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

by Ronald Watkins

  The leader before me drew his weapon and giving a great toothless grin, screamed a battle cry and charged me. I sidestepped him and like a speeding locomotive he continued on his way. I looked for some sign of deceit in his actions and could find none. In anger, he shook his head like a beast and turned to charge me again. As he blundered towards me l realized that these were his sole tactics and I marveled that so poor a fighter could lead these men.

  As he passed, I drove my short sword deep into his side and watched him fall to the ground, clutching at himself in disbelieve. The blood gushed from the wound as he began to whimper. A few of the men snickered and to put an end to it I stepped forward and slit the fool’s exposed throat.

  Turning to the others I shouted, “I am leader. Who challenges me?” None did, and I now commanded. What to do next I wondered.

  14. My Outlaw Band

  At first the men were excited when Sofeeah entered the camp. Their enthusiasm soon dispelled when I made it clear that she was my woman and that I would kill any man who so much as spoke to her, let alone touched her. This attitude of possessiveness toward one’s slaves is unusual in Doridia and it is generally considered unseemly for a man to keep a slave to himself, as most would interpret it to mean one cared for the slave and that was considered a source of amusement. However, in outlaw bands it was not atypical for the leader to keep a woman for himself and to share her only if he desired. Apparently the men assumed that would be my conduct with my slave.

  I asked a few questions of these outlaws and soon determined that poor leadership as much as anything else contributed to their plight. The slain leader’s practices had proven more difficult for these men and he had lead them for two years. I selected the ones who claimed to be the best hunters and ordered them to bring back game. The dead man had been too paranoid of allowing anyone out of his sight least they plan some action against him to allow proper hunting. He had insisted that they hunt as a group and those tactics made good hunting impossible.

  I then moved the camp a short distance to a more suitable location and set guards about to watch the approaches. I then ordered a firewood detail to secure adequate wood and ordered, rather optimistically, a pit prepared for the game which the hunter’s might produce. I ordered the remaining men to clean their weapons and to tend to their personal effects. I felt it necessary impose a greater sense of pride and unity for this band was in almost total disarray.

  I took Sofeeah to the side while the others were occupied with their assigned duties. “Beware of these men for they are little more than animals,” I said. “Make no attempt to enhance your beauty and seek to control the usual sensuous manner in which you move. Tonight cut your hair short, in the style of a man. I do not want these men thinking of you as a woman any more than they will and also should scouts from Kanchoh’s band spot us from a distance I do not want you to be easily recognized. We have a man’s tunic from the one I beheaded, wear it and arms at all times. Stay close to me unless I give you orders otherwise and keep watch to my rear. Perhaps in a few days I will have gained their loyalty but for now they obey me only because none dares to challenge me. If it occurs to them to gang up on me in order to take you, they will succeed. More likely one will gain enough courage to challenge me, for you alone are a great attraction. If I am slain you must be in a position to flee.”

  “If you die,” she said, “I will die with you.”

  I had said all I intended for now and so I turned to the men. They seemed under control for now, but the situation could change at any moment.

  ~

  Fortune was with me and the hunter’s returned with two dear, one of which was quite large. I ordered all of the meat prepared for that night. I would well feed the men as I wished to gain their gratitude quickly and this was a cheap way to do so. I took the smallest hide as my own to enforce my position as leader but let the two successful hunters split the other hide and the valuable antlers. They seemed pleased at this and I thought would redouble their efforts the following day.

  I saw to the changing of the guards once the first few had eaten and then supervised the equal distribution of the food among all the other men. I ordered that the bedding be laid out in a military manner and I selected three men at random and made them responsible for equal numbers of the rest. As I had no way of knowing who would work out I simply selected the three largest men for this duty. The approach of night saw the end to this long day but I knew that it would be many days before I slept in security.

  The challenge came, not long after the completion of the meal. It came from one who called himself Danak. He was a large hulk of a man and I thought not too terribly bright but I assumed he was an experienced Seker and did not take his challenge lightly. He may well have had good reason not to have challenged the former leader even though he was well able to defeat him. He strode to me and in a booming voice said, “I challenge you for leadership.”

  Men put distance between us and I drew any weapon. He attacked cautiously and in the first moments clearly established himself as a superior swordsman to the man I had killed earlier. He was, however, no match for me. He parried and thrust for a time but he too came to realized that he had misjudged me and that only a miracle would cause his victory. I gradually wore him down and then in quick flashing strokes, watching to my rear and sides for those who might assist, I threw the weapon from his grasp and laid my sword to his throat. Stoically, he prepared to accept death’s thrust.

  “You fight well, Danak,” I said. “I select you to be second leader.” With that I lowered my sword and awaited his reaction. His mind slowly comprehended, first that I was not going to kill him, and second, that he had just been promoted. He grinned shyly at first but I grinned back and shortly the whole camp was laughing. I said, “You are second leader, second only to me. The men will obey you as they obey me and any who refuses you may do with as you chose or you may have him answer to me. Do you understand?”

  The hulk nodded and seemed pleased with the outcome and well he should have been, but I needed him alive and loyal to me. I could not command alone and I needed supporters. He had shown skill with the sword. I doubted if any would dare to challenge his rule. Lest the men misunderstand, I turned and addressed them all.

  “I will surely slay the next man who dares to challenge me or Danak.

  No one wanted to challenge that statement so I left the men to the celebration of Danak’s promotion and for fresh game. I retired with my slave and slept while she stood watch over me. She awoke me when she could no longer stay awake and I passed the rest of the night in deep thought.

  ~

  I moved my outlaw band further east and backwards along the route Sofeeah and I had taken before reaching the stream which we could not ford. My intent was to seek more plentiful game for even a small band such as this required daily kills to avoid hunger, and ample food was needed to maintain morale and convince the men that life was better under their new leader. Still I did not move us so far as to risk encountering Kanchoh’s band, not yet at least.

  Each day I sent parties to hunt and instructed Danak in seeing to the guards. I trained the men in swordplay for I had never before encountered such poor fighters among outlaws. When time permitted I pumped the men for information concerning the area and the other bands and feigned off all questions directed at me. I remained a man of mystery to them and preferred to keep it that way.

  Life under my leadership steadily improved for the men and they grew restless to raid and acquire loot or women, but I did not consider them sufficiently proficient to risk in combat. I had learned that they were a scavenger band, who lived off the remains left by the other larger, more successful bands and by attacking prey the others shunned. This band was barely tolerated by the others but as long as they avoided any direct encounters and stayed out of their way they were permitted to exist. It was for this reason they were relegated to the least desirable area of the forest. I was changing all of that and for now the men were flushed with
excitement of a brighter future and greater success as they preyed along the caravan route, but in time they would see the increased risks as well and at that time I thought their enthusiasm might well change to revolt against me. For now they obeyed Danak and grew more proficient and fatter with each passing day.

  Kanchoh’s was the major band in the area and indeed he seemed intent on absorbing all of the rival bands or failing that to bring them under his control. It was seemingly his intention to tolerate no independent groups from the Beerah River to the edge of Runah and from the southern caravan route to the mountains. This band was concerned that they might be destroyed if they angered Kanchoh and indeed many felt they would be destroyed any way.

  “And who does Kanchoh attack with this larger band of outlaws he has formed?” I asked of Danak, though I already knew the answer.

  “Why he attacks only the caravans belonging to or associated with the Great House of Tonalah. It is said he once was employed by its Urak and now seeks his revenge against him and his family. His men prefer to raid at will but he will have none of it and rules with a bronze grip. We will someday soon need to join him, leave the area or be destroyed.”

  I was amazed at Danak’s comprehension of the situation and realized that I had misjudged him. He was not the dull witted gorilla I had at first taken him to be.

  This group had managed little more than its survival during the past winter and possessed few items other than weapons and scraps of clothing. Something would need to be done soon or they would grow too restless for me to control, yet I could not take them in battle against a caravan. My primary objective was still to get Sofeeah and me to safety and for that I would need the help of these men, but my original objective in first coming into the forest only nine days previously was to kill outlaws and end their effectiveness along this caravan route, if at all possible.

  I had given the matter a great deal of thought and I believed that I had determined a way to accomplish both.

  ~

  The scouting party lay before us in sleep. My scouts had spotted them late that same day and I had forced march my men to get them into position so that success was certain. The group of outlaws numbered about ten and were believed to be of Kanchoh’s band. I was pleased that my men had spotted them and returned to me with news without giving themselves away. If they must have battle then so be it. These murders now asleep would serve.

  Danak insisted on killing the lookout himself and did a quiet job of it. He relished his new position in the band and had earned the obedience and I thought the respect of the men. I remained an aloof figure about whom they rumored constantly. Some said I was of High Caste and had been banished for some sexual misconduct and had entered the forest with my favorite slave. Others thought me a simple Seker attempting to take on airs. As long as they obeyed me I cared little for what they thought.

  I gave the order and the men attacked, swopping down on the unsuspecting slumbering men with shrill cries that pierced the night air. Most of the scouts died while still on the ground and others fell almost as quickly as they rose. All died in just a few moments and I lost but one, a dull lout who could not master the most basic fundamentals of sword play and sought only to fight barehanded. He had met his death with one bearing a blade as I knew he inevitably would.

  I allowed the men their victory and a few chose to carve up the bodies of the dead or to remove their genitals. I did nothing to discourage them. Before we left I had the dead hanged from a tree and on one a sign which said, “Outlaws Beware!” Our own dead we burned with honors. We had recovered some much needed clothing and other items of value including copper coins, arrows, bows, weapons and furs for sleeping. The men thought the sign a fine joke as it was erected by outlaws.

  ~

  The next morning I led the men away from the area where Kanchoh was believed to be. This took me back to the stream which I had been unable to ford and with the help of these men I now meant to cross. Informing them that I wished to put distance between us and Kanchoh and that we might find prey elsewhere I ordered us across the stream. The men set about building a rope bridge which soon had all of us on the other side. It was a simple accomplishment for so many but an impossible one for two.

  We continued in our southern march, roughly parallel to the caravan route and towards the city of Lathanah. I sent my best men forward as scouts to seek both kinds of prey for us, the deer and other outlaws.

  “Hunter, Hunter,” she whispered into my ear softly. I awoke slowly for I had been far away in another world, another time, at home, secure with my family as a child, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner. I came to my senses and realized slowly where I was. For an instant this place was alien and foreign to me, then a realized this was now my home.

  “Hunter,” she said again.

  “Yes, Sofeeah,” I replied. She lay beside me as she had all of the nights since our escape from Kanchoh’s band. The men I now commanded no doubt assumed many things but this woman was much more to me than a mere lover, she had become my friend and each night and day I depended on her for my very life.

  “I will see my father again won’t I? And see my sisters and mother as well? I never believed it until now, it was something I could not hear to think on for I had given up all hope. But you have a plan and I believe in you. It will work because you will see that it works, won’t you?”

  “I have pledged to your mother upon my sword that I will do all I can to return you to your family. I intend to keep that vow. Soon I hope, you will be safe and then we can arrange your return to Runah. But I am only a man and there are many forces involved in my plan. I cannot be certain of the final outcome, but yes, I do believe I will get you home.” She snuggled against me and seemed content. The men of my band were asleep as secure as any outlaw can ever be with the precautions I had ordered as I did each night.

  This is a fine woman, I thought, one tempered by fire and tested true. She is a comrade and a friend. She is also, I thought one of the most beautiful woman I had ever known. I thought a while longer and then whispered against her ear.

  “When you are with your family again and my business is completed would you perhaps grant permission for me to court you? I am new to the High Caste but already I am First Officer of the Great House of Rahdon of Taslea and have some wealth although not the equal of your own. And I have the consent of your parents.”

  I had once told her of the conversation with her mother. She lay utterly still beside me and I thought that she had fallen asleep. Then I felt her warm wet tears against my cheek and by way of answer she lifted her fair head a short distance and with a soft caress laid her lips, gently upon mine.

  15. Return to the Caravan

  I sent scouts to observe the caravan route from Runah to Lathanah. I estimated that with some luck we might overtake the caravan with which l had originally left Runah. Caravans are ponderously slow and men on foot can cover a much greater distance in any given day with little effort. The swollen streams would have been little easier for it to cross then they had been for us and the trip had already met with delay before my disaster in the forest. Even should we fall to establish contact, this route took us towards Lathanah and that was nearly as desirable as locating the caravan itself. It was the only major caravan headed towards Lathanah and if it were still in route we would find it. The men were excited at the prospect of a raid upon a rich caravan, the first of the season and I was repeatedly hailed as their leader.

  I wondered how they would take the news that we were not going to attack the caravan once it was located. I thought it best to keep that information from the men for now. Popularity is a fragile thing and not something to be tested too often or firmly.

  We successfully raided one other bandit group of six men and my hearty band of cutthroats loved every minute of the slaughter. They improvised quite nicely when I suggested we arrange the bodies to discourage the other bands in the area. The disfigurement was gruesome and they all thought me a good sport. They partic
ularity enjoyed arranging matters so that it appeared Seker raiders had done the act. This would serve to divert suspicion from themselves. Rarely have I seen a group of men enjoy themselves as these did that day.

  Three days later we overtook my caravan. I found it amusing to stalk it as an outlaw, the very caravan upon which I was in command. The men grew eager in anticipation of the coming attack and this seemed as good a time as any to inform them of the actual plan. I called a general meeting and even ordered that no lookouts be posted so that all were in attendance. Not counting myself or Sofeeah the band numbered twenty-two. This was perhaps the greatest risk to which I had been exposed since assuming command of this band of murderers.

  “Men, we have done well to now. You eat better, sleep more securely than ever before. We have successfully defeated two bands of enemies and have taken their booty for our own. Now, I propose that we increase our success even more, but not by attacking the caravan just ahead.” The men who were ordinarily with me now grumbled among themselves. “I propose another course than futile attack against so well an armed enemy as that caravan. We are too few in numbers to do more than a quick night raid against them and take what little we can lay our hands on. Our losses would be great and the reward far less than men such as you deserve. I propose greater reward and much less risk and by only continuing to do that which you already do so well.” At last I seemed to have their attention.