Email:
Lespion@msn.com
Mudada
grinned. Good fortune continued
to smile on him. First the capture
and violation of the three gorgeous Englishwomen, and now the fortuitous
meeting with the strange Englishman and his Italian and German
comrades. He could hardly believe
the amount of gold he was being offered to guide the Englishmans expedition
to the isolated desert civilization he had stumbled across while fleeing
his enemies twenty years ago.
Of course it would mean the possible loss
of one of his best customers in the slave trade, but the amount offered by
The Englishman was more gold than he had ever
seen. And of course, there was
always the possibility that the Englishmen and his followers would not survive
their encounter with the mysterious civilization he had been trading with
for the last few decades.
Featherstone watched the Arab slaver he had
hired to lead him to the lost city of the
Egyptians. It had been a stroke
of luck finding the man. His
maps of the lost city were none too accurate, as might be expected of documents
created over a thousand years ago.
Stumbling into the shifty Arab had been pure
luck. It was almost as if he
was destined to succeed. If he
was successful he would go down in history as the greatest anthropologist
and treasure hunter of all time. He
wondered what that bitch,
Andreotti leaned toward
him. Featherstone was riding
between the two men he felt he could most depend
on. Andreotti was on his right,
while Sturm flanked his left.
How far do you think we can trust him? the Italian officer
said in a low voice.
I dont trust him at all,
replied Featherstone. The
man is non-Aryan scum. I suspect
he and his men would have killed us all if we did not outnumber him ten to
one. But he may prove useful
to us until I am ready to dispose of him.
Sturm nodded
grimly. He had taken an instant
dislike to the shifty-eyed Arab, feeling that it was improper to entrust
a subhuman with so important a task.
Now that Featherstone had revealed his real intentions regarding the
crooked-toothed villain he was quite looking forward to dealing with
him.
The three men fell silent as the slaver slowed
his mount and allowed them to catch up.
Just little way now, Mudada said in his fractured
English. Just past
hill. He pointed toward
a rocky outcrop thrusting up from the desert floor.
About time, muttered
Featherstone. He was tired of
riding through this trackless waste.
The Arab had better deliver on his
promise. He had wasted enough
of his life sitting on the back of a
camel. He twisted in the saddle
to look back at the column of men following along
behind. He was down to only about
a hundred now. There had not
been enough camels available at the last oasis to take all of them, and the
vehicles they had brought with them could not be refueled on such a long
trek and so had been left behind.
It was just as well, many of the Italian soldiers had become sick
and they were far from reliable in a fight
anyway. He had taken just the
best of Andreottis men and the ten SS troops who accompanied
Sturm. They should be more than
enough to deal with any primitive civilization they were likely to
meet.
Another half hour brought them to a narrow
canyon. Down here,
said Mudada.
Featherstone definitely did not trust
him. He was far too shifty
eyed. You go first, He
ordered. Show us the
way.
Might be guarded, Mudada replied
uneasily. Could walk into
ambush.
All the more reason for you to go
first, insisted Featherstone.
That way Ill at least know where you
are.
You not trust me? Mudada cried,
indignantly.
My dear man, Featherstone said
pleasantly. I hardly know
you. Why should I trust
you? Show me what you promised
and perhaps I will have more faith in you.
Mudada cursed in Arabic, but did not
argue. Ordering his men to come
with him he rode up the canyon, his eyes searching the
rock.
What are we going to do? asked
Amy. Theyre headed
right this way.
Theyve been pretty badly beaten
up, said Jia Li. They
can hardly walk.
The three women lay flat on the top of the
temple platform, peering over the edge at the advancing
procession. Their stunned disbelief
at seeing Larra and Melissa being led in chains toward their hiding place
had changed to a desire to somehow rescue their two
companions. The question was
how to go about doing that without being captured
themselves.
We have the advantage of surprise,
said Jia Li. What we do
not have are suitable weapons to take on so many opponents, but perhaps we
can improvise. She edged
away from the top of the platform and moved back closer to the tunnel entrance
that led to the cavern of fire and water.
There were a number of pennons attached to wooden staffs jutting from
the wall. Taking one of these
in both hands she pulled it free.
This is not perfect, she said stripping off the pennon,
but it will do in place of the real
thing. She twirled the
eight foot staff expertly in her hands.
Right, said Katie, following her
example. Both she and Amy had
been trained in the use of the
bo during their stay
in
Suitably armed the three women moved into
the concealment of the tunnel entrance.
It was a tremendous gamble.
They were outnumbered several hundred to one, but if they could catch
their opponents unprepared they might manage to confuse them badly enough
to rescue their friends and escape the way they had
come.
They waited as the procession climbed the
long stairway. It was several
hundred steps from the impressive statue-lined promenade to the top of the
temple and it would take the priests, soldiers, and their prisoners several
minutes to reach the top, especially at the speed Larra and Melissa were
moving.
The climb to the top of the temple seemed
endless.
Exhausted from being
repeatedly raped and brutalized, Larra and Melissa could barely place one
foot in front of the other. Only
the severe conditioning regimen that Larra put herself and her companions
though insured that the two beaten women had enough energy to mount the
steps. Even so it was a near
thing, especially for Melissa who was forced to put her weight on her injured
leg. Every step was blinding
agony, and it took all of her fierce spirit to keep on
moving. For Larra it was not
much better. The high priest
had left the arrow shaft imbedded in her shoulder, and she had to fight to
remain conscious. All that kept
her going was the fear of what might be done to her if she
faltered. Somehow she had to
keep going, for Melissas sake if nothing
else. Once again one of her
adventures had drawn in one of her innocent
friends. She could not abandon
the girl even if she was helpless to save her.
They were almost at the
top. Just a few more
steps. Larra wondered what horrors
awaited her and Melissa on the temple
platform. The high priest had
most certainly not brought them there for their
health. Neither she nor Melissa
had revealed the whereabouts of the
Eye
of Thoth. Larra knew
that Melissa couldnt; she had hidden the gem when the girl wasnt
looking. She had not done this
because the girl couldnt be
trusted. Larra knew Melissa far
better than that. She had done
it because Melissa might tell simply to protect
Larra. More than anything the
young woman was most protective of her mentor and Larra knew
it.
Three more
steps. The sweat streamed from
her body, mixing with the blood that oozed from her injured
shoulder. Melissa too left a
trail of scarlet as she limped painfully
upward. Then suddenly there was
a loud scream. The sound froze
the escort in their tracks and then three whirling dervishes swept into the
startled priests and soldiers.
With some shock and considerably more relief,
Larra and Melissa recognized the attackers at once, but to the priests and
guards it was as if they had been set upon by
demons. Bodies tumbled down the
steps bouncing all the way to the bottom.
The high priest himself barely escaped death, ducking under a viciously
aimed blow and hurling himself backward.
As it was he severely sprained his ankle as he leaped down a dozen
steps and landed awkwardly on one leg.
Screaming in pain he ordered the dozens of soldiers and priests who
had accompanied him to attack, but so bold was the assault that most of his
men fled in panic, leaving the three astoundingly beautiful women in control
of the top of the temple.
It was a decisive, but unfortunately temporary,
victory. The three women could
not possible hope to carry the attack any farther than they
did. Already dozens of soldiers
were charging up the steep incline.
Soon the three rescuers would be faced with an overwhelming number
of foes. But it had never been
their intent to vanquish the army of guards and priests, just free their
friends, and they had done that.
While Jia Li acted as a rear guard, Katie and Amy jumped to the aid
of Larra and Melissa. Taking
each of the injured women under one arm they guided them toward the tunnel
that led to the cavern of fire and water.
Go, said Jia Li, I will
try to hold them in this narrow
place. She stood in the
doorway to the tunnel. She had
discarded her improvised staff and was now armed with a pair of swords she
had salvaged from the guards. They
were short-bladed weapons similar to those she had trained with in
Katie and Amy had the good sense not to argue
with her. They knew that of the
three the Manchu girl was by far the most adept in hand to hand combat, as
she had proven on many occasions.
And someone had to look after Larra and
Melissa. It was obvious that
the two battered and beaten women could not escape on their
own.
The first wave hit Jia Li just a minute after
her companions had disappeared into the
tunnel. As she had surmised the
ibis-headed guards came at her in a rush, making little or no attempt to
fight scientifically. They ran
into a mincer. Her use of the
twin blades was masterful. Moving
her arms faster than the eye could follow, the gleaming steel blurred in
her hands. The screams of pain
from the men she cut to pieces told of her
skill. Within
a few seconds a small mound of
bodies clogged the mouth of the tunnel.
Retreating a few steps to prevent her adversaries from throwing spears
or releasing arrows at her, she once again assumed a defensive
stance.
She grinned wryly as a shower of missiles
struck the place that she had just
vacated. Her opponents were
learning. She readied herself
for the next attack. It came
within moments, but now the soldiers had to clamber over the bodies of their
dead comrades. Jia Li methodically
slaughtered them one by one; and then she was alone.
The tunnel was now piled high with the bodies
of dead and dying men, making it almost impossible for anyone to mount a
coordinated attack on her. She
had to make a decision. Did she
stay where she was and continue to cover the retreat of her friends or did
she join them? They had only
had a few minutes to make good their
escape. She decided to give them
a bit more time. Remaining alert,
she waited to see what would happen.
Leave me, Larra
gasped. Youll just
get caught. Theres no point
in all of us being taken.
Nonsense, replied
Katie. We didnt come
all this way just to leave you
here. She glanced at Amy
who was helping Melissa walk. The
redhead returned her look and nodded.
The heat from the giant gas flare was once again sapping their
strength. It was time to return
the way they had come. Holding
the two women they helped them toward the steep path that led to the outside
world. At that point everything
went wrong.
There was no warning, but suddenly from several
directions at once dozens of guards swarmed toward
them. At first both Katie and
Amy thought that Jia Li had been overwhelmed, but then they realized that
the soldiers seemed to be coming out of the rocks themselves, no doubt from
entrances that the women had not realized
existed. Weaponless, Katie and
Amy were forced to defend themselves using unarmed combat, but there were
just too many opponents. And
this time the tables were turned; it was their adversaries who had the advantage
of surprise. They were simply
overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers.
Jia Li slowly
retreated. There seemed to be
no pursuit and it was time to join the
others. Congratulating herself
on her rear-guard action she never even saw the man who struck
her. He caught her as she entered
the cavern. As her eyes widened
in shock at the horde of soldiers who were rounding up her companions a guard
who had been standing to one side of the entrance to the cavern rammed the
butt of his spear into the side of her
head. Stunned she fell to her
knees and was easy picking for the wave of soldiers who descended upon
her. In a few seconds she was
overwhelmed and trussed up like her
companions. She could not help
looking into the eyes of Katie and Amy.
The despair and shock on their faces was
obvious. In trying to save their
friends they had become prisoners
themselves. Bewildered they struggled
helplessly to escape while at the same time wondering what their fate would
be.
They didnt have to wait
long. They were hustled into
cool chambers hidden behind clefts in the
rock. This was where the surprise
attack had come from. Waiting
for them was a rather dumpy little man wearing an impressive jewel-encrusted
ibis headdress. Melissa already
knew him as the high priest, but it was not difficult for the others to figure
out who he was. He issued orders
crisply to the guards. The women
were separated, Larra and Melissa being dragged from the room toward the
main cavern and the three rescuers being hauled off to side
rooms.
Djeserka could hardly believe the turn of events. It was clear that the gods were playing with him. They certainly had a strange sense of humour. First two beautiful women, then three, and now three more. But he had managed to capture them all and now he and his men would use them as women were intended to be used. He would see to the torture of the two women who had stolen the Eye of Thoth himself. And while he did, his priests and soldiers would enjoy the others. He licked his lips. The next few hours promised to be most interesting and enjoyable.
PREVIOUS
CHAPTER WIZARD'S
LAIR MAIN PAGE
L'ESPION'S
STORY PAGE