Chapter Two

The following afternoon, Captain Corden and her men lay in wait for the mok guards to enter the prison with their lunch. As soon as the mok guards enter the prison, Corden and her men attack then en-mass. With the guards busy fighting the prisoners, Corden, Squeak, Ogre, and a few others, less than half of her entire crew, manage to get out of the cell. There in the guard room, hanging on the wall, is Corden's sword belt with her rapier still sheathed in it. She quickly grabs it and buckles it on as she runs out the door.

"This way!" She calls to her fellow escapees, "To the equarts! Follow me!"

Squeak and the others make haste, running with all speed towards the equart corral. A group of mok children at play see them escaping and run to their mothers, shouting an alarm. Chief Ogrot steps out of his hut and sees the prisoners escaping. He howls a warning to the moks fishing on the riverbank, and the males all run after the escaping prisoners. Moks are not known for being fleet afoot though, and the fleeing prisoners have a head start. But Princess Eekra is far quicker and much closer than the male fishermen. Eekra runs at the escaping prisoners and uses her quarterstaff to pole vault at them. She lands right on top of one of the escaping pirates. She knocks him unconscious with a quick punch to the jaw. She quickly throws her quarterstaff like a javelin at another escaping prisoner. The staff slips between his feet and trips him up, causing him to fall to the ground. Before he can get back to his feet, he's knocked out by a kick to the face delivered by Eekra as she runs by. She pulls out a set of bolas and sends them whirling through the air at another fleeing prisoner. They wrap around his legs, binding them together and sending him tumbling to the ground. As he struggles to rise to his feet, Eekra leaps into the air and drives both her knees into his back. Then she scoops up a rock, sets it in her sling, and sets it whirling above her head as she runs after the remaining prisoners. Captain Corden, Squeak, Ogre, and two others are almost at the equart corral. Eekra lets the stone fly, striking one of the escaping pirates between the shoulder blades and knocking him face first into the corral fence as the other four are climbing over it. They each mount an equart and gallop off, leaping the fence and heading off into the forest. Eekra throws another set of bolas at them, wrapping around the neck of a pirate and causing him to sit up straight just in time to be clothslined off his mount by a low hanging branch. Eekra pulls a knife from her boot and throws it at the other escaping prisoners. It misses Captain Corden's head by inches and sticks hilt deep into an old maple tree. By the time Eekra takes out a second knife Corden, Ogre, and Squeak are out of range with too many trees between them to get a clear shot.

Chief Ogrot and the other moks picked up the prisoners Princess Eekra had stopped and returned them to the prison. Then Ogrot picks out three of the fishermen with tridents to track the escaped prisoners. Eekra objects, pointing out that she's a far better tracker than any of the fishermen or shepherds in the village. And many of the hunters for that matter. Ogrot refuses, telling her he needs her to track the village's hunters to bring them back, that he had a feeling they would need every able bodied mok in the village very soon. She didn't like it very much, but being a dutiful daughter she agreed. Later that evening she returns with the hunters. While she was away, Chief Ogrot was interrogating the prisoners that his daughter had recaptured. Moks are generally honorable beings, but Ogrot had a bad feeling about this jail break and needed information. So he let his moks push them very hard in the interrogations What he found out had him very worried. Chief Ogrot picks out three hunters and sends them after the three fishermen. Princess Eekra protests, telling him that she's the best tracker in the village and that she should be helping the hunters track the escaped prisoners. Ogrot knows she's right, but as her father he just can't bring himself to send her into danger. He thinks of a compromise that he feels his daughter will accept. He asks her to go find Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla. He tells her that at this time of year they should be on their way to the village of Lanta, where their friend Thorak is the sheriff. Princess Eekra guesses at her father's intentions, but again her duty to her father and her tribe outweigh her personal feelings and she agrees to go. Besides, she hasn't seen Ookla and his companions since she was a child and wanted to see them again. She packs up her bolas, sling, knives, and quarterstaff, mounts an equart and rides off to find the three heroes.

Meanwhile, miles away, Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla have set up camp next to a clean clear lake. Their horses are tethered to a tree where they graze on the tender grasses. A large tent is set up, and a roaring fire burns near by. An animal, caught earlier in the day, roasts on a spit over the flames, and wild potatoes which had been dug up also roast on sticks set up around the campfire. A kettle of tea percolates on a stone surrounding the fire. Ookla kneels next to the fire to tend to the meal. A line is strung up between two trees. Hanging from this line is a fur vest and loincloth, as well as a blue and gold swimsuit. In the lake Ookla's friends, Thundarr the barbarian and Princess Ariel the sorceress, are washing away the the dirt from the long ride.

"This water feels good after such a dusty ride," says the blonde barbarian.

"I'm finally feeling human again," agrees the olive skinned sorceress, "I can't even remember the last time I've had a bath."

"Nor I," agrees Thundarr, "and with no wizards in the area, it's finally safe enough to enjoy the swim."

"Hey Ookla!" Ariel calls, "Come join us! The water's fine! Wash the dirt from your fur!"

Ookla growls a response in his bestial language. Thundarr bursts out laughing.

"What did he say?" Ariel asks.

"He said 'That is what his tongue is for'," Thundarr translates.

Ariel bursts out laughing as well.

"I should've known," she says.
"Yes," Thundarr laughs, "you should." Then he splashes her.

Ariel splashes the barbarian back. Then they begin laughing and splashing each other back and forth. Thundarr grabs Ariel, picks her up, and throws her deeper into the water. Ariel goes under the water, but doesn't resurface. Then Thundarr's expression becomes one of surprise as he falls beneath the waters surface. Ariel comes up out of the water laughing, and Thundarr soon follows suit, for it was Ariel who pulled him under the water. Ookla begins howling at them and Thundarr laughs even harder.

"What did he say?" Ariel asks.

"He says we are crazy," Thundarr explains, "and he also says that dinner is almost ready."

"Well, we are beginning to prune up," says Ariel, "maybe we should get out and have some supper."

Ookla brings a couple of wool blankets to the lake shore as his friends emerge from the water. They wrap themselves in the blankets and follow the mok back to the campfire. They sit down on a fallen log while Ookla pulls out some tin plates and serves up some food for his friends. Using a stick, he moves a flat stone from the side of the campfire. It's being used as a door for a makeshift oven, built by stacking stones and laying a flat stone across the top. Ookla pulls a metal pan out of the oven with three small loafs of crude bread and puts them onto the tin plates. Then he places a roasted potato next to it and pulls a limb from the roasting animal and serves his friends. Then he pours them each a tin cup of steaming hot tea. They had fought many battles together, and lately it seems they haven't had so much as a moments rest. Since things have finally calmed down some, Ookla is only too happy to take care of the cooking while Thundarr and Ariel bathe. Though for the life of him he can't figure out why humans enjoy the water so much. They enjoy a leisurely meal together. And then bed down for the night.