TOMB HUNTER

The Adventures of Larra Court

Episode 10

Larra’s Indonesian Adventure

Chapter 29 Larra’s Sally

The sound was unmistakable, although Larra had certainly never expected to hear it while living among the Tigalava. A cold chill ran through her stomach. She knew that the people who had adopted her were almost certainly being murdered. Her thoughts were confirmed by the screams and shouts of terrified men and women. Even though deep in the palace the sounds easily penetrated to the harem. She knew immediately that the Tigalava were faced with something that only she was capable of dealing with. She acted at once.

Sevti was sleeping, a somewhat unusual event considering the child’s voracious appetite. Larra’s nipples tingled just thinking about it. She first bound her breasts. Going into battle with milk heavy glands was not conducive to leadership, not was her filmy harem costume. She needed a change of clothing.

She made do with a length of drapery torn from one of the windows. Wrapping it about her in a makeshift sari she strode from the woman’s quarters. By now the panic had extended into the inner passage and many of the female guards had fled, frightened by fleeing soldiers who were shouting in fear about fire demons. She had to work fast before it was too late. The route of the maharaja’s army was turning into a wholesale panic with everyone joining in.

She immediately encountered two panicky female guards. Under normal circumstances they would have challenged her presence outside the confines of the harem, but in the current situation they merely stared at her.

“Come with me,” she ordered, her voice and manner one of complete command. It helped that she towered over both guards and that they were clearly shaken by the shrill screams echoing from outside the palace. He white skin may also have been a factor. Most of the Tigalava regarded her pale colouring with something approaching wonder if not awe.

When one of the women hesitated Larra rounded on her. “Obey me. Your lord is in danger. Would you see him dead rather than try to save him?” Without waiting for an answer Larra pushed the woman aside and entered the region of the outer palace, an area forbidden to any member of the harem. Here Larra found and recruited several more female guards.

The young women were about all that was left of the maharaja’s army, most of the male soldiers having been sent against the enemy. Larra suspected that most of them were still alive, but running so hard that there was no chance of them being of any use to her. She would have to make do with what she could find.

She continued through the immense palace picking up what guards she could. They joined her readily now, apparently happy to follow anyone with an air of authority. She forced one trembling male soldier to report to her.

“Where is your lord? She demanded.

Fearfully the man went to his knees before her, probably terrified at being in the presence of the white goddess who was now part of his master’s harem. Larra had to repeat her question before she got an answer.

“He is fled, maharani,” the soldier answered, automatically using the female term of deference.

“Not hurt?” Larra questioned. In spite of the fact that Sundara regarded her as a member of his harem and denied her the right to leave freely, she still felt for the man who had so tenderly taken her to his bed. More than that, she had no desire to see his well-governed and peaceful kingdom destroyed by outside invaders.

“No, maharani,” the man replied, “his elephant ran away.”

Larra almost smiled. Riding a panic-stricken elephant to safety might be more dangerous than facing the rifle fire of the invader.

Relieved that the man who had aided her was probably safe Larra led her small army forward. Along the way she picked up a few more male and female warriors and found a weapon suitable for herself. It was a long polearm, about eight feet in length and consisting of a heavy hardwood shaft topped by a hooked spear suitable for using in melee combat. A few of the men and women she was with looked at her strangely, apparently surprised that a member of the harem should be proficient in the use of arms, but most seemed accepting of the fact that their white-skinned leader should have some knowledge of weaponry.

“Sometimes being a goddess has its advantages,” Larra thought.

She led her troop to the inner courtyard of the palace, knowing that this was the way the enemy was certain to come. It was an obvious target, the palace being in a direct line from the gates of the city and easily the most impressive building in the Tigalava city. Reaching the outside Larra positioned them around the outer courtyard in concealed positions.

A number of the remaining soldiers had missile weapons. These she arrayed most carefully as in the upcoming battle she knew that they would be of the greatest value.

The U-shaped courtyard was perfect for an ambush, provided an enemy could be lured into it. Large gates closed off one end of the U and the interior was lined with large ornate columns. Quickly, Larra arranged her small makeshift army so that most of her soldiers were concealed behind the pillars, Then, taking a small band with her, she moved to the gates. She was just in time to see the vanguard of the invaders approach.

“Japanese,” she thought. “This is going to be a near thing.”

Matsu followed his men into the heart of the city. He was impressed by its magnificence. In spite of his contempt for Purwanto he had to admit that the scar-faced turncoat had not exaggerated the wealth of the hidden empire he had been persuaded to invade. Directly ahead of his advancing troops was a magnificent building that towered above the city. Instinctively he knew that this was the key to victory. If he could capture this objective he would rule the city. Already he was reconsidering his objectives. If he could destroy all resistance it might just be possible to establish himself as the ruler of the city. He could set himself up as a king and appoint his men to all key administrative posts.

First, however, he would have to make sure of breaking the last vestiges of resistance to his rule. Ahead of him were the gates to what he assumed was the palace. They were open, but arrayed across them was a line of the same soldiers his men had defeated earlier. This time there were no elephants, not that it had made any difference in the first encounter.

His men automatically deployed. They had done this many times, although not against so weak an enemy. Apparently the enemy knew this too. As his men readied themselves to attack they broke, dashing in frantic fear toward the palace.

“Finish them,” Matsu shouted. He needed to make sure of his victory. Although his men were superior in training and weaponry, he knew that they were seriously outnumbered. If he was to establish his authority over these strange people he had to utterly destroy any resistance as quickly as possible and the best way to do that was to seize the centre of power.

His men surged through the gates, following the fleeing enemy. As he approached he could see before him a huge courtyard lined by massive colonnades. At the far end the columns climbed a flight of stairs to the main entrance of the palace. The retreating enemy soldiers scrambled up the steps, several falling in their frantic haste, and fled into the interior of the palace.

Matsu’s troops rushed after them, yelling in triumph, their wild cries intended to further panic the enemy. Following his victorious soldiers, Matsu was almost to the gates when disaster struck.

The first sign that something was wrong was when the gates leading into the palace swung ponderously shut, leaving his troops milling about on the steps. The next sign was much more deadly.

From behind every pillar a warrior emerged. Even with the suddenness of the attack Matsu was observant enough to note that there were both male and female warriors. And then a shower of missiles came at his soldiers from both directions. Strung out between the main gate and the steps of the palace, his soldiers were decimated by the hail of projectiles. More than half were hit in the first few seconds. The remainder, however, kept their composure and fired at their ambushers.

As before the rifle fire had the desired effect. Many of the attackers broke and ran, while the others retreated into cover, temporarily halting the barrage of arrows and spears. It was then that the tall white woman appeared.

She charged into the nearest group of soldiers, moving so quickly that almost none of them had time to bring their weapons to bear. Those few that did became her immediate targets. Matsu watched in disbelief as she used her polearm with brutally efficient precision. Within seconds she had taken out three of his remaining soldiers. Even worse, her attack distracted the others, diverting their attention to her. As they turned their weapons in her direction the other warriors returned and renewed their attack.

It was too much for the remainder of his men. This time it was they who broke and ran, spears and arrows following them as they scattered. Matsu knew when it was time to retreat. “To me,” he called, rallying the remainder of his shattered command. His soldiers fell in about him, but there were too few left to dare a counterattack.

Burning with anger and shame Matsu retreated. He had less than twenty men left and many of those were wounded. He had no choice but to retreat from the city before his demoralized soldiers were routed. As he led his men back the way they had come he wondered about the strange white woman who had led the counterattack. Who was she and where had she come from? Whoever she was he vowed that he would be avenged upon her if the opportunity ever came his way.

Larra lay down her bloody polearm. Around her were the bodies of more than a dozen slain Japanese soldiers. She had killed more than half of them herself. Several others lay scattered the length of the grand entrance to the palace. A few groaned in pain, showing that they still lived.

Larra went to a soldier who appeared to be a little less injured than most of the others. He was being guarded by two women harem guards who were no doubt preventing him from killing himself. The soldiers of the emperor were fanatical in their devotion to duty and Larra had seldom known of one that had surrendered to an enemy.

“Why are you here?” she asked in perfect Japanese.

The soldier said nothing. Larra would have been surprised if he had, so she tried a different tack. “I am Larra Court, adopted daughter of Lord Takeda, and servant of the emperor. You will answer my questions.”

Her imperious manner seemed to do the trick; that and her upper class Japanese. Soldiers of the empire were generally a downtrodden lot and used to abuse from their superiors. The soldier explained Matsu’s mission in detail including the capture of the strange group of women who sounded suspiciously like people Larra knew.

“What would they be doing in Borneo?” she wondered. But she already knew the answer. They were looking for her, just as she would have gone looking for them. Somewhat to her relief the soldier had no information on her missing son and daughter. Larra could only hope that somehow they had found safety.

In the meantime, there was the remainder of the Japanese to worry about. Larra suspected that if left alone the remaining Japanese would pose a problem. She was determined to hunt them down. She was temporarily prevented from doing this however, by a disturbance from beyond the gates.

Sundara strode into the courtyard at the head of what was left of his army. He stopped cold when he beheld the carnage and stared incredulously at Larra as she rose to greet him. “My lord,” she smiled. “I am glad to see you have made a safe return.”

“Kill them,” Matsu ordered. “They will only slow us down.”

Sergeant Chiba showed no emotion, but he did not like the idea of not using the women he had captured for something. Unfortunately, the lieutenant was right. They were not in shape to keep up with what was left of Matsu’s command. There were only twenty able-bodied men left. There were also about a dozen wounded, but it was obvious that they would have to be left behind. He thought for a second. “Why not leave them with the wounded? It would help to boost their morale.”

Matsu glared at his sergeant. He was used to having his commands instantly obeyed. Then he grinned. “Why not?” he said. He was amused by the irony of the situation. Since he was going to abandon the wounded why not give them some mock task to perform?

Chiba turned to the men who were to be left behind. “You are to remain here until you are relieved. Guard the women well and do with them what you wish, provided you are able.” He laughed as he finished. Some of the men were so badly wounded it was obvious that they would live only a few hours, while none of the others was in any condition to take advantage of any woman.

None of the wounded men replied. Like good soldiers of the empire they accepted their fate. The fact that three beautiful female prisoners had been left in their care probably did not matter. They watched stoically as their comrades moved off in the direction from which they had come.

Private Noritake dropped back to the end of the column. He was limping badly. As the gap between him and the next to last soldier widened, Sergeant Chiba shouted at him. “Noritake, you slug. Move your fat carcass.”

“It’s my leg,” Noritake replied. “I can’t move any faster.”

“Scum,” Chiba said. “Why didn’t you report this before?”

“I didn’t want to be left behind,” Noritake winced.

“Go back to the wounded,” Chiba ordered. “You can’t be allowed to slow down the rest of us.”

Noritake opened his mouth as if to protest and then painfully turned and limped back toward the camp containing the wounded. Shaking his head, Chiba returned to the column and was soon lost to sight.

Noritake smiled. In a few hours he would make a miraculous recovery. In the meantime he had a date with the three women prisoners. Without the trace of a limp, he marched down the trail.

Lisha’s head pounded. Her head felt as if it was being treated like an Ullabomban ceremonial drum. Her mouth was filled with an acrid taste and her eyes burned. In addition to that she was blinded by the bright glare of the noonday sun.

She tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry and for some reason her arms would not move. She tried to move her arms and was rewarded with a slight movement and then a moan from her right. She recognized the voice as that of Melissa.

There was another groan and then a rude expletive followed by a more coherent comment. “Damn it, stop pulling. You’re tearing my arm off.”

Lisha stopped trying to move her arms and attempted to assess her situation. She quickly realized the problem. She was lying on her back, her body in the shape of an X. Each of her wrists was tied to the wrist of one of her companions and her ankles were anchored by ropes tied to large boulders. Although from her prone condition she could not see the exact position of Melissa and Jia Li, she guessed that they were probably arranged in the same position, forming a circle of helpless women.

The sun beat down on her dark skin. She had been stripped of all of her clothing and although she was not particularly bothered by the intensity of the sunlight, she could guess that Melissa and Jia Li were probably suffering. She would too, eventually. Her darker pigmentation gave her added protection, but she was not invulnerable. Eventually the burning solar radiation would damage her as well, and already the dryness in her mouth signaled the onset of serious dehydration.

As her eyes slowly became accustomed to the glare she realized that there was a circle of Japanese soldiers around her. At first she felt a tinge of fear and then realized that every man she saw was suffering from wounds. It was a bizarre situation. The Japanese had staked her and her companions out in a most vulnerable position, but left them under the guard of men who were in no condition to take advantage of the situation. There seemed no logic in this and then she heard a low laugh.

The sound sent a chill down Lisha’s spine. She had heard it many times before as the huge Japanese soldier had bent her to his will. The memory sent a wave of revulsion tinged with fear through her. Then a shadow fell across her as the giant who had taken her virginity blocked out the sun. He stared down at her and licked his lips. And then inexplicably he moved to Melissa.

Melissa swallowed as the Japanese giant loomed over her. She had been spared his attentions when a prisoner the first time she had been captured, but there seemed little doubt that she was to be his victim this time.

“No, you bastard,” she grunted as he settled his weight upon her thighs, pressing her backside into the ground. Although he could not possibly know what she said, the giant grinned, and placed his powerful hands on her breasts. He slowly compressed the soft flesh until it bulged out between his fingers. Melissa could not hold back a cry of pain as her breasts were cruelly mangled and then she screamed as he thrust into her unprotected vagina.

The giant was brutally thorough, hammering into her until she bled. Then releasing into her, he slowly got to his feet and stood breathing heavily. While Melissa watched, barely conscious, he moved to Lisha, but did not attempt to repeat his performance with the African girl. Instead he untied her wrists, and using his brute strength, bent her forward and securely tied her hands behind her back. Then tying a length of rope about her neck he pulled her to her feet and led her off down the canyon, but not before making sure that Melissa’s free hand was tied to Jia Li to make sure that neither woman could escape.

As the Japanese marched away with his helpless prisoner, Melissa once again tugged at the ropes binding her. The burning sun beat down upon her. As her strength began to fail, she made one more supreme effort to break free, and then darkness overwhelmed her.

Sundara stared in disbelief at the blood-splattered woman before him. It was clear to him what had happened and he was both amazed and a little awed. He saw now that he had gravely underestimated the woman he had made part of his harem. Out of chaos and defeat she had led a ragtag group of men and women against the invader and routed the enemy. He also felt a deep sense of chagrin that she had succeeded where he had not and then he remembered the story of her miraculous discovery. She was beloved of Vanayakudu. She was protected by the elephant god. Without thinking he went to his knees before her.

Larra stared at the man who now knelt at her feet. “My lord,” she said softly, “I am no goddess. Just a woman from another world; a world that I must return to as soon as I have finished my business here.”

Sundara got to his feet, but his expression did not change when he looked at her. It was clear that he was still very much in awe of her. “My lady,” he said. “I am yours to command.”

“Then let us deal with the invaders,” Larra said. “It is important they be destroyed or almost certainly you will be visited by them again.”

“They are demons with powerful weapons,” Sundara pointed out.

“They are men,” Larra said, “and like all men they can be killed as you have seen. If we do not destroy them to the last man they will return with even more men and you and your people will be destroyed.”

“Then I will do as you say,” Sundara said, waving one of his soldiers forward. “Retrieve what you can of the elephants and assemble all members of the royal guard. We will pursue the enemy.”

“I will take a party and go ahead,” Larra said. “Catch up to me as soon as you can.”

“You will go nowhere without me,” Sundara replied. Summoning the few men who had accompanied him as well as Larra’s followers he set out with her.

They moved through the city. Most of the streets were deserted, the people still hiding in fear, and they made good time, reaching the canyon outside the main gates. Larra went as quickly as she could, but felt the effects of the inactivity forced on her during the last weeks of her pregnancy. She also could feel the mounting heaviness of her breasts as they filled with milk. Soon the pressure would become rather painful. However, she did not turn back. Somewhere ahead of her were the Japanese and she wanted to be sure that they were truly in retreat and were not regrouping. It was important to keep them on the run and if possible catch and destroy them.

A half hour from the city gates she stopped. One of the men she had sent ahead as a scout was hurrying back. He knelt before her and pointing back the way he had come uttered a single word. “Demons.”

They went more slowly after that, and it was well that they did. It prevented them from blundering into the small band of wounded Japanese soldiers who were acting as a rear guard. It was Larra who dealt with them, using one of the rifles she had retrieved from one of the soldiers she had killed. She had only a few rounds, but it was enough as the Japanese had even less ammunition than she did. They ran out after a brief exchange and were easily overrun. It was then that Larra found Jia Li and Melissa.

Both women were unconscious and staked out in the hot sun. Melissa appeared to have been raped and the skin of both women was badly blistered. In addition, there were large contusions on their heads where they had apparently been clubbed. Sundara stood beside her, apparently dumbfounded at the appearance of still two more light-skinned women.

Larra immediately instructed the women soldiers who had accompanied her to cut the two battered women loose. She immediately had them carried into the shade where they were given some simple first aid. To her relief Larra discovered that neither woman was suffering from a really serious injury, provided the bump on the head each had received was not more dangerous than it appeared. They would recover if given proper care. Now there was just one more question. She had found two of her companions, but where were her children and the other women?

PREVIOUS CHAPTER WIZARD'S LAIR MAIN PAGE L'ESPION'S STORY PAGE NEXT CHAPTER