"I am surprised how readily she sold out her comrades."
It was the dark hours of the morning. Fogrim and I made our way through the bushes, our blades were drawn and coated in a matte black oil. Fogrim carried a shield of stretched animal hide and his stabbing spear. In a quiver on his back were javelins. I carried my steel broadsword and a wooden shield reinforced with metal bands. We navigated by the stars and Fogrim’s own knowledge of the region, against the hand-drawn map that my captive had possessed.
I yanked on her rope. The bandit girl staggered forward, the rope tied securely around her waist. I had gagged her as well; a soft cloth shoved into her mouth and the rag tied behind her head, to hold it in place. Her no-nonsense hair plait fell to the small of her back.
"Do not be surprised," said Fogrim. "Bandits are not warriors. Their word means nothing, even to each other."
I wondered what that meant for us, given that we had struck a deal with her.
"This is as far as we can take her," Fogrim stopped. "Tie her to a tree."
I went to one with thick, strong branches, and reeled her in like a fish. Even in the dark, I could sense the hatred boiling out from her in waves. I threw the end of the rope over a branch and yanked on it. The bandit groaned as it went taut, then forced her up on her toes. It was an awkward position: she could barely keep her balance, let alone try to escape.
I imagined how she would look hanging instead by her wrists or ankles, stripped naked and with her hair pulled loose.
"Enough daydreaming," snapped Fogrim. "Come!"
We advanced towards the bandit camp.
***
"There will be nothing here," whispered Fogrim. "Even for a bandit, there is nothing gained by telling us the truth. She is no fool, and she has seen how you look at her. There will be-"
"Quiet!" I grabbed her shoulder and pointed.
Further up, I could make out the light of a large campfire.
We approached in silence.
The bandit camp was in a clearing with one side hidden from view by a rocky mound. A dark cave looked out of the rock formation that shielded one flank of the clearing. A pile of broken bones and to cracked skulls lay in a heap outside it. On the other side, the camp was concealed by tall trees. Only by approaching the way we had, would we have noticed it before it was too late.
There were four tents in the clearing and a heap of crates and sacks - plundered goods no doubt. Alongside the crates was a large wicker cage. Crammed inside it, kneeling shoulder to shoulder, were six, naked, slave girls.
"What happened there?" I asked Fogrim quietly, painting to the bone heap.
"They must be cannibals," he said as if noting that they were vegans. Cannibalism was common in Darfur, where the worship of the god Yog was common.
My blue-eyed captive had told us that there were five other bandits in the camp. Two were on watch: they sat around the bonfire and talked, one drinking from an amphora of wine. Had they taken their task more seriously, this night might have been quite different. We did not see the other three; we assumed they were asleep.
We approached as close to the firelight as we could, crouched down on either side of the clearing. I gave Fogrim several minutes to get into position, then picked up a rock, and threw it.
Immediately, both guards stopped and looked towards where it had landed. One got up, his back turned to me.
A javelin struck him in the throat.
We burst out of cover, roaring, and charged the second man on both sides. Stunned, he barely managed to draw his sword before we struck him. I stabbed him in the gut, Fogrim shoved his spear through the man's back and out his chest. He ripped his spear back out in a spray of blood that covered us both.
We charge the tents. I heard a woman screaming from one, and a naked, dark-haired man put his head out, stared at me, then frantically reached for an ax placed neatly outside by a pile of clothes.
I stabbed his hand: he screamed as I pinned it to the ground. I twisted the blade and ripped it out, then shoved it into his face. Steel crushed bone: the brunette slave girl inside the tent screamed and cowered.
I saw Fogrim drag a whimpering man out by his arm and stab him in the chest and belly, before leaving him to bleed to death.
The fifth and final bandit emerged from his tent, fully dressed and carrying a hand axe. He regarded the two of us, then turned ran into the cave in the rock formation. Fogrim threw a javelin but missed.
"Why would he hide in a cave?" I asked.
"We shall build a fire outside and smoke him out."
The rumbling of a large animal came from the cave.
A giant lumbered out and into the firelight. It was twice a man's size and dragged heavy chains behind it, fixed to its elbows and waist. A pair of thick tasks protruded from a Neanderthal-like jaw, each large as a man's forearm. Its skin was a sickly yellow, it's eyes like a crocodile’s. It wore tattered leather breeches and a necklace made from human bones. One hand carried a club made from a tree branch. The other carried the limp corpse of the bandit who had run into the cave.
It flung the dead man at Fogrim with surprising speed. Fogrim tried to dodge, but it struck him, knocking him rolling to the ground. The giant bellowed and stomped forward, the ground shaking.
I picked up the dead bandits hand axe.
"Over here, you ugly bastard!" I yelled.
The creature swung its head ground to regard me, the way a man might an insect.
Being an insect, I threw the hand axe at its face. It struck the giant in the cheek, the blade sinking in.
It swung its head back to Fogrim and continued, unperturbed.
I had bought Fogrim time though. Hed jumped to his feet and then flung a javelin at the creatures face. The beast batted it away, the javelin twisting as it fell. Fogrim threw another, a panicked miss. It clattered to the ground in front of me.
I picked up the javelin and threw it. It sank into the creature's back like a toothpick in a loaf of bread. It carried on towards Fogrim, hefting its club. Freakish creature that it was, it knew what it was doing. It refused to allow me to go to it, while focused on one target at a time.
There it was my opportunity.
I ran at the creature. I didn't yell, I didn't call it names. I ran right up to it, raised my sword back, and jumped as high as I could.
It turned to look back, just as my sword struck its spine.
It roared and jerked to the side, flinging me to the ground, rolling. The creature screamed, thrashing back and forth, clawing at the sword embedded in its back. Suddenly it stopped, its eyes glazing, and it fell face-first to the ground. Through all its twisting, it had managed to sever its own spine.
"You all right?" I called over to Fogrim.
"Yes, Brother." He was panting.
"What the hell is this thing?" I walked over and gave it a kick. It was like striking a wall.
"No natural beast," said Phil Gramm walking up to the corpse. "It is a creation of the Mi-Go."
“They can do this?”
"To the Mi-Go, flesh and blood are butclay and bricks. They rearrange life, be it plant, human, or even their own forms, as they see fit." Fogrim knelt down by the monster's head and stared at one its tusks.
“I thought you said they kept to themselves in Yarth-Tanophk?”
"Sometimes they send agents, though rarely as deformed as this creature, to buy criminals and slaves for their experiments." He pulled out a knife and began sawing at the flesh around a tusk. "They are powerful, cruel beings that do not think as we do. But, they are not gods."
"There are no gods," I replied, folding my arms.
"Now is not the time for this heresy again," he started pulling at the tusk.
"I don't understand,” I said. “Why did the last bandit run into the cave with this monster, if it was going to kill him? Didn't they have control over it?"
Fogrim stopped and looked up at me.
"Gerard, what makes you think that they controlled it? Do not stop to think of the motives of that which is not human in this world. Therein lies the path to madness. Now, enough talk. You must deal with your captive."
***
I left the clearing and went back to where the female bandit had been secured.
I found her grunting and struggling, teetering on her toes as she tried to break the rope (in vain). She stopped abruptly when she saw me; in the dawn light, her expression seemed surprised.
I removed her gag.
"You didn't say anything about the monster," I said.
"You did not ask.”
"You are foolish to think that you could ever be in league with such a creature. We watched it kill one of yours, for no good reason at all."
"I would not break words with you, warrior." She looked at the sword at my side. "Let it be a quick thrust, through my heart!"
I untied her from the tree and secured her wrists behind her back. She watched me confused.
"What are you doing? Run me through, and end this!”
"Something is definitely ending for you," I tied the rope around her throat. "But something else is starting."
"You said you would kill me! You gave me your word as a warrior!”
"You were stupid to believe me. You are a beautiful, young woman. Why would any man not want to see you naked, chained, and licking his feet? Your new name, Slave, is ‘Naya.'"
Naya snarled, stepped forward, and tried a headbutt. Had she been taller, she would have succeeded. I turned aside as she tried to knee me in the groin. She tried to run: she stopped short choking and coughing as the leash went taut.
I grabbed her and pushed her to the ground. She snarled and writhed as I pinned her with my weight.
"You son of a slave whore!" She spat as I grabbed her legs and pulled her boots off. "You gave me your word!"
"Slave," I caught her slender ankles and crossed and bound them tightly. "You have a lot to learn."
I pulled out a dagger and quickly slit away all her clothing. She lay before me, naked. Her pale body was slim and athletic. The skin was unmarked, I saw possible tattoos gracing it. I ran my hand down her slender legs: I could almost feel them locked around my waist. Her breasts were large and perky, the aureoles and tits a light brown. I lowered my head and licked them.
"Get off me! I will not crawl to lick your feet like some simple, god-sent, slave slut! I will bite off your cock and spit it-"
I wadded up a ball of cloth from her rags and shoved it into her mouth. I used the remains of her belt to fasten it in place. She gave me a glare that would have curdled milk.
"Let's go, pretty little slave," I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I enjoyed the feel of her thigh against my cheek. Would I brand her there? Or would I mark her on her back?
She struggled and kicked, her curses muffled by her gag.
"I'll say this much," I clamped my arm over her waist and around her thrashing knees, "you are the most ill-tempered female I've come across."
I carried her back to the campsite.
***
"What are you doing?" Fogrim stopped and stared at me.
I put my writhing, lovely captive on the ground and held her down with my boot between her shoulder blades.
"What is it look like? This female will look good with her nipples pierced."
You gave her your word that you would kill her." Fogrim folded his arms.
"Are you nuts? Of course, I was going to do that! Why would I? Just look at her!"
"So you gave your word," Fogrim said slowly, "knowing full well that you would not keep it?"
"Yes. She's a bandit who would have killed us and taken your goods and our slaves! Don't go feeling sorry for her!"
"It does not matter to whom your word is given. Only that you have given it."
"Oh, come on. You're saying that I should've kept my promise, and murdered her in cold blood?"
"Yes," he blinked. "I expected better from you, brother. Perhaps your time is filled with lies, but that is not how we live here in Hyperborea."
"Don't give me that bullshit," my hands clenched into fists. "You people are animals. You’re barbarians. The idea of right and wrong is whatever suits you in the moment; or what a bloodthirsty God ‘tells’ you to do. You keep slaves, eat human flesh, and sacrifice your captives. Yet, somehow I'm supposed to accept that that your all a bunch of pinky-swearing Boy Scouts?"
Fogrim gave me a hard look.
"We are not chieftains or priest kings. All we have between one another is our word. You plan to entrust your females to me while you travel. How do you know that I will not sell them while you are away? Or sacrifice them to Yog? All we have is our word, Gerard."
"She is a bandit," I grabbed her by her ankles and dragged her towards the other slaves, "she would have killed us. But I caught her, and now she's mine."
"She is yours," said Fogrim. "But in my eyes, you are no longer the man you were before you claimed her."