Sasqua'ia
Chapter 05
Charles W Bird
[email protected]
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The story is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced by any means without the express, written permission of the author.
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From Chapter 4; The child told Forc’r that his name was Blu Rob’n and he had no Mama or Papa. Forc’r thought about the little boy, day and night, he couldn’t get the child out of his mind. He knew that his own sire had adopted his Brother, Jam’il and he wondered if he could do the same. He went to his sire, Kon’r and asked his advice. Kon’r took him directly to council and when they returned, Forc’r had permission to ask Blu Rob’n if he wanted a Wolf Papa. The little boy just sighed and snuggled up closer to his huge protector. So it was that a huge wolf became the proud Papa of a small six year old H’pee boy. Tim’br looked on the proceedings and planned his own adventure with a H’pee child, within days Tim’br had adopted Be’r, a five year old boy, who also had no parents. While Tim’br was somewhat younger than Forc’r, they became close friends and Jam’il built them both a house next to his own. Some of the local children called the new house, The Kennel, but never in the hearing of either Tim’br or Forc’r. They knew better than to antagonize a nine hundred pound wolf, whose teeth resembled the rock spires on The Guardian! Things quieted down for the Sasqua community, but it was not to last. The strange leavings from the bombs dropped during the Human’s Great War created different beings, descended from both the humans and the animals that lived where the bombs had been dropped. Most of these altered beings had died out, but the most hardy of them survived and harbored a hatred of all other beings different from themselves. There were troubled times coming, soon.
THE MUTANTS
The first sign that trouble was on its way took place one calm morning in the middle of the warm time. The Wolf/Human pair on duty at the pass on Guardian Mountain sent a panicked mind call that awful beasts had attacked them, then there was silence.
Neither Tim’i nor Stel’th could be contacted. It was as if they had disappeared.
Kon’r ordered a relief party to be sent right away, Forc’r and Jam’is were appointed leaders and a group of four wolves and ten humans and new humans went racing up the mountain.
When they got to the Squad Station, all they found was blood on the ground and footprints of strange beasts that none could identify, leading down the trail towards the outside lands.
They followed the strange trail all the way down the mountain and out into the meadowlands that separated the mountain from the outside forest. They decided to camp there for the night, as it was beginning to get dark, and they would take up the trail again the morning.
All during the night, they heard strange animal sounds of no beast any knew of, and worse, they were all receiving jumbled, incoherent thought of hatred and anger, pure animal rage. The group spent a sleepless night and all were up at first light. They found the grass torn up at the edge of the forest and the same, unidentified footprints in the disturbed dirt. That the footprints could not be identified was frightening, but the size of the prints was even more troubling.
Jamil and Forc’r both felt they needed additional forces and they mind called back to Guardian Farm for additional warriors. While they waited for assistance, they fortified their camp by building a wall of thorn bearing brush and downed tree trunks. They posted guards at the only entrance and laid in a supply of water and firewood.
That evening, Kon’r arrived with a hundred warriors, wolves, humans and new humans. They were all veterans of the mountain squads and were battle tested.
That night, again they heard the awful rage of creatures massed at the edge of the forest, the thoughts of creature none of them could identify.
Kon’r had three archers tie fat soaked rags to some arrows and shoot the flaming arrows into the air to provide light to see what kind of beasts they were facing. More than one warrior had to hide his face, the creatures massed at the edge of the forest were like hideous gargoyles, they were like no other animal ever seen. Their misshapen faces and mutated bodies were more horrible than their worst nightmares, and there were hundreds of them, all looking towards the fort with red, burning eyes and fangs dripping with drool.
The archers began sending arrows into the massed bodies of the creatures, killing many and sending the rest back into the safety of the forest. The night was filled with sounds of the creatures in pain and snarls as they fought among themselves.
The next morning, the warriors left their fort to examine the bodies of those they had shot. They could only guess at what many of them had been before mutations had altered their genes, but some, they could not even guess at. They were all terrifying creatures and many of them showed wounds from having been in conflict before this time. None, however, looked like the terrible creature that had been killed at the outside base of the Guardian.
Kon’r held conference and it was decided that they needed to wipe out this group of mutants and they needed to upgrade the Squad Station up on the mountain. These monsters could not be allowed entry to their peaceful lands, it was plain that the creatures were animals with some intelligence and were cannibals. Their stink spoke of the death of many human children.
The next night, instead of hiding behind their barricades, they built fires to make it appear they were in the fort and the wolves entered the forest to hide. The humans and new humans hid some distance from the fort, leaving a few inside to make it appear occupied.
Again, the monsters gathered outside the fort, each night they had been coming closer to the walls and, this night, they were nearly touching the thorny barricades.
Just after the midpoint of the dark, the Warriors came swarming from their places of hiding with flaming torches and their spears to put an end to these horrors. The rest of the night was spent in slaughter, creatures never seen outside of nightmares were revealed as the sun came up the next light time.
Hideous features and grotesque parodies of animals and humans were all jumbled together.
The Warriors tried to give a decent burial to those that appeared to have been, at least, partially human and the rest, they burned.
They rested the remainder of the day and the next night, unbothered by mutants attempting entry into their makeshift fort. Jam’s and Forc’r conferred with Kon’r and they decided to explore the forest and, perhaps, discover the source of the mutants.
As they rested that afternoon, a strange and evil foreboding came over them. Kon’r recognized the signature immediately, it was yet another of the evil ones, like he had vanquished earlier. The mental signature was the same! It was all he could do to keep the contents of his stomach from being expelled. He did not know that his kind and both the human kind and the Sasqua’ia had fled from the forebearers of the evil ones long ago. They were known then as the destroyers of worlds, the Ka’aa.
He sent to all those who had accompanied him, “The Great Evil is back with us!”
THE GREAT EVIL
Kon’r called for reinforcements, he knew now what they were up against and the coming battle would decide who was going to survive and he knew he could not do it alone.
The greatest of their Warriors answered the call; Ron’e, Don’e and Char’li of the Wolves sent that they were coming.
Rob’e, Ev’in, Rog’r and Cantu, all of the New Humans announced they were leaving with the Wolves and would be there the next morning.
Bil’ee, Mor’gn, Dav’id and Ted’ee sent they were also with the Wolves.
These were the greatest Warriors of Sasqua and Kon’r was thankful, for he was sure it would require them all to put down this threat. He had faced one of the Great Evil beings and had barely survived. He feared what a group of them would be capable of.
The relief party raced up the mountain trail that led over The Guardian and down the other side, they pushed themselves almost to the point of exhaustion to arrive the next morning.
They arrived at the gate to the small fort, those within had food and water waiting for them.
As the relief party recuperated from their fast journey, Kon’r and Jam’is related all they knew about the mutants they had already faced.
When Forc’r asked about the evil one, it was Jam’is who replied, “Yes, Brother, there are more of those terrible beings, I sense a nest of them up ahead.” As a young child, it had been Jam’is who had first encountered the evil one and had survived, but only just barely.
They met and planned for the remainder of the day, deciding to divide into squads to search out where the mutants were coming from. It was a grim group that bedded down for the night, all felt insecure and exposed, even behind the stout brush and thorn barrier of their fort.
They spent the night in restless tossing and turning, but there were no alarms and the next day dawned clear and cool, as if the weather were was working in their favor. They performed their morning duties and had a light morning meal before the squads went their separate ways.
They had no sure idea how big the forest was, nor how far it extended, but they knew if they were to ever have peace, the threat of the mutants and the evil ones had to resolved, once and for all.
They had broken into five squads, they all acknowledged the wolves were the best as Squad Leaders. Kon’r, Forc’r, Ron’e, Char’li and Don’e choose their Squads, there was no question than Jam’is would accompany his brother, Forc’r.
They fanned out in five differing directions, each in mental contact with the others.
Squad Forc’r was the first to make contact with a small settlement of mutants. They discovered a group of about twenty mutants huddled around a fire with several normal looking young humans, bound hands and feet, lying on the ground.
The squad burst from the trees and set upon the mutants, they could hear the frightened thoughts of the bound young humans, they were sure they were going to die and be eaten by these forest beasts.
The mutants didn’t have a chance, two, nearly one thousand pound wolves and three angry Humans and New Humans were more than they were prepared for.
None survived.
They untied the bound young humans, they were all young boys and they were terrified. Jami’s went over and sat with them, he sent, “We will not hurt you, will you come with us while we clear out the rest of these mutants?”
The oldest boy identified himself as Gor’n sent back. “Art thou of the folk from beyond the Great Mountain?” “Are these great wolves thy servants?”
Jam’is smiled and retuned, “Yes, we are from beyond the great mountain, we call it The Guardian. The Wolves are not servants, one is my Papa and another is my Brother. We are friends and family, equals with the Saqua’ia of our home.”
Gor’n’s eyes grew wide, “Art they not beasts?”
Jam’is put his arms around Kon’r and sent, “This is my Papa and this is my Brother!” He had both Wolves beside him and his arms were hung lovingly around their necks.
Forc’r laid out on the ground and wrapped his huge body around the boy. Gor’n lost all control, he hugged Forc’r and sobbed into his fur, while Forc’r nuzzled him and licked the boy’s tears from his face.
Kon’r and the others untied the rest of the boys. It took some time for them to understand they were safe. Jamis and the New Humans and Humans put together a meal from game that the two Wolves brought back.
The boys finally understood that they had been rescued. Gor’n told of how their village had been raided and all were killed, except for them and how some evil creature had been in charge.
He described the creature as short and squat, with a bulbous head and tentacles, rather than arms. It had stubby legs and other mutants carried it whenever it had to move. The creature had entered their minds and stripped them of all information they had about other villages and their locations before it allowed the mutants to carry them off.
The mutants had already eaten two boys and they knew they were next. He described how the first two had been cooked alive over the fire and then dismembered and devoured while their flesh was still quivering.
Jam’il had to hold the boy in his arms to keep him from collapsing and the two huge Wolves’ eyes were glowing red in anger. Gorn sent, “Please, let us stay with you, we will guide you to where our village had been, perhaps some of these fiends will still be there.”
The other boys nodded in agreement and stood on shaky legs, offering to lead the Warrior to the remains of their village.
Kon’r sent, “No, young Humans, we shall spend the night here and you shall rest and regain your strength. Tomorrow, we shall march to your village and right this terrible wrong!”
So it was that four very frightened young human boys spent the night with full stomachs, nestled in among two Huge Wolves and five Human/ New Human boys and were warm and safe for the first time since their ordeal had begun. They did not yet realize that they were safer than they had ever been before in their young lives.
The next morning, they met up with the squad led by Char’li and the combined force moved off at the directions of Gorn. After several hours of walking, they approached a clearing that smelled of burned wood and flesh.
They crouched down and peered from the underbrush, they saw several dozen mutants paying homage to a grotesque being, about three feet tall, standing on stubby legs and had snake-like appendages in place of arms. It was a gray-green color and its flesh was coated with mucous. It oozed evil.
Jam’is recognized it immediately, it was an Evil One, what some were naming, “Ka’aa”! The being looked up and the Squad felt their minds being examined, when it retracted, they felt dirty and fouled. They heard its mental scream, “You, You are the ones that killed my brother!”
The other mutants turned as one and rushed the two squads. It was a rough few minutes, mutant parts were flying through the air as the three huge wolves and eight Humans/New Humans tore into the massed mutants.
Soon, it was just the evil one and its carrier mutant. The carrier mutant scooped up its charge and attempted to escape.
The three angry Wolves surrounded them and began tearing parts from their bodies until all that remained was torn parts and gore sinking into the soil and the evil one was standing amidst its dead protectors radiating hate and mental attack.
The pain they all felt, including the wolves, was intense and barely endurable.
Jam’is had felt that pain before and, with great effort, he fought it off. He leaped at the evil being, slashing across its face with his hunting knife. The thing was momentarily stunned and Jam’is continued slashing at the creature, carving chunks from it body until it finally collapsed in a heap, dead.
The relief everyone felt was immediate, the evil pressure on their minds was suddenly released and they could again think rationally. Kon’r immediately sent to the other squads to concentrate on the evil one mutants, they were the leaders and he was sure that all the other mutants would collapse as soon as their leaders were cut down.
The other squads tried that and it was successful.
THE FINAL BATTLE
The squads worked their way through the forest and finally came out to the edge of a sandy wasteland. Off in the distance, they could see a low mesa with a ramshackle town built on its top. The miasma of evil radiated off that mesa like a foul waterfall, they all felt dirty just feeling it.
This had to be the home of the evil ones.
With the mental powers of the evil mutated beings, there was no way they could sneak up on the town, they could only hope to withstand their power long enough to get close and destroy them.
They made camp that night at the edge of the desert and made ready to eat their evening meal before it got dark. As they were readying for sleep, they made a discovery, the evil ones did not operate after dark! As soon as the sun went down, the evil pressure on their minds ceased.
Kon’r quickly called council and they decided to strike out for the mesa immediately, they felt they could reach it before morning came and they could destroy the evil ones before they awoke. They split the group into two groups, one led by Forc’r and the other by Kon’r. They planned to hit the mesa from two different sides at once.
The groups set off at a fast trot, knowing their only chance of success, even their survival, was to arrive before the evil ones became active in the daylight.
They kept their contacts at a minimum in the off chance they could be overheard by the other mutants on the mesa and they arrived at the base of the mountain just as the red streaks of dawn began to show in the night sky.
They had no time to lose, they had to strike immediately, otherwise they would be discovered. If that should happen, all would be lost!
As they clambered over the edge of the mesa, they saw hundreds of huts, but there was just one stone building situated in the very center of the huts. They figured that was where the evil ones were hiding. They raced across the shabby village, heedless of making any noise.
They were in a race against the time the evil ones would awaken and discover them. They knew they could not withstand the mental onslaught of more than one of the creatures at the same time.
As they came near the stone building, they smelled the awful smell of rotting meat and foulness, unclean bodies and disease. The only door to the building was closed and, apparently barred from the inside. The very essence of evil oozed from beneath the door of the stone building.
That only slowed down the group momentarily, the five wolves, none who were less than nine hundred pounds, crashed into the wooden door and splintered it. The shattered door flew aside from the impact, leaving the way clear for the wolves and Warrior Humans to enter the building.
The wolves raced inside, followed by the Humans and New Humans. The Wolves were slashing at a nest of the evil beings and the rest of them did the same with their hunting knives and spears. The attackers felt dirty and defiled even just in the proximity of the evil creatures.
The evil creatures were still groggy from the night and were unable to fend off the onslaught of angry wolves.
As it began to get light, they discovered a cage full of young humans, mostly boys. They all were downcast, believing they had just traded one awful master for another. The only creatures they saw were the Wolves, the Humans and New Humans were busy sticking spears into the bodies of the Evil Ones to insure they were all dead.
Jam’is pried the latch from the gate of the pen and urged the captives to come out, saying, “You are free, we will not hurt you. Come let us get away from this awful place.”
The younglings were fearful and hung back, even though they could see that Jam’is was much like them. They came out hesitantly, looking around as if they expected to be hit.
Whenever a Human or New Human moved in their direction, they cringed.
When they spotted the Wolves, they clung to each other and cried, “They are going to feed us to the beasts!”
Forc’r laid down directly in front of the former captives and rolled over onto his back as he sent, “Lay down here beside me and let me be your pillow.”
Gorn was looking on and he spoke to the youngsters, “Forc’r is our friend, here, let me show you.” He knelt down and put his head on Forc’r’s chest. He said, “I can hear his heart beating.”
The others lay down beside Gorn and the rest of the Wolves cuddled up to them, keeping them warm and safe with their own bodies. They rested there for the rest of the day and, just before dark, they left the mesa of death and made an encampment in the forest, where the soil was clean and the area did not carry the stink of mutants.
Somehow, the air seemed cleaner and they did not feel the unclean sense of dread that they all had experienced when the Evil Ones were still alive.
They rested for several days, letting the former captives regain their strength. The younglings they had rescued told them that all the villages in the forest had been destroyed by the evil ones and their minions and they were all that were left of the humans in the area.
Forc’r and Kon’r held council with all the Warriors and they decided that there was no value in remaining in the forest. It was now a dead and deserted land that even the wild animals shunned it and had left for more hospitable lands. It was agreed that they would return to their homes in Sasqua and they offered to take those they had freed with them.
They had rescued nearly one hundred children and young teens and, without exception, they all agreed to return with the Warriors. Many had already formed attachments with the Warriors and were calling them Papa.
If a Wolf could blush, surely Don’e would have been bright red, two young teen human females had decided he was going to be their Father.
Kon’r chuckled and told him he could not bathe the females with his eyes closed!
Don’e was suddenly afflicted with a coughing spell and had to run to the river for a drink of water!
It was worse when he returned, not only were all the Wolves howling in laughter, the other Warriors had to sit down, they were laughing until they were unable to stand.
They began their trek back to Sasqua, taking it in slow and easy stages as the rescued teens had not yet built up their strength from the deprivations suffered at the hands of the evil ones and mutants.
As they burst forth from the forest and headed for the trail that led up The Guardian, they were met by the Mothers of all the races of Sasqua; Humans, New Humans, Wolves and the Sasqu’ia themselves. No child was left alone, each of them had a Mother at their side, with a shoulder upon which to cry and arms ready to hug away the fears and the hurts they had suffered.
The next morning the crossed the Guardian and entered Sasqua, at Guardian Farm, the newcomers were met by tables loaded with food and refreshments. The younglings were, at first, afraid to partake in the foods set out for them, fearing they would somehow be required to pay for what they ate.
Young Human and New Human children took each newcomer and led them to the tables, urging them to eat. The Sasqua’ia children brought them cool drinks of the juices made from local berries and fruits.
Each newcomer was urged to eat and drink and were told there was no charge for food anywhere in all of Sasqua.
The newcomers ate until they could hold no more, never in their lives had there been such a variety and quantity of food put before them. There were strange foods they had never seen before, let alone, had eaten. After they had eaten their fill, they became sleepy and very soon, the warm grass was covered with sleeping newcomers, using Wolves is pillows.
The very young of the newcomers were snatched by the Mother Wolves and made their special charges.
It would be weeks before the newcomers actually felt the safety of Sasqua, at first they kept looking over their shoulders and jumping at every loud sound. Gradually, their fear melted away and they were seen playing the games that the children of Sasqua’ia played and more than one Papa Wolf was seen glaring fiercely at his fellows as he carried a dolly in his mouth as he trotted behind his newly adopted child.
By the end of the summer, one could not distinguish newcomer children from the other children and they were beginning to do well in school. Some of the older Newcomer Boys asked to become Warriors, they vowed never again would they let something like the evil ones gain a foothold in their lands nor would they allow their people to ever be enslaved again.
So it was that the last surviving Ka’aa died, they were the last of their kind in all the galaxy. The scourge of world destroyers were no more.
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The End
Hopefully, this is the last we shall see of the mutants, never again will they inflict their horrors upon the people of Sasqu’ia. There are whispers about a lost folk to the north, who might be the legendary H’pee and are desperately trying to escape the advancing walls of ice and cold, but that is a tale for another time.
[email protected]
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The story is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced by any means without the express, written permission of the author.
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From Chapter 4; The child told Forc’r that his name was Blu Rob’n and he had no Mama or Papa. Forc’r thought about the little boy, day and night, he couldn’t get the child out of his mind. He knew that his own sire had adopted his Brother, Jam’il and he wondered if he could do the same. He went to his sire, Kon’r and asked his advice. Kon’r took him directly to council and when they returned, Forc’r had permission to ask Blu Rob’n if he wanted a Wolf Papa. The little boy just sighed and snuggled up closer to his huge protector. So it was that a huge wolf became the proud Papa of a small six year old H’pee boy. Tim’br looked on the proceedings and planned his own adventure with a H’pee child, within days Tim’br had adopted Be’r, a five year old boy, who also had no parents. While Tim’br was somewhat younger than Forc’r, they became close friends and Jam’il built them both a house next to his own. Some of the local children called the new house, The Kennel, but never in the hearing of either Tim’br or Forc’r. They knew better than to antagonize a nine hundred pound wolf, whose teeth resembled the rock spires on The Guardian! Things quieted down for the Sasqua community, but it was not to last. The strange leavings from the bombs dropped during the Human’s Great War created different beings, descended from both the humans and the animals that lived where the bombs had been dropped. Most of these altered beings had died out, but the most hardy of them survived and harbored a hatred of all other beings different from themselves. There were troubled times coming, soon.
THE MUTANTS
The first sign that trouble was on its way took place one calm morning in the middle of the warm time. The Wolf/Human pair on duty at the pass on Guardian Mountain sent a panicked mind call that awful beasts had attacked them, then there was silence.
Neither Tim’i nor Stel’th could be contacted. It was as if they had disappeared.
Kon’r ordered a relief party to be sent right away, Forc’r and Jam’is were appointed leaders and a group of four wolves and ten humans and new humans went racing up the mountain.
When they got to the Squad Station, all they found was blood on the ground and footprints of strange beasts that none could identify, leading down the trail towards the outside lands.
They followed the strange trail all the way down the mountain and out into the meadowlands that separated the mountain from the outside forest. They decided to camp there for the night, as it was beginning to get dark, and they would take up the trail again the morning.
All during the night, they heard strange animal sounds of no beast any knew of, and worse, they were all receiving jumbled, incoherent thought of hatred and anger, pure animal rage. The group spent a sleepless night and all were up at first light. They found the grass torn up at the edge of the forest and the same, unidentified footprints in the disturbed dirt. That the footprints could not be identified was frightening, but the size of the prints was even more troubling.
Jamil and Forc’r both felt they needed additional forces and they mind called back to Guardian Farm for additional warriors. While they waited for assistance, they fortified their camp by building a wall of thorn bearing brush and downed tree trunks. They posted guards at the only entrance and laid in a supply of water and firewood.
That evening, Kon’r arrived with a hundred warriors, wolves, humans and new humans. They were all veterans of the mountain squads and were battle tested.
That night, again they heard the awful rage of creatures massed at the edge of the forest, the thoughts of creature none of them could identify.
Kon’r had three archers tie fat soaked rags to some arrows and shoot the flaming arrows into the air to provide light to see what kind of beasts they were facing. More than one warrior had to hide his face, the creatures massed at the edge of the forest were like hideous gargoyles, they were like no other animal ever seen. Their misshapen faces and mutated bodies were more horrible than their worst nightmares, and there were hundreds of them, all looking towards the fort with red, burning eyes and fangs dripping with drool.
The archers began sending arrows into the massed bodies of the creatures, killing many and sending the rest back into the safety of the forest. The night was filled with sounds of the creatures in pain and snarls as they fought among themselves.
The next morning, the warriors left their fort to examine the bodies of those they had shot. They could only guess at what many of them had been before mutations had altered their genes, but some, they could not even guess at. They were all terrifying creatures and many of them showed wounds from having been in conflict before this time. None, however, looked like the terrible creature that had been killed at the outside base of the Guardian.
Kon’r held conference and it was decided that they needed to wipe out this group of mutants and they needed to upgrade the Squad Station up on the mountain. These monsters could not be allowed entry to their peaceful lands, it was plain that the creatures were animals with some intelligence and were cannibals. Their stink spoke of the death of many human children.
The next night, instead of hiding behind their barricades, they built fires to make it appear they were in the fort and the wolves entered the forest to hide. The humans and new humans hid some distance from the fort, leaving a few inside to make it appear occupied.
Again, the monsters gathered outside the fort, each night they had been coming closer to the walls and, this night, they were nearly touching the thorny barricades.
Just after the midpoint of the dark, the Warriors came swarming from their places of hiding with flaming torches and their spears to put an end to these horrors. The rest of the night was spent in slaughter, creatures never seen outside of nightmares were revealed as the sun came up the next light time.
Hideous features and grotesque parodies of animals and humans were all jumbled together.
The Warriors tried to give a decent burial to those that appeared to have been, at least, partially human and the rest, they burned.
They rested the remainder of the day and the next night, unbothered by mutants attempting entry into their makeshift fort. Jam’s and Forc’r conferred with Kon’r and they decided to explore the forest and, perhaps, discover the source of the mutants.
As they rested that afternoon, a strange and evil foreboding came over them. Kon’r recognized the signature immediately, it was yet another of the evil ones, like he had vanquished earlier. The mental signature was the same! It was all he could do to keep the contents of his stomach from being expelled. He did not know that his kind and both the human kind and the Sasqua’ia had fled from the forebearers of the evil ones long ago. They were known then as the destroyers of worlds, the Ka’aa.
He sent to all those who had accompanied him, “The Great Evil is back with us!”
THE GREAT EVIL
Kon’r called for reinforcements, he knew now what they were up against and the coming battle would decide who was going to survive and he knew he could not do it alone.
The greatest of their Warriors answered the call; Ron’e, Don’e and Char’li of the Wolves sent that they were coming.
Rob’e, Ev’in, Rog’r and Cantu, all of the New Humans announced they were leaving with the Wolves and would be there the next morning.
Bil’ee, Mor’gn, Dav’id and Ted’ee sent they were also with the Wolves.
These were the greatest Warriors of Sasqua and Kon’r was thankful, for he was sure it would require them all to put down this threat. He had faced one of the Great Evil beings and had barely survived. He feared what a group of them would be capable of.
The relief party raced up the mountain trail that led over The Guardian and down the other side, they pushed themselves almost to the point of exhaustion to arrive the next morning.
They arrived at the gate to the small fort, those within had food and water waiting for them.
As the relief party recuperated from their fast journey, Kon’r and Jam’is related all they knew about the mutants they had already faced.
When Forc’r asked about the evil one, it was Jam’is who replied, “Yes, Brother, there are more of those terrible beings, I sense a nest of them up ahead.” As a young child, it had been Jam’is who had first encountered the evil one and had survived, but only just barely.
They met and planned for the remainder of the day, deciding to divide into squads to search out where the mutants were coming from. It was a grim group that bedded down for the night, all felt insecure and exposed, even behind the stout brush and thorn barrier of their fort.
They spent the night in restless tossing and turning, but there were no alarms and the next day dawned clear and cool, as if the weather were was working in their favor. They performed their morning duties and had a light morning meal before the squads went their separate ways.
They had no sure idea how big the forest was, nor how far it extended, but they knew if they were to ever have peace, the threat of the mutants and the evil ones had to resolved, once and for all.
They had broken into five squads, they all acknowledged the wolves were the best as Squad Leaders. Kon’r, Forc’r, Ron’e, Char’li and Don’e choose their Squads, there was no question than Jam’is would accompany his brother, Forc’r.
They fanned out in five differing directions, each in mental contact with the others.
Squad Forc’r was the first to make contact with a small settlement of mutants. They discovered a group of about twenty mutants huddled around a fire with several normal looking young humans, bound hands and feet, lying on the ground.
The squad burst from the trees and set upon the mutants, they could hear the frightened thoughts of the bound young humans, they were sure they were going to die and be eaten by these forest beasts.
The mutants didn’t have a chance, two, nearly one thousand pound wolves and three angry Humans and New Humans were more than they were prepared for.
None survived.
They untied the bound young humans, they were all young boys and they were terrified. Jami’s went over and sat with them, he sent, “We will not hurt you, will you come with us while we clear out the rest of these mutants?”
The oldest boy identified himself as Gor’n sent back. “Art thou of the folk from beyond the Great Mountain?” “Are these great wolves thy servants?”
Jam’is smiled and retuned, “Yes, we are from beyond the great mountain, we call it The Guardian. The Wolves are not servants, one is my Papa and another is my Brother. We are friends and family, equals with the Saqua’ia of our home.”
Gor’n’s eyes grew wide, “Art they not beasts?”
Jam’is put his arms around Kon’r and sent, “This is my Papa and this is my Brother!” He had both Wolves beside him and his arms were hung lovingly around their necks.
Forc’r laid out on the ground and wrapped his huge body around the boy. Gor’n lost all control, he hugged Forc’r and sobbed into his fur, while Forc’r nuzzled him and licked the boy’s tears from his face.
Kon’r and the others untied the rest of the boys. It took some time for them to understand they were safe. Jamis and the New Humans and Humans put together a meal from game that the two Wolves brought back.
The boys finally understood that they had been rescued. Gor’n told of how their village had been raided and all were killed, except for them and how some evil creature had been in charge.
He described the creature as short and squat, with a bulbous head and tentacles, rather than arms. It had stubby legs and other mutants carried it whenever it had to move. The creature had entered their minds and stripped them of all information they had about other villages and their locations before it allowed the mutants to carry them off.
The mutants had already eaten two boys and they knew they were next. He described how the first two had been cooked alive over the fire and then dismembered and devoured while their flesh was still quivering.
Jam’il had to hold the boy in his arms to keep him from collapsing and the two huge Wolves’ eyes were glowing red in anger. Gorn sent, “Please, let us stay with you, we will guide you to where our village had been, perhaps some of these fiends will still be there.”
The other boys nodded in agreement and stood on shaky legs, offering to lead the Warrior to the remains of their village.
Kon’r sent, “No, young Humans, we shall spend the night here and you shall rest and regain your strength. Tomorrow, we shall march to your village and right this terrible wrong!”
So it was that four very frightened young human boys spent the night with full stomachs, nestled in among two Huge Wolves and five Human/ New Human boys and were warm and safe for the first time since their ordeal had begun. They did not yet realize that they were safer than they had ever been before in their young lives.
The next morning, they met up with the squad led by Char’li and the combined force moved off at the directions of Gorn. After several hours of walking, they approached a clearing that smelled of burned wood and flesh.
They crouched down and peered from the underbrush, they saw several dozen mutants paying homage to a grotesque being, about three feet tall, standing on stubby legs and had snake-like appendages in place of arms. It was a gray-green color and its flesh was coated with mucous. It oozed evil.
Jam’is recognized it immediately, it was an Evil One, what some were naming, “Ka’aa”! The being looked up and the Squad felt their minds being examined, when it retracted, they felt dirty and fouled. They heard its mental scream, “You, You are the ones that killed my brother!”
The other mutants turned as one and rushed the two squads. It was a rough few minutes, mutant parts were flying through the air as the three huge wolves and eight Humans/New Humans tore into the massed mutants.
Soon, it was just the evil one and its carrier mutant. The carrier mutant scooped up its charge and attempted to escape.
The three angry Wolves surrounded them and began tearing parts from their bodies until all that remained was torn parts and gore sinking into the soil and the evil one was standing amidst its dead protectors radiating hate and mental attack.
The pain they all felt, including the wolves, was intense and barely endurable.
Jam’is had felt that pain before and, with great effort, he fought it off. He leaped at the evil being, slashing across its face with his hunting knife. The thing was momentarily stunned and Jam’is continued slashing at the creature, carving chunks from it body until it finally collapsed in a heap, dead.
The relief everyone felt was immediate, the evil pressure on their minds was suddenly released and they could again think rationally. Kon’r immediately sent to the other squads to concentrate on the evil one mutants, they were the leaders and he was sure that all the other mutants would collapse as soon as their leaders were cut down.
The other squads tried that and it was successful.
THE FINAL BATTLE
The squads worked their way through the forest and finally came out to the edge of a sandy wasteland. Off in the distance, they could see a low mesa with a ramshackle town built on its top. The miasma of evil radiated off that mesa like a foul waterfall, they all felt dirty just feeling it.
This had to be the home of the evil ones.
With the mental powers of the evil mutated beings, there was no way they could sneak up on the town, they could only hope to withstand their power long enough to get close and destroy them.
They made camp that night at the edge of the desert and made ready to eat their evening meal before it got dark. As they were readying for sleep, they made a discovery, the evil ones did not operate after dark! As soon as the sun went down, the evil pressure on their minds ceased.
Kon’r quickly called council and they decided to strike out for the mesa immediately, they felt they could reach it before morning came and they could destroy the evil ones before they awoke. They split the group into two groups, one led by Forc’r and the other by Kon’r. They planned to hit the mesa from two different sides at once.
The groups set off at a fast trot, knowing their only chance of success, even their survival, was to arrive before the evil ones became active in the daylight.
They kept their contacts at a minimum in the off chance they could be overheard by the other mutants on the mesa and they arrived at the base of the mountain just as the red streaks of dawn began to show in the night sky.
They had no time to lose, they had to strike immediately, otherwise they would be discovered. If that should happen, all would be lost!
As they clambered over the edge of the mesa, they saw hundreds of huts, but there was just one stone building situated in the very center of the huts. They figured that was where the evil ones were hiding. They raced across the shabby village, heedless of making any noise.
They were in a race against the time the evil ones would awaken and discover them. They knew they could not withstand the mental onslaught of more than one of the creatures at the same time.
As they came near the stone building, they smelled the awful smell of rotting meat and foulness, unclean bodies and disease. The only door to the building was closed and, apparently barred from the inside. The very essence of evil oozed from beneath the door of the stone building.
That only slowed down the group momentarily, the five wolves, none who were less than nine hundred pounds, crashed into the wooden door and splintered it. The shattered door flew aside from the impact, leaving the way clear for the wolves and Warrior Humans to enter the building.
The wolves raced inside, followed by the Humans and New Humans. The Wolves were slashing at a nest of the evil beings and the rest of them did the same with their hunting knives and spears. The attackers felt dirty and defiled even just in the proximity of the evil creatures.
The evil creatures were still groggy from the night and were unable to fend off the onslaught of angry wolves.
As it began to get light, they discovered a cage full of young humans, mostly boys. They all were downcast, believing they had just traded one awful master for another. The only creatures they saw were the Wolves, the Humans and New Humans were busy sticking spears into the bodies of the Evil Ones to insure they were all dead.
Jam’is pried the latch from the gate of the pen and urged the captives to come out, saying, “You are free, we will not hurt you. Come let us get away from this awful place.”
The younglings were fearful and hung back, even though they could see that Jam’is was much like them. They came out hesitantly, looking around as if they expected to be hit.
Whenever a Human or New Human moved in their direction, they cringed.
When they spotted the Wolves, they clung to each other and cried, “They are going to feed us to the beasts!”
Forc’r laid down directly in front of the former captives and rolled over onto his back as he sent, “Lay down here beside me and let me be your pillow.”
Gorn was looking on and he spoke to the youngsters, “Forc’r is our friend, here, let me show you.” He knelt down and put his head on Forc’r’s chest. He said, “I can hear his heart beating.”
The others lay down beside Gorn and the rest of the Wolves cuddled up to them, keeping them warm and safe with their own bodies. They rested there for the rest of the day and, just before dark, they left the mesa of death and made an encampment in the forest, where the soil was clean and the area did not carry the stink of mutants.
Somehow, the air seemed cleaner and they did not feel the unclean sense of dread that they all had experienced when the Evil Ones were still alive.
They rested for several days, letting the former captives regain their strength. The younglings they had rescued told them that all the villages in the forest had been destroyed by the evil ones and their minions and they were all that were left of the humans in the area.
Forc’r and Kon’r held council with all the Warriors and they decided that there was no value in remaining in the forest. It was now a dead and deserted land that even the wild animals shunned it and had left for more hospitable lands. It was agreed that they would return to their homes in Sasqua and they offered to take those they had freed with them.
They had rescued nearly one hundred children and young teens and, without exception, they all agreed to return with the Warriors. Many had already formed attachments with the Warriors and were calling them Papa.
If a Wolf could blush, surely Don’e would have been bright red, two young teen human females had decided he was going to be their Father.
Kon’r chuckled and told him he could not bathe the females with his eyes closed!
Don’e was suddenly afflicted with a coughing spell and had to run to the river for a drink of water!
It was worse when he returned, not only were all the Wolves howling in laughter, the other Warriors had to sit down, they were laughing until they were unable to stand.
They began their trek back to Sasqua, taking it in slow and easy stages as the rescued teens had not yet built up their strength from the deprivations suffered at the hands of the evil ones and mutants.
As they burst forth from the forest and headed for the trail that led up The Guardian, they were met by the Mothers of all the races of Sasqua; Humans, New Humans, Wolves and the Sasqu’ia themselves. No child was left alone, each of them had a Mother at their side, with a shoulder upon which to cry and arms ready to hug away the fears and the hurts they had suffered.
The next morning the crossed the Guardian and entered Sasqua, at Guardian Farm, the newcomers were met by tables loaded with food and refreshments. The younglings were, at first, afraid to partake in the foods set out for them, fearing they would somehow be required to pay for what they ate.
Young Human and New Human children took each newcomer and led them to the tables, urging them to eat. The Sasqua’ia children brought them cool drinks of the juices made from local berries and fruits.
Each newcomer was urged to eat and drink and were told there was no charge for food anywhere in all of Sasqua.
The newcomers ate until they could hold no more, never in their lives had there been such a variety and quantity of food put before them. There were strange foods they had never seen before, let alone, had eaten. After they had eaten their fill, they became sleepy and very soon, the warm grass was covered with sleeping newcomers, using Wolves is pillows.
The very young of the newcomers were snatched by the Mother Wolves and made their special charges.
It would be weeks before the newcomers actually felt the safety of Sasqua, at first they kept looking over their shoulders and jumping at every loud sound. Gradually, their fear melted away and they were seen playing the games that the children of Sasqua’ia played and more than one Papa Wolf was seen glaring fiercely at his fellows as he carried a dolly in his mouth as he trotted behind his newly adopted child.
By the end of the summer, one could not distinguish newcomer children from the other children and they were beginning to do well in school. Some of the older Newcomer Boys asked to become Warriors, they vowed never again would they let something like the evil ones gain a foothold in their lands nor would they allow their people to ever be enslaved again.
So it was that the last surviving Ka’aa died, they were the last of their kind in all the galaxy. The scourge of world destroyers were no more.
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The End
Hopefully, this is the last we shall see of the mutants, never again will they inflict their horrors upon the people of Sasqu’ia. There are whispers about a lost folk to the north, who might be the legendary H’pee and are desperately trying to escape the advancing walls of ice and cold, but that is a tale for another time.