3. Pain and blood.
Aulbek's second awakening on this day was even less pleasant, than first. It looked like, that now he was a prisoner, bound to a tree trunk. Ropes tied his wrists so tightly, that his paws were numb, his head throbbed with pain, his clothes were gone, and some sadist poured terribly cold water on hin. With whimper of pain, Aulbek has opened eyes and found before himself vaguely familiar face of the middle-aged fox, stretched in cruel grin.
"Remember, that I wanted to show ya a joke, weasel whelp? Now, we'll see, if ya like it," giggled Coalpaw and turned back to other foxes. "Hey, mates, he's awake!"
"Well," Delgor stopped honing his favored knife, and looked up at the captive. "A really tough weasel we have here, even if it looks wimpy. Most beasts would've died after my blow. This one wasn't so lucky. Too bad for him."
While he was speaking, Aulbek has shaken off water from his head, ignoring pain, which pierced it after each movement, and looked around. He was on the edge of a small glade, in the middle of which burned a bonfire. Around it sat four rough-looking foxes. And to a tree on glade's opposite side was bound Keran, looking like he was dragged by his footpaws across half of the Northlands. The weasel cursed between his teeth. Now he recognized Coalpaw, and figured out, in whose clutches he was. Delgor slowly approached Aulbek, playfully twirling the knife in his paw.
"I don't know who ye are, weasel, and, must admit, don't even care. Ye robbed one of my beasts and killed another, so..."
"Killed?" interrupted him Aulbek. "When I managed to do this?"
"When you stabbed Sourbreath in the belly with yer accursed stick. We were forced to put our poor mate out of his misery - none survives with such wounds," Delgor put his heavy paw on the shoulder of the helpless beast and smiled, raising the sharp knife to weasel's nose. "In my opinion, that was not a very nice thing t' do. And not very good for yer health, t' boot."
Snakegrasp and Tornhide hurried to come closer. Like Coalpaw, they didn't want to miss the fun.
"Hm, maybe I stabbed your guy accidentally. But why kill me for this? This won't return him to life," Aulbek tried to portray an ingratiating smile, but instead his face twisted into a scary grimace. "And I can replace him. I wanted to join real raiders for a long time. If I only knew, that this black-pawed blockhead, is one of the band I wouldn't even touched him."
"Who you called blockhead? You little ba..."
Enraged Coalpaw has rushed to the bound beasts, raising a fist, but Delgor stopped him in his tracks, deftly placing the knifepoint against fox's throat.
"He calls ye blockhead. And, well, you are one, if such whelp was able t' beat crap out of ye. Now, shut your trap!" the crimson fox paused, pondering weasel's words.
"Spare me and you will see, how useful a skilled weasel can be!" noticed his hesitation Aulbek. "I can track, hunt, fight or steal, whatever you order!"
Keran, did not believe his ears. How he could tremble before such a coward, ready to beg for mercy, as soon as he met someone stronger? The squirrel would have shouted it aloud, if not for the gag in his mouth.
The scarlet fox wasn't slow-minded - he quickly came to a final decision. Certainly, the weasel could be useful to him - Delgor had enough experience to become an officer in any horde, if he wanted to, and could identify a warrior prodigy, when he saw it. Even ambushed, this brat succeeded in fatally wounding one of his foxes, and nearly managed to avoid the trap. Without a doubt, he was a natural born killer. But exactly for this reason, Delgor had no desire to spare him. The weasel was simply too dangerous to hold him close. The big fox was ambitious, but he was also cunning and cautious. Lack of capable beasts around him meant lack of rivals… And he preferred to be safe, than sorry, no matter how much the role of chieftain in the insignificant band of losers dismayed him. Anyway, weasel's promises stank with deception and falseness so much, that it could be scented from a mile.
"D' ye think, that I'm a fool? Now ye'll promise anythin' and everythin', to avoid my knife, an' then'll betray me as soon, as you could. No - those who kill my beasts should pay for it!"
Last words were added solely for the other foxes. It was useful to show, from time to time, that their lives meant something for their leader.
Aulbek's fake smile instantly turned to a grimace of spite.
"Considering yourself clever, fox bastard? You are simply a petty thie... Arrghhhh!" words stopped abruptly, when Delgor slammed a fist in his stomach.
"So where we've stopped?" grinned the scarlet fox, raising his knife again.
Keran thought, that the villain intends to kill his prisoner right there, and promptly shut his eyes. The naive squirrel was sorely mistaken. The next fifteen, or so, minutes became worst in his entire life. Not because what foxes did to Aulbek was horrible, and disgusting, though it was. Not even because Keran feared, that he would be next in line for the torture. But because all it was happening due to his actions. Aulbek was caught, because he, Keran was a stupid, frightened brat! He would have cried again, if not for weasel's stoic resolve - no matter, how badly cut, beaten or burned, Aulbek only hissed and gritted his teeth. And so, Keran stopped his tears and forced himself to look. If other beast could endure such pain, then he, at least, could endure seeing consequences of his foolishness!
Fortunately, for their victim, foxes were enthusiastic, but unskilled torturers. Soon, Aulbek slumped in his bonds, and neither cold water, nor hot iron was able to produce any reaction from him. At last, Delgor left the still body alone, licked sprinkles of blood from his muzzle and yawned wearily.
"With all of this weasel huntin', and weasel cuttin', I forgot to sleep. Though, there's still one unfinished business."
Squirrel's heart sunk in his chest, when the blood-soaked fox walked to him, but he tried to look defiantly. Only when fox's knife was within hairlength from Keran's face, he closed his eyes in fear. But this time, Delgor only cut a cloth, which was holding the gag in prisoner's mouth.
"Hey, kid, d' ye know, why I ordered to bring ye with me?"
The squirrel spat out the gag, thought for a moment and shook his head.
"Just between us, I like these woods. Rich plunder, quiet life, no larger bands of hordes, which can press ye in their ranks... But locals sometimes still are too brave for their own good. Tryin' to run from us, tryin' to deceive us, tryin' to hide their goods from us... What's next, an attempt to fight us? This'll be very bad, don't ye agree? So, ye will go, and tell t' everyone in these parts of the forest, what I do with my enemies – that'll help 'em to throw such stupid ideas out of their heads." Delgor waved his paw in general direction of Aulbek's lacerated body. He waited, until the expression of poorly hidden relief has appeared on Keran's face, and then continued.
"But at first... At first ye'll pay for yer stupid words. I wonder, what we can cut off from our little hero, without endangerin' his life, to make my point clear?"
"An eye! One is enough for him - why he needs second?" giggled Tornhide.
"No, tail!" shouted Coalpaw in response. "I bet, it'll make a good collar!"
His offer was met by another explosion of evil laughter. Only Scanty, who wasn't participating in the sadistic 'entertainment' of his companions at all, kept silent. His gloomy silence didn't go unnoticed by Delgor, who, suddenly, conceived a new cruel idea.
"Hey, Scanty, and what d' ye think?"
The smaller fox looked cautiously at the leader. Most of the time, Delgor simply failed to notice the weakest member of his band, and most certainly, he never asked for his opinion on anything. Scanty was almost sure, that the cruel fox simply wanted to crack some malicious joke, at his expense, and therefore hesitated with the answer.
"Don't be so shy. Why ye're so moody today, anyway? I promise we will do as ye say. I can even swear, if ye want me to."
Scanty turned his face to Keran. For a moment, their eyes met, and the fox quickly hung his head.
"Ear. Cut off his ear," muttered he, without looking at anyone.
"Quite a good idea, my young friend," Delgor sneered. "But I think, that ye should do it yerself. Otherwise, it'll be unfair - ye need to have some fun, too."
"I'm probably caught cold under the rain," Scanty, shrugged his bony shoulders, avoiding Delgor's eyes. "No mood for the fun today"
"Really? I noticed, that ye never are in the mood for our fun. Ye also aren't that eager to fight..." with these words Delgor suddenly threw his knife, which plunged in the ground, barely missing Scanty's footpaw. "So of what use ye are to me then, ungrateful whelp! Hellsteeth, I picked ye up, when ye were starvin' to death on the road, I gave ye food, drink, clothes, I taught you how to use weapons and waylay woodlanders, an' now ye are shrinkin' from our ways!" The scarlet fox paused to calm down, then continued his speech.
"Ye know, in many hordes, a newcomer must bring somebeast's head to a warlord, to prove, that he have enough guts for our craft? For me, ear of this kid will suffice," Delgor smiled and unsheathed his broadsword. "Or yer worthless hide, instead of it. Choice is yours!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"This endless march makes no sense, yes! How we are supposed to find them, anyway?" exclaimed sweating and heavily breathing hedgehog.
"That's right!" supported mouse, that was trudging behind him. "We must rest."
Terys stopped and slowly turned to his traveling companions. His face was blank, as usual.
"You will rest, when the foxes will be finished. I am much older than you, but I'm not complaining," battered and scarred otter had so much endurance, as if his body was forged from iron - he spent half of the night and entire morning on his paws, but still seemed completely fresh.
"So why don't you carry all of it, then!" grumbled the irritated hedgehog.
Indeed, besides the short saber and the dagger on his belt, Terys only carried one of his double-pointed javelins in the right paw. All of his other weapons - the round shield, the chainmail, half-dozen spare javelins, the longbow with two quivers of arrows, and the throwing axe - were loaded on the two youngbeasts.
"Because I must save my strength for a fighting." calmly reminded the warrior. "If you want, Twirgle, we can exchange our roles - I shall carry the weapons, and you with Darlek shall battle the foxes."
"Battle?" Twirgle, the third son of Irta, inherited her strong, stubborn personality, and forcing him to back down wasn't an easy task. "This ill-fated rain destroyed all trails, we don't know, why they left their camp and to where they go, so, how we can fight them, if we have no chance to find them?"
"Let me..." the otter went silent and tense all of a sudden, trying to guess direction to a sound, which was barely audible even to his sharp senses. Both of his assistants involuntarily stumbled backwards, as the terrifying cold rage twisted Terys' calm features for a moment. Before any of them had time to open a mouth, the otter snatched another javelin from Darlek's paws, so swiftly and forcefully, that completely surprised mouse lost his balance and sprawled on the ground. And then, he ran forward with all possible speed.
"Stay here!" were only words Terys had the time to growl, before disappearing among trees.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Delgor the Scarlet sighed heavily, looking on Keran's unconscious form. Never know, what you can expect from these squirrels! The brat endured parting with his own ear without a sound, though Scanty with his clumsy and trembling paws, finally managed to cut it off only after many attempts. But when Delgor used heated knifeblade, to stop blood and prevent the wound from inflaming, damned whelp lost consciousness with a scream, which, probably, was heard within a distance of half-day march. The big fox spat, and decided to leave his victim to its fate. If he is strong enough, he will regain his consciousness by himself, and if not, why bother?
"Rise, sluggards!" barked he, addressing to other bandits. "We shall look for other place t' sleep, this one stinks too much!"
The foxes hastily began to collect their belongings. Coalpaw, whose axe was hopelessly destroyed in the bonfire, reached for the long dagger, taken from Aulbek, but Delgor kicked him aside.
"Don't ye knew, that the best loot goes to the chieftain?" he took the masterwork weapon, and thrust it through his belt.
"Take away Scanty's spear, it's useless in the paws of this slobbering cub anyway!"
Coalpaw lacked courage to object, so he just spitefully raked the earth with his footpaw, and turned to the weaker fox, who still sat, clutching his knees with his paws and staring into space. He didn't even react on Coalpaw's approach.
"Now this spear is mine." proclaimed old robber lifting the crude weapon from the ground. "Just touch it again, and yer sorry tail will be kicked. Like this!"
Coalpaw was in a foul mood, so he supported his words with a vicious kick to Scanty's side. He was sure, that weakest of the foxes wouldn't dare to retaliate, and already started to walk away, when Scanty jumped up, like an uncoiled spring and slammed into him with unexpected fury. Coalpaw was caught by surprise - before he realized, what happened, sharp teeth and claws already were ripping his hide. But Scanty, in accordance with his name, was a small, poorly fed fox, and nobody cared to teach him how to fight. And Coalpaw was stunned by his attack only for a short moment. After that, he easily hurled his skinny opponent on the ground and started to beat him with butt end of the spear.
"Hellsteeth! Ya asked for it, worm!" ruthless blows rained on the miserable fox, who barely managed to turn over on his stomach and to cover his head with both paws. This feeble attempt to protect himself only angered Coalpaw even more.
"Now, do you like it whhhhhhhh..."
Furious shout of the robber turned into a dying wheeze. With silent astonishment, the old fox looked at javelin's point, protruding from his chest. Well-aimed weapon struck Coalpaw in the back and ran him through. Other villains, observing the beating with mild curiosity, stiffened in shock. But their seasoned leader regained his wits almost instantly and whirled to face a direction, from whence the deadly missile had flied - just in time to see the otter, appearing from behind a tree, and raising another javelin. Instinctively, Delgor threw himself flat, and this time instincts hadn't failed him - the javelin only ruffled fur on the top of his head and disappeared in the forest depths.
"Move, idiots!" roared chieftain, grasping his own spear and jumping back to the footpaws. "Kill him!"
Before he managed to finish his words, the otter already crossed half of the distance to his opponents, drawing his saber on the run. Snakegrasp hurled his battleaxe at the closing foe, but missed. Left unarmed, he panicked and tried to run, but stumbled and fell on his back. Delgor waved his paw, launching the spear, to impale the otter at the moment, when he will be slashing at Snakegrasp, but the sharp-eyed woodlander noticed the danger and stopped abruptly, so that the wide spearhead only grazed his breast. Tornhide yelled and charged the warrior with his long spear. The saber flashed, deflecting the metal tip, then the otter rushed forward, closing distance - and the fox fell, with a howl of agony, clutching the handle of dagger, which hung on the otter's belt a second later, and pierced his torso now. Before his body met the ground, the otter whirled, raising his saber swiftly to parry the swing of Delgor's broadsword. The scarlet fox tried to kick him in the groin, but the agile beast easily jumped back. While they were fighting, Snakegrasp crawled away, and picked up the spear, dropped by dying Coalpaw.
"Rise and fight, whelp!" barked he at Scanty, who still was lying, covering his head. "D' ye want to die?"
But the beaten fox remained motionless, maybe because he lost consciousness, maybe in hope, that the enemy would ignore him. Snakegrasp didn't pay attention to it – he turned to the fray, aiming for a throw. Delgor and his opponent fought ferociously, swinging and dodging blades with expertise, honed in many battles. Both were unarmored at the moment, so even a glancing blow could decide the outcome of their duel. The bigger and taller fox with his long blade had a much greater reach than the relatively short-pawed otter - he pressed on his nimble and fast opponent, trying to drive him back and corner against a tree. Both fighters noticed Snakegrasp, who was raising his spear, simultaneously. The robber chieftain knew skills and abilities of every beast in his band - in particular, he knew that Snakegrasp isn't very good with throwing weapons. Fear, that the spear could hit him, instead of the otter, distracted Delgor for a moment, and that proved to be his undoing. With incredible speed the otter ducked under slashing blade, caught fox's right paw with his left and thrust the saber straight into Delgor's belly. Both foxes screamed as one - Delgor from pain and fury, Snakegrasp from fear. Chieftain's left paw seized the pawguard of otter's saber, piercing his guts, preventing the otter from pulling it back. Seeing, that Snakegrasp already is swinging his spear, the otter released the saber handle and jumped aside. The crude spear flied through the air and found its target. Delgor was right, doubting Snakegrasp's skills - with a loud thud, his weapon pierced the scarlet fox chest!
The otter spend a second, looking as his enemy, who continued to struggle for his life, despite two fatal wounds, slowly slumped to its knees, and then sharply turned to the remained robber. One look at otter's face, resembling a twisted mask of cold rage, was enough for the vermin to understand - begging for mercy would be useless. Squealing in terror, Snakegrasp ran, hoping, that his longer footpaws will give him an advantage. But the otter didn't try to chase him. Instead, he lifted Tornhide's spear, and hurled it after the running fox with all his might. This spear was long, heavy and unwieldy for throwing, but it didn't prevent the otter from hitting the robber straight between shoulder blades. Snakegrasp made three stumbling steps and sprawled on the earth, face down. Seeing as the last enemy falls, the otter stopped, panting heavily. Grimace of rage, distorting his features, began to disappear. And at this very moment Delgor, who had enough time to pull Aulbek's dagger out of its sheath, collected all his remaining strength, and threw it at the back of his slayer. But otter's keen ears warned him about the danger, if a bit late. Guided by the reflexes, acquired during countless fights, the otter jumped to the right, dodging an attack and whirling to face the foe, at the same time, so the razor-sharp dagger only cut his left paw, instead of piercing his back.
For a second, Delgor the Scarlet stood on his knees, staring at the otter warrior in a dumb amazement.
"Who, in the Hellgates, ye are?" was all that he managed to croak, before blood streamed out of fox's mouth, and his body went limp. The otter didn't bother to answer. Instead, he walked straight to Scanty. The unlucky vermin choose just this moment to look, who won the fight. At the sight of coming otterwarrior he whimpered and covered his head again, silently praying for a quick death. But the fatal blow wasn't delivered. Instead, Scanty heard a hoarse voice.
"Fox, you have one last chance. Get your stinking hide out of here immediately, and it will remain attached to your body for now. If I ever meet you again in another band - you will die. And if I ever hear something about you from anyone in these parts of the forest - you will die, too."
Before he got to the middle of his speech, Scanty was already on his footpaws and stumbling away.
"Remember," growled the otter, "That I can spare brigands like you, who don't seem wholly rotten, but only once! If you try to attack peaceful beasts once again, you will learn why vermin call me Terys the Swiftdeath!"
The fox shuddered visibly and redoubled his efforts to get away. Terys the Swiftdeath was a bane and nightmare of brigands, robbers and hordebeasts in all of the Northlands. Not many woodlanders were able to boast, that scary tales are told about them at vermin campfires, and Terys was one of them. There were rumors that he killed more beasts, than most otters had seen in their entire life.
"Terys?... You are Terys?" upon hearing those words, resembling a groan of pain, the otter swiftly turned and his eyes met with the eyes of Keran, rising on his elbow. At the sight of maimed youngbeast, the warrior gritted his teeth, and almost regretted decision to let the last fox go.
"Yes, I'm Terys," ignoring his own nasty wound, he hurried to the squirrel and kneeled before him. "What they did to you?"
"Th-this is nothing..." Keran's voice was weak and trembling. "The big fox wanted... wanted me to tell about what they have done with Aulbek..."
"Aulbek? That's him?" Terys pointed at the blood-covered weasel.
"Y-yes..." the squirrel turned away, unable to look there, and silent sobs shook his body. "They killed him... Because of me... because I..."
"Killed?" the otter narrowed his black eyes. "But he still breathes, though weakly. He's alive!"
Suddenly Terys jumped up, as his ears brought to him sounds of running beasts, and almost rushed to a nearest weapon, but stopped, recognizing Twirgle and Darlek by their footsteps. When two woodlanders appeared on the corpse-strewn glade, one look around was enough for them to stumble back in shock. The mouse even turned away, barely constraining the nausea.
"You are in time." otter's voice again was calm and unemotional. "I need assistants, to carry two beasts."
"Two?" Twirgle's barely squeezed a question, as his stomach too rose to the throat.
"If I said two, I meant two." Terys looked at his left paw. Warrior's face remained blank, even at the sight of blood plentifully flowing from the wound, inflicted by Aulbek's excellent dagger. "One squirrel and one weasel."
7
