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Chapter
3
Portal
You see now why I need you, Larson
explained. None of my previous
subjects returned. I can
only suppose that they did not survive the
journey. That is why I need a
superheroine.
You sent five women to their deaths?
Kara asked, her voice trembling with rage and
disbelief.
It was in the interest of science,
Larson replied calmly, And who knows, they might very well be
alive. Once they enter the portal
they are beyond my control. I
only know that they were not at the portal when I attempted to recall
them. I also know that according
to my analysis the place where they were sent had an atmosphere almost identical
to that of Earth, so they should not have died.
Kara was
dumbfounded. Larson was clearly
mad. As mad as Lex Luthor and
every bit as ruthless although lacking Luthors sadistic
streak. He had constructed a
device capable of breaking down the barriers of time and space and sending
people through it. So far he
had sent five subjects as he called them to god-knows-where and
now he intended to send her.
You are
insane. You might have sent those
poor women anywhere. How do you
know they didnt materialize over water, or in the middle of a bunch
of wild beasts?
The portal is tuned to avoid large bodies
of water. I covered every
eventuality. All of the women
were well equipped to make the trip.
They had food, water, and weapons.
They should have made it.
But they didnt make it,
Kara replied. Something
went wrong. People are not subjects
like some lab animals. You killed
them.
I am tired of this conversation,
Larson said. Perhaps when
you return we can continue it. For
now you are going. I will remove
the collar once you are in the chamber.
That should enable you
to be transported with your superpowers
intact.
There was no point in arguing with
Larson. It was clear that for
all his brilliance he was several cards short of a full deck
morally. He had spent more than
an hour proudly explaining his project.
At first Kara had been most impressed with the genius Larson displayed,
but that had quickly been overshadowed by his admission that he had sent
five young women, including his own daughter into
oblivion. Now it was Karas
turn.
During the entire time she had been under
Larsons control there had been no opportunity to
escape. The collar she wore kept
her at half normal strength and she was sure that she had been constantly
watched during her stay even though she had seen nothing she could identify
as a camera. Now scarface hovered
nearby as Larson took her arm and escorted her to the special chamber where
she would be transported to limbo.
The chamber was about as innocuous in appearance
as was possible, resembling an ordinary glass-sided bathroom
shower. Larson opened the door
and helped her in. Then he closed
it and went to an elaborate bank of
controls. He pushed a few buttons
and a green light infused the chamber.
You may take off the collar now, Supergirl, Larson
said. The kryptonite radiation
will keep you from escaping, but once you are transported out of the chamber
you will regain you powers.
Obediently, Kara removed the collar and placed
it at her feet. Her heartbeat
accelerated. This was really
happening to her. She was now
the subject of a mad scientists experiment and she was helpless to
prevent it.
Larson pushed a few more buttons and turned
a number of knobs, intently studying a number of gauges as he did
so. The green glow in the chamber
began to change, taking on a bluish tint.
At the same time, Kara felt her skin prickle as if each tiny hair
on her body was standing on end.
Then the hair on her head began to stand out as if she was touching
a Van de Graaff generator.
Larson looked toward
her. Goodbye, Supergirl,
and good luck. He pulled
a large lever.
Aaaggghh!
Blinding pain shot through her and suddenly the laboratory
disappeared. As a matter of fact
everything disappeared. She was
in total blackness and racked by pan so intense she would have fainted if
she had had a body. But that
seemed to be gone as well. And
then, as suddenly as it had begun the pain ended, the blackness faded, and
she found herself standing in the middle of a grassy
plain.
Damn! Her first word after being
transported reflected the fact that although she seemed to have come through
the portal safely, none of her clothing
had. She was alone and naked
in a strange new world. There
was one compensating factor, however.
She would now have her powers
back. They should enable her
to find something to wear until she could reunite with her
costume. She tried to levitate,
but nothing happened. What was
wrong? The collar was gone and
she was no longer in Larsons lab.
She should be back to normal.
Slowly she turned to look at the
sun. Shading her eyes with her
hand she saw that unlike the Earths yellow sun, this one had a reddish
tinge. A red
sun. That would mean her superpowers
were inoperative.
Great. She was stranded
on some strange planet without clothing or any special
abilities. All she could do was
wait for Larson to bring her back.
Fortunately she was not dead.
Somehow she had survived the trip to the strange planet whereas the
other girls had not.
One day.
She had to wait one day until the planet realigned with the place
Larsons portal had dropped her.
That place would be exactly where she was
standing. It seemed stupid, however,
to remain where she was for an entire day, especially if a day on this world
was not the same as a day on Earth.
Larson had said something about that but she had not understood it
very well. Somehow he would know
when she returned to the appropriate
spot.
Well, if she was going to do a bit of exploring
it would be wise to mark the spot where she would be picked
up. She began to trample down
the grass in the shape of an X so that she could locate
it. Then she went in search of
a better marker. Scattered about
the place where she was she found a number of
boulders. Picking them up she
built a small cairn, glad of the fact that even though she did not have her
superheroine powers she was still fit enough to carry all but the largest
rocks fairly easily.
An hours work produced a four foot cairn
of stones. Satisfied with her
effort, and a bit thirsty she decided to go for a bit of a
walk. On the horizon she could
make out a low range of hills. That
looked promising. She headed
toward it.
She soon found that walking barefoot was harder
on the feet that she had thought it would
be. Although for the most part
she was walking on grass, there were still a number of woody plants and broken
stems that cut into her feet.
Within half a mile of setting out her feet already had several small
cuts.
This wont do, she
thought. At this rate my
feet will be cut to ribbons in less than an
hour. Sitting down she
thought things over.
It took her a few minutes to figure out that
if grass was tough enough to damage her feet then it might also protect
them. But once she got the idea
she went to work. In a few minutes
she had woven together an extremely crude, but serviceable pair of grass
shoes. Who would have guessed
that the elementary school art class where she had learned basket weaving
would come in so handy.
Better equipped, she struck out
again. An hour later she was
climbing up a wooded slope toward the sound of
water. A small spring gushed
out of the side of the rocky hill and splashed into a sky-blue pool before
overflowing and flowing off through the
trees. Pleased with herself,
Kara drank deeply. So far so
good. She had made a pair of
shoes and found water. Now what
should she do?
One thing bothered
her. Suppose she came upon other
people? How would they react
to her nudity? And did she want
them to see her like that? Also
what if they were not friendly?
There was a possibility that the other five girls Larson had sent
through the portal had all made it safely only to run into something dangerous
on this mysterious new worlds.
First things
first. There were a number of
tall reedy plants growing near the pool.
She had woven shoes. How
about weaving clothing? She made
her way down to the pool and began to gather
reeds. This was a bit
tiresome. How much more convenient
it would have been had she arrived with her clothing and superpowers
intact.
Eeeeaagghh! The scream almost made
Kara wet herself. Jerking upright
she looked in the direction of the terrible
sound. What she saw chilled her
to the core.
About three hundred yards away a black-haired
girl was running toward her. Behind
her were a number of the most bestial humanoids she had ever
seen. There were about a dozen
of them, each about the height of a man, but there the resemblance ended.
Their faces resembled the faces
of gorillas without having the charming appearance that all gorillas
had. Two massive white fangs
jutted up from their lower jaws and their eyes were so deeply recessed under
massive bony brows that they could barely be
seen. Black uncombed hair spilled
over their naked shoulders. Each
of then had arms that reached well below their knees and their shoulders,
arms, and torsos were massively muscled.
Their loins were covered by a crude loincloth that fell between their
legs both in front and behind. They
wore no shoes, but were armed with a variety of weapons including spears
and clubs.
The girl was wideeyed with
terror. He long dark hair streaming
out behind her as she ran. She
seemed unrelated to the beasts that chased her, as her body was a sleek and
supple as a panther. She ran
with a smooth grace that emphasized the beauty of her face and
body. Like her pursuers, she
was barefoot and she was similarly dressed, her breasts being covered with
a crude bikini top and her loins concealed by the same sort of garment as
her pursuers. More to the point,
she was running straight at Kara almost as if she thought the blonde heroine
might be able to save her.
Knee deep
in water, Kara look desperately for a
weapon. A few yards away was
a stand of bushes resembling willows.
Moving as fast as she could, Kara splashed toward the
bushes. She gained them with
the beast men and the girl only a hundred yards away and found what she was
looking for. It would have been
better if it had been properly seasoned, but the piece of deadwood she came
up with would have to do. Swinging
it experimentally she turned to face the onrushing beast
men.
She had learned quite a bit about self defence
while with Diana on
The pool slowed the attackers
somewhat. The girl splashed right
in and swam across to the other side, but the beast men swerved around it
and splashed through the shallows.
The girl reached Karas side only seconds before her pursuers
did. Exhausted she sank down,
unable to run any longer. Standing
ready, Kara awaited the arrival of the beast men.
Strangely the beast men halted, seemingly
surprised to find themselves being challenged by a slender blonde female
armed only with a stick. But
they quickly overcame their caution.
Two of them came at her
simultaneously. The first Kara
gave a sharp rap across the skull.
With a howl of pain the beast man went to his
knees. Kara pulled her staff
back and using it like a spear struck the second attacker between the
eyes. The beast man went down
as if he had been shot.
Perfect, Kara thought, congratulating
herself. Just like Diana
showed me.
The fate of the first two assailants brought
the rest of the beast men to a halt.
Milling about they shook their spears and clubs at Kara, but for several
seconds none of them made any attempt to attack
her. Then gathering their courage
several of them came at her in a rush.
It was the marshy ground that saved
her. With her back to the bushes,
Kara was standing on relatively firm ground while the beast men were sloshing
through water. It gave her the
time to take out each one of them in the same way she had taken out the first
two. Breathing heavily, Kara
watched as the beast men retreated.
There were only five of them now.
The other seven were still alive, but they all were nursing an assortment
of minor injuries. Cautious,
but triumphant, Kara watched as the beast men circled
her. None of them now dared to
come to close to her. She wondered
for a second why they did not try to throw their spears or clubs at
her. The spears must have some
use, but the beast men seemed totally untrained in hand to hand
combat.
The girl beside her had now gotten to her
feet. Noting Karas success,
she had now acquired her own crude staff.
Whether or not she knew how to use it was another matter, but at least
she was now participating in her own
defence.
For half an hour it was a stand
off. Kara could not retreat without
exposing herself to a fight on ground more favourable to the beast men and
the beast men would not attack until their numbers were
greater. However, after half
an hour the seven beast men Kara had disabled had recovered enough that they
were a full dozen again. Although
some of them were nursing minor injuries they were still a formidable
bunch. Kara doubted she would
be able to handle them if they all came at her at once.
Fortunately, the beast men seemed incapable
of any military thought. Instead
of making a concerted rush they came at her in small groups
again. The result was the same
until the inevitable happened.
Three of them came at her at
once. Kara stepped forward, feinted
an overhand strike then neatly reversed her staff and hammered the nearest
beast man between the eyes. It
was perfectly executed except for one
thing. The improvised staff,
which was really nothing more that a crude stick of appropriate length chose
to inconveniently snap off just a foot short of her grip, leaving her with
nothing more than a three foot club with which to deal with the other two
attackers.
She managed to bring her shortened staff around
in time to strike the nearest beast man, but her caught it on his forearm
and then barreled into her, engulfing her in his ape-like
arms. Beside her the dark-hared
girl flailed away with her stick but the third beast man shrugged off the
poorly delivered blows and caught her up in his
arms.
Kara and the girl went down in a tangle of
arms and legs. Disarmed, Kara
kept her head and fought as Diana had shown her, driving her knee between
the legs of the beast man that held her and then kicking him away when he
dropped her with a howl of pain.
But the damage was done.
Nine more beast men charged toward
her. She was just able to regain
her footing before she went down in a wave of
bodies.
Surprisingly, the beast men did not strike
her, instead attempting to seize her arms and
legs. There were so many of them,
however, that several could not fail to catch
hold. Kara kicked and punched
furiously. Now she fought out
of pure desperation, attempting to make contact with any thing she could
reach. But it was a one-side
contest. She felt each of limbs
seized and then she was lifted from the ground, all the while kicking, biting,
and screaming with rage and fear.
She was held by four of the beast
men. Two held her ankles and
two more held her wrists. Heaving
her body she bounced up and down in their grip, until a fifth beast man seized
her around the waist. Even then
she kept on struggling until gasping from exhaustions she could hardly
move.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see
that the dark-haired girl was also fighting to
escape. But Kara knew that it
was hopeless. Five beast men
held her also while another readied a length of rope preparatory to tying
her. Then Kara felt herself being
flipped over and placed on the ground.
Too weak to resist, she almost wept in frustration as her arms were
drawn behind her and her wrists were lashed tightly
together.
No,
she
screamed.
Not this
time!
Aaah!
she gasped as her bound wrists were wrenched high up to the middle of her
back. It was very painful as
the cords cut into her wrists, but it soon got
worse. A length of cord was run
from her wrists over her right shoulder and then between her breasts, under
her left breast, and then wrapped twice around her
torso. It was then run under
her right breast and upward crossing over the first cord that ran between
her breasts and finishing by being taken over her left shoulder and tied
to her wrists. It left her wrists
pulled painfully high in the middle of her back, causing her to arch her
body, thrusting her full breasts forward.
To finish the bondage, her ankles were tightly
bound.
Kara saw that the dark-haired girl had been
bound in the same way. Helpless
she could only despair when she was picked up and tossed over the brawny
shoulder of one of the beat men.
They started off at once, taking turns carrying
the women. The beast men seemed
almost tireless, moving at a trot first through the forest, and then across
the grassy plains. Bounced along
like a sack of potatoes, Kara could only endure as they moved farther and
farther away from the place where she and the girl had been
captured.
Only once did they
stop. Without warning the beast
men suddenly veered into a dry creek bed and crouched
down. Kara at first was confused
by this action and then realized that the beast men were hiding from something
they feared. Before she could
react a filthy hand was clamped over her
mouth. The sound of human voices
drifted to her ears along with a strange bird-like
call. Unable to make a sound
she could only listen as the sounds and voices came closer and closer and
then slowly faded away.
After that a strip of hide was stuffed into
her mouth and tied in place with a piece of
cord. To make matters worse a
strip of leather was placed across her eyes blinding
her. A sudden thought struck
her. How was she going to be
able to find her way back to the cairn in time for Larson to transport her
back to her own world? She had
only a vague idea where it was already.
What would happen if she could not even see where she was
going?
Gagged and blinded Kara could only listen
to the movement of the beast men as they carried her and the girl mile after
mile across the plain. With nothing
better to do she tired to figure out what might be happening to
her. Who were the beast men and
why had they been chasing the dark-haired
girl? Where were she and the
girl being taken? What was going
to happen to them? So far other
than taking them prisoner the beast men had done nothing to them, but they
must want them for something. Kara
tried hard not to think of what it might
be. She had suffered too much
of that sort of thing.
The end of the seemingly endless trek came
at last. Kara felt herself lowered
to the ground. Her blindfold
and gag were removed. By now
she was in considerable pain and
discomfort. Her painful bondage
had cut off the circulation to her hands, and the awkward position of her
arms was causing excruciating pain in her shoulders and
chest. She also desperately had
to answer a call of nature and was both hungry and
thirsty. She made no complaint,
however, if the dark-haired girl could tolerate the situation then so could
she.
She looked around
her. It was night and the first
thing that caught her eye was the second moon in the
sky. She was definitely not on
earth. If she had any doubts
this completely removed them. One
of the best men approached her. He
was carrying a crude stone knife which he used to cut through the cords binding
her ankles. He did the same for
the dark-haired girl and then dragged them both to their
feet. A few feet away a campfire
burned and several of the beast men were cooking something on
it. The smell of roasting meat
came to Karas nostrils. He
mouth watered. Perhaps she might
at least get a bite to eat.
Partially supporting her and the girl, the
beast man pushed them to the edge of the
campsite. A foul smell assailed
her senses and Kara knew why she had been brought
there. The beast man waited while
she and the girl relieved themselves and then grabbing each of them by the
hair, brought them back to the camp.
Kara felt degraded. Even
though she did not regard the beast man as human, being forced to perform
private bodily functions in front of an audience was
humiliating.
Pushing them through to the fire the beast
man forced them into a sitting position and held up what looked like a water
skin. Holding it to her mouth
he let her and the girl drink. Then
carving a chunk of meat from what was roasting over the fire he used his
knife to feed it to them one piece at a
time.
As Kara chewed the meat she began to become
more and more fearful. Up until
they had camped none of the beast men had paid the slightest attention to
either her or the girl, except to make sure they were bound and gagged, but
now every eye was upon them.
Whenever she looked at one of the beast men his gaze was fixed on
her with a fascination she found most
unsettling. She had seen that
look on the faces of men when she had been
captured. They were devouring
her body as if she were some tasty dessert morsel.
Please let me be wrong, she
thought. They havent
done anything to me yet. Perhaps
it is just my imagination.
But the beast men had to have some motive for capturing
her. She looked at the girl and
was suddenly very afraid. The
girl, who up until now had shown little or not emotion, was now shaking in
fear, her face unable to hide the terror she
felt.
Oh please no, Kara
thought. Why must it always
be like this? Why cant
they just leave us alone?
The beast men took the girl
first. They waited until she
had finished her primitive meal and then five of them came for
her. There was no doubt in the
girls mind what they intended to
do. She screamed horribly as
they picked her up and carried her to the edge of the
firelight.
Two of the beast men held the girl
down. Two others took her ankles
and pried her legs apart. The
fifth removed his loincloth revealing a phallus that would have made a horse
proud. Kara could not understand
what the girl was saying, but her screams of fear were more than
adequate.
The beast man knelt between the girls
legs and reaching out removed her loincloth and then moving closer and gripping
her hips to steady her he plunged his immense organ into his shrieking,
struggling victim.
The scream as the girl was taken was
ear-splitting. It was almost
as if the girl was being murdered.
Grunting like an animal the beast man thrust into her, burying his
shaft to almost impossible depths in the girls writhing
body. Kara watched in fascinated
horror. How could it be that
the girl was still alive? Surely
such a monstrous instrument would tear her
apart. But the girl did not die
although Kara thought it might have been better if she
did. The beast man ravished her
mercilessly until with a brutish grunt he released his seed into
her. But the girls ordeal
was just beginning. No sooner
had her assailant finished with her than one of the beast men holding her
ankles took his place. The girl
screamed again, although not as loud this
time. Kara turned away, unable
to watch. She felt sickened by
what she had seen. It was one
of the second most horrible moment of her
life. The first most horrible
moment occurred a few minutes later.
Seven beast men took
Kara. As the cries of the girl
faded into the background they formed a semicircle around her and removed
their loincloths exposing their heavy
phalluses. Most of them were
well on their way to a full erection.
Surrounded by a nightmare, Kara almost wet
herself. Her terror was
absolute. How could she survive
a gang rape by such monsters?
Fighting to pull herself together, Kara took
a deep breath. She tried not
to show her fear. She was a
heroine. She would not scream
like a little girl.
All the same, it took all of her self-control
not to scream in fear as her legs were forced apart and the largest of the
beast men moved between her thighs.
Up close he was even more immense than she had
thought. It seemed impossible
that so huge an organ could possibly fit inside
her. It would be like having
sex with a post.
The beast man stank of sweat and the generally
repulsive odor of the unwashed, but Kara hardly noticed his
smell. Her attention was fully
focused on the immense phallus that threatened to split her in
two. The beast man moved between
her thighs, spreading her even wider.
Then placing his hands on her tight backside he drew her toward
him.
It took a good deal of strength to penetrate
her. Even tied and held by four
of the beast men, Kara struggled like a wildcat, twisting and turning her
body in a frenzied effort to avoid being
impaled. But finally he held
her still long enough for the glans of his penis to slip into the sweet clamshell
of her vulva. To her credit,
Kara only grunted in pain as he entered
her. But seconds later she moaned
in agony as she was taken more brutally than anything she had ever
experienced. As she had feared
the huge staff split her like kindling.
The pain was unbelievable and it did not
stop. Second by second it mounted
until it became more than she could bear.
Then she screamed and kept on screaming, her cries mixing with those
of the dark-haired girl.
The brutal ordeal went on all night, not stopping
until the light of day lit the east.
Kara wasnt sure how many times she had been raped, she was close
to passing out from the pain. It
was as if she had been forced to give
birth. It was hard to believe
that the region between her thighs would ever be normal
again.
They untied her and the girl after
that. Apparently they thought
that two women who could hardly make it to the edge of the camp to relieve
themselves would be very unlikely to run
away. But they were
wrong.
Left to themselves for a bit, Kara crawled
to the dark-haired girl. The
effort it cost her was incredible.
She felt as if her insides had been scraped raw, as they probably
had been. But she knew that neither
she nor the girl could tolerate many more nights like
that. They had to escape, and
now was the best time, while the beast men thought them too weak to bother
watching.
There were only about four of the hairy brutes
in the camp. The others had departed,
probably to go hunting as there seemed to be a shortage of
food. Kara noted that the beast
men had finished off the meat they had cooked last night and had offered
nothing to her or the girl. Not
even water, but no one stopped them when they limped down to the stream to
get it themselves.
Sitting by the streambed, Kara pointed to
her chest. Kara,
she said.
The girl caught on
immediately. Jhetta,
she replied. She did not
smile. She was obviously in too
much pain to do that.
Kara held up one
finger. Kara,
repeated. Then she held up
another.
Jhetta. She
then moved her fingers in a walking motion and pointed away from the
camp. The girl
nodded.
Kara looked toward the remaining beast
men. They seemed to be
sleeping. No doubt tired out
from their night of ravishing her and
Jhetta. Noiselessly she slipped
into the water and began to move along the bank, making her way from the
camp. Jhetta looked a little
alarmed and Kara wondered if the girl was afraid of the water, but after
a moments hesitation she slipped into the stream and
followed.
The cool water felt good as it swirled about
her loins. Kara was still in
considerable pain and the water seemed to help not only due to its lower
temperature, but also due to the fact that it took some of the weight off
her legs. Both Kara and Jhetta
were having a great deal of trouble walking and floating down the river enabled
them to put distance between themselves and the camp of the beast men without
placing too much strain on their bodies.
Kara and Jhetta stayed in the water for a
good hour before leaving it. With
any luck the beast men would have a great deal of difficulty following
them. Climbing out they let the
sun dry them as they made their way through the woods and toward the
grasslands.
Kara had lost her makeshift shoes when she
had been captured. Already weakened
by her ordeal, she was soon limping badly as her feet were bruised and cut
by rocks and sharp edged grasses.
Jhetta was not in much better shape, but her feet seemed naturally
tough. Still, after a couple
of hours of walking they were barely placing one foot in front of the
other. It was then they heard
the cries of pursuit.
Bermaghi!
said Jhetta, looking back toward the shouting horde that was running
toward them. Kara didnt
know if Bermaghi referred to the beast men or whether it was some sort of
curse word, but she knew they were in
trouble. There was nowhere to
hide. The grasslands stretched
in every direction except the one they had come from, and that was cut off
by the dozen or so beast man that ran toward
them. They were still about a
half mile off, but there was no chance of outrunning
them. Kara and Jhetta had reached
the end of their tether. It was
only a matter of time until they were
recaptured.
Still, they could not just give
up. Both women broke into a stumbling
run. Perhaps somehow by the purest
luck they might find a way to escape.
It was a vain
hope. Slowly but surely their
pursuers closed the gap until they were no more than fifty yards behind
them. The beast men pursued them
in a leisurely fashion, confident that their prey would soon be theirs
again. And then Kara heard an
unusual
sound.
She had heard it before on the day she and
Jhetta had been captured. A strange
bird-like call. Turning her head
toward the sound she beheld a most incredible
sight. Cresting a slight rise
a hundred yards away were a half dozen gigantic
birds. They looked for all the
world like ostriches on steroids, except that they were about ten feet tall
and had massive beaks lined with sharp
teeth. Even more fantastic, each
of them was ridden by a man in bronze armor carrying a fifteen foot
lance.
The riders saw the beast men and the two women
about the same time they saw the riders.
With cries of fear and dismay the beast men came to a confused halt,
and then turning fled in a disorganized mob, running over one another in
a desperate attempt to escape.
Not one of them
did. The bird riders caught them
within a few seconds, the huge birds moving at incredible speed across the
grasslands. With deadly efficiency
they overtook and skewered each of the fleeing beast
men. Kara would have almost felt
sorry for them if not for the way they had treated her and
Jhetta.
Hardly able to believe their luck, and mentally
and physically exhausted Kara and Jhetta sank to their knees and watched
the slaughter. It was all over
in a few minutes then the bird riders turned and came toward
them. It was only when they were
but a few yards away that Kara became conscious of her
nakedness. All of the riders
were men, and all of them were clothed.
Suddenly she felt very vulnerable.
Colouring, she attempted with very little success to cover her breasts
and lower region.
One of the riders, a man who sported a tall
white crest on his helmet, drew rein next to
her. Without a word he
took off his white cloak and offered it to
her. He said something to one
of the other men who similarly offered Jhetta his
cloak. Then dismounting he took
off his helmet and came toward her.
Kara was instantly
smitten. She had never seen a
man she considered so handsome. He
was broad shouldered, stood well over six feet tall, and had jet black hair
and piercing blue eyes. He said
something to her, but she merely shook her
head. It was Jhetta who then
spoke up, beginning a conversation that lasted almost ten
minutes. Kara could tell from
the girls gestures that she was describing the battle that had taken
place when Kara had tried to rescue her from the beast
men. As the tale progressed the
tall man looked more and more at Kara, his eyes reflecting a growing
respect.
Finally finished, Jhetta fell
silent. The man nodded, said
something to the other riders and then took Kara by the
hand. Leading her to his mount,
he helped her into the stirrups, and then with a leap, jumped easily into
the saddle behind her. Another
of the riders did the same thing for Jhetta and then with another command
all of the riders moved off, their mounts covering the grasslands at an
impressive speed.
It was a ride that Kara would remember to
the end of her days. The man
rode with one hand on the reins and the other around her waist ensuring that
she did not fall. His body pressed
against hers and she could feel the heat radiating from him even through
his armour. Reacting finally,
to her terrible ordeal, Kara nestled against
him. For the first time in her
life she was being held by a man and felt perfectly
secure. Men had raped and beaten
her, but this was one man she felt she could trust, with her life, her body,
and her emotions. It was a strange
sensation for a heroine, but one that at the moment she would not have exchanged
for anything else. After a lifetime
of loneliness she had found her man.
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