Chapter 122
“Damien, tell us what you know,” he said gruffly.
Master Damien told the General and the other Warriors that several slaves wanted to escape through the ocean. He said I had talked about it under the influence of calming cream. Due to the effects of the cream, I could no longer remember who wanted to escape.
“We could use the Lash and make the slave talk,” a man called out. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.
A cheer went up from the Warriors surrounding me. I huddled slightly closer to Master Evan and prayed silently. Strong hands pulled my back to Master Bane’s chest as Master Kein muttered what sounded Like a long curse from the other side.
“You do not have an Earth slave, Ibith,” the General said. “Their minds are weak and very affected by the creams. Many cannot speak the day after it has been used.”
A N G E L A ‘s L I B R A R Y
“The slave spoke of one named Fuji who became irate at the mention of escape,” Master Damien offered.
“Bring the one they named Fuji,” the General called out.
I felt really awful for starting this mess. Fuji’s owners went and got her, bringing her back in front of the General. She dutifully told the General who had wanted to escape and how they planned to do it.
After she was done the General excused my Warriors and her Warriors.
As we went back upstairs I was quiet. Thanks to my big mouth I had just gotten four girls in a lot of trouble.
My owners got re-dressed, rather casually I thought. I was dressed in my dull brown tunic. I had never been dressed like that in our rooms, only when we went to the market. The change scared me slightly and I watched the men cautiously.
We loaded onto a transport pad and sped in a direction I had never travelled with them before. Curiously, they brought several bags with them. They always travelled light, so that was a surprise.
I’d never been in the direction we were going. We passed huge fields of something that looked to have been intentionally planted. Obviously someone farmed here. Other fields were full of huge horned beasts. They walked on two legs and ate the Leaves out of the trees around them.
Soon we were flying closer to the coast. I looked out at the endless ocean and cringed. Had Master Kein been a moment later, I would have been floating dead in that large space. Suddenly the pad dropped and I almost made a sound.
We were between two rough hewn canyon walls, beneath us was a wide expanse of deep blue water. Far to my right was a massive gate rising out of the water, blocking the entrance to the sea, to my left was a long winding river.
The transport lowered until we were level with a small floating platform. Master Damien stepped onto the platform and Master Bane pushed me to follow him. Beneath the hood of my cover I was quivering in fear.
A slight whirring stirred the air and the transport pad glided away. As it left, my owners started to strip my brown cover off of me. I looked up at the direction the transport had gone and prayed it would come back.
Soon, I stood naked on the smooth wood as my owners undressed themselves. The Little platform bobbed and rocked under my feet; it was only about ten feet by ten feet. Tiny waves lapped at its
edges and pushed rivulets of water over the sides.
I watched with trepidation as Master Damien looped a coil of rope around a post on the platform. My body was frozen with fear as he approached me. With a couple deft moves of his fingers he had slipped the slender rope around my neck and tethered me to the platform.
“Can’t have you getting away now, can we?” he asked playfully.
Like an idiot I continued to stare up at him.
“I say it’s time for the swimming contest,” Master Bane said happily rubbing his hands together. “First to reach the other side wins,” he continued.
“I have a better idea, brothers,” Master Kein interrupted. “Give the human a head start and see who reaches it first.”