Volodimir Vladko - Descendants of the Scythians

“What power?”

“Wait, I’ll get to that shortly,” Ronis said with a smile. “It won’t be easy to figure out the best course of action. I can tell you that Dorbatay fears you and your possible moves against him greatly, especially now, after the spectacular escape staged by Varkan! Incidentally, the Scythians are talking about nothing but the mysterious light that magically appeared before the priests, stopped the pursuit, and hurled back the spears thrown at it by the priests, hitting a man and a horse.”

“Ah, well…” said Artem modestly after he heard the translation.

“Then, there’s your yellow panther, your big dog, that is. In other words, I’m sure that Dorbatay wouldn’t mind making peace with you, provided, of course, you agree to a reconciliation…”

“Oh no, never!” Artem exclaimed.

Ronis looked at him and understood what he had just said without having to listen to the translation: the expression on Artem’s face and the way he said it made his meaning all too clear.

“I’m not trying to convince you to do it,” Ronis said with a bitter smile. “I know from experience how little Dorbatay’s most solemn pledges are worth!”

“But we’re worried about what will become of our two friends who are in the hands of the old soothsayer,” Dmitro Borisovich said dismally and added, turning to Artem and looking him straight in the eye: “We should discuss the situation in every detail and decide upon something only after we have done so!”

Artem did not say anything in reply: the archeologist was right, of course. But on the other hand, they could not make any agreement with Dorbatay, their perfidious enemy, could they? And Ronis had also said that the old soothsayer could not be trusted! The Greek spoke again:

“At this point I don’t think your friends are in any immediate danger. Dorbatay fears retribution from you should your friends come to any harm. Besides, Hartak fancies your girl… Dorbatay will surely use this to his own advantage. It gives him additional strings to pull his puppet whatever way he wants by promising to give the girl to Hartak in marriage after he’s put the gold chieftain’s helmet on his head.”

Artem barely managed to suppress an indignant exclamation. But he lowered his head and stared at the ground.

“Your friends are being held in a kibitka with armed priests guarding them. They are not free to leave, but I can assure you that their lives are not in danger at the moment. After Dorbatay pronounced them the property of the gods, so to say, no Scythian would dare to touch a hair on their heads.”

After Dmitro Borisovich translated this for Artem, he added from himself, seeing how downcast the young man looked: “That should really keep them safe for the time being.”

“Hope they remain the property of the gods until we find the way to free them,” Artem said.

When Ronis heard the translation of Artem’s words, he said:

“Yes, it is safe enough… until… the moment Dorbatay decides to use this ‘property’ for his own purposes. But it may turn out he’ll have no time for that.”

“Why?” Dmitro Borisovich asked.

“Because, something is going to happen in the near future that will come as a shock to Dorbatay,” Ronis said, casting a meaningful glance at Varkan, who was also sitting by the fire making arrows. Without putting down the shaft and the knife he was holding in his hands, he said:

“All right, Ronis, tell them everything. Fate has brought us together in our struggle against our common enemy, Dorbatay and his henchmen. And Fate has also brought us close to the strangers who have become our friends. Go ahead, Ronis, tell our friends everything!”

“All right, Varkan, I will. They should know and should choose sides,” Ronis agreed.

The archeologist’s curiosity was piqued; as he translated, his eagerness to hear the secret grew. Varkan’s distinctive position among the Scythians made him popular among the warriors and hunters and earned him quite pronounced animosity from the elders, nobles and priests, Dorbatay in particular. But what made Varkan different had remained a secret to the explorers.

“All right, listen to this story, my friends,” Ronis said. “A revolt has been brewing among the slaves for a long time. But it must be well prepared to be a success. We’ve already seen the results of an ill-timed action. I gave ample warning that it would miscarry unless properly prepared. Varkan shared this view, too, but there were some hotheads who could not wait any longer and instigated the revolt. And, consequently, it all ended miserably, with many slaves loosing their lives in battle and under torture…”

Ronis heaved a sigh, and then continued:

“It grieves me to think about this… especially knowing I warned them against making any rash moves… The most important Scythians, Dorbatay in particular, and the other nobles would never let the slaves go free without putting up a fight. A major uprising was necessary to bring about the release of the slaves, but we were not quite sure which side the hunters and herdsmen would take. It was a matter of extreme importance for us… The rich nobles and elders own big herds of horses and many slaves. But they aren’t satisfied with what they have and try to get more by driving hard the hunters and herdsmen who have no possessions and have to work for the rich. The priests introduced a law that the hunters must give a part of their game-bag to the gods, in other words to the priests. There’s another law which requires the herdsmen to give the priests something, too. So, as you see, the rich elders and nobles make life very hard for the average Scythians. And no one can do anything about it. Dorbatay and his priests made sure no one could say a word against them, because anyone who did was denounced as an infidel and severely punished for breaking the sacred law.”

“In fact, Dorbatay could strip anyone of all his possessions, declaring them ‘the property of the gods,’” Varkan said bitterly.

“Yes, such things have happened,” Ronis said. “The Scythians have learned to fear the priests and the rich. They cower and grumble in secret, but they’re careful not to let the elders and priests hear about their grumbling to avoid trouble. That’s how it was, but then discontent began to grow among the Scythians. It is more widespread among young warriors, hunters, and herdsmen. The discontented Scythians have resolved to unite against the elders, nobles and priests. The leader of the discontented warriors was and is…”

“Varkan!” Dmitro Borisovich exclaimed. “Of course it’s Varkan! Who else could it be?”

“Who else indeed?” Artem said to himself with conviction.

“Yes, it’s Varkan. It is he who has made all the preparations for a major uprising against the priests and nobles. I was responsible for getting everything ready for the revolt. We went our separate ways until Varkan and I began to see eye to eye. We realized that our ultimate goals were the same and that we should unite. We were about to give the signal to start the uprising, but the situation changed abruptly… As a matter of fact, it was your appearance that was responsible for the change. If not for you, Dorbatay would have behaved differently; he would not have been in such a hurry to get rid of Skolot. But after his defeat at the altar… I think I’ve told you about that… So, Dorbatay poisoned Skolot, having secured the support of the nobles beforehand. Incidentally, he planned to seize not only you but also Varkan and his friends whom he suspected of plotting against him. But things did not go the way he planned. Varkan managed to escape, and by the way, it was extremely dangerous for him to return as he did, to rescue you. Now his friends have begun to join him here, one by one. Some have stayed behind to gain the support of other warriors and hunters. Dorbatay and his henchmen do not suspect that I incited the slaves to revolt. I’m sure that if he learnt about it, he’d rather lose the gold I bring to him and have me killed…”