Atawna

Adventures in the Lost World

Episode 1

Atawna and the Lost World

Chapter 25 Slaves

Larra forced Featherstone into the sluggish water of the river. His wrists were bound tightly behind him and his mouth was gagged, but his terrified protests could still be heard quite clearly. Larra, however, was not listening. After 25 years of torment she was finally going to be rid of Reginald Featherstone.

She pushed him toward the crocodile and held him there as the huge reptile surged toward them. Featherstone was bleeding from his torn scrotum and the scent of blood had attracted a half dozen of the voracious monsters.

“MMMMMPPHH!” Featherstone screamed. It was difficult for him to form any words. She had gagged him with his own belt and his own testicles were stuffed into his mouth. Larra ignored him, pushing him one step further into the river. And then the first crocodile struck.

Amazingly, it did not seize Featherstone’s leg and pull him into the river as she had thought it would, instead it sheered his left leg off just below the knee. Featherstone screamed horribly and would have fallen, but Larra held him up. Another croc surged toward him and attacked his right leg. There was a ghastly crunching sound and then that leg was gone as well, but incredibly Featherstone did not fall.

Stunned, Larra glanced down at Featherstone’s legs and saw that the left one had grown back. She watched in fascination as a third croc swept in and removed the new limb as cleanly as if it had been severed by a surgeon’s knife. But by this time Featherstone had sprouted a new right leg.

“I’ll never die, Miss Court,” Featherstone cried gleefully. Somehow he had worked the gag loose. He twisted his body, breaking free from her grip. Larra saw that his wrists were no longer bound. He swung his hook at her viciously. The blow seemed to come at her in slow motion, but for some reason her feet seemed to be stuck in the mud and she could not avoid the blow. The needle point of the hook dug into her left breast and ripped it open. Blood flowed from her savaged chest and the crocs abandoned Featherstone and closed in on her.

“Nooo!” Larra screamed. “Nooo!” And then she felt the bones of her leg clamped in the viselike grip of the croc’s jaws and she was dragged into the river. She screamed, her terrified shrieks drowning out Featherstone’s sneering laugh.

“Mummy! Mummy, wake up!” Someone was shaking her. Larra opened her eyes and looked into the jade green eyes of her daughter.

“What…” she started.

“You were having a bad dream, Mummy,” Lin Yao said gently. “It’s alright. We’re all safe now.”

Larra swung her feet off her cot. She was bathed in perspiration and breathing heavily. “Thanks, treasure,” she said. “I’m alright now. As you say everyone is safe now.”

“But it wasn’t alright,” Larra thought. Everyone wasn’t safe. Melissa was missing. James, Lisha, and the two jungle girls had shown up along with the two young Russian women. From the appearance of Atawna and the two Russian girls it was obvious that they had met with rough treatment. Larra did not ask them to relate their adventures. All she knew was that Vishinsky was dead. How he had gotten that way she would leave for Atawna and her sister to explain in their own time.

Even Ayashe had turned up. Surprisingly she had been brought back to camp by the leader of the Russian expedition. Larra did not know whether to trust him or not, but just to be on the safe side she had taken away his weapons. The only thing that kept her from shooting him was Ayashe. The Dene girl insisted that he had rescued her from Vishinsky.

That left Melissa. Her long time companion and one time lover had simply disappeared. James and Lisha were frantic with worry, blaming themselves for leaving her alone in the rainforest. Larra had to admit that they had broken a cardinal rule, but she was not about to apportion blame. She had made too many mistakes of her own to hold anyone responsible.

She got to her feet. She needed a dip in a nearby forest pool to wash the sweat from her body. Then it was time to organize some sort of search party. This time they would all go in one group. With any luck they would find Melissa without losing any more members of her expedition.

Melissa and Li Ming spent another two days in the cells. It was a welcome respite and they needed it. Perhaps it was because the slave master did not consider them to be worth displaying in their weakened condition. Whatever the reason, it allowed the slave master to sentence them to two more days of pummeling and pounding by the massage girls. By the third day they were reasonably fit. Even most of Melissa’s soreness had left her.

“Out!” ordered Ping. “Your new masters are waiting. And I must say that I am looking forward to this just as much as they are.”

Melissa and Li Ming stumbled from their cells. They were immediately manacled, iron bands being fastened to their wrists behind their backs and a heavy iron collar placed about each of their necks. Just to make sure they did not attempt to escape a four foot length of chain was linked to the neck collars connecting them to one another. Then at the point of spears Melissa and Li Ming were led from the building and marched through the Chinese village.

Curious stares greeted them as they were paraded past the villagers. Melissa found that even after the countless humiliations she had endured during her career as Larra’s companion she never got used to the degrading experience of being placed on public exhibition. She could feel the eyes of the villagers ogling her and was very conscious of the swaying of her large breasts. She was also mindful of the fact that for Li Ming it must have been even worse. At least she had been subjected to this sort of thing before, but for the young Chinese girl it must have been a new and completing mortifying experience.

Li Ming walked in front of Melissa, her head down in defeat. She was a picture of hopelessness and sorrow. Melissa hoped that what was going to happen to them would not break the girl’s spirit. As for herself, she walked with head held high, staring down all who looked toward her. She would not be intimidated by a bunch of villagers.

“Bow your head, barbarian cow.” Ping jabbed the point of her spear into Melissa’s back, just enough to break the skin. Melissa did not reply. Nor did she change her demeanor. Let that little bitch jab her; she would not give in; not even if the spear was driven deeper into her flesh.

“Hyena,” said “you will regret your impertinence.” She jabbed Melissa again, but not hard enough to draw blood. After all the effort spent on getting her ready for the slave traders Ping was not about to damage the goods. After she was sold, however, would be another matter.

It took fifteen minutes to reach the slave pens. They were a filthy row of huts lining a poorly maintained dirt track. Huddled in an enclosure at the end of the row were a dozen or so miserable looking Chinese. Melissa wondered what they had done to deserve the loss of their freedom. If she and Li Ming were any example of the justice of this strange Oriental society it didn’t take much.

They were marched toward a small building. Their little procession stopped before the building and Ping went to the door and knocked. It opened and Melissa had to bite back an exclamation of surprise.

“My god,” she thought, “I think I may have seen these people before.”

Standing in front of her was a giant of a man, his great height dwarfing even Melissa’s almost six feet of height. But there was more than that to his appearance, the foremost being that he was devoid of clothing; the other that his skin was as dark as obsidian. In his right hand he carried an eight-foot spear topped by a two foot long steel blade and slung over his shoulder was a leather thong from which was suspended a bag made of the same material.

“The Ullabomba,” Melissa breathed. She knew one of them personally in the form of her companion Lisha. Seeing one of them here in the middle of the Lost World should not have been surprising. They were the most advanced of the Lost World civilizations Larra had encountered and also one of the most brutal and ruthless. Blessed with an amazing sense of beauty and considerable engineering skills, their capital city was an architectural marvel. But their impressive civilization was based on the conquest of neighbouring tribes and slavery, and Melissa knew enough about how they treated their female slaves to have a sudden sense of apprehension.

The huge man stepped toward them and looked over the latest arrivals. He muttered something in his own language and then reached out to touch Melissa’s left breast. It was a degrading experience, but one that Melissa had been subjected to before. Slowly he ran his hands over her body exploring every curve. Steeling herself, Melissa resisted the urge to cringe under his touch. She didn’t even move when his hands went where no man had dared touch her without fear of losing his hands. “Bastard,” she thought. “I’m going to enjoy breaking every one of his fingers.”

The giant warrior finished his examination. There was a strange look on his face as if he was a bit confused by the fact that Melissa had endured his probing without reacting. She felt as if she was being very carefully appraised as more than just a potential slave. Then he repeated the action on Li Ming. The Chinese girl took it less well, cringing under the huge black’s touch and whimpering as his large finger probed her vulva.

Finally he finished. He gave a grunt of satisfaction and then spoke to the slave master in badly accented Chinese. “These two will do, but the rest are a poor lot. You promised more than this.”

“They are all we have, Kinjana,” said the slave master. He was a particularly small member of the Chinese society, standing less than five feet. The huge Ullabomban loomed over him like Mutt over Jeff.

“Why not just select some? Some like this one.” He pointed to Li Ming. “She is very pretty. Give me twenty more like her. I have brought more than enough gold.”

A look of greed passed fleetingly over the slave master’s face. He shook his head. “These will have to do. Come back in six moons and we will have more for you.”

“This is most unsatisfactory,” Kinjana replied, “but I will take what you have. Come inside and we will conclude the agreement.”

The huge black and the tiny slave master disappeared into the building. Whatever transpired seemed to take a long time, but eventually both reemerged. The slave master was holding a small jingling bag and a look of satisfaction.

Melissa wondered how a single Ullabomban warrior, even big as he was, intended to escort more than a dozen prisoners to his homeland. Her knowledge of the geography of the Lost World was a bit hazy, but she was certain that it must be several days journey away. Her question was answered a few seconds later. “I will have some of the guards escort the prisoners to where the rest of your party awaits,” the slave master said. He turned to Ping. “Take Bing, Qing, Zi, Xue, Wei, and Na with you and escort the slaves to the encampment of the black barbarians. Then return once they have been safely transferred.”

“But wait,” Ping replied. “When are the slaves to be branded? I wished to watch this procedure.”

Kinjana smiled menacingly. “Only those slaves who run away are branded,” he replied. He looked directly at Ping as if this message had some special meaning for her.

Melissa frowned. There was something going on that she did not like, but it was hardly her place to comment. It bothered her that only female guards and quite attractive girls at that, had been chosen for the escort. The word “treachery” leaped into her mind, but it was unlikely that a slave’s warning would have any impact at all, and in any case there was no reason why she should warn her captors.

It took only minutes to round up the remaining prisoners and link them in line with Melissa and Li Ming. The other prisoners were a sorry lot, many showing the signs of having been beaten. Most were dressed in rags and all of them appeared to have been deprived of food and water. It was small wonder that Kinjana was unhappy with the quality of the slaves provided. Prodded by the spears of the seven young women chosen by the slave master as escorts, they were marched up the path.

Ten minutes later they came to the edge of the domain of the Chinese civilization. Waiting for them were more than a dozen of the giant Ullabomban warriors, most of them lying in the shade of a large tree. Kinjana went ahead and spoke a few quick words in his own language. Melissa cursed the fact that she had not spent more time with Lisha; she was able to pick up only the occasional word or phrase. Whatever he said, it galvanized the giant warriors. They immediately leaped to their feet and moved toward the prisoners.

“Thank you,” Kinjana said to Ping. “Your escort was most appreciated.”

Still angry over the fact that she had not been able to watch Melissa and Li Ming further humiliated, Ping merely nodded. She was after all, a princess of the Empire of Zheng He and Kinjana was nothing more than a black barbarian, albeit a very imposing one.

She was still brooding over the fact that neither of her former victims was going to be properly punished when a shout of alarm from Wei caused her to note what the Ullabomba were doing.

“What is this!” cried Ping. Her eyes widened in fear as the giant blacks suddenly surrounded her and the other members of her guard, their eight foot spears pointed toward the seven women.

“Surrender!” rumbled Kinjana. “Drop your weapons or you will die.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Ping stormed, her voice shrill with indignation and fear.

“Just completing the deal, princess,” Kinjana answered, a grin splitting his feature. “Now I will have something to show for my gold.”

“This is treachery,” Ping raged. “There will be war between the Empire and the Ullabomba.”

Kinjana sneered. “I doubt that much will happen. Your emperor is too fond of our gold and I paid the slave master well. Besides, the Ullabomba have little to fear from a race of dwarfs. Now drop your weapons!” He emphasized this last command by thrusting his spear to within an inch of Ping’s breast.

For several long seconds Ping hesitated. For all her cruel nature and obnoxious disposition, Ping did not lack courage, but she and her companions were completely surrounded and outnumbered two to one. She opened her fingers and let her spear drop.

Kinjana spoke again in his own language. This time his words did not need interpretation. One of the other black warriors stepped forward with several sets of shackles. In short order the seven Chinese maidens were chained together and added to the line of prisoners. Although Ping’s face showed barely controlled anger the other young women were clearly frightened. Na and Xue appeared of the verge of tears, while Bing and Zi hung their heads. Only Qing joined Ping in defiantly glaring at their captors.

“Move!” Kinjana commanded once more speaking Chinese. Slowly the column stumbled forward, the twenty prisoners trying to keep in step with one another. With a clank of chains the awkward procession moved down the forest path, their Ullabomban escort keeping pace.

They marched for the rest of the day, if “march” was the correct term to describe the shambling gait of the chained prisoners. They made very poor time, and it was obvious that Kinjana was rather nervous about the possibility of pursuit. As a result, after a short evening break in which the prisoners were given small amounts of food and some water, they were forced to their feet again and herded off into the darkness.

It was almost pitch black in the forest night and only the fact that a black warrior carried a torch at each end of the procession made it possible for the weary prisoners to make their way. It was not too bad for Melissa and the other young women. Her years of training had given her remarkable powers of endurance and the young women of Ping’s guard were in excellent physical condition. For the other prisoners, however, the night march was a terrible ordeal and there was considerable stumbling and moaning among the weakened members of the expedition.

That mattered little to the Ullabomba, however. Whenever a prisoner faltered or hung back due to exhaustion the black warriors prodded him on at the point of their spears. Mile after weary mile the long column staggered toward daylight. Only when the sun arose did Kinjana allow a brief rest. The prisoners were watered and given a small meal and given the chance to curl up in their chains, but after an hour Kinjana was once more on his feet urging them on.

Wearily Melissa got to her feet. She was not as rested as she might have been. Like the other eight Chinese women, her hands were manacled behind her back. As a result she had to be fed and watered by one of the Ullabomba and the giant warriors made very poor nursemaids. She was given barely enough food and water to keep her going. The situation was the same for the other young women and their pace slackened as the forced march resumed. However, they were all still fast enough to keep up with the other prisoners, most of whom were close to physical collapse. Finally, late in the day, Kinjana called a halt. The prisoners collapsed where they were, most of them too tired to worry about food, although they were all desperate for water. Upon receiving their allotment of water, most of them simply keeled over and fell into an exhausted sleep. Not so with Melissa, however. She knew how important it was to keep her strength up, and in spite of the laxity of the Ullabomban warriors in serving them she made certain that she got her share of what food was offered before joining her companions in sleep.

Kinjana allowed them to sleep through the night and half of the next day before forcing the prisoners to their feet once more. This time the procession was allowed to move more slowly, finally halting just before nightfall. It seemed apparent to Melissa that the Ullabomba no longer feared pursuit. She made herself as comfortable as she could and lay close to Li Ming. The rainforest was uncomfortably hot and humid by day, but at night it cooled off enough that she sought the body heat of her companions. The prisoners had learned to cluster together to keep warm. On her other side Qing snuggled up to her and almost immediately went to sleep. A few moments later Melissa followed suit.

Kinjana watched the sleeping prisoners. So far the expedition had gone fairly well. He had hoped to have more slaves to escort home, but the eight young Chinese women made up for in quality what they lacked in numbers. Their beauty was truly amazing and none of them had ever known a man, a fact that added immeasurably to their value. His eyes went to the sleeping form of the tall white woman. A slow smile swept over his features. She was something special. Beautiful and well-muscled, she was as strong and fit as a woman of his people. But there was something more about her. She exuded a certain sense of danger. He suspected that if she was released from her chains she would prove a formidable opponent. He mused about his plans for her as his spearmate, Kwintana, approached.

“The men want to know when they might enjoy the female warriors,” Kwintana said. “They have been without women for three weeks and hunger for release.”

“The female slaves are all maidens,” replied Kinjana. “Their value will be diminished if they are used.” He thought for a second. “Perhaps the tall white women might be a possible substitute. She is beautiful in her own way and is almost as tall as any Ullabomban woman.”

Kwintana nodded. He looked toward the sleeping white beauty. “She is indeed lissome. I have heard that there were women like her with dark brown hair, but I had never thought to see one. They are said to be very rare.”

Kinjana nodded. There was a legend among his people of a white demon with hair of gold that had spread fire and destruction through the capital city of the Ullabomba. Thousands of slaves had risen up in revolt and it had taken days and hundreds of deaths for the Ullabomba to restore order. That event had been followed several moons later by the visit of another white demon who had been marked for public execution but who had escaped on a cloud. This tall woman very much resembled the women depicted in these stories. She had seemed very much like a normal woman when he had inspected her, however. The touch of her silken skin and soft breasts had been electrifying and he had been looking forward to sampling her charms ever since his exploration of her body had revealed that she was not a virgin, and therefore, one who could be used for pleasure without objection from his masters.

“We will take the white woman,” he said. “She will provide excellent entertaintment.”

“She will not be enough,” objected Kwintana. “There are fourteen of us to share one woman. We must have at least one of the others.”

Kinjana frowned. He wanted to keep his men happy, but did not wish to lower the value of his prime captives. The virgins of the Empire of Zheng He were highly prized by the wealthy and elite of Ullabomban society. But Kwintana was right. It would take all night if he and his men were to share just one woman.

“What about that arrogant bitch?” Kwintana suggested. He pointed to the sleeping form of Zhao Ping.

“Alright,” agreed Kinjana. He too had noticed the proud demeanor of the one-time leader of the slave escort. In spite of being shackled and marched to the point of exhaustion she had refused to be cowed by her captivity. She glowered at Kinjana and his men, her eyes were filled with a barely concealed fury and contempt. It would not do for any slave to hold such attitudes. It was time she learned who her masters were.

Ping looked up, her eyes wide with startled surprise. She had been sleeping soundly after the forced march of the last two days and had been awakened by the glare of a blazing torch held only two feet from her head. “What?” she gasped. Standing within two feet of her were a half dozen of the huge Ullabomban warriors. She knew instinctively that she was in trouble.

Several hands laid hold of her and she was pulled from her place on the ground. At the same time the shackles binding her wrists and the metal collar about her slender neck were removed. In seconds she was surrounded by a mountain of male flesh. “Release me! I am a princess of Zheng He,” she cried. As she was lifted into the air she kicked frantically, but her arms and legs were seized and she was carried like a kicking screaming child to the other side of the campsite.

Kinjana looked down at the Chinese princess spread before him. As leader of the war band he had first rights with any woman and he had desired to teach this haughty childlike female a lesson since he had first laid eyes on her.

She was very tiny. Standing up her head would not have even reached his chest. Her breasts were small and well formed, tipped with perfect pink buds, and so firm that they hardly quivered as she struggled to escape. It was clear from her frightened attempts to escape that she knew what her fate was going to be.

She reminded him of a child. It was hard to believe that in her society she was regarded as a mature female of marriageable age, but he knew it was so. “Do not do this,” the petite woman warned. “You will be punished by my father.”

Kinjana smiled broadly. He had never taken a princess. He looked at her high cheekbones, tiny nose, dark almond eyes, and her pouting red lips. She was perfect. “Put her on her knees,” he commanded as his phallus rose to the ready position. Reaching down he seized her long braid and then stepping forward forced his thick spear into her waiting mouth.

Ping’s protests came to a quick halt as the Ullabomban’s meaty member parted her lips. The organ was so huge that her mouth could not properly accommodate it and she gasped for breath as he forced her jaw so far apart that it was almost dislocated. Fighting desperately to breathe she sucked in air through her nose as the huge warrior began to slowly slide his massive member in an out of her distended mouth.

Melissa was awake before Ping was taken. Exhausted as she was, her trained senses awoke her as the warriors gathered near the fire. She knew something was about to happen, and from her previous knowledge of the ruthless black warriors she knew what it probably was. She also knew that she was a prime target, so it was no surprise when several warriors separated her from the other prisoners and dragged her toward the campfire. A few feet away she could see that the leaders of the black warriors had started in on Ping. Even though she did not like the Chinese girl, she sympathized with what was being done to her. It took a strong woman to recover from the psychological damage inflicted by rape.

Unlike Ping, the warriors who surrounded her had not released her manacles. Her hands were still firmly shackled behind her back, preventing her from offering any effective resistance. She could however, still use her mouth.

“Cowards,” she said in Chinese. She knew that most of the black warriors did not understand her, but she knew that Kinjana did. “The Ullabomba are too craven to face a woman in battle. Instead they bind them and use strength of numbers to bend women to their will.”

She doubted that her words would have much of an effect on the actions of the Ullabomba. Their standards of behaviour were completely different from hers. Amongst the black giants the humiliation and violation of female prisoners was considered nothing more than availing themselves of the spoils of war. But her words did have one effect. Kinjana turned his head and said something in his language. Immediately the warriors holding Melissa stretched her out so that her legs were spread wide and her arms were held tightly by another warrior who arched her back so that her heavy breasts were thrust upwards.

Certain that something unpleasant was about to happen, Melissa twisted her body, trying to get at least one of her legs free. If she could just land one kick it would make her feel that much better. Struggle as she might, however, she had no chance to break free. Each of her legs was held by a powerfully built warrior. She was powerless to prevent another warrior from moving between her thighs.

“Bastards,” she grunted. She tried to remember some of the swearwords she had heard Lisha use. One popped into her head. “Nu-Ulla!” she shouted.

It meant coward or more precisely, someone who was not an Ullabomban. It was the worst thing any member of the warrior race could call another. There were surprised exclamations from the warriors around her. Grimacing in rage the one holding her right leg raised his hand in a fist as if to strike her. Unfortunately for him the action stupidly weakened his hold on her leg. With a powerful wrench she tore her leg free and drove it like a hammer into the center of his chest. The impact threw the warrior back allowing her to strike at the warrior gripping her other leg. Her foot caught him just under his chin and dropped him like a stone.

It was a desperate action. Melissa knew she could not escape, but she could not submit without a fight. She felt grim satisfaction as the two warriors tumbled to the ground. Twisting her body she tried to break free of the man holding her arms, but the other five warriors were already moving in on her. They swarmed over her, immobilizing her by sheer weight of numbers. What would have happened next she never learned. Kinjana suddenly appeared, his penis still wet from Ping’s mouth. His face was clouded in anger. Speaking rapidly in Ullabomban he pushed his warriors aside. Melissa suspected that he had probably just saved her from a severe beating.

“Cannot seven warriors subdue a single woman?” Kinjana shouted. “Small wonder she called you Nu-Ulla.” Most of the assembled warriors appeared quite shame-faced. Then Kinjana turned his attention to Melissa.

“So, you think you are a warrior?” he hissed, switching to Chinese. “You will have a chance to prove it in the arena. But first you will satisfy my men. All of them. Even if it takes all night and all day.” He turned to the warriors who were holding Ping. “Return her to the chains. We will enjoy just this one.”

Ping almost fainted in relief. In spite of her outward show of courage she had been so frightened she was almost sick. Incredibly the tall barbarian had saved her. As she was led back to the rest of the prisoners she almost felt something like gratitude. Chained once again, she looked on as the warriors holding the large-breasted savage held her struggling body.

The woman fought without a sound, sweat flowing from her supple, powerful body, but her battle was hopeless. Kinjana took her first, as was his right. As he drove his pulsing shaft into her she arched her back, her mouth opening in pain. It was terrifying and riveting at the same time. The barbarian fought bravely, her body quivering as she tried to fight off the inevitable. But the outcome was never in doubt. Kinjana jammed himself deep within her, forcing her to arch her back almost into the shape of a bow.

Melissa clenched her jaws to keep from whimpering as the Ullambomba warrior savaged her. Legs spread wide and held by three other giant warriors she was helpless as he sank his shaft into her. During her many adventures she had experienced rape before, but it had never been more painful that this. It was like being invaded by a pile driver. The best she could do was to endure the painful ordeal without screaming in pain. It was a small thing, but the only way she could offer the slightest resistance.

Kinjana did his best to break her, reaching forward to grip her shuddering breasts and crushing them cruelly as he took her. “It was always the same,” Melissa thought as she bit back the urge to scream. Men seemed to be incapable of treating a captured woman any other way than to sexually degrade her. It almost seemed to be built into their psyche.

“Uunnggh!” She grunted as one of the other warriors pushed his finger into her anus. The unexpected intrusion was quite painful and had caught her unprepared. Kinjana grinned as he continued to plow her furrow, enjoying her pain and humiliation.

“Not so much of a warrior now, are you?” he taunted. “You are like any other woman, proud but so easy to humble.” He gripped her breasts even harder and thrust as deep within her as he could. This time he got a reaction as the helpless female twisted in agony. A little longer and he would have her yelping like a wild dog.

Li Ming watched the humbling of the tall stranger; her stomach churning as she thought of what the woman must be enduring. Even worse, she knew that she probably faced the same fate. She was not, however, about to accept her fate passively. Brutal as it was, the rape and humiliation of the big breasted stranger served a purpose. It had enabled her to move her shackles in front of her where she could work on them.

It had not been easy, but Li Ming was possessed of incredibly flexibility. Despite the fact that her arms were shackled behind her back she had managed through the partial dislocation of her shoulders to swing her manacled hands in front of her. Now she was able to reach up and remove an ivory pin from her hair. The iron bands that held her wrists were closed only by a crude locking mechanism. With luck and a little bit of manipulation she should be able to get it open. Around her the other girls including Ping looked on with interest. Ping, her haughty demeanor shaken from her by her near escape, was silent, her face intent as she watched Li Ming work on the lock.

With a click the first bracelet fell loose. Li Ming went to work on the second. This one proved a little more stubborn, but soon it too was gone. She rubbed her sore wrists while the other girls looked on. Then she went to work on Xue. In a few minutes she had freed her as well. Taking an ivory hairpin from her hair, Xue copied Li Ming on Na while Li Ming turned around to work on Zi.

In short order the rest of the prisoners were released. Li Ming and the others looked toward the Ullabomba. They were still focused on the violation of the tall white barbarian. The women was whimpering now, close to breaking from the vicious ordeal to which she was being subjected. Li Ming motioned to her companions. Ever so slowly they moved off into the night, mingling with the rainforest.

Li Ming was the last to go, helping one of the original prisoners, a man who was too exhausted from the forced march to make it on his own. As she stepped into the thick foliage a cry from the camp alerted her to the fact that their escape had been discovered. She wasted no more time. She had done as much as she could; now it was everyone for him or herself.

She plunged into the forest, ignoring the undergrowth that tore at her body and her minimal clothing. The darkness helped hide her, but it also posed hidden hazards, placing roots and broken branches in her path. Several times she fell, but immediately scrambled to her feet and ran until she could no longer hear the sounds of pursuit.

Melissa could hardly believe her luck, such as it was. She lay on the floor of the clearing. She had not been abandoned; several Ullabomba stood watch over her, but she was no longer being gang raped. Breathing heavily, she lay exhausted, her loins burning. Kinjana might not have been the best endowed brute who had ever taken her, but he was a very close second. Already her ravaged tissues were swelling. Soon she was going to have a great deal of trouble walking, which was going to make it very difficult for her to escape.

Slowly she gathered her strength. There were only three warriors remaining. The others had taken off after the other prisoners. She hoped most of them managed to escape or at least keep the Ullabomba busy enough that they would be diverted from the camp long enough for her to regain her strength. Three warriors. Any one of them would be a formidable opponent. Her escape attempt would require surprise and skill. She could not hope to take them on all at once in her weakened condition.

She lay quietly, feigning complete submission. With any luck her captors would not think to shackle her again. She was almost recovered enough to make her move. Then she felt a hand grip her hair.

A voice close to her ear spoke in the language of the warriors. She didn’t know what was being said, but the intonation was far from pleasant. She lay quiet, her eyes closed, but slowly tensed her muscles. The hand holding her hair suddenly jerked her into a sitting position. It was time to stop pretending.

She struck quickly, but if she had hoped to catch the man holding her off guard she was badly disappointed. She struck toward his groin, her right foot driving straight up, but the powerful black warrior stepped aside and then the butt end of and spear slammed into her belly. The blow partially knocked the wind from her and before she could move all three black warriors were on her. To her credit, Melissa did not panic, actually getting in several blows before she was overwhelmed. But the fact that she bloodied the nose of one of the warriors and grazed the testacies of a second only served to anger her captors.

An open-handed slap to the side of her head sent her spinning to the forest floor and then her arms were seized and pinned behind her back. A length of wood was placed in the small of her back and her arms bent forward around it and tied across her belly. She was helpless and it was an easy matter for the giant warriors to use the length of wood to lever her to her feet and march her across the clearing. Moving her between two trees they forced her first to her knees and then tied each end of the length of wood to the trunk of a sapling, bending her forward so that her nipples almost brushed the ground. Then they seized her ankles, pulling them straight back and securing by ropes to two stakes hammered into the ground. The arrangement left her suspended by the length of wood, her arms painfully wrapped around it and lashed across her washboard stomach. Her heavy breasts swayed just inches above the ground. Her long shapely legs were spread wide and held in position by the stakes almost inviting her captors to take her from the rear. That, however, turned out not to be their first priority.

The swish of bamboo wands alerted Melissa as to what they intended. She grunted in pain as she looked back over her shoulder. Each of her three captors was holding a thumb-thick length of bamboo. The grins on their face left no doubt as to their intentions.

Melissa bit back a whimper of fear. The position of her body was very painful. Supported by her elbows and stretched out almost horizontally, she was in considerable pain and discomfort. Already almost done in by her efforts to escape she wondered if she would have the fortitude to stand up to the beating she knew was coming. She could only hope that Kinjana’s order that she not be physically damaged would keep the three men from inflicting too much pain on her.

Thwack! Her thoughts were interrupted by the first blow. It struck her rounded backside, almost forcing a squeal of pain from her lips. It was followed in quick succession by two more strokes as the other two warriors joined in. Then the first warrior struck again and then the other two.

Melissa grunted in pain as she endured the onslaught. Her tormentors targeted her buttocks and thighs, raining blow after blow on her silken skin. Each blow sent a lightning-like jab of pain through her body. She moaned in agony, trying to control her desire to shriek in pain. The anguish generated by her bondage was sufficient to make a normal women scream her lungs out. The added pain of the beating simply hastened the breakdown of her resistance.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” Able to withstand the pain any longer, Melissa finally cried out in agony. Her torturers exchanged grins. Now she was ready. Delivering a few more strokes to Melissa’s pain-racked body just to hear her scream, the three blacks finally threw down their bloodied lengths of bamboo.

Ignoring the blood that now covered her buttocks and thighs one of the blacks positioned himself between her legs. A second maneuvered himself beneath her, lifting her so that her breasts were against his chest and his erect manhood probed her vulva. Too weak to resist, Melissa let him enter her. But this second invasion of her vagina was far from the worst of her worries.

“Eeeaahhh!” She screamed again, as the black between her legs pressed his immense shaft against the tiny button of her anus. Then she screamed even louder as he slowly forced open her tight sphincter. As few seconds later, however, her cries were cut off as the third warrior gripped her head and shoved his engorged phallus into her open mouth.

Almost suffocating, cruelly suspended by her elbows, her lower body bleeding and bruised, and vaginally, anally, and orally raped, Melissa could only whimper as she fought to remain conscious. But it was a losing battle. Slowly darkness closed about her, offering security from the brutal torment. Then she closed her eyes and knew no more.

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