Kendra

Part 8

Nimr could see another horse. He took a rope and made a noose. Tarn gently spoke to it and offered it an apple. Nimr came quietly over and slipped the looped rope over its head. It pulled back a little but was not scared. Tarn patted its neck. Nimrod leapt onto its back and pulled the rope tight. This gave him more grip as the horse bucked and jumped to try to get rid of its unwanted rider. It was only a few more minutes before Nimr had tamed it. “Now I have the speed of a horse to aid me in my hunt.” The horse walked forward, Nimr lost his balance and fell off. “Maybe there is more to sitting on a horse than I thought,” he said as Tarn laughed.

It watched its prey. The little girl knew nothing about it. As she skipped and jumped in the mud the thing watched her. It was about to pounce when something flew past its head and landed beside her. The velociraptor, startled, started to run. As it passed the girl it knocked her over and she began to cry. A black man, riding a horse with a bow and arrows and two leopards gave chase. The leopards could match the speed of the dinosaur. Nimr again raised his bow and fired it accurately at the neck of the dinosaur. The iron point was sharp enough to pierce its neck. It squealed, lurched forward and fell. Nimr reined his mount and went to check his kill. It was dead, he was victorious.

The mother of the little girl had seen what had happened and had gone to hold her child to her breast. She then ran to the settlement saying, “The rider has rescued my child.” As a crowd gathered round she related the story of the rescue to them.

Nimr skinned the creature and spread out its hide to dry in the sun. A villager approached him and spoke. “The elders of the village would like to honour you with a celebration feast tonight. You are the hero of our village.”

The village was a group of dwellings surrounding a green. There was a festive feel in the atmosphere as villagers readied the green by decorating the long tables with flowers and straw decorations. Poles were erected with strings linking them together, also hanging with decorations. Nimr was escorted to the chief elder's house by his sons and daughters. There they had him bathe and rest then gave him a robe to wear instead of his hide armour. He chatted to the oldest of the girls, a beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed girl. As her father entered, he brought with him the child that Nimr had inadvertently rescued.

“What is your name?” asked the elder.

“My name is Nimr,” he replied.

“What does that mean?”

“It means ‘leopard tamer’.”

“My name is Drathan it means ‘cottage’.”

One of the younger daughters came in. “Father, Sharnak is here.”

Sharnak came into the room and pronounced, “We are ready for you now, warrior hero.”