by J. T. Edson
Several hours went by, with nothing to disturb the sleeping prisoners. Then the silence was broken by a soft rumbling and a section of the right hand stone pillar pivoted outwards. Four figures emerged cautiously and began to walk in a stealthy manner towards the cells holding the prisoners.
Aroused by the sound of the secret door opening, for a moment Dawn wondered if her imagination was playing tricks. Then Bal-Tak gave an alarmed grunt and, lurching to his feet, glared across the room. Swinging her legs from the bed, as Ariadne stirred and sat up, Dawn felt her right foot touch the earthenware gourd on the tray. Ignoring it, she did not rise. Entering the illuminated area, the newcomers proved to be four Mun-Gatahs. The two women and elder man approached Dawn’s cell, but their companion halted in front of Ariadne’s door.
Dawn had not seen Langord or Zongaffa at the hunting camp, so she had no idea who they might be. Nor was she better informed as to the identity of the second man. Tall, muscular, young and handsome in an arrogant fashion, the decorations of his ox-blood red leatherwork and metal helmet were indicative of high rank. However, the girl recognized Varbia as the woman at whom Charole had flung the spear outside the Temple. She was still carrying the weapon. Although the other two held bared swords, the older man was unarmed and had a bunch of keys in his left hand.
‘Get up and come here, both of you!’ Langord ordered quietly.
‘Why?’ Dawn asked, without rising.
‘You’ll both be dead before nightfall tomorrow unless you do as you’re told,’ Langord warned, nodding to Zongaffa who was putting a key into the lock on Dawn’s door. ‘We don’t have any time to waste, so we want you ready to come out as soon as the door is opened.’
Nothing in Dawn’s acquaintance with members of the Mun-Gatah had led her to trust them. However, while she could not guess what the quartet’s intentions might be, she considered that she and Ariadne would have a better chance of escaping if they were outside the cells. Picking up the gourd and keeping it hidden behind her back, she came to her feet. As no objections were raised, she knew her action had not been seen. Glancing sideways, she found that the princess was watching her and nodded. Showing hesitation, Ariadne stood up and, as Dawn went towards the door, moved forward warily.
‘Can’t you get the right one?’ snarled the younger man, when Zongaffa’s third attempt failed to unlock the door. ‘If the Temple’s Brelefs catch us here, they’ll be carrying something that’s more dangerous than those “Terrifiers” you brought for Dryaka.’
‘I’m doing the best I can!’ the Herbalist snapped back, making another selection. ‘My man could hardly ask the jailer which was her key when he stole them!’
The reference to ‘her key’ suggested to Dawn that, although she and Ariadne had been called forward, only she was to be removed from the cell. They meant to kill the princess so that she could not raise the alarm when they left without her.
Even as the thought came, Dawn noticed something else which warned her of the Mun-Gatahs’ intentions. Varbia was standing a couple of paces behind the other woman and older man. She grasped her spear at its point of balance, with its head extending behind the heel of her right hand.
Such a grip was used for throwing—or stabbing!
Nor could Ariadne be the contemplated target. The younger man was far more suitably positioned to deal with her.
Showing no sign of her conclusions, Dawn watched Zongaffa try key after key without success. At last, only one remained to be tested. Darting a glance through her door, she saw that the younger man was preparing to thrust with his sword.
‘This isn’t it!’ the Herbalist ejaculated, jerking back the bunch of keys.
‘Are you sure you haven’t missed one?’ demanded the younger man, looking around.
‘He hasn’t,’ Langord declared and lunged forward to grab through the bars, snapping, ‘Kill them!’
Alert for such a possibility, having deduced that the quartet meant to kill her too if they could not open the door, Dawn jumped to the rear before the woman’s hands could reach her. She saw Varbia raise her spear and start to advance. Yelling a warning to Ariadne, Dawn hurled the gourd. It was too large to go through the bars. Striking two of them, it shattered to spray water and fragments in Longard’s and Zongaffa’s direction.
Mistrusting the Mun-Gatahs, Ariadne had been just as watchful as Dawn and did not require the warning. When the man returned his gaze to her and lunged, she twisted clear of the blade and caught his wrist in both hands. Giving him a sharp jerk, she slammed him into the bars and caused him to release the weapon.
Even as Langord gave the order, the door to the Brelefs’ quarters was thrown open. Led by the jailer, carrying a couple of lanterns and armed with clubs, several of them dashed into the room.
Having been woken by the need to answer the call of nature, the jailer was alarmed by the discovery that his keys were missing. Without even waiting to don his breastplate and helmet, he had hurried to investigate. Although he had collected a dozen Brelefs, he had decided against disturbing his three Mun-Gatah subordinates. Knowing what his fate would be if anything happened to the prisoners, he had no wish for the turnkeys to learn of the loss of keys before he had fled from the Temple. What small relief he had drawn from remembering that Dryaka had taken the key for the ‘Ape’s’ cell ended as soon as he opened the door. Guessing what the intruders were trying to do, he forgot his lack of protective clothing and, yelling for the sub-humans to attack, bounded forward.
Accepting that the game was up, Varbia spun around and threw her spear at the newcomers. She darted away from the illuminated area without waiting to see the result. Impaled by the weapon, the jailer reeled backwards and was thrust aside by the Brelefs. Being of limited intelligence, they ignored the fleeing woman and charged at her more conspicuous companions.
Caught in their faces by some of the flying water and pottery, Langord and Zongaffa were less fortunate than Varbia. Reeling and dropping the keys, the Herbalist bumped into the staggering woman and was knocked off balance. Being heavier, she was less affected by the collision and a glance over her shoulder warned her of the danger. Finding that Varbia had already taken to her heels, Langord set off after her.
Even as Zongaffa recovered his equilibrium, a club hurled by one of the sub-humans struck him in the chest. Slammed against the door of Dawn’s cell, he collapsed to his knees. Although Ariadne had released the other man’s wrist so that she could pick up his sword, he was too dazed to think of flight or resistance. Four of the Brelefs closed with him, wrenching off his helmet and raining blows on his head. Even as he was going down, another of the sub-humans caved in Zongaffa’s skull. Screaming excitedly, the Brelefs continued to swing their clubs at their lifeless victims.
Running with all the speed she could muster, Varbia reached the right side pillar. Despite being in darkness, her fingers found the steel handle on the inside of the secret door. Grasping it as she went through the opening, she began to pull without a thought for the companions she was deserting.
Light thrown from a lantern carried by one of the Brelefs who were swerving to intercept Langord warned her what Varbia was doing. However, so smoothly did the hinges function that the door was closed before she could reach it. Knowing that there was no hope for her in that direction, she turned at bay. Out thrust the point of her sword, to drive into the chest of her nearest pursuer. Giving her no chance to withdraw the weapon, his companions’ clubs battered her to the floor. As in the case of the two men, the fact that she was incapable of further resistance did not bring an end to the attack.
Ignoring Dawn’s shouts for them to stop, the Brelefs went on belaboring the lifeless bodies until three Mun-Gatahs appeared at the doorway. They were the turnkeys and had been brought from their beds by the commotion. Halting and looking at the jailer’s body, the senior of the trio sent the junior to inform Dryaka. Then he and his remaining companion set about bringing the Brelefs under control. Doing so took several minutes and the turnkeys
were only just starting to question the sub-humans when the High Priest arrived accompanied by Charole and several of their adherents.
‘This is Baldrak of San-Gatah, my lord,’ announced the senior turnkey, pointing at the man who had tried to kill Ariadne, as Dryaka stalked towards him.
Although the High Priest had made a similar identification from the corpse’s garments, he was no longer paying any attention to the fate of the smallest and poorest District’s Administrator. In spite of the second body’s head being a gory and shapeless pulp, he had recognized the blood-spattered, stained and dirty clothing.
‘That’s Varbia’s spear in the jail—’ Charole began, walking forward after examining the weapon. The expression on Dryaka’s face as he swung towards her brought the words to a halt. ‘What is it?’
‘This is Zongaffa!’ the High Priest replied, indicating the shape outside Dawn’s cell.
‘Zongaffa!’ the Protectress ejaculated, coming to a stop.
Remembering the doubts which were being expressed throughout the city over whether Dawn really was the promised ‘Ape’, Charole and Dryaka had guessed that the conspirators were trying to prevent her from being available for sacrifice. The discovery that Zongaffa was one of the plotters struck both of them as being cause for alarm. That afternoon, he had delivered a consignment of Terrifiers’. They were wondering why he had done so if, as the evidence suggested, he was planning to betray them.
‘My lord!’ the second turnkey said, walking up before the High Priest and the Protectress could continue their brief conversation. There’s a dead woman—’
‘It isn’t Varbia!’ Dryaka declared, having crossed to the body without waiting for the turnkey to finish.
‘No!’ Charole spat out. ‘It’s Langord!’
‘Then where—?’ Dryaka commenced.
‘According to the Brelefs, another woman escaped,’ the turnkey explained. ‘But they must be mistaken. They say she went through a hole in the wall.’
Sucking in a breath, Dryaka looked at Charole. Then both of them glanced at the right hand pillar. One of the reasons why guards were never posted in the cell room was to allow the Council of Elders and themselves to make use of the secret door as a means of entering and leaving the city.
‘Have this carrion removed!’ the High Priest snarled and, after the turnkey had left them, returned his attention to the Protectress. ‘One of them must have learned about the passage. She’s using it to escape.’
‘We can’t send anybody through it after her,’ Charole warned.
‘No,’ Dryaka agreed, being equally aware that it was undesirable for their adherents to learn the secret of the passage. ‘As soon as it’s light, we’ll take some of our best trackers around and put them on her trail.’
‘We’ll have to make sure that they know she must be brought back alive,’ Charole warned, realizing that the situation made it inadvisable for herself and the High Priest to be absent from Bon-Gatah for any length of time. ‘If there is something wrong with the “Terrifiers” Zongaffa brought yesterday, she’ll know all about it.’
Chapter Eleven – One Of Them Might Have Escaped
‘There she is!’ yelled a masculine voice.
‘After her!’ Another set of equally loud male tones went on. ‘And don’t forget that Lord Dryaka wants her alive.’
Although the shouted comments had originated from some distance beyond the top of the slope which Beryl Snowhill and Bunduki were ascending, they brought their mounts to a halt at the first word. They realized that the speakers could not have been referring to them, but the brief conversation was accompanied by the sound of hoof beats increasing in pace and coming in their direction. Despite the adjustments they had made to the manner in which they usually dressed, they knew it was inadvisable to let themselves be seen. As they were about a mile from Bon-Gatah, whoever had spoken was sure to be an enemy and they were aware that their disguises would not stand up to close scrutiny.
On her arrival at the lake the previous day, Beryl had been invited to take part in the parlay. She had received distressing news when she had explained why she and her warriors were so far inside the Mun-Gatahs’ territory. The four members of her Regiment whose abduction had brought her there had already been sacrificed. Although angered by the information, she had appreciated that the only hope of saving Princess Ariadne from a similar fate lay in co-operating with the three District Administrators. They had expressed willingness to form an alliance with herself and Bunduki. In return for their help in rescuing Dawn Drummond-Clayton and Ariadne, she and he were to support the trio in thwarting the High Priest’s schemes.
More in hope than expectancy, the combined force had started to follow the trail of Mador’s party. Having received another dose of Melissa’s potion, Gromart was able to ride a reserve mount belonging to one of the Mun-Gatah warriors. Despite suffering considerable agony, he had refused to allow it to delay the pursuit. For all that, by the middle of the afternoon, it was obvious that there was no chance of them catching up before their quarry was safely within the walls of Bon-Gatah. So they had pushed on until sundown, then made camp in a grove of trees.
After eating together, Beryl, Princess Athena, Bunduki, Gromart, Woltarn and Korkar had held a council of war. There had been some slight comfort for the Amazons and the blond giant to learn that the sacrifices could not take place for at least two days. So they had decided that the failure to intercept the High Priest’s adherents could be turned to their advantage. There was no way in which the arrival of the prisoners could be kept a secret. Hearing that one of the ‘Apes’ had been delivered to Dryaka, the population would expect him to keep his promise at the appointed time. If he could be prevented from doing so, he would lose so much support that not even possessing the ‘Terrifiers’ could save him from being deposed.
Satisfied that there was no immediate danger of Dawn and Ariadne being sacrificed, the blonde and Bunduki had turned their attention to considering how to effect the rescue. On being told of the Temple of the Quagga God’s facilities for securing prisoners, neither had been enamored of the suggestion that Woltarn or Korkar should take them there under the pretence that they were captives. Dryaka would ensure that they were too carefully guarded for them to have any chance of escaping.
Beryl had declared that the rescue party must enter the city as free agents, preferably at night so they would have a better chance of remaining undetected. On being told that the gates were closed at sundown, she had suggested carrying out a reconnaissance to select a point at which they might gain entry by scaling the walls. Pointing out the necessity of preventing Dryaka from learning how the three Administrators were collaborating and in the vicinity, she had proposed that the mission should be undertaken by Bunduki and herself.
The blonde’s plan was accepted and preparations made so that it could be implemented. Although they had no intention of trying to enter the city during the daytime, she and Bunduki realized that it was imperative to prevent the High Priest discovering there were foreigners close by. Disguising themselves as Mun-Gatahs offered at least a partial solution. It had been decided that a helmet and the white cloth tunic worn under the breastplate and leather kilt, or instead of them, would be adequate for the purpose. As the omission was acceptable while ‘dressed in such a manner, neither had troubled to don a pair of greaves.
Because of his size and as he would be riding a quagga, Bunduki borrowed his attire from Woltarn. Beryl was to be mounted on a banar-gatah stallion and wear the smallest of the warrior’s garments. Realizing that their features would betray them at close quarters and accepting they would have to defend themselves if any such contact was made, they had considered there was nothing to be gained by encumbering themselves with the Mun-Gatahs’ lances. Instead, wanting weapons with which she was fully conversant, Beryl had retained her own armament and the jewelry denoting her rank. Although Bunduki had left his back-quiver in Athena’s care, he was to carry his bow and have his shield hanging fro
m the quagga’s saddle horn.
Setting off shortly before sunrise, leaving her followers and their Mun-Gatah allies concealed in the grove to await their return, they made their way towards Bon-Gatah. Accepting the limitations of their disguises, they hoped to avoid any contact with other human beings. Keeping alert and taking advantage of whatever cover was available, they had been successful until they had heard the sounds from beyond the slope.
‘That could be Dawn, or Ariadne they’re after!’ Bunduki growled, swinging his gaze to the blonde.
‘Easy!’ Beryl snapped. ‘One of them might have escaped, but, from what we were told about the Temple, it isn’t likely. Don’t let’s show ourselves until we know what we’ll be up against.’
Realizing that his companion was correct, the blond giant restrained his desire to send the quagga bounding forward, and accompanied her at a walking pace. Having the advantage of height, he was able to see beyond the rim before she was able to do so. Although a good thirty yards was separating them, one glance informed him that the woman on the other side of the slope was neither Dawn nor Ariadne. He was also aware that he and Beryl would have to act swiftly if they hoped to save her. Even as he looked, she was turning to face her pursuers. Like her, they were Mun-Gatahs. Three in number, their oak-brown leatherwork marking them as Dryaka’s adherents, the different quality of their mounts had already caused them to adopt a rough arrowhead formation. Lowering his lance’s head, a move his followers copied, the leading man was about twenty yards from her. The others were respectively around fifteen and twenty-five feet to his rear. As far as Bunduki could see, there was nobody else in the vicinity.
