The Angkhora Warriors

Part 20: The Black Werewolf

Several tunnels inward, they reached a cliff that overlooked the Mongoose Village. Huts were stacked upon huts and all were butted against one of the rocky walls. Two walkways had been constructed up above the village, with a bridge that connected the two and a stairway from one. Several guards patrolled the walkways. Uma told Oja and Arjana to wait and let her do some reconnaissance. She ran on the valley walls and leaped ledge to ledge like a shadow.

The village appeared like most others with men, women, and children. Various types of workers occupied the area, from blacksmiths to woodworkers, but most of them looked like bandits with fur coats and their spoils. Some people gathered at the center of the village. A large bonfire with music from flutes and drums gave the hall away. Uma climbed to a point where she could see what was happening. Her stomach churned when she saw children dancing around the fire. They were doing a ceremonial dance of the Snake Clan. They were Snake Children.

Damn it. It's Lili. The young adept.

She was dancing bare breasted with a snake coiled around her neck. Her eyes were teary and filled with terror. Uma moved closer and saw the shackles on the children's feet. She recognized several of them, many had grown up in Snake Village. They looked sad, wretched, and gaunt with hunger.

A servant carrying a large vase caught her attention. The servant set it down next to a man with a wolf-head sitting on a metal throne. Arakk. His servant reached a gloved hand into the vase and pulled out a writhing snake. With quick motion, the servant slit the snake down its belly and squeezed its blood into a cup. Arakk took a long gulp from the cup, snake blood dribbling down his chin, neck, and chest. Saburo sat beside Arakk, drinking wine with his newfound master, enjoying the disgusting debauchery.

Saburo!!

Traitor. How could you betray your own Clan?

Saburo waited for Arakk to finish his drink, then offered him a congratulatory toast. Arakk lifted his cup high into the air, wiped his mouth, looked at Saburo with prideful eyes, and smiled. He then lifted his head high and made a loud echoing wolf-howl, claiming dominion over the Snake Children.

"Dance! Dance!" Arakk screamed at the children.

Uma's blood boiled. She had never seen the Snake Clan being treated like minions. She considered jumping out to strike everyone down. No, not now. She held herself back. She bit her lower lip and slowly snuck out of the village. When she reached the others, her words tumbled out, trembling with rage.

"They took the children, Oja. The children."

"He took the children to be slaves?" Oja asked.

"They were in chains, Oja," Uma said. "In chains," she repeated.

A tear flowed down Uma's cheek. Her body trembled like a volcano waiting to erupt.

"The poor children looked awful. When they can't go on anymore, they must have thrown them into that cave with the mongoose-bears," Uma said with an angry voice.

"We need to get the children out of there," Uma said, "Then, we slaughter the entire Mongoose Clan."

"How many bandits are there?" Arjana asked.

Uma didn't answer. She didn't care how many bandits there were.

"We need to end this senseless violence," Oja agreed. "We should kill Arakk. Remove the head, the body will be lost. We're outnumbered," she added. "We won't be able to fight everyone. We should just aim for the chief."

"Alright," Uma said. "We get the captured Snake children out of there, then I'll gut the fiend like what he did to the snake he's feasted on."

"There's no way that we can sneak them out at the same time, someone would notice if we marched them out as a group," Arjana said. "We'll have to take only one or two out at a time."