The sunrises of youth are different from those of a man in his last years, but more so for Komoto Undoro of the Sookmoia Tribe. In my youth things were very different. I was a youth and not much past my twelfth year when I heard the Call, the great God of his People had made it known that he wished for praise and service done on to him by a sacrifice of one hundred head of cattle, each of the hundred cattle must be taken through raids and each of the cattle had to be taken and sacrificed to him at once and burned to him. The God was Ahlat, god of Cattle and of War. It made sense, Ahlat wanted his warriors to prove themselves in battle with cattle. He was not asking for death of people, even though it was clear that this would be the result. All together the tribe had less than twenty cattle, so it was clear that who ever was going to make the sacrifice had to work fast and work hard to keep the herds he stole. I remembered everything about that day. The sky was green at sunset and the brief rain that pelted the area was blood red, no it was blood. But better blood rrrtrrxrthan stones—that had happened before.
Late that night, the tribe was raided and the raiders took half of the cattle before they were pushed back. Ten cattle was not enough to survive on, the milk of the cows they took was mixed with the blood from the bull to make a hearty mixture that gave strength to the people, but there were too few cattle now and people would go hungry. Raiding parties were formed, but I was too young to participate and there were taboos about women raiding. They went without me, but I followed and watched. I saw them fight and I saw people die, but the cattle they got back only numbered five. They would have to raid again. When we got back we saw that other raiders had captured more cattle from us. I saw where this was going and I saw what I could do.
The first step was to look around. I spent some time wandering the area when I was younger. I knew some spots that I was warned not to go near, there was a few ravines that filled with water when it rained and a tribe that sheltered there had drowned years ago. It was the dry season, but that did not mean anything, the Primordials often changed the rules, the weather, at a whim. Nowhere was ever really safe—there were stories of things like mountains falling on plains and smoking mountains emerging from swampy fens, or worse. Last week's green sky and rain of blood was normal. The ravine was taboo to everyone, everyone obeys the taboos so I knew it was safe, unless it was a living ravine. There was a lot of chance everywhere. I investigated the ravine closer and saw that it was perfect for my needs. I could fence off the end and there was a pool of water within.
The second part of my plan took some time. I carted away and cut down tall grasses in the savannas and stored them in the ravine. I did this for over a month. It was in this time that my tribe became desperate and recruited me to raid with them a youth and a girl, times were tough they said and i had to do my part. It was a valuable experience because I learned a lot and I had to kill people. It was not a highlight, but a necessity. The night raids were ultimately fruitful and we captured cattle so that we were where we started from and we took a few more to be safe. The tribe was tired and they saw correctly that they would have a hard time keeping just those. I was allowed to go off and play, of which the elders and my parents were disappointed; they had high hopes for me to join with the other warriors and be just like a man.
I had a higher agenda. The stores of food complete and the strategy I had in my head was refined, I set off to watch the other tribes in the area and I assessed which had the most cattle and the poorest defenses. Then on a moonless night I put my plan into action. I watched from my vantage point and headed out to the first camps that went out to raid another. I then stole behind them and headed to their corrals. I saw that this village had already accumulated fifty head in addition to their thirty cattle they started with. So many cows they did not have enough warriors to guard the entire perimeter. I snuck into the village and out leading two cows. I headed along the dry riverbank where the stones were laid bare and I passed over the clay beds dry and hard and I put them in e ravine. Each night I would head out and each day I would feed and guard and sleep. At the end of a month, every village and tribe had been hit for a couple cattle, some more than once. My own tribe I stole in twice, because I did not want to make people suspicious.
One month I had sixty cows and I was becoming bold, but the villages around had begun to talk about a spirit that drifted into camps and evaporated cattle under watchful eyes. There was a story that the Primordials were striking cattle dead by picking them up and exploding them in the sky, that was why it rained blood. I was becoming arrogant with my skills that I thought I possessed and I looked at the supplies that I had stockpiled. There was not enough for even a week for the cattle and the dung and piss was starting to contaminate the water. I knew that I did not have enough time to continue as I was doing and I had to take a risk and grab more. So far, I had grabbed all my cattle without hurting anyone, but a riskier move meant that was going to come to an end. That first village I stole from, it had enough cattle for me to end it in one night. I knew I had to act fast or all my work would come to naught. I had another plan.
I snuck into the village on the night of the no moon again. I decided that the ghost was going to have to do something big this time. The village was not raiding this night as chance would have it and they had a full hundred stolen cattle. It was clear that they were preparing for the sacrifice the next day. Which was perfect for my needs. There were many guards, but that also played into my plans. I approached the dark places near the guards and I quickly stabbed and killed a few guards and dragged them into the shadows. Then I opened the corral and lead five of the beasts out and panicked the rest out of the pens. In the confusion I lead the five out and through the fields. The village was awoken by the confusion. The alarm went up and the people mobilized and herded that cattle. Soon they discovered the dead Guards and then they would do a head count. I was an hour away when sounds of pursuit reached my ears. They just had enough for the sacrifice and they needed the ones I took. I growled like a plains cat and stabbed each of the cows with my knife causing them to scatter. The trail I left for the warriors was wide and through the muddiest locations. I doubled back to grab my true prize, the rest of the herd. I passed the majority of the warriors hot on my trail, looking for blood. When I got back to the village I saw that a skeleton of guards was left to protect the herd.
I nocked my bow and I shot the guards that I could see and closed in to cut the rest. The wounds I inflicted were minor but I just needed them not fighting me and not dead. I opened the pens again and took torches and burned one or two of the buildings. This caused a stampede and in the confusion I took as many as I could and headed out across the hard plains. When dawn came I had managed to keep more than forty together, I was not sure just how many, and the rest were scattered in all directions. The weather was the worst, but it helped me a lot. The sky was overcast and the rain that fell was grey and ash filled like when the mountains blew fire into the sky a few years ago. This was different, the ash was mixed with frog and fish pieces. The Primordials were up to something again; bad omens all round.
I knew I had enough cattle and I knew how sacrifices were done, I did not know how hard it was to complete 100 sacrifices at the same time. I started with a prayer to Ahlat and when that part was finished I took the first cow away from the others and slit its throat, offering its life to Ahlat. After the first few cows, my hands were sticky with blood, after fifteen all my limbs were sticky after twenty I realized that the cows were afraid of me and taking them away was wasting time that I might not have. The cows lulled and mooed with panic as I waded into their midst, offering short prayers to Ahlat as I slit each cow's throat. The blood pooled at my feet and my count reached a full 100. The rest of the cattle were panicked beyond measure when I released them to the savanna. I later learned that the priests administered some special fodder before a sacrifice to keep the beast docile. But it was too late for that anyway. I placed the wood around the cattle and I set it aflame. The smoke of the sacrifice and the flames towered above the plain.
There was a presence beside me I felt then. Ahlat, stood by me and he praised me and my accomplishment. He bowed to me, saying that I had been called to a higher purpose, that I would serve the gods in a mighty struggle. I was taken aback at his words. But what was I going to say? He told me that he was proud of my sacrifice to him and that he would normally take me for his Bride, if I had not been chosen for the Unconquered Sun. I was flattered, I had never dreamed I could be a Bride of his. Ahlat was my first love and I told him as much. I was filled with the glory of his presence and he took me there in the afternoon sun. As the sun set and my god Ahlat filled me one last time, the Primordials had one last surprise for the day, a memory that I carried through until the end. The sun hung over the horizon as it set and it turned a deep blood red then it turned black as night. It was not an eclipse, the rays of the sun were blackened too and the Moon hung in the sky off to the side, the stars and the Wanderers were visible too. Then as quickly as it happened the sun brightened and returned.
That night I returned to my village, I still had seven extra cattle and they seemed relaxed around me. As I journeyed back home several other cattle at I had released the night before came to me and joined the the herd. When a raiding party say the herd as easy pickings they attacked in force hoping to steal them away. I instinctively leaped into the air, executing a perfect back flip and landed on the cattle behind me. My balance was sure and I ran from my location across the herd and punched, kicked and lashed out ant any who came close. The battle took only a brief moment all the attackers were laid out unconscious in the short grass. I was not even breathing heavy, nor did I break into a sweat. When I arrived home, the cows went and joined the others and I after a very long nights of activity, retired to my parents hut. They woke when I returned. There were many words spoken about responsibilities in this world. If I were not going to join with the warriors, then I was going to have to find a man to breed with. I was thirteen at this point and I told them, I should prefer to talk in the morning as I was very tired, there was no light kept in the house and I through myself onto my rug and fell asleep.
(*** Side note, the years of measuring are different in Creation, a year there is 425 days long, 13 would be closer to 15 anywhere else***)
The sounds of wailing woke me as dawn spilled through the window, I had forgotten what I had looked like, painted head to toe with the blood of cattle. My hair was plastered against my head and it had dried there. It was seared to me by the heat of the fire and the ash and smoke covered me again. I was a mess, but I did not realize it. All I knew was that the light of Dawn never felt warmer and more refreshing. When I calmed my mother and father down, and my three siblings by telling them that none of this blood was mine and that I would clean up as soon as I could. I was saved by a cll from outside, an elder was calling my father and mother to council. There was a strange occurrence in the night and the pens were full to the maximum with cattle that had appeared over night. I did not tell them it was me. I had other things to do today like bathe.
After I bathed in the river I lay on the grass naked to let the sun dry me. That is where they found me; I remember that bath and the hour I spent sunning myself very well, as it was the last free moment that I had, the last time when I had no concerns and no great weight upon my legs. One of the younger children found me, there was great commotion. A god had come to the Sookmoia tribe for the first time. It was the god of the plains that my people grazed their cattle, it was the god of the river that the cattle drank from and it was Ahlat. They had just finished telling everyone about my deeds and the things that I had accomplished on my own. And they told my people that I was one of many great champions that had bee selected to fight a great enemy. It was at that moment, my cloak of duty was hung from my shoulders and I left my people, rising up in a great cloud.
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