The Slavers - Part 9

It was odd.

When your life flashes before your eyes, some people end up having very strange thoughts.

Did I leave the stove on?

What's going to happen to my fish?

Crap, I hope no one finds what I've hidden under my bed.

Among other things.

For Octavia however, only one thought came to mind as she saw the man barrelling towards her.

"How can he still smell so bad."

It wasn't what you could call the best thought to be having at this time. But it was the only one that came to mind as he charged at her. The smell was so pungent that if she hadn't spotted him, she was sure she would have sniffed him out right after he started charging.

But, yeah. Not the best of thoughts to be having at this moment.

It was good then that it also wasn't a life-ending event. And that her final thought wasn't about how bad a man smells.

While he was charging at her, the only weapon he had in his hand was that of a stick with something on the end of it.

She didn't know why, but she instinctively knew she had to keep that stick away from her. Sure it could hurt her being used as a weapon, causing cuts and scrapes on her skin, and possibly poking out her eye. But there was something deep inside her that told her that it was so much more horrifying than just a simple weapon.

As he got closer, Octavia did the only thing she could do from her sitting position. She hardly had the time to move, and even then with the creaking and pain slowing her down, she wouldn't get very far. So, pushing against everything she was feeling, she made one large movement with her tail, flinging it outwards at the man.

Shooting pains flashed up her body when she did that, telling her she needed to just not do anything for the foreseeable future. And while she was sure to regret that action later, she was filled with relief as she saw she had timed it well and had managed to make a connection with the man.

And by that, connecting her tail with his legs.

The sound of bones breaking was the first thing that could be heard, followed by the man crying out in pain. He fell to the floor, dropping his stick in the process, and took hold of his leg as he rocked back and forth, crying out.

Sylvia had quickly made her way back, and upon seeing the man, dashed over to cover his mouth. He had managed to cry out for a few moments, but they hoped it wouldn't have been enough to wake the rest of the slavers.

Beckoning Sylvia to bring him over, she slowly started to drag the man as he continued to cry out, muffled as it was, into Sylvia's hand. Once he was close enough, Octavia only needed to lean a small amount towards him, in order to take another bite.

And then, after a few more moments, the crying stopped.

…

"Where did he come from?" Sylvia asked as she slumped back against the wall of the house.

"Privy." Octavia managed to eek out, as she too was laying on the floor in a crumbled mess.

Between them, the man that tried a last-ditch effort to attack her…with a poo stick no less, something she discovered after seeing it land very close to herself, was now on the floor completely paralysed.

The only question now was, what to do with him.

They couldn't very well leave him here. He was sure to wake up after her venom wore off and he would very quickly wake his fellow slavers in the house.

The two that they had killed weren't telling anyone, and they had to hope it would be a while before they were discovered. Long enough to get things rolling to deal with these men.

Another option was to obviously just kill this man, and leave him with the others. But honestly, for Octavia, if she didn't have to kill someone, she didn't really want to do it. He was now completely unarmed, and it would feel more like an execution rather than a desperate struggle to survive. So, really that option was out the window.

Lock him up somewhere. Possible but again where. Neither of them were in any shape to be moving him around somewhere. And also, they couldn't leave him in the compound, as she was sure to be discovered and once he woke up, would be trying to free himself.

Besides neither of them had the strength or energy to take the man down into the cellar and leave him there as a paralysed or a dead man.

No, the only real option was to bring him with them, and keep him somewhere while they wait for Lord Desmon to do his thing.

And if anything, that might end up being a boon as it gave them a slaver to question.

Not that she really wanted to be walking by this smelly man, but sometimes you have to take the cards you are dealt.

But, as Octavia went to do just that, she found that she couldn't actually move.

It would seem that the over exertion of her attacking the man with her tail was the final straw that broke the camel's back. Whether it was a problem with her tail or her body, she didn't know. But right now, she could not move.

"Sylvia, we might need some help here."

Explaining the situation, and realising what a pickle they were in, they decided that the best thing they could do was use the help that was available to them. In this instance, the people they had freed.

Sylvia, struggling as she did, crept through the house, and out into the village. A few moments later, she returned alongside a few of the stronger members of the group they had rescued. With her was an elf and one of the dog-kin, both of whom were tall and rather muscular, even with having been in captivity.

All that was left, was to be lifted under the arms and carried out the house, while the other dragged the slaver through as well. From his expression, it was easy to tell he would rather kill and leave the man, but having been rescued by Octavia and Sylvia, he continued to follow what they were saying.

Once outside, they headed over to where the rest of the now-freed prisoners were. It wasn't a secure location, but it was secluded. They had found a small area behind a house that had no windows at its rear. There were small walls nearby that would also keep them hidden, so for the time being it would do.

…

It was still very much dark, and the night still had a several hours left of it. It was clear to see that they all just wanted to leave, to get as far away from this place as possible and reunite with their family and friends. Octavia understood that, but in terms of just leaving this village, doing so now would not be a good option.

They needed to wait until it was daytime to do so.

Guards were posted at the gates all day, checking permits and obviously keeping guard. At this time, hardly anyone was entering or exiting the village. If this dozen or so group of people strolled up to the gate, the guards were bound to be suspicious.

And depending on whether others in this village knew about slavery, that suspicion could lead to recapture or death.

They needed to wait till day, and then just stroll out of the village in small numbers. It would be easier to hide in amongst the crowd that would form as people tried to enter and exit the village at that time. From watching the people when they first entered, Octavia was sure she only saw the guards checking permits on the way into the village, which would again help their situation.

This meant they needed to stay put for the night, keeping quiet and out of sight of any of the guards patrolling.

Well, the freed slaves did. For the ones that had rescued them, they needed to get the ball rolling on capturing the slavers. And that meant getting the information to Lord Desmon.

…

Octavia was still in no shape to be doing anything. She would really need to get a potion from the apothecary in the morning to help sort herself out. For now, she just had to stay where she was and rest up.

Sylvia on the other hand, wasn't as badly hurt and so could move around with ease. This meant that the job of getting a message to Lord Desmon was down to her. And in order for her to do that, she would need to send a letter via the mail service in this world.

It was open at all hours of the day according to Sylvia, and letters could be sent to anywhere in the kingdoms depending on how much you paid of course. This was also true based on how fast it reached them.

For a small fee, the letter would reach the person in a reasonable amount of time, the rider taking the letter travelling during the day and at a normal pace. But, paying the highest fee, meant it would reach them so much faster.

Riders would travel at any time of the day or night, at the top speed the horse could travel. They would also switch riders and horses at any other mailing services, should the need arise. Like this, a letter that would take days to reach another person via the normal time frame would only take several hours.

And thankfully for them, the town of Caldaria was only a day or two slow-paced ride from them. This meant that by morning, Lord Desmon should receive the letter and information.

And so, with that plan in mind, Sylvia headed off, taking a couple of the people they had rescued as added protection, as who knew who was lurking in the streets of this village.