22
The pile of skulls is three meters high and ends in a point. Around it, there is a square where the slavers' children play.
Deathmask did this.
A dedication engraved on a wide metal plate reads.
"The horror..." Nadjela murmurs with trembling lips. She avoids by any means to approach this interweaving of wire and ivory. Erika at her side, nods, but Nadjela does not even see her, she is too tormented by the barbarism that fills every inch of the settlement.
The pile honors Achú's skill at decapitation, his personal seal. Nadjela will never understand how anyone can take pride in such barbaric attitudes. She asks Erika to explain it to her.
"A cruel world creates cruel people, child. That's why you have to enjoy the little things, like, for example, eating! I need meat, damn it. Protein with double cholesterol ration, dammit!"
Erika slows down a vendor pushing a food stall. The German woman offers a punching competition, which, if she wins, three peeled and impaled rats, the reddest and juiciest, would receive.
"What if I win?" asks the salesman.
"I'll give you a blowjob"
A yellow smile blooms on the man's lips. Two slavers who were customers look Erika up and down and, finding her quite attractive, give her a couple of whistles and compliments.
They make room at the bar. Both Erika and the cook plant their elbow and interlock their hands. Nadjela looks at Erika as she hugs the piglet tightly for support. She knows the German is strong, but the salesman's right arm looks formidable.... Probably because of the laborious and repetitive task of preparing rodents. In comparison, Erika's arm, although defined, is thin. Nadjela didn't know what a blowjob is, but she senses that it's something very serious or valuable for the greasy guy to be so determined.
"Let's give it!" roars the salesman, both arms tightening.
Erika almost plants her opposite hand against the plate, but the cook holds on and returns to the starting point. Erika, with a grunt, brings out her second wind and bows a little. The man puts up a fight too, a vein in his forehead swells and he regains ground. Left, center, right, right, center, left, center, right. Other slavers come over to watch those very competitive hands, one covered in blood and grease, the other clad to the wrist in smooth black latex.
With a final grunt, the cook forces Erika's back against the bar plate, defeating her.
"Shit! "She curses, releases her hand, and shakes it to release the blood pressure. She speaks without looking at the man who beat her. "I'm a woman of word. Let's go somewhere more private"
The vendor leaves his stall to go with Erika into a dark alley. The slavers disperse. Nadjela waits, sitting with her legs close together on a stool. Not a minute has passed when Erika comes running back, grabs several impaled rats from the grill, and shoots Nadjela a hurried look.
"I hit him on the head with a rock! When he wakes up, he'll be very angry... If he wakes up. Let's run!"
They escape from the scene of the crime.
A short time later, safe in the knowledge that no one is chasing them, they share the skewers in an alley in the city. Nadjela tears off a piece of rat belly with her teeth, it tastes soft and tasty. Erika bites into the tail and slurps it up like spaghetti.
"Hey, hey!"
Shouts a crier in the street. They both look and wonder what's going on. They are not the only ones curious, several passers-by stop to hear the good news.
"Death Mask angry!" exclaims the town crier. "Nincompoop. bursts into the dome and challenges the warlord!"
Erika opens her eyes wide. Nadjela slips the stick with the rat.... Not wasted, the little pig on the floor finishes it. Everyone catches on, and almost immediately guesses the identity of the nincompoop.