The Civilized World

by Jeff Haas

“Remember, if they catch us they’ll eat us.”

We were crouching low on the edge of a makeshift camp, several dozen tents scattered below us, a crescent moon our only light. Thon, our leader, pulled his stringy black hair out of his furtive eyes and assessed the situation. Jonrock, a massive brute unchallenged by any in our village, was silent as usual. I had just turned seventeen and was on my first mission, so I watched, waited, and listened.

“Follow me,” said Thon, “and stay close.”

The Drankors were notorious cannibals, and if we were caught trying to rescue the girl we would be killed, gutted, and eaten — raw. We had been following this tribe from a discreet distance all day, Thon regaling us with stories of the olden times before the Great Brightening.

We were lucky to catch up with them before they entered the Remnant Forest. If they had made it into the trees we would never have seen them or the girl again. Thon was the bravest tracker in the civilized world, but even he wouldn’t enter an area known to turn men’s skin red.

We had watched the Drankors make camp from our vantage point, so we knew the girl was in the first tent on the left. Although the Drankors were ferocious warriors, they really weren’t very bright. They hadn’t bothered to post a guard, probably thinking no one would be foolish enough to approach them at night. No one but us.

We descended quietly into the camp and made for the tent. Thon cut an opening with his serrated knife and pulled back the flap. The girl, wide awake and terrified, was tied spread-eagle to four posts in the ground, face up. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen, but she was already a looker with pretty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She tried to scream, but Thon covered her mouth with his hand while Jonrock and I loosened her bonds.

We were out of there inside of a minute, running.

We sprinted back up the slope, Thon in the lead with Jonrock and me holding the girl between us. She was bruised and battered, but now that she understood why we were there she seemed grateful and relieved. We ran until we found our horses again on the plains.

I was the smallest, so I mounted my mare and Thon and Jonrock helped the girl up in front of me. I enjoyed every minute of that ride, my arm encircling her tiny waist as she bounced up and down against my loins. But with Thon around I knew I could never have her.

We made it back to the village at daybreak, and the women were already up and waiting for us. Thon rarely failed in a mission, so the women fully expected him to bring the girl back. A crowd started gathering around us as he helped the girl off my horse.

Then, in one quick motion, he buried his knife in the girl’s heart and just as quickly pulled it back out again. She looked up at me with a puzzled expression before she lost consciousness and fell to the ground. The women cackled as they picked up the body by the arms and dragged it off to be prepared for the feast.

“Remember,” Thon said, wiping his blade clean, “the difference between a civilized man and a barbarian is that the civilized man always cooks his meat.”