sure there was no mistake, we set fire to
a farmhouse. We also attacked a shepherd, scattered his sheep and
killed his dog.
To give them time to catch up with us we lit
a roaring campfire and rested. We'd brought a bit of peat with us
and we threw that into the embers along with some greenery, to make
sure there was enough smoke for them to see - I didn't want them to
miss the fire!
In spite of all the help we gave them, it was
still the afternoon of the next day before they caught up with us
enough for me to see them, and then we almost lost them. They
really are lacking in tracking skills and seem stupid in battle
too. We would beat them easily if they weren't so numerous. We led
them steadily towards the ambush I had planned at the Ring of
Brodgar, and arrived there about a hour and a half or so before
sunset. I stopped the tribe briefly to pay our respects to the
Goddess - to the big people it must have looked as if we were
giving thanks for a victory - then I led the attackers out of the
other side. The big people saw us going and thought it was safe.
They marched straight into the ambush waiting for them. I didn't
realise how many there were. I knew they were numerous, but there
must have been around a hundred men, all fighters with armour and
so on. Even though my people were well hidden and gave a good
account of themselves there were only two survivors and my little
force was depleted.
We waited until nightfall to go back for the
dead and took them under cover of darkness. We carried them to the
village and laid them in the empty houses, lighting fires they
wouldn't feel. We left some cattle in the byre and put the rest out
near the village. I would have lit a fire but it began to rain and
the wind got up a bit. The big people camped inside the temple,
mounting guards behind the standing stones. It was a miserable
night for camping with a thin drizzle soaking everything through
and a chilly wind. I thought of the comfortable houses with only
the dead in them more than once, but I stuck to my plans.
Morning came and through the infrequent
breaks in the cloud it didn't look at all promising. There was a
stormy redness, squally rain from time to time and the wind had
risen more.
The big people found our village and fell on
it with a venom that made a body think they had spent an
uncomfortable night. They lost a few more to our arrows before they
stormed underground. They cleaned the place out! They brought out
everything right down to the heather bedding and the dead bodies.
As they piled up the bodies we attacked again and then those chosen
to lay a false scent let themselves be seen with the boats - but
not so close that the big people could recognise the straw dummies.
By now there was a near gale and I rather doubted the wisdom of
trying to sail to one of the low islands to the north, even the
nearer ones. Still it was too late to change plans.
The rest of our tribe - and only sixteen of
them remained - went to the place where we had hidden the boats for
the crossing to the high island. The wind was really up now, if
anything, even fiercer and I thought that we perhaps should lie low
until it dropped. The small group had survived our battles were
terrified of remaining within the vengeful reach of the big ones
and wanted to cross to the high island. They were sure our boats
would survive a short journey across sheltered water and, against
my better judgement, I gave in to their pleading.
I am sorry to say that I was right and they
were wrong. The boats were no more than hides stretched over frames
of thin branches. They soon broke up in those seas and those winds
and most of my people are not swimmers. The wind screamed at the
water and I only stayed afloat because I had a paddle to hold on
to. It screamed at the heather and the rocks as I dragged myself,
dripping, from the water to shelter under the overhang of a
boulder.
I was wet through and the overhang presented
me with little enough cover from the wind.
a farmhouse. We also attacked a shepherd, scattered his sheep and
killed his dog.
To give them time to catch up with us we lit
a roaring campfire and rested. We'd brought a bit of peat with us
and we threw that into the embers along with some greenery, to make
sure there was enough smoke for them to see - I didn't want them to
miss the fire!
In spite of all the help we gave them, it was
still the afternoon of the next day before they caught up with us
enough for me to see them, and then we almost lost them. They
really are lacking in tracking skills and seem stupid in battle
too. We would beat them easily if they weren't so numerous. We led
them steadily towards the ambush I had planned at the Ring of
Brodgar, and arrived there about a hour and a half or so before
sunset. I stopped the tribe briefly to pay our respects to the
Goddess - to the big people it must have looked as if we were
giving thanks for a victory - then I led the attackers out of the
other side. The big people saw us going and thought it was safe.
They marched straight into the ambush waiting for them. I didn't
realise how many there were. I knew they were numerous, but there
must have been around a hundred men, all fighters with armour and
so on. Even though my people were well hidden and gave a good
account of themselves there were only two survivors and my little
force was depleted.
We waited until nightfall to go back for the
dead and took them under cover of darkness. We carried them to the
village and laid them in the empty houses, lighting fires they
wouldn't feel. We left some cattle in the byre and put the rest out
near the village. I would have lit a fire but it began to rain and
the wind got up a bit. The big people camped inside the temple,
mounting guards behind the standing stones. It was a miserable
night for camping with a thin drizzle soaking everything through
and a chilly wind. I thought of the comfortable houses with only
the dead in them more than once, but I stuck to my plans.
Morning came and through the infrequent
breaks in the cloud it didn't look at all promising. There was a
stormy redness, squally rain from time to time and the wind had
risen more.
The big people found our village and fell on
it with a venom that made a body think they had spent an
uncomfortable night. They lost a few more to our arrows before they
stormed underground. They cleaned the place out! They brought out
everything right down to the heather bedding and the dead bodies.
As they piled up the bodies we attacked again and then those chosen
to lay a false scent let themselves be seen with the boats - but
not so close that the big people could recognise the straw dummies.
By now there was a near gale and I rather doubted the wisdom of
trying to sail to one of the low islands to the north, even the
nearer ones. Still it was too late to change plans.
The rest of our tribe - and only sixteen of
them remained - went to the place where we had hidden the boats for
the crossing to the high island. The wind was really up now, if
anything, even fiercer and I thought that we perhaps should lie low
until it dropped. The small group had survived our battles were
terrified of remaining within the vengeful reach of the big ones
and wanted to cross to the high island. They were sure our boats
would survive a short journey across sheltered water and, against
my better judgement, I gave in to their pleading.
I am sorry to say that I was right and they
were wrong. The boats were no more than hides stretched over frames
of thin branches. They soon broke up in those seas and those winds
and most of my people are not swimmers. The wind screamed at the
water and I only stayed afloat because I had a paddle to hold on
to. It screamed at the heather and the rocks as I dragged myself,
dripping, from the water to shelter under the overhang of a
boulder.
I was wet through and the overhang presented
me with little enough cover from the wind.
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