Tales of
Erogenia
Based
on the online comic created by J.E. Draft.
Episode 3: The
Chapter
6: Ape
Master
Frhang did not let up; dragging
his captives mercilessly behind him; halting only to drink whenever they
came to a stream. Even at these
stops he did not remove their bonds; instead he forced them to lie on their
bellies and lap the water like animals.
The Urtt looked over his shoulder continuously, not only to check
on his captives, but to make sure that there was no
pursuit. Now that he was alone
a chance encounter with an Urulana patrol would have been
fatal. Perhaps it was because
of this or for some other reason that he did not pay as much attention to
what was in front of him until it was too
late.
He led them into an area
of large limestone boulders. They
were innocuous enough by themselves and they wound they way into them until
they were comply surrounded by gigantic grey
rocks. It was then that there
was an almost human shriek of rage.
Frhang turned in the direction of the sound, his yellow eyes wide
with fear. Zenaria and Sulia
followed his gaze. About five
yards away, perched on top of one of the larger boulders was an animal that
seemed to be a cross between a dog and a
monkey. It resembled the latter
more than anything else and Zenaria had seen creatures like it before in
the rainforests of Jingua, but they had been small, long-tailed animals that
scampered from tree to tree. This
creature was larger, with a dog-like snout sporting large canine teeth and
it appeared a good deal more aggressive.
It growled menacingly at them baring its fangs and adopting a hostile
posture.
Frhang drew Zenaria’s
sword and gripped his mace in his other hand, temporarily letting go of the
rope. Zenaria was surprised that
he seemed so alarmed by a single animal, but she saw why when several dozen
more suddenly appeared, scrambling over the rocks to stand next to the first
beast.
“Baboons,” Sulia
whispered. “They are pack
animals and we have strayed into their territory.”
Zenaria was not too concerned
about the animals’ characteristics.
It was their aggressive stance that had her
worried. With her arms bound
behind her she was helpless to defend herself and would even have trouble
running if she chose to flee.
“Free us,
Frhang. We can help you
defend.”
Frhang laughed, displaying
a row of remarkably sharp teeth.
“You think me a fool?
You would stab me in the back as soon as the chance presented
itself.”
“You have my word that
we would not,” Zenaria replied.
“Release us and I promise we will make no attempt to kill
you.”
“And I suppose you
would lie down and let me tie you up
again. I am not that
foolish.”
“You would prefer to
be torn to pieces by baboons instead?
You are making no sense. I
give you my word that if you let us fight beside you we will allow you to
go on your way.”
“So you
say. I am not so stupid as to
trust a human cow,” Frhang sneered, his eyes firmly fixed on the horde
of baboons. Most of the animals
were demonstrating fiercely; apparently building up their courage prior to
attack. Their numbers had now
grown to close to a hundred and they were edging closer, their courage growing
as their odds improved.
Zenaria turned her head
and saw that there were now baboons behind them as
well. They were encircled with
apparently no way out and the strength of their enemies growing with every
heartbeat. Zenaria’s looked
frantically around, looking for someway out, but saw only more
baboons. However, Frhang no longer
had his hand on the tether he had used to lead
them. She and Sulia were
still bound, but there was nothing to stop them from making a run for
it. But it was not in her nature
to flee before an enemy especially under such doubtful
circumstances. She resorted to
her natural instincts.
“I will not die helpless
because of the stupidity of an Urtt,” she
cried. She took a single step
forward, closing the distance between herself and
Frhang. She was far from being
in fighting trim, but she put to use a technique she had learned from Tren,
her first lover. Planting her
left foot she pivoted, at the same time bringing up her right leg in a powerful
swing that had the full weight and power of her body behind
it.
Too late Frhang realized
that she was moving. The ball
of her foot drove into his body just where his sternum met his
belly. There was an ugly crack
and a cry of pain as the Urtt folded and dropped to the
ground. Incredibly, considering
the force of the blow, Frhang actually attempt to get to his feet, but he
coughed, bringing up bloody phlegm and fell back gasping for
air.
Zenaria had not hit the
Urtt as well as she would have liked with her body off-balance due to the
way her arms were pinioned, but she had hit him hard
enough. Tugging Sulia after her
she managed to squat and retrieve her
sword. The Urulana princess caught
on quickly and turned her body so that Zenaria could hold the blade of the
sword against it. Moving her
body back and forth she managed to saw through the rope binding her elbows
and then took the sword and cut through Zenaria’s
bonds.
All the while both women
kept their eyes on the baboons, who seemed somewhat baffled by the events
unfolding in front of them. They
had not expected the intruders in their territory to fight among themselves
and probably did not realize just how helpless Zenaria and Sulia had been,
now however, they began to move closer once again, making raucous barking
sounds. It was about that time
that Frhang suddenly lurched to his feet.
He was spitting blood, but
the same toughness that allowed him to recover from the blow that Zenaria
had dealt him allowed him to pick up his mace and charge toward the surprised
women, catching them completely
off-guard.
Zenaria was unarmed; Sulia
still holding her sword after cutting her
ropes. Since she was closest
Frhang aimed his first blow at her, but Zenaria had trained against far better
fighters than the Urtt. The blow
was powerful, but delivered without subtlety and she side-stepped it just
in time, the mace grazing her shoulder as it swept
by. Zenaria’s right arm
went numb, but she was able to spin away from a follow up
blow.
His first target having
escaped, the Urtt went after Sulia, swinging the mace in a blow that would
have crushed her skull if it had
connected. Stepping back Sulia
tried to defend herself with the unfamiliar weapon, holding the blade in
front of her with both hands. But
the sword was not the spear she was used to wielding and Frhang batted the
blade aside, striking at her head once
more. This time she barely evaded
the blow and Frhang charged forward, pressing his advantage as Sulia desperately
back-pedalled.
Zenaria shook her injured
arm, attempting to get some feeling back into
it. She could see that it was
only a matter of time before Frhang caught up with
Sulia. She had to do something
and so she hurled herself toward the Urtt.
Some instinct must have
alerted Frhang, however, because as she was almost on him he suddenly whirled,
his mace ready. Zenaria was forced
to come to a complete halt and retreat as he turned on her, swinging the
mace with deadly intent.
“Human cows,”
Frhang raged. “Think you
can defeat an Urtt warrior?
I’ll kill both of
you.”
Zenaria backed away, her
eyes searching for some sort of weapon.
Frhang kept after her, positioning himself so that he could watch
Sulia at the same time. Zenaria
watched the gathering baboons.
Fortunately, they seemed content to merely bark and watch the strange
antics of those who had invaded their
territory.
Other than a few rocks there
seemed little available that could be used as a
weapon. Warily Zenaria circled,
trying to keep out of striking distance.
Her right arm was useless and hung limply at her side; if she had
been alone Frhang would probably have made short work of
her. Fortunately Sulia provided
a distraction. Even if she had
no idea how to use the sword properly she was an imposing presence, standing
over a head taller than the Urtt.
Even an accidental blow would have been deadly and the Urtt kept an
eye on her occasionally making a move toward her if she got too
close.
Zenaria feared that Sulia
might try something rash. Neither
of them was in the best of condition, and even though he had suffered in
the explosion of stream, Frhang seemed to be in the best shape of all of
them.
Frhang suddenly charged
toward Sulia, attacking her in a flurry of
blows. Somehow in spite of her
inexperience she handled the sword well enough to hold him off, but he drove
her back across the open space and would have pinned her against one of the
boulders if Zenaria had not charged toward him once
again.
Frhang whirled on her, the
mace passing within a hand’s breadth of her
breasts. Zenaria stepped away,
and Sulia, trying to take advantage of the distraction, moved toward
him. But it had all been a feint;
Frhang spun and only Sulia’s quick reflexes kept her from being
killed. She brought up her left
arm and blocked the blow, but it was a painful
save. The mace thudded hard into
her and there was the ugly crack of breaking
bone. Sulia cried out, falling
back while Frhang readied himself for a killing
blow.
He whirled the mace high
over his head. Sulia did the
only thing she could, lunging toward him and ducking beneath the mace, but
her attack was awkward, the blade creasing his stomach, allowing him to move
away from the attack.
Sulia was out of the
fight. Her arm hung useless and
her face was twisted in pain. Wide
open to Frhang’s attack, she tossed the sword toward Zenaria and then
rolled to the ground to avoid having her skull
crushed.
Frhang seemed to know he
had won. Ignoring the fallen
Urulana princess he turned to Zenaria.
“Surrender, cow and I will let you
live.”
Zenaria
smiled. She had her sword, and
although her right arm was numb, the Urtt was about to discover that a warrior
of the Snow Leopard was trained to use her sword with either
hand. She hefted the blade, her
blood surging at its familiar weight and
balance.
Frhang hesitated, realizing
from her demeanour that he may have underestimated her, but Zenaria wasted
no time. Her enemy was in front
of her and every act of humiliation and brutality was fresh in her
mind. She stalked her prey like
the animal her tribe represented.
“Now you die,
Urtt.” She spoke the words
calmly and with complete conviction.
Fear flickered in Frhang’s eyes and he took a step backward and
then another. Zenaria twirled
her sword and then closed at a run.
Frhang
broke. Hurling his mace toward
her, he turned and ran. It turned
out to be a very bad idea. Like
a damn bursting dozens of baboons poured off the rocks and swarmed toward
the fleeing Urtt. In an instant
he was buried in snarling, biting, furry
bodies. Zenaria watched for a
few seconds as the Urtt was literally ripped apart and then ran to
Sulia. Handing her companion
the mace she turned with her back to one of the large boulders and prepared
to defend herself.
There was no point in running;
Frhang’s end had shown her that.
Even with only two good arms between them they had a better chance
of surviving if they stood and fought.
However, considering the numbers and ferocity of their enemies Zenaria
did not give either of them much chance of
surviving.
The baboons finished with
Frhang. After bouncing in triumph
on his torn body they regrouped, climbing the boulders closest to Zenaria
and Sulia until they faced them in a semicircle consisting of hundreds of
barking, posturing baboons. Once
again the creatures seemed to be working up their courage before attacking,
assuming challenging positions and then retreating and then returning
again. Gradually they edged closer
until many of them were close enough to reach the two women in a single
jump.
With her sword arm Zenaria
reached to her left and touched Sulia on her
shoulder. Then she prepared to
meet the baboon attack. It was
a simple gesture and since it was her right arm that Frhang had broken Sulia
could not return it, but she gave her light-skinned companion a smile and
raised the mace, indicating that she too was ready to die
fighting.
The poignant moment, however,
lasted only a few heartbeats. It
was broken by the appearance of a strange figure that suddenly appeared on
a large boulder just behind the baboons.
Zenaria’s eyes widened
in amazement. It was probably
not the most amazing thing she had seen in her relatively short life, but
it came close. She was not sure
if the figure before her was man or ape.
It appeared to be a combination of the
two. It stood probably only a
little more than half Zenaria’s height and was clad only in a simple
animal skin loincloth. Its skin
was dark brown, similar to that of the
Urulana. Bowlegged, it had arms
that hung down past its knees.
Its face was also a
study. Its nose was wide and
the eyes deep set. A large gold
ring pierced the septum of its nose, reaching down almost to its upper
lip. There were matching rings
in the lobes of each of its large ears and several gold bracelets adorned
its right wrist. Straggly grey
hair hung down over its shoulders, falling almost to its
waist. If it was human it was
probably the ugliest person Zenaria had ever
seen. In its hand it held a wooden
staff decorated with strings of small animal
skulls. On the very top was the
skull of some large carnivore, probably a leopard or beast of similar
size. As it moved forward it
was revealed that its large flat feet were bare, but that each ankle wore
a circlet of tiny bells that tinkled as it
moved.
Zenaria finally decided
that it was male and probably human or some derivative of
human. He moved through the pack
of baboons until he was standing on the lip of the boulder and stared at
the two warriors. “So you
are an enemy of the Urtts. That
is good. It will not be necessary
to kill you.”
The words were slurred as
if his tongue had difficulty forming the
words. She was also struck by
the deepness of the strange man’s voice, noticing also that he revealed
large ape-like incisors when he opened his
mouth. Perhaps he was not so
much a man after all, but at least he was not entirely a
beast.
“I am the Princess
Zenaria of the tribe of the Snow Leopard,” Zenaria
replied. “And this is Princess
Sulia of the Urulana. As you
see we are enemies of the Urtts and did not intend to trespass upon your
territory.”
“Princesses…”
the strange man mused. A strange
glow came into his eyes and then was
gone. “You are hurt,”
he continued. “You will
come with me and I will tend to your wounds.”
Something about the strange
man made Zenaria decidedly uneasy, but she didn’t think she could do
anything other than what she had been asked.
The
sensation was returning to her right arm, but Sulia obviously needed further
attention. “What do we call
you?” she asked.
The man had already half-turned
as if to lead them, but he turned back.
Raising bushy brows he looked at them with a somewhat puzzled expression
on his face. “It has been
a long time since anyone called me
anything.” He thought for
a bit. “Call me
Baugh. I think that was the name
I last used.”
As Baugh moved off across
the rocks Zenaria exchanged a glance with
Sulia. The Urulana princess was
shaking; barely able to stand. For
a heartbeat Zenaria thought she was reacting to the pain of her injury, but
then she realized that her quick breathing and dilated eyes was due to
fear. “Baugh,” the
Urulanan princess whispered. Sweat
beaded her brow, running into her eyes.
“Evil, he is evil.”
Zenaria looked after the
retreating ape-man. For all of
his obvious power over the baboons, he did not appear particularly dangerous,
but Sulia was obviously terrified, and was shaking so badly she could hardly
stand. However, with her broken
arm and the fact that they were still surrounded by baboons, there was very
little that Zenaria could do. And
Baugh had stopped and was waiting, his face unreadable, but his body language
indicating his impatience. She
took Sulia’s good arm and to her relief the
princess did not protest.
They followed Baugh as best
they could. Zenaria did not wish
to chance climbing the rocks with Sulia’s injury and so they wove their
way among the boulders until they finally reached a place where they were
forced to climb. Fortunately,
they were able to use a couple of smaller boulders to help them
up. By this time Baugh had
disappeared into a gap in the rocks, but there was no trouble spotting his
baboon entourage and headed in that direction.
The way between the rocks
narrowed until they were in a narrow passage barely a yard wide and were
forced to walk single file. High
cliffs rose on either side gradually coming together at the top until they
almost touched and it was almost like being in a
cave. Baboons scampered ahead
of them and well as behind.
Although none of the animals offered any threat Zenaria could not
help but think that if they did, neither she nor Sulia would have much of
a chance.
The narrow defile suddenly
widened, opening into an area about thirty feet
across. A small stream trickled
down one wall of the cliff, filling a small pool and then overflowing to
dribble away through a crack in the
rocks. Vines and creepers climbed
the steep rock surrounding the small amphitheatre offering a possible way
out for those agile enough to climb them.
Farther on there was a small cave that was evidently used by Baugh
as a sleeping area. Just in front
of the cave was a firepit and a pile of
wood. Baugh was waiting for them
just in front of the cave. He
was seated on a simple wooden stool and was unwrapping a bundle wrapped in
zebra hide.
He set the bundle before
him, revealing a number of small pouches tied off with leather thongs and
a number of needles and other instruments that seemed to be medically
related. “I haven’t
used this on humans for quite some time,” he
said. “But I think I can
deal with your injury.”
Sulia did not
move. In spite of her injury
she would not sit, but stood trembling next to
Zenaria. Baugh gestured
impatiently. “Sit here”
he commanded, pointing to a boulder close to
him. “I won’t bite
you.” Sweating, Sulia
positioned herself on the rock and waited, controlling herself only with
difficulty.
Baugh opened up one of the
pouches and shook a white powder into a bowl made out of the husk of some
sort of nut. Then he added a
small amount of water from the spring and mixed it with a
straw. He handed it to
Sulia. “Drink
this. It will dull the
pain.”
Sulia shook her
head. “I am a warrior.”
I can handle
pain.”
Zenaria placed her hand
on her companion’s shoulder.
The trembling had stopped, but Sulia was as taut as a
bowstring. What was it she feared
about the strange shaman? So
far he had offered no threat, but Zenaria was tense, watching for any
threat.
Baugh’s thick eyebrows
contracted. “I am not
questioning your courage, but I don’t want you jerking when I set the
bone. Do as you are
told.”
His tone was almost threatening
and Sulia reached out and took the cup and swallowed, grimacing a little
at the taste of the medicine.
“Catch her when she
falls,” Baugh ordered Zenaria.
“What…?”
Zenaria began, and then moved to catch Sulia as she toppled
sideways.
“What did you do to
her?” Zenaria shouted, lowering Sulia to the ground and reaching for
her sword.
Baugh seemed completely
unconcerned. “Please put
down your sword. I did as I said
I was going to; I gave her something to dull her
pain. She will awake
shortly. Please do not waste
my time.”
Many of the baboons had
crowded closer, their posture threatening; but an even larger threat loomed
from above. Swinging down one
of the thick vines was the largest monkey Zenaria had ever
seen. Covered in black hair,
it was at least twice her width although not nearly as tall, but so powerfully
built that it probably weighed two or three times what she
did. She saw as it reached the
bottom that it lacked the prehensile tail she had seen on other monkeys and
guessed that the huge animal was some sort of
relative.
“You see that among
the apes I have many friends,” Baugh
commented. “Do not worry;
Saugh will not harm you provided you do nothing to make him
angry.”
Zenaria lowered her
blade. The odds were not exactly
in her favour, but it would not have stopped her if she thought Baugh had
harmed Sulia. Since the Urulana
warrior was still breathing she felt that she had little choice but to trust
the strange little man; at least until he did something really
threatening.
Being surrounded by baboons
did nothing to reassure her, and the hulking presence of Saugh was even more
unnerving, but she could do nothing except hold Sulia while Baugh tended
to her.
Moving to Sulia’s side,
Baugh tested her broken left arm.
“Both bones are broken,” he muttered almost as if speaking
to himself. “Splintered
too. This will be a little
tricky.”
He tenderly probed the arm,
and then from the zebra skin medical kit he had unrolled he took out two
long clean white bones and lined them up along the area of the
break. He took out two more and
placed one below the wrist and the other on
top. Very carefully he wrapped
the bones in leather and then tied everything in place with rawhide thongs
creating a crude but effective splint.
Zenaria thought that was all there was going to be to it, but what
Baugh did next surprised her.
Placing his hands on the splinted wrist he closed his eyes and seemed
to meditate.
Zenaria had seen only one
thing like this before and that was when Varden used his healing
powers. She waited to see if
what Baugh was doing would have the same
effect.
It was several hundred
heartbeats before Baugh open his eyes
again. His dark brown eyes met
Zenaria’s. “It will
take her a week or so to completely heal, but the bones have been set
properly. Now she must rest,
and from the way you look so should you.”
Zenaria looked around the
small amphitheatre rather dubiously.
It seemed a rather unpromising place to stay, but Baugh did not seem
the least put off. “You
may sleep over there. Do not
worry there will be no rain and I will have my companions bring
bedding. It will do until better
quarters can be found for you.”
It was about that time that
Zenaria began to wonder just how long Baugh expected them to
stay. She was more than used
to rough camping and had no need of any elaborate
preparations. What really bothered
her, however, was that she was not sure whether she and Sulia were guests
or prisoners. Certainly if Baugh
decided that he wanted to keep them from leaving it would be a formidable
task to fight their way past hundreds of baboons, not to mention the huge
monkey.
Picking Sulia up, she carried
her across to the area that Baugh had indicated and set her gently on the
ground. Zenaria settled beside
her and waited. She was almost
overcome by fatigue, but fought to stay awake so that she could keep an eye
on Baugh. In spite of the fact
that he had helped Sulia, she realized just how helpless she was when faced
with his powers. He was obviously
some sort of shaman and therefore someone to be respected and perhaps
feared. Exhaustion, however,
won out over duty. In spite of
her best intentions Zenaria could not keep her eyes
open.
She awoke sometime later
to find that it was now dark.
Someone, almost certainly Baugh, had covered her with a woven grass
mat that substituted as a blanket.
Beside her Sulia was still
sleeping. Her even breathing
seemed to indicate a natural sleep and Zenaria supposed that like her she
was probably recovering from the ordeal she had been put
through.
Carefully she pushed aside
the mat and got unsteadily to her feet.
Every muscle in her body protested, but she
persevered. In front of Baugh’s
cave a small fire was burning, throwing flickering light on the surrounding
stone walls.
Baugh emerged from
his cave and shambled toward her.
“I have sent my companions for
food. They should return
soon.” Zenaria noted that
Saugh was gone along with most of the baboons, but she supposed that most
of them were very close by. Just
outside the cave was a pile of simple building
materials.
“There is room for
you to construct a simple shelter until further arrangements can be made,”
Baugh said. “Tomorrow we
will talk of such matters.”
“What matters?”
Zenaria asked. “And what
arrangements?”
“Tomorrow,” Baugh
replied. “But there is just
one thing. You and your companion
did say that you were of royal blood?’
“We are,” Zenaria
replied. “But what of
it?”
“We will discuss it
later. For now I will help with
your shelter.”
Baugh’s help consisted
of having his baboon companions put together a
shelter. Very surprisingly they
proved quite adept at construction, responding quickly to the barks Baugh
delivered. By the time the shelter
was built, Sulia was awake and other baboons had returned with
food. It was mostly fruit and
nuts, but it was plentiful and tasty enough even if it wasn’t what the
two women were used to. Washed
down with tea brewed over the fire, it soon filled them
up. As they ate Zenaria watched
Sulia. She seemed to have overcome
her fear of Baugh; either that or she was disguising it
well.
Baugh ate with them, his
manner of eating more typical of an ape than a
man. But even while he was eating
Baugh’s eyes never left them.
Zenaria was certain that something was coming, but she had no idea
what. She was suddenly acutely
uncomfortable with the fact that she and Sulia had been stripped of their
clothing by the Urtts.
Baugh, however, said nothing
during the meal or after except to offer to look at her
wounds. “I thank you,”
she replied. “But I’ll
be fine in a day or so. Then
perhaps Sulia and I can do something for you to repay your hospitality before
we leave.”
“That too can wait
until tomorrow. Now you
rest.” Without another word
Baugh rose from his sitting position and moved in to his cave
shelter.
Zenaria and Sulia looked
at one another. It appeared that
there was little more to do than take his
advice. Retreating to their tiny
shelter they crawled in and lay down on the bed of grasses and leaves that
they had created.
In the semi-privacy of the
shelter Zenaria looked at Sulia.
“What is this man? Why
do you fear him?”
“He
is a legend among our people,” Sulia
whispered.
“A legend of betrayal and
evil. I had thought that
he did not exist. But now that
I see him I cannot help but fear him.”
Zenaria sat, folding her
legs beneath her. In the tradition
of her people a story-teller was not interrupted and she waited for Sulia
to continue.
“I do not remember
the story very well. It was told
to me as a young girl, but it was said that Baugh was once a powerful shaman
who used his powers to take the honour of a
princess. For this he was punished
with eternal exile and a mighty curse was laid upon him that he
live his life among the apes, doomed to their company
for eternity.”
Zenaria nodded her
understanding, and once again waited, but Sulia gave no more
details. “That is all I
know,” she concluded. “I
am afraid the tale was told to me when I was but a child and I remember nothing
more. Only that he is one to
be avoided.”
Although her story was short,
Sulia seemed exhausted, no doubt partly due to broken arm and partly due
to the ordeal their Urtt captor had put her
through. She yawned widely,
stimulating Zenaria to do the same.
Zenaria moved from her sitting position and arranged their
bedding. As Sulia lay down and
covered herself with the grass blanket, she settled beside
her. Within a few hundred heartbeats
Sulia’s breathing showed that she was slipping
into sleep.
They had been sleeping in
one another’s company for more than a week, but other than their captivity
in the Urtt cages, this was the first time they had slept close to one another
and alone. Zenaria could not
help wondering what would happen if she reached out and touched
Sulia. But she made no attempt
to do so. She was still so sore
that making love was the last thing she wanted to
do. And she remembered Baugh’s
comment that Sulia would need several days to heal
completely. With a sigh of regret
she closed her eyes and slept.
She and Sulia awoke to the
barking of baboons; not a surprising event considering that the animals seemed
to quarrel at the drop of a nut.
Also not surprising was the fact that Baugh was waiting for
them.
He poured tea as they
approached. “I see that
you both appear much stronger. Sit
and eat.”
“I thank you for your
skill in healing,” Zenaria said as she sat and picked up a
cup. “My companion seems
much stronger.” Sulia said
nothing but nodded her agreement and picked up a ripe
fruit. They spent the next few
heartbeats eating while Baugh waited.
Finally, when they had finished he began to speak.
“You have both offered
to repay me for helping you. I
require just one thing and that is that one of you should
stay. Once you have made that
choice the other may go.”
“Stay?”
Both women spoke at
once.
“I require a mate,”
Baugh stated bluntly. “Either
of you would do nicely. But I
leave it to you.”
Zenaria and Sulia simply
stared at him, thunderstruck. It
was several heartbeats before either of them could speak and when it was
it was in tones of complete outrage.
“Nothing you have done
for us deserves such a payment,” Zenaria answered
hotly. Her nudity now made her
distinctly uncomfortable. She
was more than conscious of the way Baugh’s eyes flickered over her breasts
and belly. She had felt that
stare before on the slave auction block in the Sandakar city of Uhra
Don.
“Nonetheless it is
what I demand,” Baugh replied.
“It is your only choice.
If you refuse then neither of you will be allowed to
leave.”
“I will die before
submitting to such a demand,” Zenaria
cried. She snatched up her sword
and leaped to her feet. Sulia
followed, picking up the mace they had taken from
Frhang.
Baugh did not move, regarding
them calmly across the flat rock that served as his
table. He seemed completely
unconcerned that two armed warriors stood only a sword’s reach
away. “I saw how you fought
for one another,” he said.
“I know that neither of you would do anything to endanger the
life of the other. And if you
attack me you can be certain you will both die.”
Baugh didn’t have to
point out what he was talking about.
Saugh squatted just a few feet away, peeling a banana, but with one
eye on the two women. Several
dozen baboons also perched nearby, their posture definitely
menacing. And then there was
Baugh himself. Zenaria had great
respect for shamans. Their arcane
powers were quite capable of rendering her warlike skills
impotent. However, an Erogenian
warrior was not one to be cowed by a simple
threat. “I will not submit
to such a request,” she stated.
“If it means my death, then that is what I
choose.”
“It was not your death
I had in mind,” Baugh replied, but that of your
companion. “Would you sentence
her to death in order to selfishly preserve your own
honour?”
But Sulia too was having
none of Baugh’s blackmail. She
moved next to Zenaria. “No
one fights for me. And no one
takes my place. I side with
Zenaria. We die
together.” In spite of the
fear she had shown the previous day, she seemed to have regained her courage
and assumed a fighting stance, her still-bandaged arm held across her
chest.
Baugh did not
answer. Instead he got to his
feet and raised his staff, the tiny skulls rattling as he did
so. Zenaria and Sulia prepared
to fight, expecting an attack. They
were not wrong, but the form and direction from which it came caught them
completely unprepared.
Their first hint of the
attack was a rustling in the vines that climbed the steep walls of Baugh’s
refuge. Zenaria immediately thought
it was the baboons moving to attack and she whirled to face
them. But it was not the baboons,
but the vines that were moving.
Leafy tendrils reached toward her and Sulia; wrenching away from the
cliff face as they sought to seize them.
Their movement was slow,
but the vines came from all sides, moving toward them with deadly
certainty. Zenaria swung toward
Baugh, but it was too late, the shaman had retreated toward his cave, leaving
a solid wall of snarling baboons backed up by Saugh between him and any
danger. He watched serenely as
his green minions crept toward the two
women.
There was no place to
retreat. Already several of the
green tendrils were brushing against their
legs. With a swipe of her sword
Zenaria cut through a wrist-thick vine that was threatening to encircle
Sulia. In return the Urulana
princess attempted to bludgeon a vine that was snaking toward
Zenaria.
Of the two weapons,
Zenaria’s sword was most suited to fighting the vines, but she hated
using the fine steel blade for chopping
wood. There was, however, no
other choice. As green tendril
after green tendril swayed toward them they hacked and slashed, desperate
to keep from being overwhelmed.
But the vines were not their
only enemy. As Zenaria cut back
one more vine, a small shrub at her feet suddenly swayed toward her and encircled
her ankle with its flexible branches.
It wasn’t much, but it threw off her timing causing her intended
strike to miss a cluster of vines that were moving toward
her. Immediately one of them
wrapped itself around her wrist while another encircled the blade of her
sword. With a frenzied jerk,
Zenaria wrenched the blade free and then cut through the vine around her
wrist, but several more vines seized her; one grabbing her just above the
right knee and another looping itself around her waist.
Sulia was not doing any
better. Vines were wrapped around
her left ankle and thigh, while another resisted her efforts to dislodge
it from around her waist. The
mace was poorly suited to smashing the flexible vines, tending to knock them
away rather than breaking them off.
Zenaria fought to free herself, slashing through the vines holding
her and then pivoting toward Sulia to help free
her. But even as she raised her
sword several more vines grabbed Sulia, pulling her toward the dense mass
of vines still hugging the cliff.
And then a thick vine entangled her sword arm at the same time as
several more woody tendrils closed over her ankles and
thighs.
Heaving their bodies, Zenaria
and Sulia battled to break the grip of the vines, but every heartbeat saw
another green tentacle wrap itself around an arm or leg until they were
eventually held so fast that their efforts to escape became
futile. Gasping for breath, and
still straining to escape, Zenaria realized she was
caught. Filled with rage, she
could do nothing as Baugh once again approached his
captives.
“You have us,”
she panting, sweat stinging her eyes.
“But I will not submit.
You will have to take us by force.”
“I intend to do no
such thing.” Baugh answered calmly.
“The choice I offered still
remains. One of you may leave
and the other must stay.”
“Why would we agree
to such an offer?” Sulia asked.
“Do you think we would willingly betray the other in order to
earn our freedom?”
“Nevertheless that
is my offer. Choose now or remain
prisoners forever.”
Both women struggled once
more against the entangling vines, but they were held
fast. Zenaria could not move
her arms and the vines were wrapped so tightly about her that she was having
trouble breathing. Sulia was
in no better shape and finally gave up, realizing that there was no
escape.
“Forever?” Zenaria
echoed.
“You will be guarded
day and night. There will be
no escape until one of you agrees.”
Zenaria stopped
struggling. She was just exhausting
herself to no purpose. It was
obvious that with his command of the apes and the power of his magic Baugh
could hold them for as long as he chose.
She and Sulia faced not one jailer, but
hundreds. Resignedly she faced
the inevitable. “If I give
myself to you will let my companion go?”
“No,” Sulia
cried. “Do not do
this. I forbid you to sacrifice
yourself for me.”
Zenaria spoke quickly before
Sulia could volunteer herself.
“I will stay, but you must promise to help the princess return
to her people.”
Baugh answered over
Sulia’s cries of outrage.
“It will be done.”
“No,” Sulia screamed
again. “I will stay
too.”
“The choice has been
made,” Baugh replied.
“You will go and your companion will
stay.”
Sulia continued to protest,
but Baugh was adamant. He ordered
the baboons forward to take Zenaria’s sword and Sulia’s
mace.
“Your weapon will be
returned when you leave,” Baugh said to
Sulia. Already the vines holding
the Urulana princess were loosening, but surrounded by dozens of baboons
and with the hulking presence of Saugh, she made no effort to
resist.
“I wish the princess
to be escorted until she is free of here and safe,” Zenaria
insisted. “Carry out your
promise and I will do as you wish.”
“I will return,”
Sulia promised. “I will
return and avenge this humiliation.”
Baugh seemed unconcerned
by the threat. His ugly face
creased in what Zenaria supposed was his version of a smile at her promise
of cooperation. With a wave of
his arm he released her from her viney
prison.
“She must have food
and weapons,” Zenaria insisted, “And a proper escort to see her
rejoined to her companions.”
“I need no help from
a bunch of baboons,” Sulia growled.
“Nonetheless, they
will go with you,” Baugh stated.
A solid wall of baboons moved toward Sulia, presenting as much a threat
as a promise to protect her.
“Go, Sulia,” Zenaria
said. “I will be
alright.”
The expression on Sulia’s
face indicated that she held not the slightest faith in Zenaria’s
assertion. Slowly she turned
away and then suddenly turned back.
“I will return,” she
promised. “I will return
and make this ape-master regret his actions.”
Zenaria nodded her acceptance,
knowing that Sulia would not be deterred in her actions no matter what she
said. Then, her face still clouded
with anger Sulia turned and stalked off, accompanied by her baboon
escort.
That left just Baugh and
Zenaria. The shaman met her eyes
and gave his version of a smile.
“Do not worry, princess.
I gave my word and will not go back on
it. The Princess Sulia will be
delivered safely to her companions whether she desires an escort or
not. And now it is for you to
complete your part of the agreement.”
Zenaria took a deep
breath. She suspected that the
next few hours were going to be the longest of her life.
PREVIOUS
CHAPTER WIZARD'S
LAIR MAIN PAGE
L'ESPION'S
STORY PAGE
NEXT
CHAPTER