Sorta Lucky was outside the merchant lodge smoking a euphoria stick when everyone around him started screaming and pointing towards the far-off mountains. “Shit!” he exclaimed as he and everyone else watched the rainbows and fireworks that were exploding all across the mountain range. He was only eight when he last saw them. Now again, forty years later, everyone was on pins and needles anticipating the return of the Oracle hunters at any moment…and now that time has arrived.
Sorta dabbed out his euphoria stick, popped an anti-phoria pill, and ran inside to find Chilli Roll. During the Oracle hunts, everyone knew to stay within the protection of the artifacts. Sorta was young during the last hunt, but he well remembered the sorrows of the caravan from all the foragers that failed to return to the protection of the artifact. With the number of powerful hunters running freely, the Cities throughout the deck would simply call in their guards to keep them safe within the boundaries of their own artifacts. Without the guards to keep the roads and territories safe, the local bandits, along with many of the hunter parties, would run wild robbing and killing anyone or any small settlement that did not have the protection of an artifact.
The merchant lodge was in chaos upon everyone learning of the start of the Oracle Hunt. Fortunately, Chilli was already half way to the door when he found her. Sorta was scowling internally as he grabbed Chilli’s hand without saying anything, and immediately started plowing back through the crowd to get out of the building. He didn’t say anything to her, it wasn’t his place to, but “Damn!” he thought, “If she’d just listened to me, we’d be safe with their caravan under the protection of our artifact, but Nooooo! She just had to try and show up her brother pushing for better trades, at the cost of letting the caravan leave without them.” Now that there was an identifiable threat to her safety, he had full authority to force her to leave with him, and he was thankful she wasn’t protesting their immediate departure, because his hands were full with moving idiots out of the way. He couldn’t “move” anyone too hard, or the City’s artifact would intervene.
“Commander Sorta! The rest of the men have already returned, and we’ve got the reflector boats loaded and ready to go!” announced Junior League, his second in command.
Sorta ordered, “We’re going to move fast! We need to get out and ahead of anyone else leaving the city so they don’t slow us down… and hopefully we catch up with the Caravan before the hunters or any gangs block the valley. We’re going to all work together to launch each reflector boat. Let’s get to the speed ropes and start pulling with everything we have!”
Chilli Roll understood that Commander Sorta was authorized to take command of their trading party upon the start of the Oracle hunt, but she was fuming inside with his over-reaction. With her skill she was confident that she could talk their way out of any harm with some peasant bandits or gold-digging hunters. However, she waited until they were more than a mile away from the City and for the City’s artifact to fully released them, before saying, “Sorta, I would like to speak with you privately,” and nodded for them to enter the cabin.
Once they were alone, Chilli turned her displeasure on Sorta, and angrily spoke in a low voice, “I knew you would flip out and want to leave immediately, but you will slow these boats down! If even one of them is damaged and has to be left behind, we will be in the RED on this trading trip, and that is unacceptable!”
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Sorta responded calmly, “I understand your concerns Ms. Chilli, but the danger is too great. I would have us travel even faster if it were possible. I don’t care if we lost two boats going this fast. You are too young to remember the chaos and terror that the Oracle Hunters and gangs will dish out on anyone not protected by an artifact.”
Chilli Roll clinched her teeth in anger, as she replied, “That’s ridiculous! You are the best fighter among all the clans in our caravan, and we have 20 of the clan’s best men and women with us. With the size of our force, no one would dare attack us…and even if they did, I could talk our way out of it. Now, slow these boats down!”
Sorta shook his head in disgust at the naïve young idiot, and before turning and exiting the cabin, said, “The command is mine under these circumstances. We will not be slowing the boats down.”
Chilli Roll shouted at his back, “You’ll be paying for the damage to any of our boats when we get back to the clan!” Chilli was upset with Sorta, and wanted to knock some sense into the stubborn. However, if push came to shove, they were of one clan, and would have each other’s back.
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All the men and women were exhausted and on edge from keeping a constant watch through the night for any obstacles in Longshot Valley that the reflector boats would need to sail around. There was an unspoken sigh of relief as the sun peaked over the mountains providing much appreciated light for making a path around any obstacles throughout Longshot Valley.
Sorta couldn’t relax even with the relief of the sun. He knew the death of them could lay eyes upon them at any time. Sorta’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Junior League shout, “Commander! At Three O’clock, 800 meters, 60 degrees! They’re in a fight!”
Sorta climbed halfway up the mast and removed his spy glass from his hip pouch to survey the problem. After viewing the massacre that was taking place,he called out, “Ms. Chilli!”
“Here!” she immediately replied from below him surprising him as he’d not seen her leave the cabin.
Sorta climbed down from the mast, as it was somewhat dangerous to jump down from the mast at the speed the reflector boats were travelling. He handed Chilli Roll the spy glass, and said “See for yourself!” He didn’t like the idea of letting her observe the massacre, but she’d been sheltered by artifacts most of her life, and he was hoping the scene she was about to see would help her understand the reality of the Oracle Hunt.
Chill rolled her eyes at Sorta as she took the spy glass and climbed the mast. She knew battles were not pretty, and his treatment of her was starting to really get under her skin. Unfortunately, she wasn’t expecting to see the nightmare of torture that was being executed on the losers of the battle.
Sorta noticed Chilli’s face go pale, and in no way enjoyed the lesson she was learning about the evil of some of the Oracle Hunters, and he said, “Ms. Chilli, they are too far behind to catch up to us, plus they are focused on travelling the ridge of the mountains in search of all the other hunters that jumped in last night. They’ll try to kill as many as they can for the rewards The System will offer them for killing the other hunters.”
Chilli replied in confusion, “I guess that makes sense on some sick level, but why are they also torturing and raping them? Is The System giving them rewards to do that as well?”
Sorta shook his head as he spit over the rail of the boat, and said, “No, Ms. Chilli. They’re just evil sadistic fucks! Many of the bandits in this area will do the same thing without the cities’ guards keeping the trade lanes in Longshot Valley safe.”
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Stone Fox grinned from ear to ear as she spied the three reflector boats heading up Longshot Valley towards her gang.