"Give!" The Deer Woman demanded, gesturing to the severed head, causing a confused looking Takoda to lower it and move it behind himself a bit as if to shield it from the irritated looking woman. Her friends were moving around us restlessly, slowly circling around us like a pack of wolves, and I noticed their attention was firmly fixed on the head. They did not look happy. Not happy at all.
"Aw, fuck me..." I muttered.
"GIVE!" The woman yelled before lunging at Takoda, who jerked back and transformed into his bear form in a burst of glowing mist. It was a smart choice on his part, even if it wasn't intentional on his part, not only was he now in a more defensible form but the head transformed with him.
"HEY!" I roared with a Sonorous enhanced voice while simultaneously channeling electricity over my form, causing fat bolts of lightning to arc through the air. The cumulative result was a lot of noise and flashing lights. I was gratified to see the deer women backing away wearily, shielding their eyes against the sharp flashing glare. I also noticed that those closest to me were clutching at their horns instead. Interesting... maybe those weren't horns, but some form of sensory organs.
"Easy," I said and moved to place myself between the leader and the bear. I doubted Takoda really needed my protection. But he didn't seem like much of a talker and I'd been kicked around enough for one day, thank you. I notice Takoda resume human form and tuck away the head before retracing his wand. Props to him though, as he didn't point it at anyone. "Easy there, why don't we calm down and talk about this. No need to start punching."
"No talking!" The leader yelled back. "Give head! Not yours!"
"I slew the beast, the head is mine by right of conquest!" Takoda boomed, making the leader flinch back, more in surprise at the loud noise than in fear, I think.
It also made them angrier.
Deciding to test a little theory I had about those horns of theirs I activated the static electricity ring and cranked it up to full power. I was rewarded with the lot of them suddenly looking at me very nervously while scratching at their horns. I breathed a silent sigh of relief, seems I was on the right track. Whoever said that a bit of theatrics was useless?
"Why don't we all just calm down and work through this slowly, no need for more punching and kicking," I suggested with a wince as I probed carefully where I'd been kicked. It didn't feel like anything was loose, but I bet I'd have an impressive bruise come tomorrow. "Why don't you tell us what that head is to you."
The leader didn't answer immediately, choosing instead to stalk restlessly back and forth while glaring at me in frustration, eventually though sshe appeared to decide that attacking us again wasn't a good idea. "Is EVIL!" She burst out. "Is hated!" She said before uttering a frustrated scream. Then she kinda just deflated, looking tired, but then she frowned, looking thoughtful. "Is dead."
I decided that this was a good time to dial down the static field. The gathered crowd immediately seemed to relax. They picked up the leader's last statement and started to chant it slowly.
"Is dead ----- Is dead ----- Is dead."
------ "Is dead ------ Is dead ------ Is dead."
It was a bit weird to hear, as it echoed around the cave, as they never raised their voices. They did look happy though. Which was good, happy meant they wouldn't try to kick my ribs in again. I probed at my injury again and made a note to find some anti-bruise cream at the next magical marketplace I could find. Takoda probably knew where. He might even have some. Probably not, he likely thought bruises and scars were a mark of a warrior or something meat-headed like that.
I saw a few of the other deer women break from the group and head for the brightly lit cave entrance, still chanting. The leader looked a bit put out by it but didn't make any attempt at calling them back, instead choosing to give me a searching look. "Killed it?"
I nodded.
"I killed it!" Takoda protested loudly.
"It would have eaten your face if I hadn't been there." I retorted easily.
"You don't know that."
"I have a feeling."
"Come!" The leader commanded, interrupting our argument before it had a chance to gain speed, she then started to walk towards the cave entrance that the others of her group had disappeared into moments before. The rest of the little band formed up around us.
They led us into a brightly lit cavern filled with vegetation. It was shaped like a wide crevasse, maybe twenty to thirty meters wide at the largest. By the looks of it, I'd guess it had been carved out by an old stream that had since dried out, it would explain the almost free-hanging rock formation that dominated the center of the room that the locals seemed to be using as a pathway to reach higher places along the walls. The walls themselves were dotted by numerous caves; some natural-looking while others looked man-made, as well as primitive structures made out of hewed stone. There was a small pool of water at the end of the cave where we entered that was fed from the lake in the next chamber.
There was more of the Deer Women emerging from some of the caves and watching us cautiously. Some of them had children of various ages with them, though most of them were quickly shooed back into the caves by their older kin at the sight of us. By a quick count I estimated there couldn't be more than maybe fifty of them in here, though I might be wrong. It depended on how big those caves were. But going by the caves nearest to the entrance I would bet it wasn't much more than that.
All of them were female.
The leader led us up several roughly hewn flights of stairs towards the central structure on the cave, which I noted was more richly decorated than any of the other places, which wasn't saying much. She stopped before a large door and stared at it for a few moments before she squared her shoulders and marched in. Me, Takoda and the rest of the little band streamed in after here. Beyond the doorway was a roughly circular room that was large bare outside of clumps of glowing moss that provided light. The only thing in the room was a large throne-like chair made of bones, skulls and hide that was positioned on a slightly raised dais at the end of the room, opposite the entrance. The skulls had little horns on them; some of them looked like they were from children. That's when I noticed the faded brown blots that stained the floor and the walls; they looked like blood long since dried and mostly faded away.
The leader walked up and behind the throne and then gave it a rough shove, causing it to topple off the dais crash to the ground. The rest of the group descended on it and started to pull it apart, reclaiming skull and bones. Other women from the village also entered, and after a cautious look at me and Takoda, they entered the fray around the rapidly disintegrating throne. I watched the women who had claimed a skull cradle them tenderly, some crying softly as they left the room.
The leader herself had claimed two skulls, one large, and one small, but unlike her kin she had not left, having instead taken a seat on the dais with her legs crossed and the skulls now resting in the hollow formed by her legs. She stroked her hands over them tenderly for a bit before looking up and seeing me staring back at her. We just looked at one another for a while before I asked the most obvious question. "What happened here? What did that thing do to you?"
The leader sighed and lifted up the larger of the skulls and looked at it sadly. "Mother told tale. It took mothers of mothers from sunlit world. Took here!" She slapped the stone by where she was sitting. "Here kept us, trapped, for pleasure. It took us, bred us, hurt us, ate us."
"By the great mother." Takoda rumbled in disgust.
"Great, we killed the magical world answer to the lovechild of Josef Fritzl and Hanibal Lecter," I muttered. "As if it wasn't horrible enough already."
"Why did you not fight it? There are many here, surely you could have overcome it" Takoda wondered.
The leader held up her mother's skull again. "Tried, mother tried. But stone not sharp enough, the bone not strong enough. There was much death. And more, after." She turned to point at the remnants of the throne. "That is punishment, reminder. My mother and sister it took. They screamed long time. The chair it built, of what remained, as warning, as promise. Only death if we tried. No one try again."
"Spirits..."
"What about leaving?" I had to ask, even knowing they must have tried it.
The leader shook her head. "No way. Water in the way, or bad air."
"Bad air?"
"Yes, is bad. Makes sick. Then kill, if stay too long. It did it. It made the bad air to trap." She said, obviously referring to the beast.
"That strange oil we found, that coated the tunnel walls." Takoda realized. "It must have placed it there to stop them from leaving, while at the same time leaving it open so it could come and go easily."
I nodded, "Mmm, nothing worse than a smart bastard." I growled while wishing I could kill the damn thing again. I was suddenly happy that it had attacked me. If it hadn't it would still be alive, still able to inflict itself on these women.
I suddenly realized that I didn't know what her name was, or if they even had any. "Do you have a name?"
The leader bobbed her head. "Dyani."
Takoda snorted, making me turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"It's nothing. MY name is Takoda, of the Niitsitapi. And it was my pleasure to take the life of the evil beast and free you all from your torment!" The big Indian exclaimed grandly.
"Drew," I said simply when she turned to me. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances."
"What better circumstance could there be, my friend?" Takoda asked. "The beast is dead, they are free, and we are here to help them. It should pose no difficulty for us to remove the obstacles laid in their path and bring them to freedom! We merely need to wash away the oil. I will do so immediately!"
"Or!" I said as I reached out to grab his arm before he could run off. "Or we could use a portkey and just bypass the whole thing. It would be faster too, and allow them to bring their possessions with them."
"You know the secret of their making? Such knowledge is not widely taught here." Takoda rumbled.
"I'm a Master Enchanter, so yes, I know how it's done."
"Master Enchanter? Truly? I to have some small skill in such things. But I could not claim to be a master." The giant ham said, looking suddenly interested.
"What is... portkey?" Dyani wondered, turning my attention back to the deer woman leader.
"It's a thing that allows me to open a path between two places. It lets you move between them, almost as if walking through a door." I explained, it wasn't very accurate, but I didn't want to sit here and try to explain it to her in detail. I can make one to send you, and whatever you were holding, to the entrance to this cave."
"I see." She said and then paused to think it trough for a few moments. She nodded to herself at length and then turned to me. "You will show this, and if true I will speak to the people, we will go, yes?"
"Of course. There is one thing though." I said and turned to Takoda. "Where should they go. They have been trapped down here for I don't know how long; they know nothing of the world above, or have a place to stay."
Takoda flashed me a bright smile and took his superman pose again. "Worry not my friend. I know where they might go. There is a place, not far from my people's lands that would welcome them." He frowned then and took up his "thinker" pose, with one hand across his chest and the other resting on it with his hand fisted under his chin. "But the journey is a long one and I do not know how to ferry them hence."
I waved the concern away. "Don't worry about that. I know how to get them there if you show the way." I said before offering Dyani my hand, which she took and I hoisted her to her feet. "Let's get this done then. You should probably leave those here; the trip can be a bit disorienting." I said, pointing to the skulls she was holding.
Dyani looked a bit reluctant but crouched down and tucked the skulls carefully into a small nook in the wall. While she was doing that I took the opportunity to take a piece of broken bone left discarded on the floor to make another portkey, one that would allow us to return to this room after we'd gone. I planned to make a two way one once we were at the cave entrance.
"Here. Hold onto me." I said and lifted my arm out in a half hug. Dyani hesitated again for a moment before stepping in and wrapping an arm around my back, while I did the same to her.
"Exodus."
Immediately I felt the familiar tug in my navel as the portkey activated and then the world dissolved in a vortex of spinning chaos that spat us out in the first cave. I made sure to move my feet so I didn't fall into a heap, and managed to keep a hold on my passenger to prevent her from doing the same. Dyani groaned nauseously and clutched desperately at my suit as she tried to dispel the vertigo caused by the trip.
"Easy." I soothed, rubbing her back slowly. "Slow deep breaths, that's it. It should pass in a moment."
"Is evil." The deer woman muttered weakly.
I chuckled lightly. "It takes some getting used to, I give you that. But look, we are here. I said and pointed upwards, where a thick beam of sunlight streamed down from the cave entrance above. I'd lost track of time, it must be near noon for the light to be coming in like that.
Dyani gaped as she looked at it, and after a moment she dashed over to stand in the sunbeam, looking up and then over at me. "Is sun?"
"Yep." I said with a smile.
Dyani smiled and I could see a tear slowly make its way across her cheek. I couldn't even imagine what she must be feeling, seeing the sun for the first time, after having spent her whole life in a cave. It must be wonderful, amazing, even magical. I imagine it might have felt something like I did the first time I'd managed to cast a spell wandlessly. It had been an intense feeling, to see that light shine from the palm of my hand instead of from a wand. It was the first time it had felt real, really real. I'd felt the same time the first time I'd tested out the flight suit in my rooms, and I'd felt the ground fall away from my feet and then I'd just hung there, in the air, with nothing holding me up. It had been amazing.
"You want to go up?" I asked.
"Yes!" She said immediately.
I moved over and took a firm hold of her waist again. "Alright, hold on to me!"
And then we were airborne. I head her squeak in fear and latch on to me harder as we ascended towards the light. It took only a moment for us to reach the narrow entrance to the cave, and after a bit of twisting and turning, we managed to get up and out. I quickly set her down once we landed, and I had to smile. She had forgotten I was there already, to busy looking around, at the trees and the birds and finally she saw the sky. I caught her as she staggered from momentary vertigo.
"Is big." She muttered dazedly.
"And about to get a whole lot bigger," I responded with a smile.