There is a heaviness about them. It is the feel of impending doom. A warrior knows when the tide has turned against them, they know this yet they do not give up. They are Tuchuk, they would die as they lived; with courage and honor. The air was heavy with an acrid smoke that burned the eyes The scent of blood was thick, and blades and arrows sung in the air as they found their targets. Bodies decorated the ground in various poses of death. A few crawled along the ground, injured yet trying to get up and continue the fight. They were out numbered, it was an unprecedented ambush in the sense that there had been no clues of an enemy nearby. Garyx had skills as a hunter that allowed him to find things often passed by, but there had been nothing. Not even a folded piece of grass or a whisper on the wind. This enemy moved with a silence that none of them had ever seen before. They swarmed out of no where, they moved with an organized purpose, annihilation of the patrol.
The commander of the patrol had been killed in the first wave of the attack. They took out the leaders first. Garyx quickly stepped in without hesitation, taking over the command of the fight. For a long time the Tuchuk warriors held their own, as he gave orders for various strategies. The blood of the enemy fed the ground, their tortured cries of pain and begging filled the air. The Tuchuk were not foolish though, they did not get over confident, as they knew that there were to many of them. But they would die like men, they would not cower and beg, they would meet death with a smile on their lips and a roar in the air.
Suddenly there was a quiet, as if the enemy vanished, but that was not possible. They took their defense positions, maintaining an alertness, breaking off into two separate groups, one moving from the other. It was then he saw a figure in the distance, cloaked and shrouded, he only saw a glimpse of a face. To their shock it was a woman. Garyx lifted a hand to silence them, "They are using a Haruspex." He recognized the way she held herself. You could always tell when one was near. He had been mated to one for a long time and there were subtle things about them if you looked. No wonder this fight seemed wrong. They were not fighting a fair battle but what did one expect? He remembered something Tarra had said on the trail and around the fire. This is what she had been speaking of, he knew it as sure as he breathed. The figure did not draw closer, instead she rode away. She had done what she desired.
The battle continued, this time the onslaught was unmerciful and relentless. Each of them felt their flesh burn as it was sliced open to allow their life blood to flow profusely. Slowly their numbers dwindled. Garyx looked about, he could not help those injured, and each knew this, with a nod of understanding he would take the few remaining men he had and tried a new tactic. He would draw the enemy away from the dead and dying. They rode their kailla fast and hard, knowing the enemy was in pursuit. Suddenly they would take a formation Garyx had shown them long ago and they fought as they never have before. Relentless in killing as many as they could, and somehow they were able to kill many of the warriors, much to their surprise, but to no avail. They were eventually over run, they had fought well. The Tuchuk would be proud and they died as they would want to; as Warriors.
Garyx felt every arrow that riddled his body every cut from a blade. He was beyond the pain as he fell to the ground. He knew his time was nearing. Something caught his attention, it was the Haruspex they had seen. She neared and crouched beside him. He noticed that she did not hold in her eyes the love of life that he had seen of those of his tribe. This is the one that he had heard spoken of. Now he understood why there was fear regarding her, not that he did as he was dying, there was no changing that. She spoke low to him giving him a message and then with a cold calculated smile she would disappear. While they fought, some of his men that were injured were able to head towards the direction of the tribe.
After some time they would run into Kamchak, who would take the dead home and the injured to the healers.
Meanwhile, Garyx let his head rest on the ground, while his thoughts drifted to his mate. He had no regrets. He had found a life on the plains, found love and had a son. The skies had blessed him. Perhaps he had one regret. He would be leaving behind his woman, Tarra. He had found in her the love he had only heard stories of, never dreaming that such could be found. She had a bond with him he had never felt before. She was all a man could want in a woman. Not only did she love without reservation, but there was between them trust, integrity, loyalty and honesty. He had to smile knowing the ranges of her emotions, from the way her eyes flashed when truly angry to the brilliance of her smile when she gave it. He knew that she was coming, she had been in his mind, talking to him. He knew that she felt what was going on, he tried to make her promise to not do anything foolish, but she would not, that was his Tarra she would not make a promise if she felt she could not keep it. He knew she was not allowing him to see the depth of her pain and sorrow, she would let him only see her heart and love during his last moments upon the plains, but they both would know, he knew what she kept hidden within.
She was near, he felt her and while not a Haruspex, the time together and the bond forged had somehow allowed for him to know when she was near. He would turn his head, to watch her near. It was fitting to die as a warrior. He was glad of that. The fact that the sky was going to allow him to see her before he drew his last breath, that was a gift that was priceless.
