Time Travel Chronicles Ch. 02

Maccus was interrupted by a knock at the door. With his cock still buried to his balls inside the bound woman's ass he yelled out. "Who is it?"

"It's Loegaire. The council has sent me to summons you. They want you to bring the woman you brought with you from the forest."

"What for, she's mine."

"It's Caratacos. He has laid claim to her to the village elders. He says he found her and she was taken from him."

"We'll see about that. That fucking little boy will pay for this interruption."

While Maccus had no fear of Caratacos and very little fear of the elders, he did have to respect their wishes if he ever wanted to become a village elder and he did want that. Maccus decided there would be time for fun after this was settled and pulled his cock from the woman he considered his slave already. He ordered his wife to clean her up and get herself cleaned up as well. He then told his wife to wear her nicest dress and get a blanket to wrap around his slave.

*****

Aeryn found herself being led to a large square building in the center of town. She wasn't entirely sure of what was happening but she was grateful to Caratacos. She had heard his name mentioned and heard Maccus speak angrily afterwards. A few minutes later Keelin had cleaned both Aeryn and herself up and then gotten dressed. Aeryn was still not untied and only had a rough woolen blanket thrown over her shoulders.

The structure Aeryn was led into was made the same way as Maccus's house, large uncut stone held together with a mud mortar. The inside was about twenty feet by twenty feet and there was a stone hearth at the center of the room. Several older men in woolen pants and shirts sat on chairs on one side of the room. Caratacos sat on a chair to the side and Maccus took a seat closest to the door. Aeryn was forced to sit down on the dirt floor by Maccus's feet while Keelin stood to his right side. There were five village elders and the one in the center spoke. She could not understand what he was saying but had hopes.

"Maccus, you have been summoned to the council meeting on a matter of rightful claim. Caratacos has stated that he was the one who found the woman at your feet and she was taken away from him. He lays claim to her. What do you have to say about this?"

"Elder Eogan, it shames me to think that poor little Caratacos feels that he was threatened. Neither I nor any of those hunting that day made any hostile move towards him. As to his claim to her, I have to disagree. I was not there when she was discovered, but I do know from my friends who accompanied me that Caratacos was not the one who captured her. This hunting party was mine and I am sure that none of those with me who captured her would deny my claim of her."

Eogan did not particularly like Maccus, he knew Maccus had a nasty violent side to him and that was one of the reasons he had always been opposed to putting Maccus on the council. If Maccus were to lose the woman bound and at his feet to Caratacos, this would be a major setback to his plans of becoming a member of the council, as he would lose face with many by losing an argument in a formal council meeting. Turning to Caratacos he could see the young man eying Maccus with fierce determination. "Caratacos, how do you answer the claims of Maccus?"

Caratacos took a deep breath. He did not think that he would have a chance to get the beautiful woman away from Maccus, but after talking to Eogan, the elder had convinced him that he had to take this matter to council and stand up for his rights. "Elder Eogan, Maccus claimed that since this was his hunting party he had first claim. While I agree that this is true of any animals killed or captured, I do not agree it also includes beautiful woman. I was within a few inches of her when Fiacre and two of the other hunters came upon us. Fiacre said hunters share what they find and then proceeded to rape her. I had learned her name and started to try and speak with her. She knows my name and I believe she would choose me over Maccus or any of the others."

Eogan looked at Maccus. "Maccus, do you deny that Caratacos was the first to find her?"

"Elder Eogan, does a child who points at something and says 'mine' because he sees it actually gets to have it?"

"Maccus, Caratacos is not a child and this is not the same thing and if you have any desire to sit on the council ever, I hope you know the difference."

Maccus could feel his face get red with anger at the rebuke. "I do not deny that Caratacos was the first to spot the woman. I do deny that simply seeing her makes her his."

Elder Eogan got up from his chair and approached the strange and beautiful girl sitting on the floor. She was the most beautiful woman the old man had ever seen. He admired her raven black hair and noticed her eyes did have a bird like quality to them in the way that they were slightly angled. Perhaps Caratacos was right and she is a forest spirit as he believed she might be. He could tell that Maccus had abused her by the way she flinched when he knelt beside her. Looking her in the eyes he pointed at Caratacos.

Aeryn saw the old man pointing at Caratacos and was trying to figure out what he was trying to do. At first she thought maybe he was asking her if she wanted to go with Caratacos and she started nodding her head in the affirmative. Seeing the elder shake his head no and keep pointing at Caratacos, she said his name, "Caratacos" and nodded her head in the affirmative. She had a sudden feeling of hope when Caratacos smiled at her. She knew he was making a claim of her. While she did not like the idea of being claimed she did like the idea that she might get away from Maccus.

Elder Eogan smiled as he made his way back to his chair and sat down. "The strange woman knows Caratacos name and that tells me that she and he did try and communicate before fiacre and the others bound and raped her. She also seems to choose to go with Caratacos. I also agree that while as leader of the hunting party you do have first claim, that right is not transferred to other humans. What do you have to say before we make final judgment?"

Maccus was furious that he had lost the argument to Caratacos in front of the village elders. Looking down at his property bound at his feet he decided if he couldn't have her, neither would Caratacos. "Elder Eogan, I can see that my intentions are misunderstood. I do not claim her for myself but for the welfare of the entire village. These last few years have been hard on the village and I have claimed her so that she might be sacrificed to the spirits. Would you deny the spirit's their proper tribute?"

Eogan was angry that Maccus would do such a thing. "Maccus, there has not been a human sacrifice in a generation."

Maccus grinned inwardly at the predicament he put the elder in. "I am aware of that elder Eogan; perhaps it is time to gain the blessings of the spirits we seem to have fallen out of favor with. I have no desire to kill her, I am very fond of her, but I am willing to do so for the good of the village. Wouldn't you agree the good of the village should come first?"

Aeryn could tell some thing had changed. The elder now looked angry and Caratacos looked very worried. Aeryn activated her Information Bio Pack and pulled up an English to Proto-Celtic dictionary. She quickly started scanning through some of the words until she came across one that Maccus had said and caused everyone's faces to give a look of surprise. 'Ati-od-bher-to', checking the translation she found that it meant sacrifice. She quickly started scanning through the pages of the Proto-Celtic people and found that they did conduct human sacrifices on rare occasions. Aeryn began to get a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Eogan was trapped. Although he found the idea of a human sacrifice appalling, he could not deny Maccus his sacrifice. If it was let known that Maccus had intended to sacrifice a strange woman to the spirits and he and the other elders had opposed it, it could get sympathy for Maccus and even a seat on the council next time a spot opened up. Worse, if he denied the sacrifice, everything bad that happened in the village would eventually be blamed on him for denying the spirits their tribute. "Very well Maccus, you will have your sacrifice. It will take place tomorrow and she will stay in the animal pen under guard until then to ensure her safety. You will also prepare a meal for her as she will be joining the spirits and speaking of you. I am sure you would not want her to say ill of you and this whole thing be for nothing."

Maccus stood up, looked at Caratacos and grinned openly. "Of course, I always respect the will of the council and I have no fear of how she will speak of me to the spirits. I know she enjoyed every moment she was with me." Maccus personally did not believe in the spirits and did not care what she had to say to anyone. He saw Caratacos begin pleading with the elders as he made his way out of the council chambers with his wife. "Come Keelin; let's go home so I can finish what I started earlier." He smiled when he felt his wife shiver as he gripped her by the back of the neck and led her home.

*****

Aeryn had spent the night in another pen. This time it was on the side of a house close to the building where Caratacos had tried to gain her freedom from Maccus. Her collar and leash had been removed but her hands were still bound behind her. She could not escape as two guards had been placed on the outside of her cage all night.

A couple of hours after the sun had come up Keelin had come to her cage with a clay pot filled with water and a bundled cloth filled with food. This time there was a look of sympathy in a newly blackened eye as Keelin fed Aeryn by hand. The meal was similar to the last with the exception of some smoked meat. Aeryn ate eagerly and could feel strength returning to her starved and battered body. Aeryn ate every scrap of food Keelin fed her and drank every drop of water from the clay pot. Aeryn noticed Keelin look hesitantly towards the guards before she got up. Seeing the guards conversing amongst themselves, Aeryn saw Keelin pull something out of her sleeve and drop it on the floor. Aeryn saw it was a small bronze knife about four inches long. She quickly covered the knife with her bare feet and watched as Keelin got up and left the pen.

Aeryn waited as the guards watched Keelin leave to get the knife from under her feet and into her hands. She slowly worked the knife up and down on the braided leather rope that bound her hands. She could feel her bonds loosen as each cord was severed. With a few strands remaining she could now get her hand to a point were she knew she could slide them out. She gripped the knife in both hands to conceal it from view.

An hour later Maccus, Fiacre and his three other friends from the hunting party showed up. Separately Elder Eogan, four other village elders and Caratacos showed up. They opened the pen and led Aeryn towards the edge of the village and the start of the forest. Aeryn could feel her adrenalin coursing through her body. She was stripped of her blanket and once again naked as she was escorted by the two men who had been with Fiacre. They were both armed with their hunting spears and bronze hunting knives at their sides.

Aeryn saw that the entire village had turned out for her sacrifice. There must have been four-hundred people in the clearing. The villagers formed a semi-circle with a large stone alter at the open end. The village elders stopped with the rest of the crowd as did Caratacos. Maccus, Fiacre and one other of Maccus's band stayed with the villagers as well.

Aeryn was half way between the stone alter and the crowd when she decided to make her move. She simply slid her hand out of the loosened bond and let instinct and training take over. With the knife in her right hand she brought her hand in front of her, reached over across her chest and stabbed the guard on her left in the jugular. A warm spray of blood fountain across her face as the surprised guard gripped his neck trying to hold his life blood in. The second guard was shocked at the suddenness of the attack, but managed to lift his arm up to block the slashing motion for his throat. Aeryn could feel the small knife slice though muscle and tendon. As the guard tried to bring his spear around, Aeryn was still inside its effective range. She gripped the shaft above where he held it, pulled it down and with the quickness of a striking snake, drove the knife into her second guard's throat.

Aeryn looked up and could see Maccus ordering Fiacre and his other companion to attack. The three of them started running towards her. She leaned down and grabbed the spear of the first man she had killed. The spear felt heave and clumsy in her hands. She laid the butt of the spear on the ground and held onto to the top of the shaft. She put her foot about a foot and a half down the shaft and stepped as hard as she could. After a couple of tries the shaft broke and she held her new weapon. It was now a foot and a half of hilt with a knife sharp two foot blade of bronze.

Aeryn with weapon in hand looked to the three men approaching her. To her surprise one of them fell face forward with a spear in his back. She looked behind him and saw Caratacos a few feet out of the crowd and no longer holding the spear he had held earlier. "Thank you Caratacos." She said silently as she watched her two attackers approach more cautiously.

Aeryn watched as Maccus and Fiacre separated and tried to position her between them so her back would be exposed to one of them. She moved to her left and circled Fiacre, positioning him so that he would be between her and Maccus. Weapons poised the three combatants moved around in arcs. From her many years of Kendo training she knew that the first one to make a mistake would be the loser and in this place and at this time there were no points or judges.

Aeryn held the three and a half foot weapon with two feet of knife sharp bronze blade in the (chudan-no-kamae) or with the tip of her sword pointed at her opponent's throat. In this case Fiacre, who was the closest to her. Aeryn could see Fiacre's muscles tighten and knew he was about to attack. As she expected he suddenly lunged at her with the point of his spear aimed at her chest. She deflected the strike down and away from her while moving at the same time to the side. Fiacre immediately swung the wooden butt of the spear at her head and Aeryn ducked feeling the air move her hair as the end of the spear missed her head by only an inch. Fiacre with the butt of the spear towards Aeryn quickly brought the bronze blade in a half arc over his head and aimed for her head. Aeryn brought her blade up and deflected it to her right side and immediately followed the block with a slice to the haft of the spear where Fiacre's hand gripped it. She felt the vibration shoot through her arm as her blade struck the wood with a heavy force and severed three of Fiacre's fingers. Fiacre screamed out in pain as his severed fingers dropped to the floor. He immediately clutched his bloody hand to his chest and covered it with his other hand still holding the spear. This was all the opening Aeryn needed. A sudden thrust to the throat and Aeryn buried ten inches of blade into her opponent's throat. While there was very little sound as the sharp blade passed through Fiacre's throat she could feel a popping sensation in her hand as the sword pierced flesh and muscle. She also felt a scraping as the blade slid along the bone of his spinal cord.

With years of training and practice, Aeryn was immediately aware of Maccus approaching her from behind and to the left of Fiacre. She withdrew her blade and Fiacre fell lifelessly to the ground. Now focused on Maccus he looked at all his fallen comrades for a moment and hesitated. Aeryn smiled openly at his fear, "what's the matter Maccus? Are you afraid of a girl?" While he would not understand the words, she knew he would understand the meaning. She could see Maccus get angry and prepared herself as he made his approach. His first few jabs were meant to gain momentum in the attack then anything really dangerous to her. She easily deflected the stabs and waited patiently for his real attack. She did not have to wait long. It was a double thrust, the first at her mid section he pulled short just at the last moment but still close enough to Aeryn to cause her to move to the side while leaning forward and her hips away from the thrust. His second jab was only a second after and aimed straight at her heart. She instinctually turned to the side to get away from the spear point but was only partially successful. While the blade did miss her heart it did leave a long gash on her left arm just below the shoulder. She did not immediately feel it with all the adrenalin coursing through her body but knew later it would sting and burn.

Maccus grinned with satisfaction as he saw the blood start to run freely down her left arm. His smile quickly faded as he noticed that she did not even hesitate at her wound and continued her stance with out any sign of weakness or emotion on her face. He advanced on her with several more thrust but noticed she easily deflected the jabs from his spear. Deciding to just knock her down with brute force he gripped his spear towards the butt and pulled back to swing at her with all his force. She would not be able to deflect it.

Aeryn saw the mistake and the opening she had been waiting so patiently for. She saw Maccus change the grip on his spear and began to swing it at her like a baseball bat. As soon as the spear was on its back motion she dove into a roll towards Maccus and came up kneeling before him.

Maccus immediately saw his mistake and was unable to get his spear in front of him and down before the naked young woman struck. He felt an intense pain in his abdomen as the blade of the cut down spear was thrust up and into his stomach. He immediately released his grip on his spear and gripped the blade without regard for his hands. While stepping back and pulling the spear out with his now bloody and cut hands he got the blade out of him. To his horror he saw his own guts spilling out of his stomach through the six inch opening left by the blade. He stumbled back a few feet and fell onto his back trying to push his own guts back inside. "Somebody help me." Seeing his wife approaching from behind the woman who had gutted him he called out to her. "Keelin, please help me."

Aeryn saw where his eyes were when he called out Keelin's name. Turning around she saw the slight woman pick up a spear and approach. She was about to get ready for an attack when she noticed that Keelin's eyes were not upon her. They were starring only at her husbands. Aeryn kept her blade pointed down and stepped to the side and out of the way. She watched as the abused and battered woman approached the man who had tormented her for so many years.

Keelin felt no sympathy for her husband as he lay there with his guts spilling out of his stomach. She approached him with a two handed grip on the spear and the blade pointed downwards. "How many times have you raped me? How many times have you hit me? You want my help? How many times have you beaten me so badly I could not leave my home?" Keelin pulled back the spear and thrust straight down at Maccus's crotch. She didn't flinch when her husband screamed out in pain as the two inch wide blade pierced and probably severed his penis. "You will never rape or torture anyone again. Not in this world," she pulled back the spear and struck again at his crotch, "or the next world."

Aeryn watched as Keelin pulled out the blade from Maccus's crotch and came to stand beside her. They spent the next five minutes just watching Maccus die. Aeryn could now start to sense things she had not noticed before. She could smell the reek of battle. The smell of copper and metal that is distinctly blood was thick in the air. The only smell stronger was the smell of shit coming from Maccus as he had crapped himself before dying. She then began to notice the crowd as it stayed in a semi circle. The people clearly shocked both at the extreme violence they had just witnessed and at seeing Maccus's wife stab him twice.