning, Dagan woke up and quickly noticed Alqa’s discomfort. “Are you ok?” he asked.

“I need to piss Dagan,” Alqa told him.

“So why don’t you?” Dagan asked, cracking a small smile.

“Because if I get off Nergui, I can’t get back on,” Alqa sighed.

“You can if you stand on the rock,” Dagan said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, pointing back to the rock. Alqa laughed and dismounted Nergui. She walked behind the rock.

“Hey, no looking!” Alqa yelled back, crouching down and removing her trousers. Once she was done she pulled her trousers back up and fastened her belt. She led Nergui over to the rock and climbed onto Nergui by way of the rock. They continued on west and traveled all through the day. It was almost night when Alqa finally spotted lights and sped Nergui towards them.

The lights she had seen were indeed the fires of a Yisra. Alqa’s heart soared with joy of being safe. With the promise of food, rest and safety spurring her on, Nergui sped up without being kicked. It was a shock to Alqa and Dagan, but it would mean that they got there sooner. As they rode forth towards the Yisra, a group of six mounted warriors came into view and began approaching them. Four rode directly towards them and the other two stayed at a distance with bows. “Hold! State your names and your business,” a large bearded warrior ordered them. Alqa pulled Nergui’s reins to stop her. She listed what she had to say in her mind, full name, parents names, for all three of them. “I am Alqaiia Qutuqäsa, daughter of Tarmaagii Qutuqäz and Bortuiia Qutuqäsa. This is my brother Daganii Qutuqäz, son of Tarmaagii Qutuqäz and Bortuiia Qutuqäsa and this is Nerguiiia Qutuqäsa, daughter of Jaliqaiiia Qutuqäsa,” She told him.

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“And your business?” The warrior asked.

“There was an attack on my Yisra. I don’t think anybody else survived,” Alqa explained as tears trickled down her face, but she tried to hide it. The bearded warrior conversed with his companions. She assumed this warrior must be the Riidagak of this Yisra. The two bow-armed warriors continued to circle her while the others conversed. She thought about the attack, how could she have been so cowardly? She should have fought.

“Very well, you may remain here. You will hunt and be treated as an adult if you are not one already. Your brother shall join as well but shall remain a child. You will be granted a bow and a quiver of arrows to fulfill your duties,” The bearded warrior announced, turning his horse to face her. They escorted them to the Yisra and there the bearded warrior brought them wooden platters with horse cheese and bana filled with meat. “Eat,” he told them. They thanked him and hungrily ate the food. Later he returned and helped them set up a yurt for themselves.

The next day they went out hunting, the warrior handed her a bow and a quiver, “these are yours. You will string the bow yourself from now on, when you lose or break an arrow you will make a new one and if your bow breaks you will be responsible for acquiring a new one,” he told her.

“Thank you, but I don’t actually know your name,” Alqa responded.

“I am Buqutaiii Qutuqäz,” he said.

“Nice to properly meet you,” she answered, mounting Nergui. The warriors rode off and she spurred Nergui on to follow them. It was about halfway between afternoon and dusk when Buqutai halted the party.

“Dismount,” Buqutai whisper-shouted and they obeyed. He ordered them to crouch with a motion of his hand and they slowly crept off to the left of their path, which wasn’t actually a path. Suddenly, Buqutai halted and drew his bow and nocked an arrow to it. “Rabbits ahead, choose one and loose on my orders,” he whisper-shouted to them. Each of the nine hunters knocked a blunt arrow and selected a rabbit by pointing at it. They drew their bowstrings and then Buqutai whisper-shouted again, “Loose!” At once they loosed a storm of arrows. Alqa hit her rabbit and then the warriors surged forward, sprinting to their kills while the other rabbits fled. Quickly each picked up their arrow and whistled for their horses, which came running. They threw the rabbits in saddlebags and swung themselves onto the horses. Buqutai helped Alqa onto Nergui and held her kill in his right saddlebag, separate from his own. The horde set off at a rapid pace, following the rest of the rabbits. A few warriors managed a couple more kills but the chase was quickly abandoned. Rabbits were not worth the expenditure of energy and possible loss of arrows. They made camp, setting up small travel-yurts, which could be easily carried on a horse and were used for personal travel or in small groups.

The next day, one of the warriors, a red-haired female named Tsetse, found a fox den. The warriors dismounted and rolled in the grass, leaving their horses somewhat far away with a couple warriors to guard them. They waited all day, but the fox only came out when dusk came around. Alqa didn’t even see Chiigii moving, but the twang of his bow and the fox’s yelp told Alqa everything. The warriors stood up and Chiigii collected his prize. They walked all the way to the horses where their travel-yurts had been set up and retired for the day.

In the early morning before the sun rose on the third day, Buqutai raised his fist and at once the party stopped. Buqutai dismounted and kneeled on the ground, then stood up and rushed back to his horse leaping up. “Lioness! Lioness!” he yelled. At once the warriors spread out drawing arrows and readying their spears. The horses were uneasy and the warriors were on high alert. Buqutai rode over to Alqa, “Get in the middle,” he told her.

“No,” Alqa responded, she wanted a fight. Deep growls could be heard all around. The group kept their formation and scanned the area constantly. Suddenly, three lionesses leapt from the brush, surrounding them. Instantly the closest horses fled, their riders struggling to regain control. The warriors broke and began riding in circles lining up shots. Alqa spurred Nergui into a gallop and raised her bow, aiming at a lioness. She drew back an arrow and released, the lioness roared as the arrow struck it in the flank and the lionesses retreated. The hunting party galloped after the wounded one and another warrior named Kaapek shot it through the throat with an arrow and killed it.

The hunting party dismounted and Alqa walked over to the lioness and carefully removed the arrow, cleaning the head before putting it back into her quiver. “Good shot Alqa. Lionesses are dangerous,” Kaapek told her.

“She should have killed it,” Buqutai commented dismissively.

Kaapek looked at Alqa, “How many winters have you seen?” he asked.

“Thirteen,” Alqa answered.

Kaapek glared at Buqutai, “She has only seen thirteen winters, give her a break. You couldn’t have even hit a lioness at your age,” Kaapek yelled at Buqutai.

“I am the son of the Riidagak, you better treat me with respect or we feed you to the lions!” Buqutai snapped at him.

A female warrior named Yesui stepped in to calm the situation, “Why don’t both of you ride on opposite sides for now, let’s just take the lioness back and forget this,” She suggested. The two men agreed and the party rode back to the yurts.

They got back with seventeen rabbits, a fox and the lioness. That night the whole of the Yisra came out, eating on wooden platters. They ate mare’s milk cheese, each got a piece of meat from the arasal, the hunters each getting two. Over it, they drizzled honey, bought from a far-off land to the west inhabited by the honey-eaters. Of course, it was all served with rabbit bana and gusui. “Where did you learn to shoot?” Yesui asked her sitting down next to her.

“My father taught me,” Alqa told her. They didn’t get to finish the conversation as a cold wind began blowing through the Yisra and everybody retreated to their yurts for the rest of the night.