Hello, my newsletter subscribers!
As promised, here’s the next chapter in the fanfiction I set in the world of Conan the Barbarian — exclusively for you!
In case you missed it, here’s a link to the first chapter!
And now, on to Chapter Five!
An arrow pierced Kesisa’s thigh.
The Pelishtim archer’s aim proved better than she had hoped. Still, she had no defense against them. She could, however, help her allies defeat the bastard with the whip and then deal with the archers.
Asthara made Kesisa’s aid unnecessary.
With a defiant battle cry, the Argossean raised her chain the air. Nazarus looked at her, defiant to the end. Asthara brought the chain down hard onto Nazarus’s head.
She struck the man in the side of his head.
Bone gave way, with the metal chain digging into flesh and brain.
Nazarus the Whip rose no more.
Another volley of arrows robbed the women of their chance to catch their breaths.
“The limestone!” Runi shouted, pointing at the formations she’d left moments ago.
She and Kesisa made for different pillars of limestone. The archers got off another volley before Asthara could join them.
Their arrows shot true, piercing Asthara’s side. She stumbled to her knees well away from the safety of the limestone.
Luckily, she managed to drag herself to a position of safety.
“How bad is it?” Runi yelled to Asthara.
“Better than that bastard with the whip!” Asthara called back. “And you two?”
“Been better,” Runi said, “but have enough to still get out of here. But Nefera didn’t make it.”
The women fell silent for a moment, all the time they’d have now to mourn the loss of the innocent. Another volley of arrows reminded them of the need for expediency.
Runi surveyed the area.
A few of the slaves fought among themselves for the remaining scraps at the table. Most slaves remained in that northwestern corner near the two rope ladders.
The women could use the limestone to protect against the archers as they made their way to the northeastern side of the pit.
Then they had to slide across the pit to the northwestern corner, push through the slaves and get to the ladders.
With Nazarus down, perhaps the women could persuade the rest of the slaves, some of them at least, to aid them in their escape.
Shouting commands to her allies, Runi suggested that Asthara, the one furthest north, move first. Asthara agreed, waiting for a break in the archers’ arrows.
Seizing an opportunity, she remained low and moved to a limestone sanctuary further north.
Behind her, Kesisa and Runi performed the same maneuver. No arrows launched.
Then Runi stumbled upon some rock, falling to the ground. Red dust cropped up, giving away her position.
A volley of arrows cut through the dust, catching Runi across her leg. She dragged herself behind a pillar of limestone.
“Runi!” Kesisa called out.
“I’m fine,” Runi replied through gritted teeth. “But climbing that ladder will be a test!”
Asthara continued her maneuver toward the north wall without incident, finding safety there.
Kesisa moved forward. The archers found her but pierced the inanimate rock. She eventually joined Asthara without incident.
Runi moved forward. No arrows came at her during her next two moves. Looking up, she saw the archers take a step back from the edge of the pit.
The fools had run out of arrows!
Looking at the slaves to the west, Asthara said, “If I were trying to bed one of these poor bastards into bed, I’d address them.”
Turning to Runi, she said, “but we need them for battle. That’s your department.”
Runi nodded.
Carefully moving against the pit’s northern wall, Runi made her way to the group of just under sixty slaves. Some had run off for the food. Others, seeing Nazarus and his men down, had taken the opportunity to defile the bodies of their tormentors.
Those who remained argued over their next course of action. Some argued to remain here until the archers and other Pelishtim mercenaries were gone. Others wanted to scale the ladders and continue the fight for their freedom.
Runi chose to inspire those slaves.
“Nazarus is down!” she insisted. “No one holds you here in the pit but yourselves! Join us in our escape, so that poor souls like Nefera’s death are not in vain!”
Enough of the slaves cheered in unison that the women felt they had an army at their back.
“Well, at least he dodged the arrows,” Abdibaal said of Nazarus the Dead.
Turning to Shiruk, leader of the Pelishtim mercenaries, he asked, “Your archers do have more arrows, don’t they?”
“Those women can never scale the pit walls!” Shiruk-Nashur insisted.
“Like the slaves would never dream of revolt?” Abdibaal retorted.
Shiruk had no answer.
Abdibaal thrust a finger at Shiruk and demanded, “Ensure those slaves remain in the pit, or I feed you to A’ghama!?”
He pointed at the steel box.
A slaver by trade, Shiruk had personally tortured slaves with cat-o-nine-tails, watching skin peel from muscle and bone. The gruesome sight never bothered him; it only intensified his appetite for more of the same.
The thought of being a meal for A’ghama made him shiver.
To hide his fear, Shiruk turned away from Abdibaal.
Pointing at the archers, he said, “Ready your spears!” He selected another four men and said, “Get down to the Eunuch’s Ear and sever the rope ladders! Move as if your lives depend on it!”
The Eunuch’s Ear was an outcropping just over a dozen feet below the ground level. It earned the name for its unique shape. The outcropping housed the ladders that made the long drop to the pit.
The designated four mercenaries lowered a rope to the outcropping. To rappel down, they had to leave their spears and shields behind.
Their scimitars would be weapon enough.
That’s it for this one!
To tide you over until the next chapter, check out some of my other fanfiction.
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Until next time!
