The Cost of Vengeance

Deep in the forest of Arizona lived a village of Pueblo Indians led by Chief Kele. Chief Kele had become Chief after his father passed away in 1535, and had been for five years. Chief Kele led the tribe with the help of his younger brother Nantan, who led the tribe's army of warriors and hunters. Kele and his wife Ella with the help of their children, Victorio, Loco, Nalin and Jacali led the tribe peacefully. The past five years had been peaceful, they had a lot of food from their gardens and game they hunted. In the gardens they grew beans, carrots, corn and potatoes. They hunted small game like rabbit, squirrel, birds and large game like deer and bear. They lived alongside other Indian tribes nearby, sharing and trading food, fur and other supplies. All was well.

Kele and Ella’s children had their own jobs in the tribe as well as their own families. Their oldest son Victorio married the daughter of a tribal elder Lenna. Together they had three sons, 18 year old Juh, 14 year old Kuruk and 7year old Bimisi. Juh was a hunter and a warrior in training, Kuruk was a hunter. Bimisi was too young to hunt so he spent a lot of time with the other boys of the tribe who were stuck behind. Victorio’s younger brother Loco was a leader who stayed close to their father helping to make decisions for the tribe's future. Loco had married a tribal girl Ekta and had a 12 year old daughter Bina.

Kele’s daughters had their husbands chosen by their father, for his oldest daughter Nalin he chose a hunter gatherer Taza and together they had a 16 year old daughter Ela. For his youngest daughter Jacali he chose a brave and honest warrior Diablo and together they had a 11 year old daughter Zi-yeh. Kele’s granddaughters Ela and Bina helped watch over Bimisi and Zi-yeh and the other children in the tribe while their parents worked. The teen girls were not left unsupervised, Kele, his brother Nantan and his son Loco were nearby. As was Nantan’s wife Leosanni. Ella’s brother Magnas and his wife and medicine woman Liluye and their son Eknath, a medicine man in training, were also nearby.

Kele and Nantan lead their tribe with peace for five years without incident and would have continued to do so if it wasn’t for a group of explorers that invaded their tribal land. Victorio had taken out a hunting party that included his sons Juh and Kuruk searching for deer. Down near the river Victorio stopped by the water when he saw a large group of men drinking. He had never seen these men before and they didn’t look like any Indians he knew. His son Kuruk was not paying attention to his father, he was trying to catch a fish with a stick he had sharpened into a spear. A fish swam in front of him so Kuruk pushed the stick in the water. He pushed it too hard and slipped, falling into the water.

With a loud splash and a yell Kuruk hit the water alerting the large group of men to their location. Before Victorio could get to his son, one of the men pulled out an object he had never seen before. The man pointed it at Kuruk and it made a loud booming sound, a small object was fired from it and sped into Kuruk hitting his chest. The boy was hurled into the water, he was pulled out by his brother Juh, blood was pouring from the wound. The men were yelling and running toward them, not knowing what to do Victorio ran towards them, yelling to Juh to get his brother home to Liluye for help. Juh scooped his brother into his arms and started walking toward home. He heard another loud bang and turned around just in time to see his father hit the ground and not get up.

With tears in his eyes and his brother in his arms Juh ran as fast as he could towards his village. He heard the men yelling in a language he didn’t know behind him, he was worried they’d follow him. That fear made him run faster, he didn’t fear for himself only for his little brother bleeding in his arms. The longer he ran the heavier Kuruk got, he looked down at his little brother fearing he was dead, Juh started screaming for help. His words were slurred because he was crying and breathing heavily.

Back at the village, Kele, Nantan and Loco were in the smoke lodge preparing for a tribal celebration when they heard someone screaming for help. All the villagers heard the screaming. Lena and Bimisi thought of Victorio, Juh and Kuruk out hunting and were worried something terrible had happened. Before she could stop him Bimisi ran off toward the sound of the screaming, he was followed by his grandfather Kele and Nantan. Diablo and Taza followed along with the tribe's army. The women gathered the children into the huts to keep them safe.

Kele grabbed hold of Bimisi pulling him behind him, Nantan pulled him to the side and allowed the army to run ahead of them to keep the boy safe from harm. Juh saw his grandfather running towards him. He was unable to keep running and standing and fell to his knees on the ground. Kele knelt down in front of Juh gently pulling Kuruk on to the ground. Kele looked at the round wound on his grandson’s chest, “Nantan, get Liluye and Biminak quickly. Diablo, Taza check the area for intruders” Kele ordered.

Nantan took Bimisi by the hand, running back toward the village. “Juh, what happened? Where is your father” Kele asked. Juh’s eyes filled with tears “he’s dead. I think. Strange men, with strange weapons attacked us. They used the strange weapon to hurt Kuruk. Father told me to take him and run so I did. They hurt my father the same way they did Kuruk. Father fell down and didn’t move” Juh cried. Kele put his arms around the boy hugging him, trying to push away the grief and anger he felt knowing his son was dead.

Nantan returned with the tribe’s medicine man Biminak and medicine woman Liluye. Kele stood up, pulling Juh up into a standing position. Biminak looked at the wound, and Liluye cleaned the wound. They carried the injured boy back to their tent in the village, Lenna screamed seeing her wounded son. Juh ran to his mother hugging her and Bimisi held them. Kele followed Bimibak and Liluye into the tent. Leaving Nantan and Juh to tell Lenna what happened and the fate of Victorio.

Inside the tent Kele heard Lenna”s screams, again he fought back the tears, he had to be strong for his family. Biminak examined the wound, he realized something was in the wound. It wasn’t an arrow, it was something he had never seen before. He picked up a small sharp knife he used to remove arrowheads, he cut open the wound more, He sent his wife out to care for Lenna and Bisimi and Juh. He used a pair of tweezers to pull out a small metal ball, he held the ball up looking at it. He dropped it into a bowl and continued to fix the damage done by the small ball. He finished sewing up Kuruk, the boy was alive but Biminak wasn’t sure he would stay that way, fearing infection.

As Kele exited the tent, Diablo and Taza had returned from the search, “Chief, we found footprints larger than Juh’s following him back here but we saw no one. Do you want us to go further out to retrieve Victorio's body? Diablo said. “No not now, we need to have a tribal meeting now. Gather everyone. I have to tell my wife our son is dead and of what happened” Kele said. Diablo saw the pain and fear in the Chief’s eyes, as he walked toward his home. His wife Ella met him at the doorway, she had already heard from Lenna and Juh. Bimisi was sleeping on the floor nearby.

Diablo and Taza gathered the tribe and they all waited for the Chief’s arrival, but he decided to stay with his wife and grandchildren. He sent Nantan in his place. “I do not know and did not see what happened today. But, I do know my nephew Victorio was killed by strangers outside of the village while hunting with his two sons Juy and Kuruk. I believe Victorio died protecting his children, one Kuruk was badly wounded by these strangers. No action should be taken now. We need to protect ourselves since we do not know who the strangers are or what they want. Return to your homes. As soon as we know more we will meet again.” Nantan said.

Back at the river where Victorio fell, the men who shot him stood above his corpse. The men were from Spain who had come up from Mexico to explore the area to see if it was a good place to create a new settlement. They were explorers led by Arlo along with his brother Hugo and son Junior and other men. “Who is this man?” Hugo said. “Looks like an Indian warrior,” Arlo said. “Is he after us, father?” asked Junior. “I do not know and now that he is dead we can not know. Who shot this man? Who shot the boy?” Arlo said.

“I did not shoot the boy but I did shoot this man. He was running at us, I feared for my safety so I shot him” Jose said. “That was the right choice, Jose. But whoever shot the boy, made a huge mistake in judgment. I fear more like him will come not only for his body but for vengeance for the boy” Arlo said. “What should we do, Arlo?” Hugo said. “Jorge, Angel, Santiago follow the mans' tracks, see where they live and what they are doing and report back” Arlo said. Arlo got a blanket out of the bag on his horse, unfolded it and used it to cover the body of the fallen man.

At the village the entire tribe was on edge, most were in their homes all except for Kele’s family. The Chief and his sons were in the smokelodge sitting in silence deep in thought. The army was on high alert in different areas keeping an eye out for intruders. Jacali and her sister Nalin cooked dinner for the children, and they attempted to explain to the children what was going on.

While the two women were cleaning up, the children sat in Zi-yeh’s room in silence until Bisimi spoke “Juh, tell us a story.” he said. “I do not feel like telling a story, Bisimi.” Juh said. “I’ll tell you a story, one of anger and vengeance. The story of Keta the great warrior.” Ela said. The children gathered around her sitting in a circle. Juh left the tent, not wanting to hear about a story of vengeance since it’s what his heart wanted. But knowing that vengeance would only bring more pain and agony for his family and the village.

Ela started the story. “Years and years ago there was a great warrior called Keta. He led the tribal army deep into the forest in the middle of a great war with the Apache. He and the army would be gone for weeks, without them the village was defenseless. The Apache scouts at the village borders sent word home the army had left. The Apache sent part of their army after Keta and the rest of the army to the village and slaughtered all the people including the women and children, even the newborn infants. Keta and the surviving warriors returned home in defeat; they found the entire village dead.”

“Keta went to his home and found his family all dead, his wife, his children, his parents, all dead. The other warriors found the same thing at their homes, Keta and his warriors were the last of the tribe. His warriors wandered off into the woods to disappear in one way or another. But Keta’s heart was full of rage and all he wanted was vengeance. As he walked the village looking at the bloody bodies of his fallen tribe, he saw the body of his uncle, the medicine man. Near his body was his staff and bag of herbs, Keta remembered a ritual his uncle had told him when he was a boy. The ritual was to summon Itzcoliuhqui, God of Darkness and Destruction.”

“Keta picked up the staff and herb bag and his bow and arrow, he walked out into the woods. The first thing he needed for the ritual was fresh blood and he was not going to use the blood of his tribe. He hid behind a fallen tree frozen until a small rabbit crossed his path, he pulled back the string of his bow and let loose an arrow striking the rabbit in the chest. Keta stood up and picked up the rabbit, using his knife and a small bowl he collected the blood of the small rabbit. He removed the arrow and buried the rabbit, thanking it for it’s sacrifice. In front of the dark water of the river, he began the ritual.”

“He placed the bowl of blood in front of him, he opened the herb bag and took out a sprig of sage, bark of cinnamon and a sprig of thyme and some dirt placed them in the bowl with the blood. He smashed the herbs mixing them into the blood until he had made a paste. He put the paste on his finger rubbing it all over his face making a blood mask. Keta stood up and picked up the staff, he stepped knee deep into the water, he chanted, “Brave, powerful God Itzcoliuhqui, hear my call for vengeance, send your dark warriors to do my bidding and curse those who killed my tribe. I am your servant, in this life and the next use me as you wish. Just give me the vengeance I seek.”

“The water bubbled around him, turning from black to red as blood around Keta, he saw black eyes form in the water in front of him. He heard a dark whisper of a voice say, “I will grant you your vengeance at the cost of your life and your soul.” Dark figures rose out of the water walking all around Keta and out of the water. Keta watched the dark warriors glide towards the Apache village. Keta followed them to the village and watched the dark warriors tear apart the Apaches leaving only bloody bodies behind them. They then turned their attention to Keta, they each put their dark hand on his chest, ripping out his heart and his soul, taking it to Itzcoliuhqui for all eternity.” Before Ela could finish the story her mother walked in, “Ela, stop telling the children this dark story. Come, we are going home, ` Nalin said. Ela stood up and stood next to her mother. “Bina you are coming with us, I’m taking you home to your mother” Nalin said. “Juh and Bisimi are staying here with Jacali.” Nalin said.

Juh spent the night outside in the woods, Bisimi slept in Zi-yeh’s bed and the two cousins cuddled together after a stressful day. Jacali cried herself to sleep in fear of what tomorrow would bring. Not wanting to be alone, Nalin and Ela stayed with Ekta and Bina. In the smokelodge Chief Kele, Loco, Nantan decided Diablo and Taza would follow the tracks they had found to scout the strangers and learn all they could about them. But not until after they had a family breakfast to start to heal from the tragedy of losing Victorio and possibly Kuruk. Kele went home to Ella and asked her to start preparing for breakfast.

The moon was full in the sky by the time Jorge, Angel and Santiago returned to the river with news for Arlo. “Arlo, we found the tribe, they were angry and we heard screaming in anger and sadness. They are angry about the death of the warrior and I do not think the boy will survive.” Angel said. “Are they preparing to attack us?” Arlo asked. “Yes, they are. All the men are out of their homes, away from their families and the man in charge went into a tent with the lead warriors to discuss strategy.” Santiago said. “Arlo, they are going to come for us. We need to strike them first, catch them off guard.” Jorge said. “Are there many warriors?” Arlo asked. “Yes, but they are all split up on different ends of the village.” Angel said. “We can take them out first, then the rest of them.” Arlo said.

As the sun came up over the trees, Chief Kele and Ella set their table for the family breakfast. Loco, Ekta and Bina were the first to arrive, followed by Diablo, Jacali and Zi-yeh and Taza, Nalin and Ela. The last to arrive were Nantan and Leosanni with Juh and Bisimi who had horrible news for the family. “I am afraid Kuruk did not make it through the night, he died in his sleep. Liluye, came to me as the son was rising this morning to inform of the boy's death.” Nantan said. Everyone in the room was stunned by the news, as they sat down for breakfast all were quiet and crying. It was not the happy breakfast Kele and Ella had wanted before Diablo and Taza left.

As the family ate, they heard what sounded like screams and sounds of fighting. Mangas ran into the tent with blood stains on his clothes and a leg wound. “The strangers are here, they are killing everyone and they need help.” Mangas said. Diablo stood up, grabbed his bow and arrow and ran out of the tent, followed by Taza, Loco, Nantan and Leosanni. “Jacali, Nalin, Ella, stay here with the children. Juh guard them, if anyone comes, kill them.” Kele said. Ella led Ela and Bina to the corner while Nalin hid with Bisimi and Zi-yeh under the table, Juh stood near the doorway with Jacali guarding the door.

Inside the tent sounds of strange blasting were heard followed by screams, “Zi-yeh, take Bisimi and hide at the back of the tent under the furs, go now.” Nalin said. Zi-yeh took Bisimi by the hand, taking him to the back of the tent and covering him and herself with a pile of furs. Just as the kids were covered, strange men entered the tent. Juh charged them and was tackled to the ground by the larger of the two men. The large man stabbed Juh in the stomach with a knife, and the other man pointed a silver object at Jacali. A large bang came from it followed by a small ball that hit Jacali. She hit the ground with blood pouring from the hole in her chest.

In an attempt to protect her daughter Ela, Nalin crawled out from under the table lunging at the man on top of Juh. The other man pointed the weapon at her and fired it, hitting Nalin in the head. Unable to stop him, Bisimi got out of the furs, pulled a small knife his father had made him and tried to stab the man that killed his brother. But he was no match for the large man who slit Bisimi’s throat with his own knife. Ella stood up in the corner of the tent holding her bow and arrow, she pulled Ela and Bina behind her. Ella fired her arrow hitting the man with the strange weapon in the shoulder. The large man with the knife ran and stabbed Ella before she could fire another arrow.

Ela tried to pick up the bow and arrow but was stabbed before she could load it. The large man pulled Bina up by her hair and slit her throat. He looked around the tent and didn’t see anyone else. Lenna walked into the tent, with a knife in her hand, she stabbed the man holding the strange weapon in the neck. The large man turned around, seeing her coming towards him, he stabbed her in the stomach. Zi-yeh held her hands over her mouth trying not to make a sound and keep still until she was sure the men left. The large man pulled the other man’s dead body out of the tent. Still Zi-yeh hid.

Meanwhile, outside the strangers moved through the village killing everyone in sight, Diablo dropped his bow and arrow in favor of his knife. He was attacked by Arlo and Hugo, Arlo had a knife in his hand and Hugo had a weapon Diablo had not seen until that day. Diablo lunged with his knife pointed at Arlo cutting his upper arm. Hugo pointed his weapon at Diablo firing it, it hit him in the neck, Arlo then stabbed Diablo in the chest and the great warrior fell lifeless to the ground. Taza sees everything sprinted toward Arlo just to be shot in the head by Hugo. Nantan and Kele saw the events unfold, Nantan pointed his bow and arrow at Hugo and let loose hitting the man in the leg.

Hugo screamed in pain grabbing his leg, Arlo put his knife in it’s holder on his belt pulling out the same weapon that had killed Diablo. He pointed it at Nantan first firing it, hitting Nantan in the eye, he then turned it on Kele firing at the Chief hitting him in the lower chest. Leosanni ran to her husband's lifeless body falling on him sobbing, Arlo fired his weapon hitting her in the back. Loco witnessing the murder of his father, let out a loud fierce war cry charging at Arlo, who pointed the weapon at the angry man firing it striking Loco in the stomach. Mangas not wanting to end up like his family turned around and ran away, only to be stabbed in the chest by the waiting Jorge.

“Got him.” Jorge said, “is that all of them?” Arlo asked, “Yes, there were a few on the other side of those tents but Jose, Francisco, Michael and Juaqine took care of them.” Jorge said. “Those savages killed uncle Hugo?” Junior asked. “Yes, I am afraid they did. But I killed them both.” Arlo said. “Junior, do find Mateo and Marco. Tell them we are headed back to our campsite to prepare to go home.” Arlo said. A few seconds later, Junior returned with Mateo who was carrying the body of Marco and followed his father and the others. Junior pulled the rope guiding the horse that held the dead bodies of Hugo and Marco.

Back in Kele’s tent, covered in fur, Zi-yeh was hot, covered in sweat. The loud banging had stopped, so had the screaming, it had been quiet for a while. Zi-yeh slowly crawled out from under the pile of furs, she stood up on shaking legs. She started to cry seeing her dead family around her, she quickly walked by them, trying not to look at them. She exited the tent looking around, she didn’t see any of the strange men so she walked out into the village. Blood was all over the ground, along with arrows, knives, broken pottery. She walked toward her family's tent, she looked up at the sky to avoid seeing bodies of the dead.

Zi-yeh only got half way to her tent before she saw the body of her father Diablo, not far from him was her uncle and grandfather. She realized her entire family was gone, the girl fell to her knees sobbing. Once she had no tears left to cry, she stood up and continued walking, she got to the tent of Liluye the medicine woman. She pulled back the curtain and walked in, on the floor in front of her feet was Eknath Liluye’s son. She stepped around him, going further into the tent, she saw Liluye’s body, she had her herb bag in her hand. At the back of the tent were the bodies of Onawa and her son Elan who were being treated by Liluye. “My whole village is dead and gone. What am I to do?” Zi-yeh cried.

Zi-yeh sat on the floor for what seemed like forever, she thought out loud, “Grandfather Kele would get revenge.” she said. Thanks to her cousin Ela, the story of Keta’s vengeance was in her mind, she had the herbs she needed but she needed the staff of a medicine man and fresh blood. She walked back to Liluye and pulled the bag of herbs out of hand, she left the tent. She headed toward the tent of the medicine man Biminak, he laid dead in front of his tent, his staff sat at his side and he held his knife in his hand. Zi-yeh bent down picking up the staff and the knife.

Zi-yeh walked to the end of the village into the woods, she took a deep breath hoping not to run into any of the strangers that killed all her people. By the time she made it to the river the sun had set and the moon was full in the sky. She knew she wouldn’t be able to find any animals to sacrifice, the only blood she had was her own. She took the knife poking the tip of the blade into her skin and pushing down she let the blood drip in a bowl she pulled from the herb bag. When she had enough blood, she cut a strip of cloth from her skirt wrapping it around her wrist. She opened the herb bag taking out a sprig of sage, bark of cinnamon and a sprig of thyme and some dirt.

Just as Keta had done she put the herbs in the bowl using a rock to smash the herbs into the blood making a paste. Zi-yeh put her fingers in the paste and rubbed it all over her face making a death mask. She stood up and picked up the staff of the medicine man, she walked out into the water stopping when she was knee deep. She stopped for a minute to think of the chant Keta had said, they came to her quickly. “Brave, powerful God Itzcoliuhqui, hear my call for vengeance, send your dark warriors to do my bidding and curse those who killed my people. I am your servant, in this life and the next use me as you wish. Just give me the vengeance I seek.” Zi-yeh yelled. For the longest time nothing happened, she started to doubt the story was true and that she had done the ritual for nothing.

The water turned ice cold around her, turning from black to purple around her, she saw a figure form in the water in front of her. A dark growl of a voice said, “I will grant your vengeance and then you are mine.” The figure gave Zi-yeh no time to answer before dark shadows like people rose from the water. The girl followed the shadow figures to the campsite of the strangers, she watched as they tore the men apart leaving nothing but bloody body parts behind. When all the men were dead and the camp destroyed the shadow figures disappeared leaving Zi-yeh alone. She made her way back to her village, she went to her family's tent.

She took off her blood covered skirt and her shirt, put on a clean sleep dress and crawled into her bed and lay down. But before she went to sleep she heard the same growl of a voice she’d heard at the river. “Zi-yeh, you are mine.” She looked up seeing a dark figure with the face of a demon looking down at her. Before she had time to scream, the figure reached into her chest pulling out her soul pulling her into damnation. Her lifeless body remained on the bed. Zi-yeh learned the vengeance could be had but at the cost of her everlasting soul.

The End