Daved sighed and ignored the naked man that paced the dirty cell like some angry wild animal; instead he looked at the “cell” he sat in. The floor was actually just ground and the bars were made up of stripped branches from the trees of the forest held together by vine, the roof was just the overhang of some large boulder. “They will either kill us or worse enslave us” the pacing man said as he stared outside the between the wooden bars.
Daved shook his head and said “you forget the third option, we can escape from here.” The man stopped pacing and looked at Daved unbelievingly “Oh?” He said with an arched eyebrow “and how do you suppose that is going to happen, hmm? Do you suppose we can just break the bars down, grow wings and fly off like a couple of tarns?” Daved shrugged and said “anything is possible but I do know that what seems bleak at first will not always be so, have patience.” The man sighed and then just sat down with a huff saying “I should have never agreed to that hunting trip…” Daved nodded and said “aye…this has been an unexpected and unwelcome turn of events but all might not be lost, we may find ourselves out of here yet.” The other man just shook his head slowly and without another word just looked down at the floor.
Despite the calm exterior, Daved was furious at this turn of events. It was a hunting trip all right with a group of five other men but what they were hunting and what he was hunting were two different things. One in the group he was contracted to kill and if he had a few more days he would have found the right moment to do it but then the group was ambushed by Panthers and then things became a lot more difficult. They had been here for three days now, the only two that survived the assault and Daved knew it was only going to be a matter of time that his fellow captive, Rogelio was going to lose whatever sense he had left. Daved looked up and saw there was movement beyond the wooden bars and murmured “someone is coming.”
The kajirus that approached was dressed in rags and walked with stoop to his shoulders and a face that looked uneasy and scared. He walked slowly next to the female dressed in leathers, flinching everytime she gestured to him with the spear she carried. He nodded once and walked quickly to the cage saying “good sirs, the En would know your names, now please stand and face her so she can see your value and hear your words.” Both men in the cells got to their feet and walked to the bars.
Rogelio was first to speak and after he named himself he asked with a growl “Why does she send a boy to question us? Does she have a tongue or not to ask us directly?” The En frowned, the kajirus flinched and winced and Daved just shook his head. “She has a tongue good sir” said the slave as he kept his eyes to the ground “and she understands the words you speak, she however chooses not to waste her own breath on the likes of you.” The two men stood silent and the slave licked his lips in desperation and said lowly “It would do you good to take the insolent sting out of your words, these women can be pretty easily offended and it is not wise to offend them.” The En tapped the bars with the edge of her spear next to Daved and looked at him; Daved looked back at the woman and then said his name quietly as he stared at her. She looked savage, well muscled and dangerous. Movement from behind her and three other panthers appeared from the camp beyond. They were dressed the same and scowled just as much in a tight huddle as they argued and waved their arms.
“What are they talking about?” asked Rogelio and the kajirus said quietly “They are fighting over which one you will go to.” Rogelio frowned and asked “for what purpose?” The slave looked back at Rogelio and said “you will be owned by one of them I suspect, made to serve them as I do. Depending on how well you serve them could be great pleasure and longer life or pain and then agonizing death.” Rogelio looked at Daved who just stared at the panthers and said “see? I knew this would happen! We are doomed as men!” Daved just sighed and said “calm yourself, nothing is certain and we may have an opportunity that we didn’t have before.” Rogelio could only stare back at Daved unbelievingly but at least for the moment he was silent.
“En I don’t see why I cannot have one of the males and the other we can kill! I was the one that captured them after all!” Jina looked at Kara amused and then said “really Kara? Was it you that captured these two men and killed the rest by yourself?” Kara looked down and mumbled “those two I had captured, the others were killed by the rest of our group.” Jina hissed as she said “do not tell me that you alone with one spear managed to capture these two, the blond haired man I can see you doing it, he looks weak, plump and pampered but not the dark haired one. I see his eyes and I do not like what I see there. I do not think he would be so easy to capture unless it was his plan.” Kara was about to speak when Jina held her hand up, silencing her and saying “The dark haired man, this “Daved” we will leave in the cage with the blond. The other I suspect may come from a wealthy family and if so we stand a chance of getting more for his life than if we just enslaved him.” “And what of the other?” asked Kara angrily as she felt cheated of her prize “will he be enslaved or will we wait for someone to come looking for him and pay ransom?” Jina thought a moment and said “perhaps the best thing would be to kill him now and not worry over it. I don’t like the way he looks at us and around him. He does not seem to have any fear in him and it is as if he is just biding his time…no perhaps it would be best to have him killed now.” Kara frowned and said “aye En your order will be obeyed but I will have use of that man before he is killed. He is my capture and it is my right to claim him.” The two panthers looked at each other and then Jina sighed and said “aye, it is your right and I will allow for your use of him but after I want him dead, he is of no good use to us.”
Moments later Jina walked away as Kara approached the cell with a fierce growl to the slave who nodded quickly and began to pull on the vines on the side, loosening the bars enough for one of the captured men to squeeze through. She pointed the tip of her spear at Daved saying “You! Come out now and do not try to run or I will kill you where you stand!” Daved nodded and squeezed through the bars, standing calmly as Kara nodded to the slave who began to tie Daved’s wrists together with some vines. Kara chuckled as she ran her hand over Daved’s arm saying “ah a strong man, you will last a long time with me, maybe I convince the En to make you my slaveboy eh?” Daved didn’t say anything but Kara chuckled anyway and said to the slave “bring him to my tent and bind him tightly to the posts. I will be there in a while.” The slave nodded and pulled the extra vine, leading Daved away as the sun began to set.
Kara retied the vines to the cage and said to Rogelio “The man that was taken away, do you know him?” Rogelio sighed and said “No, I do not. He joined our hunting party at the last moment.” Kara thought of this and then asked “Do you think he comes from a rich family?” Rogelio shook his head and said “All I know is that he cooked our meals in the forest and hunted with us a bit but that is all.” Rogelio seized the moment and said in a desperate rush “I however come from a very rich family who would be more than happy to pay any ransom you put forth to them for me.” Kara scratched her head and said “I will let the En know of this, if what you say is true then you may see yourself out of this.” Rogelio nodded and as the panther headed back to her camp Rogelio smiled under the fading light…
Gorean Stories 