Azerothian Dream Ch. 02

As the sun sank below the mountains the runt of the gang came out to feed and water the women. It still turned quite cold at night, so he brought out four rather flimsy ponchos and threw them over the womens' heads so that they hung over their bodies haphazardly. With his duties completed he returned to the hut that served as the general quarters for the gang. The men ate and drank, and every now and then one came out to have his way with the women.

Pulling a knife I gave a high trilling whistle and charged the short distance from my latest hiding place to where the man was standing behind the troll female as he thrust his hips into her. Caught up in the thrall of his own enjoyment, he heard nothing until I stabbed my knife into his throat, twisted, and cut outward like I remembered seeing military men do in movies in my previous life.

The human woman hung from her restraints, her eyes vacant and not making a sound. The troll fell forward crying as I pulled the man away from her and let him drop to the ground. Only Pinkerpie's eyes sharpened as she saw me swiftly disappear into the darkness only to be replaced by Coleson who chomped down on the dead man's body and dragged him out into the night.

"What the... Hey!" The orc woman started to holler but was quickly silenced by Pinkerpie's hissing.

"Silence you fool," She growled, "It's only a single man! A hunter I think... With a very unique pet... He's outnumbered nine to one! If you cry out he will die and we will live out our remaining days right here!"

"He could have freed us," The orc grumbled.

"Then the next man to come out would certainly know something is amiss," Pinkerpie replied then nodded to the human, "How far do you think we will get with her as she is now? No, he has to kill all these men or we are as good as dead or worse..."

The next man to stumble out was so drunk he couldn't even unbutton his trousers. He was standing in front of the orc woman cursing in frustration when I snuck up behind him and slit his throat from ear to ear. A whistle and a few clicks and Coleson came in and pulled the dead man away. I gave Pinkerpie a sharp look and she returned a smile from an exotically wide, overly plump mouth. For a goblin she was remarkably attractive.

"Go!" She hissed when we heard the scuff of a heel on rock and sand as a troll made his way out and approached Pinkerpie.

"What do you want, troll," She sneered as he closed in on her.

"I thought I heard something," He said as he looked out over the barren hellscape of the Searing Gorge.

"Oh, well, that would be us then," Pinkerpie answered sarcastically, "Pohcar and I were just discussing how unsatisfying you lot are. It has become indelibly apparent, to us at least, why you all resort to kidnapping women and restraining us. You couldn't get a woman to bed you willingly even if you paid her!"

The troll growled as he pulled a knife from his belt and stalked toward Pinkerpie with death in his eyes. Raising his knife high in the air I threw my knife as hard as I could. There was a "Thump", and the man's eyes opened wide as blood bubbled up into his mouth, and then he crumpled to the ground dead. With three down, I ran toward the huts. Pulling out two wildfire bombs I lit them with flint and running up to the door tossed them through the doorway.

There was a "tink tink tin" as I ran for the campfire. The runt was serving food to two more men. Lighting two more grenades I tossed each at the three mens feet as I ran by just in time for the first two to explode with a roar!

There were screams of agony and death as shrapnel ripped the hut and everything inside to shreds. The men at the campfire didn't know what to do. Look at the destroyed hut and their companions, or pursue me. In all of the commotion they failed to see the Wildfire Bombs I left for them. I arrived at the boss's hut just in time for him to pull the makeshift door open and charge out into the fray with sword and dirk in hand. Pulling a trap free I tossed it to the ground and drew my swords just as the second set of grenades exploded, ripping the three men jumping around the campfire to pieces.

"You son of a bitch!" The boss screamed as he danced around my trap.

His feet moved smoothly, as if he were dancing, as he launched attack after attack as I retreated and parried. I let out a long trilling whistle, and the man laughed in my face as he launched another assault. I disengaged, leaping backward and tried to put my trap between us again as the man pursued me.

"You are not good enough to defeat me," He sneered as he kicked my swords from my hands and I was forced to leap back again as I tried to disengage.

Pulling a pistol, he kicked it out of my hands and reared back to thrust his sword into my belly just when Coleson leapt out of the darkness with a roar, bowling the man over as they went tumbling across the ground. They struggled for only a few seconds as Coleson's claws shedded the man's armor then ripped his belly open. There was an audible crunch as Coleson crushed the boss's throat and skull and then suddenly the fighting was over.

"I don't need to be better than you," I growled as I walked up and petted Coleson's shoulder, "Good boy Coleson. You are amazing!"

Crossing the camp to Pinkerpie I wasted no time in cutting her bonds followed by freeing the troll who turned and hugged me, and then the human woman's bonds who immediately collapsed and laid on the ground vacantly staring up at the night sky. Walking back to the boss I searched his pockets for the key to the women's shackles. I freed the orc and turned to the troll and asked, "I overheard Pohcar's name, so what is yours, and do any of you know the human woman's name?"

"My name is Coonli, human," The troll woman answered, "As for the human female, Pohcar was here before I was, she may know. By the time I arrived the human had already lost her mind."

I turned to Pohcar and she answered with a shrug, "She never talked to me when she was sane. I don't know her name."

"Then we will call her Jane Doe," I answered. Then I looked at each of them and I apologized, "I'm sorry, I don't have anything for you to wear."

"Not to worry," Pinkerpie interrupted with a wave of her hands, "I have clothes in my wagon those fools didn't find. We will just light a torch and make our way back there and find something to wear."

"This is a treacherous land in the light of day," I replied, "At night it is even deadlier."

"We can't stay here," Pohcar retorted as she shook her head, "I will not stay here one second longer than I have to!"

I nodded as I empathized. There was no way I could understand the depths of trauma they were dealing with, but I would try. Looking at Pohcar I asked, "Can you carry Jane while I go and search the boss's hut. I want to make sure there's no one else here."

"Sure," She agreed with a curt shrug and then moved to pick Jane up and carry her.

"I will send Coleson with you as well," I told Pinkerpie.

"Thank you," She replied as she looked at Coleson appraisingly and purred, "He is a magnificent beast. Where did you find him?"

"In these mountains. Just a couple of days ago," I answered as I patted Coleson's shoulder and linked with him enough to communicate that I wanted him to stay with Pinkerpie and protect her.

"Amazing," She said, and then she turned and followed Pohcar and Coonli.

Turning back toward the boss's hut I wondered what I was going to find.

What I found were trophies. Lots of trophies. I was about to tip a lamp over and send it all up into flames when I saw movement in the corner of the hut where the bed was.

Walking over, I pulled a blanket away to find a Dark Iron woman chained to two beams. And her feet bound to the pollsters of the foot of the bed. Pulling a gag from her mouth I quickly opened her shackles and helped her to stand.

"What's your name," I asked.

"Eh... eh... Ebonae," She answered demurely.

Ebonae appeared to just be of age for a dwarf. Pulling a blanket from the bed I draped it over her shoulders as I asked, "How long have you been here?"

"I... I'm not sure... A few days," She replied.

I nodded, it made sense. The boss always took the newest girl and gave the old ones to the men. Taking her hand I said, "Come with me. I was sent from Thorium Point to find Pinkerpie Glimmergem, and now that I have rescued her and the other women, I can escort you to safety too."

"I...," She said hesitantly, "Okay... I guess so..."

Leading her out of the camp, we joined Pinkerpie and the others at the wagons. Upon seeing Ebonae, Pinkerpie dug out more clothes for the dwarf girl to try on until she found something that fit.

We made camp there by the wagons for the night. The next morning Pinkerpie, Pohcar, Ebonae, and I made several trips up to the bandit camp to clean out the hut that served as their treasury. A great deal of it was Pinkerpies, but the rest was split between the women so they would have something to sell once I delivered them to Thorium point.

I assigned myself the more gruesome task of searching the other two huts and the bodies of the slain bandits in the light of day, and then gathering up all their weapons and trinkets. Once I had them piled up we carried our spoils back to the wagons. However, without beasts of burden they weren't going anywhere.

Figuring that they were hidden well enough that the bandit camp hadn't been found out for some time, we left the wagons and started the long trip back to Thorium point. It was during Pohcar's turn that Pinkerpie came up to me as she stared at Coleman and asked, "So, you're a hunter aren't you?"

"I saw you using those bombs, and that trap during your fight with the bandit leader," Pinkerpie whispered, "I've never seen such devices before. Who was your trainer in the ways of hunting?"

"I don't have one," I replied, "What I use is from knowledge I retained from a previous life... I guess you could say."

"You mean no one has ever taught you how to be a proper hunter," Pinkerpie gasped in amazement.

I shook my head "No."

"Well then," Pinkerpie sighed, "Before I retired to become a trader, I was a hunter. As a reward for saving my life, I will train you."

Looking down at her, I held out my hand and she shook it, our trade negotiated and completed.

Overhearing our conversation, Ebonae siddled up and asked, "Would ye mind teaching me as well?"

"I don't see why not," Pinkerpie agreed.

What was supposed to be an eight day round trip turned into almost twenty days with the added burden of carrying Jane Doe divided solely between me and Pohcar...