When I woke up I found that I was bound up with my hands behind my back sitting in the bottom of the canoe. The ropes were tied so tight I could feel them digging into my skin. I could not see the top of the canoe, but I saw the feet of the other warriors and could hear them murmuring to each other as they rowed. I dared not move, because I was too terrified to know what would happen if they realized I had woken up.
Finally, when the boat stopped rocking, the warriors stepped out of the boats. A hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked my head back. Two of the warriors grabbed me by both my arms and pulled me out of the boat, tossing me on the shore.
Nearby a group of the warriors danced the Nethuna dance around a large growing fire. Next to me was another man who I had seen in the village before. I remembered hearing something about this man trying to go up to the sacred mountain to talk to the Binamuke himself. I thought it was not true though. They untied him first and one of the warriors struck him with thick rod over his head so hard I could hear the sound of his cracking skull. I watched in horror as more of the warriors swarmed over his body, slicing open his chest and chopping off his arms and legs. I knew I was going to die next.
I did not know what to do, but I did not want to die. Suddenly, I was running even though my hands were still tied. I did not try to make myself run. It wasn’t until I looked back and saw three of the warriors chasing after me that I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I was faster than all three of the warriors because soon after I began running they were already very far away from me. By then I had managed to pull my hands free of the rope they used to tie me. I came to a small river which I had to swim across. The warriors went in the water after me, but the next time I looked behind me, only two were there. I couldn’t see where the third one was but after that I didn’t look back again until I heard a strange voice shouting from behind me. I stopped and turned around to see another man in front of the two warriors.
He was covered in hair, and at first I could not decide whether he was a person or some strange sort of beast I had never seen. The beast man reached his hand toward me and made a motion. In his other hand was a strange rod with a point attached on the end. He turned back to the warriors and stabbed the one closest to him with the end of his rod. The second warrior took a bow and arrow from the quiver on his back to shoot but the man-beast pointed his rod at the warrior and suddenly there was a loud crack that shook my ears, like when the sky is dark and light splits the darkness. I jumped in fright at the sound but the second warrior fell to the ground and did not get up. I then realized that the man-beast had killed the warriors to save my life.
I came closer to him, kneeling down every few steps in gratitude. When I finally reached him I dropped to the ground and put his foot on my head the way prisoners are supposed to do if they wish to express loyalty. I was so thankful of the man-beast I would be forever in his debt. The man-beast pulled me of the ground, and I finally got a good look at him and realized he was a man. He looked similar to some the prisoners I have seen before. His face was very, very pale and hair grew not only on the top of his head but all the way around his face. The hair that covered the rest of him was from other animal skins that he and made to fit the shape of his body. The man smiled at me and at that moment, I knew everything was going to be alright.
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