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From: mandil_k@hotmail.com (mandil)
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Subject: {ASSM} Masters of the Arches  chapter 10
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 18:10:20 -0500
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Masters of the Arches
by Mandil



                                Chapter 10








They were now moving through the region where Lomac had spent most of
his life. They were thus warned well in advance when they came either
to a river or when they had to cross a trail. But Lomac did find it
very strange that up to now they hadn't yet met anyone from his
village.

"Hunters from my village always come this far north in search of
games. We should have met a few of them by now, I fear that something
bad has happened."

Verla tried to reassure him by telling him that they hadn't seen any
of her people either. She explained to him that the likelihood that a
catastrophe had happened to both tribes was highly improbable.

But the closer they got to his village the more worried he became.
They finally reached Lomac's village on the tenth days after their
escape.

The village was in complete ruin. Most of the poles houses had been
burned to the ground and only a few huts here and there remained
partly intact.

When they investigated further, they discovered a horrible spectacle.
Unknown attackers had murdered women and children, and many of the
bodies were mutilated beyond recognition.

All indications pointed to the fact that the village had been attacked
in the middle of the night since some of the people had been killed
while they were still lying on their sleeping mats. Also the fact that
none of the cooking fires were in use when the attack occurred, tended
to confirm this theory.

"I want to go to my village," said Verla. "Something bad must also
have happened to my people since we haven't seen any trace of them
yet. I am sure the men of my village would have come to help Lomac's
people. The fact that we haven't seen any trace of them may mean that
whatever happened here, must also have happened in my village."

They remained for the rest of the day in the village. They piled the
few dozen corpses on a heap of logs and burned the bodies. Before
nightfall they moved a few miles south of Lomac's village so as to
spend the night far from the horror they had seen.

Early the following morning, they began their walk toward Verla's
village. When they got there, it was in the afternoon of the following
day and what they discovered was a replica of what had happen in
Lomac's village.

Almost all the huts had been burned down, but there were not as many
bodies to be found. The few bodies that they did find were not close
relatives of Verla but still she did know them. She became very sad,
she had a brother and two sisters living in the village and there were
now no traces of them.

Vincent was shocked by the way both villages had been systematically
destroyed. It appeared to him that someone had gone to a lot of
trouble to completely obliterate the whole population. The question
that came to mind was whether it had been done to prevent the captured
slaves from returning to their village, or was it simply the result of
jealous neighbors. He didn't bother to share his thoughts with anyone
since both Verla and Lomac were extremely depressed.

The following day, they continued on their southward trek. Now that
both Lomac and Verla had nowhere to go they decided to remain with
Vincent and Nika in their journey south.

By Lomac's estimate, in five or six days they were to arrive to a wide
plain that was mostly a desert. He also warned the group that only a
few of his people had ever tried to cross that plain since it was very
dry and there were stories about all kinds of dangers hidden there.

It seemed that only one man from his village had managed to cross the
dessert and return to tell about it. Lomac had heard from that man who
had made the journey and returned to tell about it, that there were
great areas of desolation in the dessert. But once across, there was a
friendly tribe living on the other side.

They were very near the edge of the dessert when disaster struck them.
While walking in a single file in a dense wooden area, Vincent in
front while Lomac was in the rear with both women between them. They
heard a tremendous growling coming from behind them.

Vincent ran toward the source of the noise, and he was just in time to
see Lomac with his left arm pinched in the mouth of a saber tooted
tiger.

The great cat was about five feet tall at the shoulders and was trying
to carry his prey into the low foliage. Its large green eyes were full
of anger and blood from Lomac's arm was oozing out of its mouth. When
the cat saw Vincent and the others appear, it turned toward them and
stopped motionless in its tracks. The great beast remained very still
while staring at the trio as if trying to decide what to do next.

It took Vincent only a second to aim his rifle and shoot. There was no
way for him to miss at this short range, but at the same time he had
to be careful so as not to hit Lomac.

The shot hit the beast in the neck and it did let its prey fall to the
ground. But its long teeth immediately closed again on Lomac, as if it
wanted to make sure that his prey wouldn't escape while it turned his
attention on Vincent. The sound of breaking bones reached Vincent ears
and he knew then that it was the end of Lomac.

The second and third shots hit the great cat somewhere in the head and
through the left eye, but still it didn't fall down. Blood could be
seen pouring out of its many wounds and staining its brown fur. Under
such pain and anger Vincent expected the cat to make a tremendous
amount of noise, but not a sound could be heard. It then occurred to
Vincent that the bullet that had gone through the neck of the great
cat had probably severely damage its throat.

In one tremendous jump it was in front of Vincent with its blood
dripping mouth wide open. Just as it prepared itself for a final leap,
Vincent shot right into the open mouth of the beast.

The bullet probably severed the spinal cord of the enraged cat, since
before it had time to leap on Vincent it dropped dead on the spot. The
cat's momentum carrying it to Vincent's feet.

The three of them rushed to Lomac as soon as the cat was down, but it
was only to discover that he was already dead. His chest was ripped
open and much of his innards were on the ground next to him.

They buried him under a pile of rock not far from the spot where he
had died. It was very sad to see Verla crying over his grave, while
she mumbled incoherent words of farewell to her mate.

Within the last few days she had lost her family, and all of her tribe
and now her mate was gone. But Vincent knew that the people of her
world never gave up, even if things were really bad. He had discovered
this while being held prisoner in Haski's village. Everyone had
accepted his or her fate. Nika and Verla had both done so when they
had been forced to submit to the lust of half of the males of the
village on their last night of captivity. So far, he has never seen
anyone falling into a depressive state for long. Probably the fact
that they could expect to live an extremely long time had something to
do with it.

Two days after the death of Lomac, they came to the edge of the wide
plain. It did resemble much more of a desert than a plain. In the far
distance, they could see the horizon where the landscape met the sky
and in between the topography of the land was all the same. Sand, rock
and a little grass here and there.

Vincent now regretted that he hadn't questioned Lomac more about the
place. He would have like to know where they could expect to find
water and how far it was between water holes. More important still,
what were these hidden dangers that Lomac had been talking about.

They had two plastic bottles - which he had brought from his world -
that could hold water and also two organic bags that he later
discovered were the intestine of some animals. These bags had been
picked up in one of the burned out villages.

They spent the night on the edge of the plain. In the morning after a
small breakfast, they filled the two bottles and the bags with water
then they began their journey across the plain, always walking toward
the south.

That first day, he figured they must have walked thirty miles or so.
When they made camp for the evening, the sun was very low and the
temperature was noticeably colder. Since small quantities of water
were evaporating and leaking from the two bags, they had used water
from one of the water bags first. One bag was already half empty.

A simple calculation made him realize that provided they did not
consume more water than they had on that first day, they would have
about five or six more days of water remaining.

Food was not one of Vincent concerns; at the rate they were eating
they still had two weeks supply of smoked meat. Beside he still had a
few bags of biscuits and dry foodstuff that he had brought from his
world. Vincent knew that they would run out of water long before they
ran out of food.

That first night in the desert plain, none of them slept well. Verla
was still very sad over the death of Lomac while Nika and Vincent were
both exhausted from the long and hot walk and both were also affected
because of Verla's condition.

The land did not change much for the next four days. But the mood of
the trio did change from one of eagerness to one of hopelessness.
There seemed to be no end to the dry plain and they now had barely
enough water for another two days.

Except for the lack of water, it was difficult to imagine what Lomac
had met when he said that this place was full of hidden dangers. So
far they had seen only snakes and all sort of insects.

On one occasion Verla thought she saw the shadow of a large bird but
she was the only one to seen it. She did tell Vincent and Nika about
it but at the time she had been walking behind them and when they
explored the sky for a bird they didn't see any. Still Vincent figured
that she must have seen something since after that she did stay very
close to him and Nika.

In the middle of the morning of the sixth day, they were attacked. It
was the day after Verla had seen the moving shadow of a bird. They had
been walking toward a low mountain range that had been visible far to
the southeast the previous day. It was at least another day and a half
away.

As soon as they saw the mountain range, they change direction from
straight south and they went in the direction of the first low hill.
Their chances of finding water was much greater among the hills than
on the flat plain.

Nika and Verla had both noticed the mountain range first since Vincent
had been walking with his eyes partly closed because of the brightness
of the sun. He then felt very sorry that he hadn't brought his
sunglasses from his world, but it was too late to worry about that
now. For some reason, both women didn't seem to be bothered much by
the bright sun reflecting off the white sand.

When an opaque object in the sky partly blocked the sun's rays, they
were greatly surprise since there were no trees around and there was
nothing higher than the small rocks lying here and there. The women
cried of surprise made Vincent open his eyes wide as he turned toward
them. Both women were looking upward toward the sky.

Vincent looked up in the direction where both women were looking and
he was amazed by what he saw.

It seem that no more than five hundred feet from them, flying very
gracefully, were about a dozen brown and white-feathered birds. After
a couple of seconds he realized that they were much farther away and
much higher than he had first thought. The reason that he had judged
them to be closer than they really were was due to their enormous
size.

One of the birds was much closer to them, it was enormous and Vincent
figured that it must have been on the look out for possible prey. This
was the bird responsible for the shadow that the girls had seen. As
the rest of the great birds flew closer to the trio, he noticed that
each bird had a lump on the back of the neck. It was now also clear
that the huge birds were now aware of them and they were now gliding
in their direction. They flew with the sun at their back and it was
difficult to see them clearly because of the glare of the sun behind
them.

Vincent lowered his knapsack to the ground and held his rifle in both
hands. The way the birds were approaching seemed very odd to him. It
reminded him of dive-bombers he had seen in the movies just before
they would release their load of bombs.

The birds were in single file formation with about two hundred feet of
separation between them. Then the one in the front began to loose
height and the others followed. Vincent was next greeted with a
greater surprise. The lump on the back of the neck of each bird turned
out to be a man sitting there. Each bird was being guided my mean of
ropes tied to the bird's head and to its legs.

Then Vincent observed that in the huge bird's claws, was a sort of net
filled with a load of some sort.

The use of the net soon became apparent when a shower of fist size
stones began to fall around them. Nobody was hit but it was only a
question of time before this would occur. Worst still, he and the two
women had nowhere to run or hide.

A second load was dumped on them. This time a rock hit Verla on her
leg just below her knee while she was trying to run away from the
deadly shower.

There was no question whatsoever in Vincent's mind now as to the
intention of these birdmen. They wanted either to kill them or to
capture them.

He aimed his rifle in their general direction and he fired. 

The noise did scare them since the one closest to them dropped its
load well before it had reached the trio. Then the great bird and
rider simply glided to the right and away. The rest of the formation
began to circle around Vincent and the two women but they didn't come
any closer.

Finally after a couple of minutes, one of the birds detached itself
from the ring formation and made a diving approach. This time Vincent
took his time, he aimed carefully at the head of the giant bird then
he slowly pulled the trigger.

The angle of the decent of the bird changed immediately, it began to
plunge downward carrying with it in its fall the struggling rider on
its back. As soon as the bird and rider hit the hot sand, no movement
could be seen from either of them and Vincent figured that both were
probably dead.

For a few more minutes the rest of them kept on circling high over
their head, then two of the great birds approached in a similar dive.
But they came from two different directions.

Nika had her bow at the ready while Verla who was an expert in the art
of throwing a spear was waiting with her arm pulled well back.

But the women's help was not needed. With two more shots, Vincent sent
them to the ground before they had time to unload their net of its
content of stones.

The rest of the birds kept on circulation high overhead for another
fifteen minutes and finally they left heading toward the south. But
one of the birds released its load of rocks and it remained high above
them, probably to spy on them.

Verla's leg was not broken but it was evident judging from the
swelling that she would hot be able to walk on it for a while. But
still they could not remain where they were in case the birdmen
returned and attacked them again. Vincent knew that they had to find a
place where they would be protected from these rocks coming from the
sky. It was only because of the lack of coordination between the
birdmen that they were still alive. Had they chosen to attack together
Vincent knew that the outcome would have been much different.

"I think we should see if there is water". 

He was indicating the spot where the first bird and its rider were
lying on the ground.

"Yes I will go and see". Said Nika. 

Before Vincent had time to react she began walking toward the dead
bird a few hundred feet away. She walked with her bow ready in hand
and an arrow already aimed in the general direction of the fallen
mountain of flesh ahead of her.

Before she reached her destination the bird overhead was upon her. In
one low pass it tried to catch Nika in its claws. There was no doubt
it could have pulled her off the ground since its wings span was at
least forty feet long and it was no longer loaded with rocks.

Nika's arrow buried itself into the neck of the bird only seconds
before she was within its reach and this is probably what saved her.
As the arrow hit its mark in the neck, the bird pulled away from its
prey and it missed Nika only by a couple of feet.

A few seconds after she had release her arrow, Vincent fired a shoot
at the bird while it was in the act of gaining height. It then lost
all control and fell toward the ground while its rider was trying
desperately to make it climb again as he pulled on the straps tied to
its head and feet.

Leaving Verla where she was, Vincent ran toward the recently fallen
bird that was no more than twenty feet from Nika. Both bird and rider
were dead.

The man was dark brown and rather small. There was some kind of
harness and straps arrangement that went to its head and these were
tied to a cage-like net around the head of the bird. It was evident
that these were used to guide the bird while the two straps tied to
the bird's legs must have been used to make the bird climb or descend.

The rider had no weapon whatsoever and the only possession he had was
a water bag made of animal skin, the bag hung attached to the harness
next to its neck.

"Take the water and bring it to Verla while I check the other three
birds". Said Vincent

He didn't wait for a reply from Verla, instead he ran toward the
nearer of the fallen birds and after checking that both, the birds and
the rider were dead, he recovered the water bag. He did the same with
the other two dead birds and riders.

When they check their inventory of water later, they had gained
another three days supply.

"Let us get away from here as fast as we can, I think they will attack
again and if they do that all together we will not have a chance".

"But Verla can't walk, her leg is swollen". Said Nika. 

"I will carry her if you can take care of the rest of our supplies". 

He cut several strips of leather from one of the bird's harness. Then
placing a section of strap under each of Verla's thighs with the other
ends meeting around her back, he made her climb on his back. She was
now riding piggyback with her weight being distributed between his
shoulders and his waist.

Nika had both knapsacks on her back and she was trying to figure a way
to add the four water bags on her already well-loaded back.

"Here place the water bags on Verla's back, she can hold them". 

"But you already have her weight to carry". 

"With the harness I can manage. Don't argue, just give us the water.
We have to leave this place fast".

They began to walk toward the range of mountains ahead of them. It was
very difficult to predict how far the nearest mountain was and when
they stopped to rest an hour later, they did seemed to be a little
closer to their destination.

The birdmen did not bother them again that day and Vincent figured
that they had another day of walking before they would reach their
goal. Verla's leg was still swollen and she was in pain but the
swelling had stop. When she tried to stand on her leg again, the pain
was too intense and Vincent had to again carry her.

Even though he was very tired, Vincent could feel Verla's breasts in
contact with his back and now that he paid close attention to her, he
realized that her breasts were a little larger than Nika's. She was
very beautiful indeed and her being there on his back made him feel
uneasy.

At noon the birdmen returned. This time they choose to attack while
very high in the sky. They must have figured that since their own
arrows would not reach that far, then Vincent's rifle would also not
reach them. He was able to downed two more before they realized their
mistake.

Vincent and the two women made good progress after that. For one thing
the ground was covered with much more grass thus making it easier to
walk. He was also getting use to carrying Verla's weight on his back.
They reached the first low range of mountains before it got dark.

They choose to make their camp on the side of a low hill. Verla's leg
was much better now and she could even walk on it as long as there was
someone holding her to take some of the weight off her leg.

Vincent made love to Nika that night. Verla was close enough to hear
them in the heat of passions, but Vincent didn't care since the
tension of the day had to be relived somehow. Even tired as he was,
his need had to be quenched. For her part Nika was more than happy to
satisfy his sexual appetite since he hadn't made love to her since
they had started their walk across the dessert plain.

Breakfast was later than usual the following morning. They took turns
helping Verla walk as she insisted on not being carried. The first
hill they climbed on was not too steep and they made good progress and
reached the top by noon. Vincent estimated that the height of that
first peak was about a thousand feet. From the top they were able to
see a series of other peaks that were part of the mountain range.

But what struck them most was the barrenness and desolation before
them. In every direction, they could see that whatever path they took
it would be a very difficult route to travel.

Turning back was not an option since they would run out of water long
before they reached their initial starting point. No, their only
chance now was to go ahead and hope that water could be found
somewhere.

It took them the rest of the day to get down the other side. They made
camp on the downward slope and slept between tall rocks that were part
of the sandstone formation of the mountain. They drank the last of the
water while eating breakfast.

As soon as they reach the valley at the foot of the peak, they chose
to walk in the narrow valley between the two peaks. Their progress was
easier there and they knew that their chances of finding water were
much better down there since any rain that happened to fall would
accumulate in the valley.

The plant life was more abundant and there were more varieties of it,
which was a good sign. By late afternoon they reached a wide flat area
where a number of trees grew. Verla went to sit in the shade under one
of the trees while Vincent and Nika went in different directions
looking for signs of water.

It was while he was in a narrow gorge that he heard both women
shouting. He hurried back as fast as he could and he was just in time
to see Nika being lifted in a net that was in the claws of one of the
birds which was being guide by a birdman.

The giant bird had great difficulty lifting the combine weight of Nika
and the rider on its back. But still Nika was slowly gaining height as
the rider kept on urging his mount.

Vincent took aim, but before pulling the trigger he realized that
killing the bird would be the same as killing Nika since they were a
couple of hundred feet high by now.

His attention was then attracted by Verla's shouting and when he
looked in her direction, two of the brown and white eagle-looking
birds were waiting fifty feet from Verla's tree while their two riders
were in the process of pulling Verla who was stuck in a net.

Both men were dragging the net and its load. Their intention was very
evident as they moved toward the nearer of the two birds.

Vincent took no chances, he shot both birds dead. He then turned
toward the still surprised men and he shot them both.

Verla was not hurt, but she had been a witness to Nika's kidnapping
and she felt angry and desperate. As soon as Vincent got her out of
the net, they both scanned the sky, they could still see a dozen or so
birds moving away in the distance with Nika being carried with them.




                        ( end of chapter 10)

                      <http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/mandil/www/>

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