Yumi listened to his story, wishing she could be surprised by it.
"Out of curiosity," she said, "Do you have any idea who they worked for?"
"I believe they mentioned a 'Queen Tomiko'? I've never heard of her, and details were scarce over all of the shouting of battle. Perhaps it was the woman who was with them. She was rather tall, and she had a horn sticking out of her head."
"The Lady Oni Satsujin," said Akio. "Most likely. There are three of them. One of them was taken prisoner recently. The other rarely leaves Frostspire. Servants of Queen Tomiko, of course."
"You two are as awful as each other," said Miyoshi. "This one did the same thing to Umai a few days ago. Thankfully we rescued everyone."
"That's unfortunate, but fortunate. It's not apparent why you've brought him to the Dunnie Desert, though."
"Funny story," said Yumi. "We've got business with Queen Tomiko."
"I should warn you," he said. "I do not know much about her, but I do not think she is entirely trustworthy."
"Well, we were planning a burglary," said Taiko. "She has something we need, and we've already been warned off from trying to bargain for it. Now it looks like we need to take care of this 'Lady Satsujin' on the way."
"That would be of little benefit to our mission," said Akio. "If any of her soldiers make it back she'll know we're coming, and we absolutely do not want Satsujin on our trail. If we even succeed in the first place."
"We're striking directly at Tomiko," he said, facing in Jumo's direction. Help us find a way through the desert and we'll be in a position to do far more against her than we will fighting a mere expeditionary force."
"Shut up, Akio," said Miyoshi. "You don't get a say in anything. We're going to help them."
Yumi wished she could say the same thing. She was aching for a good fight, but she could barely carry her spear right now, let alone use it. She was useless, and she couldn't bear to offer an opinion when she had no hope of backing it up.
"That would be an advantage to our chances," said Jumo. "Although I can scarcely bring more than twenty huntsmen to their twice that number."
"You know us," said Taiko, standing up. "We laugh at those kinds of odds. Where's your camp? We'll whip up a plan to toss this 'Lady Satsujin' out on her butt. Don't doubt it for a second!"
Taiko gazed over the crude map, trying to line it up with her memories of the village last time she was there.
"Getting back on top will be a scary bit of business," said Jumo.
The plateau the village was on wasn't as high as many of the others, but they had little in the means of equipment that could get them up the walls. The main path leading up was their only real option.
"Akio," said Taiko. "You fight Tomiko's men all the time. You should be able to tell us their weaknesses. How do we fight them?"
Akio scowled. He was still unhappy about the distraction from his goal, but he answered, smart enough at least to realize that not helping would only lessen their chances of eventually getting to Frostspire.
"Tomiko's men are not as disciplined as mine. Particularly their leader, Satsujin. She's impatient, reckless, and doesn't care how many of her men she gets killed as long as she gets what she wants. Dangle enough of a prize in front of her and she'll bring the army down to fight you. Especially since she already knows that she can win on equal ground."
"Yes, and that's the other bit of a chore," said Jumo. "She can, in fact, beat us once we've lured her down."
"Miyoshi, Chiyo, and Yumi are working on that part," said Taiko.
"If you can put up a stiff enough resistance to shake their confidence, they may fall apart," said Akio. "They won't fight to the death. My men are usually outnumbered before they're willing to go to battle with us. And that's with them typically bringing some bit of magic along to help them as well. Many of my victories have come solely from my troops having greater mettle in their veins."
"Well, if they're easily spooked, I have something they'll like. Jumo, is Igrowl still kicking around?"
Jumo raised his eyebrow.
"Yes, he is, but how-"
"I'm still working on it."
Taiko thought for a moment.
"Let me go talk to Chiyo and Miyoshi. I'll get back to you in no time. Akio, try to be useful, okay?"
"I do not need your childish nagging to make me participate correctly in battle planning."
"Good," said Taiko. She left the circle she'd been standing in and wandered through the camp, looking for Chiyo.
The Dunnies had set up inside of a plateau that was hollowed out in the middle and open on one end. There were bleachwood trees surrounding it, and a few patches of them inside.
There weren't many proper tents or bedrolls; the Dunnies had fled in a rush, and they had little other than the clothes on their backs and what tools and food they'd been able to gather from hunting caches around the desert.
She spotted Yumi out in the middle of the hollow, standing before a group of huntsmen. They were lined up in a square, holding their clubs in a fighting pose. Yumi was running through some maneuvers, and they were following her motions. At least that was the idea. Yumi kept having to stop and correct them- not because they weren't copying her properly, but because she'd been slow or sloppy with her example.
Taiko frowned when she saw Yumi trying to show them moves that were usually bursting with speed and energy. Now it looked like she was struggling with the weight of the club. Earlier they had tried using Taiko's magic to at least temporarily put her in fighting shape while the spell lasted, but the mark was too strong, and her spell had no effect. Taiko knew that she had to fix this. Yumi couldn't survive with the tar mark on her, anymore than Ikumi could.
Chiyo was against one wall of the plateau, using a large, flat stone surface as a workbench. She had a number of jars and bowls set up, as well as a cooking pot held over a fire. She was currently holding a stone over the pot, chanting. Taiko could see a glowing rune on the underside of the stone, at tool that Chiyo used to channel her magic into things she wanted to enchant.
"How are the potions coming, Chiyo?"
"Not as well as I hoped," she said, once her chanting was finished. "I couldn't find much dryroot nearby, and it's the only thing around here that can hold the magic right. They had some duneworm extract, but it isn't aged enough, so I have to be really careful mixing it."
"Will they work?"
"They'll make the huntsmen a bit tougher for a little while. I couldn't make anything that would help them get through the soldier's armor, but I figured that if we could keep them in the fight long enough, it'll give us time to do something."
"You're too modest," said Haru. He was sitting behind her, grinding the dryroot.
"If the huntsmen can hold the line, these soldiers for 'Queen Tomiko' won't stand a chance against your magic."
"Maybe..." she said, looking a little embarrassed.
"No, he's right," said Taiko. "You're really scary sometimes. I bet they've never had to fight against someone like you before."
Chiyo looked aside, uncomfortable with the praise she was getting. It was good for her, though, and it wasn't empty sentiment. She'd turned the tide of the battle at Ishi-jo already, and it was hardly the first time.
"Oh! I almost forgot why I came! Chiyo, do you remember Igrowl?"
Chiyo looked up.
"Yeah, why?"
"Like this," said Miyoshi.
She wove the strips of bleachwood together, showing the Dunnie women and children her technique. Shields, even simple ones, would help the Dunnie huntsmen stand better in hand-to-hand with Tomiko's men. Miyoshi had rounded up a bunch of the refugees and pressed them into manufacturing service, half of them making strips out of the nearby bleachwood trees and the other half weaving them together to make a half-man sized rectangle that would at least resist an arrow or sword blow.
She showed off her finished product, letting the children throw things at her while she kept huddled behind the shield. They fou
nd it to be good fun, and soon Miyoshi had enough hands involved to make enough for all of the huntsmen who would have to fight.
"Miyoshi?"
She turned around to see one of the men approaching her. She recognized him from her last adventure in the Dunnie desert. He'd been a vain, but skilled huntsman who helped protect the village from the firesnakes.
"Gugi, right?" she asked. "What do you need?"
"What do I need? I need... Miyoshi, will you talk with me privately for a moment?"
Miyoshi wondered what it could be about. He was nervous, but hiding it well for the most part. That didn't seem like the man she remembered. She gave her workers a last few pointers and followed him off to a quiet part of the camp.
"What is it?" she asked when they were alone.
"Miyoshi, ever since the time you and your friends came here I've remembered that day- and that battle- as one of my proudest moments. I knew I would never forget any of you for helping us. But... it wasn't until I saw you again last night that I realized what I had been blind to that time. Now it's all that I can think about."
"Gugi, you're being a little weird."
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just hard to put everything into words. Miyoshi, when I saw you in that moonlight, I realized how beautiful you are. I always knew, I suppose. But it never really struck me like it has now until last night."
"Th... thank you, Gugi. That's very sweet," she said.
It was sweet, but it also reminded her of someone else. Of Akio, and the way he talked about her beauty. Not just in admiration, but out of desire. It wasn't his fault; she didn't think he was anything like Akio, but his praise stirred memories that she'd been trying to forget.
Gugi took her hand and held it in both of his against his chest.
"Miyoshi, after this battle, will you stay?"
"What? Stay?"
"With me. As my wife. I'm a skilled huntsman, you know that. I may even become the lead huntsman one day. I know that I could make you happy here, and I can't think of anything else. You've captured my heart, Miyoshi, and I'll die if I can't be with you."
Miyoshi was shocked. This was overwhelming. But she knew that whatever he was feeling for her, she didn't share it. She couldn't leave Umai, and so much was going on right now-
"Gugi, I'm sorry. You're very kind, but I... I don't think I can feel that way about you."
"Please, Miyoshi, give me a chance. We were meant for each other, I know it. Fate couldn't have been so cruel as to make me love you this much if we weren't."
"I need to go," she said, weakly. She pulled her hand out of his grip, backed away a step, then turned and walked away, hurrying and not daring to look back.
He was wrong. She didn't know what fate meant for her, but she knew it wasn't him. She would know when she saw it, wouldn't she?
Miyoshi headed back toward where they were making the shields. Taiko was there now, talking to the children. She got close enough to listen, and heard her telling them that they almost had everything figured out, and that the soldiers wouldn't be any match for them at all next time they fought. The children looked like they believed her, and even the older Dunnies seemed to be infected by her spirit.
Miyoshi admired her so much. They'd never be able to do this without her. She was so pretty, too. She had the most beautiful pink hair and such and effortless, bouncy spirit to everything she did. Watching her made Miyoshi feel warm inside, no matter when or where.
An evil through crossed her mind. Maybe the next time that Taiko wanted to know what happened at Ishi-jo Miyoshi should show her. Show her by tying her up, just like Miyoshi had been, and forcing her to be a slave for Miyoshi's pleasure.
She shook the idea off as fast as it came to her. What had Akio done to her to make her have thoughts like that? But, then, would it really be so bad? She wouldn't offer Taiko any of Akio's cruelty. Why couldn't they both enjoy that kind of game?
Taiko spotted her and came briskly over, thankfully unaware of what Miyoshi had been plotting for her.
"Miyoshi, there you are. I need to know- can you make a riding harness?"
"A riding harness? For what?"
"Remember Igrowl?"
Captain Shima looked over the gathered prisoners. The Dunnie women were surprisingly attractive. Most of them were lean and fit, and despite the harshness of their environment they showed no signs of weathered skin or worn bodies. They were a deeply tanned color, but the youthfulness of the women showed that it was natural-born, not beaten into them by the sun. Their black hair was thick, silky, and straight. The women wore it braided, but the braids only went up to their shoulders, leaving it loose from there up to their scalps.
He considered each one, and zeroed in on a particular young woman with stunning blue eyes and deep red lips. She was what he was looking for- the most beautiful girl in the village.
"This one," he said. "Move the rest into that hut over there and bar the door."
His men started shoving them along, baring steel when any of them protested. The woman he picked glared at him, refusing to cower. The Queen would appreciate that, at least as much as she did anything. She apparently had nothing to say to him, which suited him just fine. He had no desire to explain his orders to her.
Shima grabbed her arm and twisted her around. He put her wrists together, crossing them behind her back. She jerked them out of his hands, but one of his men saw and threw one of the others to the ground, holding his sword to her back. After that, she behaved.
He tied her hands with the rope he'd brought with him, winding it around each of her wrists, both above and below where they crossed. He tugged on her arms when he was done. Her wrists wouldn't budge from each other, and he was satisfied that they would hold until she got to Frostspire. There was no point in taking chances, of course, and he'd only used a few feet of his rope.
Shima tied some coils around her arms, just below her elbows, and cinched them together. The girl grunted softly, but offered no other response. He tied the rest of the rope around her chest, resting it above her breasts but keeping it tied to her elbows in the back. Her arms were locked tightly in place now, and she should be no trouble to her handlers.
It was a shame, though. She was beautiful, and she would be wasted in Frostspire's dungeons. Fortunately, Queen Tomiko didn't care if her spoils still had their innocence.
"Prepare to take her back immediately," he told two of his men. "Along with our report. I'll only be a moment processing her."
He took her by the arm and brought her to one of the empty huts. It was built out of bricks that looked like they were made from sand that was glued together somehow. He pushed her against one of the walls and held her there with his hand around her neck.
She was dressed like the rest of the Dunnies, with a simple strip of cloth wrapped around her breasts and a skirt made of a thin material over a loincloth. His hand slipped easily under her chest wrapping, finding a firm helping of flesh underneath. She squirmed away from him, but he tightened his grip, both around her neck and her breast, and kept her in place.
"What's your name?" he asked.
She stared into his eyes and refused to speak.
"I can call my men in here to take their turns with you when I'm done, if you'd prefer."
"Jammlo," she said, spitting the words out with heated spite.
"What an ugly name. I'd give you a new one if I was going to get to keep you."
He kissed her while he worked her loincloth loose, not caring that she wrestled her lips away. He satisfied himself with her neck and shoulders, wishing he had more time to really enjoy himself. He had duty to attend to, however, so once her skirt and loincloth were on the ground he picked her up and set her ass on a nearby counter. It was barely deep enough to hold her, but it put her hips at just the right level. He pushed her legs apart and put himself between them.
She tried to get away while he dropped his pants, but he grabbed her knees and forced them down. He caressed her legs while moving his hands up
to her hips. Her skin felt good against his fingers, and even better against his loins when he pressed his undressed body into her. She was soft and creamy, perfumed in some exotic desert scent.
Her face finally broke when Shima shoved his length into her tight, unready cunt. He would make it quick for her, at least. He held her thighs against his sides while he fucked her, watching her fight not to show any tears. She wasn't nearly as wet as he'd like, but she made up for it with her youthful vitality, and despite her groans her cunt served its purpose well.
Shima drove fast and hard, pounding her against the wall. He'd made a good choice- her beauty held, even while her face was stricken with grief. He didn't take long to start grunting with effort, feeling the pressure build up in his loins. He put one hand around her neck again, holding her against the wall while he pushed himself the last bit of the way.
He grunted in satisfaction when he released, feeling his seed pour into her. She had a pained look on her face, and she winced when he gave her a few more thrusts to make sure he'd delivered his full load. He drew out of her, and let her slump off of the counter onto the floor. He sighed, catching his breath and letting his heart settle. She would have made a good slave. It was too bad about his orders.
Captain Shima left the hut, fixing his armor back into place. The two men who were assigned to report back to Frostspire were waiting outside.
"Take her," he said. "Satisfy yourselves with her if you need to, but don't damage her. Her Majesty will want that part for herself."
Shima walked back to the village center, where the Lady Oni Satsujin was amusing herself. She would have liked to have killed everyone and burned down the village by now, but Shima had convinced her to hold the villagers hostage to lure the ones who'd escaped back to fight. She was making due in the meantime.
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