Ubara of Gor Chapter Six

Chapter Six: The wages of fear

“A bottle of wine! Make it the finest! Make it a cup for a sea larl's thirst!” cried Yishana as she smote the table with the empty goblet in her left hand to the encouraging cheers of her Askaris. “Are there true men in this hall?” She rose to her feet, swaying a little from a cocktail of ka-la-na and some drugs she laced the wine with and stared at her roaring Askaris with pride as they shouted back that true men were gathered here tonight in abundance. “YES! You are the savage larls of the ocean and I salute you all for you are MY savage sea larls!” She thumped her balled right fist against her left shoulder in appreciation the way men did.

The cheers in the crowded tavern grew louder still as the Askaris began to thump their own tankards against their own wooden tables.

“Yishana al Ghul!” they sang.

“Askari al Ghul!” she sang back, laughing and beckoning the slave girls to serve more wine.

We had been at sea now for five long weeks since insulting the admiral of Cos and we had sailed into a small harbour inlet on the black coast to relax and carouse for the night. Yishana had given fifty of her Askaris shore leave and of the fifty maybe twenty had decided to drink with her in the 'Porcupine' tavern. Her arrival, unveiled, in the company of savage looking warriors had alarmed and surprised the other seamen already seated in the venue for free women did not usually enter taverns. And if they did, they would most definitely be veiled.

Things had not got off to a good start when one burly fisherman had taken offence and had said in a rather loud voice meant to be overheard by all, “why is that kajira dressed in a gown?” Yishana had seemed to ignore his comment as she helped herself to a bottle from the bar, but then without warning she span round holding the bottle by the neck and broke it across the man's face.

There was a lot of blood. The man, taken by surprise, was momentarily blinded and the moment was sufficient for Yishana to suddenly have a knife in her hand and slash the edge across his throat.

She faced the stunned onlookers seated at the various low tables as she snarled, “does any other sleen here wish to call me a slave? I am Yishana al Ghul, Ubara of the Black Coast and I will send the next man who insults me to the cities of dust.” Askaris lined up behind her, ready for a fight.

Her name was known on the Black Coast. Known and feared.

“You're seated at my table. Move, sleen,” said Yishana as she gazed down at one of the better tables positioned in an alcove of the tavern. The Askaris didn't wait for the three men seated there to comply, rather they simply picked them up with ease and threw them out onto the straw covered floor. One Askari motioned for his Goddess to take her seat and Yishana did so, kneeling in tower at the centre of the table with her back to the alcove wall as her men crowded either side of her.

There had been music when we had arrived but by now the music had stalled.

“Play on,” said Yishana. “Let me hear the kaska, the kalika and the flute. I want music while we drink this shit hole dry!”

A kaska is a small hand drum, while the kalika is a guitar-like instrument with a long neck and a hemispheric soundbox covered by 6 strings. The musicians took up their tune once again as Yishana called to the slaves for wine and paga.

The slave personally serving Yishana was Simon. He knelt there close by the table and it must have been acutely embarrassing for him to be seen by the other Gorean men in the tavern having to serve alongside all the slave girls. It was bad enough on the Larl, but at least there he was known to everyone and the initial shame at being a woman's slave became the norm after a while, but here in a public tavern in a small harbour inlet, men were seeing him for the first time. He wore a heavier collar than I did, for the collars of the kajirus (male slave) are less ornate and more functional than that of a kajira. I may not have mentioned before but male salves are rarely branded. I don't know why this is, but the custom on Gor is to brand women but not necessarily men. Often male work slaves in large chain gangs may not even be collared. Again, I do not know why this is. Simon, like most male slaves, therefore did not have a kef brand on his left thigh and Yishana showed no particular interest in putting one to his flesh.

One of the reasons why Yishana usually brought her own slaves to serve her in public places was to avoid the possibility that a slave belonging to the premises might poison her on instructions from her master. When you are feared along the Black Coast and when various cities would pay a handsome reward for your death or capture, you tend not to take chances. To this end Yishana routinely told her Askaris to carry their assegais with them on shore leave in case the locals needed to be intimidated. They stacked those weapons of war against the wall as they entered the tavern as a potent reminder of what they were capable of if anyone wanted to start some trouble.

I myself served Tijani who sat cross legged next to Yishana. He was swiftly becoming one of her favourite commanders on board the Larl, but it was difficult for me to fathom whether there was any sexual attraction in the way Yishana thought of him. I was sure by now that Tijani found Yishana desirable, and I think a large part of that was down to her extraordinary status. Men who encountered Yishana naturally wanted to bring her back down to the acceptable level of free women on Gor and perhaps even further, teaching her what it is to be a submissive woman, to obey men. She presented a challenge in that respect and it aroused men to want to have her. I think she was aware of this on a subliminal level and in a certain way it amused her.

To be honest there was hardly any room to move. Yishana's group had crowded out the already busy tavern with its low ceilings, narrow spaces between tables and lack of light and fresh air. The air smelled of male sweat, fermenting paga and roasting meat. I was pressed close to Tijani as I knelt, with the shoulder and arm of an Askari close by to my left. That was pretty much the case throughout the cramped tavern where personal space was a luxury that you couldn't rely on. Only Yishana had a little space around her. My eyes caught sight of the ambitious spearman, Kakussa, on another table. He was laughing and slapping his open hand hard against the table as one of the other Askaris told some ribald joke. I still wore his silver arm ring which was worth in the region of forty thousand dollars. A few of the other girls had remarked upon it, often with a hint of jealousy for it meant the men thought I was special.

I suppose I was really. I was the only trained pleasure slave on the Larl. That counted for a lot.

So, Yishana had murdered a man who had insulted her and she had done it in plain sight in front of his friends and neighbours. She could do that of course because this harbour inlet probably had a standing population of 500 men, women and children. It was unlikely any of them would be professional warriors unless there happened to be one or two passing through. Yishana commanded over 120 professional warriors. You can do the maths. To be honest, just the twenty spearmen she had with her in the tavern could probably cut their way through the village population with ease. On the Black Coast, away from large cities such as Schendi, Yishana made her own law. On Gor it is said the rule of law only extends as far as the reach of your sword and spear points.

Life outside the cities can be hard and settlements such as this one (frankly I didn't even know its name!) were at the mercy of anyone who commanded a fighting force of men. It's easy to forget that Yishana was able to command the respect of armed men partly because she acted the way she did. Men expect a certain arrogance from their commanders and being a woman Yishana could not, dared not show any sign of weakness.

Tijani wasn't drinking heavily that night as he seemed to have something of a brooding air about himself. Of all of us he seemed most concerned about what the naval might of Cos might do once Matias returned to Telnus and Jad. Until recently we had been an annoying irritation that didn't necessarily warrant the expense of serious retaliation, but now? Now the honour of Cos had been trampled in the sand at the Bastion and Matias would be raging in his home port. Obviously this seemed to be the reaction Yishana had wanted, but it didn't bode well for our chances of seeing the new year in. We were like an annoying wasp, buzzing around, striking where we liked, nimble, quick, but if Cos wanted to swat us, and if Cos was prepared to expend the resources required, it could. Tijani was ultimately a realist whereas Yishana seemed to be a fantasist.

“Paga, Emma,” said Tijani as he handed me his empty bowl for the first refill of the night when others were now on their fourth.

“Of course, Master.” I rose and threaded my way through the crowd of men who jostled and fought one another in friendly bouts of wrestling skill. Tables were being overturned as men grappled with one another, sending drinks flying and turning the tavern into a free for all. The other patrons either left or tried to get out of the way of the worst of the commotion. The Askaris tended to make room for me to get to the paga vat, though sometimes they didn't see me and I had to ask permission to pass.

After about an hour in the muggy atmosphere of the tavern I took the opportunity to slip outside into a small low walled courtyard adjoining the tavern for some much needed fresh air. Oh God it felt good to gulp in deep lungfuls of the sea air scented with plumeria and jewel mint that grew nearby in clumps. It was so hot inside the tavern, especially with the heat from the roasting meat in the adjoining kitchen. My body felt damp with perspiration and I wondered how Yishana in her long gown could possibly cope with it. The courtyard was maybe nine feet wide and twenty three feet deep, ending in a small arched door set into the wall that was shoulder height. By standing on tip toe I could see that the other side of the wall sloped down towards a cliff edge maybe ten feet away overlooking the lantern ringed harbour inlet. There were a number of small fishing vessels anchored in the harbour and a bit further out the unmistakable shape of the Larl with its night time lanterns winking in the distance.

The Larl truly felt like my home these days. I touched my collar and sighed. This was my new life, but as lives went it wasn't too bad. I was no longer the new girl which is always a worrying thing to be in a chain coffle, and I was lucky enough to have a good first girl in Naomi. I had friends too. Asha and Imani often talked to me, though I think they were growing jealous of my recent popularity with the Askaris. As slaveries went it could be a lot worse. I waved to the ship but of course it was too dark for anyone on board to see me.

My attention was drawn further up the coast line. From my vantage point leaning over the courtyard wall I could see a long stretch of the cliffs receding into the distance. The cliffs were sandwiched between the sparkling blue waters of the Thassa and the rich verdant green of the sub-tropical rain forests. With just the pale light of Gor's three moons to illuminate the bay I didn't expect to see much of interest but maybe four pasangs out from the harbour village there were pinpricks of light that were almost certainly camp fires. My natural kajira curiosity made me wonder who might be camping out there but I filed it away as none of our business. It could be a trade caravan I guessed.

Behind me I heard the door leading back to the tavern open as a black skinned paga slave emerged with a slops bucket that she carried towards a gutter drain set close to the wall overlooking the harbour below. She nodded briefly to me as she carefully poured the slops into the gutter drain. The outlet no doubt trickled down the side of the cliff.

“It's hot inside,” I said by way of conversation. She was naked except for her collar and beads around her ankles. “Why do you not open the windows?”

“Tetche flies are a problem during these months,” said the girl as she wiped her hands on some rushes growing beside the wall. “Their bite causes boils and a virulent rash on the skin. They are attracted to fermentation. We grow the jewel mint to keep them away.”

“Ah.” I decided to pick up some jewel mint leaves and rubbed them against my arms, legs and breasts to be on the safe side. “I'm Emma. I'm with the Larl.”

“I know who you are with, kajira. We wish you would simply go and leave us in peace. Three times a year you come here. The man your mistress killed was a good man. He has a free companion and children. We do not want you here.”

“I'm sorry.” What could I say? Insulting Yishana was a bit like insulting the Kray Twins in the sixties. There would always be repercussions. “He did call my mistress a slave.”

“She is unveiled like a slave. Men cannot ignore that.”

“Well they should learn to if they don't want their throats cut.” I crossed my arms and regarded her.

“We shall see,” said the slave now with a strange smile. She hoisted the empty bucket on to her head and walked back towards the rear tavern door, whistling some melodic tune in apparent satisfaction. For some reason the hackles at the back of my neck began to rise.

When I returned inside food was being served – plates of meat that the Askaris stabbed at with their knives. The tavern had thinned out a little by now as many of the locals had finally had enough of the shouting, swearing, singing, wrestling and basically stag night behaviour of Yishana's men. They had been quietly filing out in twos and threes to find somewhere quieter to spend the night. I sniffed my arms as I retuned to the main table, quite liking the jewel mint scent that lingered on my skin. I would be a tetche fly free zone with luck. I had arrived just as Yishana was banging her goblet against the table for attention.

“Is there a spearman called Kakussa still sober enough to stand?” she said with a grin.

“Ubara!” the young man rose with some help from his friends and flashed the Ubara a white toothy smile. I happened to know something of what Yishana was going to say tonight and I was looking forward to hearing it.

“Kakussa has only been with the Larl for nine moons but he has proven himself in battle with assegai and shield. He has earned the blessing of Nakeisha the wind-rider. Tonight I choose to name him a tenth spear!”

A loud raucous cheer erupted as Askaris slapped the stunned and delighted Kakussa on his back and hoisted him up onto their shoulders for a parade around the tavern floor. Yishana saluted the young Askari in the time honoured tradition of striking her left shoulder with the fist of her right hand as she made a tribal ululating sound with her tongue against the roof of her mouth that was quickly picked up and imitated by the Askaris. I touched the silver ring about my arm and smiled.

“He will be asking for you use tonight, I imagine,” said Naomi as she stood beside me.

“He'll be too drunk to do anything,” I replied, pointing out the obvious.

“True,” laughed Naomi. “They all will be.” It was going to be one of those nights when the Askaris would be supporting one another back to the ship. The sore heads in the morning would be dreadful.

Naomi turned me about and checked my breechcloth and makeup. She was always doing that with the slaves, making sure any imperfections could be corrected. I stood there obediently as she ran her fingers through my hair like a comb, as she tightened the knot that had come a little loose on my breechcloth, and as she applied some fresh slave rough to my lips. And then she sniffed and lowered her nose to my arm.

“Why do you smell of jewel mint, Emma?”

“Oh, that, well there are tetche flies in the village and jewel mint leaves repel them. I didn't want to break out in a rash and boils.”

“What are you talking about?” Naomi seemed confused.

“The bites from the flies. They keep the windows shut so the flies don't get attracted to the fermentation of the paga.”

“Tetche flies are harmless. You won't get a rash or boils if one lands on you. Go out in the courtyard, find some water and wash the mint smell from your body. Then perfume yourself with this vial. And in future ask my permission before you rub yourself with mint leaves. We'll talk about this in the morning, Emma.”

“But...” I stood there with the perfume in my hand as Naomi walked away. Obviously that slave girl had played some sort of prank on me. As I turned to head back to the rain barrels in the courtyard I noticed that the music was no longer playing. Like most of the locals who had been drinking here, the musicians had given up and left. None of the Askaris seemed to particularly care as by and large they were now singing their own drunken songs together.

Tijani seemed content and in no hurry to call for a refill of his second bowl of paga. The mistress was laughing and playing some sort of drinking game with her commanders that involved them throwing scraps of food at Simon which he had to catch with his teeth. If he missed one the person who threw the scrap had to drink, and Simon would receive a stroke of the switch from Imani who stood behind him.

How awful it must be for a strong man to be the humiliated silk slave of a woman.

“Emma!” called out a drunken Yishana. “Come here, girl.” I did so and my mistress handed me a small piece of roast meat. “If you can get the piece of meat into Simon's mouth you can have a small drink of ka-la-na,” she said. As I watched she poured maybe 50 ml of wine into a small pan.

“You had better catch this, slave,” I said to Simon as I judged the distance.

“He will try, Emma,” said Imani with a soft laugh, “or else he will receive another stroke of my switch for failing!” She held the switch for me to see.

“Are you going to do your best, slave?” I asked of Simon.

I could see how angry he was as he simply nodded and opened his mouth for me. I laughed as I threw the piece of meat and saw him have to snap up with his mouth to catch it between his teeth.

“A good throw,” said Yishana as she passed me the pan of ka-la-na. “Enjoy, you silken, silver armband girl.” She pulled me briefly to her lap and kissed me before sending me back to my treat. I took the small pan and lapped my prize: the delicious wine. Her breath had tasted of paga and spiced wine.

“Well done, slave boy,” I said to Simon as I left the table with a delicious jiggle of my hips in plain sight of his gaze. He could look but he could never touch. I slipped over to the table where Kakussa was now celebrating and I pushed gently through to press my forehead against his shoulder. He looked round delighted and surprised as he saw his favourite blonde kajira.

“I just wanted to congratulate you, Master. I knew this was coming. The mistress told me last night.” I felt him ruffle my hair and then he seized me in his arms and kissed me.

“I can command you now!” said Kakussa with a clean white toothed grin. “I can send you to my bed at night! I am an important man now on the Larl. You will give me so much pleasure, kajira!”

“I will give you so much pleasure, Master,” I said laughing softly.

“I will whip you of course if you are not fully pleasing,” he said, but with affection.

“Of course, Master! But you will not need to do so.”

He sniffed my skin in surprise. “You smell of jewel mint, kajira?”

“I know. I'm sorry. A paga slave played a trick on me. I'm going to wash it off now.”

“And then come back and dance for us, slut,” said Kakussa. “I want you on my lap while I drink! I want men to see you with me!” He slapped my ass and sent me scampering away towards the rear door of the tavern. I was flushed with excitement and a warm sense of desire as I exited the building and drank in the cooler sea air outside. It was going to be a fun night if Kakussa didn't drink too much. And if he did, well, Tijani seemed sober enough. I realised I was in slave heat tonight. I wanted a man who would master me and use me and I was going to do my damnedest to make sure that happened.

I touched my collar and smiled, imagining strong hands seizing me and pressing me down onto the floor. Yes, I really was in the early throes of slave heat tonight! Outside in the courtyard I saw the paga slave again. She was looking out over the low wall and towards the narrow cobbled streets of the village. She had lit a lantern and hung it from a tall pole, illuminating the area.

“Kajira? What are you doing out here?” she asked with a hostile look in her eyes. “Shouldn't you be serving your masters?'

“I would be if you hadn't played your little joke about the flies.” There was a rain barrel close to one of the walls and as I talked I picked up a rag, dripped it in the water and began to wash the worst of the jewel mints cent from my arms and legs.

“Go back inside,” she said. “You shouldn't be out here.”

“Be quiet. You're not in charge of me.” I really didn't like this paga slave. She could go fuck herself.

“You're a barbarian, aren't you?” she sneered.

“Yes. So what?” I carried on washing myself.

“I do not like barbarians. You're uncivilised. You come from a weak slave world that is the natural hunting ground for our masters. Your women are stupid and live their lives foolishly thinking they are free when they comport themselves as slaves in their dress and behaviour. It is good that our men collar you as they wish.”

“Well thank you for that.” I think I was clean now. I regarded the lantern as it swayed from the tall pole in the sea breeze. It was hooded like a signal lantern used to communicate to ships or over distances on land. Normally a lantern set up to illuminate a street or courtyard would be of a standard type to maximise area illumination, but not this one.

“That's a signal lantern, isn't it?” I said as I noticed the paga slave's eyes narrow now.

“Yes, kajira, it is,” she said as she stepped between me and the tavern door. I began to feel the hackles on the back of my neck rising again. Something wasn't right here. Along the coastline the lights from the camp fires that I had seen earlier were now extinguished. There was no reason for camp fires to be extinguished so early in the night unless the men at those camp fires had moved on. If so, where were they now?

“Move out of the way,” I said as I took a couple of steps towards the door and then quickly back up again as I saw the paga slave pick up a length of heavy wood.

“I don't think so,” she said as she took a step towards me. “Binding position, on your belly, if you don't want to feel this.” She motioned with the heavy length of wood. I heard a sound from somewhere in the street below and I had time to glance down over the wall to see a lot of men filing through the streets towards the tavern. They were all armed.

“What's going on?” I said as I backed away from the weapon she was holding.

“Curiosity is not becoming in a kajira.” and then she ran at me, swinging the length of wood in a vicious arc that would have broken bones if I hadn't expected this and taken a running leap myself at the rear wall. I went over the wall like an alley cat, helped as always by the slightly lower gravity of Gor. It was a sharper drop on the other side, maybe ten to eleven feet as the street there was lower than the tavern ground, but I landed without embarrassing myself too much. Gazing up I knew there was no real way for me to get back into the courtyard, not that I was going to even consider it while the paga slave was guarding it.

I rolled my body and ducked into a drainage ditch just as a group of nine armed men ran quietly past. From what I could tell they were beginning to surround the tavern building on all sides, and some of them were carrying thick bales of straw. With the moonlight offering only pale light I was able to lift my head and make out that these men weren't professional warriors, for they were not dressed in scarlet. While caste colours aren't mandatory on Gor, you'd be hard pressed to find a warrior who didn't wear the scarlet each and every day with pride. For them it is literally a uniform to recognise one another by. Wars on Gor resemble vast oceans of red tunics clashing with spears and shields.

I guessed the that these men were outlaws, brigands, pirates, men who were familiar with the use of a sword but lacking formal military training in fighting in a shield wall. They would be irregulars, vicious, violent and, yes, deadly, but amateurs compared to Brinn and his scarlet caste.

“Masters!” It was the paga slave and I saw her hoist herself onto the rear wall of the tavern. She crouched there like a cat, on all fours, calling down to the men with an urgent but quiet voice. In the echoing silence of the harbour village her voice was sufficiently lear for it to carry.

“Monifa?” said one of the men who seemed to be an officer of sorts inso far as these cutthroats had officers. “What is it, girl?”

“One of their sluts saw the lantern. She jumped from this wall. She is down there somewhere, Master.”

“Is she now?” said the officer as he drew his blade and turned on the balls of his feet, peering in each direction in turn.

“Kajira...” his voice sang close to where I hid. “Come on out, pretty little kajira. You won't be killed if you show yourself.”

I hunkered down in the drainage ditch and tried to make myself as small as I could. There were too many men present to break cover.

“Kajira... you had better show yourself, girl. It will be bad for you if I have to look for you.” His voice now sounded impatient. Slowly, quietly, as quietly as I dared go, I crept along the drainage ditch on my belly, sliding along the dry earth, stopping every few feet to listen keenly for any sound that might suggest I'd been seen.

“Should we look for her?” said one of the outlaws.

“No, we can't risk wasting any time. Leave two men here in this street to keep watch. Everyone else, place those bales by the doors and await my signal.”

Even from where I lay in hiding I could smell the flammable pitch that the tightly packed bales of straw had been soaked in as the men hurried on. The strategy was obvious – set all the doors and windows ablaze and kill any of Yishana's men who dared run to safety through the flames. Unless I found some way to warn Yishana, Tijani and the others it would be a massacre.

“I think there's a ditch here,” said one of the men left behind to watch out for me. My heart did a backflip as I heard those words. There was a stabbing sound that could only be a spear being thrust into the ditch at random points some eight yards away from where I lay. And then that sound was accompanied by another set of stabbing sounds from the other end of the ditch, maybe four yards away. I held my breath as the two men now worked their way along the line of the ditch, closing in on my position, stabbing down at frequent intervals of a few feet at a time.

“Keep stabbing,” said the other man. “It's too fucking dark away from the lanterns.”

“She's probably down by the harbour by now,” said the first man as he stabbed his spear into the ditch to my left. “Monifa should have caught her slut herself. For a first girl she's fucking useless.”

The fact they were talking gave me the opportunity to move and rise into a crouch ready to spring and scramble my way up out of the ditch. I could feel that adrenaline rush Brinn always spoke of – the flight or fight response and in my case it was definitely going to be flight. As the men neared with their stabbing motions I waited until the spears plunged down into the earth of the ditch and then I sprang up, scrabbling with handholds on the baked dry soil to emerge suddenly back on the street. The motion caught their eye even in the gloom and I heard the men cry out in surprise as I didn't hesitate but ran straight down the sloping street and towards one of the side streets.

I'm a pretty fast runner, especially if my life is on the line. I ran blindly, taking turns whenever I found them and I didn't stop until I felt sure I'd lost the two men for now. I heard their feet run past as I hid and crouched in a small recess and I waited some more to make sure it wasn't a trick.

I could taste the salt sea breeze coming from my left and knew that if I followed a path in that direction I was likely to reach the cliff top. If I continued to follow the side of the cliff I would in theory come back to that patch of ground where the rear courtyard wall faced the sea. There the ground on either side of the wall would be level and might easily sneak back through the courtyard and into the tavern to warn everyone. It was worth a try.

I made my way as quietly as possible and was rewarded by the sight of the low courtyard wall as I ran along the cliffside. None of the men had secured this position yet and so I was able to pull myself up and crouch on the low wall like Monifa had done earlier when she had called out to the men. Monifa was in the courtyard and I could see she had found a heavy iron padlock that had been secreted under some old sack cloth. Presumably a locking clasp had been fitted to the outside of the tavern door and she was about to slide the padlock in place and click it shut. That would leave the front entrance the only door remaining and that was now guarded by these outlaws.

I slipped down quietly into the courtyard and crouched low as I fast walked towards Monifa. As she located the clasp on the door and was about to slide the padlock in place I grabbed her suddenly by the hair and pulled her backwards. She screamed in surprise, which was fine by me as I wanted to alert everyone in the tavern. She was off balance so I pulled hard until her head struck the cobbles of the courtyard. I then punched her hard in the face with the heel of the palm of my hand. Monifa lay there dazed as I picked up the fallen padlock and threw it out over the wall towards the sea.

“It's a trap!” I screamed at the top of my voice as I ran back through into the tavern. “There are armed men outside!”

As if on cue, the two startled looking barmen ran straight for the front door, pausing on the way to scoop up an armful of spears each before they barged their way through the door shoulders first. By the time the drunken Askaris realised what I was saying, and what had just happened, nearly three quarters of our spears had been stolen.

Tijani had drunk very little and so he was the first on his feet.

“Emma?!” he shouted. “What is this?”

“Men, Master! Armed men! Outside! They're going to torch the building! We have to get out!”

Three Askaris closest to the exit rose and headed for the door, drawing knives from their belts. As they barged the door open, two of them were greeted by the points of readied spears that stabbed forward through the doorway. Two of the three Askaris screamed and fell back, mortally wounded, while the third managed to swing the door back in place.

“Askaris!” screamed Yishana as she now realised the danger we faced. The men rose to the best of their drunken ability and the first men to the remaining six spears seized them. “Emma! Come here!”

I ran to my Mistress and dropped to my knees before her table. My words came out as a frightened babble. “Outlaws, pirates, cutthroats, Mistress. But lots of them. They have surrounded the tavern. They have spears and they're going to burn us alive if we stay here or stab us as we try to flee.”

“There is a bounty on your head, Ubara,” said Tijani as he drew the short sword he always wore in a sheath. “Looks like someone has at last tried to claim it.”

“Mistress, they tried to lock the rear door. It is still open. We need to get into the courtyard otherwise we will be trapped here.”

Yishana gazed at the rear door and then nodded with glazed eyes. “Take the men, Tijani.”

And he did, calling the remaining spear armed Askaris to enter and secure the walled courtyard as he then marshalled the other Askaris who had nothing more than knives to fight with. There was suddenly a hand on Tijani's forearm and as he looked round he saw Simon.

“What is it, Kajirus? I'm busy.”

“Let me fight,” said Simon. “I'm strong and I haven't been drinking. Let me fight. I'm not a warrior but I was shown how to use a sword by Brinn of the Sardar.”

Tijani regarded him. “Find something you can use as a weapon, stand close to me and watch my back.”

Simon nodded as he reached for one of the tables and began to smash it hard against the floor until several of the legs splintered from the wooden surface top. He picked up two of these as short sticks and nodded again to Tijani.

“Better than nothing I suppose,” said Tijani with a shrug.

By the time I returned to the courtyard I could hear shouting and the cries of men already engaged in combat. The six Askaris who had spears were preventing outlaws from entering through the rear gate of the courtyard that Monifa had unlocked. Spears bristled outwards from either side of the contested doorway as neither side seemed ready to push through. Had the Askaris possessed their war shields it would have been a different matter, but the assegai is a short stabbing spear and depends very much on a large body shield to support it. The other Askaris were fighting at the parallel side walls as outlaws and pirates attempted to climb over from the other side. Here the askaris had to fight with their knives alone as they had no better weapons to hand. The men on the other hand who were trying to kill us were armed with short swords. I could already see three Askaris bleeding on the ground, with perhaps four of the outlaws in similar state close by.

Kakussa roared a battle cry of defiance as he stabbed at men that appeared at the top of the wall, but he too only carried a knife. I watched in fear as Kakussa sprang onto the summit of the left hand wall facing the village and kicked a man back down the steep drop to the cobblestones blow. He seemed as nimble as a cat as he ran along the side, leaping over sword blows to then roar his defiance at the men who gathered in the street. He was drunk, he was consumed by his new position as tenth spear and he was showing off. But his sheer bloody minded bravery seemed to put fear into the hearts of the outlaws. They backed away as he crouched atop the wall, slashing down with his long knife at any man who tried to approach too closely. I heard men calling out for spears and other men calling out for crossbows. Kakussa spat at them from his vantage point and grinned, his white teeth flashing in the lantern light as he teased them to come closer.

“I only have a sleen knife”, he cried, “but it will send many of your mothers to weep over your funeral pyres!”

Other Askaris joined him to slash over the top of the wall with their knives whenever a man tried to scale the wall, but quickly the outlaws answered with spear points jabbing back and the Askaris were forced to retreat from the longer weapon reach.

“Kakussa! Get down!” shouted Yishana as she realised how he was trying to impress her. We didn't have enough men to guard the full length of the walls on the three sides of the courtyard. Here and there our enemy were scrambling over to drop onto the contested ground. Simon surged forward with his two broken table legs and began to pummel the men back, parrying their swords with his sticks in a way that impressed Tijani. Tijani had joined Simon with his own blade and was stabbing and chopping at the men who scrambled towards the fighting slave.

Yishana had stripped away her ornate gowns, tearing the elaborate hooks in her haste to be battle naked and the sight of her bronzed body howling its rage and defiance inspired her men to greater strength. She ran towards the rear gate with her twin knives drawn and wormed her way between the legs of her Askaris to cut and slash at the exposed legs of her enemies. A couple of men screamed as her sharp knives cut ligaments and tendons and suddenly the Askaris were able to push forward and gain the ground on the other side of the gateway. To my amazement Yishana pressed through their line to stand in the centre. She screamed unintelligible words of hate directed at the outlaws who threatened her and the sight of that was enough to make them back away in astonishment for I doubt they had ever seen a naked woman standing at the front of her men, brandishing twin bloodied knives. She looked magnificent it has to be said, but when Tijani saw what she was doing he cursed aloud and ran to help her.

That was a mistake and I saw it almost unfold in slow motion. Tijani had turned his back at the wrong time and was about to pay the price as an outlaw scaled the wall and slashed down at the black corsair. His sword edge would have split Tijani's skull except that Simon caught the edge of the blade on one of his table legs, turned the blade and drove the butt of his other stick into the man's exposed face. There was a crunch of bone and the man disappeared on the other side of the wall. Tijani stumbled, recognising the close miss and before he could regain his balance two other outlaws were upon him. But Simon literally threw himself at the men, bowling one over and striking upwards with a table leg at the other's groin. The melee became a confused tumble on the ground as Simon literally wrestled with two men as Tijani regained his feet. Tijani looked dazed for a sword hilt had struck his temple on the way down. Simon received s sword thrust to his side and was about to be be killed with a follow up stroke when Tijani suddenly sliced the outlaw's throat open with a back handed slash of his short sword. The second outlaw with an injured groin had his face kicked in with the heel of Tijani's right foot stamping down hard as he then pulled the wounded Simon along the courtyard floor, a trail of burgundy blood lining the way. 

Yishana had literally thrown herself with a scream at the men, an action I considered incomprehensible and had she actually been a man she would have been dead now, caught on the points of the outlaw's short swords, but I suppose no man there wanted to kill her if they could take her alive, and so they declined to impale her wild charge. That was a mistake for as they tried to seize her arms and legs and take her prisoner, she slashed wildly with those twin knives, hissing and spitting as she did. That was enough for her Askaris to go berserk and charge too, despite the uneven odds. Several of them were cut down instantly but when the others crashed into the ranks of the outlaws to support their Ubara, they broke the unformed line. The fighting was now close quarters and intense, with little order or discipline. Men simply screamed, slashed, stabbed and bled. I caught only a glimpse of the battle through the gateway before outlaws dropped down beside me from the wall. I screamed as one seized my hair and another reached for my left arm, but then Kakussa ran along the length of the wall and threw himself at my attackers. One was simply bowled over as Kakussa drove him into the ground. Instantly the black corsair sprang back to his feet and tackled my other assailant and stabbed him in the chest. But more outlaws were scrambling over the wall now as Askaris left their defensive positions to support Yishana's frenzied push through the rear gate and down to the street towards the Larl and reinforcements who must surely have heard the battle raging and be coming to join us.

I wriggled free of the additional grasping hands that tried to claim me and was given enough time by Kakussa's wild use of the sleen knife to roll towards the rear gates. But in saving me Kakussa paid the ultimate price, being cut down in turn by three steel blades. He fell, fighting to the last to save his favourite slave girl.

I ran through the gate and sought the safety of the remaining Askaris who now formed a wedge shape with their handful of spears at the wedge point, fighting their way down the narrow street towards the harbour front. Tijani was supporting Simon's weight as he limped along and he was shouting something at Yishana who anyway paid no attention to any of his words. She had daubed someone's blood across her face and breasts in a sigil pattern and was shouting magical curses at the faltering outlaws who fell back step by step to give their comrades time to arrive and form up on every side of us. Now the numbers were increasing to the point we were outnumbered five to one and although we were being allowed to move slowly forward, we were boxed in and the flanks were closing in along with the rear. I was thrust into the centre of the wedge for my protection and Tijani ordered me to support Simon's weight as best I could while he took position next to a blood thirsty and heavily drugged Yishana. Blood was running down her thigh from where a sword had stabbed her, but I don't think she even felt the pain. In fact she was laughing, her eyes practically burning with fire. It was this I think that ultimately bought us enough time for the outlaws had never seen anything like it, and her utter confidence inspired her Askaris to take risks that warriors in such a doomed position might not have done otherwise.

The first probing attacks came in force on our flanks as Askaris struggled to protect every side of our wedge formation. Two men were cut down and dragged away by the outlaw's hooked sea spears to be butchered in plain sight of the rest of us. Yishana was about to fling herself at the outlaws again but Tijani seized her by her long braided hair and pulled her back, knowing that the outlaws would not spare her a second time. The second time they would catch her charge at the points of their spears.

There were maybe seven of us left, and that included me and Simon. Close to seventy outlaws now closed in from all sides and I began to think that even I wouldn't be spared in the mad melee that was about to ensue.

But then there was a horrible scream as an outlaw left the ground and was flung seventy feet into the air to sail over the tops of the roofed harbour buildings. I stared in open mouthed astonishment as some unseen force propelled him across the harbour front and far out to sea. He struck the water with all the force of being fired from a catapult. Before I could even take this in another outlaw screamed on our flank as his body was literally turned inside out like a rubber washing up glove. Blood, intestines and bone flopped horribly on the cobblestone ground.

And there he was: Yishana's sorcerer, Kerim Shah, at the head of a small group of spearmen. His eyes blazed with fury as he turned his wrist in a languid occult motion. The commander of the outlaws suddenly exploded – there was no other word for it – a silent explosion that literally splashed guts and blood over the front ranks of both his own men and our spear wedge.

And then every outlaw left standing simply dropped their spears and ran, screaming for their lives. I could hardly blame them.

“Ubara,” said Kerim Shah calmly as he approached her. “What are your orders?”

“Burn every building,” snarled Yishana. “Leave no two stones standing, kill every man woman and child stupid enough not to flee my wrath tonight, and let the charred ruins here remind every other settlement along the black coast for decades to come what might happen if they ever turn against me again.”