Red Dragon

Episode I The Corsair

Chapter 11 The Expedition

Melissa rubbed her shoulder. She had healed well. Only an annoying itch and a small area of redness remained to remind her of her shoulder wound. The injuries to her abdomen and wrists had also healed. Already she had been able to resume training only two months after being struck down. She shook her head sending droplets of water in all directions. A few feet away Che Sha giggled. Melissa smiled. The Shang princess had gotten quite used to bathing in cold water during her one month stay with the Silvani. And the water wasn’t really that cold, or perhaps the girl was getting used to it. She moved a little deeper into the rocky pool and immersed herself up to her shoulders. She could feel the eyes of the Silvani women she was bathing with on her. The red dragon tattoo that covered half her torso fascinated them, as well it might. She had gotten used to their stares, but sometimes she tired of the constant scrutiny.

It had not been easy for her to journey to the Silvani homeland. During her last time among Vayasha’s people she had stolen the Green Heart and had helped kidnap the guardians of the mysterious stone. It had helped that Vayasha had returned in triumph after freeing the rest of the Silvani captives, but she still felt a deep sense of shame.

Releasing the Silvani prisoners had been relatively easy. The death of Qwang Gui had thrown Shang society into turmoil as relatives of the royal family and powerful nobles struggled for power. Che Sha had led Melissa and Vayasha to the compound where the Silvani were imprisoned. The appearance of the princess accompanied by a Dragon Warrior had been enough to bluff the guards at the gate and once the gates were open and the prisoners released it was too late to remedy the situation. The Silvani warriors inside had swarmed out and rendered the guards helpless and then they had fled the Shang capital before reinforcements could arrive.

Once again, Qwang Gui’s death helped their escape as the various factions fighting for the Throne of Heaven were too preoccupied with each other to worry about a few escaped prisoners. The returning warriors had entered their village in triumph and had made known the role of Melissa and Che Sha in the return of the Green Heart. Melissa had been welcomed to the Silvani community as had Che Sha, but she knew that she was tainted by her association with the brutal Shang conquerors who had killed so many of the Silvani during their last incursion into their homeland. It would take considerable time for her to gain full acceptance.

The noise of Che Sha and Vayasha splashing one another brought another smile to her lips. The two girls, almost identical in age had bonded closely in the last two months. Melissa had been surprised at how well Che Sha had adjusted to Silvani culture. Life among the forest people was enormously different from the existence she had led among the Shang, where she had been a ranking member of the imperial court. Melissa knew that Che Sha had been waited on by servants all of her life and had led a privileged and pampered existence. The closest she had come to real work in her life was when she had received some minimal weapons training, and that would have been more for show than anything else. But the Shang girl had taken well to the routine of Silvani culture, doing her part as best she could along with everyone else. She had begun taking archery lessons from Vayasha and although the chances of her hitting anything smaller than the side of a building were remote, she practiced every day for several hours, much to the delight and amusement of the younger members of the Silvani who thought it very strange that an adult should be so inept with the bow.

Melissa had also taken time to show both Che Sha and Vayasha some martial arts skills. Several other members of the Silvani had joined in, seemingly quite interested in the strange form of fighting, and soon Melissa had a class of several dozen men and women. But it was Che Sha who devoted the most time to the lessons, staying much longer than the other students, although Vayasha often stayed with her. Within a short time both girls were showing some improvement in their form.

The lessons helped Melissa also. It was a way to work herself further into Silvani society. The people seemed to accept her, although she was looked upon with some suspicion since she had been the one that led the raid that had resulted in the theft of the Green Heart. Melissa felt that she had to do something to redeem herself, but she wasn’t sure exactly what.

She frowned as she climbed out of the pool and picked up her clothes. She really did feel that owed these hospitable people something after the trouble she had caused them. She had talked to Vayasha about it and the girl had hinted at something, but had given her no details. That had been when she first arrived in the Silvani village. Now that she had been there awhile she wanted more information.

She pulled on her blouse and trousers. She had discarded her black Dragon Warrior costume. She wanted to sever her connections with that part of her life. She was dressed in the outfit of a married Silvani woman. She did not qualify for the blue and white blouse and trousers worn by Vayasha and Che Sha as she was not a virgin. And so despite the fact that she was not married either, she was attired in the forest green blouse and tan coloured pants of one who was supposed to be married. A pair of knee high brown deerskin boots covered her feet and her waist was cinched with a wide leather belt. She carried no weapons, but the Silvani were more than aware that Melissa needed none. She pulled on her green cap and moved beside Vayasha as the girl finished dressing.

“You told me earlier that there was something I could do to help the Silvani” Melissa said.

Vayasha nodded. “There is. But it will have to be approved by the Silvani elders. It is very dangerous.”

“Tell me about it. I owe you something for saving my life.”

“The Shang are not our only enemy. There is another that has harried us for centuries. They are called the Hian Dai, “the Dog People,” and they are brutal beyond imagination. Only our mastery of the forest has kept us from being overrun by them. In recent years, due to attacks by the Shang, we have been forced to weaken our defences and the Dog People have extended their domain at our expense. A short time before the Shang attacked and you captured the Green Heart, they staged a raid and carried off a number of our children and warriors.”

Melissa winced mentally at Vayasha’s off-hand comment. She deeply felt the shame of helping the Shang rob the Silvani of their most sacred object. But her attention was drawn back to Vayasha as the girl continued speaking, “Two of them were my sisters.”

Vayasha’s last statement caused Melissa’s eyes to widen. “What do the Dog People want with your people? Slavery?”

Vayasha looked at Melissa with fear and sorrow etched on her beautiful features. “No, Red Dragon. The Dog People do not take slaves. They eat their captives.”

Melissa shuddered. “Then your sisters…”

Tears flooded Vayasha’s eyes. “We do not know. Sometimes they keep their captives for awhile before eating them. They usually perform some sort of ritual to mark an important astronomical event.”

“An astronomical event,” repeated Melissa. Her mind whirled. The summer solstice was only a week off. If the Dog People celebrated astronomical events, the most important one of the year was only days away. “The solstice,” she murmured.

Vayasha nodded. “Yes, the solstice. If my sisters still live they have until then.”

“Then let us go to the council of elders. We have no time to lose.”

Vayasha signaled a halt. She spoke no words. Six days of hard walking had taken them to the edge of Hian Dai territory. They had now reached the first village of the Dog People and the one most likely to contain the missing children. There were just three of them. Vayasha, the Red Dragon, and Che Sha, who had insisted on coming along despite being completely unqualified in any way for such a dangerous mission. But the princess was used to getting her own way and had forced Vayasha and Melissa to accept her by threatening to follow them anyway if they did not take her. Reluctantly, they had agreed to accept her, hoping that she would not be too much of a nuisance and fully expecting that she would quit long before they reached their goal. Surprisingly, the Shang princess had managed to keep up and had done so without complaining or shirking any of the duties along the way. Even Melissa had to admit that it was better to have three people taking turns standing watch at night than two.

Vayasha pointed. The female trio was perched on top of a large residual boulder that thrust up out of the thick forest that surrounded the Hian Dai village. The entire village was laid out below them. Melissa lay flat and studied the layout. Directly across from her were the huts, arranged in a semicircle and backing onto a wooden palisade. There were about fifty or sixty altogether, indicating a village population of about 300. In front of the huts was a large platform apparently intended for ceremonial use. At each corner of the platform there was a large pole hewn out of a massive tree. Each was about three feet thick. Running between the poles were large connecting beams. Perched on top of the beams were hundreds of skulls, both human and animal. They formed a gruesome gallery that framed the entire platform. In the centre of the platform was a huge slab, cut from the heart of a gigantic tree and clearly serving as an altar. Its polished surface was horribly stained with the blood of a thousand sacrifices.

The small population of the village was deceptive. In order to reach their vantage point above the village they had been forced to make their way through hundreds of other Hian Dai warriors. Many more had been seen converging on the village, apparently to attend the celebration of the summer solstice. The route to the Hian Dai village had been difficult enough. They had made their way through a maze of canyons and gullies, most filled with dense vegetation. Melissa was able to understand why it was so dangerous for the Silvani to send an expedition against the Dog People. It would be very easy for a large force to be detected and intercepted. And fighting in the dense vegetation would have proven most difficult. They had been able to reach the village only because they were such a small party that they were able to slip past the Hian Dai sentries unseen, but that would have been quite impossible for a larger force.

The Dog People were well named. In general appearance they were entirely human, but their heads were a macabre distortion of human features. The front of the head elongated into a dog-like nose and jaw, complete with canine teeth. The ears were long, hairy, and pointed like that of a wolf. One of the most frightening and peculiar aspects of the Hian Dai warriors, however, what they carried between their legs. They were grossly male. Melissa had never imagined that a sexual appendage could be so large. Since the Hian Dai were entirely naked, there was very little left to the imagination. She shuddered, wondering what it would be like to ride one of the monster phalluses. She doubted that it would be pleasant since the huge shafts seemed to be barbed. She wondered what the effect on Hian Dai females would be. Intercourse with such creatures could only be brutally painful. And yet, she knew that is what Vayasha’s sister and the other Silvani captives faced if they could not be rescued. She had learned a little more about the customs of the Hian Dai in the six days she had spent with Vayasha and Che Sha, and what she had learned had not been pleasant. The sacrificial ritual that accompanied the sacrifice of the Dog People’s captives was usually accompanied by acts of sexual degradation. Those female captives that were old enough such as Vayasha’s two sisters would be brutally raped. She shivered again. She could hardly imagine an experience that would be more terrifying, and Vayasha’s younger sister was barely twelve summers. She had to be rescued.

She turned to Vayasha. “What now?” she asked in a low whisper.

Vayasha pointed again. “There,” she said.

Melissa and Che Sha followed her direction. In the most heavily guarded section of the village compound was a bamboo cage. In it were over a dozen Silvani. They had found what they were looking for. “Can you see your sisters?” Che Sha asked.

Vayasha shook her head. “No, it is too far away, but I am sure that they are there; probably farther back in the shade. In any case, even if they weren’t there I would still try to rescue the others.”

“We have to work out a plan,” said Melissa. “Let’s move a little farther back and see if we can work something out.”

Melissa was far from comfortable dangling at the end of a rope over the Hian Dai village, but it was all she could think of. The situation was desperate. The prisoners in the compound had to be released tonight. Tomorrow they would be sacrificed.

She had waited until dark to make her move. The only easy way into the village was straight down from the huge boulder from which she and the other two women had surveyed the village. Below her torches and fires glimmered in the darkness, casting shifting shadows about the encampment. She hoped that none of the Dog People who were still awake bothered to look up. She was close to the rock face of the boulder, but there was a good chance she would be seen if anyone did. As a result she slid down the rope as quickly as she could without making too much noise. Fortunately, someone in the camp was pounding mindlessly on a drum and the steady beat would cover any incidental noise.

She landed just behind a storage shed. It was an elevated structure on stilts, and probably contained food. She slipped beneath it and crouched in the darkness. The flickering light of fires threw strange shadows about the camp. Melissa averted her eyes from the fires, trying to preserve her night vision. For a few minutes she simply sat quietly, watching the movement of the Dog People about the camp. She would have preferred to have had an hour or so to study them, but didn’t think she could afford to wait that long. It was important that she release the prisoners as soon as possible.

There did not seem to be any pattern to the movement of the sentries that she could discern. Most of the time the Hian Dai that were supposed to be on guard duty simple lolled about by the fires or sat dozing in front of the cage containing the prisoners. Melissa began to think that getting the prisoners loose might not be as difficult as she had thought.

She waited until she was certain that most of the guards were either dozing or warming themselves by the fire and then, moving from shadow to shadow, crept silently to the cage. The guard in front of it was snoring loudly, his head on his knees. This was one of the trickiest parts of her plan. No one in the cage knew anything about her. She would have to establish contact with the prisoners and then work out a way to get them out. Fortunately, she had been given something that would enable her to convince Vayasha’s two sisters that she was on their side.

She tapped gently on the bars of the cage. Inside one of the inmates stirred. She tapped again. She hoped that the captives would not make any noise or comments concerning the slight disturbance. A movement within the cage showed that someone had heard her. A few seconds later a face appeared at the bars. Melissa held her finger to her lips. She saw that it was a young girl. “Give this to Shasara,” she said, her voice not even a whisper. She handed in a broach set with a green emerald.

The child looked at her, wide-eyed. For a second Melissa feared that she was going to say something, then as silently as only a member of the Silvani or a trained assassin could be she disappeared into the darkness of the cage. After what seemed like minutes, but which was only in reality a few seconds an older girl appeared at the bars. Even in the poor light provided by the flickering campfires Melissa could clearly make out the obvious resemblance to Vayasha. It was Vayasha’s sister Shasara, older by a year than her sibling. In the uncertain light of the fire her hair shone like polished silver, highlighting the symmetry her flawless face. Her small perfectly formed breasts showed that Like Vayasha, she had not come fully into her womanhood, but her beauty radiated from the confines of the cage. Melissa remembered that in the Silvani language Shasara translated as “moonlight.” It was a name that suited her well.

Again in an undertone, Melissa spoke. “I am here to help you. Do not reply to what I say, simply listen. I am going to cut through the bars of the cage. As soon as there is a large enough opening, send everyone through.” Without waiting to see if Shasara would cooperate she took out a knife and began to work on the bars of the cage. The bars were made of bamboo and fastened together with grass rope that had been wetted down so that it would shrink when it dried. However, it was fairly easy to cut and Melissa soon had one bar loose. All the time she worked on the bars, she kept her eyes on the rest of the camp, but no one made any effort to check the cage. Apparently the Hian Dai had become lax in guarding their prisoners, probably due to the fact that even if any of the captives had managed to get out of the cage there was nowhere for them to go. And that was going to be Melissa’s problem as well, but she hoped she had a solution.

At last she had a couple of bars loose. As instructed Shasara began to move the captives inside the cage through the opening. Melissa guided them into the shadows away from the firelight. Now came the tricky part. She had to move the entire group across the compound to the huge boulder to the rope that she had used to descend into the camp. And she had to do it without being seen.

She took the youngest children first, trusting to Shasara to keep the others quiet. She was glad that the contact with Vayasha’s sister had gone so well. The broach that Vayasha had given her had been a gift from Shasara upon Vayasha’s becoming a woman. The older sister had recognized it at once and realized without explanation that Melissa could only have gotten it if Vayasha had given it to her.

Melissa did not know what Shasara had told the younger children, but they were incredibly well-behaved. They followed her without a murmur until they reached the rope. Then she tied the rope under each child’s armpits and tugged on it to indicate that Vayasha and Che Sha should pull them up. Silently each child rose into the air. Melissa held her breath as they disappeared into the darkness. But no alarm was sounded. Eventually only Shasara and Melissa were left. Melissa motioned that Shasara should go first.

The girl moved quickly up the rope, climbing hand over hand. Melissa noted that she moved effortlessly, her motions fluid and strong. She waited until the Silvani girl disappeared above her, and then gripping the rope tightly, climbed up after her.

She was about a quarter of the way up when the alarm was sounded. Immediately a dozen or more torches were kindled, and Hian Dai warriors began running around the camp in all directions. Melissa kept on climbing, increasing her speed now that the chance of discovery was greater. She was halfway up when one of the Hian Dai discovered the rope. Within a few seconds arrows were speeding in her direction, but her luck held and none hit the mark.

She was three quarters of the way up when her luck ran out. An arrow just missed the top of her head, but it sliced into the coarse rope she was climbing, cutting it most of the way through. Her weight did the rest. The rope parted before she had a chance to climb past the part that had been cut, and she plummeted toward the ground.

She landed on top of one of the guards. That turned out to be a blessing, because if she had not she surely would have been badly injured by the fall. As it was, the breath was knocked from her body and she lay on top of the guard she had flattened, gasping for air.

“Get up! Get up!” her mind commanded. To lie helpless on the ground was to die, but her body would not obey her. Finally her lungs responded, and she scrambled to her feet. But by that time a half dozen of the dog-faced warriors had arrived. The first warrior to get near her she took out with a series of well-aimed kicks and punches. The second shared his fate, and the third. The remainder backed off, but the slight delay had given the rest of the village time to arrive. Melissa found herself encircled by dozens of armed Hian Dai warriors.

Coolly, she looked for an escape route. There was none. Instead she saw a score of bows bent back ready to release their arrows into her. She did not wait to die, but launched herself at the enemy. Using hands, feet, knees, elbows, and even her head and teeth, she smashed into the astounded Hian Dai warriors.

For a few seconds she thought that she might fight her way free. Her attack was so unexpected that a half dozen Hian Dai were laid low before they even had time to react, but then they closed on her. One warrior caught her sleeve, temporarily preventing her arm from moving. Melissa smashed him in his dog teeth, cutting her knuckles. She did not even notice the pain. But then another grabbed her braid, which whipped out behind her as she fought. He jerked her toward him, and although she did not leave her feet, her rhythm was thrown off. That gave her other assailants the chance they needed. Two warriors grabbed each of her arms. Another three lifted her off the ground, seizing hold of her legs and waist.

With a strength based on fear she fought like one possessed. Contracting her limbs and then throwing them out she heaved the warriors that held like a pack of dogs attempting to drag down a steer. But the Hian Dai warriors held on like grim death. With each contraction and expansion of her body, Melissa was moving several hundred pounds. It could only end one way, her strength waned and her struggles weakened. Only the touch of ropes on her wrists revived she resulting in a frenzied burst of energy, but this time she exhausted herself quickly. For the first time she felt fear as the ropes were tightened, and her hands and feet were immobilized.

Her hands were not tied behind her back; instead they were lashed to a wooden frame that seemed to have been designed expressly for the purpose of bondage. It resembled the sort of yoke that was placed on oxen so that they could draw plows or carts. It consisted of a heavy, carved wooden collar that fit around her neck like a large horseshoe. Fastened to the collar by metal bands were two extensions that extended the length of her arms. Her arms were lashed to the extensions at the wrists, elbows, and biceps so that they extended out from her body at right angles and her body formed a T-shape. Her dangerous legs were tethered by a short length of rope that made it impossible for her to kick or run.

Panting from exertion, her clothes in rags, she was dragged toward the centre of the village by ropes attached to iron rings set in the ends of the wooden extensions that secured her arms. Her plan to release the prisoners had succeeded. But now she had lost her freedom. And it was most unlikely that anyone would be able to rescue her. Head held up, Melissa stumbled helplessly in the direction her captors wanted her to. The Hian Dai had lost their sacrifice victims, but they had another to take their place.

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