Chapter 19 - Animus

It took them another two hours before they could finally see the slaver’s camp. The trio were behind an outcropping of rocks on the other side of the large knoll they’d been climbing. Some of the rocks were tall and wide enough to grant them complete cover. The location provided a bird’s eye view of the slaver’s camp.

Animus peered around a rock and looked through a small spyglass Nalo had brought. Below he saw ten cages of a variety of sizes, each holding slaves. The smaller ones held three people, the largest of them held eight. Slaves. The cages held both men and women. Inside, the people were chained by their feet.

A dozen slavers roamed the cages. Animus was shocked how poorly dressed they were. He’d expected them to be dressed alike, wearing fancy uniforms like the guards in mother’s temple. These aren’t guards though. They’re slavers.

His tutors never made him read about slavers. Mother never mentioned them, nor had father. This was his first judgment of them, and what he saw sickened him.

A steady hand gripped his shoulder. Father whispered, “Life outside Haver holds many evils. This is but one of them.”

Animus looked at his father, who knelt next to him. His father’s eyes stared down at the slavers. His frown seemed chiseled, jaw locked and set. He’s angry. But not at me. Animus asked, “How can they sell other people?”

“Greed. Hate. Malice. There’s men and women whose hearts are filled with it. Some are born into it, have been trained to sell people since they were children. Some used to be slaves themselves. Now they are selling them.”

“Don’t they see how wrong it is?” Animus asked.

“I’ve known some that treated their slaves decent. Yet they’d sell them for a bag of gold to the cruelest of Arrakians.” Kas’s eyebrows furrowed. “None of them should keep their heads.”

Animus went cold. “You’ll kill them?”

His father stared into his son’s eyes. Only then did his gaze soften.

“Not unless it’s necessary,” Nalo said as she knelt on the other side of Animus. She tussled his hair. “Still, there will most likely be bloodshed.”

“How can I help?” Animus asked.

His father shook his head. “You’ve no training. That and you’re still weak from being sick. Best thing you can do is stay here. Watch and learn.”

“But—.”

“Listen to me, son. You go down there, I’ve got to defend both of us. When-if it comes to battle, you’ll be a liability.”

Animus frowned.

“Perhaps he can help,” Nalo said.

Kas scowled. “How?”

“He’s got a great vantage point up here. I can link my mind to his. If he sees something, he’ll only have to whisper and I’ll hear him,” Nalo said.

“I don’t want you inside his mind,” Kas said.

“It’s nothing like that. A minor magic, one that can be done by an apprentice. But you know that. Scouts in the army had this very training.”

“I want to help,” Animus said.

Kas shook his head.

“Then I’ll go down with you,” Animus said.

His father growled. The pressure on Animus’s shoulder became uncomfortable.

Animus swallowed. What am I doing? Yet Animus met his father’s gaze. “If our places were reversed, would you do nothing?”

Nalo leaned behind Animus and whispered something to Kas. Animus heard what sounded to him like a rush of wind wisp around his ears, momentarily blocking his hearing.

What was that?

After a few long moments. Kas said. “All right, priest. Cast your spell.”

She nodded and placed her hands on Animus’s cheeks. “Look at me.”

Animus did as she asked. As their eyes met, Nalo said, “Aliathell Spakeandis”

“Well?” Kas asked.

“It is done,” Nalo said. She stepped several paces away and looked away from them.

“Say something. See if it works,” Kas said.

“Hello Nalo,” Animus whispered.

Her voice whispered in his left ear, “Hello, Animus.”

“It works,” Animus said.

Kas grunted and stood. “Come, priest. Let’s get this over with. As he gripped his sword and drew it halfway, he looked at Animus. “Stay put.”

“What if something happens to you?” Animus asked.

“I’ll be fine. But if it does, run back to the village. Have them send for your mother.”

“You wouldn’t run,” Animus said.

“I’m a trained warrior. Fought many battles.”

“How many?”

“I’ll tell you all about it when you’re older,” Kas said.

He always says that.

Nalo gripped her bear totems and walked onto the sharp, downward path that tucked around the hill. She was quickly out of his sight. Kas followed her, looking one last time at Animus before he was lost from sight.

It didn’t take long for them to get to the slaver’s camp. They appeared at the one end of the road. As they approached the slavers, Nalo’s voice whispered in Animus’s ear. “Thought you’d like to hear what we were saying to them. The magic I used will also allow you to hear what I hear. Just don’t tell your father. His hatred of my kind is beyond explanation.”

I want to know about that, too. “How long does this whisper spell last?” Animus asked.

“Until I end it. But when the battle starts, you shall only be able to speak to me. I’ll be unable to communicate with you.”

“Why?” Animus asked.

“You will soon understand.”

Animus stayed quiet. Without realizing it he leaned his ear as close as he could while still keeping his eyes focused on the scene under him. As he watched, the slavers became aware of Nalo and his father.

Kas yelled, “What a fine breed of slaves these are! Have to be fresh from a village raid. Have to be because they still have meat on their bones!”

“What’s father doing?” Animus whispered.

“Your father’s a master of banter. Watch.”

A skinny slaver moved to the middle of the road and drew his sword. “Far enough, oaf.”

Kas opened his hands, keeping his eyes on the cages. “I desire to purchase all of these slaves.”

“Let’s see your coin,” a woman said. She held a menacing cudgel with a long metal spike through it. The weapon was so enormous, she had to hold it with both hands.

Kas shook his head. “I’ll speak to your leader about payment.”

A long armed, bulky man drew a battle axe from his back. “How about we just take it from him.” He pointed a finger at Nalo. “Then I’ll have a romp with the pretty redhead. See how big her tits are under that pretty suit of mail.”

“Have to share her with me,” the skinny man said, holding a short sword said.

"I hate it when men fight over me," Nalo whispered.

Below, another woman’s voice echoed through the valley. “Shut your miserable holes! Nobody’s taking anything except me.” She emerged from the largest of tents in the middle of the makeshift market. She was a tall, tanned woman. Black tattoos covered her bare arms and shoulders. In her hands she held a curved, sheathed blade. Nearly six feet in length, the sword was nearly as tall as her.

Through the spyglass father had given him before they descended, Animus could see her well-defined arm and shoulders. The tattoos on her shoulders and arms were black skulls of varying sizes. Her well-rounded breasts were held in place by a strapless leather shirt that covered her from breasts to belly button. She also wore brown leather pants that clung to thick legs.

Kas laughed. “Nothing gets me stiff like a woman holding a huge blade.”

A few of the slavers laughed.

The woman did not. She half-drew her blade from its sheathe. “I’ll gut you for that, pig.”

Kas drew his smaller arming sword. “I doubt that.” His voice dropped, yet it seemed every slaver in town still heard him. “I’ll kill every one of yours that doesn’t throw their blade into the river and drop to their knees. But you? I’ll keep alive. I’ll chain you in one of those cages and sell you in Coll. You’re pretty enough to sell in the Bloody Market. And if you have your teeth, even the Widow’s flock might pay well for you.”

Her eyes widened.

“Why does she look shocked?” Animus asked.

Nalo whispered in his ear. “Few know of Coll. Its location is unknown to all but master slavers. It’s said to be the best slaver’s market in the world. Where Slavers trade only the finest of slaves, and only to each other. Your father just gave details only those who’d been there could know about.”

Below, the woman took a step back and once more sheathed her blade. “Who are you?” She asked.

“You first,” Kas said.

“Cariel of Toff, Slaver of the Worn Legion.”

“You’re a liar,” Kas said.

Her eyes widened. “How dare you! I’ll gut you for—.”

Kas roared and thumped his chest. The slavers closest to him flinched.

Kas said, “Worn Legions mark their kin between the breasts. A black diamond hovering atop a pile of skulls.”

The slavers all looked at Cariel. Some looked confused, others frowned. Cariel herself looked taken aback. Her mouth dropped open and the tip of her sword rested on the ground.

Kas laughed. “What, none of you have seen this?”

They all looked at each other. Several slavers actually shook their heads.

“Look around, woman. Your own guards wonder at your words.”

Cariel drew her huge blade.

Kas said, “No need for bloodshed. Just prove it. Take off that top.”

Nobody laughed at that. Especially Cariel. She yelled, “You just want to see my tits.”

“That’s true. They appear to be a fine set. Better if marked with a pile of skulls and diamond right between them. Means we can do business.”

She shook her head. “I’ll not show you. You’ve no right to see.”

Kas pulled a full pouch from his belt, opened it, and pulled out three black coins. “These gives me the right.”

The slavers gasped. One of them said, “Opal Coins.”

Nalo’s voice whispered, “Coin traded only in the Coll.”

“Where did father get them?”

“Good question,” Nalo whispered.

Kas waves his hand around the village. “This all belongs to me. Every cage.” He pointed toward Cariel. “I could buy you from your own guards for one of these.”

The slavers around the village looked at each other. One man at the outer edges of the cages ran. Just as he rounded a bend out and of Animus’s sight, his scream pierced the valley.

Cariel whirled around, holding her still-sheathed sword as if ready to strike.

“You should never have come here,” Kas said. “Perhaps if you toss down your weapons, I’ll spare the lot of you.”

Another scream of a slaver that had run echoed through the camp. The slavers mumbled amongst themselves. One jumped in the lake and started swimming to the other side.

“Come back here!” Cariel yelled.

“Drop that blade,” Kas said.

Eyes still wide, Cariel unsheathed her blade and charged him.

The slavers below were obviously confused. Several charged with Cariel, others stood in place. A few more ran away, while several dropped to their knees, pleading for mercy.

Readying his sword, from Kas’s other hand flew a dagger, which whipped past one slaver to bury into the stomach of another. The slaver pitched to the ground, yelping in pain.

At that moment, Animus nearly screamed. Nalo changed, suddenly becoming a huge mound of fur, claws and teeth. After mere seconds, she had a snout and stood on four legs.

She just turned into a bear!

Fear completely took the slavers. The woman with cudgel who was closest to Nalo tried to run, but the priest’s easily overcame her. With one powerful swipe, a claw gashed open the slaver’s leg with a long tear down the hamstring. As the woman collapsed, her club fell from her hands. The bear shoved her to the ground with a huge paw and cinched its jaws on her neck.

From the far riverbank two huge black bears emerged from some undergrowth and swam toward the slavers camp. From the road where Nalo and Kas had appeared, another bounded into the fray.

Where did all those bears come from? How did Nalo change into a bear?

In the midst of the panicked slavers, Kas and Cariel circled each other. Cariel’s gleaming blade glimmered in the evening sunset. Kas looked relaxed, his arming sword held in his right hand, a buckler strapped to his other arm.

Cariel attacked, her blade arcing over her shoulder as she tried to split Kas from shoulder to opposite leg in one blow. Kas stepped into the blow and parried with his metal buckler, catching the blade high in its downswing. Sparks showered from impact of steel on steel, the blade deflecting away from them. Kas leaned forward and head-butted her in the mouth. Blood erupted from her mouth. Kas stepped back and swung his buckler toward her neck but the Cariel dodged backward to avoid the blow. Her foot caught on a rock and she tumbled to the ground, twisting to fall flat on her belly.

Kas strode over as she twisted and tried to raise her oversized sword to protect her. Kas kicked her wrists. The blade flew from her grasp and out of reach. He blocked her attempt to kick at his knees with his buckler and then raised his blade.

He’s going to end this.

That’s when the arrow sunk into his thigh.

He bellowed and dropped to his knee, grasping at the wound. Cariel scrambled away from him and toward her sword.

Animus stood from behind the rocks. An archer? But how? We looked….

Father and Nalo searched the hills surrounding their camp before they approached the slave camp, yet found no hidden bowmen.

Another arrow barely missed Kas, the shaft burying not a hands width from his already bleeding leg. Nalo’s voice, which had become gravelly and hard to understand, tickled his ear. “There! From the adjacent hill.”

A camouflaged archer stood in a tree stand atop on an adjacent hill that seemingly appeared from nowhere. Even as Animus watched, the archer stepped back into the tree branches and disappeared from view.

She must’ve used magic to stay hidden from father and Nalo.

Immediately, Animus stood. I know where she is. Even if I can’t see her. Without thinking, Animus took off at run across the top of his own hill. A gap of maybe ten feet separated the top of the hills, but there was a way across.

A small, narrow ledge of uneven, path showed Animus how to cross that gap. Perhaps an older person would’ve hesitated, for to fall from that ledge was certain death. Craggy rocks jutted over fifty feet below the narrow trail.

Animus never gave it a thought. He had spent his youth climbing the buildings and hills around Haver. Several times he dared similar ledges. This one should be easy.

He saw the archer suddenly appear and draw another arrow and aim toward the battle. A quick glance below showed his limping father facing off once more with a bloodied Cariel, only this time she held two curved knives.

Have to distract that archer. “Hey!” Animus yelled as he picked up a rock. He hurled it as far as he could, the rock clattering loudly about ten feet from the tree.

The archer swerved the arrow his way and pulled the string taut. Animus lunged to the ground. The arrow splattered off a rock, right where he had been standing. Animus gained his feet and finally reached the ledge. He started to cross. Okay, an archer firing at me while crossing the ledge. Not so easy.

Sweat already soaked the back of his forehead, a few drops threatening his eyes. Animus wiped it away and nearly lost his balance. He grabbed the side of the rock face and steadied himself. Move! Forcing his eyes to the ledge ahead of him, Animus slid across step by step, his back pressed firm against the uneven surface behind him. Once more he dared looking toward the archer, seeing nothing but tree leaves.

She only appears when she’s ready to fire.

Halfway across the ledge, rocky path gave under his weight of his trailing foot. Without thinking Animus pushed off with his other foot and jumped toward the other hill. It wasn’t his best jump, yet his torso caught the ledge hard enough to break his fall. The zipping sound of arrow sped just overhead again, once more shattering against the mountainside.

If I hadn’t nearly fallen, that arrow could have been in me.

Animus pulled himself fully onto the archer’s hill and groaned. He forced himself to stand into a crouch as his eyes searched for the archer.

To his surprise, she’d climbed out of the tree, which suddenly split with a great crack. Half the tree stood tall, while the other half fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the archer approached him at a slow pace, an arrow half-drawn yet not aimed at him.

Nowhere to go. Her next shot could kill me.

Animus stood and charged. He’d closed half the distance when she drew and fired, all in the same motion. The shot was so close to his right ear it threw him off balance. As he moved l left, his foot hit a jutting rock. Animus brought his hands between him and the ground. As his hands absorbed the fall, he pushed himself into a rolling somersault then scrambled to his feet, his eyes looking for another rock. He found a fist-sized rock and quickly threw it. The archer easily dodged. Once more she drew an arrow from her quiver and brought it to her bowstring.

It was then Animus remembered the sword father had given him. He’d helped Animus strap it to his back after seeing his son struggle with the unfamiliar presence of a sword at his belt. In the excitement, Animus had forgotten all about it.

The archer stepped a few feet closer, her head cocked to the right. Her hips were wide, narrowing at her waist to give her body an hourglass shape. It finally clicked to Animus that the archer was a woman. She’s very strong to wield that longbow with such ease. Even Animus couldn’t fire one of those.

Animus’s reached for the sword. Yet as he pulled, the blade refused to come free. Just then, Nalo’s voice flooding through his mind. “Move! Don’t let her fire again!”

“What do I do?” Animus whispered as he struggled with the blade.

The archer drew another arrow.

“Forget the sword! Charge her! Like you’re wrestling with Sterl!”

How does she know I wrestled Sterl?

The archer interrupted his thoughts. She said, “Go ahead. Pull that blade. I’ll aim and fire before it’s free of the scabbard.”

Nalo’s voice became a yell. “Charge her. NOW!”

Animus released the pommel of the sword and charged the archer.

She paused, her eyes widening. Quickly she tried level her bow and aim, but the hesitation cost her. Before she could draw the arrow, Animus reached her.

He tackled her, ducking his head under her arm. Bigger and broader than her, Animus’s momentum pulled her off her feet. Once she was airborne, Animus bear-hugged her as tight as he could, then took several steps, released his grip and drove her to the ground.

Animus knew how much this would hurt. The bigger of the children used to do this to him when he was younger. He knew that to get the most out of such a maneuver, he needed to drive his bodyweight on top of his opponent.

Animus felt the blow in his shoulder and arm as he slammed her to the ground. He felt the air leave her lungs. He knew her gasps for air wouldn’t immediately come. That she’d be powerless. He pushed himself off of her and rolled her to her stomach. Then he pulled both arms taught behind her back with such force he heard one of her arms snap.

“Ahhh! Stop! My arm!”

Animus didn’t let go. “You tried to kill my father,” Animus pulled her arms higher up her back.

She started crying. “I had to! She made me!”

Nalo’s voice reentered his mind. “Hold her, Animus. Try to get her to talk.”

He answered her, his voice a yell instead of a whisper. “She tried to kill my father!

Nalo answered with a calm voice in his ear. “She did. But I sensed no malice in her. She’s a being of nature, like you and I. You’ve subdued her. Hear her out,” Nalo said in his mind.

Animus lowered the woman’s arms. “A drop of sweat burned his eye, but he dared not release his grip. “Who made you shoot my father?”

“Cariel! She took my mother when she raided our village! Told me if I protected her for a year, she’d get my mother back. Free her!”

“You’re lying!” Animus yelled.

“Our entire village was burned. Taken,” the archer cried.

Animus took several ragged breaths and looked at her right arm. The bone jutted through her sleeve. Immediately, he released that arm. She screamed even louder. It was then he noticed that blood covered her sleeve.

Animus whispered to Nalo, “She’s hurt really bad. Her arm, it’s…”

“I am close. Try to calm her. Ask her questions,” Nalo whispered.

“Who are you?” Animus asked. I don’t feel so well. All that blood and bone...

The woman wept but managed an answer. “Kendra, daughter of Kella of the village of Lasker.

”That village was raided three months ago. It was said they killed everyone they didn’t take. What she says could be true,” Nalo whispered.

“She’s one of them,” Animus answered.

“Let your father decide that. It’s her arrow in his leg.”

“Is he okay?” Animus asked.

“He’s fine,” Nalo said.

Kendra cried. “Please, my arm...”

Animus stood over her. A few feet away, Animus saw the bow a few feet away. He walked over and picked it up. It was solid black except it had the carving a golden eagle on either side of the grip. As he held it, the bow tingled in his hand.

He looked at Kendra when he noticed she stopped crying. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him. “How are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” Animus asked.

“Holding my bow. Only those that…”

Just then Nalo arrived in the clearing and yelled. “Animus! Where did you get that bow?”

“It’s Kendra’s.” Animus said.

“Put it down,” Nalo said.

“Why?” Animus asked.

“It’s dangerous,” Nalo said.

Why do they both looked shocked? Animus shrugged and dropped the bow on the ground. “Don’t see how.”

Kendra started crying again. She said, “Mother, I’m sorry. I’ve failed you. Mother!”

Behind Nalo, Kas limped into the clearing. When he saw Kendra on the ground, he met Animus’s eyes and nodded. “Leave her to the priest. There’s slaves we need to free.”

Animus followed him, looking one last time at the woman he’d captured. I stopped her. I saved Papa.

From the quickly growing shadows of the falling sunset, a set of yellow panther’s eyes followed both father and son as they walked toward the newly destroyed slavers camp. Once they disappeared from sight, the beast began its trek toward Haver.