The slaves hardly looked up when he moved towards them for he was covered in Eul dust and their minds had been beaten down by the whips of the Norgonie and they knew it was better not to question. To the guards he was just another Sandjar and to them they all looked alike, but when one of them noticed that he was not holding a digging shovel he moved to where he stood and he raised his whip.
“Get to work!” he shouted, then brought down his lash over the back of Endo cutting his dirty robe and marking his back with a red welt.
Although the pain was intense the green boy did not cry out, he held in his agony and also his anger for he knew that resistance was futile and he would surely die. But from that point on he bore a great hatred for the Norgonie and vowed that someday he would have revenge. But for now he would do as he was told and he took up a long metal iron that was lying on the ground and began using it to dig into the wall near him. The guard that had struck him cursed loudly then moved away and he was left to his own.
As Endo began working he looked about him, he was standing between two other Sandjar, they wore only dirty strips of cloth about their waists and were covered in filth and dust from head to foot. One was old and had several deep scares across his thin back a sure sign that he had once resisted the Norgonie. But now he was aged and the strength that had once caused him to fight had long sense been beaten out of him. On the other side was a taller one of his kind but he was very thin and it was easy to see that he was being starved, he was also missing one finger from his left hand and one of his eyes. There were also many more workers forming a line that stretched around the level he was on and the sound of their hammers and shovels filled the air.
It was then that Endo truly wished that he had listened to his father, and he remembered his own words, a fool has no one to blame but himself.
How long he worked Endo did not know but it must have been for a very long time for his arms ached and his back felt like it had a Trofar sitting on it. But just as he thought he would drop from exhaustion he heard a loud bell ringing. At the sound of that bell the workers around him laid down their digging implements and slowly began to shuffle along the pathways, the guards made sure that none of them held onto their diggings tools for they did not want them to be used against them. They moved like creatures in sleep, not looking to the right or the left but only at the ground. They walked along slowly all the while Norgonie guards watched over them and now and then struck one on their back for no other reason than to see the Sandjar cry in pain.
They moved onward out of the great chamber and into a tunnel, this rocky corridor led to even more tunnels and shafts that held other slaves, and as he passed Endo could see that many of them were no more than children, and with them were females young and old.
The Norgonie raise them from infants, Endo surmised, and when they are old enough to work they put them into the mines, and there they stay till they died.
Everything that the Sandjar boy told himself was indeed true, the Norgonie bred them for slaves and kept them underground all their lives and they had done this for centuries. Generation after generation, all were forced to work as slaves, and if anyone of them resisted he or she was tortured for the amusement of their masters and then when they grew tired of hearing their screams they were killed. To most Outlanders it was not something to shed tears about for they considered the Sandjars as uncivilized creatures fit only to roam the Outlands living off the dead and having no God to look down on them.
But Endo knew this was not true for someone who cared for him and taught him how to live had raised him, and although Osh was not of his world he loved him never the less, he also loved his mother. But Andra remained distant from him and for all her kindness he knew that deep down she did not love him, but now was not the time to think of such things for he saw that they were being forced into a large holding chamber.
With shouts from the guards they moved into what looked like a gathering area, many torches lighted it and several more fire pits, all of them using Eul as fuel. The walls of the cave had been dug out with hundreds of small alcoves, starting at floor level then going up the walls until they disappeared into the darkness overhead. Each level could be reached by a series of wooden ladders and walkways and added together the huge complex could easily hold hundreds of workers perhaps more. At the center of the cave was a water trough that was cut from hard stone, it was kept filled by a underground spring and the run off fed into a small stream that dropped into a catch basin and carried away by a crack in the floor.
There were also several large iron bowls placed against the walls, they measured several meters in length and were a wide as a man was tall. Above each of them was a large metal pipe that jutted out from the wall then angled down into the caldrons, the bowls were empty at the moment but emitted a strong odor.
Following the crowd of workers Endo moved along trying not to be noticed until all the slaves were inside then two large steel gates closed behind him, he watched as a large Norgonie took a key that was hanging from his belt and turned a lock in the door.
Now there was surely no escape for the green boy. If only I had listened to my father.
As soon as the door shut behind them the Sandjar slaves ran for the water trough and began drinking deeply, it was then that Endo knew that they had been working for a long time for his species could work hard and go without water for a day or more. Now they fought for the life giving liquid as if they had not seen it for days, and like all creatures the strong pushed the weak out of the way so that they could quench their thirst first. It was then that Endo noticed a very tall and strongly built Sandjar striking an older one of his kind whom had dared move in front of him. The Scavenger slave was known by the name Mog and he was feared by the other slaves for he was cruel and did not hesitate to kill anyone who got in his way.
He was a head taller than Endo and had a long scar over his left eye and surely causing blindness to that side of his vision. But half blind or not he was still strong and now he forced the old Scavenger out of his way and drank deep of the water, then when he was done he moved to were the large iron bowl was and waited.
Although Endo was larger than most of his brethren he did not force he way to the head of the mob, rather we waited his turn then slowly drank from the trough, as he did he turned to see a small female by his side. She was thin and the bones of her arms could be seen under the emaciated flesh, she wore a dirty garment that barely covered her frail body but she had bright eyes that told Endo that she had not yet yielded to the harshness of her surroundings. And as he looked at her something in his mind began to move him, perhaps it was the kindness that he had received from the father that had adopted him, or perhaps it was the way she looked at him, but whatever the reason he felt compassion for her. So unlike the other Sandjars who now pushed and shoved their way to the water Endo moved away and let the small green female have his place in the line.
At first she did not know what to do for she had never been shown kindness in her life, it was not something that Scavengers did for they considered females to be second in all things and caring about their feelings was not in their nature. But after a moment or two she moved passed her benefactor and drank from the trough, and when she had enough she turned back to the tall green boy by her side.
The Sandjar had no real language, they mostly communicated in broken words and body gestures, Endo had learned this for he had spent time with is kind before being found by his father. Now that knowledge came in handy for the female nodded her large head and made a slow grunting sound that told him she was grateful. And before he could stop himself he replied in the language of the Outlanders.
“You are welcome”, he said.
When the young girl heard him speaking the words of the Norgonie she became very afraid, and because the other Sandjars were too busy drinking the cool water they did not hear Endo using communications that were reserved only for their tormentors. Now the green female moved quickly away from Endo and disappe
ared into the crowd, he tried to follow but he soon lost track of her and gave up the chase. Now there was nothing more to do then wait for whatever was going to happen next, and that came very quickly.
The chamber filled with a grinding sound as if some kind of hatch was being opened and no sooner had this happened then the mass of slaves raced for the large bowls that ringed the cavern. They crowded close in and filled the air with sharp yelps and grunts and some fought together to be closer to the front, then came another sound and from out of the end of the metal pipes above each bowl a mass of foul smelling food began to flow.
It was a mixture of cast off body parts from slaughtered Trofar, rotten fruit and garbage that the Norgonie wanted to be rid of, there was also a great deal of moldy Kasha-wheat and roots. And along with this foul smelling concoction were the remains of dead Sandjar for a Scavenger would eat his own kind if given the chance and there was no other food available.
Once more the strong pushed the weak out of the way and some of the older among them were trampled underfoot. And as soon as they fell to the ground their bodies were set upon by others and quickly torn to pieces and in turn those that had the scavenged flesh in their hands were attacked by yet more hungry slaves. It was a site that cut deep into the heart of Endo.
My people have become animals, he thought, but he knew it was not their fault for any creature human or not would soon revert to its primitive stage when face with such appalling conditions. And as he looked at them he once more saw the small female that he had helped, she was trying to push her way through the howling mass to try and snatch a small portion of food for her own. But no sooner did she manage to grab a handful then she was attacked by Mog who wanted the scrap of meat for himself. She resisted but he took her by the arm and twisted it till she dropped the food to the ground, then to vent his rage he struck her on the side of her head and she went flying.
Seeing this sent the green boy into a rage, and before he could stop himself he ran the short distance between them and fell upon the Scavenger, his initial attack caught Mog off guard and they both fell to the ground biting and clawing at each other. They rolled over and over and the others quickly moved out of the way least they too were hurt by the fierce fighting.
Endo was not as big as his opponent was and as the battle continued it was the larger Sandjar who was gaining the advantage, and although the green boy let his fury loose it was no match for the superior strength of Mog. Then with a hard blow to his ribs Endo was force to the ground and looked up to see a clawed foot coming down on his face, at the last moment he moved to one side and rolled away unhurt. The other Sandjars were now screaming for blood for they knew that either way they would come away with more food to consume. But as Endo turned to face his adversary once more he tried to calm his mind.
He is bigger and stronger then you, he thought, you cannot defeat him with strength alone, but again he noticed that his opponent had just one good eye, he will be blind from the left.
With this new knowledge Endo planned his next attack, he stood up and moved in once more but this time he came in from the left side and without vision on that side the big Sandjar was helpless. Once, twice and more he struck the tall Scavenger with his clawed hand and soon he was bleeding from numerous deep cuts on his face and body, and after several more minutes of such strikes the tall Sandjar gave up and lay on the ground defeated.
There was a silence in the chamber for no one had ever seen Mog loose a fight then as they realized that the young stranger was victorious they let out with a wild cry and the word “CORAW” over and over again.
Endo hadn’t heard this expression in a long time, not sense he was with his people as a young child, it was then that he learned what the word meant.
LEADER.
It was not what he had been looking to become when he defended the female but now that the title was his he would try his best to live up to the honor. And as the cry of “Coraw” echoed over and over in the great chamber he made a vow to himself.
I will see my people free or I will die with them.
It was a vow that would someday change the face of Gorn.
Chapter 25.
Deaths shadow.
The flower that the Nomads call the Death Shadow is much like the hallucinogenic plants that can be found throughout the Outer Rim. But its potency is much greater than anything I have seen before, and although it has great potential as a healing compound the Outlanders do not use it for it is forbidden by their laws and seen as a gateway into madness.
From the Mindlock of Oshismarie Inastro Sistashion.
Arn had stayed by the bedside of his mate all through the day and long into the night, there were times that he closed his eyes but his dreams were troubled and he could find no rest, now with the morning suns he looked into the face of his love. The soft sunlight flowed into the tent and a golden shaft illuminated the features of Andra, and if not for the cloth around her head she would have appeared to be sleeping and not waiting for the Angle of Death.
But Arn had seen the bringer of death before and he knew that if the she demon came for his mate he would fight, I will not let her go, he told his weary mind I will fight all the demons from the pit. He had held his war-ax in his strong hand all through his guarding and he would not let it go from his hand. I will die for her, and he tightened his grip on his weapon.
As he sat grieving for Moonbud the flap on the tent opened and in walked a Touchtender, her name was Omara and she had been a healer of the tribe for a great many years. She was a big woman with strong arms and a pleasing face. She held a large silver bowl in her hands along with several clean rags. She had treated the Kings wounds when he was still a Prince and was not one to make angry. “I have come to wash the girl,” she said.
But the King did not look at her and waved his hand angrily, “GET OUT! Leave us alone”, he shouted.
Any other member of the tribe would have turned and walked away, but Omara was not going to be turned from her task so easily. “Now you listen to me you little Rockrunner”, she shouted back, “I have work to do and I do not want you getting in my way”, and saying this she moved between the King and Andra and proceeded to remove the soft blanket that was covering the young woman. When she saw that he was still close by she shot him a glance that would have frightened a Whiptail. Arn saw that the commanding healer outmatched him so he nodded his head and taking his helmet and weapon he slowly walked from the tent.
Outside the air was fresh and smelled of morning dew mixed with the scent of blossoming flowers. When the warriors that were guarding the tent saw the King emerge they stood up straight and as the Monarch passed by them they bowed their heads to show respect.
Arn knew that his mate was in very capable hands so he thought it best to walk through the camp and see that all was as it should be. He moved past more warriors who also bowed their heads and when he ventured past the Elders they too nodded. Now everywhere he went the people of his tribe bowed and the King knew it was not only from respect but also to show their sadness for the injury to the Off-world girl, for they had come to love her as much as one of their own. Arn did not speak as he walked and although it had been a long time sense he had eaten he was not hungry, but when he passed by the Spikebacks his old friend Kuno called out to him.
“Come, I have two cups of Po”, he laughed, “and I can drink only one at a time”.
Kuno was sitting by his Washa fire and surrounded by the supplies needed for the Spikebacks, he was dressed in his armor and it appeared that he had spent the night in it.
Even though the King knew that the big warrior could drink several tankards of sour wine without his or anyone else’s help he walked over to him and took the cup that was offered to him.
“Thank you my old friend”, he said then drank the contents of the cup in one long draft.
The Po was well-aged and when Arn had finished he was glad that he had accepted the offer from the Captain. Wiping his lips with the back of his hand
he sat down on a crate of ammunition for the Long-range weapons, “do you have anything more to drink?” he asked.
Kuno knew this to be a joke for no one had ever known the big Nomad to be without wine. So laughing the Captain reached for a large vessel sitting near him and poured out to more servings of the sourer drink, “here”, he said, “and when you finish that there will be many more to come”. Then he sat down on another crate near the King.
For a while they did not speak and let the wine warm their bellies, Kuno could see that his friend had not slept that night and that worrying about his mate had filled his mind sense they came back from the hunt. Then after a time the Captain spoke, “she is strong” he said softly, “she will survive”.
They were encouraging words and ones that the King needed to hear, but whether they were true or not he did not know. Kuno is a good man, he thought, but he is not a Star Gazer and cannot see the future, the King rose from his seat and handed his empty cup back to his friend, “thank you for the wine, now I must go”. Arn turned and slowly walked away.
The Captain watched him go, he has a good woman, and they are hard to find. Hearing his mind say this made the big Nomad think hard and although it was something that he did not like doing he had to admit that he had treated Balru very badly. You give out advice but do not take your own, so fortifying his courage with another cup of Po he set off to rectify that mistake.
Arn walked for some time, he moved past the Ironworkers who were busy at their forges and as he past them he heard the, “CLANK CLANK”, of their beating hammers.
The Fallen God Page 36