After what felt like an eternity, I finally got my heart and my stomach back under control.

“Damn it. Dammit. Dammit!” Cursing repeatedly to myself, I forced myself back to my feet. “I have to go back and see what happened. I have to, dammit!” Fearing that whatever did this might find its way through the forest as I had, and might work itself to my home, I had no choice but to investigate further.

Ripping the left sleeve completely off my shirt, I tied it tightly into a makeshift mask, before stumbling south once again, back to the tree line. The putridness was still so intense, I ended up burying my face deep into the sleeve of my right elbow as well. Examining the scattered guts and organs wasn’t going to tell me anything, so I gingerly picked at the largest solid pieces which I could find and tried to study them.

“No blisters, boils, or bumps,” I muttered in relief to myself. It doesn’t seem like the plague, or whatnot, killed these people. At least, I hope not.

Digging through several scattered limbs and remnants of torsos, I finally came to a conclusion. “These poor folks were murdered.” Shaking my head with disgust, I couldn’t refute the evidence no matter how much I wanted to deny it. Multiple holes and gashes covered what was left of the bodies, leaving me pale at the thoughts of utter violence which must’ve been used in their killing.

“But who the hell killed them?” Frowning under my mask, tears freely ran down my cheeks as I slowly circled the area looking for any clues. I’m not the best hunter in the world, being almost entirely self-taught, but I’m good enough to come to the conclusion that it was two large groups who fought with each other for some unknown reason. One group was completely eliminated, while the other eventually turned and went deeper back into the south forest.

“Or maybe not,” I mused to myself. “From the looks of the tracks, it seems as if they may have been dragging someone or something back with them. Something not too happy to be dragged back either, by the looks of it.”

Pausing for just a few moments to decide what to do, I finally turned and headed into the forest following the trail. “If lucks with me,” I murmured softly to myself, “I won’t lose the trail in the rain. If luck's really with me, everybody else will be sensible and holed up inside, and not notice me as I investigate. And, if I’m really really lucky, nobody’ll notice that I’m a damn fool who’s talking to himself.”

Sighing deeply, I did my best to move both silently and quickly, while following the trail while daylight lasted, and before the rains could wash it away.

Several miserable hours later, the trail finally opened up into a large clearing. A dozen small tents, large enough for no more than two people to bunk inside comfortably, swayed and rocked as the wind and rain of the storm pounded them mercilessly. Further south, beyond the tents, was an old dilapidated hunter’s shack, which sat lonely and dark by itself.

Too cautious to try and move amongst the tents, I weaseled my way left, around the encampment, always making certain to stay well hidden in the underbrush of the forest. From what I could see, there was at least a dozen people encamped here, with maybe as many as a score or more inside the tents – more than enough to deal with a snooping rat like me, if I get caught.

Fighting every instinct which told me to run for my life, I prayed to every god I knew – both of this world and my last – wishing for the rain, which had made me feel so terrible not so long ago, to continue forever. If it wasn’t for the miserable downpour, a place with this many souls in it would definitely have a lookout. Probably multiple lookouts.

My only saving grace was that I was too stupid to avoid the weather, while the other guys weren’t.

Finally working myself all the way around the camp, I slowly eased up on the hunter’s shack. Much to my disappointment, my luck held true – there were no doors or windows on the backside as I was hoping. The only way I could see to get into the building would be if I circled completely around it and entered from the only door, which directly faced the encampment. Pressing my ear to the wall, I couldn’t hear anything from inside, and the cracks between the boards were too narrow to allow me a good view of the darkened space inside.

For several long moments, I debated simply turning tail and fleeing back the way I came, but I stubbornly resisted that sweet ambrosia. There’d never be another chance to gather intel like tonight, and if the fates didn’t abandon me, I might be able to uncover enough information to trade it for a nice reward from Burkshire’s guards. After all, I couldn’t believe that folks who would kill people and then hide the corpses for the animals to eat, could be anything less than bandits.

“And a large bandit bunch like this one has to have a nice reward on it,” I assured myself as I screwed up my courage. Hunkering low, I slowly creeped around the side of the building, hugging my body as tight against the wall of the old shack as possible.

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Getting to the corner of the building, I cautiously stared out at the camp for several minutes, making certain nobody was moving between the tents. Once I’d convinced myself that every shadow was a demonized bandit just lurking and waiting to devour me, my nerves couldn’t take anymore. Holding my breath, I prayed to all the gods to not let me die tonight, as I rushed the short distance to the doorway and dashed inside.

Shutting the door quickly behind me, I was engulfed by the darkness of the cabin and blinded.

Standing there completely helpless for several long moments as my eyes slowly adjusted, water drained freely from my clothes and puddled in ever widening layers at my feet. When my eyes did finally adapt to the point where I could make out my surroundings, I couldn’t believe my eyes -- the only thing in the shack at all, was two wooden columns placed at thirds in the room, and two naked females tied firmly to them!

The first female…

I don’t even know how to describe what I saw. After all the horrors I’d witnessed all day long, the sudden unexpected shock of the vision in front of me clouded my mind and blanked my purpose. I was utterly dumbstruck.

Stretched with arms and legs spread in a tight “X” to the posts, it wasn’t even the woman’s beauty which utterly baffled me – and if I’m honest, she truly is one of the most beautiful females which I’ve ever seen in either of my lifes-- it was the amount of jewelry and gemstones adorning her body that made me lose myself.

The long, pale yellow hair that curled and draped down her back, ending several inches below her butt, was intertwined with dozens of gemmed necklaces, as their stones futility tried to reflect the dim light inside the cabin. Half a dozen silver or platinum necklaces draped from ear to ear, layering across her mouth in a parody of a veil, while a sparking diamond tiara held her bangs back away from her face.

Several dozens of various types of necklaces draped between her breasts, while a single golden chain stretched taunt from nipple to nipple. Silver bracers adorned the top of her arms and dozens of silver, gold, and platinum bangles dangled at her wrists, while every finger was covered with at least a single ring at each joint – and many with multiple ones!

A gold chain and a silver chain crossed each other, making an “X” across her thin, pale stomach, and several other silver and gold chains connected to the bottom of them, before performing a crisis-cross pattern down her legs that gave the remarkable impression of metallic fishnet stockings. Two rows of a half dozen chains dangled several inches between her spread legs, leaving my imagination absolutely no doubt about which womanly parts they were attached to, and her ankles and toes were just as adorned with bangles and rings as her wrists and fingers were.

Her curves were fine – full, rounded breasts, narrowish waist, nice hips – and she was finely shaven with nary a hair anywhere I could see, except her long, curvy locks, but I hardly noticed at all. The over abundance of jewelry, and her pale, pale blue eyes had me completely captivated for the longest time.

“… so, what do you say?” Vaguely, my mind slowly registered that the other woman had been talking to me.

“Uhhh… Sure,” I answered, forcing my gaze away from the bejeweled beauty before me, and over to the right.

The girl on the side was quite a striking beauty as well – long cherry-red hair fell tantalizingly down her back, ending just a over her buttocks so that it didn’t hide anything. She was naked, stretched with her arms crossed high above her head, with only the barest tips of her toes touching the ground. An oval face, small lips, and thin eyebrows gave me an impression of almost oriental heritage, while her breasts were curved and peaked, just the right size to fill a hand. As I started to move my gaze lower…

“NO!” The bejeweled girl shook her head from side to side and spoke firmly, instantly drawing my gaze back to her. “It’s my duty to protect and shelter my servants. I’ll be the one to bargain for us, Rose.” Her voice was soft and weak, and I could hear the dryness crackle in it, but it still somehow seemed to carry an air of authority.

“But, Milady…” The girl off to the side tried to say something, but the jeweled one interrupted her.

“No buts,” she demanded firmly. “Now be quiet until I give you permission to speak again. That’s an order.”

The girl off to the side slumped her head and hung limply, seeming as is she’d given up completely on everything, but she never uttered a single sound.

“Now,” the jeweled girl spoke to me, drawing my attention back to her pale blue eyes. “Let’s bargain.”

“B-bargin?” I stuttered, though from the chill which was seeping through my drenched cloths, or from the surreality of the situation, I couldn’t say.

“I, Marilyn Anastasia Moonweaver, swear by my name and my honor, that I will submit fully to you if you release my servant, Rosalyn du-Moonweaver, and allow her to return home safe and unharmed. Do with me as you want,” she cried softly, as I watched several tears slowly trickle down her face, “but please let Rose go.”

“Uhhh… Th.. That’s the pl.. plan,” I stuttered, while feebly giving a thumbs up.

“Thank you.” The Lady Moonweaver’s voice was barely a whisper as she closed her eyes and slowly dropped her head.

Shaking my head back and forth several times to clear it, I hastily reminded myself of where I was – smack in the middle of a bandit encampment, in the midst of what had to be a full blown hurricane, and just a single step away from being just another scattered pile of meat for the vultures. Taking just a moment to strain my ears to make certain no one had heard us, I quickly darted forward and began cutting the ropes binding the Lady Moonweaver to her posts.

“Can you walk?” I didn’t have time to check on her as she slowly slumped to the ground and groaned in pain. From the look of her shoulders, they were probably close to being dislocated from the stretching, but I was praying her legs weren’t. I don’t have much hope in us escaping – surely at least a few of the bandits would know the area and how to hunt – but if I have to carry either of the girls, it’s hopeless.

“I can walk,” she answered weakly. “Why?” Apparently she still wasn’t recognizing she was being rescued.

“And you?” I asked the other girl while cutting her loose from the rope that bound her, and she just nodded at me, determinedly.

“Because we’re getting the hell out of here while we can,” I answered the first girl. “I’m sorry I don’t have any clothes or a cloak to spare, but I’m sure as hell not going out in the middle of all those tents to look for any. I’m afraid the forest might be hell on the two of you,” I apologized, “but you’re just going to have to bear with it if you want out of here.”

“I understand,” the first girl answered. Her voice was low and cracked, but her eyes glittered as hard as the jewels that adorned her.

The second girl said nothing, but she nodded firmly. If the first girl’s eyes were as hard as diamond, the second’s was blazing with a fire hotter than any found in the hells.

“On the count of three, I’m going to open the door, dash around the building, and head for the woods. Keep up, or be left behind,” I warned them both, fervently. “The last one out, shut the door silently, and both of you pray that nobody sees us and nobody checks the shack for a long time. If we don’t get some distance between us in the middle of the night, while the storm rages, we’re doomed.”

Without even bothering to see if they understood me or not, I quickly counted to three and ran for the cover of the forest.