The Slavers - Part 10

The night was dragging.

It had been a short while since Sylvia had left her side, but to Octavia with the pain that was shooting through her body, as well as being unable to move, it felt like forever.

She was thankfully accompanied by all the of the people they had saved. They still hadn't fully come to terms with all that had happened, and for the time being many were in silent contemplation.

A few were talking with the others, but these were mainly the ones who had their family with them. They were checking if they were alright, deciding where they would go once out of the village and asking whether they thought the slavers would find them.

The last was a grim topic, one a poignant one. It wasn't as if you could keep the escape of a dozen or so slaves a secret. And when they did find out, the slaver's numbers were many which meant searching the village would be easy. It also didn't help that with the ones that had been free, their most defining feature was that they were beast-kin. The horns and animal ears would make them stick out like a sore thumb.

Some of it could be hidden of course, but for a few, that was just not possible.

More and more minutes went by as she waited for Sylvia.

It was easy to see that among the beast-kin, they were divided into two groups. Several were just relieved and calm, knowing that the plan to leave during the day was the best way forward. The others were getting antsy. They didn't want to be here any longer. They wanted out of this village, so they could return to their own to find their family or friends, or whatever else they had there.

A few of the beast-kin did approach Octavia. At first, it was to thank her. They took hold of her hand, sending pain up her arm, which was followed by a hearty handshake, making her feel like it might fall off. After almost yelping a few times from the ordeal, they got the message.

It was easy to see that some of them wanted to help. They tried to approach her, but when they thought about it, they truly had nothing that could help her. So, all they could do was sit down in silence and wait for the night to end.

Then there were the few that, in spite of her and Sylvia rescuing them, felt that they didn't need to follow what they had said. They had made up their minds about how they were going to leave. They didn't want to wait until morning, thinking that with more people around, there was more chance they would be caught. Also, by then the slavers would be up, and would surely find them gone and two of their members dead. That would obviously cause all manner of problems when it came time to leave.

This was all true. There were risks for both, and so Octavia spoke honestly about it, enforcing the point that leaving in the morning was the best way to go about it. Some of the others jumped in to either stop the argument or to add to one of the sides. It was only when they heard the mumbling and groaning of a man nearby causing everyone to stop talking.

Octavia managed to flick her eyes across to the direction of the noise and found the slaver that they had captured starting to wake up. The problem however was that with all the stress of the situation and the need to escape, none of them had realised they would need to gag him, should he waken.

Something everyone was now realising.

"Quickly, cover his mouth."

The man was barely conscious again when one of the beast-kin nearby, reached over and held his hand over his mouth. The man started to panic, kicking and shouting into the hand that covered his mouth, releasing muffled noises as he did.

All it would take was one slip up and he would be free to shout at the top of his lungs.

They needed to get him to sleep quickly.

"Bring him here."

The man covering his mouth was joined by several others who all held a part of his body down, ensuring he couldn't break free, or move the hand that was over his mouth. Then they slowly dragged him along the dirt ground to Octavia's direction.

"I need…I need to bite him."

Many of them looked at her in confusion. Some did so in shock and others a little bit of revulsion. She didn't have time to go into a whole explanation about her venom, so after some beckoning, the ones holding the man just went for it. They had been trusting her so far and things had turned out well, so they saw no reason to doubt now.

With a good strong lift, they managed to get the slaver up to Octavia, where they then manoeuvred the man's arm into her mouth. It was a very odd display, and many of the freed slaves looked away as she bit down on him.

She would have to explain after he was asleep to ease some of their minds.

The problem, however, was that that was taking a little longer than it had done before.

Normally, after a bite, it would take several seconds for the venom to work its way through the system. When it was in the arm, which in terms of proximity, was not far from the mouth, it would stop them from speaking rather quickly. Now, however, it took almost twice as long for him to stop his muffled cries and struggling.

"I have bit him three times so far. It must lose effectiveness if you bite the same person too many times", Octavia realised.

It made sense. The way the person was able to regain their movement and voice was because their body had fought off the venom that was in them. Every time they did, it must then be a little easier for the body to do so the next time.

That meant it was also possible that there was a time in which her venom would just do nothing if they had received her bite too many times.

It would be good to find the limits of it. But that would come later. For now, not knowing how long it would be before he woke up, they needed another solution.

"Go find some rope or fabric or something. We need to tie him up and gag him."

Several of the group just nodded and took off into the village. They knew to be careful, and being beast-kin, they had better senses than that of human, so finding their way around without being spotted should be simple. Hopefully, they could find something that could be used, and fast.

It was at that point however that she heard another noise. No, the man had not woken up. What she did hear was hurried footsteps. Three sets of them.

The beast-kin had been light on their feet when they left, so she was sure it was not them returning. These were the steps of some people in the village. The only question was, were they a part of the slaver group or not?

The beast-kin all crouched down even lower, fearful that the ones making the footsteps were looking for them.

Octavia could not move to see over the short wall nearby, but a few of the group were against it, peering over to see what was going on.

The footsteps got louder, almost as if they were right on top of them. This may have been the case, as the ones looking over the wall ducked down to make sure they were not spotted.

But just as soon as they reached a crescendo, they then dropped in volume as they moved away from them.

Sighs of relief spread through all of them, glad that they had not been found.

They were even more glad when they heard the light footsteps of the beast-kin that had headed off for something to gag the man.

As they entered their area, what followed behind them was a sight that truly made Octavia joyous.

The sight of Sylvia returning.

…

"Well, it's done. I have sent letters to Lord Desmon, so all we can do is wait for him to receive it, and hopefully, he will send men to deal with the problem."

"That's good. Wait…letters. More than one?"

"Of course. You never send just one letter when it is of such importance. You always make sure to send three letters, using the mailing services' top three riders. Then you always make sure to give the most important information, the crystal in this case, to the second best. Second, always tries harder."

"Err, Okay."

"That's why it took so long. Writing out three letters is a chore."

After that, Sylvia laid her head on Octavia's shoulder, closing her eyes as she did. It had been a truly long day, given the stakeout, the fight and the rescuing of everyone. She was well and truly wiped. Well, both were to be fair.

The only problem was just falling asleep among these people. They didn't know them. Sure they saved them, but they could be anyone.

But, while she questioned it in her mind, it would seem her body had other plans, causing her own eyes to close along with Sylvia's, falling into a deep slumber even as pain still assaulted her body.