Merry Christmas! Here’s a little chapter to enjoy :)

“Stick ’em up!”

Atrocious came to consciousness slowly and reluctantly. She had not slept at all well. The stone hearth was uncomfortable and her dreams had been… disturbing. It appeared that morning was not going to bring any relief from her ongoing woes. As sleep fog faded from her mind Atrocious became aware that she was being robbed before she’d so much as opened her eyes for the day. It was almost enough to convince her not to bother getting up at all.

“Stick ’em up,” a strident and enthusiastic voice demanded.

“I do not think so.” Kira spoke to Atrocious’ left.

“Nor do I,” Ayla chimed in on her right.

Atrocious risked opening one eye. The sight that greeted her surprised her into opening the other eye too. They were being robbed by a young woman about the same age as her, a woman who seemed to have fashioned her attire according to entirely fanciful whim. Her bright blue pants were wide and baggy, after the fashion of a pirate. The leather vest she wore looked sturdy enough, but the gaudy yellow shirt underneath it was bright enough to qualify as an assault on the eyes in its own right. In addition to the blue and yellow attire, she was adorned with colored bangles clattering up and down her arms and wide gold loops that had been stuck through her earlobes.

She was pretty. Very pretty actually. Her eyes were almond shaped, vaguely exotic and her skin had a natural native tan that would have needed no sun to maintain. Her lips were full and sensual, smeared with red berry juice. Atrocious might have been tempted to think that she was a sweet sort of person, but the fact that she was threatening the three of them with a curved scimitar and the sort of broad grin that suggested she enjoyed what she was doing rather a lot could not be ignored.
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That night when sleep finally came, Atrocious had a dream. In her dream she was back in the forest, bent over and pushed across a rough log. Her britches were around her knees, her bottom exposed. A strong hand ran up her back and grabbed the hair at the back of her head, tugging her head back so that she was forced to arch her hips up, offering her secret places like a cat in heat.
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Ayla smiled, but gave Atrocious no answer in response to the declaration of her choice. “Come, we need to find better shelter for the evening,” she said, changing the subject to something of more practical weight.

The trio eventually took refuge in a little inn a few miles away. It was a simple establishment so there were no rooms to be had, just the hearth which provided a limited amount of comfort in the form of animal skins laid on the stone surrounding. Atrocious huddled to the side of the fire by herself, keeping silent and distant from Ayla and Kira. She tried to get some rest, but sleep was not an option. When she gazed into the fire visions of blood and violence danced constantly before her eyes. If she closed her eyes the visions became worse, more gruesome, more realistic. But in spite of her torment sleep would not be denied. As the hour grew later and her fatigue increased she started to nod off, tipping dangerously towards the flames.

“Hey, careful!” Kira took her by the arm and pulled her back from the fire. Startled into full consciousness, Atrocious emitted a small involuntary shriek of distress.

“What’s eating you?” The warrior frowned slightly and let go of her.

“Nothing,” Atrocious lied as she curled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

“She’s afraid of you,” Ayla surmised. The witch had wrapped herself in her hooded robe and only the very tip of her nose could be seen catching the light of the fire.

“Of me? Why?” Kira’s brow furrowed. “I haven’t done anything to her.”

The witch turned her magnetic gaze on Kira. “You killed a woman in front of her.”

“You killed a man, why wouldn’t she be afraid of you too?”

“Maybe she is.”

“Stop it!” Atrocious piped up. “I’m not afraid!”

That was a lie nobody bought. “It’s okay to be afraid,” Kira said. “Especially if you’ve never seen a man die before. But…” She reached over and took Atrocious’ chin between her thumb and forefinger, holding the young thief’s gaze with her own solemn eyes. “Do not fear me. I acted in your defense.”

Atrocious knew all too well that without Kira and Ayla, both of whom had acted with extreme violence, she would have been at the mercy of the bandits and they had absolutely no mercy at all. Still, the same fingers that now held her face with a gentle tenderness had been used to bring quick and bloody death. That was not something easily overcome.

“Take comfort in the fact that they deserved it,” Kira advised her. “Take comfort in the fact that they will not slaughter any more innocent travelers. Take comfort that they did not suffer at the end – and do not make yourself suffer either.” There was something very heavy and very old in Kira’s voice, a wisdom with the weight of ages behind it.

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This post contains some violence of the fighting brigands kind. If you do not like violence, you should maybe not read it, although that might pose a challenge in following the story.

Kira was off Atrocious in an instant and Atrocious could only watch wide-eyed as the warrior drew the short sword at her side and crouched down in the dark shadow of a nearby tree. The brigands were close enough to be heard, their stolen armor clanking as they rushed towards the three women.

“You picked a bad night to get lost in the woods!” The brigand leader snarled as he burst through the undergrowth, already prepared for attack.

Paralyzed with fear, Atrocious gasped. He was a fearsome man, large and broad, his a bare chest covered with hair so dark it could almost have been called a pelt. He was wielding a war axe, the blade already stained with dull blood. Ayla was the most obvious target standing tall and pale in the moonlight, her beautiful face impassive and he made for her with an awful cry, a brutal barbaric sound that made Atrocious shiver where she still lay.
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Just a quickie tonight, I’ve been distracted by girly dresses, which is most irregular…

Atrocious strode into the forest, rendered fearless with festering anger that had finally burst free. Her captivity had gone on long enough, it was time to continue making her mark in the world.

There was a loud noise, then the ground suddenly rushed towards her as she fell, tackled around the waist by a large, muscular mass of woman. She got a mouthful of moss before she was yanked over onto her back and pinned by Kira. “Listen whelp,” the warrior growled. “You don’t walk away from me. Not ever.”

“I’ll walk away from you if I want to,” Atrocious said rebelliously. “I don’t care if you hit me. I’m tired of this shit.”

“Oh you’re tired of it are you?” Kira’s smirk was dark. “If you think you’re tired of it now, think about this.” She leaned forwards until her sensual lips were just inches away from Atrocious’ face. “I haven’t even begun to torment you. Tell me why those soldiers were after you.”

“I don’t know.”

“You know.”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“Will this be going somewhere anytime soon?” Ayla could not be seen in the shadows, but her voice carried easily in the clear night.

Kira sat back up and looked over her shoulder in the direction of the voice. “She’s going to tell me.”

“No I’m not.”

Kira glared down at Atrocious. “Yes you are.”

“I ask,” Ayla said quite calmly, “because there are several bandits headed this way.”

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Kira’s palm came down hard across a bouncing red rear amidst incoherent yowls that could have been pleas for clemency, dire threats or anything in between. She was sitting on a fallen tree and she had Atrocious held firmly over her lap, one iron banded arm wrapped around the young thief’s waist as she belabored her bottom with impressive punitive enthusiasm.

Taking no part in the punishment, Ayla stood a short distance away, scanning the surrounding area for soldiers, bandits and other nasties that inhabited the region. Her expression was impassive, in spite of the blow she’d taken to the jaw earlier she seemed to be taking no joy in what was happening to Atrocious.

“You do not lie to me!” Kira emphasized every word with another slap to the bright red rear caught over her thigh. Whether the lesson was taking was debatable, but whether she was making an impression was not. Atrocious was wailing, a steady cry that had started several minutes earlier and showed no signs of stopping.
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Old friends are the best friends, aren’t they?

Atrocious looked from one woman to the other, caught up in helpless misery. “I… want to be free.”

“Eh, freedom is overrated,” Kira winked.

Ayla did not reply, she just rolled her eyes and shook her head. She stood with her arms folded under her bosom, an elegant long finger tapping an impatient tattoo on her arm.

“I don’t think so,” Atrocious argued bravely. “I don’t see what claim either of you have to me.”

“You’re getting a chance to have a say in your destiny,” Ayla cut in abruptly. “Don’t talk your way out of it.”

Atrocious didn’t know whether to cry or beg or yell. The situation she found herself in was so untenable, so unfair she could barely stand it. Neither of the two women seemed to be a particularly good choice, Ayla was an oversexed witch with control issues and Kira, well Atrocious was pretty sure Kira’s charm would soon fade.

“Tick tock, little girl,” Kira said, glancing over Atrocious’ head out the window. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if she saw something she didn’t like at all.
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