hacking, beating them back, using every trick he had learned in the Roman
arena. Like a living whirlwind he sped among them, killing and hacking. But
his sword was knocked out of his hand by an obsidian-lined club, numbing his
right arm. Though Casca went on to kill three more with his open hand blows,
they eventually overcame him, smothering him under the weight of their
piled-up bodies.
The odor of those bodies was itself overpowering. Shit! What in Hades do these
people wear for perfume? he thought, not at the time being familiar with the
use of the juice from the glands of the skunk as an aid in warding off
avaricious mosquitoes!
Quickly the downed Casca was trussed up like a side of beef, removed from the
scene of combat, and taken into the jungle. To the Jaguar men the mission was
complete. They had what they wanted. Let the other pale stranger go. He was of
no importance. This one would be the best messenger they had ever had, if his
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courage and fighting skills were any indicators.
Olaf and a rescue party made their way back to the sight of the ambush, but of
Casca, or of even wounded or dead enemies, there was no sign. Only puddles of
blood, now covered with flies, attested to the violence that had taken place.
Under a bush they found Casca's short sword. Olaf stuck it in his belt. After
further fruitless searching they returned to their camp. Olaf relayed Casca's
order that they were to await his return. For Olaf, it was enough. He would
obey and wait while he had life. So would the others. Here they would wait
until the Lord of the Hold, the Walker, returned. As he said, so he would. Of
that Olaf had no doubts. Casca was not as other men.
SIX
The magnificently garbed Teotec warriors were preparing for the journey to the
interior. On one of the hills facing the beach and ocean they had assembled
their captives and Casca. By signs they made it known that if the captives
made no trouble they would be well treated. Using their fingers they indicated
that it would take ten to twelve days to reach the city that was their
destination. Casca was impressed. The warriors were handsome in their
elaborate feathered robes and weird headdresses of jaguars and other strange
beasts and birds. Professionally, he evaluated them as a military force. There
seemed to be at least one dominant group in the unit escorting them. These men
wore the emblem and likeness of a leopard like animal, but one with which he
was unfamiliar. Some of the men seemed to be of higher rank than the others.
He presumed these to be officers. They wore the elaborate costumes of feathers
and skins. The common soldiers, however, wore plaited suits of some kind of
fiber. Their shields were mostly of wicker-work, though some shields were of
animal hides stretched over a wooden hoop. None carried weapons of metal. He
would have thought they had no knowledge of metalworking at all had not a few
worn ornaments of gold. The most common weapons were spears and clubs edged
with stone. Nowhere was a bow or anything like it to be seen.
He concluded that a well-trained Roman legion would have made short shrift of
the lot-but at the moment he did not have access to a Roman legion. The trip
began, the captives led by the ropes of woven leather.
Day after day the party made its way deeper into the interior. They passed
many villages, and Casca looked curiously at the inhabitants of this strange
land. As a rule they were a handsome and ruddycolored people; with square
features and jaws, but with eyes like pieces of obsidian peeking out from
beneath black hair cut shoulder length and with bangs.
During the days of their trek, Casca was introduced to many new foods. One was
a yellow grain made into large fat cakes, something like those he had known in
the East. There was a particularly tasty tuber plant. But the prize of the lot
was a hot spice that burned the inside of the mouth like acid. Something the
natives called "chile" as near as he could make out the word. This the natives [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]