Chapter 4 - Exile
Two years earlier. Camp of Banat, Wilds of Lynx. SE Britain
We return to the temperate rainforests of my own western world. Albeit, not those Goshawk wilds of Shurak to which I and Ur’salla belong, but to a neighbouring wilderness. I bring you to the wilds of our local rivals of the Lynx. We turn back in time a few years.
It was Kalla of-the-Oak who as midwife of Banat, was to scar and name two new maidens at their coming of age ceremony. Kalla, a wise old sorceress, with long hair the white of snow, to contrast with her engraved, ebony face. A starry night with a new moon, and a jet black sky, where each star glistens like a distant beacon. Kalla was to mark each girl on a shoulder with the scarring of the Lynx.
The first girl was small and pretty. Dark skinned and blue eyed with wavy, charcoal hair. Already, her breasts and belly were swollen with the promise of future motherhood. Kalla leaned forward with her flint razor and bone needles, to make the cuts before pressing in the charcoal and inks. The timid girl winced first. Then screamed out in horror at the sight of her own blood. She tried pulling away from the old midwife. Tears rolled out of her eyes.
Kalla frowned at this weakness, but completed her magic, before pronouncing the new maiden’s name, ‘Aniko of-the-Willow’.
Next it was the turn of the other maiden to be. This valiant daughter of the Lynx didn’t wince, scream, pull away nor cry. Rather she smiled proudly through her ordeal. A young woman as pretty and petite as Aniko. Her long hair was atypically straight and fine for one of the wild nations, as dark as this night sky. Despite her light build, this girl already had a reputation of fighting with the boys, and of winning.
Kalla completed her works and joyfully announced the maiden’s new name, ‘Gisella the Fearless’.
This wouldn't be her only name, for even names may own a spirit.
The Ishi of Banat feasted, and as with other savage clans, this they did well. We wild children naturally know how to love, how to celebrate life, and how to freely dance with the spirits. We know how to eat for hungrier times ahead, for our wilds can be mean for long periods of time. A party ensued, full of drumming, chanting, spirit teas, alcoholic sap and berry mead. This served to drive up a frenzy. Boys foolishly did what boys do. They began to bicker with one another, as they vied for the attention of two new maidens. Tempers flared up, to prompt the elders to call for sport.
Nazirlan the Stargazer came forth, a tall and ancient elderman strong in body, mind and spirit. He placed the ceremonial crown of stag antlers onto his wizened old head.
Two warriors of the Lynx held long sticks in one hand, with a narrow shield of tree bark in the other. One was a youth named Kaija. He was the twin brother of the new maiden named Aniko. She brought to him his stick and shield, fitting him with the mask of the Wood Owl. Kaija was a popular lad of Banat. His opponent in this match wasn’t as well liked. Géza was an older and stronger fighter with a reputation for causing trouble. Géza chose to wear the tusked mask of the Boar.
Nazirlan stepped forward, yet he hadn't even lifted his wand to drop, before the Boar launched a dirty, pre-match strike at his unsuspecting opponent. Owl suffered an attack on his striking arm from Boar’s illegal swipe. Nazirlan quickly intervened and rebuked Boar,
‘Foul play! Foul play. Boar, you must play fairly’. He officially raised his wand and dropped it to the ground. The fight could properly commence.
Already, Owl’s shoulder and arm were sore from the pre-match assault. Broken skin had released the first blood. This tempered Owl's mood. In anger, the Owl whipped his own long stick at the torso of Boar. This anger had been expected, and each attack, Boar easily blocked with his shield. Owl begins to tire. Boar counterattacked, driven by a fresh surge of adrenaline. Owl in this fury, landed an overhead strike onto Boar. With a thack, the swine mask was suddenly dislodged. Its wearer was momentarily stunned. This, the older, and stronger player, hadn't expected from his inexperienced opponent. Owl managed to score another blow, directly into the face of Boar. This time the mask came away, leaving Géza’s face exposed. His lip was bleeding, a tooth wobbled. He felt an intense anger and this possessed his eyes.
The Owl swung his stick again, but this time, Géza fell to a low crouch to avoid its impact. Still in this squat, Géza powerfully waved his own stick. This struck Owl hard across his ankle. So hard he tottered, and reached down to feel for the injury. That was his mistake. Géza sprung back up, and struck fast and furiously at Owl, who tried to hold up his own stick blocking the violence. Géza hit so harshly both weapons shattered and splintered. Owl had backed away until he was down on one knee. He witnessed the utter rage in Géza’s eyes, who struck down using his shield. Owl fell and rolled in an attempt to escape. This encouraged Géza to strive with increased ferocity. He resorted to kicking Owl on the ground. This was hardly an honourable way to play this game.
Some of the audience started screaming for clemency, but Géza was too enraged to hear their calls. He viciously kicked at his defeated opponent lying on the ground and rolling in pain. One kick knocked away the owl mask and with it, two of Kaija’s teeth. The youth couldn't take more injury. Spitting out blood he cried his submission. Géza should have accepted Kaija’s surrender, but he wanted to end the youth’s life. Nazirlan could see this deplorable desire to kill, and intervened as referee to end the match. Two more men jumped up to assist Nazirlan, restraining the crazed player. They pulled Géza back, away from poor Kaija, as Nazirlan barked,
‘Géza, you should have shown mercy, you must accept your opponents submission. Your behaviour has been unacceptable. I propose tomorrow you patrol our borders free of company. I hope you reflect on your dreadful behaviour’.
Kalla of-the-Oak, seconded this proposal, and every person of the Ishi, appalled by Géza’s anger, agreed to his day of isolation.
Next day by the stream marking the boundary between Lynx and Goshawk.
At first, Géza felt afraid of the strangers who he spied on by the stream. Their cowhide boat had beached in shallows. The five men had a campfire close to the water's edge. One was dark like any wild person, but something about his features was reptilian. The other four men had strange, golden-toned skin, and dense beards upon their round faces. Not the clumps of wiry charcoal hair the men of his own kind sport, but rich flowing beards of black or brown. Their stature was equally odd. Other than the dark skinned man, all were pot bellied of stocky build.
Although dressed in hides, these they donned were of a uniform tan, and differed from the common deer hides the Goshawk savages wear. How they were tailored was alien. Three of the pale-skinned men wore tall hats of leather on their heads, who are these trespassers? Should I report their intrusion? A frightening thought registered in his mind, these could be the notorious barbarians who plague our cousins in the wilds further south of here! Rather than flee, Géza was drawn by his curiosity to move closer.
They say these foreign devils have sun magic with which they can produce much food for many children. Géza was close enough to hear the words of the trespassers, but the tongue they employed was unintelligible to his ears. It wasn’t a language of this world. He moved closer and was spotted. Not by the barbarians, but by the reptilian, dark skinned man who accompanied them. The tall lean man raised up from his squat, and stared at where he'd seen a spy. This man called out to him, in common language,
‘We mean no trouble. We seek only to rest and to eat before we move on. Please, we don’t wish to fight’.
Géza surrendered his subterfuge and showed himself.
The dark man smiled and waved in friendship, ‘Are you alone? Do you have friends with you? Please, my companions here belong to a special nation with great magic. They’ll not harm you. Come taste their food, it's delicious to eat’.
The sensible and loyal thing for any watchman of Banat to do, would have been to run back to raise a war party. Géza saw an opportunity to learn the powerful secrets of this Sun Magic. He wanted to try barbarian food and sauntered out of the bush and down towards the riverside campfire.
The reptile greeted him, ‘Only yourself? Please, come join us by the fire. Take this, it's the bread of the Leva people’. Géza accepted all invitations. The man introduced himself, ‘My name is Shelfanga, of the Basket Weaver. My friends belong to the Leva, the greatest of all barbarians who follow the holy trinity of Ilua, Daghnu, and Athiratu’.
Géza knew the word Shelfanga, translates dark snake in some wild nation tongues, but didn’t comment on this association.
The four ugly faced aliens smelled foul but smiled warmly, free of any threat. Their demeanour was welcoming and they didn’t appear to be the dangerous Sun-devils the elders had warned of. They watched as he sampled their flatbread, beer, cheese, peas, and salted beef. Only Shelfanga could speak in a common tongue. He said to Géza,
‘These my Leva friends may give to you, should you first bring to them deer antler, and fine furs’. They want such gifts’.
This potential interested Géza little. He couldn't give away what belonged to the wilds. This concept of trade was at first too alien to comprehend. Then, he saw laying on a hide next to one of the coneheads, an amazing treasure. A skillfully polished, long, perfectly symmetrical stone axe head, fitted with an antler sleeve hafted into a long, curved handle of yew wood has been elaborately carved with geometric symbols of the Sun-magic. Such a beautiful tool, Géza had never before seen in his life. In wonder and perhaps a little too enthusiastically, he pointed to the axe, and asked Shelfanga,
‘Antlers and furs in exchange for that tool?’
The scaly son of the Basket Weaver chortled, turned to the coneheads, chattering with them in their own bizarre language. He appeared to strike a deal, and turned back to Géza,
‘My Leva friends say antlers and furs couldn't buy such a magical tool. They’d desire something of higher value. They would like a pretty young maiden in exchange, to take as their bride. Only such a thing could be exchanged for that axe, for it's of such worth’.
The concept of taking captive females isn't unheard of in our wild culture. But it's rare, and only practised as booty of war by a few nations, not as some sort of trade. Yet, desire for this axe burns in Géza’s thoughts. He calculates,
I could attempt to kill all of these trespassers, and take the axe as my booty. With their scalps, my own folk would welcome me back as a hero. Yet, such action would be too difficult. I couldn't defeat them all.
Géza formulates a solution, smiles, and asks of Shelfanga,
‘Those stones of green that you wear around your neck. I’ve never before seen their kind. If you’d trust me to borrow them, then later today I will return a pretty young maiden with them’.
The snake slithers and grins, nods his head, before removing the string of beads, and placing them into Géza’s hand,
‘Very well Géza, my friend, we shall see you later this day, bring to my friends what they desire, and the axe of sun magic will be yours to keep’.
Aniko
Kaija felt bruised and sore. His gums had ceased bleeding, but his ankle was swollen to stand upon. With his cousin Yukan, he'd been binding hunting arrows. His twin sister, Aniko, had been twisting together wild plant fibres into a yarn.
Even though his ears had been boxed the previous evening, Kaija overheard a voice call from behind camp edge trees. He watched as Aniko put down her yarn, and traipsed over. Kaija sighed. The owner of that voice had been banned from this camp for the day, for causing injury to him. Now, the same rogue was calling over his own sister to join him in the woods.
Aniko had secretly admired Géza. He was a strong, daring, and handsome older boy who’d been her crush. He was naughty, but exciting. Aniko was going to respond to his call, ‘Géza, is that you? You hurt my brother, and shouldn't be here’ Of course she didn’t mean that, and had put down her work to join him in the woods. His hushed voice was insistent, ‘Pretty Aniko, come for a stroll. I’ve treasures to share with you’.
She blushed, looked around. Géza ogled deep into her eyes, and Aniko melted. He held up a string of greenstones. She felt dazzled by their uniqueness and reached out with her fingertips to touch them.
Géza responded to her inquisitiveness by pulling them away. He baited Aniko further, ‘A magical snake within the woods has revealed wonderful things to myself. Beautiful treasures. Come with me, let you and me take a jaunt in our paradise, where I shall share them all just with you sweet Aniko’. She needed no further enticing. Géza took her by the hand and he led her away.
Aniko was wrong to think her brother was unaware of her encounter. Kaija knew exactly who’d just invited his twin sister into the woods. Pride dictated he shouldn't permit this insult. Géza was not even supposed to be back, and he shouldn't be cavorting with his sister. Kaija groaned aloud. He stirred his cousin from craftwork,
Yukan, put down your sinew, we must go. We have to follow my sister into the woods.’
Kaija himself stood up and hobbled into the woods with his cousin. His injured ankle would take time before limbering up. Together, the two of them began to search for the shimmers of a cavorting couple. They found them leading towards the small river on the northern edge of their wilderness.
Abduction
The moment Aniko saw the five strangers, she became frit,
‘Géza, who are those men? They resemble the Sun-devils or cannibals! I don’t like this. We must go back now!’
But he'd no intention of returning Aniko to the Ishi of Banat. Rather, he held her hand even tighter, and began to drag her down towards the strangers. She struggled. Briefly, Aniko slipped his grip, and turned to run back to camp. Géza was fast to respond, and he horribly pushed poor Aniko down. The dark snake named Shelfanga, had seen this commotion. He came slithering up with coils of rope curled within a hand. He and Géza then bound poor Anikos’s wrists, before slipping a hoop of rope over her head.
Distraught, the ensnared maiden screamed out, ‘Please no, no, don’t eat me. Please Géza, I beg you to help me!’
Fearful that Aniko’s distress could bring others to her rescue, a barbarian produced a gag to wrap around Aniko’s tearful face. These brutish farmers laughed as they dragged their booty into shallow waters, then threw her onboard their boat of willow and cowhide. The serpent grinned at Géza, and handed over the barbarian axe. Not once did Géza demonstrate remorse for this heinous betrayal. Something new to our paradise had infected his spirit. We wild savages have few items which we might regard as our personal property.
Angry male voices using savage curses broke out from nearby scrub. It was Kaija and Yukan who’d caught up with Aniko, and sought to rescue her. They’d picked up sticks and burst out of the woods to suggest assault by a greater force than just two youths. This bluff worked. In panic, Shelfanga and his barbarian friends climbed aboard their river vessel. They picked up paddles to catch the downstream flow, abandoning their local accomplice to answer alone for his wretched crime. Géza still clutched at his beautiful long handled axe. His new treasure.
Kaija experienced panic on sight of his twin being floated away by strangers. He forgot all the injuries from last night, to sprint like a possessed crazy man waving a stick over his head. His cousin Yukan, although not injured during the previous night’s festivities, had a more fickle spirit. He was afraid and fell further back, behind his cousin’s stride. Géza stood in front of the waters which carried Aniko away. Kaija raised his long stick above his head to strike at his opponent.
Poor Kaija, he should have learned from last night’s engagement with this enemy. Géza crouched to a low squat, taking to a knee. He swung this time not with a mere stick, but with a heavy, sharpened axe head of cold stone. The impact all but totally severed a foot of Kaija. He collapsed into a defeated heap, blood spraying from a grievous wound. Meanwhile, his less sure cousin caught up. In horror, this youth witnessed Géza raise up his barbarian’s axe to bring it down onto the frail skull of Kaija. A crack and a splatter. Yukan watched on as Géza plucked out his foreign weapon from the gore that had been his cousin’s face. The murderer was covered from head to toe in blood and brain matter. With certainty, Kaija was no longer a thou.
Yukan dared to glance down the stream, to see Aniko’s captors as they disappeared around a bend. He returned his stare upon the remains of Kaija. The mad murderer, proud of his craft, grinned. Instinct kicked in. Yukan had witnessed two terrible crimes. He knew he had to run, and he instructed his legs to do so.
Géza called out to him, ‘Yukan, stop! I'll not hurt you. Listen, this Sun magic is great. Our children will no longer suffer from hunger. Wait, it’ll be okay’.
Yukan’s own heart beat like a drum as he scarpered back into the woods. Pursued by a mad axeman, he leapt over obstacles and ran for home. Yukan’s instincts failed. In panic, he ran into a low hanging bough and fell. Sparkles clouded his dizzy vision as he got back up to his feet. Some spirit must have favoured Yukan this day, for it was just as he stepped back forward, that Géza's murderous axe fell to miss its target. The axeman had caught up with his quarry. A new lifeforce energised Yukan, and once more, he began to run like the wind.
Géza chased from behind, screaming out curses. Just as Géza closed distance, Yukan burst out of foliage, and out into the busy clearance of their camp. All around, faces turned to look back with astonishment. In Yukan's wake, a crazed axeman had followed. Traumatised, the frightened youth screamed out his accusations,
‘Géza has gone mad! He helped Sun-devils steal away Aniko, then coldly murdered her brother! The monster attempted to kill me’.
Before the accused had any chance of running from this, it was Kalla who called out for the men of Banat to arrest Géza. One sheriff pointed to the splatters of blood over the barbarian axe. Consequently his trial was brief. Once more, Géza expressed no remorse for his horrible actions. Not even when men carried Kaija’s mutilated remains back into the camp. It was the Mothers of Banat who instead wailed at this evidence. Consequently it was no surprise, when the Ishi as a whole, judged Géza guilty of the most awful crimes. Kalla of-the-Oak, pronounced sentence over the convicted,
‘Géza, you'll have all of your names removed to be buried beneath the yew. Your totem will be spoiled. No longer are you to be recognisable as a son of the Lynx. We cast you out to wander the wilds of others as a nameless pariah’. To savages, this punishment is meant to be worse than mere execution.
Still, Géza refused to show sorrow. He was forcibly braced by the strongest of Banat. The crones came forward to do the work, they brought with them their sharp flakes of flint, their bone knives. Wherever the convict bore marks of identity, they lifted, and pierced his skins on his face and shoulder. These crones intended to hurt and to mutilate the monster and they succeeded. No longer could Géza hide fear. He screamed out and begged for mercy as grandmothers slashed at his flesh. Kalla took away scraps of his meat to be cursed. All that remained of a once man was a bloody and hideous, lonely being with no name, people, nor wilderness.
The Children of the Lynx covered up their innocent eyes, as warriors dragged the exile out of their camp. His wrists tied, and a rope around his neck just as poor Aniko had been taken away. He was forced to stagger out to the western marshes. The sun fell to the horizon, as the rope around his neck was removed, and he was prodded to wade out into a wide swamp on the edge of their wilderness.
Nazirlan shouted out to the exile, ‘Never return to these wilds. You’ve been cast out of our paradise. Keep going, and take this with you as a cursed reminder of your crimes’. The elder tossed the barbarian axe into the air, for it to land with a splash close to where the exile stood knee deep in waters.
Despite his wrists being bound, he stumbles around and squats in the waters until he manages to grasp his treasure.