Commando Part 12

Twelve Sarcagosee fighters ventured in to the thick jungle leaving the civilized part of the Unknown Lands. Trees, brush, bushes, vines, tall grass, fungus, uprooted trees, stumps, fallen trees, and some rocks cluttered the jungle. Noises from various animals filled their ears as they cut through the brush trying to find a path the Uwaux told them about. Tuxir Trackers and the Prowler scouted ahead returning with both good and bad news. For some number of days the party trekked through the jungle following the guidance of a compass heading south west and their Uxane companions. Maurice was surprised to come as far as they had without coming across any dangers, ambushes or traps. Yet he could not get rid of the feeling that eyes hidden by the thickness of the jungle were watching them.

      For another thirteen miles they discovered a river flowing into a cave. It was here they chose to camp despite the possible dangers lurking inside and out. Like most caves in the jungle this one was dry, cool, and dark. It was even deep, stretching out into the earth with multiple tunnels and chambers. They found a chamber closer to the entrance big enough for all twelve of them. Their own steeds were placed in a few separate chambers with no other extensions or tunnels. Every entrance was covered with a black or dark tapestry of some sort to hide from anything that would wander inside.

      On this night they were sound asleep until very late past sundown. All twelve were woken up by the sounds of a horrifying scream and shouting outside the cave. Each one grabbed his or her weapon ready to come to the aid of the screaming person or at least avenge them. Maurice held out a hand to stop them and listened to the struggle. He listened to the screams and the shouting. It sounded like several women struggling to get away from the monsters of the Unknown Lands’ jungles. Each scream and shouts grew louder and louder as the source drew closer to their cave. Listening to this ruckus come closer it became clearer that some unfortunate souls were in the hands of some Savage Beast men. The Beast men were mostly organized into tribes, but only several confederacies existed since most tribes often fought each other.

      Maurice peeked through the flap to see six Beast men holding three women captive maybe more. In the dark it was not too hard to tell the difference since Beast men had long hair. From the shouts he discerned it was a wealthy aristocratic elf trying to squirm out of their hold. The second was a tribal girl from one of the Uxane-Curnai tribes. The third captive was a Zegrav-Badraani in white sand colored desert robe-tunic held to her waste with a belt. Her legs were covered by a tannish green pants and black boots. For several minutes the Beast men arranged the three women while the elf still shouted at them. The third woman tried calming her down despite the situation they were in. She called the elf by her name which was Eledhien Silver. This Eledhien screamed at the Zegrav-Badraani calling her a worthless bodyguard. In moments the six Beast men were about to have their way when one of the Tuxir gave out a war shout running at the Beast men armed with a tomahawk. Maurice then gave the signal forced to attack. All twelve immediately rushed at the Beast men who were caught unawares. It did not take long for them to slay the monsters since they merely outnumbered them two to one and had surprise on their side.

      When Maurice looked outside the cave he saw there were more Beast men outside of the cave. He counted up to seventy four or more Beast men surrounding sixteen other captives. All eyes are on the cave waiting for the six deceased Beast men to be done with their little mating with the women. Beast men of the Unknown lands were also known to capture females and forcefully mate with them. Every captive that is captive and impregnated is forced to stay with the tribe and give birth. Not many people wanted to know what happened after that despite rumors and horror tales plus the occasional survival stories of those who escaped or sold into slavery then liberated.

      Seeing they were cornered in the cave, outnumbered and at a slight disadvantage the Sarcagosee resulted in egging the Beast men into a fight man to man. Many Beast men would often fall for this acting aggressive by nature, dull minded, and not very bright. Maurice looked into the face of one particular Beast man who seemed taller than most of them there. It had the typical appearance of the Beast men despite the breeding with other races. Beast men have a primate like face of various colors which depended on the mother who spawned it. This one was darker skinned than the others with protruding fangs. Some were born with tusks, large fangs or filed sharpened teeth. Its nostrils are larger than the average primate and often had a bone piercing or a metal one. These creatures had large bodies, which were not muscular at all, but were furry. Every one of them had large hands and feet to match thick arms and tree trunk sized legs. This one seemed to be decorated with tribal tattoos and prized pieces of armor taken from those it killed. Beast men wear a loincloth, fur clothing or leather tunics. They’d always be armed with a war club, tribal cudgel, or any weapon they can get their hands on.

      About seven or so started to approach the cave when another group of savages attacked them. This other group of savages was Green Demon tribesmen. Many tales about these tribesmen entail of their cruelty towards outsiders and their enemies. Some local tribes believe them to be Demons due to their appearance which they made themselves. Green was the color they used to dye their skin or paint it to blend in with the jungle surroundings. In front of the cave the two tribes fought over the captives some of whom must have belonged to the Green tribesmen. Several of the tribesmen from both sides attacked them as well as they witnessed the battle from the cave. Each warrior was cut down immediately with no chance against the Sarcagosee.

      For fifteen to thirty minutes the two tribes fought each other. Dozens still broke off from the group and attacked those in the cave. Each warrior and beast fell to their hands laying lifeless at the cave entrance. Savage blows and thrusts from spear points were thrown all around as the two tribes fought each other before the mouth of the cave. Within moments it almost seemed to go on without any end as more joined the fight. As soon as it was about to go on both sides fled from the fight taking whatever they could pick up. Whatever fights this was it turned out to be no more than a skirmish leaving scores upon scores dead, dying or wounded. It appeared more a quick skirmish compared to the long drawn out battles that would last for days in the jungles. Corpses of the slain and dying lay limp while those only wounded dragged their bodies over dirt, rocks, foliage and other corpses. Some tried to finish the fight but were too wounded. Few who were able to stand fought it out with those standing as well. Half of those fell to the hands of other wounded while half of those who won died of their wounds. Among the corpses and wounded only eight of the captives remained. The other eight captives were likely rescued or taken by the Green Demons.