After they had left the canyon they'd climbed the rocky foothills of a distant mountain range. The fortress that marked their destination had been in view for some time as they trudged along hard trails, and now they finally stood in its shadow. A path led up the side of a plateau that was surrounded along the top by a stone wall with towers built into in. Miyoshi's faith that Taiko would find a way to rescue them was the only comfort she could cling onto, but now that she was staring up at the impenetrable stronghold that would be her prison she found it shaken. She tried to put her doubts out of her mind and believe in her friend, but the grimness of thing that stood above her seeped into her spirit.
Lord Akio was leading the column of soldiers and captives now, with Miyoshi not far behind him. Chiyo was in front of her, still leashed to her neck, and Yumi was at the rear. Akio stopped to let them catch up with him.
"Hurry," he said, grabbing Chiyo's arm and pulling her up the path. "You've already delayed us enough."
Miyoshi was already exhausted, and she felt like she was going to collapse at any second trying to climb the slope at the speed he wanted. For Chiyo's sake she kept moving, not wanting to strangle her by falling. She told herself that it was almost over- they were almost to the fortress, and they'd get their rest, even if it came from the inside of a cage.
The gate at the top of the path opened, and Miyoshi got her first look inside as Lord Akio dragged them through the opening and into his lair. Half of the space on top of the plateau was an open yard, although not an empty one. Wooden cages, enough for dozens of people, lined one of the walls. Archery targets and practice dummies lined the other. Crates, barrels, and other clutter occupied the occasional pile, and strange structures stood lined up not far from the cages.
Miyoshi was horrified to realize what their purpose was when she saw two women attached to them. One of them was on her knees with her hands tied behind her back. Too halves of a wooden board, mounted on a post, were locked around her neck. The hole was too small for her head to pull through, leaving her stuck there.
The other was on a large wooden cross. Her arms were hooked over the horizontal part and bound there with rope. Her ankles were placed on opposite sides of the vertical support, almost even with her knees, and bound as well. She was also stark naked, something that made Miyoshi blush in embarrassment.
She was of a race Miyoshi hadn't seen before. Her skin was red, and a horn protruded from the middle her forehead. From the way her mouth hung open and her half-closed eyes stared vaguely forward, Miyoshi could tell that she'd had enough of whatever punishment this was. Why hadn't they taken her down? Why had they done something so cruel in the first place?
Two men approached the woman, one of them holding a bamboo staff. He jabbed her with it, and Miyoshi could hear words being exchanged, although she was too far away to make them out. The man laughed, changed his position and struck her in the stomach with the pole. This time she was plenty close enough to hear her scream.
He wasn't satisfied with hitting her only once- he was beating her in a methodical rhythm, and she was crying along in anguish. Miyoshi wished more than anything now that she could help the woman; that she could rush over and stop the man. Even still bound, if she could just throw herself on her knees and beg him to stop, to plead with him to snap out of his madness. Whatever the woman was guilty of, she couldn't deserve this.
If she was guilty of anything. Umai hadn't been, and it had suffered these men's wrath. Would that be her soon? Or Chiyo, or Yumi? Miyoshi had been scared before, but now she was chilled to her core. It was as if reality was playing by new rules, and they were darker and more evil than the worst monster in her old world.
Miyoshi felt a jerk at her neck. She was falling behind. They were walking toward the other half of the fortress. At the back of the plateau stood a keep, a few times higher than the walls and decked out in banners and spikes. The bright colors it was painted couldn't hide the hard, sharp edges that were inherent to its form. It gave her the impression of a giant pair of jaws, lined with sharp teeth that would close around her when she stepped inside.
She found herself resisting when she reached the threshold, a pair of double doors open and waiting to swallow her. Akio noticed and tugged on Chiyo, pulling Miyoshi by the leash. Chiyo let out a pained grunt, and Miyoshi could only silently beg her forgiveness as she willed herself to enter the building. Lanterns' glow replaced the already dimming sunlight and the air grew stale.
A man met Lord Akio in the hallway and bowed to him.
"My Lord, I see you've been victorious."
"Captain Teruo. I wouldn't call such an easy raid a victory. It was fruitful, but there was hardly any battle worth mentioning. There are more prisoners still coming in; see that they're dealt with properly. I'll be taking these three to the cellar immediately."
"Yes, my Lord," he said, bowing again.
"You," said Lord Aki, gesturing toward a soldier, "Go down to the the cellar and tell them to start preparing for three new slaves that need immediate conditioning."
He turned around and pointed to two of the soldiers behind them.
"Bring them to the cellar. I'll be along immediately."
Miyoshi spoke into her gag, asking them to stop. All of their protests had been ignored so far, and Yumi certainly had plenty of them during their march, but Miyoshi sensed that if they were brought down to the the cellar they would regret it. Now was her last chance to get one of them to see reason. She knew that if she could just get them to ungag her, she could save her friends from the worst that might otherwise come.
"Go!" said the soldier, pushing Yumi into her back. Miyoshi bumped against Chiyo in turn, who took the hint and started walking again. Walking toward a fate that grew darker and darker with every new thing Miyoshi learned about these men.
Taiko stopped, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. She and her new friend had been running for a long time, and she was sure that the soldiers were far enough behind for her to take a break and consider her next move.
"I don't hear them," said the fox, sitting a few feet in front of her. "They might be able to follow our tracks, but not at a full run. We've got some time to rest."
Taiko, still breathing hard, was jealous of the fox's endurance. It didn't seem tired at all.
"Thanks for helping me, though I'm not sure what you did to get that snare off. My name's Aka."
"I'm Taiko. I just used a little of my magic, is all. Is it Mr. or Ms. Aka?"
"It's just Aka. But I'm a boy fox."
"It's nice to meet you Mr., I mean, Aka."
"Who are you, though? You look strange. And being able to use magic like that is strange. And messing with Lord Akio's soldiers- nobody does that!"
"Lord Akio- I've heard that name before. I think I've met him, too. He seems like bad news."
Aka cocked his head.
"You've 'heard that name before'? You think you've met him? We're talking about Lord Akio here- you must be from way far away if you're just hearing about him."
"Well, not that far. I'm from Umai village. We just came from there, earlier today. I guess we've never been this way before, but..."
Taiko stopped, trying to get it straight in her head.
"I don't know. I don't know how that could be. We've explored all sorts of places, we've gone all over having adventures and helping people. But I don't remember being out this way, and I can't think of what should be out this way if not this forest."
"Oh, I think I get it. You're crazy."
"Hey!"
"Sorry, I like you, but I think you're probably just crazy. It's the simplest explanation."
Taiko tossed a stick at him, which he hopped over playfully.
"What did you mean by 'we'?" he asked.
"Me and my friends- Miyoshi, Chiyo, and Yumi. We're all from Umai. We were away this morning, and when we came back our village had been attacked. We followed the tracks left by the men who did it, and we found this 'Lord Akio' guy and his soldie
rs marching everyone away. We fought some of them, and won, but then the leader- I think he was Akio- took out Yumi and Chiyo, and his men got Miyoshi. I fell into the river and swam away, but he still has my friends."
"Oh, wow. That's bad."
"I thought so, but I don't know why. What's he want with them?"
"Lord Akio wants everything everyone has. He raids and takes from everyone around here. Sometimes he just wants food and materials and stuff, sometimes he wants slaves, sometimes he wants women for, you know, company."
"Company?"
"Yeah."
"No, I mean, what do you mean?"
"I mean 'company'. You know- of the man on woman kind."
"You're not making any sense."
"Are you friends pretty, like you?"
Taiko was taken aback by the seemingly out-of-nowhere question.
"Yes, they're all at least as pretty as me, and Miyoshi is definitely-"
"The he's going to fuck them, no question."
For a fleeting moment, Taiko knew what he meant. Then, as if it were too horrible an idea to hold onto, it slipped away, leaving only the certainty that she had to save her friends, and that she didn't want to remember what she knew in that moment.
"I need to find Lord Akio again. I need to rescue them, and put a stop to this madness of his."
"Wow, you really are crazy. Look, you did good against that one soldier, but nobody stands up to Lord Akio. He's crazy strong, with all of his soldiers and his castle, and he's totally ruthless and everyone knows just to keep their heads down and hope he'll go after someone else for a while."
"That's horrible! Why doesn't everyone get together and figure out how to stop him? How can everyone live like that?"
"Because they don't have a choice. Nobody around here goes out of their way to help a stranger. They're too busy just trying to survive, and especially trying not to get Lord Akio's attention by helping someone who he's after. It's always been that way. I don't think anyone has any idea how they'd even start to fight him, and if he saw them getting together to try and figure it out- man, they'd be in so much trouble!"
"Look," said Aka, "You should hide for now, and get back to where you came from when you can. If you try to save them you're just going to wind up his slave too. I'm sorry for what your friends are going through right now, it's real bad, but you don't want that to be you too."
"I can't just leave them like that," said Taiko, "Running away and abandoning them would be worse than being there with them, no matter what he does to us."
"You might change your mind after your first night with him. Maybe I shouldn't do this, but, uh... there's a village not too far from here. It's called Punnydin. If you've got any chance at all against Lord Akio, it's going to start there. They've got a spirit that knows, like, everything. Maybe he can help. His name Is Minoru".
Chapter 3
The Thirst of the Lash
Chiyo nearly stumbled on her way down the narrow stairwell. Her heart was pounding in her chest. The stairs weren't easy to navigate with her arms still tightly pinned to her chest and her legs still hobbled. The rope caught against the edge of the stair, threatening to send her sprawling down while she was still leashed to her friends.
"Hurry!" barked the guard behind her, making no effort to actually help them. Was it on purpose, she wondered? Were they intentionally showing them how impossible it would be to try any kind of escape? Or worse, were they just doing it because they liked being cruel? It was such a strange idea, but Chiyo was noticing how the men seemed to be downright pleased with every opportunity to shove or poke at them.
She hoped that they'd at least be untied soon- they'd been bound for hours now, all throughout their forced march, and Chiyo had never imagined that just being tied up could hurt so much. The ropes pinched her whenever she moved, her arms ached, and her legs cramped form the stilted way she had to walk. Her jaw was unbelievably sore from biting down on the gag for so long. She didn't even understand why it was there; it's not like there was anyone to come help her if she screamed.
When they reached the bottom they were ushered into a large, strange room and made to kneel side by side. Their presence was noticed quickly, and a broad-shouldered man wearing a fine robe and a carved wooden mask appeared from the next room over. Two men, wearing similar uniforms to the soldiers but without the weapons or armor, followed him. He stood above Chiyo, inspecting her, but he gave no clue as to his opinion of what he saw.
They waited on the floor while he paced in front of them. Yumi voiced her discontent, but the man refused to take notice. Chiyo was anxious and afraid, but at least they'd stopped marching. She wished she could lay down, but for the time she tried to be happy just to be off her feet.
Footsteps began to sound on the stairs behind them, and soon Akio appeared again, this time less his armor. The man in the mask stood aside to let Akio take his place.
"Ungag them."
Chiyo was relieved to hear the words, and was grateful to have the cloth removed from her mouth. She let her jaw hang open, trying to ease the cramp out of it.
"Today you will learn submission to me and my men. I will hear an oath from each of you, to serve and obey, without question or hesitation, no matter what is demanded of you."
"I'll swear an oath to rip your guts out with my bare hands," said Yumi, glaring at him.
Chiyo was afraid to speak, but she was even more afraid for Yumi, and she summoned what little courage she had to open her mouth.
"Yumi, please, they'll-"
"Quiet!" ordered Akio, casually hitting Chiyo with the back of his hand. "You will not offer opinions unasked for, and your friend will be disciplined by her master."
Chiyo bit her lip. The slap hurt, but it was the iron-fisted brutality that it promised in her captor that truly struck her.
"I will hear that oath, from each of you, right now. If any of you refuse, then all three of you will be punished."
"None of us are going to swear to obey anyone," said Yumi. "We're not afraid of you!"
Chiyo admired Yumi's bravery, but she was wrong. The look on Akio's face changed only slightly, but it immediately told Chiyo that Yumi had made a grave error.
"We'll start with that one," said Akio, gesturing toward Miyoshi.
The two assistants grabbed her and threw her to the floor in front of Chiyo and Yumi.
"Leave her alone!" said Yumi, starting to rise before the soldier behind her pulled her back down. "Get your hands- nngh!"
Chiyo watched the soldier throw a loop of rope around Yumi's head and land it between her teeth. She didn't have time to protest before one was around her own head, shoved into her mouth. Chiyo's guard pulled on the ends of the rope, tightening the snare around her head and pinching her cheeks. He jerked her head around with it a few times, making sure she knew what kind of control he had over her. She couldn't even turn her head to see how Yumi was faring, but she could hear pain in the unintelligible noises she was making.
Forced to be a spectator she could only stare as Akio tore Miyoshi's clothes off. He ripped her dress to shreds and yanked the pieces out from under the ropes that held her helpless.
"No- don't-" she begged.
Akio laughed, and put his hand up her dress. Miyoshi yelped, and his hand came back with her panties in it, pulled down her legs and over her feet. He took her hair in his fist and yanked it back, and when her mouth fell open he stuffed them inside. His soldiers held her head in place while he took one of the shreds of her dress and tied it around her head, keeping Miyoshi from being able spit her own panties out of her mouth.
Chiyo's stomach turned. Akio wasn't finished. He kept tearing until Miyoshi was completely naked. Chiyo had seen her friends nude before, usually while bathing in the hot springs. This was completely different. There it had been something fun and pure- this was sick and twisted. Akio even put his hands on her breasts, tugging at them to better position them between the ropes. Chiyo was humiliated for her friend, and she couldn
't imagine how Miyoshi must have felt. She only suspected that she would find out before they were finished.
Miyoshi whined while Yumi was grunting loudly, furious at seeing her treated like this. Akio was smiling. He was enjoying this. They all were. They laughed at Miyoshi, pinching her and slapping her bottom. Chiyo still couldn't believe that people like this could exist, terror freezing her stomach into a solid knot.
Akio put Miyoshi's feet together and tied her ankles. He kept her face down where she couldn't do much to resist, not that she had the kind of fight in her to give them any trouble. He put a short wooden bar with metal loops fixed on the ends at the back of her knees, then bent her legs over it. He ran a rope around her waist, then down through her crotch. He even ran it through the lips of her vagina, then tied the whole thing to her feet.
Chiyo was transfixed, praying that they'd reached the limit of this evil. She quickly saw that they hadn't. The loops at the ends of the bar were for more rope; rope that ran to a pulley mounted on an overhead beam. Akio pulled on the rope and dragged Miyoshi into the air, suspending her from her knees. She cried into her gag, and Chiyo didn't need to understand the words to know that she was begging for mercy.
The man in the mask slid a large wooden tub underneath where she was dangling, and motioned to his two assistants to bring forth a pair of large jugs. They poured their contents into the tub, filling it with water. While they did their part the masked man ran a rope from her feet to her shoulders and pulled it taught until Miyoshi's back was forced to arch.
Finished with his work, he nodded respectfully to his master. Akio eased Miyoshi down toward the water. He stopped her just an inch short of her head touching the water, her hair already starting to soak. His eyes moved purposely to Yumi's, staring her down, and with a twisted smile he plunged Miyoshi into the water.
Chiyo screamed out to her friend, lunging forward out of the irresistible need to help her, and only coming up hard against her own helplessness. Miyoshi jerked in every direction she could, but the water was all the way up to her shoulders and she was barely making a splash in it. Akio held her there, letting her drown while Chiyo tore her own lungs out just to let him give her a chance to submit like he wanted. She'd do anything he asked to stop this. It was inhuman.
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