Chapter 9: Trouble

The Huracan sailed gracefully into the bay.

Ulu was surprised to find the beach deserted. His father had said that as soon as it was warm, enough they were going to get going on building the wharf. But there was no indication that this had taken place. It didn’t even look as if they had started. It was just a deserted beach.

Storm looked at Ulu’s frowning face. “Is something up with your people Ulu? Your father said he hoped the wharf would be finished when we came back in the spring,” Robert said coming up to them.

“Yes, it worries me too, my friend,” Ulu said.

Storm thought at Kim and Penny, to come join them. He called Loko too, as he also had a wand and strong enough bling, should they find they need it. They came running.

“What’s up, Storm?” Kim said.

“We are going to do a bit of reconnaissance work. I’m going to send you a spell that makes you more or less invisible. Average people can’t detect you but someone with magical abilities may perceive you are there, but they shouldn’t see you if you don’t move too fast.”

He sent them the spell, and they all said they had it. He had them touch each other and told Ulu to think of a safe place just outside the closest village for them to appear. Ulu complied, and they blinked to the location.

The smell hit them like a club. Storm had to grab Ulu. “Wait, my friend,” he said softly. Storm then put a spell on them that he hoped would protect them from any airborne diseases. He had them cloak up, and they followed him through the undergrowth and into a clearing.

It was a scene of utter devastation.

Several buildings were burnt to the ground, and at least fifteen corpses were bloating in the morning sun. It didn’t take a stretch of the imagination to work out what had happened. Storm told them they could drop their cloaks.

Loko yelled out, “No, no, no.” Then he ran. They followed him and stopped at the body of an elder man. “Grandfather, who did this to you?” he wailed and dropped to his knees beside the body and sobbed.

Ulu knelt beside him and hugged him gently. Storm walked over to another body of an old man and knelt down. “Ulu, do your people have firearms?” he asked.

Ulu looked at him, “What is a firearm?”

“A weapon that shoots small balls of lead very fast,” Storm said, already having guessed the answer to his question. The only weapons on the ground were spears, knives and a sort of machete.

He moved to another man. “Do you know where these people are from Ulu?” Ulu joined him and looked at the younger man on the ground. Someone had gotten lucky, and he hadn’t died nicely. He had a broken off spear in his guts.

Whoever had stabbed him, had managed to get the spear up under, one of the plates of his boiled leather and metal plated body armour. The man’s helm was on the ground, and the armour made Storm think of old Roman movies and Centurions. But the armour wasn’t of good quality, and he thought the guy was a foot soldier.

Ulu looked at the blood and gore. He guessed the man had died after several days of agony and he wasn’t that long dead. He felt that the fight had taken place at least two days before. The nights here would still be cool but the days had been warming up.

“Yes, I believe they are from the land we know of called Palatine to the south and west of us. We have had reports at the last couple of spring meetings that some of their people had moved to the southernmost end of this continent.”

“We call that area the Spur. It is on the other side of the equator, and there is a big mountain range between us, on this side. There was a report at the last meeting that they had slave ships and had been raiding villages further south of us.”

“It was the other reason my father was seeking to find more protection for us. It is strange. This is called the Beach Village. My father’s village is another five klicks inland from here. People travel between these two villages every day. I don’t understand why they haven’t come here.”

Storm shuddered and then called out, “People, to me now.” They all quickly ran to him, even Loko. He made them put their wands in their hands and said, “If it’s wearing armour shoot it with an immobilising spell okay?”

They all nodded and spread out either side of him and touched so that they were all connected. “Cloak up,” Storm demanded. They complied, and then Storm blinked.

Storm dropped them behind enemy lines. They all went to immobilise a man, but Storm supercharged their spells, and he did a blanket job, as they were all still touching. It suddenly went eerily quiet.

“Bugger me! That is the most amazingly and creepiest thing, I’ve ever seen,” Robert said.

Storm grinned, “I’d call it a freeze frame.”

The others were not sure of what he meant, but it did look as if the scene had been frozen. They walked through the men and counted thirty-six live invaders and fourteen dead. Storm and his people checked the live ones were still able to breathe and that the bonds were tight enough that they couldn’t break them.

He dropped a couple of healing spells onto two of the critically injured men, as he couldn’t help himself. He said nothing to the frightened eyes and silent screams of the rest. He felt no mercy for them yet. They walked up to the frozen men of Ulu’s people and spread out to check the wounded.

They had barricaded a cave opening and Storm unfroze a man Ulu indicated was his uncle. Storm caught him as he stumbled. He went to fight Storm off. Ulu said in his language, “Uncle Tahu, stop.”

The man looked at Ulu in shock, “You’re alive. Praise the Gods.” He dropped to his knees. “I’m sorry Doyen Ulu. We have been hard pressed these last two days to keep them at bay. Many are wounded, and I’m sorry your father, he ... he...”

Ulu nodded at his uncle, “I understand Sword Master Tahu. I’m pleased with your efforts. Can you tell me what happened?”

“A boy ran into our village three days ago and told us to flee. Hundreds of men were, killing, raping and stealing the people at the Beach Village. Doyen Rahlu took thirty men of the Guard and made the rest of us escort the people into the caves and to send warnings to the other villages.”

“We think they sent some of the raiders ahead and we had barely got the majority of the people into the caves when they came out of the forest. People still in the village started falling down and then we heard these noises like bangs. Druid Troy said they were guns and that we had to get behind solid barriers.”

“He put a spell over the mouth of the cave, and it took most of his energy to do so. But the projectiles didn’t enter anymore. Even so, it was hard for us to kill them, as they wear armour and we had to be careful with our shots as we were running out of arrows. I think for every two of theirs, we killed, they killed one of us.”

Storm asked, “Can you point out which man was giving the orders?”

“Yes Lord, that one,” he said and pointed out a man standing towards the back of the other men, behind a large shield. “Thank you, Sword Master Tahu. Please calm your people, so my people can release them and help them.”

“Please make sure they stay here. I don’t want them going near the raiders. If they attack them, while they can’t defend themselves I will have to punish them, do you understand?” Storm said.

He scowled but nodded in agreement. Storm understood his sentiment, but he couldn’t condone them killing the men while they were helpless. He left Ulu and the others to release and help Ulu’s people. He walked over to the man who was in charge. He was better dressed than the others were.

He scowled at him. Storm found a very closed mind that would be hard to influence. He picked out another man, and he bypassed the first and walked over to him. He took one look into his eyes and knew he had found the person he needed. The fury in his eyes said it all. He touched him on the temple and closed his eyes. After a minute or so, he opened them and then asked, “Who are you?”

“Your death, fine Lord of Galina,” the man answered.

Storm gave him a look that made the man shudder, even though he couldn’t move properly. “You will answer my questions truthfully and fully. Who are you?”

“I’m Prince Alexus. My people have colonised to the south,” he spat out.

“Why are you killing these people?” Storm asked.

“We need slaves to cultivate our fields,” he answered grudgingly.

Storm’s eyes narrowed. “You are not telling me something. Why this tribe, I understand that there are at least ten tribes between here and your lands,” Storm said.

Alexus bit his lips and fought the spell he refused to answer. Storm touched him with his wand and tried again, “Answer me truthfully, why this tribe?”

“The boxes, I was sent to find the boxes,” he said with the words being forced out through his gritted teeth.

“Who wishes you to claim the boxes?” Storm asked.

“Not claim, destroy. They are evil because they deceive the user. They caused the war that nearly decimated my people centuries ago. These people protect the boxes, so they are evil, they will be the destruction of us all.”

“The Clerics say that the Prophecy tells us that we must destroy them or it will be our doom. We denounce the wizards as devils. They are not wanted in our society. They go against our beliefs and are blasphemous.”

“And you believe that enslaving others is acceptable?” Storm asked.

The man scoffed. In his arrogance, he said, “The Clerics say that they are beneath us, stupid savages. They are only good for beasts of burden, and they breed like rats. They can’t even develop decent tools or weapons. They still use spears. One can barely call them human.”

Storm frowned, he then said, “I’m afraid that myth is not true. These people control their breeding, so they don’t overrun their environment. They live in harmony with it. They are very well educated, can read and write and have many inventions. They, however, deliberately restrict their impact on the land.”

Storm looked at him thoughtfully. “How many of your people currently live in the southern colony?” Storm asked.

The Prince tried not to answer but finally ground out, “About two hundred and fifty of us, plus the same again are slaves.”

“How many did you bring here?”

He tried to lie, but finally spat out, “Eighty of our most able men and the ship has thirty more.”

“So if I decided to enslave and rape your people, I’d find about a hundred women and fifty odd children, just waiting to be plucked and fucked,” Storm said.

“No, no, they are innocent, they haven’t done anything to you,” Alexus cried out in horror.

“Oh! So it’s all right for you to kill and enslave other men and rape their women, but it’s not for me? A bit of a double standard don’t you think? Actually, I think that is part of the problem, you have not been allowed to think for yourself,” Storm said and cocked his head.

He lifted his wand, and then he said some words Alexus didn’t understand. Alexus felt a strangeness in his mind. It was as if a blockage had been removed. He looked at Storm in fear, “What are you?”

Apparently, I’m the Devil you are worried about,” Storm said and turned his bling on.

The Prince’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he gasped. His heart rate jumped as his fear increased. Storm turned his bling off. He looked around at the men watching him and could taste their fear. “How did you get here? There wasn’t a ship in the cove?”

Alexus answered without fighting Storm this time, “It left this morning to take the other slaves back and bring reinforcements. We are only three days sail from here when the winds are right.”

Storm guessed he had blown the wind out of the man’s sails. He hoped given some time that the young man would start thinking for himself again. He hated people who tried to restrict free will.

“Stay here,” Storm said and then grinned, as the bloke didn’t have much choice. He blinked over to Kim, “You lot, I need ten volunteers?”

“What for?” Tahu asked.

“We are going to visit a ship, and reclaim your property,” Storm informed him.

He had his ten volunteers by the time he finished speaking. “Tahu, pick nine of your steadiest men. I want the rest to guard these men. If I find any have been killed or maimed when I return, the deed will be passed on, ‘Am I Clear’?”

They all knew that you didn’t go against a magician and felt that for this one, in particular, it was a bad idea, so they nodded. Storm dropped a shield over the immobilised men to make sure. Emotions were still high. He didn’t move them out of the sun.

He wasn’t feeling that generous.

Storm collected the warriors and left for the ship.

The ship hadn’t got far, and he was able to blink to where he believed it was by himself first. He landed on the deck safely, looked around and then blinked back. He told the men they would try to immobilise the people as they had at the caves.

He needed them to guard them, once they had gathered them up. The warriors understood. The other magicians knew what he wanted to do and were ready when they appeared on the deck of the ship. They formed the spells and let Storm magnify them.

They all thought it was still creepy when everyone just stopped in the middle of what they were doing. The sailors had barely registered they were there and then they were frozen in place.

Penny, Kim, and the warriors headed below to release their people. They then happily helped carry the sailors below and used the very shackles they had put on their people on them. Some were not as gentle as others were and Storm couldn’t blame them.

Captain Keel got the ship turned around, and the warriors were happy to follow his orders, even though they knew little about large sailing ships. Thankfully, some of the men who had been freed were sailors of sorts and were of great assistance to Robert.

Storm and Robert were not impressed with the vessel, as it was a leaky unresponsive hulk as far as they were concerned. Storm left Kim and Loko on board to help Robert. He, Penny and Ulu headed back to the village.

The morning had warmed up, and the immobilised men were sweating profusely in their boiled leather armour. They searched them carefully for weapons and removed their armour. Storm had them chained with their own chains into a chain gang by one ankle and one wrist each, except for the prince and the other man.

He then shifted them to a shadier spot and released the spell. The locals grudgingly gave them water and one of the healers attended their wounded. The rest were busy with their own people, as they had priority as far as they were concerned.

Storm handed the chained up Prince Alexus a bottle of water. The man looked at it suspiciously, so Storm drank first and then handed it back to him. The man gulped down the water and then leant back on the tree behind him.

Storm had left him a lot to think about. He had watched the so-called savages, and except for the darker skin of many, they had behaved no differently to his own people. The young were tending the old and helping them move back to the village. The injured were being cared for and then taken to their homes.

He was also thinking about how the wizard had been able to talk to him in his own language so easily. He remembered that he had touched him on the temple before he had spoken. It was if he had borrowed his language from his head.

This made him shiver and wonder if that was all he had done. What else had he taken from him or done to him? He watched the others with the faint glows that the Clerics said all devils had if they hadn’t been blessed by the church.

He had been picked for this mission because he had confessed to being able to see the glow. The Clerics said he was a warrior from God sent to find these devils and remove them from the face of the land. They didn’t act like devils, although he had been told they would.

They weren’t arrogant and didn’t order people around. They were doing nothing different from the others except project a feeling of compassion and understanding of the fear, sorrow and pain the others were feeling.

Even his men were reacting to their calming effects. Now they were in the shade and had water in them, his men were worried about what would happen to them. “I don’t know,” he told them. “It all depends on what Lord Storm decides to do.”

While he hadn’t appreciated having the truth wrung from him, he had been surprised by the man’s insistence that his people were not to be hurt when they couldn’t defend themselves. He’d had one of his slaves teach him their tongue, so he could better direct his slaves and so had been able to understand what was being said.

He eyed Storm warily when he approached him again. The man simply plonked himself on the ground in the shade beside him. Not caring that the other men were close or that he was sitting in the dirt. Even a cleric didn’t stoop to do this. Despite himself, he found the tall man with the red hair a contradiction and fascinating.

“So my Prince, what am I to do with you?” Storm said. He let himself be distracted when one of the women came over and handed him a basket with food in it. She was young, handsome and supple. Alexus knew she would have been fought over by his men.

Alexus smelt the food and realised that he too was hungry. It had been a long couple of days. The villages had fought bloody hard to stop his men from entering the caves and capturing them. They had also grabbed up a lot of the food and taken it with them. The pickings had been slim.

They had managed to catch the first village by surprise, but even those people hadn’t come willingly. They had fought hard even the women and had managed to kill eight of his men. He was beginning to suspect the wizard hadn’t lied to him.

He now believed he had turned a blind eye to the slaves’ abilities and had let the teachings of the Clerics overrule his good sense. They had been surprised by how few children they had captured. They had thought they were hidden, but when they searched the village, they couldn’t find them.

When he watched the villagers come out to the caves, he noticed that compared to his people there were few children among them. He thought about the slave women they had and their children and was surprised when he realised that nearly all of them were lighter skinned and had more features from his people than theirs.

The Cleric Hagan had said it was safe to use them, as they wouldn’t be able to use their superior seed to bear children. Alexus frowned as he realised what they said wasn’t true. Most of the children were theirs, not the male slaves.

He was damn sure the three women Hagan had claimed had all bore his children. He has a very distinctive hooked nose that the two boys, in particular, had now he thought about it.

What had Storm done to him? His thoughts had never been so clear, and they were his memories. Storm couldn’t have put them in his head, as he had never seen him or his people before today.

“These women are capable of having many children,” he blurted out.

Storm nodded and handed him a roll filled with cooked meat, cheese, tomato and some green plant. Alexus couldn’t help himself and took it. As the tastes of the fresh food exploded into his mouth, he sighed with delight, as it was wonderful.

He noticed his men were also being offered food and when they saw him eat, they happily accepted it. He saw that the Cleric Hagan refused the food and he was very unhappy at being chained well away from Alexus. Neither man believed this was by accident.

Storm then answered, “Yes, they could easily double or triple their population in a couple of generations. They are a long-lived people. I think it’s the length of their lives that encourages them to live as much as possible in harmony with their environment.”

“They do love to screw, but they are careful. Doyen Ulu told me, they even have a special cave the ladies in heat go to when they don’t wish to fall pregnant. No man is allowed to enter on pain of death.”

“Apparently, several women in heat at the same time is a bit overwhelming for us poor blokes. Especially men, who can smell when the women are fertile, like Ulu and me.” Storm said as he gestured at the darker man that had come with him.

Ulu was busy seeing to his people and organising the burial of the dead and comforting the living. Storm had deliberately left him to it. He had even contacted Lindell and told her to get their people here. It would help the villages, as happiness was always better than sorrow.

Alexus was distracted, as he saw new villagers running up a path. They were calling out names. Many of the villagers turned and then they were screaming, crying and calling back. Most of those who responded ran and engulfed the new people with hugs, questions and much happiness and tears.

He watched a tall, stately darker skinned woman make her way to Ulu. She was a handsome woman any man would desire. Ulu wrapped her in his arms and placed his head on her shoulder, and she seemed to be comforting him. Another man and woman also approached, and they were wrapped in Ulu’s arms.

Alexus then noticed another woman who was making her way towards him. He felt his cock stir as he took her in. She was magnificent, and desire flooded his system. He also noticed she was pregnant and found it only made her more desirable.

Storm sat up and crossed his legs, and she gracefully dropped into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, nuzzled her neck and rubbed her belly. She said something Alexus didn’t understand and then Storm touched her on the temple, as he had done to him.

She closed her eyes for a minute and then opened them and looked at Alexus. “So my husband, have you decided what is to happen to them?” she asked leaning back into Storm.

It startled Alexus that she spoke using his language. He realised she had done so, so he knew what was being said.

“No, most of them are lackeys and just want to go home. The man over there is a problem. He has a very closed mind. I think I’ll have to send him back to Palatine for sure. This is the one that I told you about, what do you think?”

Alexus was perplexed as to how Storm could have told her about him as she had only just arrived here. He looked into the woman’s face and again felt his cock thicken. It was most disconcerting.

He hadn’t picked a wife yet, as he was only twenty-four. His parents wanted him home to do so, but so far, he had avoided going home. He then had an odd thought; he didn’t abuse the slaves, either. Cleric Hagen had told him several times to find a woman and loosen up. But it just didn’t sit right to do it. He just couldn’t force a woman like that.

Then another woman he has seen fleetingly with Storm and the others walked over and joined them. She sat gracefully beside Storm and leant on his knee. Lindell smiled at her.

If he thought Storm’s wife desirable, this one truly took his fancy. She was petite compared to the other woman. But to him, she was a perfect size. He only stood about 170cm, and she was about 15cm shorter.

She had a mass of curly golden hair, pale skin, the bluest eyes he had ever seen and a figure that he just wanted to hug. In the sarong, her lovely round breasts called for his hands to caress then. The flash of bare legs when the sarong opened, and she sat, had him as hard as a post. She even glowed.

He looked up at Storms chuckle. Storm said something to the woman, and both women chuckled and looked at Alexus’ crotch making him blush furiously and wiggle in discomfort. The locals had removed their armour, so they were only in their thigh-length tunics. His cock was making it a tent.

Storm then touched this woman, as he had his wife. Alexus then heard the blonde women say to Storm, “So can I keep him? I’ve always wanted a bed slave to look after my needs, and you know how voracious they can be.”

Alexus was shocked to hear a woman talk like this. He didn’t fancy being a slave. But then again, he had a feeling this woman would demand the best from him. He also had a feeling she could make him her slave all too easily without even using a spell. He shivered. He suspected it was more at the erotic thought of servicing her than any other reason.