Old settlement and Kalai Sar Fort watch tower on hill, Ferghana Valley, near Bunjikat.
06:36 (Central Asia Time)
Tuesday, December 6, 63 B.C.E.
Twenty kilometers west of Bunjikat, Ferghana Valley
Sogdiana, at the foot of the Pamir mountains
It was snowing and a cold wind was sweeping the small valley where the caravan had established its camp for the night, when Nauca woke up in her small tent. Quickly dressing up and putting on last her fur coat made of wolf hides, she buckled her weapons belt, to which was hooked her gorytos containing her bow and arrows, around her waist and grabbed her shield before going out of her tent, as her turn at guard duty would soon come. It was fairly cold outside but it was still a more clement place than in the rest of the Pamir area, as the Ferghana Valley constituted a fertile, more hospitable region in this mountainous area. Up to now, the caravan had not needed to use its reserves of feed grain or water and a small stream ran in fact next to the camp site. Going to the herd of horses tied to pickets nearby, Nauca then started to lead them by groups of four to the nearby stream, breaking the thin crust of ice on it with her battle-axe to allow the horses to drink from the pure water of the mountain stream. In maybe one day, the caravan would be in Bunjikat, one of the settlements located along the Ferghana Valley, which led to the western end of the Taklamakan Desert. There, the caravan would be able to rest for a day or two, get fresh supplies and maybe buy or exchange a few goods.
Nauca had just returned a group of horses to their pickets after leading them to the stream and was about to take a new group of horses out to drink when her acute eyesight suddenly detected some movement behind a large rock about sixty meters away, across the stream. Freezing momentarily and concentrating her vision in that direction, she soon was able to see that a number of dark shapes were slowly approaching in the semi-darkness of the early morning, using rocks and trees as cover. Understanding at once what this meant, she grabbed her large rhinoceros hide shield while starting to shout out loud.
‘’ALARM! ALARM! BANDITS APPROACHING FROM ACROSS THE STREAM!’’
The said bandits, now knowing that they had been seen, then jumped on their feet and emerged from behind the rocks and trees they had used to stealthily approach the camp, pushing savage cries and running towards the camp. Seeing a large rock some five meters from her, near the stream, Nauca ran to it, then kneeled behind it, using her left foot and knee to hold her shield in a vertical position between the rock and herself. Next, she grabbed her bow and quickly fitted an arrow in place as the nearest bandits were about to splash across the stream. The first bandit to get his feet wet was also the first to die, Nauca’s first arrow hitting him squarely in the chest. Another bandit crumbled to the ground some five seconds later. Nauca took the time to scream some more warnings while putting in place her third arrow.
‘’ALARM! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!’’
Her screams however attracted a few arrows to her. Thankfully, they either missed her or bounced against her shield and were deflected. She had time to shoot two more bandits before she had to face two bandits charging her, their swords held high. Letting go her bow and grabbing both her shield and sword, she hurriedly got on her feet, just in time to stop a sword strike with her shield. Replying with her own sword, she jabbed one bandit in his guts, making him scream with pain, then side-stepped just in time to avoid a slashing attack by the second bandit. Using her large shield like a ram, she hit the bandit hard in the face, making him lose his balance and quickly backpedal before tripping on a rock and falling on his back. Not letting the bandit time to recover his wits, Nauca stabbed him in the stomach, then viciously twisted her blade inside his guts, making the man scream horribly. Ignoring that bandit from then on, she quickly returned to her bow, lying on the ground behind the large rock, and retrieved it. A quick look around her showed her that the remaining bandits were now among the tents of the camp, with the night guard, Borund, furiously defending himself against two of the bandits. Letting her shield drop and grabbing a fresh arrow from her gorytos, Nauca started shooting arrows as quickly and as accurately as she could. With adrenaline stimulating her and with the range to her targets being under thirty meters, she shot in succession six of the attackers in less than twenty seconds, starting with the men fighting with Borund. The bandits, who seemingly wore no armor at all and who were mostly turning their backs to her in their haste to grab the first pieces of loot available, proved to be sitting ducks for her arrows. Only when their number was halved did the bandits realize how dangerous she was. Some of the surviving bandits then charged her, but even more simply fled in panic, not having expected such resistance from a caravan camp site. Continuing to fire arrows as fast as she could, Nauca shot down three more bandits, the last one a mere three paces from her, before the surviving ones gave up and fled, running across the stream. However, Nauca was in no mood to show mercy to them: she knew too well that those bandits would have shown no mercy to the caravan men if their attack had been successful. She thus continued to shoot arrows until she had no more targets in her sight. With one arrow still in place and breathing fast from the surge of adrenaline and from excitement, she slowly scanned the terrain across the stream, looking for any surviving bandits who would be hiding in the nearby woods. The one movement she detected then was from a wounded bandit trying to crawl back to cover. One arrow then dropped that bandit for good. Lowering her bow, Nauca looked around the camp to see if any caravan man had been hurt. What she saw was merchants belatedly coming out of their tents, having obviously taken the time to put some clothes on. As for Borund, he was slowly approaching her while prodding the bodies of the bandits he encountered with the point of his lance.
‘’Are you okay, Borund?’’
‘’I am, thanks to you, Nauca. That was some fantastic shooting on your part. I will never bother a Sarmatian woman after this.’’
That remark made Nauca smile and helped her to relax some of the tension still in her.
‘’Glad to be of help, Borund. I don’t believe that the remaining bandits who fled will come back for more, but we still should keep our guard up, at least until the caravan can resume its trip.’’
‘’I agree! I will watch the eastern side of our camp while you stay here and cover the stream.’’
‘’Got it!’’
Some three minutes later, Yurkan came to Nauca, eyeing her with new respect.
‘’Nauca, I don’t know how to thank you for your valor and courage. You nearly single-handedly saved all of us from those bandits. I just counted the dead or dying bandits in and around the camp, which numbered 22, all of them except one with arrows stuck in them. You were simply fantastic!’’
‘’I was simply doing my job, Yurkan, on top of defending myself.’’
‘’Still, I owe you. We all owe you. Once everybody will be up and ready to leave, go around those dead bandits you shot and take whatever they have that has value: it’s all yours!’’
‘’Thank you, Yurkan.’’ Replied Nauca, feeling pride swell in her as Yurkan walked away. More than the loot she was going to collect, she prized the fact that her actions had saved her companions. Having stories chanting her prowess around future campfires counted more for her than riches. However, she did not expect to retrieve much of value from what appeared to her to having been a band of low-grade thieves. She was in fact going to count herself lucky if she ended up collecting more than a few copper and silver coins.
Some twenty minutes later, with the Sun fully up now, she was able to go around the camp to inspect the bodies of the bandits she had killed, using the occasion at the same time to recuperate her arrows, at leas the ones which were still usable. That inspection actually proved surprisingly more fruitful than expected, as the bandits had been carrying on them the loot from previous attacks on travelers. However, on top of the copper, silver and gold pieces she collected from the dead bandits, she also found a number of objects that, while obviously valuable, also appeared to her to be of a religious nature or function, including what appeared to be an incense burner made of bronze. She thus went to Yurkan to show him those objects. The caravan master’s face became somber when he recognized what the said objects were.
‘’Buddhist cult objects. Those bastards must have attacked and killed a group of traveling Buddhist monks.’’
‘’Buddhist? I don’t know that religion, Yurkan.’’
‘’Buddhism is found mostly in Tibet and India but has started to spread around China. It preaches peace but has no gods. Instead, it pushes its believers into improving their inner self and becoming non-violent and peaceful under the guidance of its founder’s philosophy.’’
Nauca looked down at the objects she was holding, her own face becoming somber.
‘’Then, I can’t possibly keep or sell those objects: it would be wrong. Do you know if we could find a Buddhist temple along our way, where I could give those objects to priests?’’
Yurkan nodded his head slowly at that while looking at her. He then put gently one hand over her left shoulder.
‘’Nauca, know that I am a practicing believer of Zoroastrianism, a religion that teaches the duality between Good and Evil and advocates for the ultimate triumph of Good. You are not only brave and valorous, Nauca: you are also a good person. I believe that there is a Buddhist temple in Bunjikat. You will be able to personally give those objects to the main priest there.’’
16:29 (Central Asia Time)
Seven kilometers west of Bunjikat
Seeing that the Sun was getting low and that his caravan should soon stop for the night, Yurkan was looking for a favorable spot for a camp when a shout from Nauca, who was riding point with Borund, made him tense up.
‘’YURKAN, I SEE NUMEROUS BODIES LYING BY THE SIDE OF THE TRAIL!’’
Pushing his horse to a gallop, Yurkan covered a hundred meters, following a bend in the road in the process before joining up with Nauca and Borund. He didn’t need to ask where the bodies were, as they were in plain sight, lying on both sides of the trail, which was bordered by trees. One look was enough for Yurkan to identify the dead men: all of them had their heads shaved and all wore orange-red robes.
‘’Buddhist monks! They must be the ones robbed by the bandits we killed this morning. Buddhist monks travel unarmed, if you discount walking sticks: they didn’t stand a chance. Yet, those bandits massacred them instead of simply robbing them and then letting them go.’’
‘’We can’t leave them to the wolves and other beasts, Yurkan.’’ said Nauca. ‘’We should bury them.’’
Yurkan shook his head at that.
‘’No! We will burn their bodies instead. Fire is a purifying force in Zoroastrianism and I know that Buddhists also burn their dead in India. We needed anyway to stop and make camp for the night. We will mount our camp here, then will build a funeral pyre for those poor monks.’’
Galloping back to his caravan, Yurkan gave a few orders, then returned to the site of the massacre, where he helped his two point guards to pick up the bodies and respectfully lay them in a spot away from the trail, near a clump of trees. He then ordered Nauca and Borund to start cutting small trees and branches to build a funeral pyre and went to organize the mounting of their camp.
Nobody was allowed to eat or rest before the funeral pyre was ready and the bodies of the monks were gently deposed on top of it. Using some of his reserves of lamp oil to help light the pyre on fire, Yurkan then recited out loud a Zoroastrian prayer as the bodies of the monks were cremated and as the merchants, drivers and guards of the caravan stood silently while watching. Only after that did they start preparing their supper.
09:11 (Central Asia Time)
Wednesday, December 7, 63 B.C.E.
Sogdian town of Bunjikat, Ferghana Valley
Nauca became increasingly angry as she passed by in succession local guards at the city’s main gate, at the central market place and in front of the local king’s palace. Slowing down her horse in order to ride next to Yurkan, she spoke to him in a low voice tainted with anger.
‘’How come that a group of monks was butchered only two hours from here, when I see so many guards around this town? Does that so-called king really care about his people and about the travelers passing by his city? He could at least send patrols down the road from time to time.’’
‘’All valid points, Nauca. Unfortunately, that king can basically do what he wants here, including doing nothing. As for trying to shame him, I doubt that it would influence him a bit, apart from attracting his ire on us. As much as I hate to say this, we will have to keep our peace with him and mind our own business. This is a lesson that applies everywhere, Nauca. Short of leading your own army, there is little else that you could do in such circumstances.’’
Nauca, understanding that Yurkan had just given her an important piece of advice, swallowed her anger and nodded her head.
‘’I understand what you meant, Yurkan. I will refrain myself while in town.’’
‘’Good! Know that Chinese officials also tend to be sensitive about their powers and privileges, especially when it is a woman who is admonishing them. Diplomacy will be the key word for us once inside China.’’
Nauca nodded her head again, then stayed silent while riding next to Yurkan. The latter led his caravan to the local caravanserai, where he thankfully found enough space and accommodations for his people and for his horses and camels. Taking the time first to see that his people got installed and paying in advance the caravanserai manager for one night of occupancy, Yurkan then led Nauca out of the caravanserai and walked with her for maybe 150 meters through the narrow streets of Bunjikat, finally arriving at a small religious temple. There, he spoke briefly with a monk sitting next to the main entrance, prompting the monk in getting up and going inside. The monk returned some three minutes later and spoke to them in Sogdian.
‘’You may come, but you must leave your weapons and your shoes outside. Don’t worry about them: nobody will steal them.’’
Nauca was nearly tempted to reply by saying that she didn’t believe that after seeing monks being butchered, but managed to keep her mouth shut and removed her weapons and boots before following the monk and Yurkan inside. The interior main hall of the temple proved quite small and strongly smelled of burned incense, while four monks in orange-red robes and a priest wearing a more elaborate robe sat around, praying. Imitating Yurkan, Nauca knelt, then bowed deep in front of the priest. She stayed on her knees as Yurkan spoke to the priest, explaining the goal of their visit. The news of the death of the group of monks on the trail evidently struck the priest hard, as he started shedding tears while trying to contain his crying.
‘’That is a dreadful news indeed, Yurkan of Samarkand. That group of monks, led by a lama, had come from the Tibet and was on its way westward to make our religion better known in Sogdiana. You said that you burned their bodies on a funeral pyre after finding them on the trail?’’
‘’Yes, Enlightened One! It was the best that we could do for them. We were however able to recuperate some religious objects which had belonged to them when those same bandits attacked our camp the previous night and got killed by our guards. This woman with me is one of my caravan guards and killed most of those bandits with her arrows. She found the religious objects on the dead bandits and brought them to me, saying that it would not be right for her to keep or sell them.’’
The priest looked down at Nauca for a moment, then bowed his head to her.
‘’Your heart was in the right place, my child. Do you have those objects with you?’’
‘’Yes, Enlightened One!’’
Nauca then took a small bundle from her haversack and unfolded the rolled piece of cloth on the temple’s floor in front of her, revealing a dozen objects inside the cloth. The priest then called to one of his monks, who got up and went to gather the cloth and its content, bringing it to the priest and lying it in front of him. The priest emotionally felt each object with his fingers before looking back at Yurkan and Nauca.
‘’You did very well indeed, good people. We will make special prayers for the safety of your caravan during your long trip.’’
Understanding that it was now time for them to leave, Yurkan bowed again to the priest.
‘’And we will pray for your dead brothers, Enlightened One.’’
Crawling back on his knees until he and Nauca were close to the door, Yurkan then signaled to her that she could now get up and left the temple with her. Recuperating their boots and weapons first, they then walked back towards the caravanserai, staying silent at first. Nauca finally spoke in a low voice, still affected by her visit to the Buddhist temple.
‘’Do you think that this incident about the massacre of those monks will have any repercussions, Yurkan?’’
‘’I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the priest we just saw soon paid a visit to the local king, to ask him for better protection for the travelers going through his city.’’
‘’And do you think that this so-called ‘king’ will listen or care?’’
‘’You never know, Nauca. Religion sometimes has a way to intimidate the most powerful rulers.’’
That day, Yurkan took the time to buy fresh provisions to top up his supplies and also did some trading at the town’s market. Early the next morning, the caravan left Bunjikat and resumed its eastward trip, on its way to the dreaded Taklamakan Desert, 337,000 square kilometers or arid rocks and sand where travelers alternatively baked and froze under the rain shadows of the Himalayas.