Chapter 6 – Startling Discovery
"I can feel it, he's somewhere over there." Pailar called to her companions, tightening the harness on her Dneot beast which had been more than just a little startled by the fallen rocks. "We had to get him outta there before the whole thing caves in, or anyone comes. This whole thing must have felt like an earthquake to the people above."
"I reckon too. I wonder who lives up there now. We haven't visited here for generations." Malia pulled up next to her. "But no one can ever forget what had happened down here." Taking in the decayed bones littered on the floor.
Riding silently, Pailar and Malia quickly made their way around a huge pile of rock and immediately noticed a still body chained to the wall.
"Oh Lord, he's only a child!" Cursing under her breath, Malia got off her mount and stepped beside the unconscious boy, checking his pulse. "He's not too well. Unconscious from loss of blood." Malia turned around to face Pailar and saw that she was already at her side, inspecting the binders on the unconscious boy's wrists. She found no key holes, no seams or what things that gives an indication on how to open them. She winced inwardly when she noticed that the skin beneath the metal of the binder was raw and blood had stained the boy's sleeve, deep scarlet.
Malia drew her blaster smoothly out of the strap on her hip and expertly aimed two shots for each of the chain.
"We will have to think of a way to get rid of these when we get back to the tribe." She explained, picking the boy off the floor in one fluid movement and looked at Pailar for understanding.
Pailar nodded but said nothing. She wasn't sure if she had seen the child before in her tribe. But then, there were so many of them that she won't remember them all. The child might have been wondering around and lost his way and end up here. But who are the new owners of the castle? And why would they hold him captive?
Meanwhile, the party outside the tunnel was waiting patiently for their return. The tunnel was dug by a huge Breian lizard which, in the tribe, was used as a natural digging machine, as the Mesoes had the unique gift to tame the simple-minded species. As the two women riding on Dneot beast with a child in one of their arms emerged from the tunnel, one of the party members directed his mount towards them.
"He's not one of us." He stated simply, while looking at the boy, studying.
"No, Larnod nor is he from the city. He's skin is fair but flawless."
All humanoid with fair skin in Auchenflower had freckles due to the thin ozone layer and the unforgiving UV-ray. The early settlers here came from Tooo-Wong, another planet in the same system where the Ozone layer was thicker and further away from the sun. Their skin were fair and flawless, but after settling on Auchenflower for three generations, freckles unavoidably appear on their skin, dimming their beauty. But people got used to the idea and grown to like it, for now they have something that makes them different from the other inhabitants in the system.
"We can't take him back to the tribe with us. He might be dangerous. Besides, we don't even know why is he here. He could be a spy." Larnod reasons, still studying the boy with eyes now shone with fear.
"How could your logic jump to that conclusion? Why would the government use a child? And why would he end up locked up in there?" Malia's eyes shone with fire. "He needs medical attention, as soon as possible. Are you suggesting we leave him here and end up listed on some Tilco cat's lunch menu? I don't think so! The poor boy won't survive in the condition he's in." Malia and Larnod argued on for sometime while Pailar was brooding beside them, listening to them and thinking.
They had thought that it was one of their own down there. She didn't saw the difference of the boy's skin down in the cave because of the lack of light, now that she saw it, she began to wonder.
No strangers had entered this jungle for generations, for the Mesoes had tamed and trained Tilco cats to keep strangers off this continent and they had done a great job for thousands of years – until a month ago – her tribe people going out hunting had discovered the bodies of slain Tilco cats. Their wounds was like nothing they had seen before. The beasts had all sustained a third degree burn and the wounds shaped suspiciously like long cylinders. Not only had Pailar never seen those kind of weapons before, but the fact that any Tilco cat had been killed by intruders were never hear before. Tilco cats are know for their cunning and speed that made them deadly foes. In all her life, she had not seen a single person skilled enough to fight a Tilco cat and survive, let alone killing it. She didn't know what they were dealing with yet. Who ever they are, one thing is certain, they are hostile. And that place the boy on their side.
"Dawn is near, we need to get back to the tribe before it get too dark. Malia, I think Silver Strip will be able to carry the boy in addition to your weight as well. He's in your charge for the trip." Pailar added calmly as Malia started to protest. Malia smiled delightfully but Larnod gave her a sullen look, but said no more. He had always trusted Pailar's decisions.
Mindful of the boy's injuries, Malia gently hugged the unconscious boy to her chest with one arm protectively so that he could stay on her silver striped Dneot beast. However this species of beasts may look that gave them a clumsy appearance, they were extremely quick on their feet. In the speed they were travelling now, they would be back at the tribe by nightfall.