Chapter 9

A couple of days later while Vincent was confined with the rest of the slaves in the slaves' hut, he heard from a fellow prisoner about a war that took place a very long time ago far to the south.

Haski's people had captured this man the previous year. He was one of eight males that undertook a trip north in an attempt to capture a "Weega", which was from his description, a kind of three foot long reptile. Its bones, once ground and mixed with other ingredients had the property to produce a fermentation brew when it was added to the juice of fruits. This potent drink had the power to induce dreams that could reveal events to come.

Haski's people had attacked them and five of their group had been killed while the three others were taken prisoners. He also told Vincent about a tribe of people living much farther south than his own native land.

These people knew much about the 'war of the gods'. They claimed that the land in their vicinity was marked with the scars of battles that had occurred a very long time ago. Fire and lightning produced by the gods as they engaged in war struck the ground and large areas of land had been destroyed. They also claimed that the poison is still there even to this day.

Judging by the slave's description of the widespread destruction on the vegetation as well as the scars on the land, Vincent figured that modern weapons had probably been used in this war and the fact that the land was still poisoned probably met that modern weapons, possibly of a nuclear nature, were responsible for the desolation that still existed there. Vincent then told himself that it would be worthwhile to investigate this place if he ever had the chance. These so- called gods could well be those who had built the arch with the outlet to his world.

At last, the day of the feast of manhood arrived and everything was prepared for the ceremonies. Most of the fires in the central plaza of the village were lit with almost all of them either having roasting carcasses of animals over them or immense clay cauldrons full of stews. There was a general atmosphere of festivity throughout the village and everyone seemed in a most happy mood. At the back of the chief's living quarters were two small huts. One was used to store tools while the other was used to make and ferment the strong sour beer that the inhabitants of the village liked so much.

Half a dozen female slaves - all the male slaves having been locked away in the males' quarters - were busy carrying clay vases full of beer from this hut. Quite a few people were already in an advanced state of intoxication with the potent brew, even though the ceremonies had not yet begun.

The feast officially began in the middle of the afternoon with the killing ceremony. Each of the two boys who were to be initiated into manhood had to kill with their bare hands, a small deer- like animal no taller than a small dog. To Vincent who was watching from the confinement of the slaves' quarters, it was unnecessary cruelty. When both animals were dead at last, they set them to roast over a fire that had been especially prepared for this purpose.

Each boy was given a leather necklace, and then Haski himself decorated their weapons as well as their faces. Once this ceremony was over, the feast really began. There was much over- eating and drinking, soon many were in an advanced state of drunkenness and most of the women slaves were called upon to sexually serve the men.

Both boys that had been initiated into manhood were presented with a female slave and in front of the whole village they were expected to perform and have sexual intercourse with them.

There was much cheering and laughter from the crowd and as soon as this deed was performed, the boys now having become men, were offered a jug of beer. The eating and drinking went on well into the night. During all that time, Vincent watched them through the vertical cracks between the logs of the slaves' fence. More than once he was shocked by the villagers' lack of decency.

As the hours went by, half of the men were too drunk to stand on their feet while the other half were busy copulating here and there, either with slaves or with women from the village. Some of the female slaves were actually enjoying themselves while others were being forced to do things that Vincent hadn't even dared to imagine before.

While he was observing the feast in the darkness, Vincent suddenly saw two women appearing out of nowhere. They were just outside the fence of the male slaves' quarters.

They approached the pole fence near to him and he was soon able to recognise them. One of them was Nika and the other was Verla. As soon as they were near enough, he signalled to them with his hand through a crack and whispered at the same time to attract their attention. As soon as they noticed him, they ran toward him immediately.

" Nika, I am so glad to see you. Are you hurt?"

" I thought that I would never see you again," said Nika as she reached for his hand. She had tears in her eyes.

" Don't worry we will get away from this place, and very soon at that. As a matter of fact when they are all drunk tonight we will escape."

He next turned his attention to Verla." Are you still willing to escape with us? Will Lomac come?"

" Yes we are. We will do what you say."

" Very well then. Later in the night, when most of the people of the village are drunk we will escape and you must tell Lomac to be ready by then."

" Nika, do you know where Haski has hidden my rifle?"

" Yes. I have watched him once as he was examining it. When he was done with it he wrapped it in a fur and placed it in a hole under his mat. He believes it is strong magic and I can tell he is afraid of it."

" Do you know where are the rest of our things?"

" Yes the two knapsacks and everything we have are still in his hut. Even the food and the handguns are there. He doesn't dare to tamper with anything. I suppose he believes they have some sort of dark power. He does have my knife tied around his waist though."

" Before we leave we must take back everything that belong to us."

" You must be careful of him," warned Nika." I have seen him kill a slave with your knife just so he could try it out."

" Verla, you will tell Lomac to be ready. We will move in a short time. Since he knows where the weapons are stored, he will be in charge of distributing them to those that are willing to escape with us. Tell him to destroy the rest."

" We mustn't be captured again. If we are taken prisoner once again, they will torture us a long time before killing us," said Verla.

" They will not capture us, don't worry about that. Just be ready to leave when I say it's time to do so."

Nika next asked Vincent what was his plan of escape.

" When they are as drunk as they will get in the middle of the night, I will climb over this fence and meet you in Haski's hut. Make sure that you are alone with him. If one of his wives is with him, you must make sure that she is sent away. Once I have my rifle in my hand they will not have much of a chance against us even if we are discovered."

Just then, they heard shouting and two guards approached the two women. They seized both women and brought them to the middle of the plaza where Haski was.

From where he was, Vincent could tell that as they were talking to Haski he became very agitated. But Vincent couldn't hear a word that was said since he was too far from them. All of a sudden, he saw the chief strike Nika across the face.

Both women were then tied with their backs to the ground and their legs well spread and attached to sticks sunk into the ground. Then their hands were tied above their heads to a small post.

To Vincent's horror, he then saw Haski climb on Nika and he proceeded to have sex with her. Many of the villagers stood in a wide circle around them cheering him on. When he was done with her, he went to Verla and he had sex with her also. He then got off and upon his signal half a dozen men rushed toward the women laying on the ground.

Although Vincent couldn't see very clearly what they were doing, he could well imagine it. This went on for over an hour. At last, only a few men remained near the two women, the rest having lost interest in them. Even Haski was nowhere to be seen by then.

Almost every one was now completely or partly intoxicated with the potent brew and Vincent decided that it was time for him to act if he wanted to see the two women alive again.

He had no trouble climbing over the pole fence, and as he did so a few of the male slaves watched him. However, they neither tried to stop or help him. As soon as he was on the ground on the other side of the fence, he discretely walked the fifty yards toward the two women tied down on the ground.

One man was still on top of Nika. With much rage in his heart, Vincent got very close to them until he was standing just behind the man that was raping her. He was close enough now to see that Nika had her eyes shut tightly and she was neither moving nor making any sound.

He stood right behind the man and he hit him on the back of his head with both of his fists. The man collapsed instantly on top of Nika while the sudden impact made her open her eyes.

At first she didn't recognise Vincent, but when she did at last, she managed to smile weakly at him. After rolling the unconscious man off her, he untied her. He then pushed the rapist into Nika's place on the ground so that if anyone happened to be looking that way later on, it would appear that there was a human form still tied to the post.