Bourtai's Story

The hunting party returned in a triumphant clamor of cheering and clattering of weapons. The young unaga at the head of the group grinned at the racket, for it was all for her--she had killed her first orgh single-handed.

Kandun clapped her on the shoulder as his agta walked past hers. The strength of his arm nearly unseated her. "Gud hunt, Bourtai!" he thundered cheerfully. "Next time us find yuh great lizard!"

She joined the laughter at the great tsereg's teasing. She knew an orgh was a kill barely worth note for the other warriors of the ayimag. Yet if Kandun noticed her enough to tease her, she must show promise. She would be a mighty tsereg herself! --some day.

She dismounted the agta and made sure he was cared for and happy. The warrior who had broken his leg last week had allowed her to ride him only because he had once been close friends with her father. She knew how hard it had been for him to trust his cherished agta with a green unaga, and worked hard to justify his trust. Finally she headed for her own ger, to face an opponent far more fearsome than the orgh she had just slain: her mother.

Subotai barely glanced up as Bourtai ducked through the entrance flap. She continued her work, fletching arrows with practiced skill, not looking at her daughter as she spoke. "Meh hear tsereg return. Sound lak gud hunt."

"Dsa." Bourtai dropped a bag of feathers at her mother's feet. "Meh kill orgh, by meself!"

"Mmm." Her mother put the bag by the wall to be sorted through later.

Bourtai sat on the rug next to her and started helping. "Other tsereg say meh get gud with hutga, better with harw." She saw how her mother's lips tightened when she referred to "other" tsereg. Her mother did not like Bourtai referring to herself as a warrior.

"Dasagu let me ride his agta again," she went on strategically. Her mother's expression softened at the mention of their close family friend. "His leg be better soon," added Bourtai. "Then meh need to get own agta."

Her mother glanced at her again, a brief but smouldering look. "Yuh not need own agta. Tsereg need agta. Yuh stay in camp, learn how to be gud mate for true tsereg."

Bourtai stood up, glaring. Why was her mother holding to this same old argument? "Meh not only girl tsereg!" she pointed out through gritted teeth. "Gud mate for tsereg can fight beside him! Meh will be urlug tsereg, like father was!" She stormed out of the ger before her mother could quell her with the reminder that she was supposed to be respectful to her elders.

She knew it was very un-tsereg to stomp. She stomped anyway. Even Kandun didn't tease her about it as she marched seething through the camp and into the woods. They all knew that her mother opposed her campaign to become a warrior. No one would dream of interceding, either on her behalf or to talk her out of it. This was a matter between Bourtai and her mother.

She gave up the stomping after a few hundred steps. She had never had much of a temper. And she couldn't really be angry at Subotai. Her mother had lost a mate and two sons to the warrior's path; Bourtai could understand her reluctance to let her last child follow it.

Bourtai sighed and sat down against a tree. It was very hard to maintain your conviction that you were in the right, when you could understand the other person's point of view. Maybe she wouldn't make a great tsereg after all. Kandun never doubted that his decisions were the best way to do things, even if someone else disagreed. Bourtai doubted she would ever be that sure of herself.

She sat brooding as the day melted into night. Darkness held no terror for a Monggol. Her companions would not come seeking her unless she remained gone for much longer; they knew she could take care of herself. She could think in privacy for as long as she wanted to. Sometimes they teased about how much she thought about things, as well. Maybe that was why she was unsure of herself. Maybe if she didn't think about things so much, she would be a better warrior.

The eerie call of an uguli sounded above her. Bourtai craned her neck back to look at the large-eyed bird. "Otog say yuh think lots too," she addressed it. "But yuh also fight like tsereg."

It looked down at her with its fixed stare. It observed her for what seemed to be a very long time, until she began to feel uncomfortable under its avian regard. She wanted to look away, yet felt she should not, as if the creature's direct gaze was a challenge that must be faced. Was the uguli a spirit? Was it testing her somehow?

Finally it blinked and looked away. Bourtai felt oddly let down. She had faced down the challenge of its stare, but the challenge had just been in her mind. It was just an uguli looking for mice. It took wing and glided silently into the growing darkness. She heard it call again from some distance away.

Bourtai propped an elbow on her knee, rested her chin in her hand. When you started imagining a hungry uguli was a spirit testing you, you definitely thought too much.

The uguli called again, more loudly.

"Yuh better stop dat or yuh scare away mice," said Bourtai sourly.

From the darkness, the uguli hooted twice more in succession, paused, and called again.

Bourtai sat up straight, peering into the blackness. If it was after mice, it was sure making a lot of noise about it. Curious, she stood up and made her way carefully through the dark tree-shadows until she was under the one she judged the uguli had landed in. She peered up into half-seen branches. "Why yuh keep calling, huh?" she queried. "Yuh want mice, or yuh want meh?"

A chirruping hoot answered from directly above her head. She could see its eyes shining in the dark as it looked at her, and slowly she made out the rest of its form. She was able to follow it when it took wing again.

She followed the bird for hours. Sometimes she would stop, half-convinced she was being foolish. Then it would sit in the distance, calling its chilling cry, until she followed it again. Half the time she was certain that it was calling for her to hurry up, waiting for her when she lagged. The other half she was equally certain that it was just calling for its own reasons, and flying away because she kept coming too close for its liking.

It was not yet dawn when they stopped at the edge of a clearing, though it was close enough that she could see some details of the open space ahead. The uguli stayed where it was, watching her. Either it had taken her as far as it wanted to, or it had gotten used to the pest trailing it and felt no further need to flee her. Bourtai looked out across the clearing and smiled with delight. Ahead was a herd of wild agta, milling sleepily through the grass.

No Monggol needed prompting from a spirit animal to know which way to go now. Bourtai stepped quietly out into the clearing, watching the herd as she approached so that she could stop before they ran away. She wanted to get as close as she could, just to watch the lovely creatures.

A few looked at her warily, snorting, but most ignored her. To her amazement she was able to walk right into the herd, moving slowly and carefully. She did not try to touch them, only standing and observing their grace and power. She felt enormously grateful for this chance to be so close to wild agta, and found herself whispering thanks to Tenger Etseg and Gazar Eej --Father Heaven and Mother Earth. When the herd began to move at daybreak, she walked with them. She knew they would outdistance her when they began to run, but would keep up as long as she was able.

They did not run. Young azirga would sprint off and gallop around the herd, but the rest strolled leisurely across the plain. Their khan azirga followed at the rear most of the time, letting his mares choose the path while he guarded them from surprise attacks. Late in the afternoon he walked up to Bourtai, in the almost-dance of the agta's gait. He dropped his nose to her chest and sniffed her over, then moved away again.

Bourtai felt moved beyond words. He could have driven her away, had he believed she was a threat. He had given her permission to walk with his herd.

She walked all day with the wild agta, and found herself thinking more than ever. There wasn't much else to do, but she was loathe to throw away this gift from the spirits, so she let her mind wander where it would. She thought perhaps her mother was right. She fought well, and none could question her courage, but she did not have a tsereg's spirit. Yet she certainly had no desire to stay in the ger, fletching arrows and preparing travel rations for the warriors when they went to hunt. Where, then, did that leave her? What could she make of herself, if not a warrior or a warrior's woman?

She was still mulling it over when night came again. She was a bit surprised to see darkness fall. By now her ayimag was probably talking about whether to go find her. Even a great tsereg like Kandun could sometimes run into bad luck--look at what had happened to Dasagu. His agta had slipped on a mossy rock and pitched them both into a gorge. Bourtai had not been there, but she had heard that the agta had landed on Dasagu and broken his leg. And even with his own leg broken Dasagu had insisted they check his agta for injuries before setting it. Now that she thought of it, it was really quite amazing that he had let her borrow his agta at all. Either Dasagu's kindness, or Bourtai's trustworthiness, were enormous.

When the agta stopped moving, Bourtai curled up in the grass to sleep. Occasionally during the night she was dimly aware of being sniffed or nuzzled, and once some bold agta nibbled on her tunic. Bourtai absently stroked his velvet nose before going back to sleep.

She woke when the first light touched her face, and stood to join the herd as it ambled northeast. A funny notion had occurred to her as she slept. She had spent an entire day with a herd of wild agta. It was the kind of thing their bugu would do, when he went off on one of his quests for knowledge. Bourtai laughed quietly, trying to imagine herself as a bugu.

The agta around her suddenly bolted. Bourtai started in surprise, at first thinking her laughter had frightened them. Then she saw four han, two on agta of their own, pelting across the meadow. Bourtai stared at them, bewildered. What were the crazy han doing? They were spread out the way Monggol did when hunting wild game. But surely even han would not hunt agta?

She gasped when she saw the leader aim his harw at the fleeing herd. Without thinking, she unslung her own from her back and strung it deftly. The han pulled his agta to a stop so he could aim. Even as Bourtai sneered at his incompetence--any Monggol tsereg could aim a harw from a running agta's back--she was taking advantage of it. The standing han was an easy target. She saw his weapon moving as he judged his own target, then his look of surprise as her arrow went through his collarbone. Bourtai growled between her teeth; she'd been aiming for his unprotected neck.

The other three hadn't noticed yet. Their leader just had time to yell a warning to them before Bourtai's second shot struck him. Bourtai whooped in satisfaction. THAT one had hit the mark. She slung her bow across her back and drew her blade as the remaining three circled back towards her. Kandun could have taken three enemies at once, but Bourtai did not deceive herself--she was barely able to kill one orgh alone.

She did not hesitate. "URAGSHAA!!" she bellowed, and charged her foes across the plain.

They all skidded to a halt, looking vastly surprised, then turned and ran.

Bourtai continued to run after them for a moment, then stopped when she saw they had too great a lead. Confused, she looked around. A dozen tsereg from her tribe were galloping across the meadow towards her.

She stood panting and waited for them to reach her. "Well fought, unaga," said Kandun. Bourtai grinned with pleasure to be praised by so great a warrior--yet he was looking at her very strangely. Before she could ask why, he was trotting his agta over to the group of han. They were standing by their fallen comrade's corpse. One kept speaking strange words and making unpleasant sounds, as if in gastronomical distress. At last the strange words produced a low hum instead, and their leader appeared, swaying and blinking.

The four of them at once began to argue with Kandun, gesticulating wildly. Once their leader looked at Bourtai, and pointed at her, jabbering his han words. Bourtai pointed back at him, and drew her finger emphatically across her throat, grinning viciously. He jerked his arm back and resumed jabbering at Kandun. Bourtai's companions all laughed at her gesture. Yet still they seemed to be looking at her strangely, too.

At last Kandun rode back across to them. The han, still muttering to each other, retrieved their leader's things from his body and moved away to the east. Kandun did not spare them another glance as he rejoined his fellows.

"They say Bourtai attack for no reason," he reported. "I say we saw dem try kill agta, dat plenty reason for monggol. They say agta not belong to anybody, free to kill if dey want." He waited for the angry reponses to die away. "I say agta-killing han not welcome on monggol land, free to kill if monggol want." His companions gave a muted cheer at this clever rejoinder. Kandun glanced at Bourtai. "Him complain not right a mighty warrior killed by little girl monggol." He winked at Bourtai. "I tell him dat his problem."

Bourtai laughed with the others. But the way they were all looking at her was starting to make her uncomfortable. "Why yuh all look at meh funny?" she demanded.

They exchanged glances, then all looked at Kandun again. He looked at her quizzically. "Because," he began, then bogged down trying to find words. He started again. "Us track han strangers in monggol land, see what dey up to. See dem run out of trees to hunt something, hear agta whinny, den we realize dey after agta. We run after, but we know we be too late, dey kill agta. Den you show up from nowhere to protect agta."

He squinted at her, as if it would help him see something he couldn't make out. "Yuh got some strong buyu make you come out of nowhere like dat, to help agta."

Bourtai blinked at him. Buyu? Her? "Meh not come from nowhere," she explained. "Meh spent all day with agta herd, slept with herd last night. Meh was right there with..."

She trailed off when she realized they were looking at her with open astonishment now.

"Yuh been with wild agta all dis time?" asked Kandun. He wasn't questioning the truth of what she told him, only trying to get his mind around it.

"Dsa," answered Bourtai, suddenly self-conscious. She saw some of her companions exchange knowing glances, as if they'd been expecting something like this. What did they know that she didn't?

Kandun cut the low muttering short. "Come. Us go back home. Bourtai talk to bugu. Him do thinking on this."

Bourtai trotted along with the walking agta, completely befuddled. Talk to bugu? At first, when the uguli had been acting so oddly, she had thought perhaps she was being led on a spirit quest--but then when she had found the agta herd it had all seemed perfectly mundane and normal.

It occurred to her that they would REALLY look at her strangely if she told them about the uguli. She decided to save that part for the bugu.