Falcon Warrior by Malcolm Archibald

Author:Malcolm Archibald [Archibald, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Creativia
Published: 2017-06-26T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

They left at dusk the next day, with Chaytan leading them in single file, Chumani at his heels and half a dozen Lakota warriors in single file. Melcorka was next to last, with Akecheta at the rear.

The night was clear and cool, with the wind murmuring through the long grass and the boughs of the occasional tree swishing quietly. Stars glittered above them, stretching into infinity from horizon to horizon, with a three quarters moon glossing the ground beneath and casting shifting shadows as the war-party passed. It was a surreal oxymoron to be trotting across a terribly familiar yet unknown land in the company of strangers she already felt she knew.

Keeping pace with the Lakota, Melcorka thought of the other expeditions she had been on, fighting the Norse and facing the Shining One, but always then she had Bradan at her side. Here she was alone save for these copper-coloured warriors that she did not know.

'I want Defender back,' she said to herself, 'I want Defender back.' The mantra gave her strength through that lonely night as they trotted across the great prairie. Twice animals howled in the distance, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. The Lakota ignored the sound and ran on tirelessly through the night.

The moon was at its peak when Chaytan raised his right hand in the air. The Lakotas halted at once, with Akecheta putting a heavy hand on Melcorka's shoulder.

'Cahokia.' Chaytan said.

Melcorka immediately recognised the city as if it was a familiar home. Surmounted by palisaded buildings, the great pyramid- shaped mounds dominated the quiet streets of smaller houses; the scattering of mature trees gave shade in hot days and shelter from the wind, the wide avenues that led to the taller pyramids and the immense central space where public events occurred.

'It is the largest city I have ever seen,' Melcorka felt the atmosphere, the majesty, the vitality, yet it was not at all as she remembered, or as somebody else remembered for her. The undercurrent of fear was evident.

'Stay close,' Chumani said. 'Wamblee's patrols are everywhere.'

The Lakota warriors trotted again, keeping to the shadows of the buildings, their sandaled feet so quiet that even Melcorka hardly heard them. 'Stop!' Chaytan held up his hand again. They stopped immediately, hugging the shadowed side of a building as a Dhegia patrol padded past. There were ten warriors with half armed with stone-headed clubs, the others with short spears and every man parading a flint dagger at his belt.

The patrol padded on. Chaytan gave them a full minute before he moved, with the Lakotas behind him.

After twenty minutes they stopped between two small, low buildings in the shadow of a high mound. There was a stone pyramid on top, with steps leading from the ground to a terrace, and then more steps flanked by stone carvings.

'That is the sacred temple,' Chumani explained. 'That is where the chiefs are sacrificed.'

Melcorka stared up at the great stone pyramid. She remembered the sacrificial fires at Hector's broch in Alba, and how she had rescued Bradan.

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