maybe a hero

Bloodyknife the hero
Protected his home and his folk
His heart beat stronger with outrage
When the enemies came
Thinking they could easily take what they wanted
Bloodyknife the brave
Fought off the invader
And led his kin to victory
That filled them all with pride and happiness
And the knowledge of their rights
They were not a rich, golden folk
They worked hard and were rewarded
The earth gave them bounty
Fleeting but replenished regularly
With their iron and steel
The pulled the fruits from the ground and the trees
And they loosed the spirits of their fellows in fur and feathers
To the life beyond
Always with need
And always with respect
To please the Watcher Overhead
They never thought they were unhappy
Or wanted anything more than what they were given
But when Bloodyknife was born
His mother had already given her spirit to the beyond
The baby pushed at the cold womb
And the midwife saw
She cut him out
With his father's deer knife
And he was given his name in sorrow
But also in hope, for he was strong and could survive motherless
He grew quick and smart
He grew loving and with a will to guard
The hound could not sense a fox
Without Bloodyknife springing from his place to chase it away
He did not kill them for sport or trophy
But only to end a threat
They were marked
On the tail; on the toe; on the ear; on the nose
When the marks ran out, the spirit was loosed
It was the only way for the Merciful but Stern
Bloodyknife the Warden if his family's life and land
He took a fascination
With fire
He burned his fingers many times
Trying to grasp it
He watched it change wood and grass and bone
To dancing light
Soon he began to help the smith in his tasks
Because he had the biggest, hottest fires
And there were sparks and rivers of metal to observe
Then Bloodyknife made his own sharp points
Not red with life sap
Red with the hot breath of the light
He made them sharp to pierce the hide and heart
Of great stags and bears and rams
Nobody thought like-lookers would be their targets
Or that points from far-off lands would spill the life sap
And loose the spirits in the village
Before the ice time ended