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Chapter
22 The Lelawabi
Featherstone rolled off the young woman with
whom he had just made love. Or
perhaps making love was the wrong term.
He had really just had sex with
her. There was no affection,
although she was a pretty little thing.
He groaned with pleasure and patted the girl’s backside to send
her scampering from the room. He
could get to like Pelucidor. He
and his men had been in the Lelawabi city for over a week now and were becoming
quite used to such treatment. He
was devoutly glad that he had ordered his men to cease firing after their
first encounter with the Lelawabi
warriors. It had turned out to
be a master stroke. The Lelawabi
had interpreted the action taken against them as punishment for their hostile
welcome of the white gods, as Featherstone and his men were now
considered. They had bent over
backward to accommodate them ever since.
Not that Featherstone completely trusted his new
subjects. He
didn’t. They were a warrior
society and highly excitable. At
night he had his men stand watch just in
case. But so far, there had been
no trouble. He and his men now
occupied the best rooms in the palace, superior even to that of the warrior
king and were given whatever they asked.
It hadn’t taken them more than a day of so for them to understand
that they could have their choice of the women in the royal
palace. All except the wives
and daughters of the king, and Featherstone expected he could have even those
if he pressed the issue.
But there was one problem with all this fine
treatment. It wasn’t getting
him any closer to finding
Engles knocked on the door frame.
There was no door, just a beaded
curtain. Featherstone waved his
hand, indicating that the girl operating the ceiling fan should let him
in. “What is it?” he
asked.
“Might be trouble, boss.
Been talking with the
king. At least taking
as best I can using sign language and a few words,
and it turns out that the king thinks we were sent as gods to help his
people.”
“Really?
In what
way?”
“War,
boss.
Seems they got an enemy. A
tribe of women they been fighting
forever. He wants our help in
wiping them out.”
Featherstone sat up. This was
really interesting. “Tell
the king that I would like to have a talk with
him. I would like to know more
about this tribe of
women.”
Ayashe stood before the five
tunnels. There was a note to
someone called
“Ooofff!”
A heavy body collided
with her, knocking her to the floor of the
cave. The flashlight was hurled
out of her hand and bounced off the rocky floor only a few feet
away. For a second she lay there
dazed and then tried to get to her feet.
But she was grabbed by a powerful pair of hands and hurled back down
to the floor with enough force to knock the breath out of
her. Then she saw her flashlight
rise in the air as her unseen assailant picked it
up. In a second its light was
shining in her eyes, blinding her.
“What have we here?” The voice was
gravelly. Then a hand was placed
on her chest and she was held down.
She could smell the stench of tobacco smoke on the man’s breath
as he leaned over her. “A
girl!” exclaimed the voice.
“And quite a pretty one
too. I guess my luck has
taken a turn for the
better.”
Ayashe gasped for breath as the man’s heavy weight
settled on her. It was only then
that she realized he was completely
naked. Completely terrified,
she struggled to escape. A powerful
hand snapped her head back, almost knocking her
unconscious. “Oh no you
don’t darling. Your friends
took my clothes and so I’m taking
yours. And I’m gonna have
a little fun in the process.
“No!” Ayashe protested.
“Get off me!”
In reply the man struck her across the face again, this time cutting her
lip. “You’re gonna
do as I say you damned squaw. And
you’re gonna like it. Now
let’s get those clothes off.”
Her assailant began to pull at the buttons and laces on Ayashe’s
parka. He immediately located
her rifle which she had slung across her back and her backpack, stuffed full
of the gear she thought she needed for the trip into the
cave. He removed these items
first, tossing the rifle a few feet away to make sure that she couldn’t
reach it. Then he began to undress
her. Within a few seconds he
had stripped off her parka. The
sweater she had been wearing underneath followed, and after that her
shirt. “These are a bit
small for me,’ said the man, but with a little effort I’ll make
them fit.” He pulled Ayashe
into a sitting position.
“Take off your boots,” he
ordered. ”And do it fast
or I’ll slap you again.”
With trembling fingers, Ayashe did as she was
told. Her two pairs of pants
followed as well as her three layers of
socks. She was left clad in only
her long underwear. The man let
the flashlight play over her. The
light illuminated her splendid young body, revealing her trim
figure. The outlines of her still
developing breasts could easily be seen underneath the loose
garment. In the cool air of the
cave, her nipples were erect and
inviting.
“Albright, babe,” the man ordered, his mouth watering at the sight
of Ayashe’s nubile young body.
“Now the
rest.”
“No,” Ayashe said, defiantly.
“You’ll have to beat
me.”
“Alright, then I’ll do it
myself. I think I prefer it that
way anyhow.” Grabbing the
front of Ayashe’s long underwear, he forced her onto her back of the
cave floor, and straddled her. He
set the flashlight down so that it would illuminate both him and the
girl.
Ayashe almost screamed in fear at the sight of the man’s erect
penis. It seemed like a huge
swollen monstrosity. It was the
first male organ she had ever seen.
She brought up her hands to fight him off, but he kept his
promise. With a powerful blow
he almost knocked her senseless.
She fell back on the floor, her senses
reeling.
Almost as if in a bad dream she felt the man go though the final stages of
undressing her. There was a series
of sharp popping sounds as the top of her long underwear was ripped open,
scattering buttons is all directions.
Dimly she felt the man’s hands on her small pointed
breasts. She felt the twinge
of pain as he tweaked each of her pert brown
nipples.
She forced herself to wake up. She
couldn’t let herself be raped, but the man’s weight shifted full
upon her as he leaned on her shoulders so that he could bend his head and
take her left nipple in his mouth.
He sucked hard. It
hurt. But Ayashe also felt something
else. Something
hard and sharp that was digging into the small of her back.
She recognized it right away
for what it was. She allowed
herself to fall back, feigning
submission. “That’s
more like it, Babe. Just lay
back and let it happen and we’ll both have
fun.”
Ayashe reached beneath her and closed her hand on the rock that had bruised
her back. She let the man’s
mouth move to her other nipple. She
would only have one chance, and if she missed it she would be
finished.
”Uuggh!”
Ayashe grunted in pain
as the man’s teeth closed on her right
nipple. She couldn’t believe
how much it hurt. The man certainly
had a perverted idea of what was fun for a
woman. But it gave her the chance
she needed. Enjoying the pain
he was putting his victim through, he did not notice the slight shifting
of the girl’s weight as she brought the rock out from beneath
her.
She swung with all her might. The
fist-sized rock caught the man in the side of his
temple. With a grunt of pain
he jerked upright, and then slumped
unconscious. Ayashe scrambled
out from beneath his dead weight, fully aware of the fact that the man might
recover before she escaped. But
he lay still, moaning slightly as she pulled herself
clear.
Ayashe gasped in relief as she struggled to her
knees. That had been a near
thing. Raising the rock, she
gave the man two more heavy blows to the
head. She wasn’t sure whether
of not she had killed him, but he had stopped his
moaning.
Quickly she dressed. There was
no telling how many more there might be like him
around. And she was worried about
her flashlight dying on her.
Gathering up her possessions, she headed for the central
tunnel.
Sawatis and Lemaire hunched down in the
undergrowth. They had discarded
most of their winter gear and were now quite lightly
dressed. Following Larra’s
and Melissa’s trail had not been difficult once they got out from behind
the waterfall. The forest path
the two women had taken left footprints that were easy to follow, but they
had run into a problem. Large
numbers of heavily armed half naked black women patrolled the area where
Larra and Melissa had gone. The
two backwoodsmen had almost been discovered by them several times in spite
of their woodland skills. They
had been forced to proceed very
carefully. Finally, however,
they had succeeded in following one of the patrols back to its place of
origin. What they found astounded
them
“How can there be a whole city miles under the ground?” asked
Lemaire. “Where did the
people come from? Looks like
they should all be in
“Or some sultan’s harem,” added Sawatis, thinking of the
curvaceous bodies of the female warriors he had been avoiding for the last
few days. “But I guess it
doesn’t matter how they got here.
We have to figure out if Larra and Melissa are in the middle of their
city and if so how to get them out.”
“Maybe the natives are friendly,” suggested
Lemaire.
“Yes, those barbed spears certainly look
friendly. I’d stop and ask,
but I doubt I speak their language, and if I’m wrong I’ll end up
looking like a pincushion.”
“You’ve got a rifle.”
“I don’t fancy shooting women,” answered
Sawatis.
“At least not with that sort of
weapon.”
Lemaire gave him a grin and a light punch on the shoulder
before replying. “Well,
we can’t just sit here. Larra
and Melissa could be in serious
trouble.”
“You’re right. We have
to do something. Tell you
what. Let’s wait until the
end of the workday and then try to work ourselves
closer. I’ve noticed that
most of the farmers on the outskirts of the city seem to stop working
then. How they keep track of
time here I don’t know. Maybe
they just work till they are exhausted and then knock
off. Anyway, they will start
shutting down in a few hours.
Let’s lie low until
then.”
“What’s that?” asked
Lemaire. Sawatis turned to follow
his gaze.
“Looks like a war,” he
answered. Moving toward the city
was large column of men. And
in their midst was the unmistakable figure of
Featherstone.
Queen Takla ordered her litter to carry her to the main gate
tower. The Lelawabi had not dared
attack in some time. Ever since
the terrible defeat they had suffered in their last battle with the
Suruani. That had been a glorious
day. Many captives had been taken
and there had been several weeks of torture and fun for the
thoth. She
was looking forward to seeing her overconfident enemy crushed
again.
By the time she arrived on the battlements the
Lelawabi were lined up in full battle
array. They stood just out of
the range of a thrown spear, inviting the Suruani to
attack. Takla assessed the
situation. “How many are
there?” she asked her general.
“No more than you see, my queen.
We should be able to take them
easily.”
“Men are always so overconfident,” said
Takla. “If they intend to
fight us and win they will have to send a larger army than
that. You have my permission
to take the battle to the enemy.”
“My honour, my queen,” said the general, saluting by placing her
hand over her firm breast. We
will take many captives this day.”
“The thoth will be pleased,” thought
Takla.
Melissa moaned as the blood rushed back into her tortured limbs and
breasts. Removing the ropes hurt
almost as badly as the torture itself.
She had fainted in the last few minutes of the session with the ropes
and when she had awakened she found herself in a clean comfortable room attended
by several male servants, one of whom appeared to know something about
medicine. She remembered that
men dealt with most of the basic functions of running Suruani
society.
One of the men was dressed in a white robe that came down to his
knees. Melissa assumed he was
a doctor or what passed for one in Suruani
society. He lifted her head and
tilted a cup to her lips.
Melissa’s mouth was dry and her tongue swollen from lack of
water. As well, her throat hurt
from all the screaming she had done.
She sipped the liquid and then almost spat it
out. A bitter taste filled her
mouth. She
been given medicine, not water.
The doctor uttered soothing words and wiped her face with a damp
cloth. There was a horrible smell
in the room. Melissa realized
that it was her. She was covered
in dried blood and sweat. The
man tilted her head again. This
time he gave her water. She drank
gratefully, but he cut her off before she had drunk her
fill. Melissa tried to
protest. But the doctor merely
said something in a quiet voice and continued to wipe her down with the damp
cloth.
“He says that too much water will not be good for
you. He will give you more
later.”
The voice came from her right.
Melissa jerked her head in the direction of the voice, surprise and
joy registering on her face. Lying
on a bed next to her was Larra.
Her smile faded as she saw the look on Larra’s
face. It was clear that her companion
was in considerable pain.
“Don’t worry, Mel,” she said, seeing the look on
Melissa’s face.
“I’ll be alright.
Pelucidor is quite amazing.
There is something about the light that is given off by the glowing
fungus that aids in the healing process.
I’m almost back to normal.
And the Suruani healers are quite
good. We’ll soon be
alright.”
Melissa lay back in relief. She
had feared the worse when Larra had not
returned. And she was heartened
to hear that her own injuries would soon be on the
mend.
Larra managed a painful smile as Melissa
relaxed. She had stretched the
truth a little. She was still
in terrible pain from the ravages of the
thoth. She
felt as if a fence post had been rammed up inside her, and she was still
bleeding internally. But she
had not lied about their eventual cure.
With her gift for languages, she had picked up a good deal more of
the Suruani language than Melissa had.
She was able to converse well enough to understand from the healer
that given a week or so she and Melissa would soon be back to their old
selves. The problem with that
scenario was, however, that they would be far too weak to escape in the
meantime. And the room where
they were now being cared for was only lightly
guarded.
Larra tried to relax. She needed
to sleep. It would help the healng
process. She could not remember
a time when she had felt more beaten up.
She glanced down at the two puncture wounds in her left
breast. They seemed to be healing
well. She hoped there would not
be a scar. The healer had said
that there would not be, but there was no real way of telling until she was
actually healed. If only she
would stop bleeding. She had
no idea how much blood she had lost when the thoth
had ravished her, but she knew that it would certainly slow her recovery
if it did not stop.
She lay her head back and closed her
eyes. Perhaps if she meditated
she would sleep. Anything would
be better than lying awake and feeling the pain between her
legs. Then suddenly, her eyes
popped wide open. She had heard
a sound. The
unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
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