The destruction of Kara-Hot

I remember the last time I was happy: I was ten years old and my father was still alive. For the first ten years of my life I lived with my father, my mother, and my tribe, the Hoo-ee-ten.

I love my father more than anything on Earth. He was known in our tribe as being a brave and skilled warrior. My grandmother had named him Kara-Baatar, "Black hero with black magic words," because she had had a dream that her son would destroy the city of Kara-hot.

Kara-hot was a city located North of where my tribal lands were. The king of Kara-hot, Jarvis, was a greedy, power-hungry tyrant. Eventually, his greedy eye fell upon our beautiful lands.

My father and the other men of the tribe hunted for food daily. Often, I would follow them and watch them. My father would always caution me to keep my distance, to avoid being injured by a stray arrow or wounded prey. After the morning hunt, my father would take me out on horseback and show me our tribal lands. My father taught me that we did not own the land, like townies think they can, but instead we were its guardians, and it was our responsibility to ensure that it was never exploited.

I was never very close to my mother. She was from a town and rarely ventured far from our tent. I remember her always trying to keep me inside to do chores, but I would always find a way to sneak off. Sometimes she would tell me stories about Buya, the town where she grew up. She always said it was a beautiful town, but I could never understand how a place that had more people than trees could be beautiful. I would tell her that and she would say to me, "Youre just like your father." It would make me happy when she said that because I wanted to be just like my father Kara-hot is now know as the "Black and Dead City." That is because of my father.

One morning, after my father and the other tribesmen had left for the hunt, I was planning on how to slip away to avoid doing my chores, when I could heard a noise like thunder. I looked to the sky, but I could see no storm clouds

Suddenly, one of the women screamed as horsemen from Kara-hot stormed through our camp. My mother was very frightened, but I was able to lead her into the woods where we could hide. However, we were not able to hid long; anticipating that some of us would try to hide, Jarvis sent some of his men with dogs to find us.

We stayed with my aunt and uncle in a large house near the castle, overlooking the main road. I hated it; the stink and the filth of the city was all around me. I cursed every minute I had to spend in that wretched place.

Three days went by. Then, one morning I looked out a window too see some of the men from my tribe walking toward the castle. My heart leaped when I saw my father at the head of the group. I thought: "At last he is coming to take me away from this place!"

After a few hours, I saw my tribesmen walking away from the castle. I ran out of the house and to my father. He gave me a hug and I asked: "Are you here to take me back home?" But I could tell my the look on his face what the answer was before he even spoke.

"No Takhi-jijig, I cannot take you with me. Lord Javis has decreed that you are all to stay in the city." A tear rolled down my fathers cheek, but underneath his sorrow I could feel a great rage seething. "He has also demanded that we relinquish our lands to him" Father shook his head slowly, "but I will not allow him to ravish the land of our ancestors!"

That was the last time I ever saw my father alive Javis had given the tribesmen seven days to give their answer. Six days later, my mother received a message from my father. It told her to leave Kara-hot and head to Buya. Father would not give up our lands to Javis, and he did not wish anything to happen to us.

That night, my mother and I sneaked out of the city under the cover of night. Once outside the city walls, we found the place where my kinsmen were camped; waiting until morning to give their fateful answer.

My mother stayed in a tent and cried, while I searched for my father. Tohm, a young warrior shaman, told me my father could not speak to me now, as he was busy praying to our ancestors for aid.

The next morning, my kinsmen left to speak to Javis and my mother and I prepared to leave for Buya. Before we left, Tohm approached us and warned us: "Kara-Baatar is filled with the rage of our ancestorsAs you leave here today, you must not look back. I cannot say for certain what will happen if you do" My mother and I silently nodded in agreement.

We had not traveled very far before a loud, thunderous noise was heard behind us. Following the thunder, there cam a strong, hot wind that tore at my back. It pushed me to the ground, and as I fell, out of the corner of my eye I could see my mother turning her head back

I had been knocked unconscious. When I came to, I did not recognize where I was. The beautiful forest I had been in before was nowhere to be seen. Before me lay a desert wasteland.

I wandered back to where I believed the city was, but when I got there, what I found was only ruins. I saw a lone man standing with his back to the ruins, his eyes closed.

"Alecto, Alecto," Tohm said quietly. "Kara-Baatars Takhi-jijig you have survived." He sat on the dry, cracked ground and I sat next to him, not knowing what to do. He began to speak to me again: "To prevent our ancestral lands from being abused, you father swore he would do anything to stop Javis. When we left here seven days ago, your father began to fast. He would not eat or drink and gave his body up to the souls of your ancestorsA great rage burned within him and added to it was the collectivve rage of our ancestors This morning, with that rage your father met Jarvis at the West gate of the city with his answer: out from your fathers mouth arose the anger of our people. It turned into a black wind and destroyed everything."

I was grief struck at having lost both my parents. Tohm tried to comfort me as best he could, but as with all great wounds, time is the only medicine that will dull the pain.

Tohm decied that the best thing to do was to go to Buya. I was against going to another town, but there was no way we could survive in that wasteland.

As we traveled to Buya, Tohm would tell me that he could feel the presence of my fathers spirit with me. He also spoke of the great sorrow my father felt for having destroyed everything. After traveling many months and facing much danger, we finally reached Buya.

We set up camp outside the city walls. As I lay staring at the stars, I could feel my fathers presence. I could also fell the great burden of sorrow and guilt that he carried with him. Silently, I swore to him that I would never repeat his mistake. I looked around at this strange, new land and swore that I would protect is from those who would exploit it- regardless of the cost to myself.

After having made my vow, I decided to find Tohm. He was not in camp I eventually found him by a river. He was still alive when I got there- he had put a dagger through his heart. I started to cry- this was my last family member dying in my arms, and there was nothing I could do.

"Do not cry for me Takhi-jijig I am merely returning to our ancestors to make you stronger you must ...live and remember."