Chapter 4

It was late morning when I started out. The Others' and their captives were well over two hours in front of me. I followed their trail into an area that I had never been before when hunting with the other villager men. I now realized that the villagers avoided this sector and made a guess as to why.

I wanted to move faster and talked myself into doing that after deciding that the Others would not watch their back trail because the villagers never pursued them. After I had gone about ten miles, I was tiring. It was dusk. I was looking for a spot to stop safely for the night. I had dried food with me to eat. I picked a spot that I could defend and settled down for the evening. It was late when I heard a terrible scream. I was suddenly completely awake.

I gathered my possessions and, as silently as I could, went in the direction of the scream. My hearing was insufficient to give me a good direction and I had to give up. I had even lost the trail in the dark. Still, I was pretty sure it came from the Others' trail. At dawn, I picked up their trail and soon found their camp and the cause of the scream.

The cause was Marree. She was dying as I came to her. She had been raped many times but was dying from the long knife that went into her rear and out her stomach. She was staked to the ground tightly on her stomach. Her bindings were so tight that she couldn't move her head. She couldn't see me but moaned, "Kill me. Please, I hurt so badly. Kill me. Give me release." I unfastened her from the stakes and gently rolled her over.

"Marree, it's me. I came to help."

"Tom, thank you for your help but it's too late for me. I hurt so bad. Release me into death. Chase them down. Try to save the rest." I was crying to see what they had done to her body. She hadn't been a beautiful woman but we had lived together for a year and I truly liked her and her passion for life. She was horribly mutilated with her breasts, vagina, and anus suffering deep cuts that were no longer actively bleeding. She was cut across her abdomen and her insides were trying to spill out from her body. She grabbed my hand. "Please, help me die quickly! If you care for me at all, make it end quickly."

I pulled my knife and cut into her chest piercing her heart. As she breathed her last, she whispered, "Thank you," and faded from life. I found a spot between two trees and buried her. It took hours to dig a shallow grave but she deserved that final bit of care from me.

I resumed the trail and moved quickly now. I was sure they weren't thinking of pursuit by anyone. I wanted to catch them before they tortured and killed again. The trail was easy to follow. I tracked them through the late afternoon and into deep twilight. I saw their fire and approached it carefully. They had no sentries. All nine of the men were involved in raping the three remaining girls captured from the village. I snuck up close to them looking around to be sure that there were only nine. I realized that the other villager men and I had killed more than that when they attacked.

I thought about my chances. I had over ten arrows and my spears. My marksmanship was only fair but I also knew I was much bigger and stronger than any of them. I thought about timing and realized that attacking when they shifted would be the best time. I nocked an arrow and waited. A few moments later, the three raping the girls finished and the next ones were getting in place over their unwilling bodies.

Without further warning, I let fly with my first arrows catching the ones who appeared to be most alert. I killed two of those three targets before they knew anyone was attacking them. That gave me enough time to kill the third one who I had just wounded. I let fly with my last arrow while running into the clearing. I had another arrow in my hand and stabbed one man with it. I then started with my spears and then my knife. Only one tried anything and he was on top of Anna who wouldn't let him up. He was trying to strangle her when I rolled him off her and put one of my spears through his heart.

It was over that fast. Nine men were dead and one girl had been hurt but I hoped she would heal. All three had been used terribly since their capture. Merry asked, "Where are the rest?"

"I couldn't wait for them. I came by myself. I'm sorry I was too late for Marree."

Merry said, "She fought or they wouldn't have killed her. We all should have fought. It was better have been killed. She said you would come for us. Varna would not have tried to save me nor avenge my death. You were the man who came for us. The rest did not."

I looked down but had to nod. I said, "Anna, your man died from the Others' attack." The three girls sobbed as two received confirmation that their men had abandoned them to their fate and Anna upon being told that her mate was dead.

Merry said, "Tom, I thank you. I offer myself as your slave whether you want me or not. I will not leave this place except as your slave." She walked before me and knelt before me and then prostrated her body with her hands gently holding to my ankle.

The other two girls followed her lead, kneeling and then prostrating themselves before me. "Ladies, please get up. Let's find you some clothes and a safe place to camp away from here."

Merry said, "Do you accept me as your slave?" I started to shake my head. She took the end of my spear and placed it at her breast. "If you will not have me as your slave, then have mercy and kill me quickly."

"I do not want to kill you. I am not sure what you are saying means. Until I know what you are offering, I do not know if I can accept it. Please come with me now while I learn."

She released my spear and nodded slowly. She stood and the other women followed her lead. They gathered some clothing. I gathered all the arrows and knives. I had to help Anna as we left the site. About a quarter mile away, we came upon another clearing with some good sheltering trees on one side. I liked it and simply pointed. I set my few things down and placed a ground cloth for the four of us. I started gathering firewood. I made Anna lie down and the other two helped me and we soon started a fire. They had brought food from the Others' camp which we cooked.