A Reason to Live pt 5
*Disclaimer*
The following (part 5 of the series 'A Reason to Live') contains both mystical/metaphysical and Judeo-Christian Religious aspects. If you are offended by any/all of these subjects, you are strongly encouraged to avoid reading this or any subsequent works with the title 'A Reason to Live' that are written by me. Thank you for your compliance.
A Reason to Live pt. 5
The three Furs, a wolverine, an eagle, and a jackal, walked through the desert, towards the mountains in the distance. The wolverine, tired from walking and his nerves still on edge from the group's encounter with the desert zombies, began to voice his displeasure.
"When are we going to stop and rest some?" The afternoon sun beat down harshly on all three of the travelers, yet it seemed that the jackal was not fazed. The eagle replied to her husband.
"Come on Ray, you've walked farther than this before." A defeated look spread across the wolverine's face; he knew it would be pointless to argue with his wife. The trio continued southward, occasionally one of the Fur's would produce a canteen and drink, pausing momentarily, and then hurry to catch up with the rest of the group.
While most of the residents of the tribal village were busy cleaning and dressing the bounty of dead animals, the chieftain was meeting with the man in black.
"You keep laughing, but you don't answer my questions." The wolf chieftain was begging to lose his temper with the mysterious man.
"Do you really expect me to do everything for you? I provide you with one of the leaders of your enemies, to do with what you wish, and you don't even thank me. And then I bring your people more food then they could eat in a year, and all they have to do is process it, and you complain about lacking weapons and women." The wolf looked like he was about to respond, but then thought better of it. "I will tell you what, though, swear loyalty to me, right here and now, and I will make available an opportunity for you and your tribe to get both more weapons, and more females."
"How will you do that?" asked the wolf. The tribals had started fires and were adding green boughs and leaves into it to produce smoke. Others were erecting framework above the fire pits to support the fresh meat while it smoked above the fire. The man in black turned and looked off into the mountains to the south. There came the sound, or feeling, rather, of a distant explosion. Inside the mountain range, in an ancient human military installation, stalactites, formed from years of dripping water, began to shake from the explosion. The man in black spoke again.
"Arm your best warriors and send them south, through the canyon that snakes from the east and ends thirty miles from here. I believe your people call it the 'arroyo'. There you will find what you are so greedy for."
"Why should I listen to you?" demanded the wolf.
"Trust me. I provided the food, didn't I?"
The trio of Fur's continued to walk. Hours passed as they walked, and as, unbeknownst to them, tribal warriors made their way into the mountain canyon. The trio eventually reached the base of the mountains, near one of the entrances to the canyon. Tracks in the sand, both wheeled and treaded, ran ahead of the group off into the canyon.
"Hold up" said the jackal. "Look at these tracks. People have been through here, and recently."
"What do we do then?" asked the wolverine. Raymond was shifting restlessly from one foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable to be stopped in such an exposed location. Roxanne, the eagle, was looking down at the tracks.
"Wait Ray, don't you remember? About five years ago, at that little village?"
"No I don't remember. What about it, exactly is important?"
"The traders we saw there, they drove around in a half treaded half wheeled vehicle."
"So Roxie, those tracks could be from anything. Just because half a decade ago we saw some traders that got around in one like that, doesn't mean it's the same vehicle." The wolverine turned around. "Hey, where'd Kyle go?" Footprints lead into the canyon. From ahead off them in the canyon, the jackal called out.
"They're friendly, whoever they are. We'll camp with them tonight, safety in numbers and all that." The other two Furs ran to catch up with the jackal.
There was a group of about fifteen people gathered around a camp fire, both human and Fur. Some of the Furs were canine, but by no means a majority. There were felines, a lizard, a raccoon and a person who appeared to be a rat. Patrolling the makeshift camp were figures, again both Fur and human armed with a wide variety of military battle rifles, in varying degrees of disrepair.
"Well, it's a little early to be resting for the night, but they say there was an avalanche that buried some of the canyon, and that they can't do anything about it today."
"I'm fine with stopping. Speaking of eating though, I could sure go for some food."
"Uhh Raymond? No one said anything about food." Roxanne said to Raymond while laughing. The merchants, apparently used to seeing new people, did not react to the presence of the three Furs.
"Okay, okay. But I should've eaten breakfast before we left." Though the fire was not yet necessary, it soon would be, as the sun was beginning to set.
"If yer hungry Raymond, there's some food in yer pack" said Kyle. The wolverine looked confused, and then let his pack slid off his back onto the sand. He opened it and began to dig through it.
"Huh" he said. "I don't remember putting this food in here." He pulled a burlap sack out of the pack. He opened it, and inside it was some of the meal from the previous night. The jackal replied "Yeah, I put it there, and in Roxanne's bag too. In case you two did decide to sneak away in the night. Figured ya'd want something to eat today if you didn't run off."
"Oh, uh, thanks, I guess." The wolverine began to walk towards the fire.
"It's going to be getting quite cold soon, so ye might want to stake yerselves out a nice place by the fire." Kyle said towards Roxanne and Raymond.
"And what about you?" asked Roxanne, following Raymond towards the fire pit.
"Don't worry about me; I'll be fine out here." The jackal walked off back towards the mouth of the canyon, his sensitive ears twitching. He sniffed the air. 'Something's not right here' he thought to himself. In the edge of his vision, he thought he saw movement. Not wanting to betray the fact that the had spotted something, he calmly turned around and went back into the camp.
"Roxanne, Raymond" he whispered. The two Furs, sitting by the fire, turned their heads. Kyle walked towards the pair. He pulled off his cloak and handed it to the startled Furs.
"Listen" he whispered. "I think something's about to go down. Take my cloak, cover yourselves with it as best you can, and hide by those boulders over there." He pointed past the vehicle, towards the left side of the canyon. Rocks jutted from the walls at weird angles, and other ones lay cracked and broken on the ground, gravity finally having won. The two Furs knew not to get up suddenly, lest they attract attention. Raymond turned his face back towards the fire and asked a question.
"How do you know?" Roxanne had gotten up to grab a split log from the firewood pile.
"Just look around; the guards are nervous, they aren't joking or laughing like guards normally would. And not just that" he lowered his voice. "I saw something moving by entrance to the canyon over there. It was crouching, like it was trying to stay hidden." Roxanne had returned and had placed the log on the fire. She and Raymond both got up, grabbed their bags and started walking in the direction of the vehicle, as if they were going to trade.
Once they were out of sight of the fire, they moved towards the rocks. There was a gap in between two of the colossal stones that was just small enough for both of them to fit in. The covered themselves with Kyle's cloak, hoping it looked enough like the sandstone of the canyon to blend in. the two settled in, hoping that Kyle was wrong. Only a few minutes later, there were shouts echoing up and down the canyon, and the sound of gunfire and screaming.
Neither of the pair was cold, there bodies pressed so tightly together generated and conserved heat, but they were severely cramped, and dared not move to stretch.
"Roxie, baby" whispered Raymond. "In case something happens, just know that I love you."
"Ya I love you too, Ray, but we gotta be quiet." Both Furs, for the first real time in their lives, silently prayed; not knowing whom to address their prayers, but praying for safety just the same.
Slowly, it seemed to the hidden Furs, the sounds of battle died down. But the mind plays tricks on the body in times of panic. In reality, the battle was over in seconds, the ambush working perfectly.
Kyle prayed to his God that he would have the strength to do whatever his God required of him. Having been told years before by an Angel of the LORDthat he would be captured by his enemies, he was not startled when he saw the three armed Furs training their rifles at his head.
The three canine Furs, a female jackal, a male wolf, and a male dog sub species; all had the same shade of ashen grey fur covering their bodies. The wolf spoke bitterly.
"It's lucky that it was my group that found you, Kyle. The others might not have cared that you were once one of us." Speaking to the two Furs flanking him, the wolf gave orders. "Tie him up, and put him with the rest of the prisoners." Kyle protested as they bound his wrists behind his back.
"Is this really necessary? I was told to cooperate with ye, so it's not like I'm gonna try to flee or anything." The wolf responded by slamming the butt of his rifle into the jackal's temple. Quickly, Kyle's world turned to black.
Though the two Furs heard no more noises after the sound of the engine starting and the treaded vehicle driving away, the two kept quiet. Eventually, they worked up the courage to lift the cloak, just slightly, so they could see out. The coast was clear, so to speak. Shell casings and broken spears littered the ground. Bodies, both human and Fur but mostly male, lie scattered throughout the makeshift camp site, their blood seeping into the sand. The campfire still burned weakly. Raymond lifted the cloak more to get out, but his wife stopped him.
"Ray! What are you doing? What if they left some scouts out there to wait?"
"Roxie, it's safe. If they left any scouts here, they wouldn't get a share of the loot when they divided it up back at their camp." He stood up, surveying the carnage. Sighing, Roxanne got up out of the cramped space between the rocks.
"I don't see Kyle's body here anywhere." Raymond had walked out among the corpses and was looking at them.
"So you think he got away?" asked Roxanne. Raymond had begun going through the pockets of one of the dead guards.
"That or they took him with. Look at this, typical raiders. They didn't even search the bodies." He held up a fistful of human paper money.
"What do you mean took him with? Like he was working with them or something?" The sun had set, and the cold of the desert was beginning to set in. Roxanne walked over to the wood pile and grabbed some logs. She tossed them onto the fire and sat down.
"I didn't say anything like that. Besides, if he was working with them why did he help us?" Raymond walked over to his wife and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders.
"I don't know baby, I just don't know...Wait, didn't he say he was a tribal?"
"Yeah, I remember him saying that. But so what?" The raiders hadn't bothered to search the camp, backpacks and satchels of the guards still lay against the rocks they were sitting on around the fire. Roxanne sighed again, and let her head rest against Raymond's shoulder.
"Well, maybe when they saw him they decided to bring him back to the village."
"Yeah, maybe" said Raymond.
"Raymond, are those bodies gonna attract animals?" Roxanne was beginning to shiver in the cold, her avian metabolism converting fuel into energy instead of heat.
"Come on baby, you're shivering, lets you closer to the fire." Raymond got up, and walked back towards the rocks. Bending down, he picked up Kyle's cloak and brought it back to Roxanne. "Her, put this on, it'll keep you warm. And as for any animals, the smells of battle are too fresh right now. In about a day, maybe, but for now we're alone." Roxanne slid the cloak down over her head. "Thanks baby" she whispered. Gradually, Roxanne drifted off to sleep. Confident that they would be safe, Raymond also let his eyes drift shut, his arm still around his wife, holding her close to him.
With their new toy, the tracked vehicle, the tribals did in minutes a journey that usually took hours. When they arrived back at their home, they were greeted with cheers. Villagers ran up to them to help them unload the loot and the captives. Standing still, and almost invisible in his black armor, the man watched the process unfold. A smile crept across his helmeted face, for he had felt a great power come into the tribe with the returning warriors. Figuring it was a weapon imbued with a shard of the tower, he left the scene. He started walking towards the longhouse. Once he was inside, he went to the chieftain's quarters. Still tied to the steel post was the lioness, weak with hunger and thirst. She watched him as he entered the room, and as he approached her she began to panic, rattling the chains that bound her against the steel post.
"Would you please be quiet?" asked the man in a tone more fit for a command than for a question. She quieted immediately. He bent down and pulled the gag off of her mouth. He stood up, and walked across the room, to a small, crudely carved end table. He grabbed a pitcher of water and a plate of meat off the table and returned to the Fur. He reached up, and snapped the chain from around her right arm. "Eat and drink. I'm going to have to have quite a talk with your master about taking better care of his property." While the lioness quietly ate, the man absentmindedly ran his armored fingers over the Furs head, gently petting her. She purred softly from the attention. "Soon, soon" he said out loud but to no one in particular. "I will get off this miserable rock. And then things will get interesting."
To be continued...