Title: Judas Unchained - Hilda and Kana: The Grave Doll of Isha - Part 1: 
Hilda's Tale
Author: Judas Unchained
Keywords: FM, FF, M+F, NC, Violence
Summary: The warrior women Hilda and Kana meet to tell the story of a 
departed companion. First to speak is Hilda and she tells the tale of the 
far off city of Agartha and its strange customs.

Copyright  2015  Judas Unchained.

Email comments to judasunchained@googlemail.com

This is fantasy porn. In fact, it is double fantasy porn - it both has 
magic and is not real. Don't read if it is illegal for you do to do so.

This is a txt version of 'Judas Unchained - Hilda and Kana: The Grave Doll 
of Isha - Part 1: Hilda's Tale' and lacks some of the formatting available 
in the HTML version. If possible, please read the web version here: 
http://www.asstr.org/~JudasUnchained/Original/hilda2.html

                                    ~~~                                    

   The bonfire crackled. It cast long shadows.

   "So," said Hilda, "here we are."

   Kana was silent. She stared into the fire.

   Hilda took the straw grave doll and attached the lock of hair with a 
pin. "This is how we do it back home when we don't have a body. You burn 
the doll. As long as you've got some hair it's all good."

   "She had a nice smile," said Kana, her eyes on a place leagues away, her
eyes on a place long past.

   Hilda snorted. "If you like that sort of thing." She sat still a moment 
and sighed. "I suppose she did."

   The minutes passed, broken only by the crackle of burning branches.

   "We just burn it?" asked Kana. "In Malat there's speeches and priests 
and if you're important enough we build a marble mausoleum."

   "Na," said Hilda. "That's city-shit. If they had a good life, you have a
party. Booze, sex, fighting, all the good stuff. That's the Beterci way. If
they die young... Well, then it's a bit different. Those who knew you 
gather. Always at night, always outside, always quiet like. They drink and 
tell stories. And when they're done, they burn the doll and send you on 
your way. It's so the ghosts know you."

   "Do you-" started Kana but Hilda threw over the bottle.

   "It's the good stuff," said Hilda. "Found it in that inn we trashed back
Ko way. You'd just set that fire and it seemed a shame to waste."

   Kana took a deep drink and hissed. "Strong."

   "Strong is good," said Hilda. "Strong means the dead can taste. Pass it 
back."

   Kana passed it back and took a gulp herself. "Nasty," she hissed with 
relish. "That's one thing you city folk have figured out. You know how to 
brew you some drink." She flicked the bottle and sent a spray towards the 
fire. It hissed for a few seconds and burned blue. "For the dead." She 
splashed a second measure onto the doll. "And some for Isha too."

   Isha...

   "Remember when we first met her?" asked Kana.

   "Do I," said Hilda with a half-chuckle. "That city had more city-shit 
than I've ever seen." She shook her head. "I suppose that's as good a place
as any to start." She raised the bottle in an invisible toast. "Listen up 
ghouls and ghosties. Tonight I won't burn Hern's Beard, I won't say the 
secret words and I won't call up the Old Man of the Forest to chase you 
away. Come and listen. We've got some stories to tell you about your new 
friend."

   The wind howled in the trees. Shadows turned and flickered.

   "So Agartha," said Kana.

   "Agartha."

   ~ Hilda's Tale - Agartha ~

   The air was dry on the Neck of Salt. Reddish dust rose from the Old Salt
Road as Kana and I trudged towards the great sandstone gates of Agartha.

   "Big place," I said as I shaded my eyes with a hand.

   "Not really," said Kana. "Further east all the cities grow much bigger. 
It's the coast traffic. Agartha's too far west to really benefit."

   Damn city-shit. How in fuck did a city grow anyway?

   We walked on, feet eating up the miles. My armour dragged at my limbs, 
rendered heavy from long hours travel under a harsh sun. I don't wear full 
armour, don't have the coin or the patience for that shit, but I've got a 
fair number of metal plates hooked up to my leathers, covering key parts of
my chest, arms, legs and back. My cunt itched something bad bellow it all. 
"You sure your friend is good? I'm going to fucking kill someone if we came
all this way for nothing."

   "He's not a friend, just someone I knew back in Malat. But yes, the 
message was good and the job with it. Anyway, it wasn't that far off our 
route."

   The closer we got to the city the more traffic joined us on the road - 
giant ox drawn carts piled high with food, ragged beggars, strapping young 
farmers and others besides. All had skin deep brown colour, only a little 
lighter than Kana's own. That might seem strange to the less travelled sort
but it was normal in this part of the world.

   "Mistress!" shouted a youth wearing only a loose cotton skirt. "A basket
of figs to fuck the Dar-Yalad." He rubbed his crotch, which showed a 
somewhat impressive bulge. I gave it a judging look. A lot of farmer boys 
give better cunt poundings than you'd expect. Still, no, I wasn't going to 
take his shit.

   I dropped my great sword from carry to ready and spat, "Speak to me 
again, you little shit, and I'll rip your guts open and feet them to the 
gulls." The heavy steel shone like a slice of untarnished silver in the 
bright sun.

   That gave him a shock and he scrambled to the other side of his wagon.

   "What is a Dar-Yalad?" I asked Kana once I was sure he was well and 
truly gone. This was her end of the world after all.

   "It's a caste or perhaps tribe in Agartha. There are two, the Dar-Edamim
and Dar-Yalad. The Dar-Edamim are the majority, have black skin and are 
anything from street beggars to city lords. The Dar-Yalad are different. 
They're hereditary slaves, but not like you might expect. They don't mine 
ore, farm the fields or work as servants. They're kept as status symbols, 
like expensive pets. It's good luck to fuck one and bad luck to harm one."

   I gave the approaching city a dark look. "I know this much stone all in 
one place rots the brain but that's some crazy shit."

   "It isn't that strange and their civic government is extremely 
interesting."

   "Yes it is and no it fucking isn't. Anyway, why did he think I was one?"

   "That pink skin of yours."

   We reached the gate and passed inside. Beyond was a raucous market 
square. Sellers shouted the prices of their goods, prostitutes wrapped in 
flowing silks beckoned passers-by into shadowed tents, strange and potent 
spices hung in the air and the stink of animals lurked just beyond that.

   I'm not one for cities so Kana took the lead. She walked down building 
lined roads which all looked identical too me. We had to stop at a cross 
roads to let a procession of cloaked palanquins pass by. City-people 
apparently had other people do their walking for them. And Kana wondered 
why I preferred the wilds.

   It wasn't much further to our destination. Kana led us down a street 
lined with large, ornate homes. Ours was the third from the end. A wall and
wooden gate protected a private enclosed garden.

   Kana knocked, a hatch at eye level clicked open and she whispered to the
person on the other side. Whatever she said passed muster because the gate 
clicked open and a servant in a loose fitting robe ushered us inside.

   The garden was a quiet, cool space and the first place inside the city I
didn't actively hate. In the middle gurgled a water spout, like a private 
mountain spring. It fed a small stone lined pool which leached some of the 
heat from the air. I've had half my skin burnt black by a desert sun and my
tits frozen half off in a winter storm. A little balance is nice for a 
change.

   Two half moon gravel paths led to the town-house proper. You better 
believe it had huge columns. You know the type: I have a tiny cock or I 
have a dead clit written in stone.

   "This way," said the servant, still speaking in a low voice. "The master
and mistress are expecting you."

   He led us through the house and into a second enclosed garden, this one 
shaded by high wooden palisades which only let through a narrow square of 
sky. Plants grew in glazed clay pots and vivid green leaves draped in lazy 
indulgence.

   It wasn't the décor that held my attention, however. That honour 
belonged to the three fuck puppets arrayed behind our hosts.

   They were completely naked save for their chains but fuck weren't there 
a lot of those. Golden links bound their feet in tight hobbles. Golden 
cuffs kept their hands together, wrist to wrist. Lines of chain which 
seemed to serve no purpose other than ornamentation crisscrossed their 
bodies - framing breasts, wrapping limps like crazed snakes and making 
elegant diamonds of stomachs. Tight elongated collars, clearly the work of 
master leather workers, kept their necks extended, chins high.

   Under the chains was only white skin, perfect, unblemished and the 
colour of milk fresh from a pregnant slut's tits. You know, the fat farmer 
type who contrives to always be pregnant, even when her husband's off 
fighting a war. All three were incredibly beautiful and not just best whore
in town beautiful, either. They could stand alongside the best sacred 
prostitutes in the Grand Temple of the Unbridled Lady, the kind kept in 
stock for visiting kings. Their faces looked to have been made by the most 
skilled sculptors from the finest porcelain, their hair could have been 
spun from white gold and their flesh was unmarred by either fat or muscle.

   The two on either end were woman and they had tits you wouldn't believe.
I just wanted to bite them and never let go. Not huge but perfectly shaped 
and not a hint of sag. They had these pink nipples which just popped. The 
man in the middle was even prettier with not a hair on him other than his 
long blond locks. A tight waste. His hips even flared a little.

   These, I realised, must be the Dar-Yalad - the hereditary slave caste of
Agartha.

   "Master, mistress," said the servant, "may I introduce Kana of Malat and
Hilda of the Beterci Tribes. Guests, you have the honour of being in the 
presence of Jabnit and Jezebel of the glorious and eternal city of 
Agartha."

   Our hosts lounged on low couches in the shade. Jabnit was a small city 
man who clearly had never swung a sword in his life. Dozens of small 
coloured ribbons fell from his hair and he sported a tight beard that I 
just wanted to pull off. Jezebel was better. She wore a completely 
impractical dress but the many holes and low cut revealed a hard athletic 
body. I certainly wouldn't say no if she offered to lick my clit until I 
creamed. If not for the coin on offer, I might have taken my cum even if 
she'd been the one saying no.

   It's Kana's job to talk to city people so I just sat back on my heels 
and behaved. Mostly that involved not breaking, stealing or fucking 
anything, though it was a close run thing. They had this golden knife just 
sitting on a nearby table. Gems you wouldn't believe. I doubt they would 
have even noticed if I slipped it into my boot.

   Kana talked and yammered for what seemed like forever but finally was 
done.

   "We have an agreement," she said and bowed her head. "If we have a few 
hours to rest we will begin."

   "Of course, of course," said Jabnit. "Boodes show them to a guest room 
and bring fruit and water."

   "We thank you."

   Yeah. 'We'.

   The guest room was nice, the kind of place you almost felt bad trashing 
after a night of drinks and whores. It had a wide low bed, jugs of cool 
water and bowls of fresh fruit.

   I unbuckled my armour, propped my sword against the wall and collapsed 
onto the bed. "So," I said as I grabbed a bunch of grapes. "What city-shit 
are we doing today?" The grapes crunched between my teeth. Sweet.

   "A rescue mission," said Kana as she stripped out of her silver scale. 
"You saw the three Dar-Yalad?"

   "Yep. Hard to miss the bondage fuck-puppets strung up like that."

   "Well, there's a fourth called Dido and she's been stolen."

   "So basic property recovery? Why hire us. I'm sure there must be some 
strong-arm types in the city."

   "Remember I said Dar-Yalad are lucky to fuck and unlucky to hurt? Well, 
it goes much deeper than that apparently. Way back when, or so Jezebel told
me, a god by the name of He With Golden Feet came to Agartha with a child. 
He gave the child to the city and charged the city with the child's 
protection. They did so and also protected the child's children and 
children's children and so on until the modern day. The descendants became 
the Dar-Yalad."

   "Even when it has a reason city-shit is crazy," I muttered.

   Kana rolled her eyes and continued. "The bondage, the slavery, it's all 
about protecting the Dar-Yalad. If left free they might starve. If left 
unbound they might hurt themselves. They take it very seriously. Did you 
notice the curtained palanquins on the streets? Those weren't for Dar-
Edamim great names. They were for prized Dar-Yalad, so the sun wouldn't 
burn and darkened their skin."

   "They let slaves ride and masters walk here?" I said and shook my head. 
Don't get me wrong, thralls back home weren't treated badly by most 
measures but they certainly weren't treated better than free men.

   "It's all about harm," said Kana. "Letting a Dar-Yalad come to harm is 
an incredibly bad omen. It will bring a god's curse down on whoever did it,
the Dar-Yalad's owners and the entire city. It's built into their civic 
religion. That's why Jabnit and Jezebel hired us. No agent from Agartha 
would undertake the rescue for risk of hunting Dido and even if they would,
Jabnit and Jezebel couldn't risk the truth coming out without losing face."

   Now that was just too much. "You mean they have these beautiful whores 
all bound up and they're not even going to smack them around a little? 
Where's the sense in that?"

   "You just don't understand civic religions," said Kana, which I thought 
was pretty unreasonable given the shit she'll put a whore through if given 
half a chance.

   "At least my gods make sense. Look I get your temples. God represents 
whatever. Temple offers whatever as a sacred service. But this civic shit 
is just nonsense."

   "Think that if you will but remember, it pays well."

   There was that. I crammed the last of the grapes into my mouth and 
pushed myself up. "Do we have any leads?"

   "One," said Kana. She stood naked, and I idly traced the lines of scar 
that covered her back with my eyes. There were a lot. We were too good for 
there to be one for every adventure but a lot of our history was writ 
there. "A man by the name Luli the Badger. He delivered the ransom demand. 
If we find him, we can hopefully find Dido."

   I stripped down too and we set to washing the road dust off our bodies. 
It felt good to be clean and I finally got a chance to scratch the annoying
itch deep in my cunt.

   On our way out we had a final meeting with our clients.

   "We're so worried for our dear Dido," said Jezebel as Kana and I stood 
there in her hall. "You simply must get her back. I can't imagine what 
those monsters must be doing to her. And they won't know to give her hot 
milk every night! She'll be ever so upset."

   "And you must go quickly," said Jabnit. "When the kidnappers realise we 
can't pay, they may sell her to another family. Even in secret, her 
bloodline would be extremely valuable. She has impeccable pedigree."

   Not too long after that we hit the streets. Tracking a fugitive through 
rough ground, that's my business, but doing the same in a city is Kana's 
time to shine. I just had to hold my great sword in a menacing fashion and 
growl occasionally. We got the usual hangout of Luli the Badger from a 
street orphan in exchange for a battered square penny and a promise not to 
kick him. I consider it a good deal given he tried to pick my pocket.

   For a bonus he gave us a vague description. "Like a badger, you know, 
short and angry. And with scars on both cheeks. Someone ran him through."

   That hangout was a popina, or wine house, in a grey zone between the 
better parts of town and the true slums. It was made from whitewashed brick
and windows high on the second floor suggested rooms to rent. Normally I'd 
have kicked down the door and threatened to gut anyone who didn't tell us 
what we needed to know, but our mission required more subtlety than that.

   We sidled inside with a group of other customers. I can't say how much 
good that did; I kind of stood out, you know. It appeared a more reputable 
place than I expected, with sturdy furniture and only a slightly soiled 
floor. It was clearly an old establishment, however, full of narrow nooks, 
sheltered corners and patches of shadow where neither the light of window 
nor lamp reached.

   The barman was tall, easily over six foot, and looked like he would give
a good cunt pounding if properly motivated and given half a chance. He wore
his long black hair in an intricate braid down his back, simple cloth 
trousers and a jacket which left his sculpted chest bare, the muscles of 
which glowed with either sweat or oil. He stood behind an arc of large 
stone jugs, with wide open tops. Some were filled with grape mush that 
stunk of heavy fermentation, while others contained water, honey, citric 
lemon juice and an array of brightly coloured spices. He held a wood and 
iron ladle in his hands.

   "Astegal," cried a drunken man at a nearby table. "Another of these." He
sloshed a mug, which contained the dregs of a drink.

   The server, Astegal, nodded, flipped a fresh mug onto a sturdy stand and
made the drink in a few quick movements of his ladle. First came two kinds 
of grape mush, then water and finally a small amount of spice which smelt 
of fire. He mixed the drink with a three-pronged instrument and a serving 
wench delivered it to the table. Quick and impressive service. It would be 
a shame if we needed to trash the place.

   Kana gave me a nod and we set to searching the place for our quarry. The
wine house was full of raucous Dar-Edamim and we only had a rough idea of 
what Luli looked like.

   In one corner I found a muscular woman with the ritualistic tattoos of 
the jungle tribes having her way with a tarted up whore. He clearly knew 
his art, because he moaned and resisted just the right amount. She produced
a tit covered with strange spiral scars and shoved it into his mouth. I 
moved on before my cunt could juice up too much; she didn't look the type 
to share.

   Other drinkers included weathered sailors, calloused labourers, off-hour
servants and even a few women wearing a rich nob's idea of simple dress, 
clearly slumming for the evening. None appeared suitable candidates to be 
our badger.

   And then I found him.

   He sat and drank alone, at the wall side end of a long table. He had a 
short pug face and darting black eyes that spoke to a bad personality. He 
carried a short knife but it was no tool. No, it was a stabbing weapon. 
Most importantly the scars were there, just as the street rat described. 
Something sharp and hard had gone in one cheek and out the other.

   I caught Kana's attention and motioned discreetly towards our target. 
She nodded and we moved to block him in. As one we sat down, me on the 
right, Kana on the left.

   "Luli the Badger I presume," I growled.

   "What's it too you?" he said in a weaselling voice.

   "Let's take a walk," said Kana and from the tone of her voice and the 
look on Luli's face I knew she had a sharp object pressed into something 
soft and fleshy.

   He gulped.

   I smiled, reached down, gave his cock a squeeze and stole his knife.

   Kana led Luli towards the stairs to the second story while I spoke to 
Astegal about acquiring a room for an hour or two. He agreed readily enough
and I handed over the needed coin. As the three of us disappeared some of 
the other patrons even gave a half-hearted cheer at our obvious 'good 
fortune'.

   As soon as we were behind a closed door I propped my sword against the 
wall and punched Luli right in the face. Setting the correct tone is very 
important.

   He let out a panicked yell and stumbled backwards. A kick to his knee 
sent him crashing to the ground and a boot to the ribs stopped any nasty 
rebellious ideas before they formed.

   "Luli, Luli, Luli," I said as I circled his snivelling form. "How would 
you like to give us some information?"

   "Just tell me what you want?" he cried in that oh so sweet tone that 
told me I'd be getting exactly that. Snitches and whores - both got fucked 
over but only the latter got paid for it.

   "You delivered a ransom note, Luli," I said as I knelt down by his head.
"We want to know who you're working for."

   "I don't know!" he wailed and that is what we call a wrong answer.

   "Wrong answer." I stood and drove my boot into his guts. "Try again."

   He dry heaved for several seconds but finally answered. "I really don't 
know! They gave me money and the note, nothing more."

   "I don't think you quite understand my position," I said and drew my 
foot back for another kick. "I want results, not excuses. How you get them 
is your business."

   "We're meeting tonight!" he shrieked. "He's giving me the other half of 
my pay. Please, that's all I know, I promise."

   "See," I said and ruffled his hair. "Was that so hard?"

   From the sounds he made it really might have been.

   As quick as that we were one step closer to rescuing Dido. We'd attend 
Luli's meeting, capture his contact and get the information we needed out 
of him. The meeting was still some hours away so we settled into our room 
for a wait. Of course Luli had to stay with us. A man like him? Not someone
you trusted out of your sight.

   Come dark, I kicked Luli into action and had him lead us to his contact.
The meeting was set to take place in a far more disreputable popina across 
the city. A dilapidated sign hung on the wall, showing a crude stick 
figure. We went inside.

   Even I, who have no tolerance at all for pointless city-shit, could see 
it was a real dive of a place. Vomit, piss and sex-stink lay thick on the 
dirty floor and people nursed dark musty drinks. Knives, cudgels and larger
weapons stood ready to hand. At the back, a group of five men gang banged a
screaming serving wench. They had her stretched over a round table, one 
pounding her cunt and another pumping in and out of her mouth. The rest 
held her down and waited their turn. She struggled and fought but no one 
paid much notice. At least they had a small collection of coin going for 
her in an empty wine jug.

   "Don't even think of trying anything," I hissed to Luli as Kana and I 
swept passed and towards a dark corner of the room. Letting Luli out of 
kicking range was a risk but his contact was unlikely to approach with 
dangerous strangers so near.

   We waited in tense silence, the noises of sex, the occasional fights and
heavy argument creating a pleasant enough backdrop.

   A whore sidled up to me - a slightly too old Dar-Edamim who's makeup did
a poor job of concealing that fact. Rather than shove her away and give her
a good kicking for her trouble, I decided to put her useless sack of a body
to good use as ready cover. I pulled her down onto my lap so her body 
mostly covered mine and began mauling her breasts. They were thick and 
meaty, and there's a lot of fun things you can do with a needy whore.

   "Eyes," I said and she reluctantly met mine. They were dark, of course, 
and slightly glazed - probably the result of a few drinks to make her work 
easier. "Don't cry out." I reached into a pocket and withdrew a split jade 
strip. It glimmered darkly in the poor light and I placed it between her 
pouty lips, pushing it just far enough that it wouldn't fall out under its 
own weight. Then I took her long fat nipples in my hands and twisted.

   The shock showed in her eyes and I drunk it in. Her lips sealed around 
the strip, swallowing her cries; it was her payment after all. Then she 
started to grind her useless cunt onto my knee and a wet stain ate into my 
trousers.

   I gave a half-laugh. Fuck, either she was a real pain slut or she was 
high on one of those foreign drugs which raped the mind until pain and 
pleasure became one weird mixed up thing. Let me tell you, violent brutal 
sex when you've snorted a good dose of one of those is fan-fucking-tastic. 
'Course, they're rare and expensive most places, but they had to come from 
somewhere and Agartha's plenty foreign by my standards.

   "You utter whore," I hissed and twisted harder.

   A fierce blush stained her face and her cunt juiced all the harder. The 
jade strip wagged up and down.

   Further fun was interrupted when a new customer entered the tavern. He 
was darker of skin than most Dar-Edamim and looked less at home in his 
clothes. A visitor from one of the other Neck of Salt cities perhaps? If 
locals were disinclined to hurt Dar-Yalad, mightn't our kidnappers be 
foreign?

   He meandered towards Luli, taking his time and appearing uninterested. 
Finally, though, he settled next to Luli and the two bent their heads 
together like embarrassed fuck-mates. They whispered in low voices. The 
stranger looked up in shock, right at us. Luli turned too, pointing, and 
the stranger took the opportunity to drive a knife between his ribs.

   "Luli you damn fool," I growled and surged to my feet, the whore falling
to one side, my great sword rising. Kana erupted up beside me.

   The stranger vaulted over Luli's bleeding corpse and made for the door. 
I charged forward, moving to block. Kana set her back against the wall, 
reached up with one leg and kicked. The table screeched out, digging 
furrows in the heavily soiled floor. It skidded right into the door and 
blocked his path, but he vaulted over. With a rolling shoulder-bash, he 
broke the door down and dived outside. I cursed and followed.

   The streets beyond the door were dark and the heat of the day had given 
way to a horrible chill. I cast about and just caught him disappearing down
a side alley.

   "This way!" I screamed and gave chase.

   He was only just ahead and not pulling away. In fact, yes, he stopped at
an intersection, looking left and right, and I dived for him. My clutching 
fingers just caught his legs and I dragged him down even as he tried to 
run.

   We slammed into the hard packed ground and the impact made stars dance 
in my eyes. That was enough time for him to draw a knife from somewhere and
slash at my arms. I jerked back and he started clambering to his feet. Fuck
if that was going to happen. When I have someone down, they're either 
getting beaten or fucked (or possibly both if I'm in a particularly good 
mood).

   I scrabbled forward and he slashed again. This time I took the blow on 
my forearm - the metal plate which served me as a vambrace sparking. Metal 
screeched and he lost his grip on the knife. It span away and I drove a 
fist full force into his nose. Bones crunched, blood gushed and the back of
his head slammed into the ground anew. In the moment this bought me, I 
kicked myself upright and straddled his chest, ready to strike again.

   "Let's have a talk, you and me," I said with a cruel smile. "Where is 
Dido being kept?"

   "I'll never talk," he shot back. "I'd rather die."

   Kana arrived a moment later and placed a large boot on his chest. This 
gave me the chance to rise, retrieve my great sword and rest the tip 
between his pectoral muscles. I pushed down, driving its honed point 
through cloth, skin and flesh - though not too deep.

   "Let's try this again, where is she?"

   As it turned out he wouldn't rather die, though we gave that gift to him
anyway. Weren't we generous?

   Dido was being held in an old farm house not too far out of town. I've 
known villages which close their gates come sundown but luckily Agartha 
wasn't among them. That was for the good; the kidnappers would surely have 
noticed the disappearance of their messenger by then.

   We left by the western Sea Gate. The road was quieter than during the 
day but a few weary souls trudged in both directions - poor sorts without 
even the good courtesy of carrying something worth robbing. We didn't even 
attempt to play locals and set a fast pace.

   Our target was a small, old farm house set well back from the road and 
shielded by a slight hill and a copse of low bushy trees. The leaves were 
hard and leathery, a long way from the vibrant green of the wetter south. 
They also had sharp, serrated edges and I earned myself a stinging cut on 
one cheek. The wound stung as if someone had pissed on it.

   We hid in the woods and crawled forward on our bellies until we could 
get a good view. The house was made from mud brick. Not the sort of thing 
I'd ever want to live in but I'm no farmer. I've fucked a few squealing 
daughters and sons of the same, though, and they seemed happy enough in 
houses like this.

   "How many guards?" I said in a low voice. I looked at the windows. Weak 
light showed from inside, probably a hearth fire, and I could just make out
a few moving shapes.

   "Small house," said Kana, "can't be more than a dozen. They've been 
there for a few days at least."

   "Harder to hide too. Call it half that."

   "With one dead?"

   "Sure, let's test our luck."

   The dark shadows of night shielded us as we slowly crept forward. We 
reached the door and I placed an ear against it. Footsteps, muffled voices,
a little light moaning. Nothing to really help.

   I held up five fingers and started to count down. On zero, I kicked the 
door down. The old wood burst apart. Kana rushed inside, shield raised to 
cover her body and sabre ready to attack. I followed a moment later.

   The house was small, smaller even than it looked from outside. Much of 
the space was taken up with a large central fire and ancient gnarled 
support beams.

   Two hulking figures looked up from a wine stained table, a cup and dice 
forgotten between them. Kana ran for them. At the other end of the house 
was a very naked Dido, tied flat to a bed. Straddling her waist sat a 
woman. She had short cropped black hair and dusky skin, though I could only
see her back. As she turned she pulled up a veil which hung around her 
neck.

   She came at me, two knives flashing red from the fire. I blocked with my
great sword and stepped into the attack, driving the pommel towards her 
head. She ducked back, retreating two quick steps. I followed, turning my 
pommel smash into a powerful raising strike. No way was a knife stopping 
that kind of blow and she knew it. She retreated again. The massed momentum
of my swinging sword pulled it out of guard. She saw the flaw and struck. I
took the blow on my right-hand vambrace and sparks flew. It was a faint, 
though, and she danced around my side.

   The slut was light on her feet, I'll give her that, and as nimble as the
acrobat-whores of Lower Zee. I swung as I turned, relying on fast, heavy 
steel to keep her back. It worked. She jinked again but struck just as 
quickly. Her right knife flickered in attack and I blocked with my sword. 
Then she struck with her left, aiming for the edge of my vambrace plate.

   Shit.

   I threw her back by main force but not before she cut the leather strap 
holding the plate in place and left a bleeding gash on my arm. The plate 
hung out of place and flapped as I returned my sword to guard.

   No more games. I fell into a furious attack, not letting up for a 
moment. The crowded hut wasn't the best place for great sword combat but a 
long cock fucks better even in tight corners. Strike, slash, swipe. I drove
her back, step by step, never letting her recover to mount an attack.

   The central fire pit appeared behind her. I grinned like a wolf. She was
trapped, or should have been. She paused for a single heartbeat, then back 
flipped over the fire, body curving in a perfect arch as the flames licked 
at her. A half second later she landed like a cat, not even slightly 
singed.

   She looked at me from the far side of the fire, eyes shining like ruby 
chips. She had tattoos around her eyes, inked twisting vines.

   Behind her fought Kana. One of the brutes was down, stomach gushing 
entrails from a deep slash. The second was still standing. He held a crude 
but solid wooden chair before him and used its body as a makeshift shield. 
Kana slashed out but he blocked and her light weapon lacked the weight to 
power through that much wood. No help from there then.

   I took advantage of the momentary lull to rip off the piece of dangling 
armour and threw it away. It wasn't doing much good and the weight was 
throwing me off.

   In that moment of half-distraction, she struck. Viper fast, she threw 
her right-hand knife. It shot arrow straight for the hole in my armour. A 
hit there could disable my arm and I needed both to work a great sword. In 
desperation I swung my sword in a block and knocked the knife out of the 
air. It shattered on impact, shards of metal scything everywhere. I 
stumbled back, eyes closing instinctively.

   If she'd struck then, she might have won, but of course she'd have had 
to jump through the fire again. Instead she was half way to the door by the
time I opened my eyes. The fingers on her right hand danced. The shadows in
the house grew thicker, darker, denser. They ran with her as she broke for 
the door and swallowed her entirely as she made it outside.

   I'd have given chase but Kana needed help. I circled the fire and 
charged in, letting loose a battle cry to let Kana know I was on my way. 
Hearing me, she retreated and I took her place. The bruiser raised his 
chair again but it didn't do much good. A light sabre might fail against a 
chair. The same could not be said for a great sword wielded by a pissed off
warrior woman.

   My sword crunched right through the chair without slowing and broke open
his skull. Brains oozed and bubbled.

   His body slumped to the floor. My ears pulsed with hot blood. Quiet hung
in the house. I let out a breath.

   "Please!" moaned Dido from her position on the bed.

   "We're coming," said Kana.

   "Rescue is on the way," I muttered.

   Kana stayed to guard the door and I went to rescue the bondage fuck-
puppet. She squirmed on the bed, her lithe, pale body running with sweat 
and grime. Despite that she was absolutely ravishing.

   Strain showed in every muscle of her body, quivering like a pathetic 
thing. Large leather bands held her arms to the headboard and feet to the 
bottom of the bed. Further ropes circled her thin thighs, keeping them 
apart. At their apex hung her cunt, fat, engorged and leaking like the eyes
of a whore who just found out her handsome prince had no intention of 
marrying her and all the sick-shit she'd done was for naught. A thin rope 
lassoed her clit and pulled the tiny nub out and taught. Similar nooses 
knotted her nipples and the tiny nubs glowed red with pulsing blood.

   "Please," she moaned. "Please I need to cum. She's been teasing me for 
days."

   Sluts. What you going to do?

   Rolling my eyes slightly, I licked two fingers and gave her the finger 
fucking she so obviously needed. She exploded in seconds.

                                    ~~~                                    

   "After that," said Hilda, "we bundled Dido up and took her home. Jabnit 
and Jezebel were stupidly happy. The other Dar-Yalad were all tears and 
sobbing too. City shit. Just doesn't make sense. We stayed the night, ate 
an admittedly good breakfast and left before midday a whole lot richer.

   "And that's the story of how we met Isha. Of course, we didn't learn 
that had been her until later. The eye tattoos should have clued us in, 
but, well, I didn't think much of them at the time."

   "That's also the first time we saw Shadow Cant," said Kana. "Isha always
had a talent for it."

   Hilda waved a hand and drank the last few dregs from the bottle. "I'd 
seen a few pieces here and there before. But, yes, she was always good at 
it. Could make the shadows stand up and dance for her."

   The long shadows cast by the bonfire twisted and flickered. Strange, 
half seen shapes moved among the trees. The wind moaned.

   "You hear that, ghostsies," said Hilda, "a girl after your own heart."

   She laughed, a morose sound with a black core, and the wind laughed with
her.

   "Anyway, a new story means a new drink." She reached into her pack and 
withdrew a second glass bottle. "Not as good as the first, I'm afraid, but 
we do what we must." She cracked the wax seal and took a gulp. "Piss but 
potent piss." She threw some on the fire and blue light made the shadows 
even stranger than before. "And some for Isha too." She poured a splash 
onto the grave doll and passed the bottle over to Kana. "What next?"

   "The treasure of the Bandit Queen?" said Kana. "Agartha was the first 
time we met Isha, but it wasn't until the Bandit Queen that we grew to know
her."

   "The treasure of the Bandit Queen it is," said Hilda. "And it's your 
turn to tell a story I believe."

   Continued in Part 2: Kana's Tale