The End is Nyye

Hands clasped behind my back I walk in the middle of the procession of spear wielding warriors with Mbulawa and another elder talking over each other pointing out sights for me to see in the town the Conclave built for them. They are proud of it and the fact that they out manoeuvred the strangers; they don’t outright say so but its written all over their bodies. I pay no attention to them though, my focus on the abuse the redhead is receiving from the line of men mounting her 2kms away in the slave pens.

I watch the veins bulging in her arms as she struggles against the collar on her neck. She groans and shrieks and screams with saliva, foam and blood coming from her mouth as she receives blow after blow to the face unable to retaliate due to commands to obey. And obey she does, exposing her herself lewdly holding her cheeks apart for the grunting man behind her to finish sating his lusts.

The one in front of her shoves a penis in her mouth in a single thrust and starts humping holding her face up. Her gums are still bleeding though it must have been a while since her teeth were removed to prevent any biting. An albino woman lies shivering in her own cage separated only by a mesh wire fence watching the spectacle from her never drying puddle of blood. What a waste of life this is, to make sport of the conscious living in this way.

There are two other women are in the pens, one wallowing so deeply in her own faeces that even from here I find her offensive, the other old and unattractive with minor beatings the only attention she receives.

The runner sent ahead to inform the slave keepers of my need for slaves reaches the pens and has words with said keepers. Quickly the people making sport of the slaves are shooed away as the unruly youths they actually are while the keepers scramble to make all their stock presentable and the stable masters their animals presentable. More slaves are confiscated from the citizens and brought to the slave pens while Mbulawa and his companion take me on a tour all over the quaint little town of Kokstad giving the slavers time enough to get their things in order.

Eventually with a crowd of curious onlookers gathered as we get to the town centre and I am presented with the 50 slaves and 80 horses I requested. The other elders are here and I inspect the stock brought before me carefully without saying a word to anyone here.

The abused redhead is here, swaying on her feet with droopy eyes as one in a drug induced haze, the albino is as well.

I touch the redheads mind and flinch back quickly from the madness that hides within her head. I stand infront of the albino woman, caressing her face gently with my psionic arm even over the grime and abuse its easy see the beauty that lies beneath. This ones mind I touch and am immediately let in as the name ‘Sachihiro’ passes between us. No madness in this one but a there is loss, a deep loss and a hate like I haven’t felt in a long time.

‘’These slaves are abused, useless to me for the purposes I have in mind,’’ I say to the slave keeper a few paces behind me. Information passes between the albino woman and me quickly through sending and the images of all that is in the boy’s family are vivid to my mind. Shea her name is, the other is Saya and another in the line-up of slaves is Isis, the one that was using faeces to camouflages herself with from abuse. Smart girl.

The others in the line-up don’t match the mental images the albino frantically sends to me but I pay her n mind nor does she gives herself away as more lucid than she seems. Another smart woman. I ignore the offensive slave keeper fondling the slaves extolling theri fitness for any purpose I may have.

The line-up is mostly made of women, ‘’send me more males.’’

‘’None others can be spared venerable elder,’’ the keeper says. His eyes going to one of the Madodandile’s aids every time my back is turned to him.

‘’I want some children as well, strong but disposable brats that can get into small places and aren’t afraid of a little blood,’’ I say and see the keeper tense before signalling to someone to enquire.

All the slaves are foreigners here that is clear by their skin tones f nothing else. None are half elves as I expected as I’ve observed most slaves here to be. All of them show signs of abuse, most of it unnecessarily cruel and wasteful in my opinion if I’d ever deign to keep slaves myself. Humans truly are the scum of the humanoid sometimes but the few that surprise me are usually truly exceptional indeed.

A clutch of children is brought and I recognise 2 of their faces from the images the pretty albino sent into my mind. ‘’I’ll take all of them,’’ I say facing the keeper the stalk over to the elders standing far back pretending to be having a casual chitchat.

‘’I will pay you 50 gold Darians for all the slaves and the animals, I will also need provisions for them and warm clothing,’’ I say pointing at their naked forms.

‘’It is our hope that the gift you presented to the people be the means by which you make this purchase. ‘’An aid says stepping forward before anyone else speaks.

‘’Please deal with this young man in this negotiation so our young gain the experience necessary to deal with one of your calibre. If he offend I of course will have his tongue cut from his mouth as a lesson for the one that takes his place in this matter.’’ Madondandile says smoothly, I acknowledge with a bow.

‘’The vial was a gift to the clan, a priceless gift I bestowed in hope of earning guest rights to pass through these lands or find succour from enemies and the dangers of in the world.’’

‘’A treaty could easily be drawn with a path mapped out indicating the paths you could safely take to transverse the breadth of our lands.’’

We negotiate and I quit enjoy myself to be honest. I get a good deal on the slaves and animals without issue though it isn’t gold these people value. Passage is more complicated but the two lions casually licking their fur within earshot don’t even stir when eventually a highway is drawn up through their lands for 2 of the vial of the elixir.

‘’You can travel through our lands here to the border her with as big a retinue as it pleases you so long as you build no permant structures or bury no dead within our land. Only this path is open to you mind you and any other parts of the Foothills you can only access through invitation alone. It’s all very detailed and involved with me having to pay something to the value of the elixir every 5 years, I agree to all of it.

These are a very careful people. None test me after our escort leaves us some 80kms away from the main area occupied by the Alderman but a large number of them stalk us unseen through the golden grasses this place will likely become famous for some day. The procession of slaves silently walks behind me at the pace I set, all with warm food in their bellies and the slowest on the horses I purchased. They keep up, with the command I gave compelled mentally by the collars they have to keep up.

Still, as I walk I probe them mentally. I am no mental healer or any such thing but those not completely broken and within my talents to help I help. Easing some of the trauma, blunting some of the sharpness of their suffering, slaves are meant to be worked for productivity not this waste the Alderman indulge in. Slavery is new to them though and it is out of vengeance they have taken it up instead of necessity.

I keep the snakes, flesh insects, vultures and spies at bay with subtle use of my psi arms. The Alderman shadowing me are respectful enough about it not to get on my nerves though I find their practices distasteful enough to lash out; I sigh. I shouldn’t even think about caving to my baser instincts, I stopped being a morality many kills ago.

The problem is that I can feel the distress of most of the slaves as I have covered them in the umbrella of my influence. My psi covers them and its emotionally straining to me who hasn’t had much humanoid emotional moments in a while and the first people I let myself feel are miserable with fear hate and shame.

I slow my pace realising I’m torturing the poor creatures. The many wounds they carry are slowing them down even with my command to follow carrying them along in blind obedience. I sigh as I slow then stop; giving mental commands directing all of them to different tuskd through sending. Sitting in a meditative state I ensure that they get the most efficient rest possible without making it look like I’m weak to the watchers that will be following me until I reach the edge of their lands.

The potential problem I’m now contemplating is the fact that I don’t know whats happening over the border of this territory. What if its a complete wasteland out there or I stumble into a battle between the forces of nature. I worry out of Alderman lands something out there will kill these poor creatures and I wont be able to protect them or retreat back into the territory. I’ve read of such happening in the Deep Wood to exiled elves or outsider. Where they leave the wood elven lands and find themselves unable to enter the Woods again unless accompanied.

I feel the woman Isis shuffling towards to stand over me glaring without uttering a word.

‘’What?’’ I send in question.

‘’My son, they took my son from my arms hours after his birth! I will not leave without him, we will not leave without all our children!’’ She says in a sending and I realise that Shea supporting a blank eyed Saya is staring at us.

‘’I owe you nothing,’’ I send to the three of them. ‘’I do not even know any of you so do not make the mistake of thinking I am here to fight your battles for you. I respect Sachihiro’s talent so I have done him the courtesy of buying the freedom of his family because it cost me nothing in blood.

‘’As soon as I walk all of you out of these lands it is your own prerogative to plan your next steps and do what you feel you must. You will nt have my blade, but if it doesn’t cause me wastefully taking a life then I will aid in your recovery and planning, beyond that you are on your own.’’

‘’Da, what did you say about da?’’ the redhead blinks then again goes blank before blinking again with the words ‘my son,' silently whispered from her lips before horror fills her and that blankness returns.

Interesting people, ‘’lets go.’’ I send in command and my psi manipulations and the collars yank everyone into a obedience and onwards out of this place.