The Transall Saga

The prisoners aren’t given food or water, as the Tsook’s supplies are low. Mark rewraps Leeta’s foot using the old insole of his boot. He considers running away, as they are no longer tied up. Leeta seems to sense his thoughts and asks whether or not he is leaving. Mark considers what would happen to Leeta if he ran away, and ultimately decides to stay with her.

Mark and Leeta arrive at the Tsook’s town: The buildings are made of logs, rather than the arrow-people’s hut structures. Dagon is greeted by a beautiful girl with long black braids and moccasins—his daughter, Megaan. The prisoners are put in a pit in the middle of town, where people come to buy them. Leeta is reluctant to leave Mark but is forced away by a woman with a sharp stick.

Mark is the last to be purchased, with Megaan claiming him. Sarbo ties Mark up and throws him into a shed. Mark cuts the ropes that bind him using his knife, and then digs a hole in the earth next to the shed’s wall. He slips through and runs. A dog-like creature starts making loud noises, and Mark is pursued. He is shot in the leg by an arrow and falls; he is recaptured.

It takes three months for Mark to recover from the arrow wound. He is nursed back to health by Dagon’s daughter, Megaan. Once Mark is well, his ankle is chained to a heavy iron bar, preventing him from escaping. He doesn’t know why he’s been relatively well treated.

Megaan explains to Mark that the Tsook word for the planet is Transall; she refuses to talk to him about the blue light and returning home. She mentions the word “Merkon”—but seems to immediately regret it and doesn’t answer Mark’s questions about who or what the Merkon is.

Mark accompanies Megaan to retrieve pole flour in a cart. While in town, he sees Leeta for the first time in a while. They call to each other, but Leeta’s enslaver urges her on with a sharp stick. Mark admonishes Megaan for calling Leeta stupid.

Mark tells Barow, Megaan’s younger brother, about the technology on Earth—including windmills, hot and cold water taps, televisions, and planes. Megaan and her grandmother dismiss these stories as ridiculous.

Mark waits until the family is asleep and the men are away on a raiding mission to escape. He steals an ax and a crossbow, and carries his iron bar. He moves as quickly as he can through the trees and brush. He regrets leaving Leeta behind, but knows he can’t save her.

Mark stops in a secluded valley to build a fire. He heats his chains in the fire and pounds them with the ax until one of the links breaks, freeing him of the iron bar. He hears sounds and hides. A group of painted warriors adorned with scalps and skulls, likely the cannibalistic Rawhaz, are on their way to the Tsook town. Mark decides to run back to the town to warn the inhabitants. He warns Megaan, and Megaan takes Barow and her grandmother to a hidden cave. Mark says he must save Leeta, so Megaan tells him where to find it. He tells Leeta to go to the cave.

A scout finds Mark and asks him to ride one of the cow-horses to find Dagon. He gives Mark a horn to blow to summon Dagon.

Mark rides for miles across the barren landscape outside of the Tsook’s town, blowing the horn in the hopes that Dagon will hear. He eventually falls asleep on his mount. He wakes at dawn and sees a band of mounted riders approaching, but it turns out to be more Rawhaz. Mark’s mount breaks its leg in a rodent hole, and Mark is thrown onto the ground.

Forced to defend himself, Mark attacks the Rawhaz men with the crossbow he stole from Dagon’s home. He manages to fell a few of them, but is injured when a spear grazes his thigh. Luckily, Dagon and other armed Tsook arrive, and the remaining Rawhaz flee. Dagon is shocked to see Mark. Mark explains that he was sent to get him, and that the town is being attacked. Dagon leaves Mark with food and water, and instructs him to return to the town when he is able, and rides toward the town himself.

Mark cleans his wound and eats some of the supplies. He takes the animal Dagon left for him and slowly makes his way back to town. He hears Megaan calling for him, and blows the horn to let her know where he is. Megaan finds him and dresses his wound. Mark learns that some of the town was burnt, but that Dagon and the other warriors arrived in time to save their people.

Megaan tells Mark that due to his courageous actions, he is no longer an enslaved person (or a “nonperson”). He is now an equal and will be given a beast, a plot of land, and can ask for a wife, though Megaan angrily says he is too young for a wife before riding away.