The Circle of Perils - Excerpt

 

KELAL

In one of the valleys of the Namuu clan, in Ounan country.

 

Kélal was furious.

Along with three other warriors from his clan, while riding around their lands, he discovered the cairn where their ancestors were buried, desecrated.

 

As they walked through the overturned stones and disemboweled earth, he discovered that the tomb of Kadagan, his grandmother, had been opened, the jewels and ornaments removed from her remains, and above all, that her bronze spear with which she had defeated so many enemies had also disappeared.

 

Overcoming his grief, he sent Janai and Durmahl to the village to warn the chieftains. Since the desecration seemed recent, a few hours at most, he and Sartak began to explore the signs left by the raiders and began tracking them. From the tracks, they determined that they were about fifteen individuals with horses.

 

As he and Sartak progressed, a thought nagged at him in the background: only his grandmother's grave had been overturned and robbed, while others also contained sacred jewels and weapons.

 

With nostalgia, he saw his grandmother wielding her spear with a skill he only matched in his dreams. The elders said that this famous spear could not be broken and that this was also the reason for the many victories of the great Kadagan.

 

After more than four hours, they caught up with the defilers: in a small hamlet bordering the Aguu-us River, a ship was receiving goods loaded by about twenty individuals. Kélal recognized some Kémali by their flamboyant red hair and geometrically patterned clothing, as well as Ounans. From their clothing, he identified them as belonging to the Enjiin clan, neighboring theirs. He determined that there were five armed people there, the rest being

maneuvers.

 

— We must prevent them from boarding.

 

Sartak shook his head.

 

—I wouldn't risk my life for a spear, it was your grandmother, not mine.

 

The two young men glared at each other, and Sartak turned his horse around, riding away from the hamlet. Kelal shook his head, disappointed but not surprised.

 

As an orphan and with no family to support him, he had no friends among the other warriors of the clan, nor was he related to any of them by marriage or oath of brotherhood.

 

Leading his horse by the halter, Kelal was on his way to the ship's master when he felt a twist in his stomach; his gaze was drawn to a long, cloth-wrapped bundle being carried on horseback: he knew his grandmother's spear was there. He felt her call. His steps directed him toward her, but two men of the Enjiin clan intervened:

 

— You're a Namuu! 'Don't interfere in our affairs!

 

The taller one raised his weapon. Kélal parried, dodged the second, and rushed toward the pack. He felt the spear slip into his hand and turned just in time to deflect a blow. Electricity seemed to surround him, exhilarating.

An elation such as he had never known seized him, and... a horrible pain in his head made him see black.