Caravans of Doridia: The 2nd Chronicle of Jon Hunter (The Saga of Jon Hunter Book 2)

by Ronald Watkins

  CARAVANS OF DORIDIA

  The 2nd Chronicle of Jon Hunter

  by

  Ronald J. Watkins

  © Ronald J. Watkins 2015

  www.RonaldJWatkins.com

  WatkinsLiterary.com

  Cover by David E. Payne

  Other books by the author

  Fiction

  Cimmerian: A Novel of the Holocaust

  The Far Side of the Moon

  A Suspicion of Guilt

  Shadows and Lies

  The Flower Girl

  The Dutchman

  A Deadly Glitter

  Wrath in the Blood

  True Crime

  Evil Intentions

  Against Her Will

  The Naked Streets

  Romance

  Nocturne

  SciFi/Fantasy

  Hunter: Warrior of Doridia

  Caravans of Doridia

  Non-Fiction

  Unknown Seas

  Birthright

  High Crimes and Misdemeanors

  The Summit Murder Series with Charles G. Irion

  Murder on Everest

  Murder on Elbrus

  Murder on Mt. McKinley

  Murder on Puncak Jaya

  Murder on Aconcagua

  Murder on Vinson Masiff

  Murder on Kilimanjaro

  Abandoned on Everest [prequel]

  ~

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Concerning the Manuscript

  1. Journey to Runah

  2. Battle in the Forest

  3. Return to the Love Nest

  4. A Bargain is Sealed and a Slave Speaks

  5. A Banquet in My Honor

  6. Journey to Lathanah

  7. Stranded in the Forest

  8. Attacked

  9. Into the Forest

  10. March Against the Outlaws

  11. The Hunt

  12. Attack

  13. I Become a Leader

  14. My Outlaw Band

  15. Return to the Caravan

  16. I Resume My Journey to Lathanah

  17. Arrival in Lathanah

  18. I Find a Home

  19. Return to the Forest

  20. Meeting at River’s Edge

  21. Finding an Old Enemy

  22. Again We Battle in the Forest

  23. Return to Lathanah

  ~

  Concerning the Manuscript

  The publisher has asked me to include a brief note of explanation concerning the present manuscript. I have already published with the first chronicle of this series a detailed account of how I came to discover a great book of gold beneath the ice of Antarctica. The reader may, if he chooses, read that account in, “Hunter, Warrior of Doridia.”

  This present volume is the continuing story of Jon Hunter, a contemporary American thrown back in time to a continent now lifeless and enveloped in ice. His book is, of course, not conveniently divided into chapters and volumes, these are my own inventions. The story is, however, Jon Hunter’s. Readers of this and the last book might be interested in knowing that I did contact the U.S. Department of Navy and after much correspondence they verified that Ensign Jon Hunter, U.S.N.R, was lost at sea in 2001. I thought it best not to contact his parents as there are those who call me a charlatan and fraud.

  I know the truth of the matter and leave you to judge the book for yourself. Both this volume and the first represent but a small part of the total work. I have stopped the story at what appeared to me to be a convenient point.

  R.J.W.

  Cahuita

  Costa Rica

  1. Journey to Runah

  The fires slowly died to embers under the clear Doridian sky. The stars were bright crystal pinpoints against a coal black canvass, the moon not due to rise for some time. A few of the campfires were kept blazing by the Sekers standing night watch. Smoke floated across the camp. Free Women and children had long since gone to bed and Sekers not on duty lay beneath the gaudily decorated Doridian wagons, bundled with an available slave girl or sleeping alone before standing watch later.

  I found the camp familiar and reassuring. The great oxen were safe within the wagon circle and stood their own silent vigil. I had posted Sekers and checked them after they assumed their places. I would make my rounds several times this evening for as First Officer the safety of the caravan lay in my hands.

  I pulled my crimson robe tightly about my shoulders and stared into the glowing embers. The nights were still quite chilly and would remain so for several weeks though the winter snows were gone for the last month. Even rain was now limited to infrequent light afternoon showers. The air was rich and clean. Spring was just beginning and in the coming days would color the lush Doridian country in vivid greens with bright flowers of yellow, red and plum. Much of Doridia is uncultivated and unsettled. I found this to be very pleasing since so much of the world I had been born in was covered by asphalt or destroyed by man.

  This would be my first spring in Doridia and I welcomed it, particularly after the long winter. As I gazed into the embers a malaise spread through me and so I set out to walk my rounds once again. One cannot be too cautious in the great forest.

  All was as it should be. Leaders Ctesias and Koptos were responsible for posting the shifts this night so I was confident that I would sleep more restfully than usual when I was outside the Great House of Rahdon and away from the walled city of Taslea. But passing the wagons as I made my way to my own the same mild feeling of unhappiness returned. I had, I reminded myself, little to be unhappy over. True, I had been abruptly torn from my own world and cast naked into this one. Yet I had by virtue of good fortune and hard work risen from slave to my present position. I had played some small part in the recent events in Taslea which had caused much talk in the city and raised all Sekers to the High Caste.

  Yes, I had prospered greatly in the service to the good Urak Rahdon but increasingly this feeling of mild depression crept into my thoughts. It had been for this reason as well as to satisfy my desire to see more of Doridia that had led to my present assignment. Perhaps, I still thought, I might discover some way back home.

  I shook off the feeling and went to my wagon. Extinguishing the Lamp of Love I crawled within my furs and pulled close the lovely slave girl waiting there for me. I stroked her eager, firm body and sought to lose myself within her flesh.

  ~

  We awoke at dawn as always and I had us moving as quickly as possible thereafter. I permitted no morning fires and directed all the wagons to make haste in yoking the great oxen. I was eager to appear in a hurry to reach Runah, usually a 12 day journey, circumstances permitting. Walking, as did all in the caravan, l munched dried meat and drank from a flask of spring water. Dew clung to the foliage, occasionally forming sparkling drops which rolled across broad leaves. Soon the bright sun of Doridia would evaporate all of the dew and by afternoon we would shed our heavier clothing for lighter attire.

  Caravans are basic to the trade of known Doridia and follow routes established since ancient times. The routes are built of cobblestone for a day’s journey from cities but soon turn to dirt roads which are virtually unmaintained and on occasion can be treacherous. Caravans must cross unbridged streams and skirt mudslides. It was not unusual to be delayed for days by some obstacle of nature. These roads are generally considered impassable in winter by wagon. Men outside all law prey upon travelers on these roads and when banded in sufficiently great numbers, upon the caravans themselves.

  And so the advent of
spring marked the beginning of the great caravan trade among the known cities of Doridia. These caravans often followed a season long route that led to many cities, bearing goods which are readily available in one to another where the same goods brought an increased price or could be traded at some advantage for other goods. In this manner nonessential trade items are exchanged from city to city, though to some these items had taken on the quality of necessity. Without the caravans women would be denied perfumes and fine cloth, and men would be denied the finest of weapons or the most beautiful slaves. One man’s luxury was another’s necessity and it was of such perceptions that trade has flourished for all men, in all times.

  This caravan, sponsored by the Great House of Rahdon of Taslea, carried trade goods on this first leg of the journey which were mostly intended for Runah, a frequent trading city for the merchants of Taslea. Although the Urak Rahdon had provided the money which made this caravan possible and would profit from the enterprise, the codes of the High Caste did not permit such investments. All the Lesser and Great Houses engaged in trade and business but all too played this game of hypocrisy which I found particularly distasteful. But then who was I to judge? Were the people of my time and place any less hypocritical in their own way? I suspected not.

  The Merchant Renakor of Taslea ostensibly sponsored this caravan and I was technically in his employ but this was a ruse that fooled no knowledgeable observer for I was well known owing to the revolt of the Taslea Sekers this past fall and, no less well known in Taslea, having been promoted so quickly to First Officer of the Great House of Rahdon. Any knowledgeable person recognized this caravan as being under the Urak Rahdon and while the Merchant Renakor was technically in authority I was acknowledged as the true authority in the caravan.

  Merchants, incidentally, are not of the High Caste and so are excluded from their codes. Technically they form a Guild of the Low Caste but increasingly they were establishing themselves as a Middle Caste. Sekers had held the same position as the Guild of Merchants until this last fall but at that time they had forced the Council of the High Caste of Taslea to elevate the Sekers to the High Caste, albeit to the lowest rung where they now formed at sub caste. This story has already been told, however, along with the fate of the upstart Zagos and the treacherous actions of the House of Rhin, at that time one of the Lesser Houses of Taslea.

  The caravan at this point in its seasonal journey was comprised entirely of the wagons of the Merchant Renakor or of other merchants who were his partners. Accordingly, the wagons were all under my immediate and absolute control. After our first stop in Runah other wagons would join us, seeking safety in numbers and the protection of greater arms. They would take their place to the rear of our wagons in descending order of the number of wagons in their group. While strictly speaking they would not be part of my caravan they would be subject to my orders. They were free to refuse but the price would be abandonment in the forest. It was for this reason that caravans rarely had discipline problems. No one wished to face the dangers of the great untamed forests alone or in small numbers. Besides the outlaws, the forests held great cats and other wild and savage beasts that usually avoided large caravans but where known to pray upon single travelers or small groups.

  This, the eighth day of our journey to Runah, passed uneventfully as had all the others heretofore. As we pulled the mighty painted wagons into their protective circle for the night. I scanned the forest, searching for sign of outlaws. Caravans such as ours, departing on the first leg of the trading season, carried great riches and the outlaws who had just struggled through a desperate and harsh winter were usually inclined to attack any caravan, even one as heavily protected as this. They were, as I said, desperate men.

  Seeing no apparent signs of outlaws I saw to the posting of Sekers. And returned to my wagon to watch the preparation of the evening meal. Not that I was required to but I enjoyed viewing the elaborate preparations. As First Officer an entire wagon was given over to my comfort and housed all that tradition dictated I would need and desire. Several slaves were attached to it although they not share the wagon with me at night unless instructed to by me. An older slave woman supervised the entire slave staff and generally saw to the cooking herself. This night she was preparing a rich stew including vegetables and great quantities of meat. I knew I would be well satisfied with the fare.

  In the twilight the bright fires raged and the camp took on an almost carnival-like atmosphere. Children traveling with us laughed and played but would soon go to sleep secure beneath or within the wagons. Slave girls being transported for trade or sell danced about the fires to traditional slave tunes for the pleasure of the Sekers. A few musical instruments played softly in the night air. The music began as lively, happy tunes but by late evening turned quiet, even melancholy.

  I ate heartily of the repast and afterward visited each fire, speaking with the Sekers not on duty. I was generally well known to the men but as I was recently risen to new rank I believed it was time well spent. Men should know the officer who may well command that they lay down their lives.

  After seeing to the guards and checking with the Leaders of Ten in charge this night, I retired to my wagon. Dorah, a most willing and skilled slave, awaited me within my love furs.

  ~

  The attack came at the darkest hour. The outlaws had waited until the fires had turned to ashes and then they struck. Dorah screamed and I placed my hand over her mouth. “Silence!” I commanded. “Would you bring them down on us?” Buckling my weapons about me I leaped from the wagon. The Leaders of Ten were already organizing the defense and so I left that in their capable hands. I smiled as I realized that the band attacking us numbered but 100 or so. Under usual circumstances this would be a formidable foe indeed but then this was no normal caravan. We had duties other than the trading of goods and slaves, and these cutthroats would soon learn it.

  As planned, the outer perimeter allowed many of the outlaws to enter the wagon circle. The Sekers fought fiercely to keep the intruders from the women and children. The attackers did not know where they were anyway and so were content to enter the parts of the circle to which they were granted relatively easy access. The children would have held little interest for them but the opportunity to seize a few Free Women was tempting to them.

  I noticed that the greatest number of attackers were now inside the circle and it was time to spring our trap. A horn sounded and almost at once masses of Sekers poured from many wagons which carried no trade goods at all but instead carefully concealed great numbers of Sekers, enough to defeat any outlaw band.

  My men were eager for battle and sought to cut off retreat for the outlaws as well as to press the attack. Once that was established they brought their greater numbers, weapons and skills to bear and giving no quarter, proceeding to slaughter the would be slaughterers. It was a grim sight but these men were murderers and thieves of the worse sort. Men so vile they had been outlawed by their own city and banished to the perdition of the forests.

  Fighting from behind shields, wielding spears with great skill, the Sekers made short work of their opponents and soon over 70 enemy bodies lay on the ground. Our losses were minimal. As I had instructed, three or four of the outlaws were taken alive to be questioned. I gave orders for the pursuing troop to assemble and returned to my wagon to prepare.

  The captives were questioned apart from each other and had little to say. Their group consisted of 100 of which just over 30 remained. These had fled into the forest and would be the subject of our pursuit at first light. The band had recently broken its long winter camp and had hoped to make a kill on the first caravan through the forest but had been surprised by our greater numbers. The 30 odd survivors were nearly starving and in full flight with nowhere to go. Caution would serve to drive them from us for a distance and caravans could rarely spare Sekers for a long pursuit. In a relatively short distance the band would stop and unless led by a particularity powerful personality would give themselves over to recrimin
ations.

  I ordered the captives collared and chained to wagons to be sold as slaves in Runah. Leaving the camp with a full complement of Sekers, l set out at first light with all the Sekers who had been concealed within the wagons, over 100 veterans. They would split a bounty of one silver coin for every outlaw slain in the forest. Brave as they are, Sekers were hesitant to chase outlaws into their own territory. But with the intelligence gathered from the captives and with our greater numbers, as well as the bounty, these men were eager to give pursuit.

  The plan had gone as the Urak Rahdon in Taslea had anticipated when he called me to him some days before. Would that the rest of it in Runah would go as well. For now, l led 100 eager men against 30 outlaws and with luck we would reach them after they thought themselves secure. I held no doubt but that my men would split 30 silver coins among themselves by midday.

  2. Battle in the Forest

  Several of the pursuing Sekers were experienced trackers and accordingly we made good progress. My greatest concern was that the fleeing outlaws would set an ambush and accordingly I held our pace back during the first hours. But as late morning approached I became convinced that no ambush had been left and permitted the men free rein in the pursuit. The Leaders of Ten set an almost murderous pace with each group of ten competing with the other. Nevertheless, we passed in relative silence and I was confident that we would catch our prey unawares.