01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
charge with trumpets blaring. He dimly remembered that they were called the Cavalry. Steve
started to hear trumpets, or something rather like them - horns: hunting horns.
The knife wavered a few inches from target and was suddenly gone. The restraints on his
limbs disappeared abruptly. He was picked up bodily and flung in an untidy heap across
something hairy and decidedly smelly. He heard a voice say in his mind.
"Up to your old tricks, Jabez. My Lord the Thane will deal with you. Now, make way all of
you."
It was a crisp voice, young and affirmative.
There was a loud slap which cracked in Steve's ear and the beast heaved under him.
Various portions of its anatomy clouted his belly, as it settled into a rhythmic pace. They
passed through a confusion of noise, which dwindled away into the distance. Then there was
nothing to hear except the pounding of hooves on the soft ground. He could see nothing but
the dust rising and the genitals of the beast carrying him, he wasn't impressed. They
continued at what seemed a breakneck speed for about a quarter hour and then the pace
eased. He heard the same voice say:
"Throw something over it before we reach the house. Can't have its arse waving around
like a flag."
Something rough was thrown over him, it smelt of the animal to which he was clinging. He
wondered if it was the right time to start asserting himself and decided that it wasn't. They
continued the journey at a more leisurely pace. He wondered why he wasn't allowed to ride
astride the beast, whatever it was. He was being treated like the spoils of war, or a maiden
being carried off against her will. Thankfully, Jabez hadn't been able to tailor his anatomy to
fit that particular description but it had been a near thing.
The sound of hooves on the soft soil gave way to a clatter on stone. By screwing his eyes
around. He could see that they had entered a courtyard. It was paved with stone similar to that
used on the huts in the commune. They passed under an archway and turned off into a narrow
passage between two buildings. His hair brushed the wall a few times and then the cavalcade
stopped. The young voice ordered:
"Roll it in the blanket and get it inside before anyone sees us."
He was bundled up by unseen hands and nearly suffocated in the stinking folds of the
cloth. The hands that lifted him might have been heaving cargo. He was tipped at various
angles and got the impression that they were climbing steps. He was bent, fortunately in the
direction of where he hinged, which suggested the turning of corners. He was deposited
heavily on the floor.
"Its a heavy bastard,"
"Thank men. You can leave it to me now."
There were further murmurs and conversation and a hoot of laughter, as the majority of the
party left. Steve heard footsteps approaching, as he decided it was time to stand up and be
counted. He struggled to get out of the rolled up cloth and felt somebody helping. He
emerged from his cocoon and stared into the eyes of the strange rider.
"Greetings, great one! Phew! You stink like a Kharn!"
Steve extricated himself from the rest of the blanket. His host stepped back holding his
nose.
"Thank you for the rescue. I'm sorry you are offended by the smell and for the
inconvenience I seem to be causing. Now, if you would be so kind as to show me the way to
the door, I have unfinished business with Jabez and his crowd.
Hara would have been proud of his fluency.
"By Shaita, it talks! Who, in the name of all the gods, if you will pardon the expression,
great one, taught you that atrocious version of our melodic tongue?"
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