I awoke from a horrible nightmare, in which, I watched my Tribe burn to the ground. My elder brother took me and my big brother hunting. It was my first time and together, we claimed victory over the biggest gator I've ever seen! We were sure to attend the Bonfire ceremony now that we had fed the Tribe. I still remember the look of surprise in my elder brother's eyes when I distracted it with the trick that Wolf Clan girl taught me: Jump on it's back and only breathe when it rolls you out of the water, then hold your breath while you hold its mouth closed.

I thought there would at least be time to celebrate. Instead, we heard the screams, we smelled the smoke. Instead of attending the Bonfire with the prettiest Wolf Clan girl I knew as a tested Hunter like I was supposed to, my elder brother forced us to stay put and ran back home. Before he left he told us where he stashed a pirogue and that we should head east if he didn't come back. That didn't stop the urgency of his actions from sinking in. I knew it was bad when my big brother loaded the sweetgrass that I heard our Tribal Elders call "Moreux" into his pipe to steady our nerves, before throwing me the same knife his big brother threw him. But I didn't know just how bad until I saw the look in my brothers' eyes when they returned bloody and afraid. They had seen Death. Our elder brother told us it was the Natchez, but I didn't believe him until the arrow that killed him in front of us proved it. I recognized the arrowhead because we traded with them often enough.

I bearly remember falling asleep, but then again, who could sleep when we left everything we ever loved behind us in ruins. I thought that nightmares were supposed to end, though. Mine didn't. I get to keep living mine by opening my eyes to see the sky spinning before me. The last thing I saw before I passed out from dizziness, was my brother telling me to hold on to the pirogue.

The sun was bright the next time I saw him. He threw me a tomahawk that I recognized as his friend Falling Sparrow's weapon of choice. He said we must take a part of our broken pirogue with us as it was made from the Sacred Tree, and it would burn brightly in the coming darkness. He had food, weapons, and supplies for a long trip so I didn't question his leadership. As we immediately made our way in the other direction with great haste, he told me that we couldn't stay here and that this was not a safe place to be. So we followed the setting sun.

I asked him what happened when he left but he wouldn't say. So I asked him what happened back home, and he told me that he didn't what to talk about that either. The haunted look in his eye that told me all I need to know. What he saw changed him and he didn't want it to change me too. I knew he would tell me when he was ready, but until then, we grieved in silence. The forest we walked in was beautiful yet strange. It wasn't quite right. Where were all the Cypress trees, the Pines? Where did all the tree moss go? I know my brother must have been asking himself these questions just as much as I was, but he didn't say a word. We ate stale bread as we walked in silence. Miles of new sounds and strange wildlife taught us the ways of this new land. At one point, later in the day, I could have sworn that I heard predators in the distant woods but my brother picked up his pace as quietly as possible. I struggled to keep up with him but managed to follow quietly. We hiked most of the day, stopping only to make camp for the night. We made a low fire surrounded with rocks to hide our presence from the animals that I knew would gladly make us their dinner. I slept that night, that deep and dreamless sleep that only the extremely fatigued or very well-fed know of.

Morning brought me the news that my brother was out hunting for breakfast. A quick glance at my surroundings showed me that he had traps in place, and I felt that safe and familiar oneness with nature. I knew that supernatural zen, the perfect balance between Mann and Beast. The thrill of the hunt filled me, a gift from home brought on by my brother's effort. As I listened to the birdsong on the wind, I followed to game trails in the dirt. I constantly scanned the horizon for threats as I walked. I started checking the traps closest to our camp. I find them bare, to my disappointment. I slowly ventured further into the woods. Climbing a tree to look for signs of my brother, I spotted a path in the distance and watched a party of six White men walk directly towards our camp. I knew immediately that I had to warn my brother.

I remembered the tales of violence and slavery the Elders had spoken of and readied my weapons to head back in silence. As I watched them advance down the path, I heard the unmistakable sounds of my brother's traps going off in the distance. I cut through the woods returning to camp just before the strange warriors. They saw me only when I stepped right out in front of the fire to greet them. They were startled, but not undisciplined enough to let it show. The White men spoke, but it made no sense to me, and when I spoke to them, it was clear they didn't understand. I motioned to them that I could not understand with my hands only to watch them fail to interpret the message. I heard a low growling from the direction of the traps my brother had set when it happened. Sometime between the White man's failure to communicate with me and the silence that followed, a disturbing thought occurred to me: We were being Hunted.

A wolf twice the size of a black bear exploded from the woods on the right. The men readied their weapons in an instant and turned to face the attack. With bloodlust in my veins and war drums pounding in my ears, I joined their ranks. Before I could reach them, I watched the huge beast that could only be the Alpha leap at me almost in slow motion. Some primal instinct overcame me and before I knew it, I had their war flag in my hands. It felt as though a bolt of lightning struck my very soul when I charged the massive creature. It waited for me to move, then lunged to intercept my attack. At the last second, I planted the base of the spear under my heel and ducked, placing all my weight on it. I was amazed that a tactic born of pure luck saved my life. As the alpha thrashed about on the flag, I moved back into position with the soldiers. I knew if the wolves made it past the white men they would eat me and my brother.

The soldiers' leader wielded two swords at once, a skill that I had only ever seen once when a visiting Apache brave had insulted our Medicine woman. My father challenged him to a duel of honor for his insolence. When asked what weapons they chose, the Apache wanted a war club. My father picked up his two favorite tomahawks and the duel began. Even though the brave was fast, he failed to realize that my father was wise in his choice. My father threw the first axe so hard that it almost chopped the apache's leg in half, before attacking viciously with the other one. He moved hypnotically, striking only when the brave advanced and counter-attacking only when it would benefit him. The fight was not long, but the brave fought like a cornered beast. He fought my father with all he had and still lost. That day, I saw the power of my people.

I looked up to find the other two wolves had flanked us when the alpha died. The men had clearly kept track of the wolves as they circled us. The wolves were clearly furious at us for fighting back, but the soldiers were even more furious that wolves had dared to attack us in the first place. The wolves' attack was swift, but ours was more effective: the first wolf snapped at one sword, it was met by another. As the second wolf capitalized once his ally's strike, he was met by a tomahawk. Our perseverance gave the wolves a momentary pause, which was all the soldiers needed to cut them down.

I drew a picture of me and my brother next to a teepee in the sand, in an effort to explain that I had a brother and that he would return. The leader paused to study my drawing. After a moment, he spoke a few quick firm words in their strange tongue. Two of his soldiers walked away from the rest and stood by the fire. As I turned back to their leader, I found that the soldiers were offering me the spare bag that they had brought to haul back their prey. Finding only a bottle of red water, I offered it for trade. I took half of our remaining supplies for myself and quickly sliced off the lock of my hair that held the bead that my sister had made me for the day of my birth last year. I placed it beneath the furthest rock from the fire, where I was sure my brother would find it.

We made way back to the soldiers' camp only to learn that it had been pillaged by the remaining wolves. Down the path from their camp, I noticed that the rest of the pack was in the woods, waiting to ambush us. I stepped in front of the men to get their attention. When the leader looked down, I quickly drew the camp surrounded by wolves. This time, he understood immediately. As he gave orders to his men they began to move in a loose arch in front of me until we advanced into their camp, then they formed a circle around me. The battle lasted hours, with wolves and soldiers alike sustaining heavy wounds that did nothing to hinder their movements. There was a moment when the wolves had broken the formation long enough to snap at me, the reward for their effort was a deep gouge to the snout. I watched as the soldiers violence claimed the lives of most of the pack, with only two retreating to the safety of the woods.

We sat down to a nice meal of something that reminded me of the rabbit stew that my father made. I can't explain it but, the meat tasted a little off, kind of like the rabbits had eaten something funny. We watched the sun go down as the men shared the red water. I noticed that the leader didn't drink much, but his men seemed to enjoy it. One by one, they began to fall asleep, but there was a strange tension in the air that kept me awake. I think the leader felt it too because he didn't sleep either. It caught me off guard when I blinked for too long and found that we were surrounded by monsters. They looked like men, but from the bicep down they had thick plates instead of arms. The monster-men had everyone tied together on a long, horizontal pole. With a swift strike, they knocked the leader out cold. A sharp pain behind my head followed by darkness told me that they had hit me as well.

A strange musical chanting greeted me, seeming to wrap around my mind. The world was blurry for a second, but I blinked it clear. The scene before me reminded me of the time I spied on the medicine woman's daughter during her Initiation Ritual. The fire burned an unusual color, deep violet with blue embers. There was an altar next to the fire with a really pretty sorceress standing behind it. She had light purple skin with glowing dark purple warpaint that moved around her as she chanted. The words of her chant didn't make sense at first, but somehow, I began to understand them. "Grandfather Nurgle, Lord of Pestilence, Hear me! Tzeentch, The Raven God, Hear me! Slaanesh, Prince of Fell Pleasures, Hear me! Khorne, Hunter of Souls, Hear me! Your servants have brought you a sacrifice!" When she yelled this, the fire flared brightly. The enemy camp was arranged into two circles, with the bonfire in the middle of camp and several tents positioned to look like arrows moving past the circles and pointing in all directions. The monster arm guys were drinking, fighting, or gambling in the outer circle. The bigger guys in heavy metal clothes fought each other by the fire. At first, I thought the big ones were training, but one of them lost. The winner bellowed "Blood for The Blood God! Skulls for The Skull Throne!" when he decapitated his opponent.

I looked around and saw that my fellow captives were awake too. They were looking around wildly, clearly searching for an escape route of some kind. "Captain, I think my bonds are loose." "Good. We can shift left to drag the child closer to this tent." "Yes sir, on your mark." "Ready? Now!" The world moved a few feet. "Again!" A few more feet go by. "Ok, they started walking back, don't let them know that we're awake yet." I quickly shut my eyes. A few minutes later, I noticed the sound of heavy footsteps headed toward us. "The Gods whisper of this one. They say he doesn't belong." "The child?" I never even heard the Sorceress stop chanting, let alone walk over with the enemy leader. "Yes." "Why would the Gods care about one child?" "They don't. The Gods have simply chosen to inform me that he does not belong in this Realm." "Then perhaps he too is Chosen, and they desire for him to join them in the Warp." "I am Chosen. A child can not be worthy of being chosen by Chaos."

The sorceress resumed chanting as the chosen walked back to his tent. The captain nudged me with his foot, presumably to wake me. "Psst, hey kid wake up!" I opened my eyes slowly, looking at him only when I was sure the chosen and his sorceress was gone. "I'm going to get you out of here, I promise." "How are we escaping?" The captain looked stunned. "You can understand me?" "Now, I can, yes but before, I could not." "How is that possible?" "I don't know." "If I can get my hands free, I will free you and my men, then we will run." "Okay." As the chanting peaked, the fire flared up and demanded the attention of the entire camp. "The Gods have made their desires known! The Gods demand a Blood Sacrifice!" Cheers erupted from enemy mouths. "The chosen has ordered that the child's blood will be spilled for Khorne!" More cheers and shouts of "Blood for the Blood God!" filled the camp. The captain must have freed himself during her speech, as he had started to move closer to me. The sorceress cried "Bring forth the Sacrifice!" Before the captain could reach my bonds, the enemy grabbed the pole we were tied to and began to lead us to the altar.

The captain pretended to be bound, so as not to give up the only advantage we had. As we neared the altar, I heard the sound of thunder running at us from the west. I looked to the sky to find it completely clear. We reached the altar sooner than I had hoped. "Restrain the child and ready his soul for the Warp!" The monster man's arm began to melt into a knife as long as a fishing spear. The monster then used his arm to slice through the rope holding me. The sorceress took up a long dagger and, as the thunder grew louder still, released a feral scream. As the sorceress plunged her dagger towards my heart, the mutant holding me suddenly threw me forward. I rolled towards the captain the second I touched the ground.

I looked up to see what happened, and saw a huge buffalo, easily three times the size of the alpha wolf, that had three horns. The man on its horn had finally stopped twitching, so it shook him off. He flew through the air and into the fire as the camp erupted with noises and movement. The captain told me to run to his men and charged the sorceress. He punched her in the face hard, only to get stabbed in the side with her dagger. The buffalo threw more people about as it charged the chosen. He dodged to one side, raising his sword as he did, and sliced a wound all the way down the beast. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and jumped away just in time to avoid the flames the sorceress had intended to burn me with. I rolled towards her as I seen the Chosen do, snatching her fallen dagger for the ground as I did. I continued to roll past the sorceress into the safety of a nearby tent.

The enemy armoury was incredible! All of our gear was neatly separated and placed together in groups: weapons with weapons, armor with armor, and bags with bags. I found gear easily enough. They had crafted sheaths for my weapons and attached them to a belt. I slid my new dagger into another sheath and buckled it onto the belt as well. Grabbing a few more weapons, along with the captain's swords, I rushed outside to find the chosen fighting the buffalo and one of the captain's men. The enemy forces lay in piles next to the other two soldiers. Only the sorceress and the chosen were left to fight me, the captain, and his man. I threw one of the captain's swords at the sorceress as hard as I could. I barely missed her, but I scored a hit on the buffalo's back flank. It was so furious, that it charged the chosen, thinking he was the culprit. The chosen grabbed the sword and swung it at the captain's head faster than I thought was possible. The captain ducked just in time to dodge the swing, then disarmed the chosen to reclaim his blade. I ran to the soldier to give him a weapon. He chose a shield, a sword, and an axe. Using his shield to block the buffalo's kicks and striking hard with his axe, the warrior fought his way back to his captain.

I drew my daggers and ran to join the fight. I was too focused on the buffalo to notice that the sorceress was casting a spell. The ground tripped me as I dodged a wild kick aimed at my head. I looked at my feet because it felt like I was caught in a vine. Instead, I found a hand wrapped around my ankle. The hand belonged to a monster with one arm who was a few yards away climbing back to his feet. He had two swords and a spear still stuck in his chest from when the others had killed him earlier. He turned his other arm into a great axe and charged me. I took his arm from my ankle and threw it at him, but it only reattached itself. I ran at him as fast as I could, throwing my fancy new dagger at him in the process. It flew end over end to hit him square in the throat. When it did nothing to slow his progress, I drew my tomahawk and rolled through his legs. When I rose, I sliced through his knee, dropping him to the ground. I raised my tomahawk to finish him when the sorceress hit me with a bolt of lightening.

Everything was bright and sounded really far away. I could feel every part of me buzzing like I had a million ants crawling through me. I looked up to see the undead mutant turn his arm into a club with spikes on it. Before he could use it, the axe I had given to the soldier hit the monster in the head, dropping him next to me. I sat up in a daze to find that the soldier had thrown it when he saw me fall. The chosen seized the soldier by the throat and slammed him into the captain, knocking them both to the ground. I sheathed my weapons, grabbed the axe, and charged the sorceress. I reached her just as the chosen drove his sword through the soldier and into the captain's side. I brandished the captain's other sword against the sorceress but, she dodged or parried every swing. She struck me with a few well-placed hits, driving the air from my lungs and dropping me to the ground as well.

The chosen loomed above the captain for a moment before picking up both of the captain's blades. He laughed as he swung them back, decapitating the soldier. Somehow, the captain had managed to free himself of the sword that held him in place. The captain then proceeded to attack the chosen with his bare hands. Every time the chosen swung, the captain would block and counter-attack. He favored his wounded side, but it didn't slow him down. The buffalo charged the sorceress, who immediately reanimated more monster-men. Three of them jumped on the buffalo, while the other one rallied to the chosen. I ran to the captain's side to help him. When I got there, I chopped one of the mutant's legs off with my axe. He fell directly under the buffalo's foot and only half of him crawled back out. I turned to the sorceress as I stabbed the remaining half in the head. Luck was on my side since she was entranced with her spell-work. I ran to her only to be intercepted by the other monster. He slammed his warclub into my gut knocking me from my feet. The captain, having finally reclaimed his weapons and pushed the chosen back into the buffalo's path of destruction, swiftly vivisected my attacker.

The buffalo fought hard to remove the mutants from his back. It bucked both of the attackers off and also kicked them in the head before they hit the ground. The third got impaled by the captain, as the chosen dodged a powerful strike. The chosen swung hard and fast at the buffalo and the captain, gouging deep wounds into them both. I charged the sorceress with both axes out, hitting her twice before she knew I was there. The moment she focused on me, it felt like my mind was going to explode under the weight of hers. She attacked me with her sword as well as her mind. I fought back long enough to break her concentration. Her psychic assault faltered, and the captain used this moment clarity to parry the chosen's attack and swiftly decapitate the sorceress. The chosen closed the distance between us to shoulder charge the captain, throwing him to the ground. I attacked the chosen immediately but, it seemed to have no effect on him. His armor was simply too thick. He kicked me right in the jaw, and all that I saw were stars. The chosen stood over me with his claymore hefted high overhead, but as he began to strike, the buffalo chose that exact second to kick his helmet in. The captain jumped to his feet and told me to run. I got to my feet, gathered, then sheathed my weapons, and ran like death was after me.

The moment I hit the treeline, I bolted the way I thought to be the last place I left my brother. I stopped to catch my breath only after the sounds of battle faded behind me. Sounds of movement from the way I came inspired me to climb a nearby tree to avoid being trampled by that buffalo but it was only the captain. I revealed my presence by dropping down from the branch I was hiding on. "Don't you know its bad luck to sneak up on a man with swords!?" "No. Did you kill the buffalo?" The captain looked around uneasily. "What is a buffalo?" "That big thing that we were fighting was a buffalo, but they usually only have two horns." "That was a Trison, and no I didn't kill it but I think may have lost it." As soon as the words left his lips, the trison returned, impaling the captain to the tree. In a panicked frenzy, I hacked wildly at the beast. I cut multiple deep gashes across its hindquarters and legs, but I paused when I heard the sound of many more feet rumbling in the woods from the direction the trison had come. It had to be a stampede! I turned and ran in the opposite direction in fear.

When I saw the forest path that leads back to my brother's last known position, I failed to notice a root from a nearby tree and tripped over it. I stood up and chanced a quick look to see if I was followed by the stampede. I saw a wave of large rabbits swarm the great beast, tearing flesh from its bones with every bite. The trison bellowed in pain as they ate it alive. The scene before me turned my stomach. The rabbits swarmed the trison, falling over their pack-mates in their haste as they did so. A few of the rabid front runners even climbed on his back in order to attack its neck. After the beast died, they began to eat the captain's body as well. I had a sickening feeling that, come noon, there wouldn't be any evidence of the bandit massacre left at all. I turned, sprinting down the path following the rising sun, and saw a figure in the distance coming the other way.

I drew my dual axes to face this new adversary only to see my brother with his bow drawn and an arrow aimed directly at my head. We checked our weapons instantly, as we checked each other for visible injuries . After a truly joyful reunion, he told me that he had found us a new home, and we began walking through woods away from the road and the carnage that lay behind it. As we walked, I told him of the bizarre ritual that taught me the white man's language.

And so our Journey begins....