Savages of Gor coc-17

by John Norman

  "I do not think he will last much longer," said Grunt. "The Waniyanpi, doubtlessby instruction, have given him little in the way of water or sustenance."

  I nodded. They were to keep him alive until they left the field, as I recalled.

  Then he was to be left to die. I glanced from the rise back down into theshallow declivity between the low, grassy hills. I could see the Waniyanpithere, gathering and piling debris. I could see the remains of some wagons, too,and that behind which I had left the girl in the yoke.

  "Do not consider interfering," said Grunt.

  I went to my pack kaiila and fetched a verrskin water bag. It was half full.

  "He is in the care of the Waniyanpi," said Grunt.

  I bent down beside the lad, and put one hand gently behind his head. He openedhis eyes, looking at me. I think it took him some moments to focus.

  "He is in the care of the Waniyanpi," said Grunt.

  "He does not seem to me well cared for," I said.

  "Do not interfere," said Grunt.

  "His body shows signs of dehydration," I said. I had seen this sort of thing inthe Tahari. I had, from my own experience, some inkling of the suffering whichcould accompany this sort of deprivation.

  "Do not," said Grunt.

  Gently, cradling it partly in my arm, I lifted the water bag. The liquid movedinside the leather.

  The lad took some of the water into his mouth and I withdrew the bag. He lookedat me. Then, suddenly, with hatred, he turned his head to the side and spat outthe water into the grass. He then lay back again, as he had before, his eyesclosed. I stood up.

  "Leave him," said Grunt.

  "He is proud," I said, "proud, like a warrior."

  "It would have done nothing anyway," said Grunt, "but prolong his agony."

  "What is the significance of this lance," I asked, "with the cloth wound aboutit?"

  "It is a warrior's lance," said Grunt. "Do you not see what the cloth is?"

  "It is part of the loot from the wagon train, it seems," I said. The cloth waswhite. It did not seem to be trade cloth.

  "You are probably right," said Grunt. "But do you not see what it is?"

  I looked more closely. "It is a woman's dress," I said.

  "Yes," said Grunt.

  I returned to the pack kaiila, and restored the water bag to its place.

  "We must be on our way," said Grunt, nervously. "There have been Waniyanpiabout, from various compounds," he said.

  I recalled that we had obtained this information earlier from the Waniyanpi withwhom we had conversed. Then, too, this had seemed to disturb Grunt. Itssignificance, as I now recognize, was clear. Interestingly, at the time, I didnot fully appreciate its import.

  "What are you doing!" said Grant.

  "We cannot leave him here like this," I said. I crouched beside the lad, myknife drawn.

  "Do not kill him," said Grunt. "That is the business of the prairie, of thirst,of hunger, or roving sleen."

  "Stop!" said Grunt.

  My knife was at the leather thongs binding the lad's left ankle to its stake.

  "You understand nothing of the Barrens," said Grunt. "Leave him alone. Do notinterfere! ' "We cannot leave him here like this," I said.

  "The Waniyanpi would have done so' " said Grunt.

  "I am not of the Waniyanpi," I said.

  "See the lance, the dress," said Grunt.

  "What are their significance?" I asked.

  "He did not support his comrades in arms," said Grunt. "He did not join them onthe warpath."

  "I see," I said. He who refuses to fight, of course, permits others to do hisfighting for him. He lets others take the risks, sometimes grievous andperilous, which it is his duty to accept and share. Why are others less specialand precious than he? The moral stature of such an individual I leave to theconjecture of others. The heinous exploitation of others implicit in such abehavior, incidentally, seems seldom to have been noticed. All thingsconsidered, it does not really take much courage to be a coward. Such abehavior, generalized, of course, means the destruction of the community. Thus,paradoxically, only in a community of the brave can the coward thrive. His veryprosperity he owes to the community he betrays.

  "But the lance is not broken," I said.

  "No," said Grunt.

  "Of what tribe is the lance?" I asked.

  "Kaiila," he said. "This may be told by the binding, and by the lateral redmarks near the head of the shaft."

  "I see," I said.

  My knife then finished cutting the thongs at the lad's left ankle.

  I then went to the thongs at his right ankle.

  "Stop," said Grunt.

  "No," I said.

  I heard the cable of a crossbow being drawn above and behind me. It was thenfixed in place. The quarrel was then laid in the guide.

  "Will you truly loose your shaft at me?" I asked Grunt, not turning about.

  "Do not force me to fire," he said.

  "We cannot leave him here like this," I said.

  "I do not wish to fire," said Grunt.

  "Do not fear," I told him. "You will not do so."

  I heard the quarrel removed from the guide, and the cable's surcease of tension.

  "We cannot leave him here like this " I said.

  I then went to the thongs on the boy's left wrist.

  "Your friend must care for you deeply," he said, in Gorean. "He did not killyou."

  "You speak Gorean," I smiled.

  "You are fortunate to have such a friend," said the lad.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Do you know what you am doing?" asked the lad.

  "Probably not," I said.

  "I did not take the warpath," he said.

  "Why not?" I asked.

  "I had no quarrel with the Fleer," he said.

  "That is between you and your people," I said.

  "Do not free me," he said.

  My knife paused.

  "Why not?" I asked.

  "I have not been staked out in order to be freed," he said.

  I did not respond to this. Then my knife finished cutting through the thongs onhis left wrist. in a moment I had through the thongs, too, at his right wrist.

  "I am a slave," he said. "Now I am your slave."

  "No," I said. "You are free."

  "Free?" he asked.

  "Yes," I said. "I free you. You are free."

  "Free?" he asked, numbly.

  "Yes," I said.

  He rolled to his side, scarcely able to move. I stood up, and sheathed my knife.

  "Now you have done it," said Grunt, glumly.

  "You knew we could not simply leave him here like that I said.

  "I?" asked Grunt.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Why else would you have come to hill?"

  "Do you think I am weak?" he asked.

  "No," I said. "I think you are strong."

  "We are fools," he said.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Look." he said.

  Approaching from three directions were groups of mounted warriors, some fifteenor twenty in each group, lofty on their kaiila, barbarous in their paint andfeathers.

  "Sleen, and Yellow Knives," said Grunt, "and Kaiila, too."

  "You are Kaiila, aren't you?" I asked the lad.

  "Yes," said he. I had thought he would be. I did not think that Dust Legs, fromwhom he had been purchased by whites, near the Ihanke, would have sold one oftheir own tribe into slavery. The lance near him, too, that about which waswound the white dress, was, according to Grunt, a lance from that tribe. It wasKaiila, thus, presumably, who had fastened him down.

  "I feared this," said Grunt. "There were several groups of Waniyanpi about. Weheard that. Naturally, then, keepers for them would be in the vicinity, inforce. We saw smoke coming to this place. Too, to the southeast, now, there issmoke."

  "Yes," I said, now noticing it.

  "That is camp smoke," said Grunt, "cooking for the evening meal."

  I nodded. I now,
for the first time, fully, understood Grunt's earlier noticedlack of ease.

  "Surely we have broken no law," I said.

  "They have superior advantages in numbers and arms, said Grunt. "I do not thinkthey need more law than that."

  "And you have freed me," said the lad, sitting on the grass rubbing his wristsand ankles. I was surprised that he could sit up.

  "You are strong," I observed.

  "I am Kaiila," he said.

  "Surely there is no law to the effect that you should not be freed," I said.

  "There is no law specifically to that effect," he said, "but would not count ontheir being much pleased about it."

  "I can understand that," I said. Scanning, I noted the approaching groups ofriders. I counted fifty-one riders, in all.

  "If there were such a law," asked the youth, "would you have broken it?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "The nearest are Sleen," said Grunt. "Those to the south are Yellow Knives. Fromthe east approach Kaiila.

  The lad tried to climb to his feet, but fell. Then, again, he struggled upwards.

  He then stood. I supported him. He seemed to be very strong for one so young.

  "You are Kaiila," said Grunt.

  "Yes," said the youth.

  "We will expect you, then," said Grunt, "to intercede for us with the Kaiila."

  "It was they who staked me out," he said.

  "Oh," said Grunt.

  I smiled to myself. I had feared as much.

  "They may want only gifts," said Grunt.

  I watched the unhurried advance of the groups of riders. They were giving ustime to consider their approach. There seemed a subtle menace in this leisuredadvance, in this time and in this place.

  "Only generous gifts, hopefully," said Grunt "It will be my people who will be the most dangerous," said the youth, withpride.

  I was not at all sure that that was the case.

  "What is your name?" asked Grunt.

  "Your people called me "Urt, ' he said. "The Dust Legs called me "Nitoske'."

  "Woman's Dress," said Grunt. "Quick, Lad, what do the Kaiila call you? We cannotcall you "Woman's Dress."

  "Cuwignaka," said the lad.

  Grunt spit disgustedly into the grass.

  "What is wrong?" I asked.

  "It means the same, only in Kaiila," said Grant. "Moreover, in both dialects, itis actually the word for a white woman's dress."

  "Wonderful," I said. "What shall we call you?" I asked the lad.

  "Cuwignaka," he said. "Woman's Dress."

  "Very well," I said.

  "It is my name," he said.

  "Very well," I said.

  Then the savages were about us. With a rattle of chain the girls in the coffle,whimpering, huddled together. I was prodded in the shoulder with the butt of alance. I stood my ground as well as I could. I knew they were looking for theleast sign of anger or resistance.

  "Smile," said Grunt. "Smile."

  I could not smile, but, too, I did not offer resistance.

  19 In the Distance

  There is the Smoke of Cooking Fires Evelyn cried out with misery as the tether was knotted about her neck. Her smallwrists pulled futilely at the bond, which held her hands confined behind herback. Then, stumbling, she was thrust beside Ginger, and Max and Kyle Hobart.

  All had been stripped.

  "Hi," cried the Sleen warrior, a high warrior in their party, and kicked backinto the flanks of his kaiila. The animal squealed and snorted, moving to theside and then forward. In a moment it was following the line of withdrawingwarriors, led by their war-party leader, he followed by the banner-bearer,carrying the crook like, feathered staff, used in giving directions in battle,and then the others.

  It was he, it seemed, who would lead them in triumph in their camp. He held thetethers of the Hobarts, and Ginger and Evelyn. Two other Sleen, too, thenfollowed, who would bring up the rear, riding behind the column, some yardsbehind the captives.

  Grunt stood behind, his fists clenched.

  Near Grunt, on their stomachs, stripped, lying in a standard binding position,their ankles crossed and their wrists held crossed behind them, placed in atandem line, head to feet, one after the other, were Corinne, Lois, Inez andPriscilla. Priscilla made a tiny noise and winced as a Yellow-Knife warrior,kneeling across her body, tied her wrists behind her back. One ties the lastgirl in such a tandem line first. That way the other girls are less likely tobolt. A girl, thus, does not see the girl before her bound until she herself hasbeen bound.

  I watched the withdrawal of the Sleen war party. They were well pleased withtheir share of the loot. Ginger and Evelyn were lovely prizes and the Hobartswould doubtless prove useful in heavy work and, as boys, minding the kaiilaherds.

  The Yellow-Knife warrior now tied Inez's hands behind her back.

  The coffle chains and the manacles, which had bound the Hobarts, lay discardedin the grass.

  The red-haired girl was on her hands and knees in the grass, naked, warriors,some on foot, some astride kaiila, Yellow Knives and Kaiila, gathered about her.

  Lois's hands were tied behind her back.

  "Hopa," said one of the Kaiila warriors, one mounted tall, broad-shoulderedfellow, with long braids, tied with red cloth, looking down on the red-hairedgirl. He touched her on the left arm with his long-bladed lance, the blade oftapering, bluish, chipped flint. She looked up at him, frightened, and then,unable to meet his eyes, quickly lowered her head. "Wihopawin," commented thewarrior.

  A Yellow Knife crouched near the girl.

  The mounted Kaiila warrior said something to Pimples, whom, it had been quicklyestablished, in the interchanges, was conversant in Kaiila. "Ho, Itancanka," said Pimples. She then quickly went to the red-haired girl and knelt her, withher hands behind the back of her head and her head back. "Breasts out," she toldher in Gorean. The red-haired girl then knelt in this fashion, with her elbowsback and her breasts thrust forward. Tears came to her eyes. It is a commonposition for slave assessment.

  Corinne's hands were tied behind her back.

  "Hopa," said more than one Kaiila, looking at the red-haired girl.

  I wondered if the former debutante from Pennsylvania had ever dreamed, in thebed in her mansion, that she would one day kneel in the grass of a distantworld, a helpless slave brazenly posed for the assessment of masters.

  Tethers were now being tied on the necks of Corinne, Lois Inez and Priscilla.

  "Hopa," said a Kaiila, looking at the red-haired girl. "Waste," said another.

  "Hopa," said the mounted Kaiila warrior, approvingly. "Hopa, Wihopawin!"

  "Howe," said another.

  One of the Yellow Knives standing about put his hand or the hair of the kneelinggirl.

  Then the lance blade of bluish, chipped flint was at the Yellow Knife's neck. Hestood up, quickly, angrily, brushing the lance away, his hand at the handle ofhis knife, in the beaded sheath at his hip. The lance point, brushed away, returned to threaten him, as easily as a branch, shifted by the wind, might returnto its original position. The Kaiila warrior's legs tensed. At a kick backwardthe kaiila would boll forward, driving the lance into the Yellow Knife. YellowKnives and Kaiila, hereditary enemies, tensed.

  Corinne, Lois, Inez and Priscilla were pulled by their neck tethers to theirfeet.

  One of the Yellow Knives near the fellow threatened with the lance saidsomething to him. The Yellow Knife at whose chest the lance point was poisedthen stepped angrily backward. He glanced to the four girls now pulled to theirfeet. Their tethers were being handed to another Yellow Knife, one mounted. Theleader of the Yellow-Knife party said something to the fellow. The fellow thenturned away, angrily, and mounted his own kaiila. The Yellow Knives had theirshare of the loot. Too, because of the recent battle, this area would be, for atime, truce ground.

  Urt, or Cuwignaka, Woman's Dress, as he seemed to wish to be called, had beensitting in the grass, breathing deeply and rubbing his wrists and ankles. Igathered that it must be very difficu
lt and painful for him to move his body. Henow struggled to his feet and went to the lance, fixed butt down in turf. Heheld momentarily to the lance, his head down keeping his balance. He thenunwound the dress from the lance shaft and pulled it on, over his head. He thenripped away the lower portion of the dress, until it hung somewhat above hisknees. Too, he ripped it at the left side, to allow himself more freedom ofmovement. He then uprooted the lance and then, unsteady for a moment, shaken bythese exertions supporting himself with it" Sleen, tarsks, all of them," said Grunt, in Gorean, looking after theretreating Yellow Knives.

  "What were the yellow lances on the flanks of the kaiila of the Sleen?" I asked.

  "The Sun Lances," said Grunt, "a warrior society of the Sleen."

  "The painted prints on the flanks of the kaiila of the Yellow Knives?" I asked.

  "The sign of the Urt Soldiers," said Grunt, "a society of the Yellow Knives."

  I nodded. It was common for the members of a given society to take the warpathtogether.

  "Two societies are represented among the Kaiila here," said Grunt. "Most belongto the All Comrades, and one belongs to the Yellow-Kaiila Riders. The fellow inthe background, with his war shield in its case, is a member of theYellow-Kaiila Riders. That may be told by the stylized yellow kaiila print,outlined in red, on the flanks of his beast, over the red horizontal bars."

  I nodded. The red horizontal bar, or bars, as the case is, is commonlyassociated with the Kaiila, the Cutthroat tribe. There were many coup marks, Inoted, on the snout and forequarters of the fellow's kaiila.

  "That is a prestigious society," said Grunt. "Only tried and proven warriors,with many coups, and many expeditions of war and kaiila stealing, are admittedto it."

  "The sign for the All Comrades," I said, "is the heart and lance."

  "Yes," said Grunt. "They are sometimes known, too, from the sign, as theFighting Hearts. The society name, however, more strictly, translates as the AllComrades. "I see," I said. The weapon ingredient in the insignia left little doubt in mymind as to the sort of enterprise in which such fellows were most likely to becomrades.

  "Cheerfulness is indicated by the height of the heart, alongside the lance," said Grant.

  "I see," I said. A heart placed on a horizontal base line, of course, suggesteda heart on the ground, or sadness. Grunt had taught me much in the last fewdays. I could even, now, pick up a little of what was said in Kaiila.