Revelations of Delirium

 

He had been born in a Tuchuk Wagon.

During the Winter of the plains.

Matters of honor left his raising

To his grandfather’s pains.

 

Before the time of his Courage Scars

From a Kaiila he was thrown.

The injuries to his body

Had shattered nearly every bone.

 

He was sent to relatives in the city

His body now to mend.

And he thought his time in the wagons

Was forever at an end.

 

So he trained in the city

To know the Green caste ways.

Healing the bodies of others

Was how he spent his days.

 

Now a grown man with children

And Grandchildren due any day,

The life of the wagon called him

his spirit would claim the way.

 

His Tuchuk clan did welcome him

His uncle granted him a chance.

To earn the scars denied him

His soul was ready to dance.

 

Go forth and steal a slave girl

Then we will scar your pretty face,

And call you then outrider

You will have earned that place.

 

He went out to a village

And a graceful Kajira he found,

With just some charm and patience

She would soon be bound.

 

At first he was not certain

How to win the day,

He pretended to be lost

And asked her to show the way.

 

A cloth with capture scent hidden

In the cuff of his sleeve,

used on the edge of the village

Before she could take her leave.

 

When she lay unconscious

with ropes he had her bound.

Then spirited her away

Before alarm could sound.

 

The Elders were quite impressed

With this graceful creature,

The lost son had brought,

Of raven hair and comely feature .

 

The time of his Scarring was appointed

The preparations made

And in a tub of Paga

His body cleanse they bade.

 

More Mead, More Wine, More Paga,

And in Tuchuk fashion he got drunk off his ass

For when the Scarrer came

This night might be his last

 

When the Scarrer stood before them

The victim was offered to be bound

But being born a Tuchuk he chose to stand

And not cry out or make a sound.

 

For as the knife drew

Across his cheek

He could not flinch

Or be thought weak.

 

Stubbornly he refused to move

Into his tongue he bit.

As the Scarrer sewed in the pigment

And made sure every nerve to hit.

 

When it at last was finished

he spat blood upon the ground,

He wanted so to curse him

But words could not be found.

 

Soon the fever claimed him

And he writhed upon the ground

The Visions of Delirium

Would be those most profound.

 

Through the dancing fire

He saw a figure with hair of flame

And he heard her call out Papa,

For to her that was his name.

 

For the loss of this child

He felt himself to blame.

After the visions of Delirium

He would never be the same.

 

In that night of fever

She beckoned him to death,

And tempted him in that moment

To breath his own last breath.

 

Desperately he tried to Follow

Where the figure lead,

But his son was right behind him

And knocked him on the head.

 

The son dragged him back to the fire

And bound him for his own good,

And through the long fevered night

The lonely watch the son stood.

 

His body now was bound

But his soul wandered free.

So it went out traveling

There was much to see.

 

He found himself with a Black Larl

But this Larl was an old friend,

And to the Tuchuk’s troubles

The Larl his ear did lend.

 

“You are foolish to seek death outrider

And this truth should not make you cry,

You can’t control what others do

No matter how hard you try.”

 

In a moment of clarity

He knew the Larl was wise,

And he thanked his friend

For helping to open his eyes.

 

He bid the Larl thank you

And the Larl went on his way.

But there was still much for the outrider to see

Before the break of day.

 

Along the prairie he wandered

Till he met a Kaiila mare.

Strangely she looked familiar

So he could not help but stare.

 

He could not help but wonder

If like the Larl she spoke

He knew he had to ask her

Before his fever broke

 

“What advice might you give me?”

He calmly asked the mare.

And as she spoke her wisdom

On his neck rose every hair.

 

“Be aware of the world

All around you

Think carefully

Of what you must do.

 

Always seek out knowledge

No mater what path you take.

It will guide you through decisions

You will be forced to make.

 

But also this Outrider

Seek yourself to know,

And always be true to your spirit

No matter where you go.”

 

She bade him climb on her back

And away the two did ride.

As they went on their journey

He felt a change inside.

 

And as she left him by the camp

Just at the rising sun.

“Remember this Outrider

Your path has just begun…”

 

Once more he lay by the fire

His body securely bound,

And though he felt himself waking

He did not make a sound.

 

Once more through the fire

The flame haired figure stood.

He wanted so to hold her

But knew he no longer could.

 

The figure knelt down by him

And whispered in his ear.

The words that she had for him

Were exactly what he needed to hear.

 

“I want to thank you Papa

For the time that you did give.

But you must keep on going

You still have life yet to live.”

 

And seeing a tear

come to his eye,

The figure faded

with one last kiss goodbye.

 

It was not to long after

The fever finally broke,

And now a full outrider

The Tuchuk then awoke.

 

The story is not over

There is still more to tell,

But on what the future holds

I do not care to dwell…

 

by Lyda Mae Dameron (aka Peter Six Hirokin)