Hello, Readers! :D Just wanted to say hi and ask you how you're enjoying the story. As always, please feel free to PM me with encouragement, critiques and comments.
Events are moving now, and the main event for the arc has only just begun!
-FF
Chapter 10 – Friends and Enemies
Smell was the first sense to return: the overpowering odor of manure, old straw and sweat with a mossy scent Yang associated with Tyaga's leathery hide.
Next came Touch, and with it the creeping chill of the young night. Something warm but scratchy was digging into Yang's side and his entire body ached terribly, though he could not for the life of him remember why.
Taste brought the rusty flavor of blood which mixed with the pain and made his stomach churn.
A quiet whimpering arrived with Hearing. At first he thought it was someone nearby making the noise but soon realized it was coming from his own throat, an effect of his labored breathing. For a long moment he worked to discipline his lungs and now-racing heart.
It was only when he was satisfied with his self-control that he opened his eyes… and immediately regretted it.
He learned was laying on his front, his head bent uncomfortably to the side. Yang knew he would be terribly stiff but right now that problem paled in comparison to the larger issue at hand. He and Tyaga had been bound and dropped into the corner of the large communal pen in the stables. Yang had always avoided the eel-dog stables during his stay in the village but he knew enough about it from the occasional instances he'd been forced to come here on work-related duties. This central holding pen connected to all the other smaller individual pens and could be used to practice riding and for breaking the spirit of especially temperamental eel-dogs.
Now all the gates around the pen stood open and the first of the eel-dogs to notice their sudden, relative freedom had just begun to pad into the open space. Yang noticed their curved claws digging into the trampled dirt and great nostrils working in anticipation of the kill.
"Tyaga!" Yang whispered harshly, nudging his still-unconscious brother with the heel of his boot. He didn't want to add to his brother's pain but this was hardly a time for sensitivity. Tyaga was lying practically on top of him and his uniform but labored breathing remained steady. "Tyaga!" He called again, kicking harder this time. With a startled grunt the adolescent eel-dog regained consciousness, trying to regain his footing but tripping sideways when he realized his paws had been tied together.
A strangled bark escaped his muzzle as he gasped for air through the leather covering his snout. Born without eyes, a muzzled eel-dog was practically blind.
"Hush, hush now." Yang whispered, wriggling so that he could rest his chin on top of his brother's long neck. He could sense the panic building in Tyaga's tensed muscles but all he could do was continue mumbling a stream of comforting words as he eyed the now half-dozen fully grown eel-dogs pacing at the opposite end of the pen.
"Hurry up, you mangy beasts!" Came a human shout from somewhere outside the pen. Not stopping his whispering, Yang craned his neck to get a better view of the source of the voice. Though it strained his shoulders, Yang could make out the forms of two men sitting in the flickering, orange light of a lamp a little outside the wooden bars. Beyond them was the full dark of night, though the moon shone silver-bright just as it had on the night he and Tyaga had first arrived in the village. For a protracted moment Yang wished he'd just taken the simple road and slaughtered the villagers with brute strength. His original plan had been to instigate a clan war with the Siiwahs and let them do the work for him. But for that he'd needed the Chiyohs' trust. And for that he had needed time.
Time was up, it seemed as one man nudged his fellow and pointed into the pack of circling eel-dogs, perhaps placing bets on which of them would make the kill.
Yang's mind was still a bit muddled and he couldn't seem to find the tendrils of Power which could save them. He'd need to buy time with the only option he had left.
The predators circled closer now, building confidence as they realized that for once there were no men with lashes to hold them at bay. One of them, a brutish male with a blunt snout covered in white scars loomed over them, his tail whipping as if in delight. A dribble of thick, warm spit landed on the nape of Yang's neck as he twisted to meet the eel-dog face-to-face.
"This is such a treat." The eel-dog observed in a slow, baritone mind-voice. A thick, pink tongue whipped out to lap against Yang's cheek. It came away red, Yang noticed.
"You're being tricked." Yang whispered to the eel-dog, now that they were close enough so as not to be overheard by the human guards. Yang threw the mental impression of his words along with his voice, as animals did. For a moment this made the eel-dog brute pause, drool leaking languidly from between his glistening fangs.
"Oh?" The brute responded, a touch of humor echoing in his voice.
"Yes!" Tyaga added his voice to Yang's, but to all human ears his voice was just whimpering against his muzzle.
"I'm on your side!" Yang hissed through his teeth, as if he were speaking of something the eel-dog should have already known.
"Hmm…" The brute mused, the breath whooshing hot from his great lungs. "But it would be so easy to just eat you and be satisfied." His low voice was ponderous, less intelligent than most others of his kind. Just great. Yang thought, sarcastically.
"Yes it would," Yang conceded, earning himself a swift nudge-kick from Tyaga, "But… then you would have to live the rest of your life in here as a slave instead of running free and killing as many humans you pleased." He supplied gory mental images of slaughtered villagers in mounds, blood-smattered, dismembered hands holding leather whips and the unimaginably delectable taste of fatty meat. The brute licked his grey-black lips again, pausing a little to Yang's intense relief.
"Is there a problem, My Love?" Came a new mental-voice, this one Yang did recognize. Sidda. The lean but muscular female eel-dog approached carefully, keeping her ears and tail low in submission. However, Yang could tell from the set of her mouth that she wanted nothing more than to tear him and Tyaga limb from limb, with or without her "Love's" permission.
"No." The brute answered curtly, his breath hot in Yang's face. "This ape says he can free us."
That prompted a bark of laughter from Sidda, whose tail lashed restlessly despite her supposed mirth.
"And you propose to believe one of the stupid, violent creatures?" She practically snarled. It suddenly occurred to Yang how stupid he truly had been, here were creatures suffering right in front of him and in the two moons he'd spent here he'd never even thought to help them. Never even thought that they could fight together against the Chiyohs! Stupid!
"Don't let them trick you! It's them you want to eat, not us. Not my brother." Tyaga pleaded into his muzzle, sending images of him and Yang running free in the forest, digging with flying-boar piglets, frolicking with otter-geckos in the forest playgrounds of their youth. Yang's breathing hitched as he received the projected mental images too.
A long moment passed as Sidda and the brute appraised them, tails whipping in agitation and claws grinding in the dirt. Clearly the alphas of the pack, the rest of the eel-dogs could only circle and wait for them to make the kill. Yang checked for his Power. It was there, but only a dim ember in place of its usual burning fury.
The brute bent forward and pushed his snout right against Tyaga's forehead and Yang felt a subtle current of communication pass between them. However, Tyaga had not yet untensed so Yang knew the danger had not passed.
Then, the assembled eel-dogs' surprise, the brute took one of his claws and severed the leather straps holding Tyaga's muzzle. Tyaga shook the damned thing from his face as quickly as he could, reveling in the fresh night air and his regained sight.
"Thank you, Serkahn." Tyaga said quietly, his legs straining against their bonds. "I promise Yang will not betray you."
"What?!" Sidda snapped and almost dove in for the kill before Serkahn could stop her. Her mate pushed her aside at the last moment and grumbled a challenge deep in his throat as he turned away from his quarry to face her. From the way Sidda was breathing Yang expected her to begin foaming in rage. The rest of the eel-dogs stopped circling to watch what would happen. One of the human guards tossed a rock into the pen with a shout.
"I remember being free." Serkahn almost whispered in his slow, deep mental voice. Sidda's ears stood erect on her head now and her stance was coiled to pounce.
"I remember not living under the thumb of the humans, with my family, before they came." He continued. His words were meant for Sidda's ears alone and it was only Yang's deep spiritual connection that allowed him to eavesdrop. Even so, Yang felt the impression of mental pictures he was unable to intercept.
"And so you'd trust one, after everything? You'd rather gamble all our lives on this one false hope than protect us? We are your family, My Love." Sidda growled clearly enough for all to hear. Yang realized that despite their circumstances and differences in opinion, she truly did love her mate. Once again Yang cursed himself for ignoring their plight before. He vowed that he would set everything right and fulfill his promise somehow, and that meant protecting the pack of eel-dogs, Tyaga, himself and Chen if he could manage that. Did he have that sort of power? Well, he figured, he'd have to find it and quickly.
"I'd rather risk our lives on hope than to survive without it." Serkahn said solemnly, letting his words project as well. Yang had thought he'd been just a stupid brute at first, but what he lacked in intelligence he made up for in decisiveness. Perhaps that was what it took to be a leader in a place like this, Yang wondered.
By now almost every eel-dog in the stable had wandered into the central pen. Yang even saw a few pups huddling with their mother towards the back. From the sudden hitch in Tyaga's breath, Yang knew he had noticed them too.
Outside the pen, the guards had begun banging on the wooden bars with the crude, stone war-mallets they carried. "Kill them already, ya mangy beast!" One of the men shouted. One of Serkahn's ears swiveled in the direction of the voice, but his open maw stayed trained on Sidda, his stance protective.
"Yang," Tyaga whispered as the standoff lengthened, "we need to do something!" There was only a little fear in his voice now, which gave Yang a measure of confidence. Tentatively, he probed to see if he could touch Earth but found it still and unresponsive. The corner of Yang's mouth twitched, he had a plan.
By now the guards had begun to climb up onto the bars of the cage, leaning in with whips with which to beat the eel-dogs into action. Yang took the opportunity. Eyes shut; Yang opened his palms where they were bound at his back, feeling the space between his fingers. Wriggling, he ungracefully loosened the rope by just a fraction, but that small feeling of Freedom was all he needed to call his old friend, Air.
A sudden and powerful gust pushed against the already precariously perched guards, sending one sprawling face-first into the pen. The other caught himself at the last moment, to Yang's disappointment. Can't have things go too smoothly, now can we?
Sidda's eyes immediately went to Yang's hunched form. She knew where that gust had come from, recognizing the scent of it in some preconscious part of her mind.
The other eel-dogs didn't care much for the source of this unexpected treat and descended mercilessly, ripping and tearing until the guard was nothing but ribbons of meat, meting out vengeance by tooth and claw. It didn't take long at all, and the other guard still clung, transfixed to his perch among the bars. Only now did he realize he'd dropped his whip into the pen.
Serkahn wasted no time. Before the guard could even react the big brute crossed the pen in two bounds and leaping, caught the man around his neck, breaking his spine in an audible crunch with his powerful jaws.
"Now will you allow yourself to hope?" Serkahn asked Sidda around the limp body, his sides puffing from excitement and exertion.
The canine equivalent of a smile worked its way onto Sidda's lips.