Guns of Mars 15
A Martian action-adventure by The Legend Chuck Dixon
CHAPTER 4.4
Following his pointless struggle, the thark was pulled toward a stout post. There he was secured with chains to an iron ring meant to hitch thoats. A new hobble of braided steel bands looped through iron manacles was locked on his feet. The three livery men, all panting with the effort of dragging the heavy savage to the post, left the thark sitting dazed against the post, head lolling and flesh burned raw around his ribs and spine.
Now that he was subdued, the interest of the crowd in the captive thark waned and each man, woman and child wandered away to chores or trade until only a sole figure remained. A solitary watcher standing in the shade of the veranda of a storehouse across from the thoat corral.
It was a tall, rangy figure in a robe of tanned hide that covered him head to booted toe and belted with tooled girdle from which hung a pair of holstered pistols as well as a curved saber with a long haft made to be wielded with two hands. The pistols were mounted at an angle across his belly, their black onyx butts nearly touching.
His features were hidden in the shadows of a cowl that covered his head. The eyes were concealed behind a visor of louvered slats as many wore in this land to prevent snow blindness. Nothing about the man was of particular note. Many nomads visited Samarium on their way from place to another and dressed in the custom of their homeland.
Were any to examine the stranger with more care, they would have noted the pale skin visible beneath his mask, flesh of a bilious tone shot through with tiny azure blood vessels evident beneath the near-translucent outer flesh. They might also have observed that the figure’s arms were of an unusual length even given the man’s remarkable height and he took pains to conceal his hands within the wide sleeves of his cloak.
The watcher regarded the bound thark with intense interest. He seemed to be considering something as he turned his head to take in the activity all along either side of the broad avenue. Only when he had reached some conclusion did he withdraw deeper into the shadows of the veranda where he continued to watch from the gloom.
Special Note: GUNS OF MARS is now available in a hardcover edition. It is available at Amazon and at NDM Express.
