135 Unexpected guests

 Băo hadn't anticipated coming across another group so quickly. He called again just to be sure and yes, it was a Blade that answered. Both groups made their way towards each other, Wolfie following on behind, watching. He dropped down and saw another group of men coming towards him. His hackles went up, until he sniffed the air. An unmistakable likeness to his adopted alpha. He sniffed again but stayed still.

 

"Reveal yourselves."  Băo's commanding voice reverberated through the undergrowth. Three men stood up and took the respectful pose.

"Sir."

Băo shook his head, "I didn't expect you at all, I would have thought you would be on the other side of the water. What brings you over here?"

It was Two who answered. " A long story, Sir but the gist of it is we have twenty women, two of which are children, which were rescued from a group of traffickers. We have Alpha and Sister with us too. We met up with them by chance. With so many unskilled women, we thought about the area we are in now which is a short way from this village and we wanted to know if there were any people still here. If not, whether it would be a good place to house these people whilst we did our duty and started the extermination of vermin, Sir."

Băo's heart skipped a beat. His beloved was a mere run away. He wanted to race to her and grab her in his arms. He had seen so many nightmares in his dream world. She was still alive and free. Calming himself, he smiled, "If that is the case, let us join forces and check out the state of Fish Mouth."

I reached the shore once more and gathering up the net, began to fish. It would be good eating from around here, so I was hopeful we would have a rich fish stew tonight. I threw the net a couple of times and gathered enough fish to fill my bags.

I stopped off to pulled up some lotus roots and pick some of the fresh water plants I know Xin loves. Putting everything to one side, I sat on the bank to dry.

A few rather fat leeches had attached themselves to my ankles and feeling upward, my neck too. They were almost through feeding and would drop off soon enough. 'I'm going to bleed now, and have round scars for a few days.' I raised my eyes to the sky, 'Forgotten about these little darlings. Oh, well, it cleans the blood.'

I resigned myself to a long wait and contemplated the order of events to date.

Xin looked round. Wolfie wasn't back. She could only presume he had followed Two and his men. She carried on with the women, but kept an eye out for Niao and the men to get back.

 

Fish Mouth appeared empty. None of the hearths were warm and it was clear from the cooking pots, they hadn't been used in some time. What food there was, had a thick layer of mold growing on the surface, another indicator of no activity.

"Looking at this, I think we can assume there is no-one left. Are we confident enough to bring the women here?"  Băo looked at the men.

"I think its our best option at the moment." Two nodded and continued. "We were going to head east toward the river border past Orchid Market, but there appeared to be too much activity around there and moving this many women in one go," he paused, momentarily, thinking of the state some of the women were still in, "it was deemed a poor decision. It was Alpha's idea to come this way. She sensed it was the safest at the moment." His head down, Two felt the eyes of his superior on him.

"Good work Two." 

Two reeled in shock, "thank you Sir." 

"And relax, we are all equal here. The only ones who are our superiors are Alpha and Sister." He grinned, remembering times when he had learned just how it felt to be on the receiving end of their temper, and even though the men feared him, he feared those women more.

 

"Here you go." I slung the heavy bags down at Xin's feet. She looked up and seeing the round, bleeding scars on my neck, handed me some powder.

"Tip some of this on the scars, it'll stop the bleeding." Then she busied herself with giving orders to the women. 

Relieved, I sat down in the corner and tended to the leech scars. 'Do I really need any more scars?' I grinned to myself, 'well it frightens the enemy and keeps the suitors away.' I tipped out a cup of tea and sat back as every one busied around me. 

I closed my eyes and drifted into light sleep.

Second Master walked alongside the prisoners with a group of soldiers. He was keen to pick up any decent quickly and nip it in the bud, but the length of rest verses the time spent walking seemed to have found a rhythm, and the men were too tired to argue. 

They walked in columns, each man attached to the one infront by a heavy, rough jute rope. It flowed like a garland from bound hands to the next person's neck. Were they to stumble, the line paid the price and someone could choke to death.  

Not only was the jute strong, but was purposefully rough, cutting into the flesh, leaving open wounds for the flies to find. It was a salutary reminder, they had lost this fight. 

With sullen faces they continued to put one foot in front of the other. When they stopped to rest, the rations were small. They were perpetually hungry.

Second Master had warned them food was rationed. They'd seen the Hammers getting the same amounts, but they were used to it. The Mu had lived on the fat of the land for too long, "gone soft!" One of the Arrows commented.

Twin Hammers were out scouring the land for the enemy still at large. No mercy was shown; they were seen as vermin and exterminated as such. Much of the high ground had been cleared and by rotating fresh troops fir each foray, they moved ahead, clearing a path for the train of prisoners to move quickly and quietly through.

"We're making good time."  Second Master beckoned over some orderlies, "check the water situation, we will be nearing streams off the hills soon."

"Sir." 

They left, leaving Second Master with his thoughts. As usual, he let himself drift to his wife. In one corner of his mind it was Springtime and she was busily beating the sleeping mats, sweeping the rooms and clearing that dust of winter. She was singing as she worked, her hair and skirts tied up out of the dust and debris. Her laughter tinkled through his head as she played with her children. She looked up and smiled at him, 'Soon, my love, soon. Please be alive and well. I pray we meet again in this lifetime.'