Survivors 2-III

[aurelius]

Survivors2-III: 11-15

 

 

11

 

The next morning I woke up first and set out cups of water.  I went back to bed and whispered in Abari’s ear: “I have to leave for archers’ practice.  Do you want to get up and have water with me first?”

 

“Unh, yes, I do,” he said through very sleepy eyes.  Very slowly he sat up.  I stood up and offered him my hand.  He took it and said “Thanks!”

 

“What are the new Nubians like?  I heard they were archers.”  Abari spoke before he sat down.

 

“They’re pretty good,”  I said as we each sipped some water.  “They said they had heard about Lateef and me shooting the Egyptian soldiers.”

 

“And they still wanted to join us?”

 

I smiled: “They said we were beautiful.  I don’t know if they meant us, but Lateef told them to back off, that our lovers were bigger than us and we were off limits!”

 

Abari smiled:  “Lateef always says something funny.  Garin and I got some looks from those new guys—we both noticed it and talked about it when we were at the pool.”  

 

“So, should I remind them that you’re taken?”

 

“Sure.”  Here he bent over and kissed me: “I’m a one man man.”

 

“So am I,” and I kissed him back.  “But,” I said, “I have to go.  Are you going down to see Garin?”

 

“No,” Garin said at the door—“Garin is coming to see him.”

 

“And Lateef is coming to see you!”  They let themselves in.

 

“Ready to go shoot some arrows?”

 

“Sure.  Let me get my bow and quiver.”  I gave Abari a kiss on the lips, got up and got my stuff.  “Goodbye, my love!”  

 

“Goodbye, my love Jabar!”

 

On our way down the hill, Lateef turned to me and said, “You seem pretty happy this morning.  Have you and Abari made up?”

 

“I think we’re getting there.  But something else happened last night—something which has never happened!”  I smiled.  “Can you guess?”

 

“He let you fuck him?”

 

“No, silly.  We’re not there yet.  But Garin told him about kissing my hole, and Abari did it so well that I begged him to fuck me.”

 

“And he did?”

 

“Yes, he did!”  And I hugged Lateef.  “Now, that hug you must give to Garin!”   “Gladly!” Lateef laughed.

 

“You know” I said, “I had never been fucked before—Oh, I was fucked by soldiers ramming their cocks up my ass, but this was so different.  It was like my ass was worth something, my hole was worth something.  So, I am very very grateful that Garin talked with Abari about how you guys fuck.”

 

“But didn’t our dad talk with you about it?”

 

“No; but I think I was much more interested in sucking his cock and becoming big—and in preparing for the invasion.  I didn’t ask about fucking.  And you had said that it would take a while for Abari to be ready—and Abari resisted any talk about fucking until Garin talked with him”

 

“I guess it was just the right time.”

 

“Well,” I said, “I guess Garin is a whole lot smarter than I thought he was.”

 

“It’s like I said once: he understands people.  He knows how to talk with Abari—probably in a way that you don’t.” 

 

“I’m sure he knows how to talk to Abari better than I do—almost anyone can talk with Abari better than I can!”

 

I got a little slap on my head: “Now you’re being silly!  You are so smart about some things, but different men are smart about different things.  Garin knows people; I know events and you—“ and here he reached over and kissed the place where he had slapped me—“you seem to be able to think ahead, into the future.”

 

“Well, I hope so.”  We were getting near the training field.  All the other archers were already shooting arrows at driftwood targets.

 

We were shooting in pairs, taking turns shooting at targets, then letting the next pair shoot.  When we had shot a couple of times, I turned to Baniti and said, “So, have the defense force men decided on where to put the trenches?”

 

“They’re still talking about it.  I’m afraid a lot of guys don’t think the Egyptians will be back soon.”

 

Tambal spoke up:  “You know, I don’t know why you’re focused on this training field.  Twice the army has attacked here, and twice you’ve defeated them.  I’ll bet they’re thinking about attacking another part of the island.”

 

“Of course!” I said, and I hit the butt of my hand on my forehead.  “Last time, they split their force between here and our bay.  We made them retreat from the bay, and then we came here and freed our men.  They’ll be looking for at least one other place—maybe two.”

 

I turned to Lateef and we said together: “Menes and Shakir!”

 

Then I turned to Babu: “Did you guys have any visitors last night?  Or this morning?”

 

“No,” said Babu, “but I left pretty early.  Aki didn’t get up; I drank some water and left to come here.”

 

“I think we need to go see Menes and Shakir now!”  Lateef nodded, and Babu said, “I’m coming too.”

 

However, Babu wasn’t as good a runner as Lateef and I were.  We were at our beach and he was still under the trees.  And Lateef was ahead of me as we ran up the hill.

 

When we got to Menes and Shakir’s lookout, we heard moaning from Aki and Babu’s house.  As soon as we saw Aki, bleeding, I told Lateef to go get our fathers.  As Lateef left, Babu arrived.  I was already kneeling beside Aki; Babu knelt down too.  “Aki!  Aki!  Can you hear me?”

 

Aki had been hacked—probably by a khepesh.  One wound was near his neck—any closer to his neck and he would have been dead.  The other hack was on his upper arm.  While Babu tried to revive him, I got some water and poured it on the wounds.  The water soaked into the wounds; Aki stirred a little.  Babu called his name again.

 

“Babu!  They took Menes and Shakir!”  

 

“Shush!” I said.  “Save your breath.  My father will be here soon and he’ll take you to the pool.”  I poured more water on the wounds. “Can you drink some water?”  Aki nodded, so I fed him some water.

 

Amare barged into the house.  Without a word, he bent down and scooped up Aki in his big arms.  He turned, went out the door and started running toward the pool.  Babu and Lateef went with him.  My dad stayed behind and asked me: “What happened?”

 

“It looks like a raid.  Aki said they took Menes and Shakir.  I’m just guessing but I think they wanted to kill Aki because they see him as a deserter.”

 

“Then they’ve created a weak place on our island.”  My dad was reading my mind.

 

“We need to start thinking about defending this side of the island: here and the ship in its harbor.”

 

“You’re right.  I’m going to the harbor and get Masud and some of his men. You go to the pool—you and Lateef find your brothers.  We all should meet at the pool and discuss how we can defend this side of the island.”  My dad smiled and said, “You were right.  I just hope we have time to prepare!”  

 

“Thanks, Dad!”  I gave him a kiss on the cheek; then we ran off together to Akhom and Tafari’s house.  As my dad went on to the harbor, I stopped in, told Akhom and Tafari the news, and asked them to come with me to the pool.

 

 

12

 

When I got to the pool with Akhom and Tafari, I saw Amare holding Aki in the water, with Babu scooping water onto Aki’s neck and shoulder.  Aki didn’t move, so I thought he was gone.  But Amare kept holding him and Babu kept scooping water onto him.  Finally, Aki opened his eyes and softly said, “Babu!”  And Babu stopped scooping water and bent down and kissed his lover.  It seemed everyone let out a sigh of relief.

 

Lateef stepped out of the trees with Garin and Abari, Zuberi and Xander—so all my family would soon be together.  Lateef also brought Baniti, Kasta and the rest of the archers.  Then Dad led Masud and several other men from the direction of the harbor.  Everyone asked how Aki was doing.  After Babu nodded toward him to answer, Amare said, “He’s alive, but we will need to keep him here for a day or so.”

 

Dad asked everyone to sit down right there, beside the pool.  “The Egyptians attacked us this morning.  They took Menes and Shakir and deeply wounded Aki.  My son has been warning us that the Egyptians would be back, and he was right.  We now have to make plans for another invasion.  We may not want to, but the raid this morning shows us that it’s probably coming—and soon.  I’m going to ask my son to start our planning.”  And he sat down and gestured to me.  I stood up.

 

“Tambal, one of our new men’”—here I gestured to him—“said that the Egyptians still want our big bodies to pull their slabs of stone.”

 

“Well, they’re not going to get us!” Garin yelled.  Chuckles and laughs from the assembled men.

 

“But,” I said, “they’re not going to get us only if we organize and prepare for their next invasion.”  I suddenly saw that I had everyone’s attention.  “They can attack us anywhere, but since they raided our bay before they attacked us in full force last time, I think we can plan for an attack at Menes and Shakir’s lookout. Therefore, I would ask Akhom and Tafari to move there as soon as possible.  Is that OK with you?”

 

Akhom looked at Tafari, who nodded and said, “Yes, we’ll move there.  But we can’t stop the Egyptians on our own.”

 

“You’re right.  Which is why I’m asking my brothers, Garin and Lateef to move there as well—moving into Aki and Babu’s house, if that’s all right with Babu.”  Amare had to nudge Babu to answer: “Yes, that’s fine.  I’ll be here for the next few days anyway.”

 

“I was thinking that you and Aki could move into Garin and Lateef’s house—Aki won’t be able to fight for several days.  Is that OK with you guys?” I asked Garin and Lateef; they nodded their approval.  I turned back to Babu:  “Now, if—or when—the Egyptians attack your lookout, Akhom or Tafari will sound their horn.  I would like you to run to the lookout and help Lateef shoot up the attacking Egyptians.   Is that OK with you?”

 

“Yes; I want to kill some Egyptians for doing this to my love!”

 

“Now, I also think the Egyptians will return to our bay.  Abari, my love, I would like you to become an archer.  Is that OK?”

 

“Of course!”  

 

“But, Baniti, we’ll need a bigger bow for this big guy—can you make him a bigger bow?  And Zuberi, can you make some extra long arrows?” 

 

“Of course.”

 

“Now, Xander: I want you to join our fathers on the lookout and toss boulders at the Egyptians trying to enter our bay.  And Zuberi, I want you to exchange your spear for a battle ax—you’ll take over Garin’s position on the bay as Abari will take over Lateef’s position.”  I got nods from everyone I mentioned, so I moved on.

 

“Kashta, I’d like you to put your plan in effect: organize the archers in the trees of the jungle.  Baniti, please go with him.  My hunch is that the Egyptians will attack there—and if they retreat as the snakes crush their soldiers, they’ll either attack the training field again or”—and here I turned to Masud and his men—“they’ll attack the harbor.”  Masud nodded.  “And as soon as the Egyptians pull out of the jungle, Baniti and Kashta, you will need to go back to the training field to see if they are attacking there—and if they aren’t, then to run to the harbor.  OK?”  More nods.

 

“Masud, I don’t want our ship to be in the harbor.  I want you to take as many thunderbolt necklaces as Zuberi and his artisan pals can create, head to Mycenae, and sell or barter them there.  And I’d like Theron to go with you—along with a basin of wood and black rock and flame-throwing arrows.  If you meet an Egyptian ship on the way, Theron, it’s your job to make that ship burn!”

 

Theron smiled and said, “Gladly.”

 

“Now, Masud, is there some way you can man your ship with fewer men on the oars?”

 

“Yes; I’ve got some strong guys who can row at least two oars at once—maybe we can make something so that three oars can move at the same time.”

 

“That would be great!” I said.  “My idea is that you leave half your men back in the harbor, so they and two or three of our archers”—I looked at Tambal, Oshi and Ketti—“position yourselves so that you give the Egyptians a good welcome.”  Chuckles.

 

“Now, we’ll still have to have a group of men defending the training field, so those guys who did it last time will get to do it again.  If you want to dig some trenches and slow down the Egyptian advance, that would be fine!”

 

Xander objected: “But I want to be on the training field!”

 

“Sorry, Xander, but you need to help our fathers.  They won’t say so unless you ask them, but they’re not as young as they used to be.”

 

“I can still throw your ass in the bay!” Dad said.  Everyone chuckled.

 

“And I love you for it, but I want at least one more strong man in the lookout.  And—“ and here I looked at Akhom and Tafari and Garin and my dad—“you need to put as many boulders in your lookouts as you can.  Oh, and dad, I’ll help you re-string the warning rope across the bay.”

 

“I’ll help too,” said Lateef.

 

“Now,” I said, “You’ve heard my ideas.  Does anyone have any questions or other ideas?”

 

“Are we going to use mud again?”

 

“Of course.  Xander, can you organize your men to fill the mud basins and get them to the training field, our bay, the far lookout and the harbor?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Kashta asked, “Will we have enough arrows?  Last time we nearly ran out.”

 

Zuberi spoke up: “Everyone in the smithy will be making weapons.  We already have fifty thunderbolts to give to Masud.  We’ll make more arrows.”

 

Baniti said, “And some of the guys at the training field want more stabbing swords.”

 

Xander smiled. “I thought you’d never ask!  I have a dozen piled up; I can make more in the next few days.”

 

I looked around, and hearing no more ideas or objections, I said, “Then that’s it.  Let’s get ready for the invasion!”

 

The conference had gone well.  I didn’t have half of it planned—I just thought out loud and said what I thought was needed.  Of course, having a half-dead Aki in the pool held up by Amare—that helped a lot to focus men’s minds.  We had to prepare.  I hoped that I was right about where the Egyptians would attack: the far lookout seemed logical; so did the jungle and the harbor; I wasn’t as sure that they would attack our bay again, but it seemed to me that the Egyptians would want revenge for their men lost to Lateef and me, and to the sharks.  As the group broke up, my dad came over and gave me a quick hug and a kiss: “You did well, my son.  You bring us together—both your father and I are very proud of you.”  I didn’t want to cry, but my eyes misted up.  Getting a pat on the back from Garin and a quick hug from Lateef—these were things that helped me not cry.

 

And then there was Abari; he came up to me and wrapped me in his big arms and gave me a huge hug and lifted me off the ground.  “Jabar!” he said as he let me go, “You are our leader!  I want to fight by your side forever!  Now, when can I learn to shoot arrows?”

 

“As soon as Baniti can put together a bow big enough for you.  We’ll practice with a regular bow, but with your muscles, I think you could handle a bigger bow and bigger arrows—and shoot down soldiers farther away.  But we can start with my bow.  And I want to fight by your side forever, too!”

 

“That sounds great!”

 

 

13

 

I was exhausted at the end of the conference.  Abari put his arm around me and helped me back home—he offered to carry me, but I said I wasn’t injured, just tired.  We didn’t go straight home.  We stopped by our fathers’ house.  Only Dad was there, since Amare was still at the pool with Aki and Babu.  I didn’t want my dad to drink evening water alone—and Abari agreed.  And, of course, Garin and Lateef stopped by too—I imagined that Xander and Zuberi were already at the smithy, making weapons.  But over half our family was there.  We discussed the plans, and I was surprised to find out that everyone there though “my” plans were fine—no one made any changes.

 

Once Abari and I got home, all I wanted to do was curl up in bed with his arm over me.  But Abari still had some energy; he said, “Jabar, can I suck your cock?”  I said yes, but I assured him I didn’t have any energy to suck his.  “That’s OK,” he said.  “I can still feed you my cum, if you like.”  But by that time I was nodding off to sleep.  I’m not even sure if he sucked my cock.  All I know is that I woke up the next day with his arm around me.

 

We prepared with the same degree of intensity that we had for the last invasion.  The next day, Lateef, Abari and I followed Dad into the bay; we swam out to the rope.  Dad dived much better than we did—he found the rope first, and us kids dove and lifted up other sections.  Dad tied the rope around a tree at the far side of the bay, and then he, Lateef and I set up the gong again.  It really didn’t take too long.  Lateef hugged and kissed our dad and gave me a hug, and then he went up the hill, toward Garin and moving their house to the far lookout—although I suspect Garin was more interested in carrying boulders there.  Meanwhile, Dad went up the hill to start moving boulders; he called Xander to come help him, and they went off, arms on each other’s shoulders.  

 

That left Abari and me on the beach.  I had already brought down my bow, so we started with that.  Seeing Abari with my bow was almost comic—the bow was simply too small for him.  But I was going to try and teach him what I knew, and hope that Banitit could make a larger bow and Zuberi could make larger arrows.

 

I echoed Baniti: “It’s all about the head: you line up your arrow with your eye; you draw the bowstring back to your ear—or a little further—just don’t break my bow, please!  And then you aim, breathe and let the arrow fly.  I find that lifting the arrow a little higher than your target is helpful for reaching your target.  And although you will be shooting at driftwood, when you shoot at Egyptian soldiers, aim for their head or just above their breastplate.”

 

As he had in the past, Abari looked at me as if I was saying the most important words he had heard.  And he was so earnest in trying.  He didn’t hit the target at all at first: “I’m sorry, Jabar!  I promise I’ll do better.”  

 

But I put my hand on his shoulder and said, “This bow is just too small for you, my love.  I’ll bet you’re afraid of breaking my bow—right?”  He nodded.  “Well, thanks for trying not to break it.  But that’s the reason why you’re not doing well.  But let’s keep practicing.”

 

He got a little better with some practice, but it was clear to me that my man was just too strong—and he was holding himself back, and it showed in his aim and where he shot.

 

We took a break and swam and splashed in the bay for a while.  And yes, I let Abari throw me—anything to make him feel better about himself.

 

Then, after we had swam and he had thrown me a few times, Baniti came out of the trees carrying a bow that almost seemed to dwarf him.

 

“Baniti!” I said, “I’m so glad you’re here!  My little bow is just not made for big Abari, and he’s trying his best not to break it.”

 

“I think the big boy will do better with this bow—if only Zuberi were here with some larger arrows.”

 

Indeed, the big bow was much better fit for Abari.  It was harder to pull the bowstring on it than on my smaller bow.  He loved pulling the bowstring back and pretending to fire an arrow.

 

Baniti stayed and said some of the same things I had said—but, as I said to Abari, it’s always better to hear good information twice, so that you learn better—when Zuberi came down the hill bringing fistful of big arrows.

 

“We don’t have a quiver big enough for these yet, but I figured you would want to start practicing as soon as possible.”

 

‘Thanks, big brother!”  Abari was delighted.  He immediately put one of the big arrows into his bow, drew back the bowstring, and shot at the target—and he hit the target!  I couldn’t have asked for a better first try.

 

“Now, I have to get back to the smithy.  I’ll stop by the weavers and urge them to make a big quiver.  Meanwhile, I’ll make some more big arrows.”

 

Abari and I both hugged Zuberi and thanked him again.  And then we got down to more serious training.

 

By the end of the day, Abari was doing well: he was comfortable with his big bow; he was hitting the target almost every time he shot.   I moved the target a little further away.  We agreed that we would go to the archers’ practice on the training field the next day. 

 

Meanwhile, I didn’t get to do much practicing at all.  The archers from the harbor showed up and wanted to go over their plans for “welcoming” the Egyptians.  Tambal, Oshi and Ketti discussed various places to hide; they had several good options.  I suggested that they try each of them, shooting at a target as far away as the harbor, and then see which places seemed best, or most comfortable to them.  “However,” I said, “You should be ready to change places as the situation changes.  That’s what we did when we attacked the prisoner guards at the last invasion: we shot and then ran to another place, shot and ran again.  You will probably end up doing something like that.”  

 

“And oh!” I said. “What I said for Theron goes for you, too:  Get a basin and fill it with wood and black rock; and put some grass or snakeskin around your arrows so they become flaming arrows—set fire to their ship.  That’ll scare the soldiers and it may stop the invasion!”  They all nodded.  I guess I already had a good reputation, and they were very willing listeners.

 

But some of the other harbor men also showed up.  They were shorter but muscular.  They weren’t interested in becoming archers.  They wanted swords so they could fight the soldiers that got off the ship.  So I sent them off to the smithy to see Xander.

 

 

14

 

At the end of the day, Abari and I had arms around each other’s shoulders, each carrying his bow, as we headed up the hill.  Once again, we stopped by to see our fathers.  Amare had come home; he had brought Aki back to Garin and Lateef’s house, where Babu was tending to him.  “Aki’s weak but he’s lot better.  And I get to sleep in my own bed tonight!”  Here, my dad gave his lover a big hug and a kiss.  Then Dad turned to me:

 

“You’re bringing Abari along very well, my son.”  Then he turned to Amare and said, “Our youngest is becoming quite an archer!”  

 

“He is?” Amare looked a bit surprised.  

 

“And,” I said, “Baniti made him a big bow.  He would have broken my bow if he practiced any more with it.  But with his bigger bow, he can shoot soldiers further away!”

 

“That sounds impressive!  Are you happy, my son, with your new bow?”

 

“Oh yes, Dad!  Jabar’s a great teacher and I can’t wait to kill some soldiers!”

 

“Well, I hope you can wait a little longer—I think we all need to prepare some more.”  And then he turned to my dad and said, “Have you added more boulders to the lookout?”

 

“Xander and I added some yesterday, and I added a few more today.  They’re not as big as what you can add, of course.”

 

“Then I  have some work to do tomorrow.”

 

We were sitting down for evening water.  I felt like I was home after two days of talking and working.  What I really wanted was to curl up in my dad’s lap, but I realized that was the dream of a boy.  I looked at Abari sitting next to me—he would do.

 

When we got home, Abari wanted to suck cock. “You fell asleep last night before you could suck my cock!  That’s not fair.” 

 

“I’m sorry. I was so tired.”

 

He came over and hugged me: “I know.  I just don’t like sharing you with the rest of the island.”  He kissed me—which grew into a long, passionate kiss.

 

“Wanna Garin me?  Or can I Garin you?”  He looked confused.  “You know: kiss my hole, or I kiss your hole?”

 

“Oh, that!  You made up a word for it—you called it a ‘Garin’—that’s funny.”  He giggled.  “Sure, you can Garin me.”  He got on all fours.  I kissed his hole and then started licking it with my tongue—slowly at first.  “How’s that?” 

 

“Oh!  I’ve never felt anything like it!”  I stopped licking and said, “Neither did I.  I thought it was wonderful.”

 

“It is!”  So I continued for a while.  Then I stopped and said, “Shall I continue with my fingers?”  “Oh, yes!”  So I did—slowly again, so that he could feel what I was doing—he was actually better at this than I was.  I think he simply followed what Garin had said.  But I had to make sure he was with me: “Does that feel good?”   “Oh yes!  Do it some more!”  I suddenly saw him just a couple weeks ago, asking his dad to throw him in the air again so he could splash in the bay.  

 

But I wondered if I could change things.  I stopped and said, “You know, we are connected by our names?” “What?”  “You’re ABARi and I’m JaBAR.  So maybe I’m licking and fingering your “bar-button.”  Abari erupted in giggles.  “Oh, Jabar!  You made a funny!”  And he kept giggling.  He rolled over on his back.  I leaned onto his big body, kissed him and we both giggled.  It was a joy to see him so happy.

 

Suddenly he stopped giggling and looked at me:  “I know what you’re doing.  You’re making me laugh so I won’t be afraid of being fucked.”  He paused—had I gotten too far?  Had I ruined it?  But then he smiled and hugged me close: “And I love you for it!”

 

So I hadn’t gone too far—it was just that my love knew me too well—and loved what I was doing.  So I had to say “So?”

 

“Yes, you can fuck me.  Just go back and kiss my hole and finger me again—It felt so good—and unlike anything my hole has ever felt.”

 

“Gladly!” I said, and I started all over: kissing, licking, then fingering.  But this time I put my fingers further up his hole and found: ”Oh, Jabar!  What did you touch?  It feels wonderful!”

 

“So, is your bar-button ready for my big bar?”  He giggled again, took a breath and said, “Yes.”

 

I entered him so slowly.  I wanted him to feel as little pain as possible.  But once my cock was in him, he moaned a little and said, “More, my love!”  And I slowly and gladly continued.

 

And continued, slowly, in and out.  He moaned some more.  I smiled.  I felt that all my waiting and the few jokes I had told, and my love for this big, sleek, muscled boy-man had been worth it.  I wanted to enjoy this fuck—and I wanted him to enjoy it too.  

 

“Can you roll over so that I can kiss you?”

 

“I’ll try,” he said, but it was difficult—and I popped out.  The boy is just so big.  “Can I put my cock into you again?”  “Oh yes, please!”  And I leaned down and kissed him—and he kissed me back and we were lost in our kiss for a while.

 

But I started again.  He closed his eyes.  I could see him bite his lip a little as I entered him, but then I could also see his face melt into pleasure.

 

Again, I took things slowly.  I wanted to last; I wanted his pleasure to last.  But suddenly my excitement rose and I felt myself thrust more strongly—even though I tried to hold myself back.  And soon I came.  “Ahhhh!” I couldn’t help saying as I came.  

 

My cock was still hard in him when he said, “Oh Jabar!  I loved seeing your face when you came!  Did you love seeing my face when I came?”

 

“Of course I did!”  And I fell onto his big body and kissed him again.  My cock wilted and fell out of him.  I rested on him; he put his big arms around me; we were quiet for a while; then I felt his tear fall on my cheek.  “I know you have wanted to fuck me for days—weeks.  But I was afraid.  And I know you loved me and waited and made this first time as fun and wonderful as possible.”  I lifted up my head to see tears rolling down his beautiful face.  I kissed his tears as they fell.  “I love you, Abari!”  “Jabar, I love you!”  He cried and hugged me tight.  With my head in the middle of his big chest, I said, “Abari, my love, I am so glad I waited and worked for this!  I love you so much!”  And we kissed yet again.

 

He wouldn’t let me go, so we fell asleep with me lying on top of him and his arms wrapped around me.  Sometime in the night he must have loosened his arms and I rolled out.  I woke up beside him with his one arm over me.  I gently, slowly, picked up his big hand and moved his arm.  I had to get up and pour the morning water.

 

 

15

 

After morning water, we started for the training field and archers’ practice.  Babu soon joined us.  I asked after Aki; Babu said he was still weak, but able to walk; Babu was going to the training field but wanted to get back as soon as he could.   

 

Then Lateef came running up.  “How’s our new archer?” he said as he put an arm on Abari’s shoulder.

 

“I’m fine!” Abari said.  “I think he’s more than fine,” I said.  “I’m thinking he should stand in our fathers’ lookout and shoot flames at the Egyptian ships.”

 

“But Jabar,” Abari said. “I thought you wanted to fight by my side.”

 

“And I do, my love, but I also think you can bring flames to the Egyptian ships.  Today, let’s give you a target further away then the rest of ours.  I’ll bet you can hit it!”

 

“But I want to be with you!”  

 

“But you’ll be with our fathers in the lookout.”

 

“And with Xander—I don’t think I like that.”  He pouted; the six year old was back.

 

Lateef then said, “I thought you had forgiven Xander.”

 

“Well, yes, but…”

 

“And,” Lateef added, “You’ll be able to keep an eye on Xander so that he doesn’t try to kiss Jabar.”

 

“I hadn’t thought of that!”

 

I stopped and looked at Abari: “If you really want to stay with me on the beach, you can.  But I’m thinking about how you can shoot some flaming arrows out to an Egyptian ship and cause it to burn.  It will scare the Egyptians and make them think more about saving their ship than attacking us.  Can you see how that would be a good thing?”

 

“Well, yes—“

 

“But let’s see how well you shoot today at the training field.  If you’re not so good, then you can stay with me.  But I think you’re good and you could stand in the lookout next to your dad and show him what you can do!”  

 

“Well, OK.”  Abari didn’t see it, but Lateef winked at me.

 

When we got to the training field, I asked Baniti if one of the targets could be moved further back.  That became Abari’s target.  Baniti and I both coached him, and Lateef offered some ideas.  He looked magnificent: his strong muscles pulling the long bowstring taut, lining up the arrow and letting it fly.  He hit the target again and again—even though he often missed the center of the target, he never missed the target.  And at that range, not only I was impressed; Baniti and the other archers were also impressed.

 

“Great job, Abari!” Baniti said.  

 

“Sol” I said to Abari, “If you’re willing to stand in the lookout, maybe we ask my dad to make some kind of floating target and tow it out to sea, so you have something to shoot at in the ocean.  Now, you’ll have to hit the target and not my dad—OK?”

 

“Well,” Abari said, lowering his head, “If you think I’m that good—“

 

“I do,” I said.  “And Baniti thinks so too.”  Baniti nodded.

 

Just then, some of the harbor men came out of the woods and over to see me.  “Can you come and look at our preparations?”  Hasani was a strong, good-looking man; his beautiful partner, Hamadi, was with him.

 

“Of course,” I said.  Then I turned to Lateef: “If I’m not back by the time you leave, please take Abari to our dad and talk about making a target in the ocean, OK?”  Lateef said, “Sure.”

 

We took a path through the trees to the harbor.  Hamadi and Hasani explained along the way that they just wanted me to look things over.

 

The harbor was a beach with a short pier; the pier had steps, to make it easier to get on the ship.  It wasn’t much of a harbor, but it served Masud and his crew.  And since we only had one ship, we didn’t need a big harbor.  The good thing about the harbor—at least in terms of defending the island—were all the boulders at the end of the beach and up the hill from the beach.  There were plenty of places for archers and swordsmen to hide behind. 

 

The houses for Masud and his crew were up at the top of the hill. The lookout was well manned.  In the first invasion, some time ago, the Egyptians used the harbor to off-load soldiers.  Our ship was away at the time.  The lookout sounded their horn, the far lookout repeated it—and Amare and my dad and Xander and Zuberi had all gone to help the men at the harbor.  In this last invasion, the Egyptians attacked our beach and not the harbor.  Would they go back to their first plan?  Or would they attack the far lookout and the jungle—and then attack the training field again?  We had to prepare across the island. 

 

I could already see that archers could hide along the top of the hill and provide a defensive line in case the swordsmen had to retreat from the beach.  Masud looked to be finishing up his preparations to sail.  Theron was helping a strong guy load a basin with wood and black rock in it.  Other crew members were loading baskets of silver ore and one basket of jewelry.  The ship wouldn’t be loaded down, but the important thing was that it would be away from the island when the Egyptians attacked.

 

As we got to the harbor, Tambal, Oshi and Ketti were coming down the hill.

 

“OK,” I said, “so who’s going start telling me your plans?”

 

Tambal started: “We archers are going stand in the lookout.  We already have a basin with black rock and wood in it, and arrows ready for the fire.  We’ll shoot at the incoming ships and try to set them afire.”

 

“That sounds good.   You might use snakeskin instead of grass knots for your flaming arrows.  I hope you can set at least one ship aflame.  But what happens after other ships land?”

 

“We come along the hill and fire down on the soldiers as they off-load.”

 

“OK.  But what about our men?  Are they on the beach fighting with Egyptians soldiers?”

 

Tambal was quiet for a moment and then said, sheepishly, “We aim more carefully?”

 

I turned to Hamadi and Hasani:  “You swordsmen have to get together with the archers and work out a plan—something like you retreat and the archers fire.  Then you attack and the archers wait.”

 

Hamadi looked at Tambal: “Can we work that out?”

 

Tambal said, “We’ll need to practice it—and the time it takes for us to run from the lookout to the houses.”

 

Hasani said, “You guys can use our houses to hide in, and then step out and fire.”

 

Tambal said, “Thanks!  That sounds good.  But we’ll still need to practice.”

 

Hamadi said, “Of course.”

 

I looked at each group and had a moment’s thought that these guys could have had an Egyptian-Nubian conflict—but I didn’t want to think about that.

 

“Look, guys, we all have to make adjustments.  Hasani and Hamadi live here.  Tambal, Oshi and Ketti—you don’t live here; your houses are over by the training field.  So you’re guests.  But it would be great if you could start living in the lookout.  As long as you have each other for heat and a jug or two of water, you can survive there.  But, Hasani and Hamadi, it would be better if you guys opened your homes to these men.”  I looked around and saw nods from Hamdi and Hasani, and I felt relief. 

 

“Also, you swordsmen, you need to help Tambal and the others with what ever they need—like more wood for their fire basin—so that they set fire to at least one Egyptian ship.  The fewer Egyptians that land on this beach, the fewer soldiers you will have to kill.  Understand?”  And as I said that word a bit loudly, I realized I was becoming my dad.  It wasn’t all that bad of a development.

 

With heads nodding in agreement, I figured I was done.  But another idea occurred to me: ‘“Do you guys have at least two mud basins?”

 

“No,” said Hamdi, “We only have one.”

 

“Well, that won’t do.  You need one for the archers and one for the swordsmen.  The one you have should be for the swordsmen.  I’ll talk with Baniti about getting the archers one.”