The Trail of Blood

When the outrider rode into camp and explained to me that he was reporting a wounded unscarred boy out on the edge of the Harigga I nearly lost my temper. What idiot would leave a boy out on the plains to bleed to death just because of a little pride? The idea was ludicrous. I set out to find the boy but by the time I did he had circumvented and ended back up in the Harigga .. and when Kam and I got a hold of him he was not looking very well. Kam and I packed the wounds but the blood loss was extensive. It turns out his name is .. was ... Petra and he knew the family of Sajek .. T'zuri in particular. He had been out with Sajek and reported that the man was dead. T'zuri did not take this well .. of course. I told Kam I would find Sajek .. bring him back. There was a man to save or a body to prepare for a pyre .. either way I needed to go.

I followed the blood trail through the herd and out into the plains. Not that there were bucket fulls splattered here and there but there was smudges .. a drop .. a track .. enough that I had very little trouble getting to the scene of carnage. Every sense about me told me this was trouble. I did not need a Haruspex's sight to feel it. I was scouting .. still from the saddle when Silken and T'zuri and the new prospect rode up. I find him annoying .. which I suppose means nothing as to whether he will make Tribe or not. Just a passing vibe. Trying to get T'zuri away from the middle of it I unknowingly sent her into the middle of it. By the time I realized it was almost too late and I ran to tackle her beneath the belly of her own beast as the larl hit the kaiila broadside. I know I hit her hard but I could not take the time to figure out how hard .. I yelled at Silken to get the girl and herself away .. far away and back to camp. I have no idea what happened to the prospect or where he got off to. More annoyance. Why were the women even out here ... no time to strangle anyone ... the kaiila T'zuri had been riding took on the larl and I was going to make it easier for him. I got a few scratches on my thigh for the effort but it worked ... when that beast got a hold of the larl he tore it to pieces .. pawing and ripping with fangs until there was nothing left of that cat .. not even enough to tell what it had been.

Silken came back .. I wanted to rip her flesh off the bone for disobeying me. But the truth of the matter is she is not one of my men. She is a woman and I can not expect her to act like a man. Even though I do and I get really angry when she does not. At least I can say I know why. There were reasons that I asked her to do what I needed done .. good logical reasons. I know she is not made up of logic and her emotions dictated another path. Women.

There is enough blood on the grass to attract beasts for pasangs around. The air is thick and heavy with it .. metallic and tangy. It clings to the inside of your nostrils until you can't smell anything else. Like a layer on your tongue you want to spit it out even long after it is gone.