Lord Marak stared at Rejji for a moment and then nodded to him. He raised his hand high and signaled his men with a series of exaggerated gestures. Rejji watched as the men of Botal’s squad started disappearing in different directions. Botal, Lord Marak, and Rejji sat on their horses silently for an hour before Lord Marak spoke.
“Now we shall visit your former jailers,” Lord Marak stated bitterly. “Ride silently.”
Lord Marak took the lead and headed straight for the campfire. He rode slowly and as quietly as possible. Rejji followed him and Botal took the rear. They got within five hundred paces before the slavers heard anything. Lord Marak maintained his pace as the slavers jumped to their feet and grabbed their swords.
“Who approaches the camp?” one of the slavers called out.
“I am Marak and two riders are with me,” Marak shouted back.
“What do you want?” the slaver called back. “We have no food to share here.”
“We do not seek food,” Marak called as he halted one hundred paces away.
“Well what do you want?” snarled the slaver.
“I want you to drop your weapons and raise your hands over your head,” called Lord Marak. “Failure to do so will result in one of my men shooting you with an arrow. Your camp is surrounded.”
The slavers looked suspiciously around the camp and returned to stare at Lord Marak. One of the slavers dropped his sword as his hand reached behind him to snare a throwing dagger from his belt. Marak sat calmly on his horse as the slaver fell face forward to the ground with an arrow protruding from his back.
“Any more heroes in the campsite?” called Lord Marak. “Drop your weapons now before I exterminate the lot of you.”
Chapter 30
Mulando
The slavers looked nervously around and then threw their swords to the ground. Rejji leaned close to Lord Marak and whispered in his ear.
“Turn around and face the fire with your hands held high,” Lord Marak ordered.
As the slavers complied, Lord Marak, Botal, and Rejji dismounted and Botal gathered the reins and held the horses.
“Mulando,” called Marak, “step backwards ten paces. Do it slowly.”
“Do I know you?” called Mulando as he cautiously moved backwards.
Rejji and Marak closed on the head slaver quietly. Lord Marak drew the Sword of Torak and let the blade rest on Mulando’s shoulder. The head slaver twitched involuntarily as his eyes focused on the tip of the sinuous blade. Rejji stooped and reached cautiously around the slaver’s body and yanked the pouch from his belt.
“You do not know me,” Marak stated as Rejji retrieved a key from the slaver’s pouch. “Instruct your men on their behavior, Mulando, and you shall all live through this encounter. If I wanted you all dead, we would not be talking now.”
Mulando started to nod his head, but thought better about the excessive movement with the sword still resting on his shoulder. “Listen well to him men. Let them take what they want. I will make up your losses, I swear.”
Rejji took the key and walked to the closest wagon and peered in. Inside the cage were three old women and two men around ten years older than Rejji. He unlocked the door and let it swing open.
“Go to the side of the wagon and do not move,” ordered Rejji. “You will be freed shortly.”
The men helped the women out of the cage and led them to the side of the wagon. They nodded politely to Rejji as they passed, but they still appeared frightened for their lives. Rejji backed away from the wagon on nodded to Lord Marak.
“Mulando,” Marak stated loudly, “I want your men to enter the cage so my archers can relax their bowstrings. Have them do it now.”
Mulando shouted orders to his men, but they hesitated in obeying the command. Marak made a signal over his head and a score of arrows whistled through the night air. Some of the slavers screamed; others merely gasped. Thankfully, none of them moved. The arrows thudded into the ground and made a ring around the slavers at their feet.
“I will not ask again,” shouted Lord Marak. “Get in the cage.”
The slavers rushed toward the wagon, pushing and shoving to make sure they reached the safety of the cage. Lord Marak withdrew his sword from Mulando’s shoulder and shoved him towards the cage, while Rejji gathered the former captives and led them away from the wagon. Mulando entered the cage and Marak shoved the door closed. Rejji rushed over and locked the cage while Botal’s men walked into the campsite.
“Now we have one more requirement of you,” declared Lord Marak as Botal’s men surrounded the wagon. “You will carefully toss out of the wagon all of your gold and weapons. Listen carefully because I do not intend to repeat these instructions. When you have tossed out all of your gold and weapons, I want you to check your neighbor to make sure he did as well as you did. I will be extremely disappointed if I should happen to find even the smallest knife left on one of you. As an incentive to get this right, I will promise not to back this wagon over the campfire if you obey this command properly. So if you happen to know of a favorite boot knife that one of your friends has, make sure he properly disposes of it, because his mistake will mean the end of your life.”
Pouches and knives were tossed through the bars to land on the dirt. Shouting rose from within the cage, but within a few moments Marak felt assured that no weapons remained on the slavers.
“Rejji, gather their belongings,” Lord Marak said. “Botal, get the key from Rejji and free the other prisoners.”
“What are we to do now?” asked one of the men that Rejji had released.
“You are free to do what you wish,” answered Marak.
“What were you doing before?” asked Rejji.
“Well our village was destroyed by bandits,” the man answered. “My friend and I were just traveling. We don’t know what to do now. Our homes are gone and we have nothing.”
“Do you enjoy traveling?” Rejji asked as he picked up the last of the pouches.
“Actually, it was thrilling before we were captured,” answered the man. “We had never been out of the village before. I guess I would like to see more of the world before I settle down again.”
“Then I have a business proposition for you,” smiled Rejji as he piled all of the confiscated pouches on the ground.
“What is it?” asked the man. “Does it involve traveling? Does it pay?”
“It involves a great deal of traveling and it pays well,” grinned Rejji. “All of these pouches that are piled here will be your wages.”
“That is most generous,” beamed the man. “What must we do?”
“I want you to drive this wagon into Khadora,” chuckled Rejji. “Pick any estate you want and leave the wagon with a note I will give you. You may then take the horses attached to the wagon and go spend your money.”
“What will happen to them?” asked the man as he pointed to the slavers.
“They will become slaves,” explained Rejji, “just as they had planned to do to you. I know because I have ridden in that wagon before. It is fitting that they learn the fate of those they prey upon.”
The man eagerly scooped up the pouches and beamed, “It will be a great pleasure to complete this task. You have my eternal thanks for rescuing us from this terrible fate.”
“You have my thanks as well,” nodded Rejji. “If you decide to return, the town of Ghala to the east of here will welcome you.”
“Rejji!” exclaimed one of the prisoners released by Botal. “I never thought I would see you again.”
Rejji peered into the dark and scanned the faces that were lit only by the dancing flames. He located the voice as the man continued to call to him, but he could not make out the face.
“It is me, Wyant,” called the man with the bruised face.
Rejji tightened his grip on his staff. Lord Marak detected the unease in Rejji and snapped his fingers. Halman and Gunta moved swiftly through the crowd and seized Wyant by each of his arms. They dragged Wyant over to Lord Marak and Rejji as the man with the pouches faded away.