"They seem to stay away from our area unless they are hunting for runaways." Eerika said in a low voice. "I wonder why." Calla jogged beside her on the path. The snow had not yet started to fall, but the chill of the season had already entered the air.
"It might be that they are afraid of the Blind Queen's forces." Eerika grunted. She didn't have such strong distaste for the Blind Queen as she did for the Blind King, but it was still there. "She closed her borders to this country years ago, which irritated my owner a lot."
"She should have invaded and removed the king here." Eerika said with a low growl in her throat. "If she had, the misery would have ended before it started to get really bad for us." Calla couldn't dispute her logic, so she didn't try. Life was miserable for them in this country, and if they were refused entry to the other country that was close, what were the women here supposed to do? Just lay down at die like their mothers before them?
As they got closer to the village, the air grew heavy, and smelled like an old manure pile. It was faint, but the scent of shit still lingered.
"I hate this place!" Calla growled angrily. She gripped her spear until her knuckles were white.
"What's our plan, Calla?" Eerika asked, unsure of what they should do first. Calla turned towards her, not used to the sight of such indecision in her lover.
"The gate guards should be killed, and the tower guards. They could raise the alarm quickly if we are spotted." Eerika nodded, and took a deep breath.
"Then we need to get up over that palisade, kill the tower guards, then drop down on the gate guards." She smiled as the excitement pumped her blood faster through her veins. Her muscled arm bulged as she gripped her sword. "Do you want the left, or the right?" Calla grinned.
"We'll have to be quick, love. Kill them, drop over when they look up, and make sure we hit them with either the shield on the way down, or the spear." Eerika nodded.
"Gut the tower guard with the sword, drop down and use the shield to halt your fall, and use him as a cushion. Then spear him to the ground. Got it." Calla disappeared to the right, which made Eerika swing to the left.
Though it was unpracticed, they visualized every step before it happened. But reality was quite a bit different then a hastily drawn up battle plan.
Calla used a close tree to climb up over the palisade, and was thankful for how truly lazy the men of the village were. She watched the man in the tower for a few seconds, and realized that he didn't care which direction he looked in. All he cared about was the next mug he would lift to his lips, and his pathetic excuse for a manhood.
Calla climbed the ladder, and quickly realized her mistake. As she poked her head up, the man there had aimed his gaze down.
"Who are you?" He asked gruffly. She thought quickly, and since her head was still attached to her shoulders, she knew he didn't expect an attack from a woman. She smiled saucily.
"I'm your entertainment sent by the mayor. If you're quiet, no one will ever know I was here." He smiled an evil smile.
"Can you keep quiet?" She nearly gagged.
"If you put something in my mouth, then you know I'll be quiet." He chuckled and dropped his leggings.
"Oh, I've got something for ya to stuff there alright." Calla nearly gagged again. The smell was horrid. She took one more step up, grabbed hold of his crotch, and smiled her own evil smile.
When he fell to his knees, she drove the bloodied blade up through his jaw and into his brain. She climbed into the tower and looked over at Eerika. She looked concerned, but Calla held up her prize. She covered her mouth to smother her laughter, then pulled her spear and pointed to the gate guards.
Calla smiled, lifted her spear, and took her shield off her back.
One. Two. "Three!"
Calla's fingers trembled as she wrenched her spear out of the gate guard's chest. It wasn't flawless, but it did work.
"We have to practice those kinds of maneuvers, love. I can't stop shaking!" Eerika nodded.
"My knees went weak when I leaped out of the tower. The shield did the trick, but I nearly soiled my leggings!" She looked up, then down at the bodies. "Lets drag them to the side of the gate, and pin them up with their own swords. If anyone sees them, they will be standing, and appear to be on duty." Calla nodded, and with some difficulty, she dragged her victim to the side of the gate.
"I think I need your help here, love. I can't carry him and pin him through as well." Eerika nodded, then frowned. She didn't want Calla to believe she was too weak, so she made a quick decision.
"I need yours as well. I can lift him, but holding him in place with only one hand makes it difficult. Grab his sword, and ram it through his chest. I'll wedge it into the wood." Calla nodded, picked up the fallen guard's sword, and smacked Eerika's bottom with the flat of the blade.
"I know you need me, love, so don't patronize me." Eerika smiled.
"I'm sorry. I forgot how proud you are." Calla smiled.
"I'm proud of you, and your strength. I may need help from time to time, but don't downplay your strength for me. I have my own kind of strength that you need from me." She drove the sword through his ribs and into the wood. Eerika changed the angle and drove it deeper into the log. "That should do it. Shall we go rescue a fair damsel, my lady?" Eerika chuckled, and drew her close.
"You scared me when you didn't appear right away." Calla smiled.
"We're women. They don't respect us, or expect us to try to kill them. I used his own weakness against him. We need to remember that. As long as they don't see us use our swords or skills, they will just believe we are slaves who might have escaped, or are on the way to our master's place." Eerika pursed her lips.
"Never thought of that. Don't rely on it too much though. Distractions are fine, but it may come back and bite you." She pulled her close. "If it ever does, just know that I will come for you. Every time. I'll kill any man who tries to hurt you, and who has hurt you."
"I know. Now lets go! We have some stocks to destroy!"
"Ginnie, be quiet! We have to save your sister!" A young girl was trailing behind her father, tears running down her cheeks, and her sobs easy to hear. "I said be quiet! Do you want them to hurt your sister?" Ginnie sniffled.
"No, father, but what are we gonna do?" He turned and growled at her.
"I should have left you back at the house! If you get us caught, I'll never be able to rescue her!"
"Father?" He heard a pitifully weak voice and felt a sadness shoot through him.
"Aura, I'm here. I'm going to take you away from here, that way your mother can rest easy." He turned. "Dammit, Ginnie! Shut up! You'll alert them to our presence!" He took the heavy pry bar and was about to use it on the lock when the door to the slaver's auction house opened.
"George, you fool. I told you before, she doesn't belong to you anymore." George lifted the bar defiantly, and gave an angry look to his youngest daughter. If she had stopped her bawling, he might have been able to sneak Aura away from this village. Now, he would have to fight.
"She doesn't belong to you either! I never agreed to sell her, and she is my daughter!" He shook his head.
"Fool. That bar won't save you, and I paid for that girl. You can have her back at the end of the month, just like the rest of the slaves. Broken in too." George lifted his bar in an overhand strike.
"You can't have her! Her mother already laid down because of the likes of you, and I won't let you have her!" George frowned as two heavily armed women appeared behind the two slavers.
"That girl doesn't belong to anyone!" Eerika ground out through gritted teeth. The slaver turned towards her, then back to George.
"Sorry, George, you leave me no choice, and now you'll never have her back." He stabbed forward, and ran the blade into George's stomach, but saw him smile. The slaver looked down. A spear now poked out through the center of his chest.
"Neither will you." He willed himself to speak with the last of his strength, and looked the two women in the eyes. "Save my girls. Please." Eerika nodded, and watched the second slaver draw his sword and turn towards them. He didn't have any respect for women, or how dangerous they might be. Until now.
"You shouldn't have done that!" He said as he tried to make himself appear larger. The problem was that Eerika towered over him, and was much more muscular. He shouldn't have taken his eyes off of Calla though. She may be smaller, but her rage for the slavers was just as great as Eerika's.
"Don't even look at her, you filthy pig!" Calla rushed forward, her shield taking him out of his defensive stance, then drove her spear up through his middle and out through his collar bone. She then drew her sword quickly and ran it across his throat. The gurgle made her smile as he fell away from her.
The smile dropped from her lips as she heard a whimper to their side. The slavers now forgotten, Eerika picked up the pry bar, knocked off the lock, and helped the young woman to straighten up.
"Can you walk?" Aura tried, but fell quickly.
"I'm so cold!" Eerika swept her up into her arms.
"Love, grab their things. I'll have to carry her home." She looked at the girl who had finally stopped her tears, but was obviously in shock. "What's your name?"
"Ginnie." She said softly.
"Ginnie, I need your help. Your sister needs your help. Pick up whatever Calla strips off those two, and help her to carry it. We need to get home, to our home, before the others come to look on these two animals." Ginnie nodded slowly, and did as she was told. Calla smiled softly.
"I hope Fae can help her, and herself." She smiled at the young woman, then blinked. "Oh, before I forget, there is something Fae needed done!" Eerika nodded, put Aura down near her sister, then took her ax and smiled.
"Time to make some firewood!"
"You're back? I didn't think....who's this?" Fae stood near the door, her features full of worry, but calmed and became full of concern as she saw the young woman in Eerika's arms.
"Its Aura, and her sister, Ginnie. We found her in the stocks." She didn't shrink back in fear, but instead went to the fireplace.
"I'll get her some stew. That will warm her up." Calla smiled. Sometimes, if you had a spot to focus on, and not your own trauma, that one spot could end up being a place she propped herself up on until she was able to stand on her own.
"I didn't know you could cook, Fae. Um, when were you able to make bowls?" Fae smiled.
"I didn't look for swords in that cellar of yours. I wanted to find dishes, spoons, forks, and pots. I used a bit of sand and water to scrub the tarnish off, rinsed them, and made a nice stew from some of the root veggies, and meat. I also used a bit of the salt to add flavor. Was that alright?" Calla smiled.
"Its a big help, Fae. Thank you. Just watch the salt levels. Its all we have until we find a source. It must be close though. Salt is expensive, and heavy. It would be easier to cart it from here, rather then transport it and store it here, then cart it elsewhere for buyers." She turned and frowned slightly at the actions of her lover.
"Why are you undressing her?" Fae asked in alarm, and watched Eerika strip off too.
"She's too cold to get heat from inside herself. She'll need to absorb my heat for a bit until she warms up." She put a fur about her shoulders, and shrouded Aura with it. "When she saps my heat, you girls will have to take my place. When she starts to shiver, she should be warmed up enough to eat that stew." Aura looked around.
"Stew? I haven't eaten in almost a day! Father kept us fed, but once they took me from him...." Fae closed her eyes.
"I see. I'll feed her while she stays under the furs." She pinned Eerika with a hard stare. "Are they dead?"
"Both her slavers are. And the stocks have been turned into just another pile of splintered firewood." Fae felt a warmth go through her as she fed Aura a spoonful of stew at a time. Her skin was pale white, lightly freckled, with such light blonde hair, she wasn't sure if Aura was one of those sky spirits the old women used to talk about. When the fur accidentally slipped, she felt something she's never felt before.
Desire.
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