Khai of Khem by Brian Lumley

Author:Brian Lumley [Lumley, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780765310477
Google: 7_BOi5b060IC
Amazon: 0765310481
Barnesnoble: 0765310481
Goodreads: 1505751
Publisher: Orion
Published: 1981-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

As he closed his eyes again the soldiers who carried him began to talk to each other, confirming the fact that indeed he had been transported many miles back toward his starting point. “Fifteen, sixteen miles at least,” the man at the head of the stretcher complained. “Sixteen miles through the forest and the heat of the day—and for what?”

“Don’t ask me,” the one at the back grunted. “Those damned Arabbans get all the fun. We round up their runaways for them…they carry ‘em off to Asorbes and sell ‘em! What justice is there in that?”

“Not a lot, I’ll agree,” the first voice replied. “They get the black wenches and we get a white boy! And he gets,uh! —heavier with every mile, damn his hide!”

The one at the back stumbled a little and cursed, then answered: “Aye, and I rather fancied a firm black tit to chew on. Huh! Some hope… . Who do you reckon the lad is?”

“Well, it’s obvious he’s no Nubian. A hostage, that’s what he was__like Captain Pan-em said—or a prisoner, at any rate. Maybe there’ll be something in this for us after all. I mean, we saved his life, didn’t we? Took him off that bunch of blacks before they made off into the forest. The slavers got the main pack, but not that lot. There’s no telling what sort of tortures those blacks would have worked on this poor lad but for us.”

“This poor lad? You were complaining about how heavy he is a minute ago! And anyway, what was he doing with that bow of his—and the knife?”

“Look, he was running, wasn’t he?” the man in front answered with a patient sigh, as if he were explaining to a small child. “We must have come on them just as he’d made his escape. My guess is that he was probably out hunting yesterday with his father or friends, and the runaways picked him up as a hostage on their way home. Pity we didn’t get the black dogs!”

‘“Yourguess—huh!” the other snorted. “You’re just repeating what Captain Pan-em said before he sent us backtracking. ‘Follow their trail backward,’ he said, ‘and you’ll probably find the lad’s father—or some friends of his at least—butchered!’ he said.”

“Well, and he was right, wasn’t he?” the leading soldier snapped. “We did find something, didn’t we? Those Arabban carcasses chewed up by lions, and the remains of those two slaves. A funny thing, that. What d’you suppose happened there ?”

“Damned if I know. But since then there’s been nothing and we’re getting mighty close to the river. I can smell it.”

They came to a halt and Khai heard asaluki bark in the near-distance. “Here comes Khon-arl and Taphan,” said the man at the front.

“About time, too,” remarked the other. “It’s their turn to carry the boy. Here, let’s put him down for a minute. My hands are a mass of blisters.”

A moment later Khai felt his stretcher lowered to the forest’s floor. The ground took shape beneath his body and gave it weight.

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