The Free Trader of Warren Deep (Free Trader Series Book 1) (23 page)

73 – The Lizard Men

As they got closer, the man wasn’t a man at all. His skin was green and textured, similar to the skin on Aadi’s neck and legs. His eyes were large and bulged out of his head. His three fingers and three toes were separated by small flaps of skin. As Braden sat in the saddle, the creature’s head was even with his.

Braden stopped Max. The green creature seemed unable to take his eyes off the horse.

“I am Free Trader Braden from the far north of Warren Deep.” He bowed his head as he remained in the saddle. The creature didn’t acknowledge that Braden had spoken.

“So where do we go from here?” He asked no one in particular. Micah shrugged, fear creeping into her expression the longer they sat.

The Tortoid used his swimming motion to go around the horses, stopping when he was directly in front of the creature.
When you’re two hundred cycles old, you aren’t afraid of anything,
Braden thought.

Master Aadi floated higher until he was eye to eye with the creature. They stayed that way for what seemed like forever, although it was probably only a dozen heartbeats.

The creature bowed deeply to Master Aadi, then waved his arm in a circle. Braden watched as numerous green creatures appeared from the trees and jungle. The creatures surrounded the caravan. Many had spears. Others had coils of vine. Others carried limbs that looked like clubs.

“Master Aadi, if you would be so kind as to explain, I would appreciate it. If this isn’t your doing, then I fear we are farged,” Braden said.

‘Yes, yes. No problem. These are, shall we call them Lizard Men? Yes. They are the Lizard Men of Akhtior. I suspect that’s their word for the Amazon. No matter. They live here and we have crossed their territory, but I have smoothed things over. They initially asked for one of our horses to share in a feast, but I know that you wouldn’t be able to part with either of them. So I offered our smoked venison instead.’

“Really. Then what are we supposed to eat?”

‘A moot point, Master Human as the Lizard Men were going to eat something, if not the horses or the venison, then I fear you were their next choice. I assumed you wouldn’t agree to that.’

“Venison it is! Are we allowed to pass?”

‘Oh no, not yet. First, we must attend their celebration. It appears that Tortoids are somewhat revered in their culture. I am to be honored at tonight’s feast. You and Micah will attend.’

“Of course you are. They never considered eating you, did they? Don’t answer that. I know.”

‘It’s funny. They call you two the pinkies.’

“Do they know about Skirill or G-War?”

‘We didn’t discuss them specifically. Why do you ask?’

“I figure wherever we’re going, we won’t be able to take the horses. Someone will have to protect them. I’m sorry G. I would much rather have you at my side. We don’t know what we’ll run across in there. We don’t know if it’s a ploy to separate us so they can eat us all. Protect the horses if you can, but save yourselves first.”

Braden and Micah got down off their horses and joined Aadi with the one they assumed was the leader of the Lizard Men. He led the way into the trees with Master Aadi at his side, the humans behind them, followed closely by a number of the larger Lizard Men. The rest drifted away, disappearing into the heavy undergrowth.

Braden and Micah’s boots were not made for walking through the swamp. The tangled growth underwater in beneath the mud caught their feet often, tripping them and filling their boots with water. Braden could feel his skin getting rubbed off as he continued to march forward. The expression on Micah’s face suggested she was losing the skin battle, too.

The leader called a halt, sniffing at the air. He used his spear to point to the right around a small pond. Before he took two steps, a croc surged out of the water. The Lizard Man drove his spear downward, but it skipped off the outer shell of the croc. Braden thought this looked like a supersized version of the cold-water croc that wanted to eat him so long ago. But this time, he had his weapons with him.

In a smooth motion, he pulled his bow in front of him, nocking an arrow in nearly the same instant. He drew back as the croc renewed its efforts to get at the Lizard Man, who was trying in vain to pull his spear from the mud. Braden’s arrow embedded itself in the beast’s left eye. The croc stopped instantly and slowly slid backwards into the dark water.

A second croc broke the water, then a third. With a powerful swish of their tails, they came at the leader, who now stood, brandishing his freed spear. He waited, ready for the attack. With a fearsome jab, he drove the spear point through one croc’s snout, pinning the creature in the mud.

Braden had a second arrow ready, but Micah stepped in front of him, her sword held high. With all the power she could muster, she swung her sword into the head of the third croc. The sword buried itself between the thing’s eyes. It froze where it was. Micah used her foot for leverage to pull her sword out, while the second croc thrashed about trying to free itself from the Lizard Man’s spear. Her croc was dead. Its brains oozing out around the split in its skull.

Once her sword was free, she leaned into another swing. Braden didn’t think it possible, but she turned even faster, driving the sword’s blade even deeper into the second croc’s neck, nearly severing it. The sword readily slid out of the massive wound.

Before it could slide back into the water, the Lizard Man grabbed it and pulled it from the water. The carcass of the first one that Micah had dispatched was also saved. The Lizard Men bobbed their necks and their heads, eyes rapidly blinking.

‘Well done young humans!’
Master Aadi cheered with his thought voice.
‘These creatures are quite a delicacy and will take the place of the smoked venison at tonight’s feast. Zalastar is quite impressed with your strength and courage. You will have places of honor next to me. I am very pleased. You should be proud of yourselves. By the way, the Lizard Men are secretive people. They avoid contact with humans.’

“Thanks Master Aadi. If they avoid humans, then why did they reveal themselves to us?”

‘Me, my good man. Me, and they had never seen horses before. To the Lizard Men, the horses smelled like a tasty meal.’

How quickly they went from being the meal to being honored at the meal. Braden still wasn’t sure they’d leave the horses alone. He asked Aadi to get that assurance from Zalastar, but he was waved off as if it was a trivial thing. He and Micah would wait, but not long before they had to escape and get back to their friends.

74 – A Celebration Like No Other

As the celebration was being prepared and darkness fell, Master Aadi, Braden, and Micah were given a place to sit in the middle of an open area, a glade. Water stood throughout. They couldn’t move without being knee-deep in muck. There was no need for cook fires; the Lizard Men ate their food raw.

The humans expected nothing different. They’d watched Aadi eat in the past. It was nature against nature. The Tortoid avoided smoked meat and the fabricator-prepared foods as much as possible. He said that they didn’t sit well in his stomach. Aadi would readily eat a bug or a fresh caught fish and be happy.

There were far more Lizard Men than they expected. A hundred or more filled the area, half squatting in the water. Braden and Micah tried to tell them apart, but couldn’t. They assumed the small ones were the children. Otherwise they all looked alike. They realized that there may not be a difference between Lizard males and females. They all wore harnesses of some sort and they all carried weapons.

The Amazon was a more dangerous place than the humans realized. Maybe the Lizard Men had escorted them the entire way, ensuring their safe passage. But only because of Master Aadi.

For that, they believed that no human had ever witnessed what they were about to see.

Braden assumed the last one to arrive was Zalastar as he was dragging the remains of the crocs. He threw the first one down into the muck. The second one, he held over his head, the muscles in his arms and back bulging with the effort. He bobbed and shook, turning in a complete circle so all could see. The Lizard Men watching also bobbed in delight, no sound escaped as they worked their wide mouths.

Besides the splashing as Zalastar danced, it was eerily quiet.

With a final bob, Zalastar held himself tall, thrusting the croc high over his head, then let it tumble from his hands, where it landed next to the other.

Dropping to all fours, he hissed, thrusting his head forward, his tongue shooting far in front of his pointed teeth. Micah looked at Braden, her eyes wide. Braden hoped that Aadi was correct that the Lizard Men weren’t going to eat them.

All the Lizard Men, including the small ones the humans assumed were children, dropped to all fours and hissed back. Although the sound wasn’t loud, it was fearsome. It struck Braden as a war cry. He reached back to feel the comforting shape of his bow and quiver, caressing it to help his mind calm. Micah held the grip of her sword, knuckles white with the effort.

Zalastar stood up on his two hind legs. The hissing stopped and Lizard Men returned to their seated positions. With a wave of one webbed hand, some figures at the outside of the circle stood up. All eyes turned toward them. One started slapping his foot into a puddle. Rhythmically it continued. Another tapped a stick on a log, filling the space between the water sounds. The beat was set.

Sawing on a tree with a bowstring made of vine. Scraping of a rock. Tapping of webbed hands on anything nearby. The sawing on the tree assumed a melody, dancing among the rhythm in the glade. Human ears could barely follow the nuances of the sounds. Micah closed her eyes and swayed slightly in time with the beat.

Music wasn’t common in the north. Braden liked what he heard when traveling through the bigger towns, but in the rural areas, there were no instruments. People didn’t make the time for them. There was always something else that was more important. As Braden listened and watched, he saw what the music did for all present. Braden saw the wisdom and beauty of the peace it brought. He saw that Micah was swept up in the sounds. Aadi was in his statue pose, unblinking, unmoving.

Finally, Zalastar broke the rhythm as he stepped carefully to the area where Aadi, Braden, and Micah sat. He bowed low and with one hand, showed the way to the crocs.

‘Aadi, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. You go first. Show us.’
They had checked as they traveled and their mindlink stayed strong. Although it seemed that they had traveled a long way from the road and the horses, it may not have been. When Braden thought about it, this was the furthest he’d ever been away from G-War. Checking in, the ‘cat told him they were safe. A number of Lizard Men were nearby in the trees, watching, but not threatening.

‘They want you two to go first since you made the kills. The Lizard Men aren’t often successful at killing crocs. This is a rare treat that you’ve provided for them. Let’s go.’
Aadi started to swim slowly toward the crocs, making sure that the humans were with him.
‘We’ll take a little piece of meat, eat it, and declare it fit for all. I suggest you slice a piece from the tail. I think you’ll like that more. Don’t try to eat the skin.’

‘Don’t eat the skin, he tells us.’
Braden rolled his eyes at Micah as he pulled his skinning knife from the pouch at his belt.

‘Do you want me to cut a piece for you, Master Aadi?’
Micah offered in her thought voice.
‘What about the Lizard Men? What would they think if we cut up the crocs and served them?’

‘I honestly don’t know. It could be interpreted one of two ways. Demeaning and they’ll kill you for it, or an honor, and they’ll forever welcome you. Let me ‘feel them out’ as you humans say.’

‘There’s no in between? Either we’re lifelong friends or dead? Sometimes I wonder about you.’
Micah said what Braden was thinking. He liked the idea, hoping beyond hope that the Lizard Men would befriend them. Allies, he thought. He knew where he was only because a four-hundred cycle old map told him. It would be nice to have allies confirm where they were and that they were safe.

He didn’t know anything about the Amazon, except that it was a dangerous place. Having the Lizard Men as friends might help him and his companions to survive one more turn. Knowing that tomorrow would come was his comforting thought. Knowing that G-War watched as he slept was always the blanket that kept him warm for a restful sleep.

‘Master Micah, I believe you have won the hearts of the Lizard Men! They will see your service to them as a great honor.’
Aadi bobbed his head and blinked to emphasize his point. Micah smiled broadly. Braden didn’t realize how afraid she had been. Although she was used to Skirill, Aadi, and G-War, she had an innate fear of anything mutant. Braden was raised differently and his bond with the ‘cat ensured he would look at all creatures, judging them simply by how dangerous they were to him personally. In reality, he was most suspicious of his fellow man.  

With their skinning knives in hand, Braden and Micah each took one of the crocs and started to work on it. As Aadi advised, they sliced down the tail and cut out a small piece of meat, which they ate, much to their dismay. They weren’t hungry enough for raw meat to taste good, and not knowing what the croc was supposed to taste like. It was different enough that it was all they could do not to gag. Aadi took a bite of a piece that Micah offered him. After gulping it down, he asked for another, just to be sure. Braden gave him a piece from his croc and waited while the Tortoid threw it back and swallowed it whole.

He bobbed to Zalastar. Braden and Micah weren’t sure how the Tortoid communicated with the Lizard Men, but he spoke their language, whatever that looked like.

With the food declared fit, Zalastar waved his hands and bobbed his head, tongue flicking in and out. The smaller Lizard Men jumped up and pressed forward.

‘Children?’
Braden asked.

‘Yes, yes, the little ones.’

‘How can we tell the females from the males?’
Micah asked.

‘There are no males or females. There are only Lizard Men, the word “Men” is my creation because I don’t know what another word would be. They are all the same, for what that’s worth.’

Braden found that by rolling the croc over, the skin on the under side was much easier to cut through. Micah followed his lead and soon, they were handing out bits of meat from all different places on the body. It seemed that each Lizard Man had his favorite. They would point with a flick of their tongue and the humans would extract a piece for them.

Time flew by. They ran out of croc meat before they ran out of Lizard Men to feed. Not to be deterred, the last group of Lizard Men stuck their faces into the carcass, licking and eating anything not bone or skin.

The rhythmic tapping, splashing, and bowing continued.

Aadi told them that Zalastar considered this the greatest celebration he had ever seen.

‘Time to ask for a favor, then. Can we go back to our friends and how can we get to Sanctuary?’

‘Yes, they will take us back tonight. To get to the ruined city, keep following the road. It leads there.’

‘Tonight, good.’
Lizard Men lived during the night, resting during the daylight.
‘Ruined city? Is that what you were keeping from me?’
Braden looked at Micah as they talked over the mindlink. He didn’t want to talk out loud and damage the silent calm of the glade.

‘It is nothing but ruins, yes, but there is still something to see and areas where you might find what you are looking for. I don’t believe in your quest, but I believe in you. I didn’t want you to think that I was killing your dream. I wanted you to see and make a decision for yourself.’
Micah made her thought voice as soothing as possible.

Braden was angry.
‘Could you tell Zalastar that we are ready to go? Our friends are waiting.’
He stormed off toward the edge of the glade, not looking back. The only thing he accomplished was getting more water and mud in his boots.

‘Braden, wait. What else am I supposed to say? What do you want from me?’

‘How about the truth?’
He wanted to yell, but was afraid of harming their newfound position as friends of the Lizard Men.

‘I never lied to you. Now listen you farging crap hole! I joined you when all I wanted to do was kill any man I met. You showed me what it was like to trust someone. You shared your friends with me. For the first time in my life, I’m at peace. The last thing I wanted to do was to take away your dream. We could find something there for you. I don’t know, but it’s a bad place. We all go there once in our lifetime so that we know what we don’t want to become. It keeps us isolated and you’ve shown me that isn’t a good thing.

‘You’ve changed how I see the world. Keep slopping through the mud like that and I’ll come over there and stomp you!’

Braden hadn’t set out to change the world, only the part that affected him. The burden of leadership was heavy, and it came with great responsibility. Aadi told him that where he led, others would follow. He had a group that counted on him to make decisions for them all.

She wasn’t wrong. Seeing the ancients’ city of Sanctuary was important. From there, they could all talk about what to do next. That was the plan.

Micah, Aadi, and Zalastar watched patiently as Braden wrestled with himself. When he realized this, he ushered them past him so they could lead the way.

Micah punched his shoulder as she passed.

“Oww!” Braden wanted to say more, but thought better of it. Micah smiled back at him as she followed Zalastar back into the rainforest.

My life used to be so much simpler, Braden thought. And far less interesting.