Red Hawk: The Story of My Tribe
Chapter 4

Copyright© 2015 by Red Tempest

In the middle of the party, a loud cry went up and we were under attack. All the chieftains ran back toward their tribes. Wolfgard and I raced back toward our tribe. The only weapons we had on us were our knives. We came upon a couple of raiders attacking some women folk of another tribe. We made quick work of them as we slit their throats.

We got back to our tribe and I was so proud. War Hawk had the bows out and the hunters in formation with their helpers behind them handing out arrows. I stood there looking out in front of them, and saw a pile of dead raiders. Wolfgard and I grabbed our bows. We helped the young hunters defend our tribe. The raiders attacking our side of the camp soon fled in full retreat as we were killing them one by one, with the help of our bows.

"Have a few hunters go out and retrieve the arrows. Wolfgard and I are going to go help some of the other tribes," I told War Hawk. "You did a great job here," I praised him.

"Lets take two of those special spears that were dipped in the snake liquid," I said to Wolfgard.

We grabbed the spears and our clubs. We left to help the other tribes. I did not want to expose our bows to the whole group if I could help it. We were the only tribe on the south side of the camp, and I hoped that the rest of the tribes were too busy protecting themselves to notice us using the bows.

The fighting is the heaviest on the west side of the camp, which is where we went. The first raider I saw had a spear and shield. I used the butt of my spear to knock the shield aside, and raked his neck with the tip of my spear. Within a few seconds he dropped his weapons clutching his neck, he dropped over dead. I grabbed his shield and looked for another raider to attack.

The fighting is fierce, with many dead on both sides. I noticed a few warriors standing in the back watching the battles. They were issuing commands. I whistled at Wolfgard and point out toward them. We sneaked around the backside of them.

"I will take the one on the right. You get the one on the left," I whispered to him.

We attacked and threw our spears at them, hoping to just make contact and let the snake magic work for us. Both spears struck the leaders, and they jumped up and down in anger. Within a couple of seconds the snake magic worked, and they both laid there dead.

When the two leaders toppled over in a strange unexplainable death, the warriors surrounding them fled in terror. We grabbed our spears and stripped the two dead leaders of anything of value. With the loss of their leaders, the tribes were able to drive the raiders out of the valley.


It is a great victory against the raiders/slavers, as they suffered a devastating loss. Hopefully this will bring the tribes some peace for a while. As with most battles, the victor's reap the spoils and they stripped the bodies of the dead, keeping the valuables.

There were some major losses for the tribes, as some of the chieftains were killed or seriously injured. We were lucky that Wolfgard drilled us to be ready, and just what to do if there is an attack. War Hawk reacted quickly in getting our hunters ready and in the proper positions. We suffered no losses, very few injuries, mainly to Wolfgard and me. As we both supported many cuts and bruises.

Wolfgard and I met with War Hawk to set up our strategy. We directed him to move the dead bodies away from our camp. Also, set up a couple of fires on the south side of the camp. I then surrendered myself to Sparrow and the girls.

They took me back to our tent and washed my wounds clean, and put some awful smelling sap over my cuts. I lay down on my sleeping skin. I was exhausted and fell asleep quickly. I slept

the whole night away, waking up just before first light. Damn I am stiff and sore. I am too old for this shit. Fighting is a young man's job.

I got up and hobbled out to talk with War Hawk. He filled me in on the quiet night. "There were no signs of any raiders, and the only noises were the predators eating the bodies," he informed me.

"You did a great job and I am very proud of you. Go get yourself some food and some sleep. I will take over for you now," I told him with pride.

A short time later Wolfgard joined me and we discussed the attack last night. We both decide that even though War Hawk did a suburb job, one of us should be here at all times, till we broke camp.

"I will stay here, why don't you go check with the other tribes, and see what is going on," I told him. He nodded his head in agreement and left.

Thankfully we had plenty of food and water and just had to forage the forest for firewood. On our trips into the woods, I did some scouting around for signs of the raiders, but I could not find any. It appears that they had left the area licking their wounds.

Wolfgard arrived back in camp around the mid day meal time. War Hawk is up at this time. The three of us sat down to eat our meal and discuss what action to take next.

"Most of the tribes plan to leave at first light tomorrow," Wolfgard informed us.

"That sounds good to me, we will inform our tribe to prepare to move out at first light," I said.

Both Wolfgard and War Hawk nodded their heads in agreement with me.

The seven days we spent at the great meeting grounds was fun. I made some new friends and picked up a few useful ideas. Most tribes did not seem to be anymore advanced than we are. None of them had bows or weapons with the snake magic on them. Other than the raider attack, the rest of the time was productive.

At first light we broke camp and said our goodbyes to the other tribes that were close to us. We started our journey back to the cave. Once away from the great meeting ground, I had the hunters get their bows back out. I did not want to be caught with our pants down, if a band of raiders attacked us.

The journey home was uneventful, taking just less than two full moons of travel to get home. The cave and large meadow was just as we left it. Within a month of getting home both Robin and Fawn gave birth; Robin to a girl and Fawn to a boy. That made twenty-one children that I have produced with the three girls.

It is decided that the tribe is getting too large for this valley to hold and support all of us. Wolfgard and myself and a half dozen hunters are going to head north in search of a new home for the tribe. I left War Hawk in charge while we were gone.

After five days of following the river and marching through some thick forest, we came upon a large clearing. A tribe is there defending its self from attack. A group of raiders were intent on destroying the tribe.

I looked over to Wolfgard and he nodded back at me, in agreement that we must help this tribe. They camped near us at the great meeting ground. I motioned to the hunters to spread out.

"Pass the word do not fire till I do," I said.

When everyone is in position, I gave the word to fire and arrows rained out onto the raiders. After a short battle we had killed all the raiders. We walked into the camp to assess the damages. Most of their men were dead. The chieftain, a few men, and some of older boys did survive, as well as a lot of their women and children. The chieftain and Wolfgard knew each other

"I have no idea on what to do now; I think our tribe is finished. We need your help?" He said to Wolfgard.

"We need to help this tribe, or they will not survive. I will take them back to our main camp, you go ahead and look for a new place for us to live," Wolfgard said to me. I nodded my head in agreement.

"There is a large valley toward the northwest that you might check out. I was there once many years ago. It is a few days walk from here to get there," the chieftain told me.

Wolfgard left with the other tribe, heading back to our campsite by the cave. The hunters and I went northwest to check out the valley.

The river is off to our west, as we continued to march through the clearing on the edge of the forest. I hope to find that valley soon. The clearing ended and we reentered the forest. I am in the lead, when we exited the forest. We walked to the top edge of a very high cliff. Looking down I could see this huge valley with a couple of rivers running through it.

 
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