the mountainous terrain. The deceased warriors passed into the peacefulness of Valhalla. Middle Earth is a world at constant war, with its victims being very young, as well as full grown. To grow old with your loved ones was rare. I wondered if I would return home to my family. I hoped I had a future with Saskia, Gerulf, and whoever else wanted to be a part of my life.
A pile of captured weapons, armor, and jewelry accompanied us the next day, along with ten men, who were our prisoners. They were blindfolded and bound, forcefully shoved along the trail, if they did not walk a proper line behind our horses. They were not treated kindly. At evening’s rest, they were forced down to the ground; given little water and food. No warm blankets were lent to them. They had to make due with the warmth of a fire and each other. It was unpleasant to be captured and tortured for any reason, as a prisoner of your enemy. This treatment eventually wore some of the prisoners down to a thin fragment of who they were in their tribe.
The day that we reached the other side of the Carpathian Mountains was thrilling. We could see a magnificent view of the valley below. We were close to the clouds and the gods that reigned over the people of the Middle Earth, where we roamed. We were excited to find a new place—away from the hordes of people, the villages of the Rugii, Venethi, Burgundiones, Vandili, and all the other encroachers upon our land, and our villages. I still had an unsettled feeling in my stomach.
While most of the Gepids continued down the slopes, I grew more impatient with the slow progress of their wagons. I decided I wanted to travel in a different direction—to ride north toward the great open steppes, for I loved the freedom and vastness of the sky, and the adventure of roaming on my horse.
Of course, Saskia was resistant to this decision at first. She slowly changed her mind after Gerulf and Anselm encouraged me to reason with her. Saskia rarely changed her mind.
“We’ll want our brothers, Gernot, Erwin, Alfons, and Bruno along for safety, of course,” Anselm insisted.
“When we have gathered enough supplies, and we are rested, it will be a good time to leave. The moon is right for travel north. Perhaps we will travel tomorrow morning, before the sun rises. We should say good-bye tonight,” I suggested to the group.
“I think we should ask the elders which direction is best. I was thinking we should ride down the slope along the Tyras River and turn north between the Hypanis and the upper Buh Rivers. Only a few tribes live there. It would be safer,” said Gerulf.
“Aah! Don’t the Fenni live close to this region? No one really knows that tribe well. For all we know, they could be cannibals, and we’d be their roast meat,” Anselm added.
Saskia felt uneasy, so she suggested, “We must talk to the elders and hear what they say, before we spend the day changing our plans several times. The important thing is to gather water and food. Tents would be good. Ermentrude and I can sew three tents for us to use for shelter. We still have the cured deer skins rolled up on our horses. Gerulf, you and Anselm must gather the other supplies. Can you find some extra blankets to use?”
“Good. We have a plan; now we must get supplies. We have little time. Anselm will tell our brothers to prepare. I must remember the water,” Gerulf sounded overwhelmed.
That evening, around the campfires, the Gepids ate, and we asked the elders the best route to travel. The elders counseled together, when they heard our intention to travel as a small group into the Venethi lands.
“You want to travel in such small number, as to risk sudden ambush?” one of the elders spoke, “That is foolish of you!” He tightly wrapped his cloak around his neck looking annoyed by our inexperience.
“Grandfather . . . we have the best warriors among us. We are able to pass through territory without attracting attention to ourselves because we are few,” Gerulf explained with eyebrows arched.
“That may be true, but the Sporoi tribes that live in that region, are murderers!” another old man added, scratching his neck.
“And we aren’t, when we need to be?” Gerulf continued.
“What about your women? Can you protect them and fight at the same time?” the oldest grandfather argued.
“We can defend our lives, dear grandfather,” I proudly said, “we are trained in weaponry!”
“That may be—but when you are fighting a brutally strong man, will you submit to his power, or find the inner strength to kill him? You are young and perhaps strong, but no match for a giant, if he should capture or destroy you!” said another elder, whose argument was making me nervous.
“We will stand united, back to back, and battle anyone who attacks us!” the brother, Bruno uttered loudly.
“When you sleep, your guards should watch the horses and be near your camp, so they can alert you to any danger. You must sleep with your weapons ready. You must camp in the forest and sleep under brush whenever possible,” proclaimed one of the elders with gnarled fingers.
We thought about the advice given to us during the evening, anticipating tomorrow’s departure with slightly less enthusiasm than before. I sighed and attempted to sleep, after a long evening of sewing and thinking. In the end, the elders suggested that we take the route through the mountain pass that led to the northeast, and down the Tyras and the Buh Rivers, into the Venethi lands. This Sarmatian land was settled for thousands of years by the Venethi, a Sporoi tribe, who came from the north. My father spoke of these people when I was growing up. Their land was east of the Gutthiuda; it was vast! I was eager to learn about these people, as some of their ways were different. As I lay on the ground with my soft, woolen blanket over me, my eyes grew heavy; I fell asleep dreaming of these Venethi people.
Chapter III Journey North
We packed our supplies on our horses, and rode away from the Gepids, as the sun rose from the eastern plains. We were excited, riding together, all eight of us. We were so eager to leave, that we ate our breakfast of bread and cheese on our horses. We were fortunate to have some dried deer meat, along with supplies of grain for our porridge. We would catch fish from the river, and hunt as needed.
“I am tired today, despite retiring early last night,” I expressed, yawning and stretching my back. “I must tell you what I know of the Venethi people,” I continued, the others half listening with drowsiness themselves.
“I hope they are less needy than the poor Fenni tribe, who live without shelter, or horses. At least, that’s what one of the elders told me last night,” Gerulf claimed.
“What do the Fenni people do when they sleep?” asked Saskia.
“I think they sleep under woven branches, or under piles of leaves,” Gerulf explained to Saskia. Gerulf shook his head briefly, as though he was confused. “I know that I could never live that way.”
“Well, soon you might have to for your safety,” I announced, grinning. I was not looking forward to sleeping as the Fenni would, but I was resigned to sleeping with the worms in the soil, if it meant surviving without comfort of a tent or cave. “We have our tents, at least. We can sleep in them if we think there’s no danger lurking.”
“Good, but how do you know danger isn’t lurking, when wild boars, bears, and countless barbarians threaten us?” Saskia pointed out.
“Two of us will guard the rest, while they sleep, of course,” Anselm noted.
“We men have
