History of Boneclaw
The history of Boneclaw as told by Skyhide of the Quiet Ones.
The settlers talk about the end of civilization as if it has already happened. Mourning it as they struggle to rebuild, clinging desperately to the old ways. For years they have worked to rebuild these ruined shanty towns, pretending that a door and four walls means they are less savage than the Children.
That's why Jannix led us here. The settlers had made themselves weak as they struggled against decay. Unable to defend themselves, they had lost their rights to freedom. We came to strengthen them.
We came from the south, where most of the Children are. The tribes all gather there, fighting amongst themselves for control of what little usable land there is. Those who do not fight for land, fight for power. The Westreach tribes are a result of that type of fight. Jannix challenged Vrath of the Blood Horde.
He lost.
Instead of killing him, Vrath exiled Jannix from the settlement, hoping he would wander the desert until he died. Jannix gathered his allies and left the Gulch. Blue-Eye, Curtos, Raz, Ahni and Ahab were the first to join him. I met them in the Canyon, in a Quiet settlement called Wut.
Jannix talked about the Children bringing strength to the land, liberating the people from the constraints of the the old world. His warriors would sweep over the plateau, destroying everything that stood in their way and enslaving those too weak to fight.
That night, after the fire died and the guards began the third patrol, Warchief Wut came to my home. He had been inspired by Jannix's words. He believed that Jannix could gather enough warriors and start the war he spoke of. If that were to happen, then what little civilization the settlers had recreated would fall, leaving behind a world where only the Children would have the strength to rule. In this new world, the Quiet Ones would finally be given the solitude and peace they sought. Warchief Wut asked me to go with Jannix. In the aftermath of Jannix's war we would finally be able to find a home away from the politics and aggression of the other tribes.
I left my home the next day. I don't remember how long we walked, but the scenery rarely changed. The arid, rocky canyon gave way to acres of parched farms. We ran out of water surrounded by miles of farmland watered from wells too deep for us to reach. Ahni died there. We had carried her, unconscious, for two days before she thrashed herself to death. Her skin was puckered and wrinkled and her eyes had fallen back into her head. Ahab buried her by a clump of trees. That night we came across a small group of barely guarded 'Bearers and 'Forcers.
They bore the brunt of our anger and sorrow.
Jannix and Ahab were the most fearsome, killing all but one. The last 'Forcer fought them both while we tended our wounds. Ahab bowed out next, his rage exhausted. Surrounded by the dead and wounded, we watched as the Child and the Enforcer fought to a standstill, giving out at the same moment. They lay there unconscious as Raz and Blue-Eye worked to heal them both. The rest of us took turns watching them throughout the night.
When the sun began to rise, Jannix and the solider woke. I held my breath as they eyed each other, their weapons within arm's reach. Jannix stood first, looking down at the seated Enforcer for a long time. When Jannix offered his hand, I could feel Ahab's disgust. Jannix renamed the Enforcer "Ironskin" after the armor he wore. Ironskin gave us what supplies he had and joined our group. Ahab didn't sleep for three days, watching him, waiting to see if our newest ally would turn on us. Although he never did, I believe Ahab still distrusts him.
By the time we reached the forest my skin was badly burned, with blisters that stretched from one shoulder to the other. Every morning Raz pierced them and applied aloe and bandages, and every night there were more. All of us were covered in open weeping wounds, but Blue-Eye had it the worst. The chest plate he wears is pierced into his skin. In the desert sun and heat, the metal of that chest place got so hot it seared the inside of the holes it made in his flesh. He never took it off, though, not even when we began to smell his skin cooking as he walked. We found what shelter we could in the hottest parts of the day, and camped in the settlements that were friendly to us, but the stretches of empty land began to play tricks on us. I became convinced we would never find a place to call our own. I saw my death every day as the sun rose.
Curtos was the first to question Jannix. We were in Warhall. The Warchief had allowed us to stay within the walls of the settlement as long as we agreed not to bring any harm to the Vistas. Jannix believes that our allies will make the Children stronger, so he readily agreed. Curtos had been close to Ahni, and he still wore the pain of her death. He repeated Jannix's speech at Wut, asking when it would all happen. Jannix was calm as he answered Curtos, explaining where he was headed and what he was looking for. He told us he was seeking land Blue-Eye had seen in a dream.
Before we crossed into the Grainway, Blue-Eye told Jannix about a vision he had. In it, Blue-Eye walked across burning rock. The bottoms of his feet turned black and peeled away like the skin of a hog over a fire. Forced to his knees, he crawled until the rock crumbled into sand beneath him. He stayed there in the desert sand, feeling nothing but heat and pain. Night came, and he began to freeze.
As he lay there, ready to die, he heard the roar of a gigantic bear. Blue-Eye stood to face the bear, wanting to die in battle as the Children should. But instead of attacking him, the bear bowed low, slicing off its hide with its own claws. Blue-Eye took the offered skin and covered himself with it. As he began to thank the bear, its skeleton turned to dust and blew away in the wind. While Blue-Eye looked out at the desert, all around him the very ground he stood on trembled, and a valley formed there at his feet. He watched in awe as a bridge grew from the scarred land, connecting the two sides of the valley.
This was where the Children were to make their home. Blue-Eye told us that the burning rock was the past, and that the bear represented the people living in the settlements in the area.
We all sat there for a long time after Jannix finished talking. Ahab looked angry, standing and pacing. He had the ax he had used to kill the Bearers in one hand, and he kept running his thumb over the blade. I thought he was going to plant it in Jannix's skull right there. From the corner of my eye I saw Ironskin slide his hand onto the crossbow he had traded his rifle for. I tried to catch Raz's attention, give her a signal, something to get her out range of Ahab.
Ahab spun to face Jannix. Gone was our travel companion and ally, replaced by rage and hatred. His voice was low, and I had to lean in to hear him.
"Ahni died because of a dream," Ahab murmured. "She died seeking the future of the Children."
Blue-Eye stood to face Ahab. Eerie shadows born from the fading campfire danced across the mask that always covered his face. None of the Children had ever seen what Blue-Eye looked like without his mask, but it was whispered that he was as twisted and deformed as the Tainted, scarred forever by the mutations he used to cripple those who stood against him. Ahab had either never heard those rumors or wasn't afraid of them.
"Are you challenging Jannix?" Blue-Eye crossed his arms over the plate that covered his chest. Everything grew quiet around us. The Children in the camps around Warhall began to gather around ours, drawn in by the promise of blood.
Jannix stepped forward and touched Blue-Eye's arm, moving him aside so he could stand face to face with Ahab himself. They were matched in height, but Jannix had about thirty pounds on Ahab. The Oathtaker had a greater number of weapons, but I knew Jannix only needed one. He had proven that the day he drove his pipe through the skull of a Tech that wandered too close to our camp.
Raz had blended into the crowd that circled around us. I started to follow her, but noticed Ironskin's hesitation and grabbed his arm, pulling him back with me. He protested, still holding on to the rules of his former allies. Looking in his eyes, I could see the warrior inside fighting with the soldier. This moment would be more important for him than any of the other Children who where there. I knew his struggle. New to the ways of the Children, he was still caught between the Old World and the one Redhand had started.
"Jannix must prove his strength," I whispered in Ironskin's ear. "The Children will never follow a weak Warchief. If we help him, then he is too week to stand on his own. They will kill him, and us too for interfering."
Ironskin nodded, remembering the moment when Jannix offered his hand to him. Ironskin had proven he had the strength and fury of the Children. Now he had let Jannix do the same.
The crowd around us roared, and I turned back to Jannix and Ahab. The watching Children had formed a ring around them, each person there calling for blood. Jannix stood in the center of the ring. His arms hung by his side. Ahab tested the weight of his ax, tapping the blunted end against his left hand.
He moved much more quickly than I had thought possible for a man of his size, leaping towards Jannix as he swung the ax. Jannix crouched low and stepped to the side. He didn't draw his weapon, grabbing Ahab's arm instead, pulling it to the side, moving it away from him. Jannix brought his knee up into Ahab's side. I could hear the impact as bone met soft tissue.
Bent over in pain, Ahab swung towards Jannix, hooking his free arm around the back of Jannix's knee and jerking it forward. Jannix landed with his back on the rocky ground, losing his grip on Ahab's arm. From the ground, Jannix slammed his boot into the side of Ahab's face.
From the way Ahab's jaw hung limply, I could tell Jannix had either dislocated or shattered it. The Oathtaker bellowed in pain and anger. Taking full advantage of his incredible speed, he pulled himself up to his full height, than slammed the ax down towards Jannix's head. Jannix jerked away from the blow and instead of landing in the middle of his forehead, the blade sliced down his arm, taking most of the skin and muscle with it.
That's when Jannix drew his pipe.
The crowd cheered, knowing what was to come. Both men were covered in blood and exhausted from pain. I had seen the Children fight each other before, and I knew this would be over soon. They circled each other, looking for weakness. This time Jannix moved first.
He dropped his shoulder and rushed Ahab, hitting him squarely in the chest. Ahab crumpled under Jannix's considerable weight, gasping.
Jannix wrapped his hands around the pipe, raised both arms above his head-and with a roar he brought the pipe down through Ahab's left knee, piercing it and pinning him to the ground.
A hush fell over the crowd. Jannix beckoned to Blue-Eye and Raz, then gestured to Ahab. "It's over. Fix him." Without another word, Jannix turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving only a trail of blood behind him.
"He let him live? What happens next?" I could hear the frustration in Ironskin's voice. Anyone can live among the Children, but to be truly one of them takes more than most people are able to give.
"It's as he said, it is over. He defeated him. Blue-Eye and Raz will heal Ahab, and there will be no more questions of who will lead us home." Ironskin nodded. I could see he was finally beginning to understand.
Ahab didn't join us when we left Warhall the next morning. I heard from Blue-Eye that Jannix stayed with him all night. They talked about Ahni and what the new settlement would be like. I was glad that Jannix didn't kill him. He was fair in his own way, and just in the eyes of the Children. Ahab did not deserve death and Jannix knew this. Now Warhall's best Shamans would repair Ahab's splintered bones. He would join us when we found the valley.
We gained warriors at Warhall. Some of the Blood Horde chose to join us, including a fierce warrior who called herself Brase. Jannix was able to gather more of the Slaughter Kings, people from his own tribe. Now, instead of a small group, we were a war party of twenty strong Children.
We moved though the area known as Northfields. We had gathered enough supplies and weapons in Warhall, so we didn't need to stop at Fracture for very long. The Warchief seemed amused by our mission, but didn't try to stop us. Northfields itself had little to offer us. The land had already been carved up by the Factions, and the best we could do was make our way through the Vista and Traveler settlements. They are our allies, but I know deep down they fear us. It is an alliance of convenience, rather than trust. We know we are safe in their towns, but we do not overstay our welcome. Allies turn to enemies quickly these days.
By the time we had reached the Plateau, we numbered over thirty. No one stood against us. The four of us that were left from the original six had grown close through blood spilled and friends lost, but we were tired in a way that few of the Children would ever understand. It began to feel useless. Even Curtos' faith in Jannix began to fade. When we rested, we walked among the Children, and we could hear them complain. Brase was particularly loud, although she was careful never to challenge Jannix directly. Instead she "questioned" him, without ever loudly doubting the word of Blue-Eye. It soon became clear that there would be revolt if we didn't find the valley.
One night, Blue-Eye and Jannix called Curtos and me to wake everyone. We would begin our march before the sun rose. When I woke her, I could see the smirk settle on Brase's face. She had been waiting for Jannix to lose enough favor to take control. After seeing what he did to Ahab, she had to know she could not challenge him honestly. She must have hoped to have the Children on her side, using the sheer number of warriors against him. Ironskin and I walked next to her, letting her know that we were watching and ready to stop whatever trouble she would bring.
Jannix stopped the march just as the sun began to rise. We were standing near the ruins of a large brick building on a slight hill. The land beyond the hill was just out of my sight, but I could hear a murmur start to work though the crowd. Brase's jaw tightened and she pushed her way to the front of the crowd. I followed behind, trying not to hope.
The early morning rays had just hit what was left of the steel beams of the bridge. Jannix stood at the bottom of the hill where the bridge connected with the land. Blue-Eye stood next to him, arms again crossed over his chest plate. I knew that underneath that mask he was smiling. I walked down the hill to stand amongst the ruined cars and buses that covered the bridge. I could see the valley below where I stood. There was more than enough room for all of us.
I turned to Jannix. Instead of grinning broadly, as I was, his face was grave. "Today our work begins!" he said, his voice carrying to every ear. "We have come here to liberate the people from the tyranny of civilization and order. The work they do for us will make them strong in battle and in mind. We will build our lives here and soon we will sweep over this land, claiming it all in the name of the Children. This is our land now. It will be called Boneclaw!"
I looked around at the Children as they roared their approval. I stayed there on that bridge, watching them, as Warchief Jannix Boneclaw led them down into the valley. Even after all we had gone through together, almost immediately they began fighting over the supplies and land within the valley.
I knew then that I wouldn't stay in the valley for very long. I had fought and bled to make it to Boneclaw, but although they were all Children, their ways were too different from my own. After the Warchief had established his claim here I would move on, searching for a home where I could finally wait out the end of the world in peace and quiet."
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