Editing Epic - Journey to Marûn (section)

==Escape from the Kharash==

The cowardly and despicable massacre of innocents that the Kharash inflicted on my people is recorded elsewhere, so I will not dwell on it here. At least some of us were not slaughtered and were instead taken prisoner. Shameful, but also an opportunity to escape and seek justice. I begin the telling when I was in the cages of one of their convoys...

Next to me in the cage was Grelt, a friend and companion on my former mission, who had not yet gained consciousness. Why did they keep us alive? I also caught sight of the white tiger "Khat"; she was in another cage, alone, similarly mounted on a wagon... and looking miserable. Grelt grunted and shook his head. “What happened?” he asked without yet having opened his eyes. The cart had left the river and was climbing the slope as it continued to head south. “We have been caught by the Kharash.” I answered plainly. “What?” shrieked Grelt now with eyes wide open. He was immediately silent again as he took in the enormity of the situation. Then he seemed to panic... “They have got it!” He yelled, before hurriedly whispering, “the Runestone…”

I understood – Grelt had been given the sacred Runestone to take to the festival. That explained why he had accompanied them and why I had been given an otherwise mundane task. The Runestone would have been placed in front of the shrine to Shang-Ti to proclaim the tribe’s respect to the God. Grelt was a devout follower and a trusted disciple of the Temple to Shang-Ti; he would have seen this as a great honour. The Runestone had mystical powers too... we knew well the stories of the miraculous cures that the stone had performed.

Later that evening, after the Kharash had stopped to make camp, there was a considerable commotion. More Kharash arrived bringing prisoners, although the deafening, high-pitched howling and wailing coming from the nets the Kharash had slung across their horses signalled that these prisoners were not human. Eventually, and with much brutality, two wolves were deposited into a spare cage and hoisted onto the back of a wagon. One was white as the clouds that hurtled across the wide, endless sky; the other was as grey as the mountain slopes. Few slept that night as the howling continued despite the guards’ abundant use of the rod. (The Kharash hit their prisoners with iron rods, designed to fit through the bars of the cage.)

Grelt and I had spoken little – mostly to avoid being hit with a metal rod – but, as a Kharash horseman rode past, Grelt whispered, “He’s the leader.” I was not terribly interested, instead focusing on escape; I had considered attempting to break the lock the previous night and, using the howling to mask the sound, I had tried to prise open the padlock when the guard that was assigned to his cage had been preoccupied. Unfortunately it had proved too strong, but that was definitely the time – if escape was even a possibility that was.

“He is wearing a Runestone, look.” Grelt nodded at the leader as the Kharash turned to look over their cage into the distant Steppe beyond. True enough, there was a Runestone hung around the Kharash’s armoured neck on a black-metal chain. It was subtly different though – the same gold marking on black stone, but the marks were different from our family Runestone. “It’s different,” whispered Grelt who had come to the same conclusion. There were rumoured to be 6 stones – each a key to the entrance to some great temple somewhere. Was it one for each religion or one for each region of Minnerwe... or was it Khagul Gurung? I had focused more on my warrior training than being forced to listen to tedious lectures. Grelt could not take his eye off the leader, which drew unwanted attention. The leader shouted for the caravan to stop and he ordered that Grelt be brought out of the cage. I did my best to protest but received such a blow to my head with the metal rod that I passed out. When I came to Grelt was gone and the wagons were lumbering once again along the path that followed the mountains south towards the desert. I was more careful then to avoid the leader’s gaze as he moved up and down inspecting his prisoners.

Another day passed, ending with the usual routine of corralling the wagons and posting guards. This time the evening brought prisoners from different directions and under the control of very different people. The leader himself, with just two other Kharash, brought in an unconscious humanoid, the likes of which I had never seen. It was taller and thinner than a human, with sharper features and a long face. Slumped forward as it was dragged to its cage, it was alive but only just. I realised that it was quite tall – easily over six feet – and was definitely skinny. As it passed my cage, heading towards its own confinement, I saw that its skin was rough and yellow and its head was shaved save for a single braid which ran down its back. Its ears were definitely pointed. 

Pointed too were the ears of the other prisoners brought in from over the mountains. Elves I realised, having read about them but having never seen one in the flesh. They were rumoured to have lived widely in these lands before the Great War but since had all but vanished to the edges of Minnerwe. There were two – a male and a female – both too tired to struggle against their captors, who were not Kharash. In fact they bore more resemblance to the yellow skinned humanoid who had been thrown into the cage with the elves a moment before. There were eight of them, all dressed in bejewelled armour and carrying huge swords and axes. They stood apart from the Kharash and only the leader of the evil troop spoke with them in a tongue I did not understand. In the cold moonlight, emanating from a moon that had begun to wane since its completeness three days before, I saw the leader hand over the Runestone of Shang-Ti. I also noted that the strange looking creature was careful not to touch the stone; instead, he held open a bag into which the Kharash commander dropped the artefact. Then the leader of the yellow skins noticed one of their kin had been imprisoned along with with the elves. A rapid conversation followed but I was surprised to see that the yellow skins seemed happy with whatever the Kharash had said. Suddenly these strange, yellow-skinned creatures disappeared – quite literally, disappeared!

The next day after the prisoners had been fed a meagre portion of mutton stew and weevil-infested bread, the wagons rolled off, unwinding from the circle in which they had been arranged. I saw that the yellow skinned humanoid was in the second-to-last wagon, just ahead of the wolves who had calmed their misery a little. I was in the second wagon from the front (and alone) with the tigress at the front, heavily guarded. It was still early and the sun had only just crested the mountain peaks to our left when chaos broke out.

Sprinting down the scree slopes to the caravan’s left came a score or more of wolf-men. I knew them to be Hengeyokai – a part-human part-animal race – in this case wolves. I had heard that a pack had claimed territory in the hills, mountains and Steppe to the north of the Frostfall – the river I could just make out in the distance to the south and east. They split into two formations and attacked the front and rear of the caravan simultaneously. At last, a chance to be free! I tried again to break the padlock whilst my keepers were distracted – this time with success.

Just as the padlock broke at the back of the cage, I looked up to see the wolves set free their kin from the last cage, and watched as four of the great beasts shoved over the next wagon and broke the cage’s lock. That cage contained the strange humanoid and the elves. The elves made a run for it, north and slightly uphill, hand in hand. I had lost sight of the humanoid in the confusion; the last I recalled was the creature staring at a dying wolf as it tumbled down the slope. This wolf, moments before, had leapt at a Kharash horseman, unseating him and smashing his fists into his neck. The human landed on his back and flailed his spear wildly, his dark eyes bulging in pain and fear. The wolf’s fist struck at the Kharash’s neck, splintering the lamé that joined cuirass with helmet, penetrating the carotid artery. Where had the humanoid gone? No time to wonder – he probably did the same vanishing act as the similar creatures that brought the elves, yesterday.

Other Hengeyokai were dying - the biggest of the rear group was stuck by three or four flaming bolts which seemed to weave through the air before striking, just before a Karash pierced its chest with a wicked-looking spear at full charge. Some wolves closer to me simply fell where they stood – dead or unconscious he did not know. I saw one of the Kharash close by leap from his mount and slice deep into a massive wolf-man with a wickedly sharp, serrated blade before he chanted something - rendering all nearby lifeless. Indeed, had I not been completely focused on making my escape the words may have threatened to engulf my mind too. Finally, as I tumbled free of the cage, a long-legged black wolf near the front of the assault howled loudly before an arrow struck his neck and more pierced his thick mane, which tumbled down his back. The last sound this wolf-man made was a hideous wail that issued from his gaping maul as a Kharash spear entered his chest.

The Kharash were too busy to notice his escape; the wolves were soon dispatched or rounded up and caged along with the other prisoners. I realised that I would not be able to flee across the Steppe in broad daylight, nor would I have time to run up the slope before the Kharash spotted me, so I rolled back under my former wagon and lifted myself off the ground. As the Kharash regained control, orders were barked and cages hoisted back onto wagons. To my surprise, the horseman appeared in too much of a rush to spend time looking for me. He heard the Kharash leader bark some orders; then, as the wagons began to lumber forward, the leader joined one of his men right beside the wagon under which I hid. “Hinghest, take the caravan to Oracal.  Malaki will reward you for her capture.” “Yes, my Lord,” answered the Kharash before spurring his horse forward. “Load the bodies too,” the leader barked after Hinghest.

Maybe that was my chance... I knew I could not hold on this way for very long. I might be able to hide under some bodies until nightfall and make my escape in the dark. I waited until the bodies had been loaded – some into the cage above me. As the cart began to trundle forward once more, I stretched my body and neck to my right and looked to see if anyone would notice if I moved. To my relief, I was under the last cage; there were, however, two guards bringing up the rear. They were about fifty yards behind sauntering forward on their black steeds. I noted they would close up if the cart was about to turn a corner along its winding journey. However, there was potentially enough time to drop down and spring into the cage before they re-appeared. I did not have to wait long and, as the cart took a sharp turn to the left following the path, I dropped to the ground and waited for the cart to pass before jumping into the cage and covering himself with dead wolf-men.

Now I had to wait until dark before making my escape; however, the carts came to a halt in the late afternoon and did not form a circle... something else was happening. The two rear guards cantered forward, passing either side of my wagon in a rush. I saw an opportunity and took it. Moments after the Kharash cantered by I slipped out from under the corpses and slid, snake-like, down the slope away from the caravan.  I was certain I had not been noticed, but I needed to make sure. Making it to the bank of the Frostfall, I lay still and looked back. I was about two hundred yards from the caravan, to its south east. The river tumbled fiercely here and the bank was steep – providing excellent cover.

There was a group assembled at the front and only the tigress was guarded. The group consisted of those strange, yellow-skinned humanoids who captured and sold the elves, he was sure. Suddenly, appearing behind these strange people was a ship. A ship which seemed to float. It was over one hundred feet long and was made from a combination of strange wood and metals which seemed woven into the shape of a barge. Huge sails were unfurled on masts that stuck out in all directions from the floating vessel. Despite being unfurled, the mountain breeze seemed to have no effect on them. A ramp was lowered as I watched and the wagons were carefully loaded. It seemed to me that the horses were accustomed to this form of transport. Once all was loaded, including all but two of the Kharash, the barge simply disappeared in a shimmer of silver light.

The horsemen seemed deep in conversation as they trotted back northwards along the path. I had nowhere else to go; I needed to know whether Kran Ghul had suffered the same fate at the hands of the Kharash as my family and all the nobility. I already knew the answer, but I needed to be certain. I began heading north, paralleling the Kharash looking for an opportunity. It was then that I saw the prisoner – the one that had disappeared – heading, it seemed, southeast towards the Frostfall. That made sense, he would clearly be thirsty. Perhaps he could help; perhaps he knew what that strange vessel was – after all, he looked the same as the strange yellow-skins. He was dressed only in brown linen, presumably stripped as I had been, with a single braid of russet hair down his back and moving slowly.

It was early spring, so it was still cold even as new life bloomed across the steppe. The air gave crystal-clear vision and it was late morning. The high mountain range was to the east (my right) and the vast steppe to my left. We were on a high trail but still below the snow line, with the Frostfall behind us. I was very aware that I would need to find clothes and/or shelter if I was to survive the night! Then I noticed another survivor - one of the wolf Hengeyokai was loping towards the yellow/green humanoid at pace. He wore no clothes, instead having his thick fur (that I was slightly envious of right now), but he did wear a small leather backpack that looked quite out of place on his lupine form. Did he mean to attack? His intentions were not clear.

I was focused on the Kharash but I did try to get the attention of the humanoid... however he seemed to be shimmering and somehow there and then not there intermittently, crouching and still now. It was weird to see, but then I had seen many strange things recently and this was but one more. I tried gesturing at him to join me in an attack on the Kharash anyway, but I was not sure if he had even seen me. The Kharash were well armed and armoured, with multiple weapons stowed around their saddles in a complex arrangement to enable them to be drawn quickly. The horses were black and slightly bigger than the average riding horse.

I approached swiftly from behind, my bare feet an advantage as they had not noticed me yet, and leapt onto one of the horses, throwing the rider aside. He landed awkwardly, his head striking a rock, and was knocked out. I tried to take control of the horse but it was fighting me and it was all I could do to keep it in place. The other escapees had seen my attack and were thankfully hurrying to join me, again unseen as the other rider's attention was on me. The Hengeyokai reached him first, leaping at him, but his timing was unfortunate as the horse shifted towards him and the weight effectively body-blocked him. He slid to the ground, unharmed but unable to unseat the rider. Unfortunately the yellow thing tried the same thing with much the same effect... he did seem a bit thin to be trying to tackle someone off a horse anyway.

Thankfully I grabbed the halberd from the saddle of the horse and as I swung it around at the Kharash, bracing it to use my weight to give the blow some force, the horse twisted just the right way to give it some extra power. The other rider's head was taken clean off by the impact! The horse was still struggling, which was unusual as I could usually control horses well. It seemed as objectionable as its previous owners, so I dismounted and reluctantly watched as it ran after the other horse, which had already bolted.

I greeted my new, if temporary, allies. I was surprised to find that the Hengeyokai invoked Shang-Ti's name! Apparently the law bringer had set him on the right path, so we had more common ground than I thought. The other... thing... claimed not to be the same as the others we had seen, and in fact was quite offended that we might think that. The ones in league with our captors he called the "Githyanki", whereas he was of the "Githzerai". The Githyanki used to be slavers of his people. He did not seem to have heard of Shang-Ti, or of Chih-Chiang Fyu-Ya (the God the Kharash claimed to follow).

The Hengeyokai cocked his head to one side (thankfully not his leg) and his ear appeared to perk up. After a moment he told us that the Spiritfolk had warned him of more Kharash approaching, but then he looked up the steep slope next to us and got quite excited. He claimed that a sign from Shang-Ti was guiding us north and that the spirits would protect us, urging us to follow. I grabbed the unconscious Kharash, wanting to question him about what was going on, and ran to get out of sight up behind the Hengeyokai that was loping easily up the steep slope. He took us up a small riverlet and the way got even steeper; I had to work hard to keep up with the body across my shoulders, but I welcomed the burning muscles after several days without exercise.

The spirits told him that there was another caravan with prisoners approaching, and we saw two outriders riding ahead of them drawing close on the track below. We hid in the craggy rocks to the sides of the riverlet, and I rested the body below me against a rock, pinning him down in case he came to. We had a moment to at least exchange names, and I learned that the Hengeyokai was called "Fulgar" and the strange creature that called himself a Githzerai was called "Garuk". The outriders stopped below where we were hiding, one held a bow casually but ready to fire, and the other dismounted. He looked closely at the floor, looking for tracks perhaps? It was clear that the spooked horses had alerted them to potential danger.

We thought that we were relatively safe so far above them, but then another (quite different) Hengeyokai appeared just above us on the mountain slope. It was a baboon and started calling a challenge, standing tall and making quite the racket. Fulgar translated, although I think we got the gist of it - it was saying that we were their meat, and that we would die alone and vulnerable. Others of its kind answered the call around and above us, and it was clear that we were outnumbered and wouldn't be able to move as freely as they could in the rocks. Fulgar was worried that we had entered their territory, and that his requests for peaceful passage were being ignored. He had bared his teeth and his fur was standing up, looking ready for a fight himself.

I was concerned that the commotion would alert the Kharash, and I was proved right as an arrow flew up with a humming and then a flash of a small explosion... probably a warning to the convoy behind them. We had no time to look down, though, as a dozen baboon creatures appeared above us and leapt down, charging to engage us. Suddenly an eruption of rock spikes rose up in a line just above us, cutting off their advance and providing cover around us. Fulgar heard a shout of "flee!" in his tongue, and we did not need much encouragement to follow him.

I glanced ruefully down at the Kharash captive, wanting to take him but knowing that we had to move quickly. In a moment of anger at what they had done to my family and my people I decided that he had earned the death penalty and stabbed the halberd into his neck, easily ending his life. Then I sprinted after Fulgar, heading south. The rocks seemed to move to make our path easier as we ran; the spirits were truly with us! We kept going back to the Frostfall, knowing that we would be chased and trying to find somewhere we could defend. The noise of a waterfall ahead guided us to the source of the river, and another Hengeyokai was stood in the water below it; this one was half fish, looking into the pool whilst poised with a trident ready to strike at something within the water.

We stopped about fifty yards short, again looking to Fulgar for guidance as he was speaking with the spirits. He seemed nervous and unsure, though, worried that the spirits had taken us into a trap before and might do so again. It later became clear that the Frostfall was the limit of his people's territory and he did not like the idea of going further. I tried to reassure him, saying that we must follow Shang-Ti; that is the way. At this he stiffened slightly and bowed his head, then repeated: "that is the way" and moved forward towards the waterfall. He also saw an apparition of a human woman's torso. She told him that those chasing did not come here, they only attacked because they were linked to the Kharash. She warned him not to attack others of his folk, saying that he was not like them. He moved forward more at peace with himself, resolved to ask the creature ahead for aid.

Thankfully this Hengeyokai was much more welcoming. It introduced itself as "Shim-Ti", and said that it would help us. In truth it looked quite nervous and put the trident behind its back to seem non-threatening. Shim-Ti offered to hide us as we were unable to swim, and took us through the waterfall and a crack in the rock that couldn't be seen from even a few feet away. This led to a cave where five of his kind were gathered, and one transformed into a human before our eyes so that it could speak in a language that we all understood. The (rather naked I noticed) human that was Hengeyokai expressed sympathy for our loss, knowing of the slaughter that had taken place.

I questioned whether they knew of the place called "Oracal" that I had overheard their leader talking about. It was volcanic, and a place of power. They apologised but we could not talk more as we brought danger here and must leave at once. They offered us vials of a strange liquid and explained that we needed to drink and jump down the waterfall, letting the river take us to safety. We did as they asked, and as the oily liquid slipped down my throat and I jumped I felt myself transform into a fish! We plunged down the river, following the current as it guided us between the rocks and over several smaller waterfalls until we reached a pool near where the track forded the river. We were aware of horsemen crossing near us as we made one more jump down into a lower pool before returning to our normal form. That was wondrous and exhilarating, but we had no time to dwell on it as we pressed ourselves into cover in the rocks lining the river.