Onio (14 page)

Tanah
removed her clothing and stepped into the bubbling water, and a smile stretched
her cheeks. “Come child, these are healing waters,” she said. Mel gave up any
pretense of modesty and, stripping naked, stepped into the pool. The waters
bubbled and fizzed, smelling faintly of sulfur. It felt heavenly and Mel
grinned with delight. She had lost track of how many days passed since she
first saw Onio on the road, but she thought it had been at least a week and a
half…maybe more.

Tanah
handed over a couple of cleaning cloths and the two women scrubbed away the
sweat and grime of the road. Dipping their heads into the water, they washed
their hair and took turns braiding each other’s wet locks into order. One of
the medics emerged from behind the wall of cascading water and placed two sets
of fresh clothes on the rocks by the pool’s edge.

“Those
breeches may be too short for you but the rest should do well,” Tanah said. Mel
nodded in gratitude and wriggled into the pants and tunic. As Tanah had guessed
the pants were high on her ankles, but Mel didn’t care. They were warm and
clean.

Tanah
dipped two stout twigs into a cup of the water and handed one to Mel. The girl
watched as Tanah rubbed the stick over her teeth and gums. Then, trying it for
herself, Mel was amazed at how clean her mouth tasted. Ablutions finished,
Tanah smiled and said, “I have only made this trek twice before with my mate,
but I always look forward to the moon pools. Aches and pains will diminish, as
will any ill humors of the blood. In addition, many of the sasquatch think
these pools are sacred. It is good form for a visiting tribe to cleanse in this
way before approaching the high lords.”

Tanah
turned suddenly in alarm, and moved around the curtain of falling water.
Following in the queen’s wake, Mel saw the sasq warriors staring around the
cavern fearfully. Many of them were coughing uncontrollably and tears streamed
from their eyes. Looking toward the far end of the cave, Mel noticed smoke
crawling along the stone floor. The smell burned Mel’s nostrils and instantly,
her lungs seized up.

“Gas…it’s
some sort of gas!” she cried. Her eyelids closed against her will and her lungs
hitched in agony. Gasping, she screamed, “Run, run, run!”

She
spun in place, trying through swollen, weeping eyes to see an exit, when an
unseen hand grabbed her arm.
Onio…thank God
, she thought, and followed
the guiding hand in blind submission. They walked quickly, and after perhaps a
quarter of an hour, they came to a spot where the air smelled clear. Her eyes
were still swollen shut, but Mel sucked deep draughts of air into her lungs,
overjoyed that she and her friends had survived another threat.

She
used soul song to speak into the silence. “Onio, are you all right? Where’s
Wolf…and the others?” Total silence met her question and Mel’s heart skipped a
beat. Sensing a new and more personal threat she demanded, “Who are you? What
do you want?”

Laughter
filled her mind…an evil snicker that chilled her to the bone. “So, the small
human knows the sasquatches dearest secret.” Thunderbolt’s growl filled her
brain like a foul, malevolent stench. “This fact alone will ensure the greatest
possible reward for my troubles,” he continued. “First though, I think I might
have a little fun.” The son of Two Horses placed his hand over Mel’s mouth and
stifled her screams while he ripped the queen’s clothes from her body.

Chapter 16

Mel
screamed as loud as she could but her cries sounded like a lamb’s gurgled
bleat. She fought the huge, grasping hands and pinching fingers of her enemy
with all her might but to no avail. She felt, more than heard, the material of
her shirt tear and the skin of her breasts shrank with cold and fear. She
howled helplessly as Thunderbolt’s mouth and teeth found her brassiere and tore
at it with savage glee.

His
large, hairy hand fumbled at the waist of her leather pants with ruthless
efficiency and Mel shrieked in fear. She was not a virgin; her one experience
with sex was with a young, deaf boy she had met in a summer course designed
specifically for the hearing-impaired. It was a clumsy coupling, and barely
consummated, but it was tender and sprinkled with real passion.

Mel
didn’t have much experience, but she knew that sex with this hateful beast
would tear her asunder. Tears leaked from her eyes and she cried, “Onio! Help
me, please!”

As
if by magic, her prayers were answered. She gasped as a mighty jolt rattled her
prone body, and then she was dragged backwards as Onio and Thunderbolt rolled
in a tangle of limbs to the far corner of the darkened cavern. They fought
savagely, biting and tearing at one another with abandon. Onio battled
valiantly, but Thunderbolt was far heavier and taller than the mixed breed sasq.
Within seconds, the enemy held the upper hand. Sitting astride Onio’s chest,
Thunderbolt placed his hands around her friend’s throat and squeezed. Mel wailed
in terror.

A
spear entered Thunderbolts body, piercing him from front to back. The sasquatch
looked at the spear that pierced his chest and gazed up at the human woman who
had killed him. He put his hands on the spear as if to pull it out, but fell
over backwards instead. Staring up at nothing, he choked as arterial blood
filled his mouth, then he gasped and died.

Wolf
and Mel sprang to Onio’s side but he was already climbing to his feet. The
pattern marks of Thunderbolt’s fingers traced both sides of the younger male’s
neck, but his eyes searched Mel’s in concern. He tried to speak but apparently
there was already some swelling within the damaged flesh. He shook his head and
used soul song to ask, “Mel, are you injured… did the traitor damage you?”

Normally,
Mel was rather shy and undemonstrative with physical affection, but she was so
grateful and relieved by Onio’s heroic deed, she reached up and caressed his
cheek. “I’m fine, Onio. Thank you…thank you so much!” Tears fell as she
realized just how close she had come to being raped.

Onio
smiled and took her hand. Wolf placed his hand on the younger sasq’s shoulder
and nodded in satisfaction. Then they turned to face the queen, whose spear had
ended the life of one of her own…her stepson, by human standards. Tanah stood
by the cave’s opening. Although she was shaking, tears running unheeded down
both cheeks, she stood tall.

“So,
this is our traitor,” she murmured, and the sasq warriors that surrounded her
growled, rattling their clubs and spears in rage. Tanah nodded and spoke to Mel
directly. “I thank you for your warning, girl. My people have no experience
with some of the magic used by the small human soldiers…I think many of us
would be dead now, if not for your clear message.” Turning to Black Pony and
another trusted guard named Falling Waters, she spat, “Take Thunderbolt’s body
to the closest way-station. He does not deserve the holy water’s kiss!”

Black
Pony’s bandage was smaller now. It looked as if the sasq warrior would keep his
damaged eye, although it looked hideous with wet moss peeking over and under
the cleaning cloth used as an eye patch. His good eye studied the dead sasq warrior
with loathing, even as he nodded in obedience and removed Tanah’s spear from
Thunderbolt’s chest.

Falling
Waters, an enormous older guard with white fur and a kind face, picked the dead
sasq’s feet up, and the two warriors unceremoniously lugged Tanah’s stepson out
of the cave. Mel tied the laces of her blouse closed and moved to stand in
front of the grief-stricken queen. “Your majesty, thank you for saving me,” she
stammered.

Tanah
frowned and shook her head. “I am no majesty,” she whispered. “I am the wife of
Two Horses, king of the northern territories; the sasq who will be grievously
hurt when he finds out what I have done to his first-born son.”

Mel’s
heart ached with sorrow. Tanah was risking everything, even the king’s wrath,
to find her son. It hurt Mel to know that the queen’s own son by marriage had betrayed
them, and even tried to kill Mel herself in his greed and jealousy.

Mel
said, “Ma’am…Thunderbolt said something before he attacked me that I think you
need to hear.” Tanah stared at her, along with many of the guards that
surrounded them. Onio and Wolf turned to listen as well. Mel gulped, hoping
that she remembered the words correctly. She cleared her throat, although she
used soul song to speak, “He said that there would be a reward given for me,
especially when they found out that I know the soul song.”

The
sasq warrior’s roars of fury washed over her, flooding her mind with feelings
of fear, wrath, and betrayal. Tanah stared at her in alarm and then she turned
to Black Pony, who had re-entered the cavern. “We must go down, Pony,” she
said.

The
large, black haired guard’s eye widened with fear but he nodded his head. “Yes,
Tanah, we will make ready,” he murmured.

 Mel
stared at the sasq warriors; they seemed visibly shaken. Although none of them
seemed ready to defy their queen’s direct order, Mel could tell that what Tanah
asked of them took every ounce of courage they possessed.

Mel
turned and looked Onio in the eye. He too, looked nervous. He stared at her and
shook his head. “Come and walk with me for a moment, Mel,” he said, while Wolf
opened their bags and removed furs from within.

“Don’t
go far, First Son, and return soon,” he muttered as they passed.

Taking
up a torch, Onio nodded respectfully and replied, “We will only be outside in
the tunnel, Wolf.”

Mel
and Onio walked away from the general flurry of activity and stood about
fifteen feet away from the cave’s entrance. Onio untied the furs from around
his waist, handing one to Mel. “Put it on, Mel, and tie the laces tightly. It
will be very cold where we are going,” he murmured, donning one of his own
furs, an expression of worry etching lines into his brow.

“Onio,
where are we going?” Mel whispered. The sasquatches fear was contagious; her heart
hammered and her palms were greasy with sweat. She thought she could smell the
gas that had entered the cave of the moon pools but didn’t think it was
possible from so far away. She stared up into the mossy brown of Onio’s eyes.

“We
go into the under-warrens…a place of mystery. These tunnels are the approved
path for all landside creatures. The ways below are, well…not for creatures
that live in the sun. We must be very careful…cautious. Wolf has been below
before and says that he almost didn’t make it back alive.” Onio ran a shaking
hand over his face.

“Why
do we have to do this, Onio?” Mel asked in confusion. “Can’t we just go back
the way we came?” She did not want to go below. The fact that these huge
creatures, the mighty sasq, were frightened of what lay below their feet scared
her to death.

But
Onio shook his head. “It is fairly certain that Thunderbolts treachery has
revealed our path…coming and going. The way we are going will take us far away
from the small human soldiers and their war magic. It will also delay our
arrival to the conclave of kings. We will leave a sign though, so that their
scouts will know where we have gone, and why.”

The
sasq warriors formed into a line again. This time, it looked as if the women
would be walking instead of riding. Tanah addressed them. “I don’t need to tell
you that the underworld is a dangerous place. Be on guard at all times.
Hopefully, we can traverse the pathway quickly and arrive at the king’s gate in
one day’s time. We will not stop unless it is absolutely necessary. Move out!”

They
walked for about a half hour back the same way they had come. Mel saw the
forward scouts stop at a large slab of rock that reminded her of the door to
the way station. Sure enough, one of the warriors touched the rock’s surface
and pulled it aside. There was a momentary pause as the sasq warriors gathered
their nerve and then, one by one, they stepped into the darkened doorway.

Onio
stared straight ahead but grabbed her hand in his. Mel saw that he was
frightened and trying hard to maintain his composure, and Mel decided to be a
help, rather than a hindrance. Smiling bravely, she followed him into the maw
of darkness. Wolf was behind her and she heard him say, “There is a staircase
here, child. Hold on to First Son’s hand. If you feel yourself start to
stumble, lean back into me…I will catch you.”

The
steps that were carved into the stone floors were crooked and uneven. Some were
slick with moss and others were so dry they seemed to crumble into sand with
every step she took. Her smile fled as the light of the torches dwindled in the
thick, moldy-smelling air. What little light remained seemed to inflate and
distort their shadows into hideous shapes. At one point, Mel almost screamed
when one of the sasq’s silhouettes seemed to grow long antennae and pointed
fangs.

Finally,
they reached the bottom. Mel’s relief was short-lived, however. There was an
underground river directly in front of them. Its black water glittered in the torchlight
and Mel saw the bodies of dead animals strewn here and there on the shoreline,
like driftwood. The carcasses were bloated and their stink filled the air with a
nauseating odor.

Mel
could hear the alarm in the sasq warrior’s thoughts as they stared about in
bewilderment. Wolf growled, “There is something evil afoot here.”