Chapter 10

By now they were moving through the region where Lomac had spent most of his life. They were thus warned well in advance when they came either to a river or when they had to cross a trail. But Lomac found it very strange that up to now they hadn't yet met anyone from his village.

" Hunters from my village always come this far north in search of game. We should have met a few of them by now, I fear that something bad has happened to the people of my village. "

Verla tried to reassure him by saying that they hadn't seen any of her people either and she explained to him that the likelihood that a catastrophe had happened to both villages was highly improbable.

But the closer they got to where his family and clan lived, the more he became worried since they still hadn't met anyone yet. They finally reached his village on the tenth days after their escape.

The place was a complete ruin. Most of the huts - made of poles with wide leaves on racks overhead to keep the rain out - had been burned to the ground and only a few of them, here and there, remained partly intact.

When they investigated farther into the ruins of the village, they discovered a horrible spectacle. Unknown attackers had murdered women and children and many of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition.

All indications pointed to the fact that the village had been attacked in the middle of the night since most of the people had been killed while they were still lying on their sleeping mats. Also the absence of cooking pots over the fires tended to confirm that the attack had not occurred in the daytime.

" I want to go to my village. " Said Verla. " Something bad must also have happened there since we haven't seen any trace of them. I am sure that the men of my village would have come to help Lomac's people when they were attacked. The fact that we haven't seen any trace of them probably means that whoever did this here must also have attacked my own people."

They remained in Lomac's village for the rest of the day. They piled the few dozen corpses on a heap of logs and burned the bodies. Then before nightfall they moved a few miles south of the village to spend the night away from the horror they had seen throughout the day.

Early the following morning, they began their trek toward Verla's village. When they got there, it was in the afternoon of the same day and what they discovered was a replica of what had seen in Lomac's village.

Almost all the huts had been burned down, but there were not as many bodies to be found. The few bodies that they did find were not close relatives of Verla, but still she did know them. She became very sad. She had a brother and two sisters living in the village and there were now no traces of them.

Vincent was shocked by the way both villages had been systematically destroyed. It appeared to him that someone had gone to a lot of trouble to completely obliterate the whole population. The question that came to his mind was whether it had been done to prevent the captured slaves from returning to their village if they should escape, or was it simply the result of jealous neighbours. He didn't bother to share his thoughts with anyone since both Verla and Lomac were extremely depressed by then.

The following day, they continued on their southward trek. Now that both Lomac and Verla had nowhere to go they chose to remain with Vincent and Nika in their journey south.

By Lomac's estimate, in another five or six days they were to arrive at a wide barren plain where water would be difficult if not impossible to find. He also warned the group that only a few of his people had ever tried to cross that plain since it was very dry and there were stories about all kinds of hidden dangers there.

It seemed that only one man from his village had managed to cross the dry plain and return to tell about it. Lomac had heard from that man that there were great areas of desolation in this desert-like plain as well as many dangers to be found. But once across it, there was a friendly tribe living on the other side.

They were half way to the edge of the plain when disaster struck. They were walking single file in a dense wooden area. Vincent was in front opening the way with Lomac in the rear while both women were in the middle when a great cat attacked them. They had been moving in the gloomy forest for half an hour when all of a sudden they heard a tremendous growling coming from behind them.

Vincent turned back and immediately ran toward the source of the noise. He was just in time to see Lomac with his left arm pinched in what looked like the mouth of a sabre toothed tiger.

The great cat was about five feet tall at the shoulders and was trying to carry his prey into the low foliage. Its large green eyes were full of anger while blood from Lomac's arm was oozing out of its mouth. When the cat saw Vincent and the others appear, it turned its head toward them and stopped motionless in its tracks. The great beast remained very still few a few seconds while staring at the trio, as if it was trying to decide what to do next.

It took Vincent only a second to aim his rifle and shoot. There was no way for him to miss at this short range, but at the same time he had to be careful not to hit Lomac.

The shot hit the great cat in the side of its neck and it let its prey fall to the ground. Its long teeth immediately closed again on Lomac, as if it wanted to make sure that its prey wouldn't escape while it turned its attention to Vincent. The sound of breaking bones reached Vincent's ears and he knew then that it was the end of Lomac.

The second and third shots hit the tiger somewhere in the head and through the left eye, but still it didn't fall down. Blood could be seen pouring out of its many wounds and staining its brown fur. Under such pain and anger Vincent expected the cat to make a tremendous amount of noise, but not a sound could be heard. It then occurred to Vincent that the first bullet that had gone through the neck of the great feline had probably severely damaged its throat.

In one tremendous jump it was less than five yards in front of Vincent with its blood dripping mouth wide open. Just as it prepared itself for a final leap, Vincent shot it right into its open mouth.

The bullet probably severed the spinal cord of the enraged beast, since before it had time to leap it dropped dead on the spot. At the same time its momentum had propelled it to Vincent's feet.

The three of them rushed to Lomac as soon as the cat was down, only to discover that he was already dead. His chest was ripped open and much of his innards were scattered on the ground next to him.

They buried him under a pile of rock not far from the spot where he had died. It was then very sad to see Verla crying over his grave, while she mumbled incoherent words of farewell to her mate.

Within the last few days she had lost her family, and all of her tribe and now her mate was gone. But Vincent knew that the people of her world never gave up, even if things were really bad. He had discovered this while being held prisoner in Haski's village. All of the slaves there had accepted their fate without complaining. Nika and Verla had certainly both done so when they had been forced to submit to the lust of half of the males of the village on their last night of captivity. So far, he has never seen anyone falling into a depressed state for long. Probably the fact that they could expect to live an extremely long time had something to do with it.

Two days after the death of Lomac, they came to the edge of the dry and desolate plain. It had more the appearance of a desert than that of a plain. In the far distance, they could see the horizon where the landscape met the sky and in between the topography of the land was all the same - sand, rock and a little grass here and there.

Vincent now regretted that he hadn't questioned Lomac more about the dry plain. It would now be very useful to know where they could expect to find water and how far it was between water holes. More important still, what were these hidden dangers that Lomac had been talking about.

They had two plastic bottles - which he had brought from his world - that could hold water and also two organic bags that he later discovered were the intestines of some animals. These bags had been picked in one of the burned villages. They spent the night on the edge of the plain then in the morning, after a small breakfast, they filled the two bottles and the bags with water. Then they began their journey across the plain, always walking toward the south.

That first day, he figured they must have covered thirty miles or so. When they made camp for the night, the sun was very low in the sky and the temperature was noticeably colder. Because of the fact that small quantities of water were evaporating and leaking from the two bags, they had decided to use water from one of the water bags first and that bag was already half empty now.<

A simple calculation made Vincent realize that, provided they did not use more water than they had on that first day, they would have about five or six more days of water remaining.

Food was not one of their concerns. At the rate they were eating they still had two weeks' supply of smoked meat. Besides, he still had a few bags of biscuits and dry foodstuff that he had brought from his world. Vincent knew that they would run out of water long before they ran out of food.

That first night in the dry plain, none of them slept well. Verla was still very sad over the death of Lomac while Nika and Vincent were both exhausted from the long and hot walk. Both were also affected by Verla's condition.

The land did not change much for the next three days, but the mood of the trio did change from one of eagerness to one of hopelessness. There seemed to be no end to the dry plain and they now had barely enough water for another two days.

Except for the lack of water, it was difficult to imagine what Lomac had meant when he said that the dry plain was full of hidden dangers. So far they had seen snakes and other reptiles but nothing exceptional.

On one occasion Verla thought she saw the shadow of a large bird but she was the only one to see it. She did tell Vincent and Nika about it, but at the time she had been walking behind them and when they scanned the sky for a bird they didn't see any. Still Vincent figured that she must have seen something, since after that she did stay very close to him and Nika.

In the middle of the morning of their sixth day on the plain, they were attacked. It was the day after Verla had seen the moving shadow of a bird. They had been walking toward a low mountain range that was visible far to the southeast the previous day. It was at least another day and a half away.

As soon as they saw the mountain range, they had changed direction from going straight south and they began to walk in the direction of the first low hill. Their chances of finding water were much greater in the hills than on the flat plain. This was the main reason why they made the change.

Nika and Verla had both noticed the mountain range first since Vincent had been walking with his eyes partly closed because of the brightness of the sun. At the time he was feeling very sorry that he hadn't brought his sunglasses from his world, but of course it was too late to worry about that now. For some reason, both women didn't seem to be bothered very much by the bright sun reflecting off the white sand.

All of a sudden, something in the sky partly blocked the sun's rays thus casting a shadow on them. They were greatly surprised since there were no trees around and there was nothing higher than the small rocks lying here and there. The women's cries of surprise made Vincent open his eyes wide as he turned toward them. Both women were looking upward toward the sky.

Vincent looked up in the direction where the women were pointing. He was amazed by what he saw.

Apparently no more than a hundred feet from them, flying very gracefully, were fifteen to twenty brown and white-feathered birds. After a couple of seconds he realized that they were much farther away and much higher than he had first thought. The reason that he had judged them to be closer than they really were was due to their enormous size.

One of the birds that was much closer to them had been the one responsible for casting the shadow that they had all observed. It was enormous, Vincent figured that it must have been on the lookout for possible prey. Even as he watched them, the rest of the great birds flew closer to the one in front and thus closer to the trio on the ground. As they got nearer Vincent observed that they all had a large lump on the back of their neck. Of course by now all of the birds were aware of the three humans on the ground and they were gracefully gliding in their direction getting lower by the second. Since they were flying with the sun at their back, it was still difficult for Vincent and the women to see them clearly because of the glare of the sun.

Vincent lowered his knapsack to the ground and held his rifle in both hands. The way the birds were approaching them seemed very odd to him. It reminded him of dive-bombers he had seen in old movies, just before they would release their load of bombs.

The birds were in single file formation with about two hundred feet between them. Then the lead bird began to lose more height while the others followed. Vincent was next greeted with a great shock. The lump on the back of the neck of each bird turned out to be a man sitting there. Each bird was being guided my means of ropes tied to the bird's head and to their legs. As they got closer, Vincent saw that in the huge bird's claws, was a sort of net filled with something heavy.

The use of the net soon became apparent when a shower of fist-size stones began to fall around them. No one was hit but it was only a question of time now before this would happen. Worse still, he and the two women had nowhere to run or hide.

A second load was dumped on them. This time a rock hit Verla on her leg just over her ankle while she was trying to run away from the deadly shower. There was no question whatsoever in Vincent's mind now as to the intention of these birdmen. They wanted either to kill them or to capture them. He aimed his rifle in their general direction and fired.

The noise did scare them and the one in the process of diving towards them dropped its load well before the stones could hit any of them. Then the great bird and its rider simply glided to the right and away. The rest of the formation began to circle around the trio far overhead but they didn't come any closer. Finally after a couple of minutes, one of the birds detached itself from the ring formation and made a diving approach. This time Vincent took his time, he aimed carefully at the head of the giant bird and slowly squeezed the trigger.

The angle of descent of the bird changed immediately. It began to plunge straight downward carrying with it in its fall the struggling rider on its back. After the bird and rider hit the hot sand, no movement could be seen from either of them and Vincent figured that both were probably dead.

For a few more minutes the rest of the attackers kept on circling high over their heads. Then two of the great birds approached in a similar dive. But they were closing in from two different directions.

Nika had her bow ready while Verla who was an expert in the art of throwing a spear was waiting with her arm pulled well back with her spear in hand.

But the women's help was not needed. With two more shots, Vincent sent them to the ground before they had time to unload their net of its content of stones. The rest of the birds kept on circling high overhead for another fifteen minutes and finally they went away heading toward the south. One of the birds released its load of rocks and remained high overhead, probably to spy on them.

Verla's leg was not broken but it was evident - judging from the swelling - that she would not be able to walk on it for a while. Still, they couldn't remain where they were since they were much too vulnerable in the open like that. They had to find a place where they would be protected from these rock dumping birdmen. It had only been because of the lack of coordination by their attackers that they were still alive. Had they chosen to attack together the outcome would have been much different.

" I think we should see if they were carrying water," said Vincent.

He was indicating the spot where the first bird and its rider were lying on the ground.

" Yes I will go and see," said Nika.

Before Vincent had time to react she began walking toward the dead bird a few hundred feet away. She walked with her bow ready in hand and an arrow already aimed in the general direction of the fallen mountain of flesh ahead of her.

Before she was able to reach her destination, the bird overhead was upon her. In one low pass it tried to catch Nika in its claws. There was no doubt it could have pulled her off the ground since its wing span was at least forty feet and it was no longer loaded with stones.

Nika's arrow buried itself into the neck of the bird only seconds before she was within its reach and this is probably what saved her. As the arrow hit its mark in the neck, the bird pulled away from its prey and its claws missed Nika by only a couple of feet.

A few seconds after she had released her arrow, Vincent fired a shot at the bird while it was in the act of gaining height. It then lost all control and fell toward the ground while its rider was trying desperately to make it climb again as he kept pulling on the straps tied to the harness around the head of the great bird.

Leaving Verla where she was, Vincent ran toward the recently fallen bird that was no more than twenty feet from Nika. Both, bird and rider were dead.

The man had dark brown skin and he was short and thin. There was some kind of harness and strap arrangement that went from the rider and these were tied to a cage-like net around the head of the great bird. Apparently this contraption was used to guide the bird while the two straps tied to the bird's legs must have been used to make the bird use its great claws.

The rider had no weapon and the only possession he had was a water bag made of animal skin, The bag hung attached to the harness next to the neck of the bird.

" Take the water and bring it to Verla while I check the other birds," said Vincent.

He didn't wait for a reply from Nika. Instead he ran toward the nearest of the fallen birds and after checking that both the bird and the rider were dead, he recovered the water bag. He did the same with the other two dead birds and riders.

When they checked their inventory of water later, they had gained another three days' supply.

" Let us get away from here as fast as we can. I think they will attack again and if they do it all together we won't have a chance."

" But Verla can't walk, her ankle is swollen," said Nika.

" I will carry her if you can take care of the rest of our supplies."

He cut several strips of leather from the harness of one of the birds. Then, placing a section of strap under each of Verla's thighs with the other ends meeting around her shoulders and over his own shoulders, he made her climb onto his back. In such a way she was riding piggyback on him with her weight being distributed between his shoulders and his waist.

Nika had both knapsacks on her back and she was trying to figure out a way to add the four water bags to her already well-loaded back.

" Here give the water bags to Verla, she can hold them."

" But you already have her weight to carry."

" With the harness I can manage. Don't argue. Just give us the water. We have to leave this place fast."

They began to walk toward the range of mountains ahead of them. It was very difficult to predict how far the nearest mountain was and when they stopped to rest an hour later, they seemed to be a little closer to their destination.

The birdmen did not bother them again that day and Vincent figured that they had another day of walking before they would reach their goal. Verla's leg was still swollen and she was in pain but the increase in swelling had stopped at least. When she tried to stand on her leg again, the pain was too intense and Vincent had to carry her.

Even though he was very tired, Vincent could feel Verla's breasts making contact with his back and now that he paid closer attention to her, he realized that her breasts were a little larger than Nika's. She was very beautiful indeed and her being there on his back, made him feels uneasy.

At noon the birdmen returned. This time they choose to attack while they remained very high in the sky. They must have figured that since their own arrows would not reach that far up, therefore Vincent's rifle would also not reach them if they were high enough. He was able to down two more of them before they realized their mistake.

Vincent and the two women made good progress after that. For one thing the ground was covered with a lot more grass thus making it easier to walk and he was also getting used to carrying Verla's weight on his back. They reached the first low range of mountains before it got dark and they chose to make their camp on the side of a low hill.

Verla's leg was a little better now and she could even stand on it as long as there was someone holding her to take some of the weight off her leg.

Vincent made love to Nika that night. Verla was close enough to hear them in the heat of passion, but Vincent didn't care since the tension of the day had to be relieved somehow. Even tired as he was, his need had to be quenched. For her part, Nika was more than happy to satisfy his sexual appetite as well as her own. He hadn't made love to her since they had started their walk across the dessert plain.

Breakfast was later than usual the following morning and as soon as they were done they got on their way once again. They took turns helping Verla to walk as she insisted on not being carried. The first hill they climbed was not very steep. They made good progress and reached the top by noon. Vincent estimated that the height of that first peak was about eight hundred feet and from the top they were able to see a series of other peaks that were part of the mountain range.

What struck them most was the barrenness and desolation before them. In every direction, they could see that whatever path they took would be very difficult to travel.

Turning back was not an option since they would run out of water long before they reached their initial starting point. No, their only chance now was to go ahead and hope that water could be found somewhere.

It took them the rest of the day to get down the other side. They made camp on the downward slope and slept between tall rocks that were part of the sandstone formation of the mountain. They drank the last of the water while eating breakfast.

As soon as they reached the foot of the peak, they chose to walk in the narrow valley between the two peaks. Their progress was easier there and they knew that their chances of finding water were much better since any rain that happened to fall would accumulate in the valley.

The plant life was more abundant also and there were more varieties of it, which was a good sign. By late afternoon they reached a wide flat area where a number of trees grew. Verla went to sit in the shade under one of the trees while Vincent and Nika went in different directions looking for signs of water.

It was while he was in the narrow gorge that he heard both women shouting. He hurried back as fast as he could and he was just in time to see Nika being lifted in a net that was in the claws of one of the birds which was being guided by a birdman.

The giant bird had much difficulty to lift the combined weight of Nika and the rider on its back but still they were slowly gaining height as the rider kept on urging his mount.

Vincent took aim, but before pulling the trigger he realized that killing the bird would be the same as killing Nika as they were already a couple of hundred feet high by now.

His attention was then attracted by Verla's shouting. When he looked in her direction, two of the brown and white eagle-looking birds were on the ground fifty feet from Verla's tree while their two riders were in the process of pulling her in a net.

Both men were dragging the net and its load. Their intention was very evident as they moved toward the nearer of the two birds.

Vincent took no chances. He shot both birds dead. He then turned toward the still surprised men and he shot them both also.

Verla was not further hurt, but she had been a witness to Nika's kidnapping and she felt angry and desperate. As soon as Vincent got her out of the net, they both scanned the sky. They could still see a dozen or so birds moving away in the distance with Nika being carried with them.