KeYnNamM 

The Man-with-No-Name,

the King of No-One’s-Land

By: Ruwen Rouhs
(© 2022 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

RRouhs@tickiestories.us

Chapter 14
Ikken and Yufayyur Stand Up for Each Other

Ikken and Yufayyur chose a narrow gap between two large boulders on the crest of the northern mountain slope as a hiding place. They placed dry branches as a roof over the gap to camouflage their hideout. From there they could easily overlook the place around the Seven Goats' fountain as well as the narrow path on which they expected Areksim's troops to come. They would have preferred a cranny farther away, but from there they could only observe the path to the well and not the well itself. They had tied their horses to a crippled Argan Tree on the plateau left of the well, far enough away, that they wouldn’t be detected by the governor’s men. The trees offered not only cover for the horses but also some feed, as grass was growing in their shade.

Yufayyur was very careful when tying the horses to the tree. He tried not to injure the trees, as this would annoy the tree-spirit. Nevertheless, he was anxious and pulled the Tugulmust, his face veil, over his mouth to prevent the spirit from entering his body if he was upset by the intruders.

Huddled together, the two waited for the arrival of the governor's expeditionary force. The heat of the day had subsided. The faint evening breeze brought fresh air from the nearby mountains and the shrill of cicadas echoed up from the shrubbery around the well. Both were silent, enjoying their togetherness. Yufayyur had pulled Ikken's loose shirt back a bit and kept stroking his back. Ikken enjoyed the groping touches and in turn slipped a hand under his friend's overgarment, running his index finger along his friend's spine to the waistband of his pants. They were so busy with each other that they missed the moment when six horsemen arrived at the fountain. They had approached the fountain nearly without causing noises, as they had wrapped rags around the hooves of their horses. Riding around the fountain in ever-widening arcs, they searched for traces of the desert sons. When they could make out no fresh tracks at the well itself, two remained there while the other four began to search the valley slopes and the adjacent plateau.

Ikken and Yufayyur froze when a horseman rode within a few paces of their hiding place. When his horse caught their scent, it snorted in surprise and jerked its head up. Fortunately for them, the rider ignored this warning, rode on, and shortly thereafter gave the signal that the two scouts down at the well had been waiting for. The two left immediately to inform Areksim that no danger lurked at the Seven Goat’s Well.

Not much later, the noise of the approaching marching column could be heard and soon the first group of twelve heavily armed soldiers rode toward the well. They were followed by Areksim himself with Udad and one of his sub-lieutenants. Then the other members of the expeditionary corps arrived in groups of twelve each. Ikken counted five groups. In the prevailing twilight he could not figure out how many men Areksim now had at his disposal, because some horses had to carry two riders. Including the five foragers who carried supplies with their mules, he estimated that the troop size had dwindled to about 85 men. "Yufayyur!" he whispered, "Our first attack was successful, more than twenty men are missing and at least two dozen mounts! One more successful attack and they'll be too weak to raid the Amenocal's casbah." Yufayyur agreed, "They won't get that far in the first place. If Tarit's tactics succeed, Areksim will have to turn back at the Ksar of the Jinns."

Soon the sounds at the well were interrupted by yelling and cursing, soon mingled with the impatient neighing of horses and the shrill yelling of mules. "Now they've realized the well is empty!" whispered Yufayyur triumphantly, "They won't even get to the Qsar, they're already running out of water. Do you hear the horses and donkey? They are screaming for water. We have drained the well completely and now they must attack their water supplies already.  Tomorrow they better do not drink the water of the Rotten Lake. If so, they will suffer!

With the rising darkness, the outraged shouts at the well faded and were replaced by the sounds of setting up the bivouac for the night. Lateron, the noise died down almost completely and was drowned out by the buzzing of the cicadas.

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Ikken and Yufayyur had achieved their task. They knew the losses of Areksim's corps and wanted to pass them on to KeYnNamM and Tarit as soon as possible. Just as they were crawling backwards out of hiding, two heavily armed guards came up the slope and began to patrol along the ridge. It was too late to crawl back into hiding, so they ducked behind boulders, hoping the sentries would soon be far enough away so they could get to their horses undetected.

One of the sentries, however, interfered with their plan. When the guards were perhaps fifty paces from them, one said something to the other, turned, and came quickly toward the boulders behind which the two had taken cover. Ikken and Yufayyur froze to stone. But the soldier did not look around, he turned his back to them, lifted his upper robe at the back, pulled down his loose trousers and crouched down.

The distance between them and the sentry was only half a dozen paces. Ikken and Yufayyur tried to suppress their breathing as best they could and listened to the mercenary's strained moans. Despite the darkness, Ikken saw his friend grinning at him and making a suggestive gesture. But then he carefully began to pull a crooked dagger from his belt. Despite his concentrated efforts, the sentry must have noticed the sound the dagger made as it was pulled out of its sheath. He suddenly turned his head to the side and caught sight of the two gray figures in front of the dark rock. With a jerk, he tried to stand up, but the lowered trousers prevented him from doing so. At that moment, Yufayyur leapt forward, grabbed the man by the head, bent it back, and severed the throat with one cut. Accompanied by the gurgling sound of blood spurting out, the man fell on his back and began thrashing about. Ikken jumped in and helped Yufayyur hold the dying man's body to the ground.

When the kicking stopped, Ikken and Yufayyur tried to pull the soldier's body into the gap between the boulders. Either the waiting time was getting too long for the other guard or the sounds coming from the direction of the boulders were making him suspicious. He stood up, looked around and began to call softly for his colleague. Since the latter did not answer, he began to walk towards the rocks behind which he suspected him to be.

Ikken and Yufayyur had not yet managed to pull the heavy man completely into the narrow gap between the two boulders when the sentry was almost with them. They therefore dropped the dead body and took cover behind the rocks. As the sentry turned around the boulder, he stumbled over the feet of his dead colleague still protruding from the gap. He looked up in confusion and suddenly faced Ikken, who had drawn his bow to defend himself. The sentry cried out in fright and Ikken involuntarily released the taut string of the bow.

The arrow struck the man's chest with full force, boring into his rib cage and lodging deep in his lungs. The man groaned, coughed up blood, and went to his knees. Ikken was in a shock. He remained leaning against the rock like frozen because it had not been his intention to shoot him. Yufayyur immediately grasped the situation. He jumped forward, pushed the wounded man to the ground and pressed his head into the sand to prevent him from screaming. Only now did Ikken came to life again. He fetched his scimitar from the belt, rushed forward and killed the man. 

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Now Ikken and Yufayyur could lose no time.  They sprinted across the rocky plateau to their horses. There was not time for feeding or watering them. They just untied them, jumped on their backs and left the place as fast as the darkness allowed. Taking a small ravine, they returned to the dry valley. Only there they did allow the horses and themselves a little rest.

While Ikken was watering his horse, he began to shake so much that he spilled water. "Watch it!" shouted Yufayyur to him, "We must be sparingly with the water!" Only then did he notice Ikken's trembling. "What is the problem, little brother! Come!" and he put an arm around his shoulders. "I killed the soldier! I didn't help him when I accidentally drove the arrow into his chest. No, I even cut off his head!" Yufayyur now hugged his friend tightly. "You did everything right! You had to kill him, or we would be dead already!" "Yes, I know! But I had sworn when my father died that I would never kill anyone. I took an oath to help everyone! And now?"

Yufayyur searched for comforting words, but he couldn't think of any, so he repeated, "You had to act this way, or we would be dead already." then he added, "I only killed the first guard so he wouldn't endanger us! Do you think I don't feel sorry for him too! But we had to kill them both. Do you think the governor sent his army to the Imuhagh Empire because he loves us? No, he and the emperor want to make us their subjects. Doesn't the emperor demand tribute from the people of Draa? Didn't the Emperor have captured the Amestan, the protector of the people of No-One's Land, the king of No-One's Land? Didn't he have KeYnNamM's father killed, and your father? And you?" Yufayyur went on, "He will persecute you and wants to kill you! He has been persecuting you ever since the wise woman in the market recognized you as the Heir of Gaya, ever since the market woman put the hat of King Gaya on your head, Gaya has ruled the Imuhagh kingdom centuries ago. With the hat she has crowned you! With you the kingdom of Gaya has returned. Your head is more valuable to the Emperor than the head of the Amenokal." Yufayyur caught his breath for a moment, "You acted correctly Ikken! You acted as a future king must act."

Ikken did not comprehend what his friend was telling him, he did not know the history of the Imuhagh, the desert sons, no one had told him. He shook his head sadly, "Even a king must not kill. He must be merciful!" In distress he mounted his horse, begging "Let's ride Yufayyur, KeYnNamM and Tarit are waiting."

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When Ikken and Yufayyur made the next stop, the sun was already high in the sky and even the overhanging rocks hardly cast any shade. Both were tired as well as the horses and desperately needed water and rest. First, they watered their horses and covered their back with a cloth to keep the sun away. Then they ate some dates and finally laid down as close to the rock face as possible to absorb a some of the coolness it radiated. Their horses rested the heads hanging down.

Suddenly Ikken startled out of his dream. A faint unfamiliar sound has upset the midday silence. He listened for the sounds all around, but even the nerve-racking buzzing of the cicadas in the withered bushes had almost extinguished. The silence of the cicadas had not aroused him, of that he was sure, nor the lizard sunning itself noiseless on a stone. He listened with closed eyes. Something could be heard. Was it the trampling of hooves? Were the governor's troops on their trail? Ikken shook his friend awake. "Wake up!” he shook Yufayyur, “There's a noise in the air? Something unknown! But I can't guess what!" Yufayyur sat up sleepily, listening for a long time, "I've lived in the desert since I was born, and I think I know every sound. But that not the stomping of the hoofs of horses, nor that of antelopes!" He hesitated, then made a surprised face, "Ikken do you see the gray-green balls scurrying across the sand? Do you what they are? These are desert roses!" he exclaimed triumphantly, "Kel Essuf, the Great Spirit, is driving desert roses across the sand. The desert spirit loves us! He loves us! Kel Essuf sends desert roses only to those who are special to him"

Yufayyur kissed Ikken, pulling him up by the hand, "We must gather as many of the desert roses as we can. They bring good luck not only to us, but also to those we give them to." He jumped up and hurried together with Ikken from the shady place by the rockface into the burning hot dessert. They collected as many of the fist-sized, gray-green balls in their upturned overgarments as they could!  "Desert roses! Desert rose!” Yufayyur cheered, “They bring happiness to you and me! They scare away evil, foretell rain, help women when they give birth to a child! We collect them for the clan of desert sons and for Tarit and KeYnNamM!"

The next few hours in the saddle flew by like no time. As they discerned the shrubbery at the edge of the Lake with the Foul Water in the distance, two mounted men suddenly dashed out of a side valley, waving white clothes overhead, "Here! Here! Yufayyur and Ikken! KeYnNamM has sent us. He is waiting! We are to take you quickly to the camp." "And Tarit, where is he?" "He has gone ahead with the larger group of his men to the oasis of Mhamit to wait for Areksim's army!"

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Ikken rode ahead. He drove his horse, he had to be the first to tell KeYnNamM about the events of last night. The narrow side valley suddenly made a bend and by a hair he would have ridden down the Amestan, who dozed in the shade of a big boulder close to the steep south slop. "KeYnNamM-baba, KeYnNamM-baba!" he called out, jumped off the horse and his arms. "KeYnNamM-baba, KeYnNamM-baba! You won't guess what Yufayyur and I experienced yesterday."

KeYnNamM set Ikken down and also hugged Yufayyur, who by now had gotten off his horse. KeYnNamM laughed all over his face, "Tarit was right! You will come back whole and in one piece! Thank you Yufayyur for taking such good care of my Ikken!" Ikken pulled an offended face! "I took care of my friend just like he took care of me!"

Only now did KeYnNamM notice that Ikken's loose shirt was stained with blood. Startled, he looked at Yufayyur. His overgarment was also stained with blood. "What has happened? Are you wounded?" he looked worried, "You don't seem to! Why is your cloth stained with blood? Ikken, your face is also smeared with blood!"

He pulled the two boys into the small tent, which provided shade. The breeze through the two tent openings cooled their skin. Exhausted, the two settled down next to the four Imuhaghs who had gathered around a tray with cups of hot tea. All had removed their face veils and were looking curiously at the two newcomers. One of the men poured tea from a pot into cups and served them.

When Ikken had finshed the first cup, he couldn’t hold the news any longer. "Wounded? It's the blood of the guards we killed" "Yes Ikken and I wiped out the lives of two guards!" stated Yufayyur proudly. Then they recounted the events of the previous night, especially how they had surprised and killed the sentries. At the end of the report, however, Ikken became sad, "I didn't want to kill the guard at all. I hate killing!"

"Every Amenokal, every Amestan must be able to kill when his life is threatened! If you Ikken want to become a leader, you must learn to make the right decision." said the eldest of the Imuhagh. "You have done right. You killed those who threatened your life!" said another.

When the sun was already low in the sky, KeYnNamM set out with Ikken, Yufayyur and two of the Imuhagh. They wanted to arrive before midnight at the Oasis of Mhamit, where Tarit was waiting for them. The other two border guards had been assigned to watch from the edge of the plateau for the arrival of the governor's force, which would come up the wadi from the Well of Foul Water.

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To be continued...

Posted 08/05/2022