" I can't do it, Furio, I can't look these people in the eye when they wave at me" Maki said as he rode his horse slowly through the Unakku valley.
After 60 years of being chieftain, Maki was forced to make the tough call of abandoning his sick troops and leaving the fort with the healthy men.
It was a decision that was sure to sully his name as a great warrior, however, he was sure that nothing but a painful death awaited him and his men should they not have left.
Had he been riding at a normal speed, the distance between his fort and the southern fort was only about 2 hours on a mount, however, with morale being low, Maki only rode a trotting speed which would take him 4 hours to reach the fort.
Maki rode through the heart of the Unakku valley, where every farmland he passed he was greeted with the warm smiles and respect of the locals, but the warm smiles made Maki's heart sting with guilt as he could not look back and greet them with the same enthusiasm.
