A Long Time from Home Ch. 22

Author's notes:

About the language and notation:

The Baylon language is a predecessor to Latin, which is why it looks like Latin at a glance.

Mental communication is denoted by a < and ends with a >, so a mental communication will look like this: "< Who are you? >"

Some warnings:

This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

P.S. I haven't gotten an editor yet, so any mistakes are mine. Interested editors are welcome :)

P.P.S. While you're here anyway, please rate the chapter and leave a comment :)

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Chapter 22 -- Flashback: Pirates

Alashiya (Cyprus) and Wilusa/Troia, Anatolia (Modern Turkey). Ca. 1222 BC.

The trading area of the city was bustling with people going back and forth, looking at the many stands and the goods they offered. With the island kingdom of Alashiya being a major trade hub in the eastern Middle Sea, most of the goods were imported, while others were locally produced, like the copperwares and olive oil.

I smiled to myself as I made my way through the crowd. Some assignments are better than others and this one had turned out to be one of the better ones.

Some of the shipments of both cobber and olive oil meant for Baylon had failed to reach Honey Island and because I had done so well as a merchant on my previous trip, I had been sent out on an information-gathering trip that had taken two months so far.

In that time, I had lived here on Alashiya, pretending to be a rich merchant, buying, and selling goods and cargo space on trade ships in the area, while discretely searching the customer's minds for bad intentions.

So far, I had detected four different pirates who had bought goods or cargo space with the intention of assaulting the ship later. Those assaults had failed as the targeted ships had carried Baylon trained guards and a mage from Securitas Externus. Prisoners had been interrogated and more pirates had been taken out.

It might seem like a complicated way to secure our wares, but unfortunately, Securitas Externus didn't have the manpower to secure all ships and as most of the ships were local anyway, this was a way to take care of the problem discretely.

A well-dressed man selling three slaves caught my eye. I had seen him selling various goods before, but it was the first time I had seen him with slaves.

Not that there was anything unusual or illegal in trading with slaves, but as the source of slaves frequently were piracy, it could indicate that the man had dealings with pirates. Especially when considering the many different types of goods, he had been peddling in the last few months, as that type of merchants usually just sold plundered goods of any kind.

I changed my direction and walked over to him, followed by my armsmen. I had five of them, but as usual, only three escorted me on the marked.

Personally, I would have preferred to go alone, but as tradition dictated that successful merchant had armsmen for their protection, I had armsmen. Everything else would have been out of character for the merchant I was portraying.

As I walked closer, I looked at the slaves. It was a local looking man and two women that looked like they came from somewhere in the Nile delta of Kumet.

"Hello, Sir." Greeted the merchant with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Could I interest a fine gentleman as you in some slaves?"

I hesitated, causing him to launch into a longer sales pitch about the slaves. According to him, the man was an excellent gardener and workman, while the women were good cooks and housekeepers. The only negative according to him, was that the women didn't speak the Alashiyan language.

Looking over the slaves again, their professions were clearly something the merchant had invented. The man had the look and body posture of a sailor, while the two women didn't look like house slaves. The women were also badly scarred on both face and arms, with most of the scars looking recent.

They didn't have the look of malnutrition some of the other slaves had and their arms looked too muscular for them to be daughters of a rich merchant. That made me look at their hands. Female slaves normally had their hands free, but those two had their hands bound.

Reaching out with my mind, I tried to connect with the still talking merchant, but his natural mind-shield was too strong for a causal examination and while I most likely could overcome it, I couldn't do it without him noticing that something was wrong.

Instead, I turned my attention and mental scan to the two women and quickly discovered that my hunch had been right: Their names were Nofret and Khenut and they were not housekeepers, but sisters and acolytes at a Bastet-Sekmet temple in Pi-Ramesses and had been caught when their ship was attacked while on the way to Byblos. Both Bastet and Sekmet were lioness goddesses and many of their followers, including their priests and acolytes, were trained in combat.

That explained their muscled arms as well as why their hands were bound. Their scars came from whipping, as the women had fought against the pirates attempts to use them for sex and had even killed one of their attackers, before the fight was broken up by a high-ranking female pirate.

Turning my attention to the man, I connected with his mind and struck gold. He wasn't a local sailor, but a Phoenician from Tyre named Batnoam, and he had been the navigator on the ship carrying the two women. As Phoenician navigators were usually either pressed into service or tortured for information on trade routed by the pirates, he had pretended to be an ordinary sailor when it as clear, that they couldn't escape the pirates.

The gold part was that he knew the route leading to the pirate's hideout and that there were no less than four pirate ships there... or at least there was two weeks ago, when the three of them were moved out.

The merchant finished his sales pitch and looked expectantly at me, the smile never leaving his face or reaching his eyes, while I thought it over. Buying the slaves would give me the time and privacy needed to get the information I wanted, but my budget didn't include the buying of slaves, as they were quite expensive.

On the other hand, if I did get information enough to take down four pirate ships, Securitas Externus would almost certainly cover the expenses. The only problem was that the only things I personally owned, was worth either a lot more or much less than the three slaves.

"Why would I buy two women, who're obviously troublemakers, judging from the scars they're wearing?" I asked him. "And the man is old, way past his prime."

"They're still valuable" The merchant objected. "What do you have to offer in return?"

"More than you have here." I said with a snort and turned to one of my armsmen, who were carrying my goods. "I need the Lion sword."

He nodded, took it out of the bag and unsheathed it before he handed it to me.

Smiling slightly, I turned back towards the merchant and placed a bronze sword on a case in front of him. It was one of the swords, I had made in the crafting halls of Ordo Architectus and while it had been made as a showpiece, it was very much a useable weapon.

The merchant's eyes light up with greed, as he took in the details from the richly engraved double-edged leaf-shaped blade, over the lion paw cross-guards to the ivory handle and the lion's head pommel. It might have been a showpiece in Baylon, but here it was a weapon fit for a king or a chieftain. Reaching out, the merchant gently ran a finger over the edge of the sword to test it.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been a fairly safe procedure, but this wasn't a normal bronze sword and his eyes widened in surprise, when the edge cut deep enough to draw blood. His eyes reluctantly left the sword as he looked at me again. "We might be able to come to an agreement."

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The trading took a while, but when we were done, I owned not only the three slaves, but also fine linen from Kumet, along with some incense and perfume.

Normally, I would have taken my time to look around in the marked after more goods, but the linen, incense and perfume filled the small chart completely, which gave me an excuse to return to the house immediately.

Once safe inside, I willed all three slaves to sleep and then set about searching the mind of the Phoenician for more details about the pirates and their hideout. I did the same with the acolytes, but their memories mostly confirmed what I already knew.

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It was evening when I had the information I needed and reached out with my mind to contact Varro, who was the second inquisitor on the mission and the leader of the small force dedicated to take on the pirates I found.

Normally called Varro, Decimus Livius Varro was a year older than me, about four cubit (6'11"/208 cm) tall and had been my rival for being the best swordfighter in the class. He was also a member of the Varro clan, which was not only nobles, but also extremely rich and sported some of the best magic users in the Baylon Empire. Since I came from a family that wasn't any of those, that had caused some trouble between us when we were younger, but as time went by our families' differences had meant less and less and by now, we were friends.

"< Varro... I got a target for you >"

"< About time >" He answered sounding and feeling somewhat grumpy. "< I'm sick and tired of sitting on my butt here, while you have all the fun >"

That caused me to chuckle. "< Get over it. They think I'm a giant and you're a head taller than I am! You would scare the daylight out of them >"

"< Yeah, I know... Anyway, where and what is it? >"

"< Look at the waiting time as a form of vacation >" I sent back, filling the link with amusement, before giving him a quick briefing about the slaves and the information I had taken from the Phoenician. "< Go and scout the place. Chances are they're still there >"

"< Ohh >" His mind voice was filled with anticipation. "< If they are, this is gonna be good >"

"< At least it will lessen the piracy here for a while >"

He sent a snort over the link. "< Until the next shows up. Alright, I'll go pirate hunting >"

"< Good luck >"

"< Thanks. Watch your back in town >"

My work done for the moment, I ate a late supper, relaxed in the upstairs living room the rest of the evening and was about to go to sleep, when I suddenly felt the familiar sensation of somebody using magic. From the feel of it, it was human magic and a heartbeat later, I could hear the sound of running feet and fighting, along with the shout of "Attack! We're under attack!"

The door to the living room was made of thin wood and it splintered when two big guys in leather armor burst through it, waving bronze axes in the air. They fell to the floor, as my two bronze throwing daggers hit them with deadly accuracy.

More fighters followed and without thinking, I flowed into the state of Mutatur Tempus Mente (Baylon: "Time shall be changed in the mind."). My brain accelerated and everything else slowed to a crawl, as I drew my two bronze Diucultro (Baylon: Long Knife) and went to the attack.

While not as good as Adamant weapons, the bronze Diucultro was still a lot better than anything the locals had. They were part of a three-piece set I had made to complete the forging course at Ordo Architectus and the metal was a beryl-copper alloy that was every bit as sharp, durable and tough as steel, enabling me to parry with the weapon. Something that wasn't really an option with the much softer bronze weapons.

The forward curved long knives glittered golden-red in the light from the oil lamps, as I danced around the attackers, weapons cutting easily into the intruders, killing some of them and made them retreat into the next room.

I was following them, when I felt human magic again and a heartbeat later, the air around me exploded in a ball of fire. It wasn't as intense as an Ars Magica Fireball, but it still made my clothes burst into flames and burned the hand I had lifted to protect my eyes, causing me to drop the knife.

With a curse, I dodged into the room I came from and cut the garments off before the fire damaged me seriously. Fortunately, the outfit I was wearing was of the loose hanging type favoured by almost all people living in hot climates, so I did get them off quickly, even using only my right hand. The left hand was badly burned by the fire ball, making it unusable for now. The healing Ars Mentalis started by itself, but it would take a while before I could use that hand again. In the meantime, I blocked the pain to stop it from distracting me.

The feel of human magic filled the air once more, but this time it washed over me, without taking effect and I heard a startled gasp from the doorway.

Looking up, I saw a female spellcaster hurrying to cast a new spell, while her two guards looked like they would like to charge me. Instead, they stayed close to the woman, protecting her with their shields.

It was a disciplined move from their part, but it wasn't going to help them much. Looking at the woman, I activated an Ars Mentalis trick and an invisible force contracted around the woman's throat, choking her.

By itself, the Ars Mentalis trick isn't that good, as choking people to death usually takes longer than most people suspect, leaving the target amble time to hack you down with whatever weapon he or she was using. However, it was a brilliant way to stop spellcasters from uttering their spells and this time was no different, as the woman's spell was cut off abruptly, causing her to stagger and point desperately at me.

The two guards understood her gesture and finally charged me, only to be cut down as I met them halfway. The woman joined them on the floor a few heartbeats later, when I used another Ars Mentalis trick to send her into an hour-long coma.

I could still hear the sound of fighting in the house, but for a few heartbeats, the room was quiet enough for me to hear somebody moving behind me. Spinning around, I discovered that the three slaves had been awakened by the noise and they were now trying to hide in a corner. Leaving them would give them a chance to escape, but it was likely that there were more attackers outside, waiting for us to come out.

"Stay inside." I commanded, adding mental power to my voice to ensure they obeyed.

Since I was standing next to the first two attackers, I bent down, removed the bronze daggers and other weapons from their belts, and threw them to the slaves. "Here. Defend yourself, if the attackers arrive before I come back."

Then I quickly checked the next room for enemies, before taking the beryl-copper copy of Shadow Fang out of the trunk, dropping the long knives. From the sound of it, there were lots of attackers and I would need the longer reach the sword gave me, since the burned hand prevented me from using a parrying weapon.

I went off in the direction of the fighting and was halfway there before I realized that I was going into combat, wearing only loincloths and a sword. Not the best idea in the world, but with spell casters around, I couldn't just stay in the room. The house was not a Baylon house, which meant that it was easily affected by magic and they might decide to tear it down with me inside it.

It wouldn't even help to call out to Varro. Neither he nor his men had seen the inside of the house I was using and thus they couldn't teleport or gate here.

Most of the fighting was going on in the courtyard and when I came out of the house on top of the staircase, I could see my badly outnumbered armsmen fighting unknown attackers.

They weren't unknown for long though. In the middle of the crowd, I spotted the merchant from earlier, fighting an armsman using the sword I had sold him. I guessed the merchant had decided that he wanted his goods back, along with any more swords or other expensive goods I might have, and had enrolled his pirate friends to do most of the fighting.

Unfortunately, unlike Ars Magica, neither Ars Mentalis nor Vis excelled against multiple targets, so I would have to do it the hard way.

Time to dance with the Goddess of Death again.

Mental energy surged through my body, making me stronger and faster, before another Ars Mentalis trick transported me instantly to a spot just behind the merchant and a heartbeat later he fell when I hit him on the side of the head with the flat of the sword. With any luck, I haven't crushed his skull, enabling me to read his mind later. If not, the death of a merchant pirate wasn't a great loss to the world.

Slipping into Vis Meditation for a heartbeat, I activated Pugna Promptu (Baylon: "Combat Readiness"). A power that made me aware of all attacks aimed at me, and then hurriedly dodged away, as one of the pirates slashed at me from behind. My counter strike slashed his throat.

As the next pirate attacked, I discovered two things: The limited space in the courtyard severely hindered my ability to evade attacks and the pirates had more experience than I had in fighting in such restricted areas. I did evade the attacks, but it seemed like I constantly bumped into other attackers or one of my few remaining armsmen and while I avoided serious injury, my healing was working overtime to close the multitude of superficial wounds I got from not being able to away completely.

Fortunately, the burn wound on the hand healed during the fight and I quickly snatched up the bronze sword from the fallen merchant to use it as a parrying weapon. That alone most likely saved my life. With fewer glancing blows hitting me, the healing started to catch up and when the last pirate in the courtyard fell, I wasn't bleeding anymore.

Even with the courtyard being empty of attackers, I could still hear fighting inside the house along with the sound of female screaming. With a sigh, I told the two remaining armsmen to stay and guard this side of the house and went back inside. This time, I walked as silently as possible, while looking out for enemies.

I didn't see any until I reach the kitchen, where two pirates were getting ready to rape the cook. One was holding her down on the table, while the other was between her legs, opening his garments. She did try to fight against them, but the two attackers were a lot bigger and stronger than she was. Fortunately, like the rest of my servants, Sevina was born and raised on Baylon, which allowed me to use powers without causing any stories to circulate in the town later.

An Ars Mentalis trick paralyzed the one holding the woman, giving me time to take down the other one, before knocking the first one out for good.

More yelling sounded, and this time it wasn't a scream, but a curse yelled in Kumetian. With a sigh, I set of toward the room where I had left the slaves.

I hadn't needed to worry about them. When I entered the room, the Phoenician was holding two pirates at bay with his axe and shield, while the two acolytes had armed themselves with a pair of knives each and had taken down yet another pirate.

Both women and the Phoenician widen their eyes in surprise when they saw me, causing the pirates to glance in my direction as well. A heartbeat later, they screamed in terror, ran to the window opening and jumped out. From the sound of it, they hit the ground running, screaming about blood drinking demons.

Slightly confused, I reached out with my mind and connected with Phoenician, so I could see myself from another point of view.