On Another World Ch. 08

Kôjar stepped up to me. "Your orders, M'lord?"

"Pack up...we leave at once. Back to Tertapolis." Qoo-jah was now fully up in the night sky, so it was no longer fully dark and travel would not be a problem. I also thought it would be a good idea to put more distance between Kahn and us...in case he put two and two together.

Less than an hour later, we were on our way home. We would be going back by land. No sea voyage this time. Throughout the rest of the night and the next morning, nothing of note happened. All of those traveling with me...every single one of them gave me a great deal of space sensing that I wanted to be left alone. Even Seq-qah kept her distance. Just after sunrise, Noj-jah contacted me again.

Master, something had gone terribly wrong here. Thy first wife is missing... and three of the guards. Kahn went into a wild rage. He killed perhaps a dozen more other guards.

She is not missing; she is dead...as are the guards. I decided to be completely honest with her.

Dead, Master? Even through our long distance telepathic communication, I felt grief wash over her.

Yes. I cannot explain now. I thought a moment longer. You and Ayl-lah must leave there...at once...or as soon as possible.

Nay Master. I serve thee here.

Did you not hear me? Verella is dead. From my point of view, there was no longer the need to have someone watching and reporting from Kahn's party. I needed another question answered right away. What does he think happened?

He hast no idea, Master. He will be sending out search parties in every direction. And while he hast said nothing, I fear that he may suspect thee.

We're in route back to Tertapolis. We left around mid-night...it'll be a while before they can catch up with us...if ever.

Ayl-lah and I shall remain where we are.

I had to ask yet one more question. How far away can we use this telepathic link?

A soft chuckle followed. Even from Earth, thy home world if we had to, Master. Although, at that distance, the echo effect could possibly cause problems.

At least consider getting out of there. I told Noj-jah before 'signing off' as it were. As the connection broke, I felt stubbornness coming from her.

Two days later, we set up camp just outside Edisnaeco. I sent Kôjar, Tomahn, Quz-zah and the new girls, Sol-lah and Suulee into town for supplies.

Seq-qah and Qij-jah were staying close to me... ready to see to my slightest wish. They did not approach me directly, but were never more than a few yards away.

As we gathered for our evening meal, I noticed that no one was uttering a single word.

Like a Marine Corps drill instructor, I projected my voice loudly without needing to yell. "Enough!"

Everyone looked at me.

"Yes! I am heart broken over the loss of both Verella and Qaj-jah. But, right now, you're only making it worse for me."

"Master..." Qij-jah started.

"...We only wished to let you grieve privately." Seq-qah finished the comment.

"I've done all the private grieving I can." I looked at Qij-jah. "Did you not love them?"

Qij-jah, and then Seq-ah came to me, putting their arms around me. The three of us wept in silence together. The emptiness and pain were still there, but now I didn't have to go through it alone.

Later, the supply wagon returned. Those with it some how must have sensed what had happened in their absence. Life in our small group was slowly returning to normal... very slowly.

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Just after sunrise the next morning, we continued our eastward journey. Be fore the end of the day, we would reach Dark Swamp, a vast nearly unexplored area that went to the western end the Great Strand. I felt and sensed much ambivalence from all as we drew closer to the swamp. It was a place of myths and legends that frightened many. The closer we got, the more I knew that fear would start to get to each of them.

About two hours before sunset, the edge of the swamp came into sight. The deaths of Qaj-jah and Verella still weighed very heavily on my mind. Tiq-qah's as well. But the worst was past. Still, doubt lingered. I was fully responsible for the lives of five women...three of whom were dead now. And I was supposed to save an entire world? What the fuck were the Olygard thinking? I wasn't able to save three females. I felt like an utter failure.

But for now, I had to refocus my attention on my surroundings. This swamp was a very dangerous place...filled with many wild carnivorous creatures.

The deadliest of these was the qy-teen, a mammalian alligator-like animal with short, thick blue-black fur. Its long snout filled with hundreds of razor sharp teeth. It also had long powerful legs that made it the fastest creature on Terrania... for very short bursts. The qy-teens were originally native to Qoo-jah, but had been hunted to extinction there for their pelts, which were apparently very valuable.

Then, there was the mynoqs. These resembled small muscular, winged Compsognathus... the compys of Jurassic Park fame. These are even smaller than their extinct 'cousins' on Earth, being not much bigger than a pigeon. But they are great hunters with ravenous appetites. A pack can take down a fully-grown kyliah and strip it to the bone in just a few short minutes. And... with their tiny wings, they could fly short distances. It was joked about quite often that they were 90% mouth, 5% wing and 5% ass. In large numbers, they were among the most feared carnivores on Terrania, being utterly merciless.

The swamp itself was fairly dark, the trees forming something like a canopy. Not as thick as the Amazon jungle on Earth, but very little light got through. The road here appeared to be approximately ten yards wide and was firmly packed.

Seq-qah rode close to my side, clearly not happy about going through this swamp. I fear for thy safety, Master. As usual, her concern was more for me, than for her own well-being.

We would set up camp and wait until the next morning before entering. During our evening meal, just minutes before the sun set, we mostly discussed inconsequentials, when there came an odd humming sound from the swamp. Seq-qah with plenty of help from Qij-jah practically dragged me closer to the fire and then they immediately added more wood to it until they had a small bon-fire going.

Most swamp creatures feared fire.

The normal sounds of the swamp suddenly ceased. Everything became as quiet as a tomb.

"Mynoqs!" Hissed Seq-qah. She was terrified.

The humming grew louder.

Off in the distance, well outside the camp, I saw a tearlop, a large deer-like animal. Two horns came out the top of its head, curving forward. A third straight up from just above its nose. They reminded me of the horns on a triceratops. It stood stock-still. Sometimes... not all the time, but sometimes, the best defense against mynoqs is to become completely immobile.

Then I saw them. Hundreds of them. Some were running, some were flying. Ah! The humming sound. I though. Their wings were small...very small. They could only fly about 20 to 30 yards and then run until the tiny wings were rested. The wings worked not unlike those of humming birds.

Too late, the tearlop realized that remaining still was not going to work this time. The mynoqs enveloped it. There were a few panicked painful bleats, and then it fell and was silent. Less than five minutes later, all that remained was a skeleton. Once finish, they all started looking at the camp. They saw the fire and then left in the direction they had come from. I sensed they did so reluctantly.

Mynoqs apparently really feared fire.

We departed and began our trip well after sunrise the following morning. The journey through the swamp was uneventful. We reached the first real stop in our trip home three days later. We finally came out of the swamp, and....

There it was. I was struck silent with awe and wonder. It is called Gateway. The wall was nearly 100 feet in height. It ran straight as a rifle shot all away across the strand, almost three leagues...and into the sea, a quarter of a league on either end.

It was made from a material called stonite, which is not unlike concrete but was almost ten times as strong. The only downside was that given enough heat, stonite would burn. I knew it to be more than a hundred yards thick. The first ten were solid...the rest honeycombed with barracks, shops, armories...an entire city built throughout the length of the wall. The most impressive structure I'd ever seen in this life. It was an exceptionally dark shade of gray, almost black.

Outside the wall, an army was camped... a full division, at least. They were dressed in various shades of green and brown... almost like camouflage but not quite the same. The flags, I could see were Terranian.

Apparently, we had been seen. A company size group broke away and headed directly toward us.

We rode slowly out to meet them.

When they were close enough to converse without yelling, their leader said in a voice the brooked no argument. "Halt! Identify yourselves!" The young man seemed uncertain, but to his credit, there was no 'back down' in him. There was a small golden circle on his collar with a black center. A junior lieutenant. His uniform was a mish-mash of colors. The tunic was a dark forest green; its collar and sleeves a much lighter shade. The trousers were mud brown.

Kôjar nudged his kyliah forward. "I am Major Kôjar; this is my lord, Dee-Ess." He said, indicating himself, then me. He leaned forward in his saddle. "And, yours as well." He was dressed in his black and gold uniform, but the rank insignia on his collar was obviously Terranian. This did not go unnoticed by the young lieutenant.

Suspicion crossed the young man's face. He spoke with an authority he suddenly wasn't quite sure of. "Impossible! Lord Dee-Ess has only just started across the Strand." He looked at his men. "Take their weapons...bring them."

I kicked my kyliah forward and before anyone could react, drew my katana and pressed the blade to his neck, without cutting him. "I will go with you... if you can find the courtesy to ask me in the proper fashion, but I will not surrender my weapons."

Stalemate! Nobody moved. Nobody backed down. I smiled at the lieutenant. The kid's got a pair...even as scared as he is. I thought to myself. Moments later, another man arrived on a kyliah. It was Colonel Rango. "My Lord!" He said, saluting me.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. We were taken to Gateway where we arrived to a hero's welcome.

Colonel Rango escorted me to my quarters that were much too ostentatious to suite me. I would find others later.

After the evening meal, I was bathed thoroughly by Seq-qah and Qij-jah. Qij-jah offered to help me dress into a gi. "No..." I told her. "...I'm going straight to bed. A gi was perfect for lounging around in, but I, just as I did on Earth, preferred to sleep nude.

I got into bed, followed by Seq-qah. Though I could sense her arousal, she attempted nothing that night, perhaps thinking it was not a good time for that. Seq-qah and I were drifting off to sleep when suddenly came a bright flash of light, like those I'd seen before. I opened my eyes wide and at first saw nothing. What the.... I thought, slightly bewildered.

Then, I saw her, across the room by my desk. She had the graceful pointed ears and black/gold eyes of a Qoo-jan. Any similarities ended there. Her hair was black as coal and her skin...white as freshly driving snow. White! So white it was as if light emanated from her. And... she was completely naked. In every other way, she was like a Qoo-jan. I could even 'feel' her emotions, which were currently dominated by uncertainty and not a little fear.

She looked at me with her eyes turning grey-white and said, timidly. "I am for thee, Master."

To be continued....

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Author's notes:

I have received some complaints about not having enough actual sex in this series thus far. Well, I regret to inform you that as you can see, that continues in this chapter as well...and maybe even the next. I shall endeavor to include a lot more sex in future chapters. Many writers on Literotica write stories about sex; I prefer to write interesting stories that include sex. For me, the story is more important. My apologies to any I've disappointed.