Eagle People Read Free Page A

The warrior class was rough, but the dead here, these were not warriors. The killings had been done as a warning to others of what the Wolf People would do.
    He gagged at the smell, puked and then fell to his knees as he dry-heaved. The smell was horrible and there was little or no wind, which made it worse. He stood, shook his head at the senselessness of it all, and continued checking the village. My God, a whole village slaughtered, but why? Usually an enemy tribe will steal horses or maybe a woman or two, but I've never see a whole village destroyed. Are the Wolf People out to kill all of us? Are they attacking other People as well?
    He counted over 200 dead and not a one killed by a gun. It was near the well, when he saw a beautiful woman fully dressed and sprawled out in the dirt. She was one of his People and a warrior from her clothing. She'd been shot at least three times in the chest, but she must have killed many, because she'd not been mutilated or raped. Usually if a woman was injured, men would line up to use her, with the man who'd put her down going first. Or, if she was only slightly wounded, they might make her a slave. Most slaves that had escaped or been rescued stated they would preferred death to being a slave. He squatted beside her, pulled her blouse open, and noticed the shots were all close together and could be covered with his closed fist. There was little blood on her, so he knew she'd died from internal bleeding. He covered her face with a bandana he removed from her throat.
    Damn me, not a single survivor that I can see. But, some may have fled from the fight. I need to return to my men, they will be worried, he thought and then moved for his horse. They were too few in his group to bury so many, so the dead would remain where they fell.
    Once with his men, he said, “No survivors, not a one that I could see, and over 200 dead. I only found where one warrior, a woman, had been shot. The Wolf People may have guns, but if they do, they do not have many.”
    Suddenly, Lee spotted movement in the woods to the left and signed, “Our left side has movement but it is off in the distance.”
    Amon signed, “Prepare to be attacked, but do nothing unless they start first. We are too few to fight against a large group.”

Chapter 2
    ASA SAW THE MEN of The Eagle People talking, and smiled. He had no intentions of attacking this small group. He had over a hundred warriors, but he had no replacements. If he attacked the men on the horses, he'd lose some fighters, so he'd wait. He'd wait until the odds were better and he could kill many but lose few. Besides, the men in the village would carry the horror of his attack to all Eagle People villages, and that alone was reason enough not to harm them.
    He was the war chief of his band of The Wolf People and he was the absolute leader, with his decisions being final and not questionable. He lowered his ancient binoculars and smiled. He could afford to smile now; he had close to fifty children captive, and well over a dozen women slaves.
    Whispering to Ninian, his shaman, he said, “Tell them it is not a good day for us to fight. Tell them our God has given us a great victory over the people of the Eagle, and we must be content with our single victory. Our time, a better time, has been promised by God.”
    Ninian scared most people because it was said he could call evil spirits to life and have them kill his enemies. As a People, they were superstitious and afraid of things they did not understand. While the shaman was not understood or even liked, no one ever confronted him or insulted him. Those that had in the past were no longer among the living, and while the Wolf People may have lacked the education of the Eagle People, they were not stupid. If you wish to live, do not speak against the shaman.
    The shaman said, “We must leave. The spirits promised us a great victory, which we have won, but we are to do no more on this day.  God will give us another day