Belle, Rani, and Sashar looked at Aeyli to see what she would say.
She said, “Girls, Mark comes from a different world. Oh, Sashar and Alexia, Mark really did come through the shrine from John Carter’s world. A place called Earth.”
Sashar said, “Yes, we know. It’s no secret from us.”
Aeyli said, “Then, you understand that sometimes he thinks like someone from a different world. He has told me strange stories about Earth, and this must be how someone from Earth might think. Mark, entering Nobrus after so long would be considered a triumph. I bet that in a few months, after Tranna has changed a bit more, if we announced that we wanted to go to Nobrus and see if it could be lived in again, people would volunteer to go with us. When we go back to Tranna, they will make us tell stories in the council meeting.”
I said, “Oh, I see.”
She said, “So we’ll probably find the gate closed. We’ll open it and find that the village is relatively clean. First, we’ll find the well and then we can look for a suitable building to stay in. Probably we should look for the tallest building that we can find. We can find furniture and make the place secure on the first night. The next day, we should go into the woods and see what food will be available to us. Then we’ll know how to decide if we should stay or head somewhere else right away. I think that we’ll find plenty to eat in the woods of Nobrus.”
Aeyli said that the woods next to Nobrus were about twelve miles across. Because water was scarce and primarily spring water rather than rain water, any woods or jungle on Barsoom tended to be very small by earth standards. The very fact there was a wooded area meant that there must be a spring.
I asked, “Is the spring warm and big enough to bathe in, like we did before?”
She smiled and said, “I don’t know. We’ll have to find out. I hope so.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon training. After practicing the block and avoid moves for a while, I added a single counter attack on each block. Later, I added another so that each block was followed by two counters, and then three when two was comfortable for them.
The time passed quickly. We continued training until the sun started to go down.
It seldom got very dark on Barsoom. The two moons were almost always in the night sky. It would be dark in the shadows of buildings, but out here in the open, there was plenty of moonlight so see fairly well.
For our evening meal, we had water and fruit and a little dried meat for protein.
Chapter 32
At the Place of Demons
We awoke together at dawn.
Everyone was a bit subdued and quiet. We all knew that today we would go to the spot where Aeyli and Alexia had lost their parents. We were on our way to confront demons. We packed the cart and harnessed Cassius.
The girls planned to stay naked and leave their belts in the cart as we had yesterday, but I called them to me and said, “Before we go, come here for a moment.”
They gathered around and I hugged each one, Belle first. I kissed her and said, “Belle, wear your belt. We have work to do.” I buckled her belt around her waist myself and then kissed her again.
I did the same with Rani, and then with Sashar.
I took Alexia in my arms and kissed her and buckled on her belt saying, “We have work to do. When it’s done, we’ll celebrate together.
When I came to Aeyli, I held her in my arms tightly and said, “Princess, I’m with you. We have work to do today. I’ll buckle your belt myself and I won’t leave your side. I came through the shrine so that I could be with you, and to be with you for this thing today. I love you.”
I buckled the belt around her waist and kissed her again and she hugged me tightly and smiled.
I took the bokken from the cart and inspected each girl and attached their swords to their belts, making sure that everything was in order as I inspected my troops. I checked each knife and each small water bag. Then I made a show of checking breasts and butts and crotches, giving each one a little kiss between the legs. The girls giggled and suggested that I needed to inspect them further.
It lightened the mood, and a few minutes later we began our march. As we walked, I held Aeyli’s hand and kept her beside me. There wasn’t a lot of talk, but the mood wasn’t as somber as it could have been. There were plenty of smiles and Sashar did what she could to keep things happy, even if we were not light-hearted.
After a few hours of near silence, Aeyli suddenly stopped. We were at the place. There was no discoloration or visible indicator that I could see. Everyone stopped, but no one seemed to know what to do.
I said, “Everyone, wait here for a moment. Sashar, come with me.”
I picked the tiny girl up and put her on my back and ran fast away to a spot where we could talk in private. I covered a hundred yards in long leaps in a matter of a few seconds.
I set Sashar down on her feet and said, “Sashar, what do I need to do? Tell me about the feelings that Aeyli and Alexia have here. Is there some ritual or talking to dead ancestors or anything like that we need to let them do?”
Sashar said, “Wow, you can run really fast, even carrying me! Um, no, we don’t talk to the dead. People die. At times, a lot of people die. Aeyli’s mother and father and Alexia’s father all died here. What they’re feeling is the fear that they felt when the attack happened. The demons are the fears of little girls when a monster tried to kill them. It was terrifying. When they got to Tranna, they had nightmares, afraid that it would track them down and find them, even though it was dead. They feared that its mate would find them and attack them and kill even more people. They may have felt some guilt that those people died protecting them.”
I said, “What can we do?”
She said, “I don’t know.”
I asked, “What if I teach them to kill it? Do you think that would help?”
She said, “Mark, I don’t know. We see people die. It’s a part of life. But, children never survive an attack by a White Ape; we don’t know how to help that. Look what Alexia did to herself until you came. Now she’s like a girl again. She talks again. Do what you think is best. We all love you and trust you. I trust you and love you.”
I said, “OK. I hope that I do the right thing.”
I kissed her and put her one my back and hurried back to the others.
Sashar hopped down with a grin and said, “Girls, you need to try that. It’s better than riding a Thoat,” referring to the large ‘horse’ of this world.
The girls still stood quietly. Aeyli just stared into the ground, not knowing what she should do.
I said, “Everyone come here. We’re going to do some training. But first, some teaching. I want to teach you how to kill. It is one thing to know the moves; it is another to know how to use them to kill if necessary.
Fighting different creatures is different. Let’s start with a man. With a man, fight the way that I trained you. Your range is longer than his. You can strike his head before he reaches you if your timing is good. If possible, let him come straight at you and when the instant is right, bring your sword straight down on his head. It’s a killing blow. Strike very hard. Use everything your muscles can direct into your technique.
If the strike to the head isn’t possible, strike his elbow. A man relies on his arms and hands to fight. If you break his elbow or shoulder or wrist, he’s not able to fight. His left side is most vulnerable, but after you take away his left arm, you have to take way his right as well. But, if you take away his left arm, his head becomes vulnerable. First his head, or his left arm and then his head, or his left arm, then his right, then his head. Or, left arm, right leg, head. The goal is to take away his ability to strike you, then his ability to protect himself.