Author: Kirk Straughen
Synopsis: Allen Hawk is catapulted into an alien world whose people are the helpless slaves of fiendish devil-creatures. Can he liberate them from their merciless masters when treachery and death threaten him at every turn? You know there is only one way to find the answer to that question - read the story if you've the courage.
Edit history: Minor changes were made to this story on 8 June 2021.
Chapter 1: The Hyper-scope
Allen Hawk pulled into the oak lined driveway of Grace Manor, his restored Norton motorcycle breaking the Arcadian quietude of the summer morning as it roared up the gravel path, rocketing towards the imposing edifice of his uncle’s ancestral home.
The machine skidded to a halt before the residence - a neoclassical façade of broad steps leading up to rows of graceful marble columns, tall windows and huge mahogany doors inlaid with brass, doors that were suddenly flung wide at the sound of his clamorous arrival.
Hawk dismounted, removed his helmet and placed it on the machine, then hurried up the steps to greet his uncle, who stood in the doorway, leaning on an ebony cane. The man was in his sixties, short and somewhat rotund. His head was bald but for a fringe of silver hairs. Grey eyes peered out through thick, horn-rimmed glasses perched upon a large nose, below which was an enormous moustache and beard that Hawk suspected was an attempt to compensate for the lack of hair upon his pate.
Leo Grace broke into a broad smile at the sight of his nephew. “Glad you could come so soon, my boy,” he boomed, gripping the young man’s hand in his hairy paw, and giving it a vigorous shake. “I’ve got the bloody instrument to work at last, and since you spent months soldering the circuitry, I thought it only fair that you join me in this history making moment.“
“Well, I’m glad you’re satisfied, Uncle Leo,” was Hawk’s non-committal reply as the older man led his tall, muscular, and ruggedly handsome nephew within the manor.
“Ah, I see you’re still skeptical.”
Hawk grinned, but made no further comment. His uncle was as eccentric as he was wealthy. Self-educated in the sciences, Grace considered himself the next Einstein, and had no qualms about saying so to anyone who would listen. Despite this oddity, uncle and nephew got on well together, which was more than could be said for the rest of Grace’s relations, whom he often described as “vultures of the lowest order.“
They passed on through the manor, tastefully well-appointed with antique furniture and artworks from France and Italy, and then continued down into the expansive cellar that had been converted into a sophisticated laboratory humming with arcane scientific paraphernalia.
One wall was a giant blackboard, its entire surface crammed with esoteric mathematical equations. Against two other walls were huge bookcases packed to the ceiling with weighty tomes on physics, but it was the forth that captured the imagination.
Here stood the hyper-scope - the fruition of years of Grace’s work, or folly, as those less kind were wont to say. The device consisted of a ring composed of inward pointing glass cones, the innards of which resembled old fashioned vacuum tubes. This ring, ten feet in diameter, was supported by two brass pillars upon which were numerous dials, switches and meters.
The mechanism was humming softly. Its ring of cones glowed with reddish light that sprayed like fine mist from each apex, and the empty space within the circumference shimmered intriguingly with this crimson radiance.
“What do you think,” cried Grace, gesturing dramatically at his pride and joy.
“Well, it’s on,” replied Hawk, cautiously. “But I can’t see anything in the viewing ring.“
“A slight adjustment is all that is required,” stated Grace in his best schoolmaster’s voice as he strode towards the hyper-scope, and began carefully turning the dials.
Hawk sighed and picked up a fire extinguisher from a nearby work bench, expecting at any moment to see sparks fly, and the machine to burst into flames as it had done on many previous occasions, leaving his uncle singed and sorry, but determined as ever to press on with his obsession.
Ah well, he thought with a wry smile. The world would be rather staid without eccentrics like my uncle, I suppose.
Suddenly, the haze within the ring began to ripple. Colors emerged - blurred shapes at first, ones that quickly clarified. A scene stood revealed. Hawk gasped in amazement. The fire extinguisher clattered upon the floor.
Grace looked at him with a triumphant smile that shouted “I told you so.”
Like a man in a daze, Hawk approached the viewing ring, and gazed upon a vista of such clarity that it seemed he was staring through an open window. Hawk gasped in sheer amazement. Why, it was a window - he could feel a breeze as he neared the mechanism, blowing inwards from the scene.
“You see,” said Grace with a grin. “The hyper-scope really can bridge the immensities of the stellar void, and enable us to gaze upon other worlds. As I’ve told you on previous occasions - it creates a kind of tunnel through hyperspace. At first I hoped for mere images, but it works far better than I anticipated. You feel that breeze, Allen? Yes, it means this is no mere picture, but an actual gateway to another place.”
“You mean we can step through it like a door,” queried Hawk, excitedly. “And actually stand on the soil of an alien planet? Why, that’s …”
Grace raised his hand, forestalling his nephew’s excited outburst. “There’s a problem,” he explained soberly. “When I discovered this world last night, and realized the capabilities of the machine, I tested the idea. I took a lab rat and, using a long steel rod, passed him through the hyper-scope, cage and all. He made the transition safely, and I left him there for an hour with no apparent ill effects, but when I pulled him back through the viewing ring he disintegrated immediately, poor thing. You step through that portal, my boy, and you’ll be buying yourself a one way ticket to a world a million light years from Earth.”
Hawk looked crestfallen. He craved adventure, a desire his job as an electrician couldn’t’ fulfil. Again, he turned his eyes upon the scene. The hyper-scope gave an aerial view of a strange landscape. Tall barren mountains, black and jagged, rose up against the backdrop of a luminous sky of emerald green. The rugged peaks descended to foothills clad in dense forest whose trees were tall columns, their radial branches dripping with feathery leaves of vivid orange.
The foothills then sank to a plain carpeted thickly in saffron vegetation that resembled a ground hugging creeper with large violet blooms - flowers the colour of the sparkling sea whose foaming waves caressed the tree dotted savannah’s shore. Here, something white faintly gleamed, drawing Hawk’s observant gaze.
“Look,” he cried, pointing. “Is that a city?”
Grace squinted. “Damned myopia,” he complained. “I missed that. Just a moment. I‘ll move us closer.”
Suddenly, the view leapt towards Hawk. He seemed to float above the scene like a bird. Below him was indeed a city whose area was perhaps a square mile in extent. Its buildings were of a white stone resembling alabaster. The structures were low and square, like the plan of the metropolis. The city was divided by two broad avenues running north-south and east-west, intersecting at a central plaza. Trees, similar to those of the forested foothills, lined both plaza and major thoroughfares.
“My God,” gasped Grace, excitedly. “Evidence of intelligent life. Incredible! Ah, there seems to be some activity in the city‘s heart. Let’s see if we can get a look at our first real aliens.”
Again, the view shifted and they were over the plaza, staring down. Beneath them, in the middle of the huge square was a raised platform of white stone with a soaring pillar protruding from its centre and upon the column's apex a large and hideous statue.
Hawk shuddered when he looked upon it. The thing was roughly humanoid - extremely tall and thin. It had membranous wings, bat-like in structure that stretched from wingtip to ankle. A pair of knee-length arms hung down from the complex double shoulder joints of the wings. The face was hideous - three large, cat-like eyes arranged in a triangle, a slit for a nose, a cruel gash for a mouth. From its genitals it appeared to be bisexual.
Could this be an image of the highest life form upon the planet? Even if he could have done so Hawk, after laying eyes on the monstrosity, wouldn’tt have set foot upon that world for all the money in the Bank of London.
“Ugly brute, isn’t it?” observed Grace, guessing what was on his nephew‘s mind. “It might be just a mythological creature. We’re still too high to clearly see the crowd below. I’ll take us lower.“
“Won’t they see us?” queried Hawk.
“No,” replied his Uncle. “According to my calculations the hyper-scope is like a two way mirror - we can see them, but they can’t see us.”
Grace twisted dials, and in an instant they were at the pillar’s base. Hawk swore, his uncle gasped. Bound to the column was a woman, almost human. Her skin was lavender. Her hair, frizzy like an African’s, was of a darker shade. The girl’s eyes were almond shaped, the iris violet. Her slim figure was clad in a white, pennant-shaped loincloth, and her youthful breasts concealed by a band of similar fabric.
“Good lord,” cried Grace, pointing. Look at that.”
Hawk tensed. A flying creature approached. He saw it was the very image of the monstrous statue. The thing landed by the girl. The crowd about the platform, who were of the same racial type, threw themselves to the ground and began to wail.
The monster, wings folded, stalked towards the struggling woman. Hawk looked frantically about the laboratory and glimpsed the steel pole his uncle had used to make the test. He seized it, spun round and saw the drooling horror draw a knife and reach for the screaming girl.
“God, Allen. You don’t mean to ...”
“Couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try,” cried Hawk as he leapt through the portal and, yelling wildly, dashed towards the creature.
The thing turned. It stood still in utter disbelief for perhaps a second, then flapped its mighty wings and flew into the air as a wave of dizziness struck the man. The girl watched in horror as the stranger fell. She saw the wegu dive upon him, its wicked knife extended for the kill.
Chapter 2: A Maiden of Manutu
Hawk rolled aside as the monster swept low. Its knife grated on stone, missing the Earthman by an inch and showering him with burning sparks. The thing soared, came about and swooped again. Hawk sweated as he watched it dive. The metal rod was out of reach. Fighting both vertigo and beast unarmed might prove his swift undoing.
Breathlessly, the girl traced the diving wegu. A frightened cry escaped her lips for she knew the stranger had no chance against the creature. Hawk’s grim gaze was locked upon it as he rose unsteadily to his knees. The monster swept low, wings extended in a deadly glide, blade stabbing at his throat.
Hawk dodged. He grabbed the wegu’s arm as it darted passed, and with all his strength and weight jerked back and down. The monster screamed a thin, hissing cry as it somersaulted and crashed heavily upon the platform.
Hawk scuttled for the rod. He grabbed it and staggered to his feet as the wegu rose. One broken wing hung limply as it towered over him - ten feet of hissing fury. Its yellow eyes brimmed with satanic rage. It charged.
Feet braced wide, the desperate Earthman swung his makeshift weapon. With its foot long knife, the wegu blocked his savage stroke. Hawk’s arm shivered. The thing’s hairless, olive body, deceptively frail, possessed amazing strength. Again it attacked, lashing out with a brutal kick. Hawk leapt aside and its talons narrowly missed him.
Both girl and crowd watched man and monster stalk in wary circles. For the silent watchers there was an air of unreality to what was happening. It held them in a kind of thrall - this stranger who appeared so mysteriously from nowhere and dared attack a lordly wegu. Why, it was all so unprecedented.
Hawk stumbled, cursed. He was still slightly dizzy from the transition through the hyper-scope. The thing hissed in dark delight. The girl groaned as she watched it lunge at the unbalanced man.
The Earthman twisted. The darting knife slashed his leather jacket. Hawk regained his balance and swung the rod. The wild blow caught his foe across the temple and sent it crashing to the ground. Its unbroken wing thrashed madly as he hammered its ugly earless head with a rain of savage strokes. Then all movement ceased, and Hawk stood victoriously above the battered body, gazing at its shattered skull oozing ochreous blood.
He shuddered and cast aside the bloodstained rod, then picked up the wegu’s knife and approached the girl. She tensed as he drew near - this stranger of weird appearance, of unknown origins and intentions. The girl relaxed a little as Hawk spoke soothingly, cut the ropes that bound her wrists and ankles to bronze rings set in the pillar, and placed the knife on the ground as a further sign of his peaceful intentions.
She stepped free and surveyed him warily, uncertainty. The freeing of the girl seemed to break the spell upon the crowd. A man in its front ranks sprang upon his feet, turned and began to harangue the throng as he pointed at Hawk with an accusing finger.
The Earthman tensed as he heard the crowd begin to mutter angrily. Before, his only thought had been to save the helpless girl. Perhaps his impetuous heroics had interrupted a religious ceremony of grave importance. It was something he hadn’t stopped to think about.
Be that as it may, thought Hawk, I’ve done the right thing, at least by my own lights. And if I have to fight the lot of them, then so be it.
Hawk considered fleeing. His eyes darted here and there, looking for an avenue of escape. Then he saw the girl step forward and raise her hands. The throng, who had been edging closer, halted. She addressed them, her clear, strong voice carrying across the square.
Quickly, the Earthman’s detractor turned, approached the girl. They appeared to argue. Hawk looked him over as the aggressive fellow shook a fist in his direction. The Earthman didn’t like what he saw. His accuser - a man of importance, or so the richly worked gold ornaments that he wore seemed to indicate - was tall, well muscled and handsome. But there seemed a touch of cruelty to his face, and the sneering arrogance in his bearing nettled the carefully watching Englishman.
The girl stamped her sandaled foot. Her displeasure was plainly written on her pretty features. Clearly, they’d reached an impasse. She turned to Hawk, touched her breast and said “Taroona;” then, with a sweeping gesture that encompassed the entire city: “Manutu.” She finished by pointing at the Earthman and uttering “pao?”
Hawk gave her a genuine smile. He liked what he saw, and she seemed to be defending him. Her surly companion frowned, then glared at the Earthman who grinned broadly at him in return. The Englishman sobered - his survival depended on establishing communication, and if he understood correctly the girl had given her name, that of this city, and desired to know his own origins.
“Allen,” he replied, touching his chest. Then, thinking for a moment on how to convey his origins he pointed up and said “Earth.”
The effect of his declaration was dramatic. The crowd gasped, they fell upon their knees shouting “Umaas, Umaas,” as they touched their foreheads to the paving stones in solemn and respectful supplication.
Good Lord, thought Hawk. Do they think I’m a god? His eyes flicked to the wegu’s corpse. Well, why not - this world already appears to have a devil.
Returning his attention to the crowd, Hawk saw one person stood aloof – it was his scowling detractor. The man tugged angrily at the girl, trying to make her stand as he shouted wildly at the genuflecting throng. The Earthman’s lips thinned. He didn’t like this manhandling of Taroona, and didn’t need to know the language to understand the fellow was trying to turn everyone against him. There seemed only one thing to do - to silence his accuser - a desperate plan, but he had to take the chance.
Stepping forward he struck his adversary a heavy blow that knocked him to the ground. The man struggled up, spitting curses. Murder was written upon his features as he lunged at Hawk. Again, the Earthman drove his fist against the fellow’s chin, and this time stretched him senseless upon the square.
Well, thought Hawk. I’ve either saved my arse or shoved it in the fire.
Assured the fellow was out cold, the Earthman turned to the girl and offered her his hand. Taroona accepted it and rose gracefully. For a moment she glanced at the unconscious man. Hawk took heart, for her lips twitched in a slight smile. Then she gazed at him with wonder in her eyes. The girl addressed him in her flowing tongue - a pretty language, but completely unintelligible.
“Sorry. Can’t understand a word,” then Hawk grinned. “But with you as my teacher I’m sure I’ll learn damn fast.”
The girl shook her head, obviously frustrated at this mutual lack of understanding. Turning, she spoke to the throng, issuing commands. Men came forward and carried off Hawk’s unconscious adversary, while others dragged away the wegu’s corpse, albeit with considerable trepidation.
Slowly, the crowd dispersed. Taroona, satisfied her orders were being carried out, gestured for Hawk to follow her. In silence they walked across the square and towards a building. It resembled the other structures the Earthman had seen through the hyper-scope - cubical in form with a domed roof. The windows, high and arched, were of pierced and damascened brass. The doors were similarly constructed. It was, however, much larger than the other buildings, and gold leaf had been used to guild doors, windows, and highlight the structure’s crenulated friezes.
They entered the ground floor, which seemed to consist of offices dealing with the city’s administration. Scribes, sitting cross legged on padded, circular mats, writing boards upon their knees, bowed low; as did higher officials denoted by badges of office hung about their necks.
Taroona led the inquisitive Earthman onwards. They mounted a flight of steps guarded by armed warriors, and passed to the next level. Hawk gaped at the luxurious nature of the grand hall the staircase debouched upon. The walls were inlaid with exquisite mosaics, and the scenes framed in gold and jewels. Here and there stood statues of masterful workmanship, and all about were porcelain pots in which grew flowering plants that scented the air with the subtle fragrance of gorgeous blooms.
The girl ushered him within a small room leading off the passageway. It appeared to be a library, for the walls were lined with shelves holding strange books written in a weird hieroglyphic script.
A young man, obviously deeply distressed sat upon a circular mat, head in hands. He looked up at the sound of their approach, then sprang erect, a gasp of joyous amazement bursting from his lips. Taroona raced forward and embraced the fellow. Both wept openly as they stroked each other’s cheeks. Clearly, neither had thought they’d ever see the other again, and were deeply moved by this unexpected reunion.
Hawk looked away, embarrassed. The couple bore a remarkable resemblance to each other, and the Earthman correctly guessed they were twins. He was also to learn that the people of this world had no qualms about openly expressing their emotions.
When he looked again, brother and sister were conversing animatedly. The man, who seemed to be about the same age as Hawk, gazed at him with an awed expression, then beckoned for the Earthman to join them, and sit upon the mat. Hawk complied, whereupon the youth introduced himself by touching his chest and saying “Ren.“ He then fetched a device from a nearby shelf containing other artifacts, sat opposite Hawk and placed the mechanism between them.
The device consisted of a square box of grayish metal whose top was covered in rows of raised crystal discs. Two crown-like attachments were connected to the mechanism by black cables. The youth donned one of the headpieces and gestured for the Earthman to wear the other.
Well, thought Hawk with a wry grin as he settled the device upon his brow. I’ve a talent for jumping head first into things. I’ve come this far, so I might as well go all the way and see what happens.
Taroona smiled reassuringly at Hawk as she began to touch the raised discs. The device hummed to life. The Earthman’s senses began to fade. For a moment he panicked and then darkness engulfed his mind.
**********
Hawk awoke as if from a restful slumber. He was lying on the floor, Taroona and her brother anxiously watching him.
“How do you feel?” Enquired the worried girl. “You’ve been unconscious for far longer than we anticipated.”
“Fine,” replied Hawk as he rose to a sitting position. Then he gasped. “Good God! That machine. Why, its taught me your language.”
“Well,” corrected Ren, “to be precise the instructor actually transferred knowledge of our language from my brain to yours. It is a device from long ago, when our ancestors first came to this world. Some believe such things are magic, but I think they are machines built by men whose knowledge has been lost to us.”
“You mean,” asked Hawk. But he got no further, for a concealed panel suddenly slid open in the wall, and with equal swiftness a knife wielding figure leapt within the room. Taroona screamed as the assassin, his face twisted by madness, fell savagely upon the startled Earthman.
Chapter 3: Treachery is Afoot
Hawk grabbed his assailant’s knife-hand as the fellow crashed upon him. He managed to halt the plunging blade within inches of his throat. Ren and Taroona leapt upon the killer. Both grasped the assassin’s arms as the Earthman struggled with the fellow.
The killer howled bloodlust. With maniacal strength he flung the twins away. Taroona fell heavily to the floor. She screamed as the assassin swung his dagger down upon her. Hawk and Ren leapt on him. The deflected blade chipped the tiled floor. Both men wrestled with the brute, fought against his superhuman strength.
Taroona crawled out of reach. She staggered up and ran to a heavy pot plant. The girl grabbed it just as the killer sunk his teeth in her brother’s shoulder. Ren howled, fell back clutching his bleeding wound, and glimpsed the assassin strike the Earthman a savage blow with his fist.
Stunned, Hawk lost his hold upon the fellow’s knife-hand as he tumbled to the floor. The snarling killer’s blade plunged down upon the helpless man as Taroona, with all her strength, slammed the pot upon his head. The vase exploded. Soil and shards flew in all directions. The assassin’s dagger missed, and the bespattered man collapsed senseless to the floor just as warriors, attracted by the fray, burst within the room.
“Ren, take charge of the guard and have them bring Lord Suvua in for questioning,” ordered Taroona as she grabbed the knife and, to Hawk’s horror, slit the killer’s throat.
“I’m sorry if I’ve shocked you,” apologized the girl as her brother and the warriors hurried out. “But this assassin has been chewing the root of the moua plant - I can tell by the odour of his breath. The root gives great strength and immunity to pain, and I had to kill him while I had the chance. Besides, the drug wipes the user’s memory of past events, so even if I had let him live to question him he could tell us little.
“I‘m afraid treachery is afoot,” continued Taroona as she moved to the secret door and locked it. “No one should know of this passageway except my brother and I. This room has been befouled by death,” continued the girl looking distastefully at the corpse. “Come with me. I’d best explain the situation that we’re in, and why the assassin tried to murder you.”
Hawk, steadying his nerves, followed the girl to an adjoining chamber and, at her invitation, seated himself on one of the ubiquitous mats that, apart from low circular tables, served as the Manutuan’s primary furniture. He looked at Taroona as she composed her thoughts, and wondered how far out of his depth he really was.
“Our ancestors,” began the girl without preamble, “were great sorcerers - although my brother will dispute this - who a thousand years ago, came to this planet in a magic ship. But something went wrong and their vessel crashed, leaving them stranded on Nui-em - the name they gave this world.
“As the centuries passed the magic faded, and now we have but a handful of devices - like the instructor - that still retain this sorcerous power. Despite this loss we prospered, grew in number, and slowly built Manutu. But then one hundred years ago the wegu - the Devil-Men - swarmed forth from the Black Mountains and set upon us.”
“Are they like the creature that that I fought?” interrupted Hawk.
“The very same,” continued Taroona. “But pray, let me continue. The Black Mountains are a barren place - bleak and inhospitable - so the Devil-Men began to raid our crops for food. No doubt they would have migrated to the plains long ago, but they cannot stand the heat and light for long, and so must remain in the cool darkness of their mountain caves.
“We fought them, of course, but their mastery of the air makes them virtually invincible. Imagine this scene: Manutu slumbers beneath a canopy of stars. All is quiet, peaceful. But a cloud, dark and strange, approaches from the north. It creeps across the sky - a swarm of Devil-Men whose monstrous wings thunder against the night.
“The flying hoard, thousands strong, blots out the stars and casts its grim shadow upon Manutu. Horns are sounded in alarm. Our valiant warriors, as numerous as the foe, rush forth and release their shafts upon the enemy. But the cunning fiends are far too high, and our soaring arrows cannot touch them.
“Chill and evil laughter fills the sky. The wegu drop small spheres to smash upon the city. Red mist - a deadly poison - fills the streets. Our warriors fall. Citizens die in writhing agony, screaming, begging for merciful death. Then the Devil-Men swoop upon the fear-crazed populace. They stalk Manutu - grim figures of shadow with glittering knives. And then begins an orgy of atrocities that numbs the mind with horror. Unborn babies ripped from their mother‘s womb, their heads then stomped upon. Men gutted and hung by their own entrails. Parents forced to watch as their children are tortured before their eyes.”
Taroona shuddered, and her voice trembled slightly as she continued. “In the end my ancestors had to either capitulate or face extermination, and now the Devil-Men take our crops as tribute, and we must offer human sacrifices as proof of our submission. But with your arrival we have hope this evil shall at last be ended, oh great Umaas of the ancient legend.”
The girl looked at him intensely, and once again an expression of awe was upon her face. The Earthman now knew Umaas meant ‘savior,’ but was completely ignorant of why he should be gifted with this appellation. Although Hawk was appalled by the Devil-Men’s barbarity, he knew he had to tread very carefully, and not rush into things as he was wont to do. He was beginning to suspect these people expected great things of him, and if he couldn’t deliver … Well, things might get very ugly indeed.
“Tell me of this legend,” said Hawk, dreading to ask, but knowing he had no choice.”
“Since ancient times,” explained Taroona, “the legend runs that from the stars would come a mighty warrior who, with fire and thunder, would defeat the wegu. Everything about you proves you are not of Nui-em and I, the Umi* of my people, acknowledge you as our Umaas. But be warned, Lord Savua, the man who opposed you in the square is your enemy, and I suspect the one behind this assassination attempt.”
“You say I am the Umaas,” replied Hawk, being careful to neither confirm nor deny her belief. “If so, why would he want to kill me?”
“Because he has much to lose – namely, me.” Taroona smiled at Hawk’s confused expression, and then continued. “We are betrothed, an arranged marriage that only death can break. Lord Savua is sexually perverse. I loathe the man, and would rather die than mate with him. That is why I volunteered to be the sacrifice. But you saved me, and that is well, for the legend says the Umaas will marry the Umi, a fate that I am not at all adverse to. That is why Lord Savua wants to murder you - out of jealousy, and the fear he is destined to die by your hand, for only his death will enable me to be your wife.
“But enough of my lecturing. I see you are tired from your ordeals. I will summon a servant to take you to a guestroom where you may refresh yourself. I, however, must go and convene an emergency meeting of the council. You killed the wegu’s high priest, and reprisals from the Devil-Men will be sure and swift. But I am not afraid, oh Umaas, for I know that you shall deliver us from our oppressors, and that we shall not have to torture you to death for failing.”
The girl stood and departed. Hawk was grateful she hadn’t looked back, for he knew she would have seen both betraying consternation and shock written large upon his face. It had been some time in coming, but the reality of his situation was finally hammered home. Here he was, trapped on a distant world whose people expected him, single handed, to defeat a hoard of monsters, and then marry a woman he hardly knew, and an alien one too boot. An ugly death was the only future he could foresee.
Well, he thought, glumly. I’ve really dived into a dung heap this time, haven’t I.
**********
It was early evening, and a glorious sunset could be glimpsed through the high windows of the airy room, painting the sky with gold and scarlet hues. Hawk, however, was oblivious to nature’s charms. He felt trapped. No, he was trapped! The Council of Twelve was in session, sitting on mats arrange in a large circle. Mostly, they were old and timid looking men.
To his left sat Taroona, and to his right was Ren. Directly facing him was Savua, a sardonic expression on his face. The lord had been questioned, true, but his alibi had been corroborated, and no evidence could be found implicating him in the assassination attempt. The meeting was in its opening stages, with the various lords introducing themselves, and swearing their allegiance. Now it was Savua’s turn.
“I will swear allegiance to the Umaas, but only when I am certain this man is the Umaas.” Savua raised his hand, forestalling Taroona’s angry protestations. “I will come directly to the point,” he suavely continued. “By killing the wegu priest, this man has endangered all of us. By tomorrow evening the Devil-Men will know something is amiss, and will fall upon Manutu with a vengeance. We need to know right now how he plans to stop the slaughter of our people.”
Chill fear gripped Hawk. This was the moment he had been dreading. Try as he might, he could think of nothing. Savua smirked at him. Having had time to think things over, he‘d convinced himself that the Earthman wasn’t their long awaited hero. Hawk felt like striking the fellow, but knew that within the council chamber all present were equal, and could speak freely without fear of retribution.
“Well, oh mighty Umaas,“ continued Savua, sarcastically. “Pray, do not keep us in suspense. Reveal this wondrous scheme that will save our city from destruction. Or are you silent because you are not the Umaas, and therefore have no plan.”
The councilors began to murmur with growing consternation among themselves. Taroona looked upon Hawk and he saw fear and doubt growing in her eyes. Never before had the Earthman felt so helpless and alone. Savua’s eyes, cold and hard as daggers, glittered triumphantly as he raised his hand for silence, and spoke again.
“Clearly, only I can save Manutu. Remember, I am the vetua - the mediator between our people and the Devil-Men. Dead or alive, I shall turn this impostor over to them, explain it was he who interrupted the ceremony and killed the priest. Thus, shall I appease the wegu’s wrath.”
“You treacherous coward,“ shouted Hawk as he leapt to his feet and advanced menacingly upon his enemy. Savua laughed and called for his bodyguards to fall upon the Earthman.
Hawk turned as four killers burst within the chamber and came at him in a vicious rush. Snatching up his mat, the desperate Earthman hurled it in the foremost warrior’s face, then struck the blinded fellow senseless and snatched up his fallen spear.
This is it, thought Hawk. Nonetheless, I’ll go down fighting all the way.
The panic stricken councilors scattered and tripped upon each other in their haste. Chaos erupted. The bravos cursed as they forced their way through the timid elders who ran towards the door in mindless terror. Taroona tried to shout for calm above the bedlam. It was hopeless.
Ren dragged his sister clear. Hawk spun his weapon. The whirling spear scattered elders, and the Earthman gained fighting space. Then the warriors were on him, their spears thrusting furiously for his heart. Savua gloated. Taroona cried in fear. The Earthman leapt. Needle points darted past his side. Hawk swung his weapon and caught another foe across the knee. Bone shattered. The man screamed. He hit the tiles.
Two more came at him, stabbing high and low. He dodged the swift attack but tripped on a cowering elder and tumbled to the floor. Twin spears plunged. Hawk cursed, rolled, swung his weapon and knocked one guard off his feet. The fellow crashed and split his skull upon the tiles.
Hawk staggered up. A councilor, braver than the rest, flung an arm about his throat as the remaining warrior lunged. The Earthman twisted violently. The elder screamed as the spear stabbed him instead. Hawk reversed his twist. His spear lanced out as the clinging corpse fell away. The final warrior screamed as the weapon pierced him through the heart.
None left, thought Hawk as he watched the last of the frightened councilors flee the room. His eyes locked upon Savua, and a cold smile curved his lips. The bastard wasn’t grinning now.
Then another tide of warriors swept within the chamber, and the Earthman knew the meaning of despair, for they drew their throwing knives in preparation to cut him down from the safety of the doorway.
*Footnote: Umi simply means “leader.” The Umi is elected by members of the noble families from amongst their kind. The term of office is usually for life, unless the Umi proves to be unsuited to leadership, or is found guilty of a crime by the Council.
Chapter 4: The Devil-Men Attack
As Hawk backed away from the guards, his spear struck a brazier, one of several he had seen lighted before the meeting. Something clicked inside his head. Time seemed to slow, or perhaps it was his thought processes that accelerated as he remembered.
The charcoal had been set ablaze by a strange device - a hollow brass tube attached to a wooden handle. The servant holding it had removed a brass cap from the tube’s end, and had then struck the tube a ringing blow against the brazier. Instantly, voluminous sparks erupted from the fire starter’s mouth, and drenched the charcoal in an incandescent shower thus setting it alight. The tube’s cap had then been replaced to extinguish the device.
It reminded Hawk of a sparkler - a type of firework - but far more intense. There was a connection - the spear in his hand, fireworks, and the defeat of the wegu. The guards raised their weapons. The solution burst forth in Hawk’s mind.
“I have the answer,“ he shouted triumphantly as the warriors hurled their knives.
Taroona screamed, broke free of Ren as Hawk threw himself to the floor. One blade grazed his scalp. The others whistled harmlessly overhead. Then he felt the girl fall protectively upon him.
“Stay your knives,” cried Taroona. “Let him speak.”
“What foolishness is this,” yelled Savua. “Stand clear of the impostor. His plan is to save himself, not us.”
Hawk rose. Despite his urgings, the girl would not leave his side. The Earthman faced Savua squarely and raked the man with a contemptuous gaze then, turning to the other members of the council who were peering timidly within the room, he spoke thus:
“If you kill me, then you will never know my plan, and all your people shall remain the wegu’s slaves. You doubt that I am the Umaas? My success will be the best proof of who I am.”
Savua tried to interject, but Ren quickly cut him off. “The stranger is right. Reason dictates that we hear what he has to say before passing judgment. Let him speak.”
**********
It was the night of the following day. Hawk searched the vault of stars, and listened for the beat of numerous wings. But all was quiet and no monstrous shapes flapped across the heavens. Still, the waiting was unnerving in itself.
The anxious Earthman turned to the rocket-spear launcher that had been set up in the gardens of the city’s administration centre. It was one of many similar weapons dispersed strategically about Manutu.
It had been fairly simple, in theory, to convert the spears to missiles. They were made from keme - hollow, bamboo-like reeds that grew in profusion along the river by the city. Their insides could be packed with the chemicals used in fire starters, and when ignited would hopefully propel the spears high enough to kill the wegu raiders.
There had been some tense moments, though, when the prototype had failed to get off the ground. And if it hadn’t been for Taroona and Ren’s unwavering support, Hawk would no doubt have been killed then and there on the strident urgings of Savua. Fortunately, Taroona’s brother was a member of the Mathu-ni, a kind of academy of philosophy, and could see the soundness of the Earthman’s reasoning.
Backed by his support and with the assistance of the sages from this august body, experiments were conducted and the combustible compound quickly modified. To Hawk’s vast relief the propellant was now capable of hurling a rocket-spear to the required height of a thousand feet. But still the Earthman worried.
Working at a frenetic pace, teams of artificers had been churning out the new weapons since early morning. It was testimony to the organizational ability of Manutu’s government. But even so, only two thousand rocket-spears had been manufactured and just fifty of the larger, more ambitious rockets with explosive warheads. Would it be enough?
The sonorous bellowing of alarm-horns broke through the Earthman’s thoughts. The moment of truth was now upon them. Hawk looked up. Chill fear came upon him. High above him and heading towards the city were swarming bat-like forms. In their thousands they blotted out the stars.
Hawk’s mouth was dry as he reached for the torch to ignite the missiles, a signal for the others to do the same. A hand gripped his arm. It was Ren.
“Not yet,” he said. “Wait until they start to spiral about the city. They’ll be more densely packed when they adopt this formation.”
The Earthman nodded as the wegu drew near and began to swirl about. The beat of their gigantic wings filled the air. Wailing cries, the orders of the swarm’s commanders, drifted down to the tensely watching men. Slowly, a spiral formed – vast and menacing - a dark cyclone of whirling demonic forms.
Ren nodded. Hawk set his torch to the fuses and jumped back. The missiles leapt skyward in a roar. Their trailing sparks were like flaming pillars against the night, and were quickly joined by other blazing trails soaring up from all about the city until heaven itself seemed slashed open by blades of roaring fire.
From high above came screams of consternation as the burning spears ripped through ranks of Devil-Men. Winged corpses tumbled from the sky by their hundreds, and then the slower, heavier rockets with explosive warheads detonated, and tore apart the night with flame and thunder.
Starbursts of glowing shrapnel lit the sky. Gaping holes were torn in the wegu legions, and their mangled bodies began to fall in a grisly rain. The Devil-Men were thrown into churning panic. Blinded and deafened by explosions, and scourged by whining rocket fragments; the survivors fled from this terrifying magic, screaming shrill cries of utter terror.
Ren slapped the Earthman upon the back. “Look at them flee,” he enthused. “You’ve …”
Further words were cut off by a woman’s scream. Both men looked behind them and cursed. Upon the wide balcony of the building stood a man, one arm pinioning a struggling girl, the other holding a signal lamp aloft.
“It’s Taroona,” gasped Hawk. “Savua has her. The traitor! He‘s signalling to the wegu!”
Both men dashed for the balcony and frantically began to climb its trellis, Taroona’s screams spurring them to greater effort. Ren glimpsed four Devil-Men swooping low. He shouted to the Earthman. Hawk redoubled his efforts. He gained the balcony in a rush of speed and leapt across its balustrade.
Savua hurled his lamp at the Earthman. Taroona screamed as a wegu dived at his unprotected back. Hawk ducked and the lamp smashed against the creature’s face, wreathing it in burning oil. The shrieking Devil-Man tumbled to earth, nearly striking Ren as he scrambled across the rail. Ren saw Hawk charge Savua. Fear clutched him in its talons when the cunning lord pressed a dagger to Taroona’s throat.
Hawk swore. He skidded to a halt as the remaining wegu landed upon the balustrade, and gripped its ornate rail with their claws. Ren, who had been alerted by the flapping of their wings, spun about and faced the hissing trio, short sword drawn to guard the Earthman’s back.
Savua smiled unpleasantly. “Back,” he shouted. “If you value Taroona’s life, then stand aside and let me pass.”
“Kill him,” cried the girl as he dragged her passed the grim faced men. “I’d rather die than be his captive.”
Ren stepped forward. Savua pressed the blade against Taroona’s neck. The girl stiffened. Her brother swore as blood began to flow. Hawk gripped his arm, and spoke in a quiet but deadly way.
“Savua, you have sealed your doom, for I swear upon my soul that no matter where you flee I will find you. And when I do you will die.”
These words sent a chill up Savua’s spine as he shoved the frightened girl into the arms of a waiting wegu, and allowed another to take hold of him. Then he forced a laugh, and spoke in mocking tones.
“Fools,” he cried. “I have knowledge of the new weapons, knowledge that will gain me a high position among the Devil-Men. When they, too, can hurl flame and thunder we’ll see who lives and dies.”
Ren gasped, shocked by the depth of Savua’s betrayal. He loved his sister, but knew he had to save his people. With a cry of rage the youth leapt forward, his sword slashing at the traitor.
Savua barked an order. The wegu clasping man and girl beat their monstrous wings, and soared aloft. Ren’s blade cut empty air, and Taroona cried in fear as she glimpsed the third creature fall upon her brother.
Ren parried the monster’s knife, but a buffeting wing knocked him to the floor. Hawk threw his sword at the wegu as it was about to gut the fallen man. The spinning blade struck it in the chest. The creature staggered back, wounded, but still full of fight. Hawk drew his dagger, ran forward as it struck at Ren again. The youth blocked the vicious stroke. But with lightning speed the Devil-Man grabbed his sword arm in a crushing hold, and drew back its blade for the killing blow. Ren gasped. The monster’s terrible grip caused him to drop his weapon. The wegu’s blade descended in a terrible arc.
Hawk darted under the swinging arm, caught it with one hand and with the other drove his dagger between the wegu’s ribs. The Devil-Man shrieked a piercing death-cry as the Earthman lunged against it in a mighty shove. The creature’s sword stroke faultered. It tumbled from the balcony, and crashed in a lifeless heap upon the earth below.
Ren staggered upright. In numb and dejected silence both men watched two flapping shapes vanish within the shroud of night. Victory had suddenly become a very hollow thing.
**********
Hawk clung to the wegu’s back as it flew through the night. He was held in place by a harness of leather straps. One arm was about the creature’s neck and pressed a dagger to its throat. Fifty feet in front of him was Ren, also mounted on another Devil-Man. Both creatures had been stunned by exploding rockets, and had tumbled to earth, their terrible fall broken by soft bushes.
Fortunately, they were captured alive, and when the Earthman had been advised a reckless plan formed within his mind, one the council had no choice but to agree to, for time was of the essence and the situation desperate. With threats of dire torture they’d forced the prisoners to carry them to the wegu stronghold. Once there they’d rescue Taroona and kill Savua, hopefully before he could divulge the formula for explosives to the enemy.
Looming mountains brought Hawk back to the present. He shouted to the Devil-Man, forcing his voice above the rushing wind. “If you wish to live, do exactly as you have been instructed. I’ll slit your throat at the first sign of treachery, even though it will mean my death as well.”
The creature hissed consent. Hawk saw Ren’s wegu begin to climb, as did his own. The air grew chill as they ascended, and the landscape of forested foothills fell away as they rose to meet black peaks silhouetted against blue Oyau - Nui-em’s only moon.
Onward they flew, higher and higher, the chill air cutting through them like a knife blade. The mountain became a wall before them - bleak, and fissured with terrible ruggedness. The Devil-Men swept towards the precipitous slope. Hawk glimpsed Ren’s wegu dive within a fissure. His own followed and the Earthman tensed as the jagged rocks seemed to leap out at him like the knuckles of a monstrous fist.
Then he was within the crevasse, and his wegu’s wings began flapping madly to slow its flight as it came in to land beside the other. They were now within a cave mouth’s yawning blackness. Success, but then disaster - two spear-armed guards stepped forth from the darkness to challenge them.
Chapter 5: Lair of the Wegu
Hawk pressed the dagger to his prisoner’s throat. The creature trembled, but raised no alarm as the wegu guards drew near. The Earthman glanced at Ren and saw his captive was cooperating. Both invaders were hidden by each Devil-Man’s partially open wings, but even so Hawk sweated. He needed the sentries to come nearer, but not too near or they’d see that something was amiss. Timing was the essence of his plan.
It’s now or never, thought the Earthman as he whistled softly. Instantly, each man slammed the pommel of his knife against his prisoner‘s skull. The wegu collapsed. The startled guards hesitated. Both men hurled their blades in unison.
Ren’s knife pierced a Devil-Man’s throat and dispatched it quickly. Hawk cursed - the pommel of his heavy blade had struck a glancing blow upon the other’s head. Stunned, the wegu staggered back as the Earthman, with his sword, slashed away the harness, leapt upon his feet and charged the reeling guard.
The Devil-Man glimpsed Hawk bearing down upon it in a rush. The creature rallied its shaken wits. It took to the air with a mighty leap, its wings madly flapping. Breathing deeply, it prepared to scream a warning cry. The Earthman swore. He’d never reach the thing in time. Suddenly, a spear streaked up and slammed within the wegu’s chest. Its shout died with it, and the only sound was a dull thud when it struck the ground.
“A good cast,” complimented Hawk as Ren came up beside him. “We’d best dispose of the bodies, and bind our unconscious prisoners. So far, everything they told us has been truthful. Hopefully, our luck will hold.”
These tasks completed, the men crept down the tunnel, hugging the shrouding darkness. There was only the dimmest of light - a wan crimson radiance cast by veins of reddish minerals that streaked the walls. To the wegu, though, it was no doubt as bright as day.
After about a hundred yards, Hawk raised his hand. Both men halted. The tunnel debouched into a huge cavern whose further walls were lost in gloom. But nearer to them upon the floor of the mighty cave, perhaps two hundred yards away, was an ebon city.
Every building was hexagonal in plan. Each tapered slightly as it rose to a flat roof a hundred feet above the ground. All were starkly functional. Each structure had two doorways, both hexagonal - one at ground level, through which the creatures entered, and another at roof height by which they made a flying exit.
Hawk estimated by the number of buildings, which were clustered in irregular groups rather than laid out in streets, that the population could number no more than about four thousand wegu at the most.
“I think you are right,“ confirmed Ren, in reply to his query. “Fortunately, they are slow breeding, and therefore not as numerous as you might expect. However, what the wegu lack in numbers they make up for in sheer viciousness.“
The city was in turmoil. Wegu by the hundreds flew about with obvious agitation, while numerous others milled upon the cavern floor. The two men had given the swarm an hour’s head start, hoping that by the time they arrived the creatures would have settled down to sleep. Ren looked despairingly at the seething throng. In the name of the Sacred, how were they going to sneak in undetected?
“This might work to our advantage,” said Hawk, who knew by Ren’s troubled visage what was going through his mind. “The survivors are still in a panic, and their fear has spread to all the population. It won’t take much to break them.”
Succinctly, Hawk outlined his daring strategy. Ren Nodded - it was their only hope. Both men crept within the cavern. There was little cover in the open where the city stood, but near the walls were many stalagmites that had not been cleared away. From one pillar to another darted the tense and sweating men, acutely conscious they might be spotted at any moment.
The daring invaders moved through crimson gloom that darkened to the blackness of brimming shadow. Ren glanced up - forms, grotesque and indistinct, wheeled in aimless flight. Their leathery wings stirred the stuffy air with an eerie flapping that raised gooseflesh upon his arms. Hawk’s eyes scanned the city. He glimpsed monstrous figures stalking about. Their nightmarish forms cast dim, surreal shadows that crawled across towers, bleak and grim. The Earthman shivered. It was as if some incubus had used dark magic to weave reality from the threads of nightmare dreams.
Both men crouched behind a massive stalagmite. They were within two hundred yards of their goal - the city’s further side. Suddenly, Ren gripped Hawk’s arm, pointed. The Earthman repressed a curse - a wegu’s aimless flight was taking it near to them. The gaze of the breathless men locked upon it. It came closer, nearer still. Ren’s mouth went dry. He could see its luminous eyes - wide, staring.
Suddenly, the thing’s eyes narrowed. It dived upon them. One bony hand hurled forth a sphere as it screamed a piercing warning cry. Both men scattered. Ren hurled his spear as the globe burst against the pillar. The Devil-Man howled as the spear struck its wing. The brute crashed within the billowing vapours of the sundered globe.
Hawk sprinted for the city. Ren followed close behind with a rolling cloud of poison hot upon his heels. Above, other wegu had heard the shrill alarm. Several squadrons peeled off and swept towards the running pair, screeching madly. Clearly, all attempts at subtle stealth had come to ruin.
The Earthman halted as did Ren. Both drew forth petards from their satchels and ignited the primitive grenades. They hurled the bombs aloft and threw themselves upon the ground. The petards exploded high above among the diving Devil-Men.
Twin blasts rocked the cavern with flaring light and sound. Wegu screamed. The dead tumbled in a rain of gruesome body parts. The men were on their feet. Again they ran. The city loomed and both saw its panicked inhabitance had taken flight. The air above grew black with whirling forms that swarmed in mass confusion and alarm.
More Devil-Men, like hurtling falcons, fell upon them. The wegu cast a rain of deadly spheres as both men burst among the city’s towers and dashed towards the tallest of the structures. The globes shattered, spreading toxic gas before the pair - a mist of roiling poison they dare not penetrate.
Hawk cursed. He shouted orders as the wegu wheeled in preparation to attack again. Ren hurled two grenades aloft in quick succession, and the Earthman cast another before the swirling gas. All petards exploded with deafening fury that felled the Devil-Men in mangled heaps and blew the toxic vapors clear away.
Ren swore as whining shrapnel cut a bloody furrow along his side. Then he was on his feet and racing after Hawk. They gained the highest tower. Guards flew at them from its apex portal while others charged from the lower. Petards exploded and strew screaming wegu in all directions.
Hawk hurled the last grenade through the building’s entrance and threw himself upon the earth. It burst in flame and thunder and cleared the way. He staggered up, helped Ren to rise. Both men stumbled within the tower and stood panting amongst the bloody carnage. Each was near to exhaustion, covered from head to foot in wegu gore.
The Earthman glanced without and grinned despite his tiredness, for the panicked Devil-Men were fleeing in uncontrolled retreat. It was like an aerial stampede - the seething mass of fliers was rushing for the exit all at once. Many collided with each other and tumbled to their deaths; others choked the tunnel with their bodies. Those behind tore frantically at them in a desperate bid to escape what seemed like the fury of the gods.
“We’d better … move on,” panted Ren. “Take advantage of the chaos … while it lasts.”
Hawk nodded. He looked about, trying to ignore the mangled bodies strewn upon the floor. They appeared to be in a kind of reception area cum guardroom. To their left was a flight of steps spiralling up into brooding darkness.
They ascended cautiously with drawn swords. If their prisoners had told the truth, then this was the Supreme Wegu’s abode, and they would find the leader’s chambers in the middle level. Once captured, they’d force this arch fiend of the Devil-Men to reveal the whereabouts of Traoona and the traitor.
That is, thought Hawk, if he hasn’t fled with the rest. The Earthman pushed aside the thought. It was a distracting worry he couldn’t afford to entertain.
Onward they moved, up and up until at last they reached what Hawk judged to be their goal. Warily, the Earthman set his foot upon the threshold of the chamber. All was quiet; much too quiet. They had gained their objective with suspicious ease – where was the remainder of the guards? Still, there could be no turning back at this late stage.
Hawk and Ren slid within the room. They fanned out, their eyes darting here and there. The chamber was empty but for nondescript items cloaked by shadow. A doorway pierced the further wall. Ren cautiously advanced and peered within another room. He gasped.
Taroona, completely nude, was gagged and bound spread-eagle to a low stone table. Frantically, Ren signaled the Earthman. Both dashed within the chamber. The girl struggled vainly against her bonds and tried to cry a warning. Too late - her hasty rescuers sprung a cunning tripwire. Globes fell from the ceiling, shattered. Gas billowed in soporific clouds. The last thing Hawk saw was the look of utter fear upon Taroona’s lovely face.
**********
A kick in the ribs brought Hawk back to painful consciousness. He groaned, opened his eyes and saw Savua looking down upon him. Gloating triumph was written large upon his shadowed face.
Hawk cursed and tried to kick the traitor in return. But his legs and arms were bound and the wily Manutuan leapt away. His mocking laugh tore bitter curses from the Earthman, and further oaths when he saw Taroona still gagged and bound upon the table. The girl’s eyes were upon him, and the Earthman’s heart was rent by her despairing gaze.
“Save your strength,” advised Ren, who lay beside him and was restrained in a similar manner. His face was a bleak mask beneath which churned raging fear for his beloved sister - a mirror to Hawk‘s emotions. “Savua has the mind of a wegu. Brute force is no match for the subtlety of this devil.”
Hawk fought to master himself. Ren was right - he needed his wits to save them now, but how? Savua was a ruthless bastard - no plea for mercy would move his heartless soul. The Earthman sweated as his mind raced like an engine. Then he had it - an appeal to self-interest might win the day. Although it irked him, he knew their only chance was to strike a bargain with this alien Machiavelli.
“The wegu have fled, and their defeat is your defeat as well, Savua,” Hawk carefully pointed out. “You are alone. Only I can help you. Release us unharmed and as Umaas I will allow your return to Manutu with full pardon for all your crimes.“
“Do you think I’m so foolish as to believe your lies,” sneered Savua. “Besides, even if you speak truth, the wegu aren’t beaten yet, and neither am I. As we speak Issu, the equivalent of their Umi has, at my suggestion, sent out scouts to gather the survivors to witness you being sacrificed to the Dweller in the Dark.
“Destroying you in this manner shall prove their god’s magic is mightier than your own, and this will restore their courage.” Savua smirked and then continued: “I have also arranged a demonstration of your fire-powder. Your own weapon shall be turned against you, and Issu has promised I shall be Umi after Manutu has been subdued.”
“You find all of this amusing?“ spat Ren. “We‘ll see how well you laugh when I get my hands around your filthy throat.”
“Neither one of you will ever get the chance,” replied Savua, coolly.
Then, grabbing Hawk by the hair, he dragged the swearing Earthman across the floor. Although bound hand and foot, Hawk put up a terrific struggle, and it required several savage punches to subdue him before Savua could bind him by his ankles to one leg of the table. Ren was soon secured to the other. Both men stared helplessly at the writhing girl, each consumed by darkest fear at what they guessed their diabolical captor planned.
In utter desperation Hawk and Ren surged against their bonds. Tears flowed from Taroona’s eyes as she fought against her restraints. The knowledge of what was planned for the Earthman and her brother was a kind of torture in itself, perhaps one greater than any Savua could inflict upon her. Again, she looked at Hawk as he struggled wildly in a vain attempt to free himself and aid her. There was so much she wanted to say, but the gag and crueller fate prevented it.
“My, such unseemliness,” observed Savua in mocking tones as he drew forth a jar and tongs from beneath the table. “Still,” he grinned, “considering what I’m about to do I suppose I should be the last to criticize.”
Using the tongs, he carefully removed an object from the jar, and held it up for their inspection. It was a fluffy thing - a sphere of lucid filaments whose tips glowed sulphurous yellow in the gloom. Despite its seeming innocence it radiated a strange malevolence that made Hawk sick with sudden fear, and Ren go deathly pale.
“Ah, yes,” grinned Savua. “The seed of the opua tree - its slightest touch brings searing agony.” He held the thing above the trembling girl. His eyes narrowed with sadistic glee as his lustful gaze caressed her nubile form.
“Taroona rejected my advances, but perhaps this little ball of fluff will help her change her mind.” He laughed - a truly sinister sound and then continued: “I shall torture her before your eyes. You shall go to your deaths knowing she is my helpless plaything.”
Both men cursed and struggled furiously to free themselves as did the girl. It was hopeless. Again, Savua madly laughed as he released the seed. Taroona and her would-be rescuers gazed in helpless horror as the thing slowly drifted down towards her naked breasts.
Chapter 6: The Dweller in the Dark
As the opua seed drifted down towards Taroona’s breasts, Savua knelt before her and keenly following its fall with rapt attention. Hawk and Ren raged in anger and revulsion - their foe was almost drooling in anticipation. The seed was now mere inches from Taroona’s sweat slick flesh. The desperate Earthman’s muscles swelled in knotted cords. Taroona paled in fearful expectation of the sphere’s searing touch. Savua laughed in dark delight.
An idea bloomed in Hawk’s mind as the opua seed was about to touch the girl. He inhaled - quick and deep, bent low and blew with all his might. The jet of air hit the seed. Deflected, it struck Savua’s face and clung upon his cheek. He screamed and collapsed in writhing agony upon the floor.
“Quick,” cried Hawk as he twisted his arms towards Ren, “Gnaw through the ropes about my wrists. Hurry, man,” he continued as his companion bent forward, and set about the task. “This screaming will bring the remaining wegu down upon us.”
Frantically, Ren tore at the bindings with his teeth as Savua clawed the opua seed away. The traitor fought through a sea of pain and struggled to his knees. Hawk felt the rope weaken as his foe staggered up, dagger drawn. Taroona uttered a muffled cry as with a wild yell Savua lunged across the table at the Earthman.
Hawk, with a surge of frantic strength snapped the weakened rope. He struck aside his foe’s thrusting arm, grabbed Savua and dragged him across the table. Taroona grunted as Savua’s weight fell upon her. She glimpsed the pair wrestling furiously as they gripped each other‘s wrists.
Savua grinned. He had the upper hand - Hawk was hampered by the ropes that still bound his ankles to to the table's leg. The traitor rose to his knees upon the girl. He tore one hand free, clamped it upon the Earthman's throat with savage glee. Hawk gagged as Savua jammed his thumb into the hollow of his opponent's throat. Fear was upon Hawk as the gleaming blade drew nearer to his pulsing jugular – fear not only for himself but also for the girl who was being slowly crushed beneath Savua‘s brawny frame.
Taroona couldn’t breath. Her mind was a mess of frantic chaos. Her vision darkened as the closing dagger pressed against the Earthman’s neck. Then the traitor screamed as Ren sank his teeth in the fellow’s arm.
The pressure eased on Hawk’s throat as his cursing foe jerked away, and Savua’s grip about his wrist also weakened. With a surge of strength the Earthman tore free his hand, slammed his fist against the traitor’s jaw. Savua grunted, then howled as Hawk grabbed him by the hair, jerked him off the girl and toppled him head first upon the floor.
Ren watched Hawk snatch up Savua’s dagger. Now he’d know the measure of the fellow. The Earthman turned his savage gaze upon his unconscious foe. His blazing rage was a vicious spur to bloody murder. It would be so easy to slit the helpless traitor’s throat. Tempting though it was, it was not his way, so with a muttered curse Hawk used the blade sever his bonds, and those of his companions.
“Ren, bind and gag Savua,” ordered Hawk as he helped Taroona rise. Then, to the shaken girl: “Are you badly hurt?”
“I’m somewhat bruised, but otherwise unharmed.” Then she stunned Hawk by slapping him across the face. “You fool,” she cried. “You could have perished trying to rescue me. What madness, and dragging Ren into this insanity as well. I nearly died from fear for both of you.”
“I … well,” stammered Hawk, completely at a loss as what to say.
Her expression softened. “But it is a madness of which I thoroughly approve,” she continued, and again surprised him, but this time with a passionate kiss.
“Enough of that,“ said Ren with mock severity as he hauled the groggy Savua to his feet. “We have to leave. “
Hawk gave him a sheepish look while Taroona gave her brother an impish grin. Weapons retrieved, they cautiously began to make their way towards the exit of the chamber. All was quiet, no wegu were about. Perhaps they thought Savua’s screams were those of the captives he was torturing. The Earthman fervently hoped that it was so.
Suddenly, a dozen wegu exploded from another room and fell upon them in a wild rush. Hawk ducked and struck one creature down as it attacked with something like a blend of spear and gaff hook. Ren quickly felled another. Savua, his wits recovered, kicked the girl as she blocked a foeman’s savage thrust with her borrowed blade. Taroona crashed upon the floor. The traitor grinned as the wegu lunged at her with its weapon.
From peripheral vision Hawk glimpsed what impended - once the hook lodged in Taroona‘s flesh she‘d be helpless. He dodged an opponent’s wild thrust, pivoted and swung his weapon. Taroona’s adversary howled and staggered back as it clutched its severed arm. The hook-spear clattered within inches of the girl. Taroona screamed a warning. Hawk ducked as she cast her knife. It struck the wegu that was about to drive its hook into his shoulder.
Hawk quickly engaged another foe - there wasn‘t time for the pleasantries of thanks. Taroona leapt upon her feet. She saw a wegu trip her brother from behind. Ren hit the ground. He lay stunned as his foe prepared to gaff him. The girl snatched up the fallen hook-spear and hurled it. The Devil-Man fell, blood spurting from its throat.
The Earthman gutted his assailant. He leapt to defend Ren from another foe and glimpsed Taroona rush Savua. The traitor tried to kick the girl. She blocked his strike and slammed her foot in his groin. It was a savage blow delivered with every ounce of strength and fury she possessed. After everything he’d done to her and those she loved, it was immensely satisfying to see the bastard howl and watch him collapse in utter agony to the ground.
The girl turned from the moaning man, and saw that a respite in the battle had occurred. The remaining wegu had withdrawn towards the exit, and stood glaring at them. The rest of their kind lay in lifeless and bloody heaps upon the floor - a grim dissuasion to continue the assault.
Hawk and Ren were breathing heavily, and gazed upon the enemy with equal hardness. The girl retrieved her knife and stood beside the men, worrying what cunning ruse the ruthless foe would try, for clearly they were hampered by orders to capture them alive. The answer came with startling suddenness - other wegu hurled half a dozen spheres within the room.
“Hold your breath, and rush them,” cried Hawk as the globes shattered upon the floor.
Through swirling vapours charged the desperate trio and fell with utter recklessness upon those Devil-Men who barred the way. The creatures fought a holding action - immune to the soporific gas, they knew their foes would soon collapse.
Hawk hacked madly at the impeding mass of Devil-Men. He glimpsed Taroona swoon. Ren, too, collapsed - the insidious gas was being absorbed through their skin. Then creeping lethargy came upon the Earthman. In a desperate bid to win their freedom he hurled himself upon the foe as his vision began to dim. A hook-spear struck him in the thigh. Lancing agony caused Hawk to gasp and suck in a lungful of the vapors. Wings of darkness swept down upon his mind, and he tumbled senseless to the floor.
**********
Hawk lay in darkness as bleak as his own tormenting thoughts. He was alone, and his mind was beset by gnawing worry for his companions. Memories of Taroona came upon him - her smile that bespoke in silent eloquence of the bright spirit that dwelt within her graceful form. The thought of her in Savua’s hands was unbearable - so much so that his fear was for the girl and not himself.
I’m an utter fool, he thought with acid bitterness. I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance.
The prison door crashed open with startling suddenness. Light flooded in - dim, yet blinding after being in utter darkness. Before the Earthman could react, wegu guards seized him. The monsters dragged him from the cell and along the dungeon’s grimy corridor.
As Hawk’s vision adjusted to the light, he glimpsed Ren up ahead being manhandled along the way by other Devil-Men. He appeared uninjured, much to Hawk‘s relief. There was no sign of Taroona, though, and the anxious Earthman didn’t know if her absence boded good or ill.
They passed up the spiral stair, through the tower, and out upon the city. Quiet emptiness prevailed. Had the population failed to return or, if so, were they so few in number as to be unnoticeable? Somehow, Hawk felt that neither assumption was correct.
Through the desolate silence of the towers they passed, continuing beyond the city towards another smaller cavern neither Hawk nor Ren had seen before. Moving through the narrow entrance to the cave they found themselves in a natural coliseum, and here the surviving Devil-Men had disposed themselves to witness their destruction.
A thousand pairs of hostile eyes were upon the men as their captors frog marched both down narrow stairs leading into a jagged fissure that cracked the cavern floor. A massive timber door creaked open in the wall before them, and Hawk and his companion were thrust out to face whatever horrid death their fiendish captors had devised.
“You promised me death,” called a mordant voice from above, “your vow, though, appears to be in vain.”
Both men looked up, and met Savua’s sardonic gaze - crueler, or so it seemed than the scarred and hideous visage of gaunt Issu who stood beside him. Savua laughed at the cursing men. Taroona, hands bound behind her back and ankles hobbled, was pinioned in his lascivious grasp. The girl cried out despairingly, then in pain when the traitor pricked her naked breasts with his dagger.
Hawk ran for the wall, and in a frenzy tried to scale the slippery precipice. Ren joined him with frantic zeal, hungering for Savua’s blood. They gained a foot of height, then both slipped and crashed to earth with jarring force. Savua laughed uproariously at the sight, Taroona cried, and Issu bared its pointed teeth in pleasure.
“Best look to your own salvation,” shouted the traitor as he gestured towards the fissure’s further end.
Hawk, realizing the futility of trying to reach Savua, gazed into the gloom. Yellow vapors, sulphurous in odor, swirled upon the rocky floor and lifted snaking tendrils to further obscure his vision. Ren nudged him. “Over there - something bulks large against the darkness.”
Both men focused upon the blacker shadow. Slowly, the thing resolved itself as their eyes adjusted to the murk. It was a strange creature whose serpentine body was about seventy feet in length. Unlike a serpent, though, it was supported by a dozen stumpy pairs of legs, and its form was armored in segmented, rocky plates of granite-like appearance, with finer stony scales upon its limbs.
The thing was grazing upon faintly glowing mineral veins in the rock. It fed by using sucker mouthparts that protruded snail-like from an aperture in the armor, and oozed corrosive slobber that dissolved the elements. The creature then sucked up the fuming, bubbling mess in a most disgusting manner.
Hawk could only speculate that the bizarre thing confronting him was some kind of silicon life form spawned within the depths of this strange planet, and that the fissure was merely the entrance to a vast subterranean world hidden from the eyes of men.
His thoughts were interrupted by the movement of the Dweller in the Dark. The thing swung its blocky head in their direction, suckers pulsing as their heat sensing organs detected the presence of intruders.
The monster charged. Taroona groaned - there was hardly room to move for the fissure narrowed towards the men. Hawk and Ren leapt apart, pressed themselves against the walls. Savua laughed at their futile efforts as the watching wegu hissed in expectation of the gory spectacle.
Taroona’s eyes darted here and there, desperately seeking some means by which to save the pair. Her eyes fell upon the keg of explosives Savua had prepared.
Suddenly, a plan leapt to mind. She thrust her hip violently against Savua, knocking him to the ground, and then threw herself against the barrel of fire-powder. Issu barked commands. Two wegu sprang forward as Taroona hit the keg. It spun towards the edge and toppled over as the rushing guards prepared to thrust their spears into the helpless girl.
Chapter 7: Cavern of Carnage
Ren saw the barrel fall and heard his sister’s shouted warning as did Hawk. Both men flung themselves to the earth as the plunging fire-powder struck the rushing creature’s head.
An echoing blast smote the ears of all. The startled guards aim was spoilt by the frightening noise - their plunging spears narrowly missed the girl. Below, the monster staggered - its suckers had been torn to gory shreds by exploding fire-powder.
Though blinded by the blast, the creature’s fierce bloodlust drove it on. It charged madly at the stunned and shaken men, missed both by a foot and collided with the timber door. The portal shattered to kindling under the frightful impact of its stony body and its terrific momentum carried it up the stairs.
Above, cries of consternation burst forth from the startled throng who began to mill about in agitation. Taroona took advantage of the chaos. She gave one distracted guard a savage kick. The Devil-Man fell and collided with the other guard. Both tumbled over the fissure’s edge.
Issu was beside itself with rage - its guards attacked, its god assaulted by defiling slaves. Everything was going wrong. The Umi of the Devil-Men drew its dagger and advanced upon Taroona. Savua staggered up, considered intervening, but then decided the girl wasn’t worth the trouble. He grinned unpleasantly as he watched Issu seize Taroona by the hair, and raise his glittering weapon in preparation for the killing stroke.
Hawk glimpsed the falling wegu guards. He saw them spread their wings and with frantic flaps break their wild plunge. Both landed heavily next to him, slightly stunned. Instantly, the Earthman saw an opportunity present itself. With a tremendous act of will he roused his flagging strength and jumped the nearest guard, shouting for Ren to take the other.
There ensued a brief but violent struggle in which the wegu were disarmed. Then the men were in the air, borne aloft by Devil-Men made compliant by the press of stinging blades.
Taroona cried in pain and struggled futilely as Issu forced back her head. She screamed as the blade began to make its fatal plunge. There was a sudden collision of bodies - a kaleidoscope of chaotic impressions and screams of pain and rage. Then her bonds were cut away and she found herself in Hawk’s strong arms.
Before Taroona had a chance to express her heartfelt thanks the screams of enraged Devil-Men smote the trio's ears. A swarm of howling creatures swept towards them, intent on bloody vengeance for having killed their Umi and those prisoners who had carried them aloft.
Hawk was sick with fear for the girl as his eyes gazed in horror at the winging fiends that dived upon them in overwhelming numbers. Then the Dweller in the Dark burst upon the scene, its fearsome presence adding further bedlam to the chaos.
The thing dimly sensed the swirling wegu hoard. Their agitated movement, mistaken for another threat, was an explosive provocation. Missiles like buckshot erupted from perforations in its armor. Devil -Men tumbled from the air by the hundreds as the cavern trembled to the echo of the monster’s thundering fire. A rain of stony debris and body parts fell upon the crouching, terrified trio. Ren glanced up. He saw a massive chunk of plunging stone crush the fleeing traitor and another falling on them. He cried in naked fear as the entire cavern collapsed. Then a flash of light erupted and swept away all consciousness.
**********
Hawk opened his eyes. His entire body ached abominably, but at least the pain was evidence he was alive. Disorientated, he lay staring blankly at his surroundings, and the anxious man sitting next to him. Then dawning comprehension came upon him.
“Uncle Leo,” he gasped, as he tried to sit up.
The older man pushed him gently back upon the bed. “Easy, lad; you’ve been through a lot. I’ve been following your adventures with the hyper-scope. Lucky my modifications to the instrument proved successful, or you’d have been buried under tons of rock.”
Fear knifed Hawk. Taroona, Ren, where were they? Had he alone survived? The thought of Taroona’s death was a blight upon his soul, and made him realize his depth of feeling for the girl. Words unsaid came to mind, and the joyous possibilities that might have been. But of what good were they now - just hollow dreams that had come to dust, for his uncle had made no mention of the others.
“Taroona. Oh, God,” he groaned.
“The young lady is quite safe,” reassured Grace with a smile. “She’s resting in the guest room with her brother.”
In an instant Hawk was on his feet and out the door.
“The impetuousness of youth,” sighed Grace as he stood and followed at a more genteel pace.
**********
“Are you sure this is what you want?” queried Grace as he looked about Manutu’s central plaza that was thronged with the city’s wondering populace.
“I’ve never been more certain,” affirmed Hawk as he slipped his arm about Taroona’s waist. “
“I was fairly sure that would be your answer,” replied the older man with a grin as his eyes shifted to the smiling girl. “Well, I suppose I’d best be going. I wish you both all the best that life can offer.”
The men shook hands, and then Grace stepped through the circular portal of the hyper-scope. He waved a final time, and all watched in silent awe as the gateway to another world shimmered and faded to empty air.
“Are you sure you won’t regret your decision?” questioned Taroona as she gazed upon the Earthman. “You may never see your world again; for you told me your uncle said when he shifts the focus of his machine to other planets he may not find Nui-em a second time.” Then, teasingly: “This Earth of yours must have many women more beautiful than I.”
“Never,” replied Hawk in all sincerity.
“Persuade me,” parried the grinning girl.
And he did in a most convincing way.
THE END