Cáel Defeats The Illuminati: Part 19
The Great Hunt.
Book 3 in 19 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.
‘The Hunt is never an easy thing because in the Wild there are things which hunt the hunters’
September 11th: First Day Of The Great Hunt
Central ArgentinaFelix was still nursing his hurt hand when I came back from my Ishara-space.
"Well?" he smirked.
"Plenty of good news," I smirked right back from the place where I had dropped when Felix had cold-cocked me. "Suffice it to say the weather on the final day will be in our favor ~ no more precise answer than that from the goddess SzélAnya ~ plus our horses will not throw us, or give away our position. That's from the Goddess Epona by the way."
"Finally, the Goddess Ishara will be watching over us and our travails... she will send omens to warn us of hunters closing in as well as talk to me in my dreams. Apparently she doesn't want me; us; to shame her in this contest so is taking this competition seriously. Mind you, this means the other goddesses will be taking this contest seriously as well, so we have our work cut out for us again."
"What is Ishara the Goddess of again?" the teased me.
"Oaths, love and medicine," I repeated my answer.
"Fine," the grinned, "is there any goddess in my corner?"
"None that bothered talking to me," I snorted. "Want me to knock you out and see what you can see?"
"Nah... I'm Felix Melena. I work better alone."
"You mean in alone in a team of two, right?"
"Yeah; a team of four actually, Nyilas. Don't forget our mounts," Felix motioned to our two horses.
I was ecstatic because they had brought Peppermint down from 'Summer Camp' for this romp through the Pampas. To me she was the perfect mare for this endeavor.
Felix had been gifted with a spirited gelding named 'Thunderbolt'; 'Rayo' in Spanish. He was a black haired beast with white sox and a white diamond on his forehead. Felix had wanted a stallion, but the Horse-mistresses of Epona had nixed that choice as highly impractical for a horse-virgin such as himself. I had to agree as stallions had far too much spirit and the likelihood of one making noise when it smelled an unknown mare was far too high... so a gelding it was.
Not that an 'unknown' mare was that much of a possibility. See, we had been put down where the other thirty huntresses would also be starting from; a makeshift corral our host Freehold had put together as the entrance to some 'badlands' in which the hunt would be taking place. There ten Amazons; with their own mounts; manned the place, fed the horses and made sure no one cheated out of the starting gate.
We had our 24 hours head start on our pursuers, but that didn't turn out to be the huge edge we thought it would be. We were given the first part of our map... which led to the area we would find our second part of our map... and so on until sometime late Saturday night, or Sunday morning, we would find the final part of our map which would direct us to where our extraction point would be.
We were to be extracted at Noon; not sunset as we had originally been told; on Sunday. Actually, anytime between ten minutes before to ten minutes after... so fair this was not seeing as we were novice outdoorsmen. Still, those were the rules we were given so off we went early Thursday morning. In the truest Amazon fashion, this was to be a contest which required the utmost skill and endurance to win.
Heading out, Felix and I were deciding on what the enemy strategy, or strategies, would be. We figured some would start by simply trailing us seeing as how they were better both at tracking as well as doing so from horseback. The second group would follow a different, but equally difficult 'Treasure Hunt' toward our final point of extraction and wait for us there.
I reminded Felix that neither he nor I nor any of the Amazons would be riding our horses to death, or even injury, because that wasn't the Amazon way. Such callous disregard for one's mount wasn't in them and we had to follow that dictum, or suffer irreparable harm to our own 'honor' should we do so and somehow win. Doing so and losing... we decided to not even go there.
This also meant we had to take time for our horses to graze and find water for them to drink along the way. After getting that lecture, Felix wondered out loud if it wouldn't be a better idea for us to let our horses loose and 'hoofing' it ourselves seeing as how the Amazons would also have to follow the same horse etiquette. I had to remind him reluctantly how much faster horses could travel. Horses were the way to go.
The difference was there was no rapid charging across the landscape with the Sun at our backs as we headed out. No, we took it at a steady trot until we hit our first terrain feature; a steady gradient cut in the side of a canyon which had been created over the millennia by the forces of wind and rain. Down we went. Our horizon sunk down until all we had were the walls of the canyon.
Our map directed us to take this route to the first 'treasure horde', whatever that was. By the way we were moving and how the Sun slowly crawled up above us; recall it was almost 'spring' down under; we figure we were making good progress toward our first target... which we located without too much hassle around noon.
It was a Bonanza! Not for us, but for the horses. We had four bags of grain for our mounts. We humans received some sort of indescribable jerky (since it was probably not human we decided to eat it... later [it turned out to be the local flightless bird and it tasted like chicken jerk jerky too!]). There was also the second part of our map which led us farther out into the wilderness. Off we went.
Third Treasure Trove.
By evening we had found our third treasure trove. The second had contained two compasses and two hatchets (Yippee!). The third had contained two sections of twenty-five meter rope and some flint and tinder so we could start a fire. Felix was all for this as it was butt-numbing cold already and we were damn tired from a day full of riding.
We compromised by creating a banked fire. We also decided to sleep instead of pushing on. It was pretty dark outside even with the three-quarters Moon above. We definitely didn't want to walk our mounts into something which could bring them up lame this early in the contest. I assured Felix we couldn't abandon them and leading them would be torture. Essentially we would be disqualified.
I won the compass toss and got to sleep the first part of the night. Felix woke me around Moon-set and then I kept watch; there were predators about, or so we believed; until sunrise. Then we ate the last of the jerky, fed and watered our mounts then head out once more. This time our hearts began to hammer within their cages and every noise had sinister implications.
See, the Amazons are cheating bitches of all cheating bitches and could have started after us at 12:01 last night and pushed on following our trail through the night. Being expert horsewomen and spectacular trackers they could do shit like that. We, their prey, had to be clever in other ways. What those ways were weren't relatively apparent though.
Maybe Pamela could show up and, after slapping me upside my head, give me a clue. No Pamela arrived though so we were on our own. Shortly after the Sun crested the canyon walls; we kept to the canyons just in case; we came across the fourth 'trove'... and it was chilling. We received two binoculars and some more jerky (it was to be our lunch). The binoculars were the chilling part because if WE had some then most likely the Amazons behind us had some as well.
Also, the way from our fourth treasure to out fifth put us in the horns of a dilemma. We could either cut over the sides of the canyon to where the fifth treasure trove/map was, or keep to the canyon and travel three times the distance. After a quick discussion followed by some 'rock-paper-scissors' (complete with a prayer to Dot Ishara), I won, so up and over the side we went.
To reduce the size of our silhouette, we dismounted and led our horses across the... and stumbled across a herd of cattle; Sweet Mother Ishara! We moved through the herd, waved to the accompanying Amazon gaucho, and went on our way. Felix muttered something about my 'dumb' luck. He-he-he-he-he... We talked to the gaucho, turned on the charm and convinced her to not tell any of our pursuers we had come by this way.
She was like nineteen years old and I could tell really took a shine to Felix... so he promised to come back and visit her the moment he won the contest. After we departed her and her track-erasing herd of cattle, I pulled him aside.
"You had better keep that promise to that girl. If you don't, she and her kinfolk will hunt your ass down and tag you like a mule deer in the Yellowstone," I cautioned him.
"I know. I know," he grinned. "These are some crazy ass bitches. Besides, being the lone male in a freehold of women has its own appeal."
I thought we were in safe territory again when Felix finally asked that doom-laden question.
"Cáel , where have all their dudes gotten off to?"
'Oh shit', I mused. How much of the truth could Felix handle?
"I'm only telling you this because I like you," I said then took a deep breath. "They sold them to the Nine Clans... they are a bunch of assassins."
"Really?" he studied me. Like he was going to catch me in a lie after four years of dating the most dangerous game on this Earth; girlfriends.
"Really. Where do you think they get those legion of ninja and combat fighters from? Sure their life expectancy isn't what we have, but it is much better than they would have if they stayed home." There was some part of the truth in that.
"That seems... short-sighted."
"What do you think guys like us are for? Now they won't have to kidnap local passer-byers for weeklong orgies."
"How come words has never gotten out about this?" Felix was relentless.
"It has from time to time, but Havenstone makes sure such reports are relegated to the realm of tabloids and UFO aficionados. If that doesn't work, they bribe some people to bury the story. If that doesn't work, they kill some people."
"Now that I believe," Felix nodded.
"That they kill people to keep their secrets?"
"Absolutely. They look like the kind of girlfriend who wouldn't be happy unless she burns your balls before your eyes after you break up."
"How succinct," I nodded back.
"So, are we ever going to see Khalid, Trent, or Brian again?"
"Sure... they are only being kept prisoners and milked of their seeds... but I can arrange for you go to go meet them if you really want to," I offered.
"No thanks," Felix shook his head then grinned. "They washed out while only you and I remain. Let me find them on my own and get some sort of permission from Ms. Love (Katrina) first. I thought Khalid was kind of cool and Trent was the kind of brother I could invite out for a beer, or ten."
"Not Brian?"
"Brian was too invested in himself and his weevil-ing ways. I couldn't trust him at my back, or with my girl. Mind you, I wouldn't trust you with my girl either, but we are otherwise okay."
"Smart move. I have exceedingly low impulse control around the ladies plus an over-developed libido."
"Yeah," he smiled my way. "I'd trust you in a knife fight, but not with someone I loved. You are way too smooth, Nyilas. Way too smooth."
"What brought that revelation on?"
"Ms. Lee (Brooke). Normally I can mend any fence with any girl I come across, but not with her after she'd been with you. I admire that," he studied me.
"So, are you and Gene going to be a regular thing?"
"Yeah. I think so. I still expect me to be getting plenty of tail at Havenstone once I win this thing, but having a less-lethal girl on the outside wouldn't suck either."
So much like me... I admired that about the guy.
"Once we win, don't ya mean?"
"Sure thing, Nyilas," he chuckled. "I figure it helps me to help you across the finish line. The better standing you end up in the better an ally you make back at work."
"That reminds me; Katrina told me they are going to spin this; your participation in this inaugural Great Hunt is that all sins are forgiven; yadda, yadda, yadda. Thus you still walking around Havenstone being the bad boy you are."
"Clever lady and always thinking ahead. Is she seeing anybody?"
"No, and dude, you don't want to go there. She is far too clever by half to fall for any of our reindeer games. She scares me," I cautioned him.
"All the more reason to pursue her," he snorted.
"Go for it," I shrugged. Hey, I'd warned the guy.
"What about that blonde number I saw you with... Elsa was it?"
Oh, he knew exactly who Elsa was, but he was acting all nonchalant about his treatment at her hands.
"Yeah. Elsa. What about her?"
"Is she in your stable?"
"Nope. Not really," I shrugged. "Going after her too?"
"Oh, definitely."
"Good luck with that," I sighed. He'd learn the hard way.
"There is something you are not telling me."
"Yeah. She has the hots for me. Wants to own me... and not in a good way."
"Oh... is that your way of cautioning me to be wary of her?"
"Most definitely. Elsa is one scary lady and she already knows who and what we both are."
"What are we?" he was eyeballing me again.
"Hunters on the prowl. Guys who like a challenge. In your case, the guy who only wants the best. I'm more of an omnivore."
"You mean you are a man-slut," he snorted.
"Got me," I chuckled.
"So, you think she's out of my league?"
"No. I think she is Katrina's friend and Katrina sees right through both of us. Elsa might not have those interpersonal skills, but she's twice as lethal. Trust me on that; I've fought her."
"How tough was she?"
"Beat me black and blue then choked me out because I wouldn't surrender."
"Oh... I'd like to get her on the mats."
"Good luck with that then. Become a 'Runner' and there is even more I can tell you about her. Right now it is all simply in-house stuff."
"Corporate confidentiality details, eh? Executive Services purview and stuff like that. Man, I was wrong to look down on your branch of service. I apologize."
"Why thank you. I honestly never thought I'd get a sincere apology from you."
"I can be wrong once in your lifetime," Felix laughed, "and I'm man enough to admit it."
"Oh... and thanks for the sim-cards. They helped me get off that deserted atoll."
"No problem. That was Katrina's idea though."
"Well, you got them to us so surreptitiously the Chinese suspected nothing."
"Don't you mean those rogue Albanians?"
"Yeah... them too," I laughed along with him.
"I think we can be friends, Nyilas," he grinned.
"I think so too. I didn't think so originally. On the first day you and the others treated me like the country bumpkin, but now I think you see me as a survivor... just like you."
"Precisely. You know I had the option of leaving Havenstone... no matter how this affair turns out."
"And you didn't take it? Who offered you this opportunity anyway?"
"Katrina."
"It might have been a ruse," I warned him. "These bitches don't play fair."
"I took that into account... but I love the challenge of this place. It is like no other work environment on Earth. Challenges every day, hot women all around, and the chance to risk my life on a monthly basis. Screw regular corporate America. I've found the place where I belong."
Felix sounded so enthusiastic. I hoped he understood the fate he was embracing. I also hoped he found a niche in Havenstone which allowed him to live out his life... hopefully a long, long life. Maybe I should warn him about the 'cliffs'? Perhaps once we had won and were safely back in Havenstone's motherly embrace.
Hiding.
Fortune favored us backtracking from our seventh treasure trove; our dinner and more grain for the horses. A few birds flew up out of the brush ahead of us. I took that as a sign from Ishara.
"Felix," I hissed. "Hide!"
We looked around and found a draw away from the main canyon floor for us to slink into. I used some brush to cover our side tracks then ran back to cover.
No sooner had I gotten there than two Amazons came trotting past us. The lead one was Svetlana Inara and she was tracking us from the saddle. The second one was Beatrice Astarte who was scanning the environment as they moved together following our trail up this vein of the canyon. As soon as they were around the next corner of the vein, Felix and I mounted up and raced down the other way.
The sand floor covered our hoof-falls and we had to go that way anyway. We had barely covered the distance to the next draw when we spotted two more Amazons following our earlier trail this way. We had Two Amazon parties on our trail and it wasn't even Friday night yet! This group spotted us and gave chase. They must have ridden their horses hard to get this far because we quickly left them in our dust.
This allowed us to slow down a bit and deviate over to where the eight 'treasure' was. Our map had us going back down his particular draw which I thought was most unwise, so we went over the lip of the draw dismounted and led our horses at a rapid run; for us humans; across the greater landscape. Thank SzélAnya, a late afternoon rainstorm fell upon us as we dropped down into the next vein of the canyon before the pursuing Amazons crested the draw we had exited.
We walked through the rain until the sun set then debated what to do next. We were going to need light to figure out where the eighth treasure was at; they were all somewhat hidden. We had to keep moving no matter what because we doubted the Amazons on our asses were going to let up. We decided when we got close to the eighth treasure horde I would do the searching while Felix stood watch on the entrance to the draw.
Using a hatchet I cut off a branch from a bush and set it alight so I could see what I was doing. It took me twenty long minutes to figure out where the treasure was hidden... night-vision goggles and the map to the ninth map piece. Gleefully, I went back down to where Felix was except... no Felix. Oh Shit! I slipped back and put on my night-vision goggles, got a hatchet at the ready and returned, scanning about.
I spotted one Amazon... she was Carla Nemain... and I recalled her being teamed with Ella Mielikki. Anyway, I tried to sneak up on Carla and it almost worked. At the last moment the cloud cover cleared and the three-quarters Moon revealed me. She spun on me with twin fighting sticks while I tried to brain her with the flat side of my hatchet.
Yours truly took two punishing blows to his ribs while only clipping her with my hatchet. Still, the blow appeared to cause her to stumble so I pressed my advantage. I knocked one of her two sticks out of her hand then missed twice. I thought I heard someone coming up hard behind me. Well... fuck!
"What do you have?" Carla grumbled. "Are you trying to kill me?"
I kept silent, pulling out my second hatchet and pressing my luck a little further. I disarmed her and then hammered her down with a hatchet to the top of her skull. Down she went. I spun around just in time to see Ella Mielikki coming at me with a lasso. She launched it a second too late and I was able to bat it aside. She drew her honor blade and kept coming though.
"Ella... I have two hatchets. This is not a fight you can win," I addressed her.
"You won't kill me," she kept advancing.
"Of course not. We are sisters, but I can do... this!" and I attacked her with the flat ends of my twin hatchets. I so had her too... or I would have had I had the extra moment to ensure Carla was unconscious.
She wasn't. She jumped me from behind then Ella rushed in from the front and I went down in a tangle of arms, legs and torsos. I was doing surprisingly well wrestling them both despite the odds until Ella put her knife against my throat.
"Give up," she panted. "You have been captured. Admit it!"
"I surrender," I sighed then relaxed my body. My two hatchets dropped to the ground.
"Let's bind him up too," Carla grinned. They proceeded to tie my hands behind my back then my legs together. Then then gave each other a celebratory 'high-five'. Then came their pillaging of our loot. They especially loved our night vision goggles and the grain for 'their' horses. They abandoned our horses, put loose nooses around our necks and began riding off down the canyon, their horses feeding on the grain in feedbags... and there was a suitably humbled Felix...
To do so they had to untie our legs, but they compensated for that by tying our elbows together behind our backs as well as our hands. It was a rather painful affair. All in all, our captors were quite triumphant. After a while, I decided to speak.
"So, how did you catch us so fast?" I asked Carla. She had my noose.
"I prayed to Nemain and then picked a compass point and rode that way. We came across your path and followed you here.
"So you weren't the group following us from the afternoon?"
"No... you were being followed?"
"Yes... by two groups... both of whom tracked us from the beginning," I sighed.
"Ella," Carla addressed her companion. "We had better get a move on. There are four others on our track."
"Damn it," Ella grumbled. "You take both males. I'll double back and start masking our trail. You pick a different compass point and I'll catch up."
"Okay. Come here," Carla accepted Felix's noose from Ella. "We are going... north by northwest."
Ella doubled back and was soon out of sight. Carl took the next draw she came across and kept up a steady walking pace. As a matter of safety, she didn't wrap our tethers around her saddle horn on the off chance her horse took off. We could be dragged to death of we were attached to the horse. So, we had a momentary advantage... and took it.
I spotted Felix counting down with his fingers behind his back. I spotted him at '4'. I rapidly signaled '3', he went to '2' and I finished up with '1' then we lunged backwards trying to pull her off her horse. With my luck, she tumbled down on Felix's side, horse rearing up. I ran for it, quickly pulling my noose along with me. I heard Carla and Felix cursing behind me.
It was gut-check time. I could abandon Felix or attempt to double back and help him with only my legs because my hands were behind my back.
"Fuck it," I cursed silently as I doubled back. In the forefront of my mind was the notion Felix would come back for me if the roles were reversed. In I charged.
Felix was standing, trying to use his martial arts kicks to keep her at bay.
He was also absorbing the majority of her concentration because; again; she didn't notice me until I was right on top of her. I put a shoulder into her diaphragm, taking her down and knocking her knife out of her hands. Felix didn't waste a moment giving her as snap-kick to the cranium... knocking her out. I picked up the knife and backed up toward my partner.
First I had to saw through his elbow bonds and then his bound hands to free him. This all took precious time. I had just freed him when Carla began moaning. Felix looked to me then to the horse.
"Go," I urged him on. "Go to the next site and then double back for me. You know which way they will be heading and it is you on horseback versus two of us who aren't."
He gave me a quick nod of the head then jumped into the saddle... and almost spilled himself over the other side, but then was off like a flash. I ran off in the other direction. Of course with the minimal lighting and my arms tied behind my back I didn't expect to get too far, but what realistic choice did I have. I certainly wasn't going to give up, damn it.
[The Politics Of Not Playing Fair]
In hindsight, knowing the Amazons were cheating bitches of cheating bitches, I should have tried to cheat more, but I ended up thinking too much about the male version of honor and not enough about winning. Thankfully, others were much more invested in me winning than that. Add to this and I had family I really hadn't counted on seeing things that way.
And then there was the Sanctity of the Contract to consider... which I clearly hadn't, though the opportunity to do so was right there all along.
As I was fleeing for my life I caught sight of one person running past me to my right and another to my left as a third slammed into me and took me down. For an instance I was thinking 'now they are operating in groups of four!' then the clothing of the three entered my consciousness. They weren't dressed like Amazons. Their camouflage was all wrong unless you were deliberately trying to hide in this environment.
The only people I knew who would do something like that without a plethora of modern weapons being evident; thus being the Seven Pillars; were the Ninja!
[in Japanese] "Hey there, are you looking for me?"
[in Japanese] "Yes we are, Ishara-sama," a feminine voice answered. "Where is your companion? We are supposed to make a good faith effort to save them as well."
"Wait... who hired you?"
"Well, it is supposed to be something of a secret so tell no one, but it was your brother," she replied in thickly accented English. With a few flashes of steel in the moonlight and I was a free Amazon once more.
"Were did the other two go?"
"Covering your tracks and laying out a few nuisance traps to confuse the two following you."
"Your body feels... awfully familiar," I hazarded conversation of another sort.
"I am Miyako's older sister; and married. Happily so though I have been repeatedly reminded of your... horn-dog status. It is 'horn-dog' correct?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "That's me. Let's go find Felix before he gets hopelessly lost."
By this time the other two had made it back to us, expertly covering my tracks; they were not leaving any; because, you know, they were ninjas. By the looks of things it must have seemed I flew away because I had simply vanished as well. I wish I could have hung around long enough to see the looks of consternation on the pursuing Amazons' faces, but I had real work to take care of.
"So basically, my Brother, the Great Khan, has hired three ninja to help me win," I whispered as we made our getaway into the moonlit darkness.
"Oh no," I could have sworn she smiled, "There are seven of us. We each have other tasks to perform, be it carry extra equipment, or scouting ahead to make sure we don't bump into any more of your girlfriends."
"They are not my girlfriends... yet... maybe," I shrugged.
"Don't make me hit you," she whispered back. "I will hit you if you cheat too much on my little sister. She is so impressionable you know."
"Oh... boy," I groaned. A protective older sister while I was on a time table. "Is all of your team female?" I asked instead.
"Yes. When dealing with our allies the Amazons it was considered the diplomatic thing to do. Now we most move like the autumn breeze over the grass, Ishara-sama."
"Please, call me Cáel . What's your name?"
"Not something I can reveal while on a mission. My name in the team is 'First' as I am the team leader."
"I could call you Hatsuyuki," I kept going. Hatsuyuki meant 'First Snow'. We were angling in a different direction suggesting to me we had come across Felix's path and were racing to catch him.
"I will help you out a bit," she chuckled ever so slightly. "Every woman on the team is a sister, or sister-in-law of Miyako, so we have all heard the tales of your exploits and been suitably warned by Grandmother to not fall for your... reindeer games."
"Wow... cut off at the knees before even leaving the starting gate," I frowned.
"Please concentrate on the task at hand Ishara-sama," she whispered then, "Four more ahead of us. I swear they must have some sort of divine assistance as well."
"Cheating bitches of all cheating bitches," I quietly cursed. Hatsuyuki put her hand over my mouth despite the low volume of my words.
I risked a peek. It was fucking Elsa and Rachel and they were having a pow-wow with Tormé Maeve and Parul Nammu. By the rules of the Great Hunt, no Amazon could subdue, or otherwise hinder any other Amazon; as long as they didn't have a male. Then all bets were off. After a while the two teams flipped a coin and departed in different ways... which were eerily close to our actual track.
The moment they were safely away, we took off once more at a steady jog. Mind you, I was in pretty damn good shape... and these little ninja babes were threatening to run me into the ground such was their stamina. The big thing was breath control. We had to be prepared to be utterly still at a moment's notice. Every Amazon around us was as hunter of some sort, be it of big game, or of humans.
Even with their precautions we found ourselves being tracked by Daryna Šauška and Yatta Oxóssi within the hour. Exactly what they were tracking wasn't known to me and was a source of consternation to the Ninja. It was impossible to outrun horse-bound foes at our current pace and if we moved faster, the odds of our enchantment failing would drastically increase.
"Fuck!" I hissed.
"What?" Hatsuyuki made brief eye contact then scanned around for whatever threat I might have detected.
"They are tracking the magic of the enchantment," I enlightened her.
"Are you sure?"
"Alal; my Grandfather is," I held her eyes this time. "Honestly, I was going through the Rolodex of my mind when this thought occurred to me. I think it was a mystic rite the Egyptians invented millennia ago, but he knows it."
"What is the counter?"
"I don't know," I sighed, "but I do know your movement is leaving a magical trail behind which glows like the failing light of a sunset to the searcher."
Hatsuyuki whispered some arcane words which my ears failed to focus on while making several complicated hand gestures. She gave me one head nod then we took off, jogging in another direction though still angling to intercept Felix. I noticed the change immediately. Dry grass crackled beneath our feet and standing grass bent at our passage. I was the worst offender without a doubt.
Later when we stopped for a break, 'Three' returned to tell us the followers had initially been confused by the loss of the spell energy betraying us, but then they dismounted and began tracking us on foot; slower yet still a persistent menace.
"New plan," I decided. "We set an ambush for them."
"We can't do that, Cáel ," Hatsuyuki informed me. "We are forbidden to directly confront our foes."
My mind barely hesitated in its skullduggery.
"But if I confront them, could you steal their horses?"
"Yes," she grinned once more, or so I thought. "Then set up a field of simple traps with a path I can maneuver through so I can lose them once I have their undivided attention. Can you do that?"
"Yes," and another smile.
"Let's get on it," I grinned back. I could tell she was warming up to me. After all, I wasn't pressuring her to save me, or violate her Contract. Instead I was thinking on my feet and utilizing what they were best at to avoid my enemies.
[in Japanese] "Team, here is what we must do," Hatsuyuki gathered her girls together and laid out what they needed to accomplish.
Twenty minutes later, the ambush was set and the two ladies walked right into it. Apparently the idea I would fight back so aggressively hadn't occurred to them. I smashed straight into Daryna first, knocking her down and running past her. Instinctively she jumped up, cursing me even as she gave chase. For an instance Yatta hesitated, considering mounting up and giving chase, or pursuing on foot. Rapidly riding a horse even in this partially moonlit night was risky so she decided to join Daryna on foot as I raced away. She did grab her lasso first though. Seeing as Daryna was following in my footsteps, it was Yatta who stumbled into the first series of traps, spraining her ankle in the process.
Hearing that, I took a quick detour, allowing Daryna to catch up if she cut crossways in her pursuit. Predictably she did so and crashed into her own series of traps while I continued to beat feet out of there. As Daryna untangled herself from the 'spider web' trap; really just a tangle of silk strings; she heard the horses neigh and then take off. The ninja had exploded smoke bombs in the horses' faces to accomplish this feat.
By the time Daryna stood up, I was long gone in the foot race. She carefully picked her way back to Yatta, helped her up and then worked her way back to find their saddles cut loose and packs set aside... and their horses long gone as well. From what 'Five' related to us later, Daryna elected to take after their lost steeds while Yatta treated her sore ankle. 'Five' didn't hang around to see how long it took Daryna to return with their mounts. The rest of us had successfully slipped away by that time.
Reunited.
By the time we had reunited with Felix he had already discovered our next Treasure Trove; more grain, a compass and a map of the whole region. Woot! We still only had one mount until an hour past sunrise when our two steeds came trotting into our brief camp. Now we had three horses. We elected to release Carla's mount to find its way back to her mistress... eventually, we hoped.
"Care to explain the entourage?" Felix joked.
"Somebody who is somebody loves me," I shrugged. "I can't tell you who though. I've been sworn to secrecy."
"Damn... five female ninja. We have got to not waste this opportunity."
"I am so onboard with that plan," I grinned, "but it going to be tough. Most of the only speak Japanese and they are all related to a girl I've already knocked up."
"So they all know what a stud you are, Cáel ," Felix laughed. "Give it time and they'll be begging for it. I know the type. Fit, but silent with minimal social skills. They want to know all about how you seduced their sister, cousin, what have you."
"God, I hope so," I groaned. "All this abstinence is driving me crazy."
"Me too," he chuckled. "Me too."
Oh, what we had planned was horribly irresponsible. We had the inaugural First Great Hunt to win for all Mankind after all. Still, it took only three elements to be effective; a stream, river, or lake of some kind to bathe in; to convince the ninja we had to take a bath to remove any scent the Amazons who captured us may have sprayed on us; and the ninjas' willingness to believe such an outlandish excuse to get naked. Once they saw us naked nature would take its course.
Well, despite our awesome masculine arsenals... we got nowhere. The ninja babes didn't buy our excuses, blew away our pseudoscientific ramblings (pheromones don't work that way, they insisted) and seriously; we didn't really have the time. So while putting our shirts back on and then going for our boots, two more Amazons came our way. We barely had the warning time to seek cover when Elsa and Rachel came riding down the stream, looking each way for any signs of us.
Thanks to our horses remaining perfectly still as well, they gradually moved past our hidey-holes and out of our view. The second the ninjas gave us the 'all clear' we hurriedly finished dressing then headed off in a different direction. The last two Amazons I wanted to confront were Elsa and Rachel. I liked Rachel too much and quite frankly was too afraid of Elsa.
Once more we risked using some Ninja Magics to aid our passage through a light, early morning rain. This one put off a confusing area of tracks which were both difficult to follow; Amazons were no dummies; and included our chosen pathway to the next treasure trove. Shortly after an overcast noontime Sun, we hunkered down for a few hours and took a short nap.
I would have liked to sleep longer, but according to the two ninja who had stood watch, the whole area appeared to be crawling with Amazons out and about, mounted and dismounted and following our misleading trails, but still being close enough around to make traveling above the canyons frankly impossible. Felix and I had a meeting of the minds with Hatsuyuki.
Sending two Ninja off on our steeds wouldn't work because at least one group of the opposition had our binoculars and none of the Ninja could pass for us under such scrutiny. In fact, we couldn't come up with a single plan which guaranteed us a chance to move about unseen. So, we came up with a crazy plan instead. I would take off on Peppermint in an elliptical path meant to draw off as many Amazons as possible.
It had to be me because a few of the Amazons might not pursue Felix if he tried the same stunt, focusing on capturing Ishara first... so Ishara had to be the one to play decoy. We shook hands, hugged then scouted around for the best opportunity for me to make a bolt for it... then off I went. What the Ninja planned to do wasn't revealed to us though I had a feeling they weren't enamored with my plan.
Peppermint and I came out of the closest draw and set off with a meandering gate; we would need all the speed she could muster soon enough. Unthinkingly, I had also stumbled across an added bonus to my plan. Me and my dumb luck. See, all the Amazons anywhere close to me at the start had been pressing their mounts hard for a day and a half now plus hadn't spent any time last night sleeping whereas me and Peppermint were relatively well fed and watered as well as well rested.
Still, my initial sense was that I was simply fucked. All across the plain, Amazons noted my presence within a minute and began moving to hem me in. I imagine once I was unmounted and bound, the grand melee to see who would claim me would begin. I counted twelve of the fine ladies and while none were directly ahead of the direction I was heading in, some were far too close for me to hold out much hope.
I didn't give up though. I wasn't in me and apparently it wasn't in Peppermint either. She picked up the pace instinctively when I leaned forward and off we went. Incrementally, all thirteen steeds picked up their speeds. I wasn't going to make it... and then it got worse. Coming out of a draw to my front-right was none other than Ella Mielikki.
See appeared as surprised to see me as I was to see her, but that didn't last. She whipped out her lasso and spurred her mount to go faster. She was going to cut me off. I had no out in any other direction. All I had was a plain full of grass and thunderclouds in the distance; just too far away to do me any good.
'Remember who you were...' came unbidden to my mind.
I leaned forward and began whispering in Peppermint's ear in a language I did not know... but three thousand years ago it had been the language of horse peoples like the Scythians who taught it to their noble young... and so had another people long forgotten by history... the Medians. The words spilled out of me until all that was left was the final benediction; words that would bind man and mount together.
[Median] "For Aya," I whispered.
Remember who you were; wasn't meant for me. It was for the hundreds of Median steeds my Grandfather had ridden into battle... with his comrades-in-arms for over a thousand years two thousand years ago.
Ella was whirling the lasso over her head. We were so close I could read the prayer to Mielikki on her lips as she strove to close those last few hoof-falls. The lasso flew through the air...
Peppermint took off in a burst of speed utterly unlooked for. Her ghostly white plume rose majestically over her head; Grandfather's symbol... and now mine. The thunder of a hundred such steeds filled my ears with their power as we pulled away from the falling lasso... now less than a foot... too short. She had missed us and with that throw, passed the last chance the Amazons had to catch me.
Rachel would later tell me they were all completely aghast at the pace Peppermint set as we rode past Mielikki, easily outdistancing her thus everyone else. We had escaped them and they knew it. They didn't know how and the looks of utter disbelief the Amazons behind me exchanged left them no doubt I had led them a merry chase only to vanish in a whirlwind of dust as I raced all the way into the storm-burst. Gone, gone, gone.
Rachel told me she had then turned to Elsa and laughed heartily.
"I should have given him my honor blade," she chuckled, "because unlike the rest of you, I knew better."
"But, what did he do?" Elsa had asked, truly curious and a bit frustrated.
"Just being Cáel ," Rachel had shaken her head as she replied. "Just being Cáel ."
[Sunday]
It was a thick, pounding rain as promised. No one could ride in this. Visibility was down to a few yards and the ground had turned into a morass. Only the greyness of the clouds betrayed the coming of day to us while our final treasure trove; a compass, map and coordinates for the rescue; pointed us in the proper direction... us and thirty Amazons.
In our favor, the Ninja threw up a marching cordon around us so we didn't walk into any ambushes, and any Amazons not already at least even with us in the distance separating us from our evacuation point had a chance of catching us. Again, no Amazon worthy of their name would ride in weather like this and in a foot race, we men actually finally had the advantage.
I wish I knew who was closest so I could plan accordingly. In strictly hand to hand combat, Felix and I had the advantage on over half those we were confronting. While most excelled at being hunters, beating up their prey with hands and knives wasn't normally their second best feature. No, they were fine combatants, just not in Felix's, or my, league.
But then there were the Amazons like Tormé Maeve and Elsa Zorja who could kick our asses without a doubt, and planning how to fight them required a completely different game plan.
"What's on your mind?" Felix leaned in and shouted into my ear.
"This ain't over. Not only do we have to reach the evacuation site within a twenty minute window, we have to hope a half-dozen Amazons aren't waiting there for us."
Felix nodded.
"Who is going to be the worst team?"
"Elsa and Rachel. I'm not sure I can beat Rachel and I'm damn sure I can't beat Elsa," I answered.
"Leave Elsa to me then. While I've never fought her before, she's also never fought me," he reasoned. "My best bet is an all-out offense; holding nothing back and hope I can outmuscle her before she pulls some surprise on me."
"That's about right," it was my turn to nod.
One of the Ninja came running back to us.
"There are two Amazons ahead of us going in the same direction. What do you want to do?"
I looked to Felix who cracked his knuckles. He was right too. We didn't have enough time left to race around them; not in this mud; so jumping them and putting them down was our best bet.
Bleeding.
Our fists were bleeding, I had a knife wound on my left thigh, and Felix's nose was most likely broken, but we had put down two pairs of Amazons in the closing hour of the Great Hunt... and we were still free. We had even recorded the coordinates of where we left the four bound Amazons because leaving them all tied up in these conditions didn't seem fair.
So far we had put down Niranjana Ereshkigal and Anna Cybele whose strategy was to figure out where the evacuation point was and then set up an ambush close by, and our old buddies, Tormé Maeve and Parul Nammu, who had been racing up to the evacuation point after some piece of divine intervention. They stumbled into us as we were binding up the first two.
Thanks to the Ninja we had a moment's warning before they jogged right into us. It was on! Felix immediately challenged Tormé while I circled Parul, each seeking an advantage. Unfortunately, Tormé began cleaning Felix's clock so spun around and we switched partners.
"I wanted it to be me and you," she snarled.
"I was hoping to miss you entirely," I replied. She laughed and closed... and then slipped in the mud and slid right into my knee strike. Before she could clean the cobwebs from her head, I had landed three solid fist strikes to her jaw, rendering her incapable of immediate resistance; one tough chick! I quick glance back to Felix showed me he had Parul well in hand, so I quickly bound Tormé up and took her honor blade so she wouldn't be cutting herself free too soon.
After we had Parul secured, Felix slapped me on the back and laughed.
"You bastard, I saw that," he chuckled. "She slipped."
"I'll take it," I was unapologetic. Explaining to Felix how she was Katrina's #1 assassin would take too long. I'd leave it to Katrina to warn him how dangerous dating her would be.
And then we heard the helicopter... and looked at our watches. It Was 11:48! We raced up the last bit of the slope to see the helicopter finish its descent. We'd made it... and then we saw Elsa and Rachel climbing up the slope beside us, disguised as we were by the downpour.
"Cáel !" Elsa screamed out my name. Rachel simply charged Felix wordlessly.
I drew Tormé's honor blade and faced Elsa down. "Do you honestly think you can defeat me?" Elsa laughed. "Because Cáel , you cannot. You are already beaten, bruised and bleeding. Surrender and I promise to be gentle."
"On any other day, I would agree with you, but this is not like any other day," I held my captured small knife out in a fighting stance.
"Today... today I have my Grandfather's knowledge and my Father's boundless spirit, Elsa. Today; you cannot defeat me. Come at me and find out, if you must." My stance flowed into an alien design... which came from a time when knives were the only close combat weapon anyone was lucky enough to have. My knife raised up over my head yet still pointing at my opponent while my empty left hand pointed at my foe.
Then it occurred to me... if I could withstand the pain, I could grab her blade and hold it in place while I slashed down with my own ceremonial weapon. I could regenerate the damage; that was my edge and this was a fighting stance my Grandfather had perfected with that knowledge when all blades were either sharp stones, or smelted copper.
I could see Elsa studying me rapid-quick before she made her lunge. It was so On! The first series of slashing strikes saw me barely missing having my hand cut open. I wasn't so lucky my second time around. Elsa sliced my ring finger to the bone.
"Damnit, Cáel !" Elsa snapped. "If you are going to fight me, at least use the training Pamela gave you. I have no idea what this crazy stance is supposed to show, but I think it is nothing more than your made-up style again. This time I am going to really hurt you if you don't surrender... Right Now!"
Yeah, Elsa was upset she had to actually hurt me. I sensed that in her. Still, the pain quickly receded and I continued to stalk her... silently and with great determination on my face. No response was necessary and I was sure my quietude was unsettling her even more. On the next exchange Elsa moved so fast I couldn't track her blade. Still, I moved my empty palm across to stop her most likely angle of attack.
I was wrong. By shifting my entire body to stop her slash, I put myself in the wrong positon; closing the distance between us and intercepting her surprise backslash with my left side at the kidney level. Ouch! Motherfucker! I grunted but used my positioning disadvantage as an advantage. As Elsa's hand recoiled from the dire wound she had given me, I reached out with my left hand and grabbed her wrist.
My right hand came down attempting to slash her wrist in this exchange. She caught my right wrist in her left hand. Our bodies collided then my forward momentum slammed into her form and we both fell over. She rolled so we ended up crashing down on our sides, but I refused to release my hold while driving my blade ever downward.
I didn't have much advantage over Elsa, but I was superior in upper body strength. It was my old buddy except coming out in my favor today. Slowly my blade inched toward its target.
"How... can... you... still... be... fighting?" Elsa ground out between her teeth.
"I am Ishara," was my reply. "The power of the goddess runs through me," I added a lie meant to confuse and dishearten her.
She tried to break away by rolling around. I wouldn't let her. I tangled my legs up with hers until we were one conjoined mess. Then she surprised me with a head-butt right as the option was just occurring to me. She smashed my nose. There was blood everywhere, but I wouldn't relent on my hold. Instead, I followed up her head-butt with one of my own.
Elsa caught mine with the hardest part of her forehead instead. Our skulls collided. I refused to feel the pain so while she was still reeling from that contact I smashed forward once again; this time impacting her temple and really shocking her. I had to have seemed like a monster to Elsa by this point in our bout; I could feel no pain and no infirmary would hold me back.
Lacking every other point of leverage, she went for the 'Tried and True'; her knee impacted my precious gonads and for just that instance, my hold on her weakened. She broke free then rolled away.
"Stay down," she almost screamed at me. I didn't, instead rising up and resuming my archaic stance once more.
"This is going to hurt you a whole lot more than me," she promised next. Just then we both heard a titanic scream to my left. By the sound of the grunt which followed, I realized Felix had connected with one of his powerful kicks to Rachel's ribs. I used the positional advantage to charge. We collided once more, each one's opposite hand clamping down on the other's knife hand.
While standing, we pushed each other back and forth, attempting kicks and foot stomps all the while my knife approached Elsa's collarbone. We were both too on guard for head-butts to pull one off this grapple, but I didn't need it... because we were in fact, grappling and I had a whole martial art devoted to grappling; Brazilian Jujutsu!
I dropped Tormé's honor blade and flipped us around so I landed on top of her. Her blade drew a bloody line along my hip, but not enough damage to cause me any consternation. I could see it in her eyes, the moment we landed in the mud. She realized her mistake by allowing me too close, but the last time she had let that happened she had succeeded in stabbing me in the kidney, so she was taken off-guard for just that instance.
"Yeah," I chortled, "Just recalling my Brazilian Jujutsu aren't ya?"
"I can beat it," she ground out.
"You and an MMA Army," I growled back. She was in danger of having me roll her over... then it would be light's out!
Right then Rachel and Felix came crashing down on the two of us, breaking my concentration and my hold. The four of us rolled up and separated once more.
Rachel moved to Elsa's side while Felix helped me stand.
"We are running out of time," Felix informed me. We were. That appeared to be Rachel and Elsa's strategy all along. Keep us occupied for the remaining... eighteen minutes... damn was I out of breath and hurting.
"Switch," Felix tapped me on the forearm. "I got this."
He didn't and he knew he didn't. For some god damn unknown reason, Felix was doing a selfless act for the first time in his life and I couldn't comprehend why.
"She'll destroy you," I pointed out.
"You're bleeding; badly," he stated, "and failing fast."
"Listen to your friend," Rachel interjected herself into the conversation. Worse, she stepped aside and clearly indicated she would let me pass.
"Rachel!" Elsa snapped.
"He's earned it. For the past eighty-four days and then some, Cáel has earned; our respect," Rachel reminded us.
"Okay," I acknowledged the act of kindness. I moved behind Felix so he could screen me from Elsa... then shoved him as hard as I could across the muddy surface toward freedom. The look he sent back my way was priceless. Reluctantly, he looked back once then jogged to the helicopter and the rewards he deserved for surviving against so many for so long; just like me, but without the Goddesses and my troop of ruthless Amazon allies...
"Two on one," I joked.
"No. I've surrendered my trophy," Rachel smile to me was emotionally crushing.
"Fine," Elsa nodded then, "Let's continue." This time I didn't have a knife.
When we collided this time, she didn't hesitate to stab me in the left pectoral; above the heart, but not by much. I failed to catch her wrist and realized I was all out of game. My regeneration couldn't tackle both bleeding wounds and I was beginning to feel woozy.
Elsa fell back.
"Surrender, Cáel ," her own voice had softened.
"Never surrender," I laughed back then I began to sway.
This time as Elsa closed, she went for the grapple as well. I countered as best I could, but my reflexes were slowing down too. I wasn't going to make it then something tackled us both, slamming Elsa into my chest, stunning her.
"Felix... you came back," I groggily mumbled as Felix hammered Elsa hard, twice in the temple.
"You would come back for me. I see that now," he confessed. He half pulled, half-dragged me to our waiting chariot. The clock was a 'ticking.
"Rachel," I looked over to the other combatant. She hadn't started advancing on us like she should have.
"Go," she waved us away. "Today... today you have won your freedoms. Now go."
What honors Rachel had passed over for whatever reasons were unknown to me. I was terrified she had done it out of love for me. Terrified because I felt so unworthy of such devotion and affection.
Yet, Felix and I had made it and as the helicopter took off, I could sense the tension leave my body. My wounds were indeed healing and my blood supply, so witlessly spent was returning to me. Felix leaned into me as the nice Epona medic aboard our ride began to administer her traumatic injury training. I winced because it felt appropriate, not because I was allowed to feel any of the passing pain.
"You are a Runner now," I looked over to Felix. "Welcome aboard."
"Sure thing, Ishara."
"Ha," I chuckled. "Call me Cáel . You have earned that right."
"I imagine there is something to that," he nodded. "Tell me what it is when you get the chance."
"I will," I promised. "That and a few thousand other critically important things none one else will bother to teach you. As the saying goes, 'you've earned it'."
Thus Ends The First Great Hunt
Now onto the final chapter of the First Part of Cáel 's journey.By FinalStand for Literotica.