The Light Within Ch. 04

"Translation?" I asked Perikos.

"Apparently the shuttle pilot set down just over three kilometers southwest of his intended location. You are on the wrong side of the river."

I rolled my eyes. "How exactly do you manage that with a functional navigation system?"

"I do not know. Perhaps it wasn't functional, or he made a mistake or decided not to use it. Perhaps he is merely stupid, which is very likely as he would have you ford the river instead of returning to the ship."

"The river's not fordable?"

"It is quite deep and too fast moving, even for a competent swimmer and Kragosi are not widely known to be competent swimmers."

Brogn pulled my leash so that we all stood along the banks as they cast their lights at the water as though that would determine whether it was worth a try.

"I'm not going in," I said out loud. The way Brogn turned and looked at me, a look of mingled outrage and something akin to relief, I don't know why I decided to continue, but I did. "It's too fast. We should just go back to the ship."

"You'll go in if I say you will," Brogn told me, but he sounded more pathetic than usual. Maybe he realized what a fool this made him look like and this was his attempt to reassert some authority.

"Okay, sure. But then I'll drown and so will you and then what the fuck's the point of being a complete slimeball if you don't even get paid?"

Suddenly I was down on the ground on my stomach and I felt the echo of Brogn's steel-toed boot having connected with my gut. It took a second too long for the nauseating agony to blossom into little bursts of bliss. He kicked me again and it felt good, but the pleasure wasn't so strong I couldn't hear Perikos through it.

"The river runs underground two kilometers east and there is a place to cross. Tell him that and then keep your mouth shut, Jayn."

I relayed the message, lying there on my side as I bled internally where he'd kicked me. More grunting but I didn't bother to look up. At least he didn't keep kicking me.

Brogn yarded me to my feet by the leash. More grunting, some of it mine.

"They don't know which way is east. Tell them."

I told Brogn, winded though I was. I gestured with my head.

"Why should I listen to you, sow?" Brogn slapped my breast. Not exceptionally hard but I shuddered just the same.

"It's like you said, isn't it?" I panted. My abdomen felt odd. It wasn't exactly painful but pleasurable was the wrong word. The skin felt hot and tender. "I'd rather be fucked by every alien in the planet than lost with you."

Perhaps Brogn could sympathize about not wanting to be lost because he didn't hit me that time. Instead he oinked a few commands at his guards and hauled on the leash in the direction I indicated.

Perikos used the silence to unleash a torrent of admonishments about what was and was not the correct time to shoot my mouth off.

"I understand that you are frightened and under duress but please consider the fear I experience when I cannot stop you from being abused. I cannot reconcile your incredible foolishness, that you would choose to deliberately provoke them into harming you! This is not a game or a challenge. Simply because Brogn gains more by not mutilating your sex organs does not mean you may act as a petulant child would. Do not say anything else to any of them unless I specifically tell you to or I will have to force your silence. Do you understand, Jayn?"

I thought a vague affirmative at him since his heart was in the right place and I had been pretty stupid just then. We were marching east along the river, our formation looser and less organized now. I could only guess there had been some dissension in the ranks.

A little way along Perikos told me we'd reached the river crossing, which was good because I couldn't see it but the sound of rushing water had grown softer.

"Here," I muttered at Brogn, who pushed me slightly out ahead of himself down, letting me lead us through the marshy grass.

I took a few steps forward and Perikos moved my leg so that I set it down funny.

"You almost stepped on a fanged mollusk that would have poisoned you," Perikos told me.

As he said it, I heard a rifle behind me discharge and I tried to pull away from my tether. An echoing, shrill squeal came from the guard at the rear as he hopped about on one foot, howling in shock and probably considerable pain.

"I don't get it. Why are we wandering aimlessly in the dark treading on venomous mollusks and shit when they just need to make the handoff?" I asked Perikos.

"I can only suppose the Loyalists did not give Brogn complete information as to their whereabouts because they do not trust his competency to make sure you haven't been tracked by me and my second. Most wise of them, I'm sure you will agree."

"Yeah, brilliant. Only how long do I have to wander around with these idiots until we get where we need to go?"

"A worthy question," said Perikos as Brogn pulled me forward again. "Judging by where you are, there are several likely areas where the court might be currently located. There are three suitable cavern systems in the area – "

" – not more caves!"

" – as well as a sizable copse and two sheltered valleys, all of which would make suitable encampments."

"All within walking distance?"

"Yes, easy distance. They are hiding well because they fear the danger they are in. Of course, they have no idea."

Some food for thought as I continued onward, careful not to step on any deadly mollusks. The guard who hadn't been lucky enough to avoid one kept coughing and whimpering more pitifully than I imagined even Kragosi guards capable of. Another ten minutes passed otherwise silently.

I felt a twinge in the air but I couldn't see anything move ahead of me.

"Impressive. I had no idea you could sense them at such range."

I had been hoping I was sensing Perikos and Shadow coming to rescue me and little goosebumps prickled over my skin as I waited for whatever was out there to approach.

"They will not, as long as those fools keep waving those Lights around."

Great. Now all I had to do was convince the evil, paranoid pig guards to put down their only effective weapons so we could speed this along. Neither they, nor I, for that matter, had any guarantee we wouldn't be torn apart the moment the light went out.

"They're nearby," I told Brogn, who tightened my lead as like he wanted to strangle me.

"You're lying," Brogn snarled, though judging by his sudden onset of girlish trembling, he didn't believe I was lying at all.

"I'm telling you this so you put out the lights," I explained, bracing to get decked at the very suggestion.

I was glad I did. Brogn cuffed my face with the back of his hand hard enough to get his point across. His point was that turning off the lights was a very bad idea, which proved he wasn't a complete idiot, I thought as stars danced in front of my eyes. I hoped Perikos wouldn't get uppity and take away my speaking privileges. These morons would never work it out on their own.

I opened and closed my mouth to assess the damage. "Ouch. You think I'm fucking with you? You keep those lights on, they're just going to hover. They've got all the time in the world but they won't come near you with damn lights. Hey, eventually maybe one of them will get pissed and take a risk. Maybe he'll try to take you all out with one ambush so no one has a chance to use their lights. No one gets paid and he's the conquering hero. Is that what you want?"

Once more Brogn looked like he'd like nothing better than to hit me but decided not to. After a moment he growled, "how do you know they're here?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. Just one of those things you learn as a wanton alien slut."

Brogn took this admission to heart; at last there was something he and I could agree on. Then he hitched up the slack in the leash and pulled out one of the enormous knives I pulled off a guard only an hour and a half before and pressed the blade to my neck. He huffed and puffed at the other guards.

Then the lights went out and the blackness was absolute. This was easily the stupidest single thing I'd ever done.

"They're closer now. Less than 100 meters," Perikos' melody was careful, brave. But I didn't need him to tell me that. I could feel it in the air. My eyes adjusted to so well I could practically see them.

Suddenly there was music. A chorus of three, and two of the songs were familiar enough I felt myself quiver against Brogn's blade.

"The Human!" cried a male voice, commanding and smug.

"The Kragosi escorts," sang the second, and I felt a little thrill of murderous rage that had nothing to do with my own when I identified the spy who sold us out the Loyalists in the first place.

The third said nothing and for once the Kragosi guards followed suite. It was a pleasant change from their usual blustering bullshit but it didn't help ease my panic.

The male Loyalist was the one who had interrogated me, probably not sent to collect me alone because he did such a bang up job the first time. I wasn't versed in the comings and goings of Loyalist hierarchy, but I had it in mind he was on his last chance. Maybe they all were.

"Brogn," said Bonebreaker. Or maybe I should call him Earnailer? Nah, might send the wrong message and anyway, who could take a guy called "Earnailer" seriously?. Bonebreaker positioned himself squarely in front of Brogn and Brogn didn't completely shit himself, which put him above my estimations.

"Perikos," growled Brogn back in Common. Bit of a misnomer, since their planet was called Perikos but they never called themselves by that name. Of course, I hadn't been of a creative mind when Perikos told me to choose a name for him, so here I was, feeling foolish on the eve of my demise when Brogn called by Bonebreaker by my lover's name. What a tangled web we weave.

"We can take the Human from here," the female sang. She didn't have to even sing to radiate ice-bitch.

"No. The agreement was my men and I would take her to camp with your escort." Brogn kept his blade next to throat.

"You are eager to meet us all, are you Brogn?" sneared Bonebreaker.

"More like you're eager to take all the credit and deny my payment!" Brogn pressed the dullest bit of his knife against to my throat and if I hadn't been so petrified I might have reminded him I wasn't the one doing the arguing.

"Is that all? By all means, we will lead the way," Bonebreaker's normal sandpaper melody sounded unctuous and false but I seemed to be the only one that cared.

"First though," he began and one of his thick tendrils carefully traced the entrance of my slit. "This is the reproductive organ? Yes, intact," he told the others. Brogn shuddered slightly and I shuddered back, each for our own reasons. Judging by the stubby boner forming under what passed for breaches, Brogn still wanted to watch them rape me.

I expected them to order the Kragosi to leave their Lights behind but they didn't. Did this mean the Loyalist guards were as terrified of the possibility of Perikos and Shadow as the Kragosi guards were of the Loyalists?

"They have every reason to be terrified. Their way of life ends tonight." Perikos' music sounded ominous and not at all comforting and I was just grateful Brogn was letting me walk normally, instead of strangling me with the leash or poking a knife into my neck.

We walked for five minutes in absolute darkness and guards bore up well, with significantly less buffoonery than they'd shown before the Loyalists have arrived. Bonebreaker was in the lead and I was sandwiched between him and Brogn. Two of the Kragosi guards flanked Brogn so closely they were using up all the good oxygen; the last marched immediately behind Brogn, single-file-monkey-style. From what I could tell the other Loyalists hovered at four o'clock and eight o'clock so if anything attacked from the rear and the blundering Kragosi turned on his Light, the attacker would get the full blast.

"Are you getting this?" I asked Perikos silently.

"I told you, Jayn, we will not intercept you until the King is within striking distance.'

"Oh yeah. How close is striking distance?"

"A good distance? Less than five feet."

Hoo boy. "But you're still watching, right?"

"Of course. I am using both your senses as well as I my own to track your progress. It is very efficient."

Hooray for efficiency. "Have you figured out where we're headed?"

Perikos thought. "Not the caverns or the eastern valley. Either the copse or the northern valley. Yes, you have just been lead north and the copse is south. The northern valley it is."

"Great. Now that we know that, why don't you go case the joint?"

Perikos said nothing and as we got closer, I didn't blame him. The valley was darker than any of the surrounding land, blacker than the most impenetrable night. I was reminded of touching down on the planet for the first time and really understanding fear as I heard rather than saw the seething masses of hostile darkness undulate and bay for my blood.

"Do not be afraid, Little Shade."

"Don't be fucking ridiculous," I told him, and rightly so. Walking in here unafraid would be the worst kind of stupid. Also, the fear thing would probably be good currency here.

The sloping hill split in two ahead of us and the long, shallow canyon the darkness coalesced in was not dissimilar to the one we'd landed next to when we came to the planet. The land was barren here too. There were no mushrooms patches or watering holes. The ground beneath my feet was craggy and uneven and I didn't step on any poisonous mollusks.

Brogn stopped for a minute and stared ahead, causing me to strangle a bit and fall backwards. I didn't know if he could even see the horrors that lay ahead of him but he knew enough to feel afraid. He started walking again and hauled on the leash, for all the world as though I had been the one who stopped. His guards continued their practiced tradition of jumping at small noises. Our escorts said nothing.

Only when I began to hear the jumbled, ravenous chorus did panic truly begin to set in.

"Give us the food!"

"King's meat!"

"Hybrid babies, weak but tasty."

Shit, shit, did I mention shit? I never wanted to hear 'babies' and 'tasty' in the same sentence, ever, ever again.

Brogn had quite forgotten to keep my leash tight or else he was satisfied that I couldn't run away or be attacked for where we were now. A gauntlet of blacker darkness parted before us and Bonebreaker led our godforsaken little procession through the center of the valley.

If it hadn't occurred to Brogn (whose mind might have been on his future millions) that the Kragosi might have a job getting out unless the Loyalists let them, it certainly occurred to his guards. They closed ranks around the both of us, perhaps thinking to use me as leverage. Well, I could probably do worse than being a hostage.

"You will be no one's hostage, Little Shade. Be brave."

I considered that I hadn't tried to run screaming from a situation apt to go down hill very quickly a sign of remarkable bravery.

As we continued the march through Loyalist central, the crowds began to thin and the cacophony began to recede. Something very much like a stone wall had been erected, or perhaps it had always been there. The entrance was narrow but I couldn't grasp what purpose it could possibly serve. The wall couldn't have been taller than seven meters and I flattered myself to think it had been erected for my benefit. I mean, it wasn't as though any Loyalist or Rebel wouldn't step over it easily enough.

"It is the area of the sacred," Perikos whispered. "The palace of the King." It was apparent they had to work on their infrastructure if a bunch of low stone walls passed for a palace.

Bonebreaker and company led us through the narrow gap and into a section of valley floor every bit as open and unremarkable as the bit we'd just come from, except that the perimeter was lined with pulsing black Loyalist guards and the biggest, darkest one of all was at the very center of the space, surrounded by several smaller ones.

I thought for a minute I was going to barf up a heart valve. I hadn't expected this to happen so quickly. I had anticipated throne rooms and catacomb chambers like before, and being made to wait even longer but I didn't need Perikos to tell me that the giant, undulating mass in the center of the room was the King.

No need to worry about protocol, since Brogn was holding my leash and he had decided not to take another step. He drew his knife out again, but perhaps because we were in the presence of an HRM, he declined actually poking me with it.

"The Human, Leader Greater than All Others Who is Revered and Faultless," announced Bonebreaker. Phew, what a hell of an honorific.

The great black coiled blob flicked and twitched what looked like a thousand arms at the sky, and at me.

"Her Kragosi transporters," the blob King observed slickly. "I trust you have ensured her condition?"

Bonebreaker answered. "Yes, Leader Who is All Knowing as the Darkness and Merciless as the Light, she is intact."

Not for long at the rate we were going.

"Brogn the Warden," he continued, his tune not much more than an indulgent purr. "You have fulfilled our agreement."

"When will I receive payment?" grunted Brogn. I had to hand it to him for having the gall to ask, let alone not flinching constantly like I was. Then again, his ass was never really on the line.

"Within a week," answered King Revered and Merciless Blob. Now was perhaps not the time for me to occupy myself wondering what the hell these creatures did that could be perceived as an economy, how they had acquired millions of anything worthwhile to Brogn (credits? corporate shares?) and how they might transfer said riches to his interstellar bank account. No, now was the time to keep my mouth shut and my eyes open.

Brogn didn't look pleased (and I suspected he would be less pleased in a week) but he held my leash out to Bonebreaker, who swatted the metal against my body, perhaps to bring me to attention.

"You are dismissed," he told Kragosi guards, though how far anyone expected them to get out alone in the dark was moot now. The guards, including Brogn, shuffled in a more or less straight line towards the narrow exit in the wall. For just a second before common sense kicked in, I was very jealous.

Bonebreaker pulled hard on my leash so that I stumbled towards the Leader of Overwhelming Heft. He was so much bigger than Perikos.

"Not naturally so. Can you feel his hunger, Little Shade?"

My vision got narrow and my head swam.

"His hunger is a good thing," Perikos whispered to me as Bonebreaker pulled me towards the King. "It weakens him. He means to sate himself on you."

Only a great big tentacle monster could possibly perceive that as a good thing.

"Human!" the King's melody sounded more like a belch to me. Gross. "Bow your head in deference to your new master!"

Even without the sting operation I didn't need telling twice. I bowed the entire top half of me, pulling my leash out of Bonebreaker's grasp with enthusiasm.

"Ho! I expected you to struggle or wish for your old master."

I stood there numbly for a minute when Bonebreaker collected the end of the leash and gave it a sharp tug. "Leader Most Treasured and Mighty asked you a question, Human!"

"Er..." what was I supposed to do, ad-lib? "I, er, realize that struggling against the King is useless!" I invented, unsure of whether to tell Bonebreaker or the Big Black Blob himself.