Masters of the Arches
by Mandil
Chapter 9
While Vincent was confined with the rest of the slaves in the slaves hut a couple of days later; he heard from a fellow prisoner about a war that took place a very long time ago far to the south.
This man had been captured the previous year by Haski's people. He was one of eight males that undertook a trip north in an attempt to capture a "Weega" which was, from his description, a kind of three foot long reptile. Its bones, once ground and mixed with other ingredients so that it could ferment, had the power to produce dreams that could be revelations of things to come.
Haski's people had attacked them and five of their group had been killed while the three others were taken prisoners. He also told Vincent about a tribe of people living much farther south than his own native land.
These people knew much about the 'war of the gods'. They claimed that the land in their vicinity was marked with the scars of battles. Fire and lightning produced by the gods as they engaged in war struck the ground and destroyed everything over large areas.
Judging by the slave's description of the widespread destruction of the land on which scars that he had not seen yet but which he had only been told about, it became evident to Vincent that modern weapons had been used in this war. Vincent then decided that it would be worthwhile to investigate this if he ever got the chance. These so-called gods could well be those that had built the arch.
At last, the day of the feast of manhood arrived and everything was prepared for the ceremonies. Most of the fires in the central portion of the village were lit and they all had clay caldrons hanging over them while in some cases whole carcasses of animals were slowly roasting.
At the back of the chief's living quarters were two small huts. One was used to store tools while the other was used to make and ferment the strong sour beer that the inhabitants of the village liked so much.
Half a dozen female slaves - all the male slaves were locked away in the male's quarters - were busy carrying clay vases full of beer from this hut. Quite a few people were already in an advanced state of intoxication with the potent brew, even if the ceremonies had not yet begun.
The feast officially began in the middle of the afternoon with the killing ceremony. Each of the two boys that were to be initiated into manhood had to kill with their bared hands, a small deer-like animal no taller than a small dog.
To Vincent who was watching from the confinement of the slave's quarters, it was unnecessary cruelty. When both animals were dead at last, they set them to roast over a fire that had been especially prepared for this purpose.
Each boy was then given a leather necklace, after that their weapons and faces were decorated by Haski. Once this ceremony was over the feast really began. There was much over -eating and drinking, soon many were in an advanced state of drunkenness while most of the women slaves were called upon to sexually serve the men.
Both boys that had been iniciated into manhood were offered a female slave and in front of the whole village they were expected to perform and have sexual intercourse with them.
There was much cheering and laughter from the crowd and as soon as this deed was performed, the boys now having become men, were offered a jug of beer.
The eating and drinking went on well into the night. During all that time, Vincent watched them through the vertical cracks between the logs of the slave's fence, more than once he was shocked by the villagers' lack of decency.
As the hours went by, half of the men were too drunk to stand on their feet while the other half was were busy copulating here and there either with slaves or with women from the village. Some of the slaves were actually enjoying themselves while others were being forced to do things that Vincent hadn't even dared to imagine before.
While he was observing the feast in the dark, Vincent suddently saw two women appearing out of nowhere. They were just outside the fence of the males slave quarters.
They approached the pole fence nearer to him and he was soon able to recognise them. They were Nika and Verla. As soon as they were near enough, he signalled to them with his hand through a crack and he whispered a hiss at the same time so as to attract their attention. As soon as they noticed him, they walked toward him immediately.
"Nika, I am so glad to see you. Are you hurt?
"I though that I would never see you again," said Nika as she reached for his hand. She had tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry we will get away from this place, and very soon at that. As a matter of fact when they are all drunk tonight we will get away."
He next turned his attention to Verla. "Are you still willing to escape with us? Will Lomac come?"
"Yes we are. We will do what you say."
"Very well then. Late in the night, when most of the people of the village are drunk we will escape and you must tell Lomac to prepare himself."
"Nika do you know where Haski keeps my riffle?"
"Yes. I have watched him once as he was examining it. When he was done with it he then wrapped it in a fur and placed it in a hole under his mat. He believes it is strong magic and I can tell he is afraid of it."
" Do you know where are the rest of our things?"
"Yes the two knapsacks and everything we have is still in his hut. Even the food and the handguns are there; he doesn't dare to tamper with anything. I suppose he believes they have some sort of dark power. He does have my knife tied around his waist though."
"Before we leave we must take back everything that belong to us" "You must be careful of him, I have seen him kill a slave with your knife just so he could try it."
"Verla, you will tell Lomac to be ready at anytime now. Since he knows where the weapons are stored, he will be in charge of distributing them to those that are willing to escape with us, tell him to destroy the rest"
"We mustn't be captured again, if we are taken prisoner once again, they will torture us a long time before killing us."
"They will not capture us, don't worry about that. Just be ready to leave when I tell you".
Nika next asked Vincent what was his plan of escape.
"When they are as drunk as they will get in the middle of the night, I will climb over this fence and meet you in Haski's hut. Make sure that you are alone with him. If one of his wives is with him, you must make sure that she is sent away. Once I have my riffle in my hand they will not have much of a chance against us even if we are discovered."
Just then, they heard shouting and two guards approached the two women. They seized both women and brought them to face Haski.
Vincent could see them talking but he couldn't hear a word since he was too far from them. Suddenly he saw the chief strike Nika across the face.
Both women were then tied with their backs to the ground and their legs well spreaded while their hands were tied above their heads to a small post.
To Vincent's horror, he then saw Haski climb on Nika and he proceeded to have sex with her. Many of the villagers stood in a wide circle around them cheering him on. When he was done with her, he went to Verla and he had sex with her also. He then got off and upon his signal half a dozen men rushed toward the women lying on the ground.
Although Vincent couldn't see very clearly what they were doing, he could well imagine it. This went on for over an hour. At last, only a few men remained near the women, the rest having lost interest in them.
Almost every one was now completely or partly intoxicated with the potent brew and Vincent decided that it was now time for him to act if he wanted to see the two women alive again.
As he climbed over the pole fence, a few of the male slaves watched him but they neither try to stop or help him. As soon as he was on the ground on the other side of the fence, he discretely hurried toward the two women on the ground.
One man was still on top of Nika. With much rage in his heart, Vincent got very close to them until he was standing just behind the male that was raping her. He was close enough now to see that Nika had her eyes shut tight and she was neither moving nor making any sound.
As soon as he was close enough, he hit the man on the back of his head with both of his fists. The man collapsed instantly on top of Nika and the sudden impact made her open her eyes.
At first she didn't recognise Vincent, but when she did at last, she managed to smile weakly at him. After rolling the unconscious man off her, he untied her. He then pushed the rapist into Nika's place on the ground so that if anyone happened to be looking their way, it would appear that there was a human form still tied to the post.
After freeing Verla who was not in a much better shape than Nika, he told her to remain lying as she was since he needed a body to replace her. He then quietly went to the nearest hut. He grabbed the ankle of one of the woman of the village that was sleeping in a completely drunken state and he quietly dragged her out of the hut. Before she had time to open her eyes completely, he hit her on the jaw thus knocking her out completely; he then rolled her until she was lying in Verla's place.
Both Nika and Verla had some difficulties walking and he had to help them. As the three of them were walking away, he could smell the sweat as well and the muck, which was coating much of them. Of course, there was no time for them to clean themselves since they had to get their weapons and possessions before escaping.
Vincent hadn't seen Haski anywhere since he had signalled his men to take both women. Two guards sat near the entrance of the fence enclosing the chief's house. Both seemed to be sleeping while each had his back resting on a post on each side of the entrance.
The trio had no difficulties passing through the open gate without disturbing the guards. Nika then lead them to one of the huts where Haski was expected to be. Once they were inside Haski's sleeping quarters, they were able to see two human forms on a straw mat at the far end of the large room.
On closer inspection, one of the forms did turn out to be Haski while the other form was one of his wives. Because of the light of the many fires outside which was filtering through the knitted grass strands of the entrance, they also saw Nika's knife in its sheath, lying on the ground not far from them.
Before Vincent could utter a single word, she ran to the knife and she pulled it out. Then in one swift motion she neatly slit Haski's throat.
The chief didn't even have time to get out of his deep sleep. He died there without even opening his eyes. Vincent couldn't really blame her for what she had just done. She had endured much from him and he figured that the chief got what he deserved.
They rolled the body of the chief away from the mat and they also moved the women lying next to him. She was extremely drunk and she didn't give them any trouble since she just kept on sleeping.
Nika then removed the mat and with her still bloody knife, she began to dig into the soft ground where the mat had been. A few minutes later she extracted a package wrapped in a fur. Inside were Vincent's riffle with the extra clips as well as his knife still in its sheath.
For some reason, the chief had preferred to wear Nika's knife while hiding the other one with the riffle. Vincent immediately checked his riffle and he loaded it with a new clip.
Their knapsacks as well as Nika's bow and arrows were still in a neat pile at the other end of the hut. Vincent's and Nika's hand guns and holsters were also lying on top of the pile. Probably, because of the fact that they were made of metal, they had been considered magic to Haski. His fear of these strange objects made of metal had been to great and he had preferred to neglect them completely.
When they emerged from the chief's hut with all of their possessions, they saw one of the guards standing near the entrance of the fence. He was very awake now. It took Nika only a few seconds to fit an arrow to her bow and to send it through his heart.
As they passed near the body of the guard, Nika wanted to recover her arrow from the body, but Vincent was able to persuade her to leave it there. They were pressed for time, having to cover as much ground as possible before daybreak and now was not the moment to waste any over such a triviality as an arrow.
They met Lomac at the back of the chief's hut, right in front of the small hut where the weapons and tools were stored. He was carrying many weapons and a bag made of animal skin. Before leaving, they went to the women's compound and they killed both guards there then they opened the gates wide.
Half of the women prisoners were still inside while the other half were probably lying with a male of the village. Next they went to the men's compound and they freed them also.
Lomac then got busy distributing spears and other weapons that he had with him. Vincent was certain that more than half the slaves were willing to try their chance and escape, the rest being too scared of the consequences of being caught in trying to escape. He also knew that the success of their escape depended on their being quiet and also on speed.
Lomac and Verla wanted to travel southward since their home was in that direction. But being also in the general direction that Vincent had in mind to go, the four of them decided that they should stay together for a while. The more they were, the better were their chances of fighting off their pursuers if they should happen to catch up with them.
Many of the slaves - those at least that were willing to take their chances in escaping - went also in small groups in different directions. But there were many that were afraid of the consequences of being caught again and they did remain in the village.
Vincent explained to his group of four that before moving south they should all hide for a few days where he and Nika had been resting for the last three weeks while his leg got better. They still had smoked meat hidden there and they could wait in safety until Haski's people got tired of looking for them.
They moved as fast as they could and when they finally stopped to rest near a small stream, the first rays of the sun were visible in the east. Once they had eaten from the little supply of food that Lomac had managed to bring, they rested for a while. Both women took the opportunity to bathe in the creek so as to remove some of the traces of the bad treatments they had had to endure the previous night.
When they resumed their walk, they went at a slower pace. Vincent reasoned that it was fair to assume that their pursuers would need at least a day before they organise themselves and reach this region. By that time he and his small group would have reached their hidden food supply. Once there they could rest a couple of days since the place was well off the trail and completely hidden.
Nika shouted with joy with she saw the two tall rocks between which they had spent so many days while his leg healed. By now, the sun was high over their heads and they were very hungry and exhausted.
They lived on the supply of smoked meat that Vincent had buried in a bag and the four of them remained there for three days.
When they began their trip south, they were all in a much better shape. They crossed the small stream and moved about ten miles east before turning south again. They did this just in case Haski's people did find their trail. If their pursuers cam
