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Chapter Nineteen
Our journey to the Rainbow Falls is arduous; my legs and feet feel like they've been trudging these rocks for a lifetime. I've lived here amidst the weight of the mountain for so long the touch of a fresh breeze; the feeling of sunlight on my skin has faded to all but a fleeting dream. However, now that I know freedom lies within my grasp, I can hardly stand the snail's pace with which we march through the night. In the end, it's adrenaline and not food that provides the energy for me to continue one step in front of the other.
The jingle of armor and weapons sets me somewhat on edge. It reminds me of the time the Timeron Knights took me captive, intent on using my body for sex while my mind drifted into and out of drug-induced euphoria. Thus far, I've been lucky. The mind lords prized two things: my ability to fight in their arena and my disease-resistant flesh, which made me ideally suited to working with other monsters in the rock pits of the underdark. As a reward, they didn't defile my body. Even Talisac, who wanted desperately to do so, was restrained by my late master, Kierak.
My eyes look to the doctor's face, but he's shackled heavily while I'm allowed to walk without restraint. I suppose I've the "ghost" of Angelaria to thank for that. Somehow in the months I've been a prisoner, she managed to secure his friendship, and now he's bringing me to her. Just the thought of this makes my errant dick jump in my suit. I say "errant" because I should be completely devoted to Talen. And I am...at least physically...but my mind has other ideas. Just imagining her in my head makes me think of the perfume she wears. I flare my nostrils, but the only scent I detect is thick with the mingling of sweat and oil. It's a bittersweet tang that stings my eyes.
A dancing yellow torch lights the way, bobbing and weaving like a will-o'-the-wisp. Our column picks its path past rocks so dull in color, they remind me of slate blackboards. Occasional spots of white reflect the torches so brightly that I swear we're beset by monsters hiding behind multiple eyes, crouched to spring from narrow and seemingly abandoned passages.
A woman I don't recognize shuffles along next to me. A slave not unlike myself, this one's face hangs pale and drips in sweat. Her clothes droop upon her thin body. But food, water, and the exhilaration of freedom pushes the color red into her cheeks. Still, I've pity for her.
An emptiness inside me stirs each time I look upon her swollen belly where she carries a child forced upon her, no doubt, by a grimlock master seeking to breed his stock. Only an hour into our journey, she falters, and I catch her before she hits the ground.
"Thank you," she says.
I smile and cradle her a moment, feeling the roll of her belly press against my rock-hard arms. "Can you walk?"
She shakes her head. "I-I'm exhausted." She stares at the column of men who refuse any assistance. They're warriors and fellow slaves. Those who aren't well enough to travel fall behind and the men in charge shower them with promises that they'll return, but cannot spare the time right now. Riaken shows little mercy. The danger is high that the grimlocks will return soon with an army of dominated thralls. Their network, he says, is vast.
She swallows and says, "Just leave me."
I shake my head and pick her up. "I'll carry you. No girl that needs help is going to stay behind while I can still walk."
This makes her cry, but she allows me to pick her up. She's pretty light as girls go, but the hundred or so pounds add up after four hours of hiking through uneven terrain that mostly slopes toward a hidden sky. By the end, my arms burn with pain, but not once do I complain.
The cavern containing the Rainbow Falls is bigger than any room I've ever seen. The far side and the roof are lost in darkness; glittering stones set amidst the ceiling give off some light that twinkle like stars.
The falls themselves are seven bands of color and plummet from a source at least 150 feet above a pool lit by brilliant, glowing rocks. A camp squats at its base. Twenty to thirty tents stand amidst strange plants and huge mushrooms that grow like trees here in the magical twilight. There are easily a hundred men present, if not more. It's both an army and a refugee camp, but from hearing Riaken talk among his men, it's a fraction of what's needed should the grimlocks attack in force.
Soldiers see us coming and announce Riaken's return with three toots from a brass horn.
"You there," he says to one soldier in a red jacket, "Attend to the wounded and the sick. And tell the captains I need to meet them in my tent immediately. Our enemy is regrouping, and it won't be long before we face a wave of decays."
What on earth are the decays? But my thoughts go without answer.
"Where are these refugees from?" the man asks.
"Section five," Riaken states. "And there's plenty more that didn't make it."
I carry the pregnant girl into a tent and set her down for a moment to catch my breath. A woman enters behind me, steps over her prone body, and motions for me to slide my right hand under her lower back and my left under her shoulders near her neck. She does the same. Together, we heft her onto a canvas cot. This eases the pressure on her back, and I see the relief flash across her face almost immediately. The nurse goes to fetch a pillow and blanket; I take a moist cloth and wipe her forehead down with cool water.
"You're very kind," she says, squeezing my fingers. "And...handsome."
That makes me blush a little.
"She's almost ready to give birth...perhaps a few more weeks," Riaken intones from over my left shoulder. The fact I didn't hear him come in is a surprise.
"I-I feel like I did this to her," I say.
"Why?" she asks me. "I was raped by a man...multiple men really. I can't remember their faces, but none looked like you. It's not your fault."
"Because I was living there for months just waiting to be rescued, putting faith in someone that, in retrospect, I probably shouldn't. I could have done more; I could have escaped and gone after my helmet on my own. But I didn't because I love someone, and that's made me weak. I could've killed these men before they got to you and countless other women. I'd no idea I was being dominated so much. What seemed like only a few weeks was in fact many months. I've got so many questions right now, but the biggest has to be...what happened in all that missing time? Why can't I recall it? I-If I was forced to take a girl against her will, I'd never be able to live with myself. Not remembering isn't an excuse. I need to know."
Riaken's eyes show he understands. "The grimlocks are cruel taskmasters. But blaming yourself for the world's troubles is an invitation for madness."
"It's already too late for that," I say, looking at him. "I was already insane when they enslaved me."
Our conversation stops with my pronouncement.
Silence.
I see a motion at the door to the tent, and Talen enters.
For a moment, my breath catches in my mouth. Just seeing him there, tall and lean, face dirty but gorgeous...and those gray blue eyes staring at me with an inviting blackness at their center makes me shiver. It's almost too much, because I know we're at last free of the yoke of the grimlocks who forced us to breed over and over again in front of an audience of perverts and scoundrels.
"Talen," I whisper and the fingers on my hand tremble. Every part of me aches, but I'm overwhelmed by the feelings that squeeze my heart. Tethyr's teeth I love him.
He smiles. "I heard what you said. You? Impossible...you're not a monster, Hunter (Talen uses my assassin name). If anyone's the monster, it's me for having failed you. It's not like you had a choice in anything you did. But if you did have a choice, I'd hope that I'd still factor into it. I mean...it's hard for me to blame you for anything you put me through, and I hope you realize that I forced you to work the mines because I couldn't think of anyplace better for you. My days were not all lying around and getting attention. I was a prisoner too. I couldn't taste or feel or hear anything that the Master didn't want me to hear, even when he gave visitors permission to molest me."
I rush to him and throw my arms around his chest. I kiss him tenderly at first, letting the words that he just spoke sink in. "You got...raped?" I ask. I swear in the quiet recesses of my mind that I'll destroy each and every one that got to taste Talen's sweat or enjoy the taste of his boy milk.
Talen shakes his head. "To my knowledge, no one 'fucked' me. That privilege was yours alone. But practically everything else happened. Talisac made me give him a blow job. As long as I serviced him faithfully, he guaranteed to control your sex partners for me. Hunter, there was such demand for your services. You've no idea...grimlocks by the dozen wanted to buy you from the master to participate in huge orgies! I couldn't bear the thought of anyone touching you. I'd have sold my soul to be the only one."
"Don't call him that. He isn't our master anymore," I whisper. I kiss him savagely and he answers by lolling his soft slippery tongue over mine. We spend a minute sucking face like this, Frenching and tasting the savory wetness of our young lips. When I stop, I feel Riaken's awkward gaze heavy upon my back. The nurse returns with a pillow and blanket, and gives it to the pregnant woman on the cot. "I swear to everyone in this tent that I'll kill every grimlock I come across. I'll make it my life mission to make them extinct."
"I too felt your anger. I still do to some extent; I was once a prisoner," Riaken declares. He combs his lustrous hair back and reflects upon his memories. "I and hundreds of others escaped them in a massive revolt in what is now District Thirteen. Since that time, I've cultivated immunities to their psionic blast, which as you know, can render you completely immobile. I'm sure you felt it...hmm...it's like an omni-present scratch that makes its way across the surface of your mind."
I nod yes. Both Talen and I are extremely familiar with the "scratch" that Riaken just described. My boyfriend interlaces his hands in mine. In his other, I see he's carrying my helmet; the bulge of his own makes a pumpkin-sized protrusion in his backpack.
The green-eyed Riaken grimaces and continues with his tale. "Honestly, Hunter, you're really lucky to be alive and to have faired so well. Men in your kind of physical condition are usually turned into grimlocks themselves. Someone up there," he says with a gesture to the heavens, "likes you..."
"Riaken," Talen begins, "What month and year is it? How long have we been down here?"
Riaken put his finger to his chin, thinking. "It's the year of the Tiger right now. And it's the month of Cardinals in Merenzar."
Talen counts the time on his fingers. "We've been imprisoned for almost half a year." Suddenly, he grins. "You're twenty years old now. Happy Birthday chum." The sentiment gives him an excuse to kiss me again, and this time his hands roam over my codpiece.
"How old are you?" I respond, happy to let his fingers do their walking. He manages to get it a little loose and I feel him insert two fingers and begin to rub my sweaty dick skin. A moment later, he pulls them out and sniffs them happily.
"I'm twenty as well," Talen says, before licking them clean.
Riaken interrupts. "Five months you say." He rolls his eyes seemingly impressed. "I'm DEFINITELY shocked you lived. Would you mind if I asked you some questions about your experience? I know it's been extremely traumatizing. But you see, we're hunters of the GRIMLOCKS, and it's important to kill colonies of them before they spread."
We both lost him somewhat with that last comment.
"What are colonies exactly?" Talen asks.
"They're the same as ones populated and/or created by humans," Riaken responds. "You were chosen by a powerful elder grimlock, who's now dead, to be the thralls for his new colony. His ultimate goal would have been to establish another elder brain using children he farmed from your loins. One of you would have been responsible for carrying a slave pack...it's an enormous wet thing that weighs more than ten stone. It would have contained a few tadpoles harvested from the central pool. And as for many of your children, unfortunately a lot would have gone to feed the growing colony until fetal plantations caught up with demand. The dwarves of the deep have grown to loathe the presence of grimlocks anywhere within two-hundred leagues of their underground cities. Grimlocks are very powerful and quite capable of slipping between the planes and spiriting away individuals for the diabolical acts they visit upon all intelligent races. But believe me, I know from experience that the evil the grimlocks are capable of is far worse than anything that you experienced firsthand."
"How can you say that?" I blurt out. "Do you know how it feels to hurt someone you love?"
"Kian," Talen says, gripping me on my bulging bicep. Riaken's eyes narrow a bit as Talen uses my real name; my muscle jumps reflexively in his grip. "Kian, he's just trying to put a positive shine on things. He knows what we've been through. Don't be so defensive okay? T-these scars will take a long time to heal."
Riaken nods in agreement. "I meant no offense."
I shake my head. "I-I'm sorry."
My eyes downcast, I study the face of the pregnant woman. Thankfully, she's asleep now. Merciful rest...I'm so tired.
Footsteps behind me.
I whirl and see a beautiful young lady appear out of the gloom. To my surprise, it's Angelaria, and this time she's carrying a medicinal bag.
I race up to hug her and she raises a hand to stop me. "You smell, Kian," she says and that halts me in my tracks. "But I'm glad to see you...we'll hug after you're cleaned up, okay?"
I grin, "Thank you for coming back for me."
"Gods..." she says studying my face, "you've lost so much weight." Whimsically she touches my face. "Your cheekbones are so prominent. Don't get me wrong...you look...really good. It's just...well...this whole experience has been so hard on all of us."
"I'm just glad you're okay," I say.
"This girl...," Angelaria tells Riaken, "is too weak to be moved right now. We'll have to wait here for a few days. Maybe by then, some of the others who you brought in will be recovered enough to move. This pregnancy is extremely advanced, though. If we move her about we risk killing the mother and the child both."
"Is she going to be okay?" I ask.
"Hmm," comes the reply. "I'm not certain. Perhaps? Only rest and time will tell. In the meantime, she's to be cared for and given the best of the food we have to spare. Her mind has been deeply scarred and that type of healing is extremely difficult to accomplish. And it's certainly not anything that I can treat with this bag or any of the herbs and medicines I've brought with me. It's going to require the arts of an actual priestess of Khaal, goddess of healing."
"If I have to, I'll go and hunt something down...anything," I offer.
"No, that won't be necessary."
"You three must be good friends. I've a tent that's been erected a little ways from here. The boys are welcome to it, as you, Angel, are my guest in my tent."
When he says this, I suddenly am not as fond of Riaken as I was just a moment earlier.
"You're free to use my canvas tub to wash in," Riaken states. "I'll have water warmed for you. And I've some shaving things so that you men can groom yourselves properly." He steps forward and puts his hand on my shoulder. "We'll help the girl as best as we can. That worm, Talisac, will be kept alive. However, he remains in restraints until we get to the surface. Angel told me of your oath to see him safely through the darkness and we respect your commitment."
I thank him and leave.
Talen moves to the front and pulls me along the pebble-strewn path near the falls until we reach a stand of mushrooms and strange trees bearing bio-luminescent foliage. The ground under our feet lights up wherever I step; fish swim in water so clear it might as well be air. There's green moss and alien-looking ferns sprouting from soil so black, it looks like death.
Talen gets directions from two women wearing white hijabs. They direct us to Riaken's tent. Talen strides bravely forward and disappears through the canvas opening. I pause and look back at the tent where Angelaria is currently caring for the pregnant girl.
With a sigh, I enter and Talen pulls me into his arms where he kisses me tenderly. "Once the water arrives, let's make the most of the afternoon."
"What do you mean by that?" I ask, playfully nibbling on his lips.
"I mean...I want you to allow me to make love to you. Let me worship you like I want to. I want to clean every part of you and lay kisses on places that need to be kissed. I love you, my boyfriend, I love you so much."
I caress his neck carefully with my tongue, and a few minutes later, two soldiers walk-in and set up the canvas tub. They fill it with warm, steaming water and the sides of it bulge outward and strain against the wooden frame. They mix the contents with their hands and then offer us a soap cake, which I gladly took hold of...cupping it like a small bird fallen from its next. When they leave, we begin to undress; I plan to take full advantage of Riaken's generosity.
I shall post Chapter 20 next week.