Nilok peered down from the open space upon the grassy bank atop the ringed streets of the settlement, a place that was off the beaten track and inaccessible to anyone but those such as he, energetic, and feeling the need to be somewhere where no-one else was. As ever the thoughts of departure racked his mind, with the sheer cliffs to the rear of him, offering no chance of escape, the red kites wheeling above in the blue sky, seeming to mock his captivity with their cat-like mewing as they floated through the sky in freedom. From both sides of the settlement, the huge stone walls ran down in an arc from those cliffs, holding every tier of the settlement in a captive embrace. As his thoughts of ever seeing the only owner he had ever loved again began to fade, he noted something peculiar about some activity at the foot of the wall some several tiers down.
He'd never have been able to see down into it from any other position than the one he was presently in. He could now see right over the top of a small stockade far below, which had a strangely white glow upon the grass which led from the wall's side to the centre of the small stockade, the whiteness losing its intensity to the green of the grass, the further from the wall it went into the stockade. It didn't click with him at first, as he looked down on the anomaly with no particular interest, but just unconscious curiosity... until he noted that where there had been two figures traversing the stockade, seemingly from the wall's edge, there were now three. He strained his eyes intently, then noted a fourth figure appear from the side of the wall; there was obviously a tunnel beneath it.
His further observations had him recall the pit he'd been made to dig for the tub in Deanna's garden, going down several feet, his task had been made a little arduous when he'd hit chalk below the earth. The white he saw was chalk, and the women he saw emerging were carrying small sacks, masons probably, needing chalk for building materials. It could of course, simply be a small mine, but if so, why not dig a hole nearer the centre of the settlement? An open pit beyond the wall maybe? He could see from his vantage point that the small stockade was to the rear of an industrialised area, away from residences, and it's otherwise incognito existence would mean less guards, if any, in comparison to the main gateways. A further look was required.
It took him the best part of an hour to reach the wooden stockade, having to dodge female citizens, hiding behind various buildings and obstacles along the way. He looked about him, before climbing upon a covered cart laden with goods parked next the wooden stockade wall, and peeping over the top, his heart leapt at seeing an ungated opening in the ground below the wall, the darkness of its tunnel, so strangely inviting. The fact that it was open was thrilling, but the fact that the inner stockade was open and offered no hiding place, once in, was thrilling in a negative respect. He ducked down as a lithe woman appeared from the tunnel, sporting her claimed bag of chalk, and hid beneath the wagon.
He watched as she ascended steps built into the stockade wall on its inner side, then descended by a ladder from the side he faced externally. Humping the bag of chalk atop a conveniently placed post, there for that reason, she took the lightweight ladder down, and casually stowed it in a recess at the end of the stockade wall. Nilok watched as she left with the bag, his heart racing on considering making a break for that ladder, and as he was about to do so, two other woman appeared at the stockade's exterior, one retrieving the ladder from where she obviously found it routinely. With his courage fading at the thought of the consequences he'd face if caught, and how close he'd come to that very occurrence, he knew he'd need come back at night to make his escape.
That night, Nilok savoured the taste of Deanna's cunt with a special reverence, as she rode his face in imposing her authority over her property, the lusty desires of her natural dominance honed to a delicious zenith by the willing submissiveness he offered her. He'd miss the spice of that cunt, and the teasing pleasures the two girls awarded him... but his desire to be Serena's once more, grew stronger every day he was away from her. Creeping out into the darkness, he retrieved the backpack he'd prepared and secreted in the out house, and made for the far stockade.
His progress to the stockade was made decidedly quicker, due to the cover of darkness, and the fact that little or no-one was about. His heart raced as he reached the wagons by the stockade, and strained eyes and ears to detect any possible movement. He bolted to the wall where the ladder was stowed, and breathed a sigh of relief at finding it was not secured with a chain. Carefully leaning it against the stockade without any noise, he ascended it, then at the top of the thankfully flat topped poles of the stockade wall, he tip-toed across it whilst edging the ladder back to its position by the wall's end. With his heart racing, he dropped to the inner compound floor on legs like jelly, and under the light of the moon, made for the dark orifice that was the entrance to the tunnel down into the chalk.
He cursed his recklessness in not bringing a torch of some sort, stumbling through the pitch darkness of the tunnel. He'd not thought on how long it might be, and as the cold clammy walls of chalk started to get to him, he wondered if this might just be a mine after all... with no exit. He began to pant with despair as he bundled along in the darkness, then stumbled as the path suddenly began to ascend, and his heart missed a beat as his eyes caught the flicker of a light up ahead. He went in a blind panic momentarily, on approaching the light to find it was a lit torch, obviously a halfway mark in the tunnel, the pathway still rising noticeably; the torch must have been lit recently, there was no way the wad of oiled cloth would burn eternally... someone else must have used the tunnel... but had they left the compound, or were they beyond, where he intended going?
He paused and as he did so, took in the geography of the tunnel in the eerie flickering light given off by the flame against the chalk. Though the passage cut in the chalk, which was much drier at this point in the tunnel, was only wide enough for two people to squeeze past, the floor of the pathway had been hewn out several times - the easiest way to obtain it for the people who'd built Femina Bastia - leaving the arched roof of the tunnel some twenty-five feet up, giving it the appearance of a miniature cathedral. He swallowed hard, and continued on, gradually leaving the flickering light behind him, and edging his way into the darkness. He'd not gone more than another hundred yards, when he froze with fear... the sound of feminine voices echoing down the tunnel from the direction in which he was travelling, his eyes picking out a wavering light as they chatted.
Nilok had to think fast; there were no alcoves in which to hide. If he bolted, they'd hear him scuttling, and even if he could keep ahead of them in the dark without going headlong and sustaining some injury, they'd likely see him as he negotiated the stockade. As the light became more visible and the cheerfully cackling voices became more discernable, his outstretched arms touching both walls had him remember something he did as a child in the alley between two terraced households... it was his only chance to remain undiscovered. Spreading arms and legs against the chalk walls, he straddled the passage, and worked his way, crab like, up the far arched ceiling.
With arms and legs aching as he applied the constant tension of his muscles to keep him aloft, he held his breath as the conversation of two guard women with long sabres continued as they passed under him, both chatting excitedly about the pleasures of their duties.
"...and did he beg for mercy, before you dealt with him?"
"Oh yes, and it gave me such a buzz!"
"...you showed him none, of course!"
"Indeed not, and he was halfway through a plea, when I silenced him!" Their laughter echoed through the tunnel, as they passed through, Nilok's heart missing a beat as one of his feet slipped down an inch or so, sending a fine stream of dusty chalk down to the tunnel floor behind them, the echoing of their spiteful mirth, saving him from discovery. He pressed his aching limbs hard to the chalky walls while the light and their voices faded into the distance, then worked his way down, dropping to the floor and rubbing his limbs for a few moments, before progressing up the incline toward the exit.
Desperate to see the night sky again, he began to jog carefully up the tunnel for what seemed an eternity, but was in reality only about ten minutes, then he felt the temperature of the air drop noticeably. Reverting back to a more cautious walk, his heart kept at seeing a navy blue moonlit sky ahead, and the sound of a slight breeze. Creeping to the tunnel's exit, he looked about cautiously, seeing a sweeping plain of grassland, and a dense forest beyond, the dark crest of trees looking both ominous and yet strangely welcoming in the moonlight. He edged out cautiously, very little in existence at the tunnel's exit, just a few handcarts, several piles of chalk spoil, and a few hewn blocks - someone's project in the process of being worked on, and a large awning, waving softly in what little breeze there was, cover from the elements for those working there during the day... no further signs of life. A well worn path led down to where a settlement no doubt lay, the direction from whence the guards must have come from, and a path which he'd avoid.
He knew that Ovum Fortis lay to the south of Femina Bastia, some distance away through some treacherous lands inhabited by feminine despots, bandits, and nomadic warriors of all descriptions, but the feeling of freedom now took hold, and like a child at play, he bolted across the grassy plain toward the cover of the forest, aware of the light brightening, and the exposure of daylight soon to come. He panted with the exertion as his laboured progress through the longish brass wet with few was arduous, finding the low hill he'd seen at a distance was steeper than he'd thought, them as he crested it and dropped down its curve a little, a truly ominous sight met his eyes which stopped him in his tracks.
A pathway ran diagonally across the plain, another route to the settlement to which the one near the tunnel exit ran, a d by it, a single and stark gibbet rose high up, and hanging from it by its ankles, the headless corpse of a naked male hung lifeless, from a cord tied about the neck of the scrotum, a weight pulled the exposed cock and balls down, emphasising the gender of the victim. Nilok gasped as his eyes then caught the grim sight of a head on a pole next the gibbet, a strangely serene and satisfied look upon its face.... and attached to the pole, a crude placard, which simply read 'Justice has been served.' Nilok didn't dwell on what crime had been committed - if any - but this was obviously a warning sign to all males who might venture into the community at the end of the pathway. with any mischief in mind. As a runaway slave, it also brought to his mind just how vulnerable he was. He headed for the safety of the forest, far away from that pathway.
