Jaspre Bark - Dawn Over Doomsday

The rules were simple. Four arrows are fired and the challengers race to where each arrow lands. The first arrow is fired by a neutral party. Whoever reaches that arrow first will fire the next one.

Before the contest the challengers both choose two sectors of land. They prepare hidden traps and snares within these sectors to catch their opponent out. When one of them reaches an arrow before their opponent, that brave fires the next arrow into their own sector, to lure their opponent into the trap they have prepared. It is a contest of stealth and cunning as much as strength and courage.

Cheveyo said a silent prayer to Massauu, the Great Spirit, as Avonaco, the neutral Cheyenne brave, drew back his bowstring and aimed the first arrow. Cheveyo asked to be as swift as the deer, as wise as the owl and as cunning as Coyote.

Cheveyo and Ahiga leapt forward the minute they heard the bow string twang. Cheveyo had stolen a slight lead on Ahiga by the time the arrow had completed its arc and hit the ground. Although he was probably ten years older than the Navajo, his body was leaner and less heavily muscled, built for speed not combat.

He increased that lead by tiny increments as they advanced on the fallen arrow. There it was, sticking out of the ground by another bow and arrow, where the plain gave way to the woods. With his heart pounding and the air burning his lungs, Cheveyo reached it first. He grabbed the bow, aimed the arrow into his first sector, deep in the woodland, and let it fly.

Ahiga crashed into him as he let the arrow go and held up his hands with a mocking smile as if to say it was an accident. Cheveyo knew it was an attempt to ruin his aim.

Ahiga charged into the woods. Cheveyo followed, content to hang back and stay on his tail so as not to give away the exact location of the arrow. As soon as he could, Cheveyo lost Ahiga and circled round to the safe route he had planned.

Padding quietly through the trees without disturbing the undergrowth he made his way to a small clearing. In the centre stood the trunk of a tall conifer tree. The top part of the tree had been chopped off about fifteen feet from the ground. The arrow Cheveyo fired stuck out of the top, right in the centre of the trunk's rings.

The remaining branches that stuck out of the trunk had been cut back to the length of a few inches to make hand holds. As Cheveyo entered the clearing Ahiga sprang out of the undergrowth and pushed past him, knocking him to the ground.

Ahiga leaped and grabbed hold of the lowest branch, hauling himself up and reaching for higher hand holds. He made his way around the trunk as he got closer to the top and the arrow.

Seconds from the top Ahiga swung himself up to a branch that came away in his hand. He flailed madly and reached out for another handhold. That too came away as did the other branch he was hanging on to. They had been sabotaged to break under his weight.

Ahiga fell and hit the ground in the exact spot that Cheveyo had planned, crashing through a light covering of saplings, twigs and loose dirt into a ten foot pit with sheer earth walls. The fall knocked the air out of him. He tried in vain to climb out but the soil of the walls just crumbled and he slipped back down with every attempt.

Cheveyo grabbed hold of the lower branches and hauled himself up by the safe hand holds that he had carefully memorised. He picked up the bow and the third arrow that were lying next to the second.

"Well help me out then," Ahiga called up to Cheveyo, before he pulled back the string of the bow.

"And let you continue with the challenge? Would that be wise?" There was nothing in the rules that said a challenger should free his opponent from a trap.

"It would be fair and honest. I thought the Hopi were a people of peace and truth. Or is that just a lie you tell, to keep your squaws and their mothers happy?"

"I will let you continue," said Cheveyo. "But not because you call the honour of my people into question. We of the Bear clan have a tale. It concerns a snake and a hare. While the hare was feeding on a root, the snake crawled through the long grass and made ready to pounce. Misfortune struck the snake however and a dead branch fell from a tree, pinning him to the ground. The snake called out to the hare to use his powerful back legs to kick away the dead branch and free him. The snake promised he'd be so grateful he would never harm another hare. The hare was a kindly soul and instead of running he came to the snake's aid and kicked away the branch, whereupon the freed snake opened his jaws and swallowed the hare whole.

"The hare's soul went to heaven and Massauu the Great Spirit called the hare to him. He asked the hare why he had freed the snake and placed himself in danger. The hare replied that if he had not freed the snake then the sin of murder by neglect would have fallen on his shoulders, and that would have meant not joining the Great Spirit in the afterlife. 'The snake has enjoyed a meal,' the hare said. 'But I will enjoy an eternity with my creator, which is a far greater prize'. For this reason the Great Spirit exults the hare above all other animals. Only the hare was brave enough to do the right thing in spite of the danger he was in."

"A pretty tale," said Ahiga, only half hiding his sneer. "But when are you going to free me?"

Cheveyo drew back the bow and fired the third arrow. Then he swung himself down from the top of the trunk. He tied a vine around the base and lowered it down to Ahiga before sprinting off after the third arrow.

Cheveyo could feel himself flagging as he sprinted towards the copse. His breathing was harder and his limbs felt heavier. He had little energy in reserve and he could hear Ahiga crashing through the trees, gaining on him. He did not sound like he was slowing at all.

He circled round the copse, looking for a side entrance. The one he had to take to retrieve the arrow without setting off the trap. The arrow had landed just where Cheveyo wanted. He had been practicing the shot for two days before the challenge.

It had hit the top log in what looked like a random pile. There appeared to be only one way to approach the pile. In actual fact the logs had been carefully balanced so that when someone stood in what seemed to be the only spot to remove the arrow and then pulled it free they would trigger the logs to fall. This would release a counterbalance that was holding a wide noose of interwoven vines and ivy in place.

Disguised by the ivy, the other end of the noose had been thrown over a branch and tied to a strong sapling, bent to the ground. When the noose was released the sapling would spring back up and the noose would close about the ankles of whoever grabbed the arrow, yanking them off their feet and leaving them dangling upside down.

Cheveyo trod carefully as he walked towards the arrow, but froze as Ahiga burst into the copse. He assessed his chances of lunging for the arrow. Ahiga didn't seem to see Cheveyo from where he was standing. He shot quick glances around the copse. He looked wary, then left the way he had come in.

This put Cheveyo on guard. He couldn't see or hear anything so he ran for the arrow. He had his hand out to grab it from the pile when a branch smashed into his shins. He fell forward and instinctively pulled his knees up to his chin, crying out with the pain. Cheveyo rolled on to his back and saw Ahiga standing by the log pile, holding the dead branch.

Cheveyo started to stand as Ahiga caught hold of a low branch, pulled himself off the ground and grabbed the arrow. Cheveyo remembered too late where he was now standing. Before he could jump the noose snapped about his ankles. His feet went from under him and he hit the ground face first. He was dragged through the mud and up into the air as the sapling whipped back.

His shins throbbed and his face ached as he flailed around, suspended from the branch.