Fearless Master of the Jungle (A Bunduki Jungle Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page B

she had not suffered any serious or incapacitating
injuries.
    With the High
Priest ’s
broken and obviously lifeless body draped over her as she had lain
unconscious, the few people who had come close had assumed that
Charole too must be dead. Nor, occupied as they were by the
inter-factional fighting that had erupted following the failure to
witness the promised sacrifice, did any of them find an opportunity
to carry out an examination and correct the assumption.
    On regaining consciousness,
Charole had appreciated her very grave peril. She had made enemies
even before becoming Dryaka ’s ally and they would want to see her pay the
price of failure. After what had happened, she had not known whom
she could still trust. Even her formerly loyal adherents could not
be counted upon to remain staunch. So she had decided that, until
she could form a better assessment of the situation, she must be
wary of everybody. Also, although confident no bones had been
broken, she had felt very weak and concluded it would be advisable
to stay out of sight until her strength returned.
    By the time she had reached her
conclusions, the fighting was over in the arena and it was
deserted. For all that, she had been aware that she might need to
defend herself at any moment. Her ivory handled sword, shaped like
the gladius of Ancient Rome, was still in its sheath at the left side
of her gold disc belt. Yet, effectively as she could use it, there
had been another and much more potent weapon readily available. The
‘Terrifier’ she had dropped still lay where it had fallen. None of
the people who had entered the arena had touched it. They wanted
nothing to do with such a—to them—inexplicable and dangerous
device.
    Having no such inhibitions,
Charole had wriggled from beneath Dryaka ’s corpse and picked up the
Terrifier. Despite having lost the smoldering piece of cord from
the perforated metal ‘fire box’ which was hanging from her left
shoulder (thus being unable to ignite the device) she had been
confident that she could use it to frighten away anybody who tried
to molest her; but the need to do so had not arisen. Entering the
room in which prisoners awaiting sacrifice were incarcerated, she
had made her exit via one of the secret passages known to those
Mun-Gatahs who held a sufficiently high office. From there, she had
traversed some of the vast labyrinth of tunnels and caverns which
spread beneath and even beyond the perimeter walls of the
city.
    Created by the ‘Suppliers’ as an
aid to the Mun-Gatahs’ inborn proclivity for intrigue, the
subterranean area was ventilated and illuminated by a
self-operating and maintaining power source. Attaining the status
which gave access to the labyrinth was not hereditary, but came
about by personal endeavor. So the ‘Suppliers’ were compelled to
implant each who reached a specific rank with the requisite
knowledge to open the secret doors and traverse the tunnels. In
addition, the current six members of the ruling Council of Elders,
the High Priest and the Protectress of the Quagga God each was
allocated a private hiding place equipped for use in an
emergency.
    Charole did not relax her vigilance
until she had entered and bolted the door of her hiding place.
While she intended to rest, she realized that to remain in the
small room for more than a short time would avail her nothing.
Until she could acquire reliable and powerful support, Bon-Gatah
would be an unhealthy location for her. So she would have to escape
from the city and go in search of the necessary
assistance.
    Having removed her ceremonial
clothing, which was too heavy to be comfortable, Charole settled
down to rest. She took a drink of the clear, fresh water which
flowed from a crack in one wall and out of a hole in the floor. There was
food available, in the form of sun-dried meat known as fulsa. xviii Having eaten, she lay on the
comfortable couch and went to sleep.
    On awakening, Charole had no idea of
how long she had