The Savage

Part 3: Chapter Fifteen: Rory

Jadida, the walled city. It stood since before the conquest and hadn't fallen to Williamena, although she'd tried more than once. The Ulki had tried, then the Daearians came after that twice. Kallistos also marched on the city and broke against the walls like all who came before. There is nothing likened to the fortress city on the Continent. Three of the four sides of the walled city are surrounded by water. The Dalai straits to the east connecting the Muir and the Thalassa Sea, the Avainn river on it's north and the Thalassa to the southeast. The basin of the Avainn was walled and gated as well as the harbor to the south, however the west walls were the most impressive. A moat fed by the Avainn and the Thalassa encompassed three sets of curtain walls all with towers and fifty yards of killing fields between each of them. From the bottom of the moat to the top of the third wall was over a hundred foot rise. The trade city was impregnable.

Like the water ways that surrounded it, the city was infested with pirates and shifty merchants. Its streets were as filthy as Rory. It was independent, controlled entirely by a collection of wealthy merchants, who fortified it, and was the main hub of eastern slave trade. Unlike the islander slaves of the west, who were born and bred, the slaves here were mostly Ashkhasi, stolen off the Erimos.

At the sight of the city, Rory's breath caught in his throat. The way it came towering out of the desert was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

Beyond the bridge over the moat was the city's entrance check point. Well outfitted guards interrogated incomers while scribes sat behind scribbling passes and permits.

"Never seen you here before?" the guard suspiciously asked the slaver.

"Been here loads of time." Ananias argued.

"Well, your carts are too large. You'll leave them here and take your cargo on foot." A guarded ordered.

Grumbling Ananias and his mates herded their captives out of the carts.

"Are my carts going to be here when I get back?" he wanted to know.

The guard shrugged, "not my problem."

A scribe scuttled over, "This is your permit to sell in the city. If you are questioned without it your captives will be confiscated and you'll be escorted out of the city."

Letting out an exasperated sound, Ananias cracked his whip over Rory's head, "Get walkin!"

No one took much noticed of them. Rory was given a few stares but the sight of chained men shuffling to the auction yard was not a new one. It was part of everyday life in Jadida.

Unable to control his curiosity, Rory studied his surroundings as they made their way through the streets. Merchants selling their wares were everywhere. Every open place had a table or cart with various goods or foods. Most people appeared to be Ulki but many were also descendants and Kallisotsi. Each speaking in their own language but all seeming to understand each other.

The whip cracked in the air above him making him clinch, "Keep yer head down!" the slaver screamed at him.

Staring back down at the feet of the man in front of him, Rory strained, focusing on his peripherals to see. The streets were winding and maze like, Rory quickly lost track of the way they had come. Even if he could get free he would never be able to find his way out. If he was lucky, he could hide, but it was unlikely. The slavers, undoubtedly, knew the city better than he.

Climbing a set of steep stairs they came to a large stone steppe that over looked the harbor. On the ground, secured in the stone were iron rings that they were quickly chained to. There was no shade on the steppe, nothing to shield them from the sun over head. Rory's burn and splitting skin roared in pain as the sun seared the already tender flesh.