Tribal Bonds Ch. 02

Hello Readers! This is Part Two of a Six-Part story. All six parts are written and will be posted in order. It takes place in the same universe as my "Sultanah" series, but you don't need to read any of that to understand this story (but you really should read it). In Part 1, Kedi was sold into slavery along with a member of a rival tribe, Cilek, but the slavers were seemingly attacked by ghosts. Please, please, please let me know what you think!

Chapter 2: Among the Ghosts

I was not dead.

At first, that was the only thing that I knew. My senses, at least a few of them, returned to me. And I knew that I was alive. I knew that because I was not in the farthest North, beyond the glaciers. I was not at a feast with all of my ancestors. With Buzcu. And I was in pain. I was alone and my body ached. So I knew that I was alive.

But I had no idea where I was. Or how I'd gotten there. My head ached, it was difficult to think. My stomach swirled and at first, it was all I could do to avoid vomiting. I felt as though I'd been drunk the night before. A hangover far worse than any I'd ever felt before. A hangover just short of death.

I breathed slowly and kept my eyes closed. Eventually, my mind stopped spinning. My stomach settled, and I was able to think. I tried to remember where I was. I thought back to the last thing that I could remember and found that it hazy. My mind cycled through a series of unrelated images. Being sold to slavery, cities I'd slept in, being on the wagon on the road. Finally, I remembered the Kabile girl,Cilek. I remembered humiliating her. Being humiliated in turn. I felt the memory of the orgasm. And then the fear, as the men moved towards me.

The fear returned now, and despite the fact that it hurt my head to move, I pulled my legs to my chest, making myself small. For half a moment, I felt as though I was back in that moment, totally exposed. But, I took a breath, I controlled the panic. I felt that I was warm. There was no breeze. I wasn't outside. I felt clothes on my body. I did not remember what had happened. The men might have had there way with me. I might be in Topu or Köle's tent. Maybe that was why I hurt. But the danger had passed.

I was alive.

If I wasn't still next to the campfire, attached to the Kabile girl, I needed to figure out where I was. Try to remember how I'd gotten here. I knew I had to open my eyes and look around. Still, I felt safe in this moment, because I could not see. I feared that if I looked around, the illusion of safety would evaporate. For perhaps a minute, I resisted the urge to peek. I squeezed my eyes even tighter together. But I could not forget that I was Buz. In the far North, we could not afford to indulge our fantasies. And here, possibly surrounded by danger, I faced the same reality. I breathed in deeply and opened my eyes.

I groaned. There was a fire burning twenty feet away. It was small, but my eyes were sensitive. The pain was nauseating and I nearly closed my eyes again. My stomach rolled and my vision was hazy. But I kept my eyes open. The edges of my vision remained blurry. But eventually, the room around became reasonably into focus.

And it was a room. I had been right, I was inside. But it was not a tent. In fact, I could tell right away that the space I now occupied was not part of the caravan I'd lived with the last few weeks. I was in a permanent structure. In fact, it reminded me a bit of the longhouse that my family occupied during the long winter months, when we brought our animals inside for safekeeping. Though, there were no animals here. In fact, as far as I could tell, the entire structure was empty.

I could tell that the building was unoccupied because I realized that I was lying down in the very back of the longhouse. I could see all the way across, to the flap of skin that closed the door, perhaps 40 feet away. I was on a slightly raised structure, a bed perhaps. There were warm animal skins around me. The longhouse was maybe 15 feet wide and made of rough hewn logs. The roof was arched across the width, peaking at about 10 feet tall and then sloping down on either side. The arch ended about four feet from the ground, and the wall was vertical from there, to the ground. The floor, except close to the fire, was covered in fresh rushes.

That fire sat in the middle of the longhouse. I could see that there was a hole in the roof above the fire, for the smoke to escape. It was an effective method, as the house was warm, but not overly smoky. In addition to the central fire, there were several torches hanging from support beams. The entire structure was well lit, and almost cozy.

It would be a comfortable place to sleep. And I quickly saw that that was the primary purpose of this structure. I saw other raised structures around the outsides of the longhouse. They appeared to be similar to the one that I was on, if a little bit narrower. There were also mats on the floor, beneath the beds and even on the floor closer to the fire. They sat on top of the rushes. Beds for children, I suspected. I was in someone's home. But whose? And why?

The answer, it seemed, would not be long in coming.

No sooner had I gotten my bearings and at least partially conquered my nausea, that the room began to divulge its secrets.

My eyes were now sharp in the gloomy longhouse and they flickered instinctively to the door, as I saw the animal skin twitching. After a moment, the animal skin was flung open. I could see the torches on the far side of the room flicker as the wind entered. But I was too far away to feel it. Or see anything. For a long moment, there was just inky blackness visible through the open door.

I leaned forward apprehensively, feeling my stomach churn as I moved. I squinted into the darkness and felt my fear growing. I became aware, for the first time, of the absolute silence that permeated the longhouse. I had heard nothing but the crackling of the wood fire since I had awakened. It felt unnatural and I worried afresh about where I was and what was happening to me. But I couldn't focus on those fears. Because something was standing outside of the longhouse. Something totally silent was there and, at any minute it could come in. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was too weak to move. Too weak to protect myself. I was barely even a Buz.

Then I saw it. A white figure fluttered into the longhouse. Its movements were quick, but fluid. Elegant. Like a butterfly. Or, perhaps a moth, drawn to the flame inside the longhouse. But much too large to be a moth. I could not tell how large the door was, maybe three feet high, and the white figure had to duck to get inside. It rose to its full height.

And everything came flooding back to me. The men approaching after Cilek and I had...performed for them. Kole, the angry man who challenged Topu leading the charge. The feathers sprouting from Kole's neck.

The Ghosts.

The ghosts that had suddenly appeared in our midst, surrounding all of the men. Killing them. Knocking me down so that I thought that I was killed. And then they were here. In this longhouse. As I gazed in horror, more white figures, illuminated sinisterly in the guttering torchlight, flittered into the longhouse. They moved silently inside, coming closer and closer to the central fire.

I remained frozen on my elevated spot at the far end of the longhouse. I thought for a moment like a child and closed my eyes. Perhaps, if I buried my head beneath the blankets that covered me, the monsters that were inching closer would disappear. The fear I felt was like something I'd never felt before. It was far worse than anything I'd experienced in the attack on the trader's caravan. Men attacked and raped women. That was the way of the world. I was afraid of it, but it was within the realm of experience. This was otherworldly. These ghosts had captured me or...something. And what they would do to me now, I could not guess.

There was a snapping sound of the animal skin at the door flapping shut that shook me from my childish avoidance. My eyes fluttered open and I saw that the ghosts had not disappeared. In fact, they had multiplied. I counted quickly and saw that there were nine of them. Four stood to the left side of the fire, four to the right. The final ghost stood directly opposite me, on the far side of the fire. Despite the fact that the ghost possessed no eyes, it felt like that final ghost was staring directly at me. Like it was staring through me.

The ghosts were completely stone still and silent. For a moment, I wondered if they had been transformed into stone. But then I heard a slight creaking noise and I felt the platform which I sat upon shake slightly. I felt my hear cease thumping and climb into my throat. Suddenly, from beneath my raised bed, a figure appeared. It floating out from underneath of me, white like the other ghosts. As it rose to full height, it was only a foot or two away from my face. I used all of my self-control and self-possession to stifle a cry. That...monster had been beneath me, totally silent, this entire time. Or it had appeared suddenly. I did not know what was worse.

But the ghost seemed to take no notice of me. In fact, it rapidly fluttered away, moving towards the fire. In a moment, it was standing at the fire, directly opposite the one ghost that stood on its own. I saw the new ghost look to the left, then to the right, and finally straight ahead. This ghost seemed to have some sort of authority. It felt as though it was accounting for the others.

There was another moment of absolute silence and the room was entirely still. It seemed to me that even the fire had frozen. I expected at that moment for all ten ghosts to turn towards me, for mouths to open in their mute white heads, and for them to devour me in an instant. I do not know why that image sprang to mind. But it did so with such absolute force that I was instantly convinced that I was correct.

Instead, the crushing silence was pierced, "Nine, still, thank the gods. You are all back," a strong, but soft voice rang out. The words were barely above a whisper and I was more than startled to find that it was the voice of a woman. A human woman. A delicate, even beautiful voice that emanated from the ghost that had emerged beneath me. "Come," the voice said, "you are home now." And, as if that was a cue, the ghosts, suddenly, began to...disrobe.

First, hands seemed to appear from nowhere on each ghost. They rose up to their heads, throwing back hoods. Hands bunched up white fabric and then began to pull upwards, exposing feet, legs, more. It suddenly became apparent that the 'ghosts' were manufactured. It was a thin, sheer, white fabric. Now that I could see that, I wondered how I had missed it before. In a moment, the white fabric was laying in loose piles on the floor. And there were nine naked women standing before me. The one figure, with her back to me was still clothed. She had thrown back her hood, exposing long, straight, black hair.

Ten normal, human women. My fear began to subside, slowly and cautiously, and it was replaced immediately with confusion. Who were these women, and what were they doing? My eyes fluttered over them, trying to glean some clue from their appearance.

The nine visible women varied in age. The youngest looked to be around 18 years old, with delicate features, small high breasts, and a thin waist. The oldest looked to be the solitary woman standing directly across from me. I figured she was around 35 years old. The woman were all pretty, some were stunningly beautiful. In fact, they all looked somewhat similar with long, dark hair, big sparkling eyes, and dusky, olive skin. They even seemed to have the same dark red nipples. They were all clean-shaven between their legs and looked athletic and fit. Some, if not for apparent differences in age, almost appeared to be twins. I could learn nothing from looking at them.

"Yes, we took them entirely by surprise. Not only our longhouse, but every member of the patrol returns its full household," the woman standing across from me said, her voice clear and sweet.

"Donus came and she deposited your prisoner," the still-cloaked woman said, gesturing her arm backwards towards me, "But she did not bring me the good news." I felt my stomach knot. That confirmed it. I might not know who these women were or what they planned to do with me. But I knew that I was their prisoner. Still, they did not seem overly concerned with me, As the still-cloaked woman spoke, the woman across from her smiled broadly.

"I wish that I could take credit Orospu," the woman said, "But that is not my prisoner. Gul captured the Cadilar." The woman gestured toward another woman, standing on the right side of the fire. That woman, Gul, took a step towards the fire, her cheeks blushing. Gul was the most beautiful of the women around the fire. Her hair shined, her large breasts sat up high on her chest, her legs were thin and delicate. She appeared to be in her early 20s. Orospu turned and looked at Gul and raised her hands.

"Your first ambush and you manage to capture a Cadilar!" Orospu said excitedly. There was that word again, Cadilar. I'd never heard of it before, but I gathered that it referred to me. What was a Cadilar? What did it mean?

"Ruya, Diger's wife, she captured one as well," Gul said in a tiny voice. She spoke in a sort of deprecating fashion and her eyes remained on her own feet. Orospu, evidently, would not be swayed by modesty. She waved her hands dismissively.

"Well that is good for her. But it doesn't diminish your accomplishment! You were so upset when you were 8 months pregnant for the last ambush. I could barely keep you back! And now you've a beautiful daughter, an ambush under your belt, and a Cadilar in our longhouse! You want to pretend to be shy?" The other women around the fire laughed.

"Oro..." Gul began,

"No!" Orospu said, waving her hands again, "No false modesty here, come, brag! I want to hear the whole story from you," As she spoke, Orospu began to move around the fire. She shooed the other eight woman away, and they slowly made their way over the benches around the outsides of the longhouse. The two women sat in pairs together, looking at Gul and Orospu. Their eyes shined with excitement as their comrade began to tell the tale.

Orospu's warmth and excitement had apparently overcome Gul's reticence, and the younger woman as now smiling radiantly. And she was the younger woman. As Orospu moved around the fire, I managed to catch a glimpse of her face. She appeared to be around 35 years of age, but she looked slightly different than the other 9 women, though no less beautiful. Her skin, while still darker than mine, was not nearly as bronze as the other women. Her nose was thinner, but longer, her eyes were not quite as wide. Her breasts, still covered in a white robe, appeared to be far more massive than those of the other 9 women. In fact, her body was fuller than theirs, while not at the level of being fat. But whereas the naked women all appeared lean and toned, Orospu appeared voluptuous.

"Well, we received word from..." Gul began.

"I know that part! I was here yesterday morning. A caravan had entered the valley. You all dressed and armed and headed towards the river. What happened then!" Orospu interrupted impatiently. Gul took the other woman's excitement in stride.

"We reached them a few miles from the entrance of the valley. They were moving painfully slow because of their heavy wagons. We stayed in the trees, out of view. We moved quickly and no one noticed us. Before dusk, they stopped for the night. They were loud and poorly guarded. But we figured..."

"We?" a voice called out loudly. It was the woman who had been standing across from Orospu when they first entered. The other women laughed.

"Sorry," Gul said, "Otuzbes figured it would be best to simply wait until nighttime anyway. They broke camp before the sun had completely set. We could hear swearing and anger, and later confirmed that they'd broken a wagon wheel. We hunkered down and ate our bread, while we for them to settle in for the night. They made a fire so large that their eyes would not be able to see in the dark. They didn't post many guards. They ate a great deal of food and drank. They were comfortable and sated. They were ripe for the plucking!"

"Well tell me, love, how you...plucked them!" Orospu said excitedly and, as she spoke, she ran one of her long fingers along Gul's jawline. Gul smiled and the other women laughed. I thought about the caravan and that night...I'd never had any idea that these women were lurking in the shadows. I respected their prowess, even if I feared them now.

"We waited until it was very dark and then we formed a semi-circle around the caravan. We spread out slowly. I was on the left flank, closest to the river. The rest from our longhouse," Gul said, gesturing to the women around me, "fanning out to my right. We moved slowly, closing into towards the caravan. I moved along the river towards our right flank, so that our semi-circle slowly began to close into a circle around the wagons.

"Their only guard was positioned on the outside of their wagon train. He was pacing back and forth along slowly. We could all see him, outlined against the sky. He was loud. It was almost as though he wanted us to sneak up on him and slit his throat. Otuzbes was lucky enough to find him in front of her as we closed the noose around them..."

"Luck my ass!" Otuzbes called around from her spot along the wall, "I was setting the pace for the maneuver. I observed his motions and timed it perfectly!" she asserted.

"I believe I was invited to tell the story," Gul said, raising an eyebrow at Otuzbes. The other women laughed and Otuzbes swatted her arm playfully. It was clear that there was no real animosity here. A gentle, almost playful rivalry at most. They all seemed relaxed with one another, a strange dynamic. Strange, but somehow familiar in a way that I couldn't pinpoint.

"Otuzbes killed their lookout before he saw her. They were blind then, and didn't even know it. In the meantime, I had wrapped around their flank and were between the men in the caravan and the river. The right flank had circled around too. Ruya was just a few feet to my left. We had them surrounded. They had circled their wagons, but there was a small gap in the line. I could see them through there. The men were watching as they forced their slaves to...couple."

"Our prisoner and..." Orospu said, jerking her head back towards me. Gul nodded.

"Yes, and the one in Diger's longhouse," Orospu nodded her head. I knew, of course, what they were talking about. I realized that at least one other person had seen my humiliation. And I also knew that Cilek was still alive and in a nearby longhouse.

"Was the other one as pretty as your prisoner?" Orospu asked. Gul smiled.

"They could've been sisters," Gul replied and the other women giggled.

"Must of been quite a sight," Orospu responded, nodding. I felt my cheeks go red, despite the fact that no one was really looking at me.

"I didn't take the time to think about it," Gul said and the other women yelled with derision.

"You wouldn't look away from someone fucking if you were given six goats as a reward!" Otuzbes yelled out lewdly, the other women laughed. Gul blushed deeper.

"Orospu, I was focused on the task at had. The...beauty of the slaves did not concern me," Gul responded.

"I am sure it didn't" Orospu said in a way that indicated she wasn't quite sure. The other women laughed. Gul, evidently, decided to drop the point.

"Anyway, it quickly became apparent to me what was happening. The men, for whatever reason, had decided to make their slaves couple and they were all now completely preoccupied with their entertainment. They wouldn't have noticed if we marched in, heavy footed like their sentry, and slit all their throats. They were thinking with their cocks..."