The Champion's Companion Ch. 21

A rough hand picked her up by the arm, and tore her tattered shirt from her shoulders. "Look at this stringy thing." He muttered.

His heavy hands rubbed her head, and her body under the dirty grayish tunic she wore. She was usually able to slap his hands away but now her arms felt so heavy.

He got more and more bold from the lack of response from her. Moving freely, he tugged her hips and up dropped her back onto her face. Flipping up the bottom of her raggedy long shirt, he exposed her naked womanhood. Her pale slit was hairless like most Amazons who didn't grow hair below the neck.

Behind her the grass rustled as he shuffled in for a closer look, his thick fingers parted her folds searching her out as he moved to get in front of her.

"No screams, no fighting, and I hope no biting." The Garec chuckled as the briny stench of wiry hairs fell over her nose and a soft warmth flopped against her face.

His hands found her breasts and tugged on her nipples as he used her helpless body. In the weakened haze she was in, she could really only sense him by touch. Her other senses went in and out in a fuzzy cloud that made her feel distant and cold.

"Open your mouth girl." Garec coached her as his spongy purple flesh filled her mouth.

His probing digits moved back behind her and found a rhythm as he started thrusting into her mouth with his wide cock. He hardened slowly in her mouth until his erection became much more than a mouthful and she was just slobbering on the knob at the end. His hands hungrily massaged her back as he got more, and more excited.

"I gotta do all the work." He grunted pulling her face down hard onto his thick cock so he could get into her mouth as deeply as possible.

The urge to sleep was like a heavy blanket on her mind. Its weight pushed down the normal panic she would have been feeling as his cock meat rammed into her throat several times.

"Oh ya," He pulled her back to sit up, and spit in her mouth before pushing her down onto his cock again. "Oh ya, even better."

Her body jerked as she coughed involuntarily from a particularly deep thrust. "Calm down, you're doing good..." He moaned.

The spongy head was sticking in her throat as he slid into her. After a few gagging thrusts that made her cough and make other unidentifiable wet sounds, she was pulled back and promptly skewered again by his cock.

As her numb tired brain shut down, Janis was almost asleep again and was quite surprised when the dick in her mouth started to cum without warning. After a brief moment the thrusting slowed, and stopped. Tentatively, she swallowed the offal left in her mouth. Its earthy taste wasn't as bad as starving, and it helped wash away the grit still in her mouth.

Garec got off her and got up. He didn't need her tied up to keep her close. Without the energy, means, or ability to fight back, she was bullied into being led around as he wandered the forest. Like a dog, she could only hope for scraps.

"That part didn't really need to be said" Janis hissed leaning in.

"I'm sure it was for context," Ruegin offered with a grin. "So there are no questions later about what you had been doing after the capture up on the mountain."

"I'm already in a bad mood," Janis warned, "Get back to the story."

********

It was several hours later that the two chanced on a woman bathing openly in a deep stream near the road. The bright sun shone on her pale lily skin concealed only slightly by the reeds around the edge of the water. Through the reeds, they could see she was a soft blonde beauty with light blue eyes. She was so pretty she could have been a water nymph, or the Goddess herself. She seemed carefree as she washed her supple body under the noon sun.

Coming off the road to get closer, they saw by her clothes a figure in black from head to toe on the ground. Obviously it was the guard for this gem, however its posture was slumped against a large pack as though it was asleep.

"I want her too, but; Do you think we could make it two?" Garec whispered aloud cryptically.

Janis had noticed for a while now that he spoke gibberish to himself from being alone so much.

"Oi," Garec grunted turning to Janis and offering her a slim blade. "Oi, erm... slit his... that guy's throat." He pointed to the figure in black who lay unmoving.

Janis took the blade for several reasons but paused once it was in her hand. His trust in her was growing. Before he wouldn't even chance her hunting out of sight. However, this was something else. It was quite a different thing to help him like this.

Janis eyed the blade considering what would happen next, he might release her once he had that beautiful blonde. That thought took her to a dark place. Trading her life for that woman's was wrong. She had been properly fed exactly twice in the time he had her. Not that she as a grown woman should have to depend on him. Despite the man being comfortable in the woods, he was no woodsman, and food was getting scarce this late in the season. Everything she ate was merely scraps he missed, or wasted. That beautiful creature didn't deserve to be ripped from her life to serve this man no matter how bad he wanted her.

Janis was startled with a rough shove. "Get over there and do it." Garec whispered as loud as he dared. He again looked like angry hairy creature of the woods.

Janis took a step back and turned. She had called herself a Warrioress once. That title didn't mean anything now. Her training couldn't even get her past an untrained opponent like him. She had been defeated, but survived because her opponent knew she didn't have the skill, or killer instinct to be a threat. Starving, she was reduced to being this man's whore to stay alive. She thought on this even as she walked forward in a trance doing Garec's bidding. "Good, now just stab him good." He whispered from somewhere behind her.

Realizing how close she was to actually killing someone, every step she took became a struggle. The ground before her stretched until it seemed she would have to walk a million more. Just walking became mentally overwhelming for her as her mind tried to persuade her not to follow through with this evil act.

"Don't stop!" Garec urged from somewhere behind her.

Janis' knees started to shake as she got closer by one step, then another. Suddenly standing over the feet of her target, it all seemed so unreal. She was going to kill someone. But, she didn't have to did she? She suddenly felt oddly normal as her brain tried to tell her to turn around and walk away. If she left now she could have a chance. But then, her eyes fell on the figure below her who still lay unmoving. She became hypnotized and froze as her mind told her to run killing is wrong, and another part told her to take the chance, to take the advantage.

'If I tried to kill him, it would be fair game for him to try and kill me right?' The thought passed unbidden through her mind as one-side of her continued to hope she could just kill him cleanly, and another urged her to run away. The sour taste of bile rose as her knees gave out. She squat down and considered what to do.

"Now just stab him anywhere. Do it! Drive it in!" Garec urged almost frantically dropping any ideas of stealth. "Kill him!"

Janis looked back at him wide-eyed. As he spoke, the hair on the back of her neck stood up and a cold twitch went right down her spine. She became aware of the feeling of a large hand clutching her throat.

'Too late!' Her mind screamed. With a start, she slowly looked down and was surprised to see the sleeping man's hand firmly around her neck. Its pressure was light, only the texture of his glove told her he had her.

For a moment, her mind's eye pictured her not squatting over a sleeping man with a knife in her hand. Instead, she was in the maw of a large beast with a mouth like a cave. She was standing on the edge of the valley of death, and its dark tongue was wrapped around her neck furtively tasting its next meal.

"Do something!" Garec urged from behind her.

She couldn't imagine attacking whatever this was that she stood so close to. "Do something!" She squeaked back in reply.

Under her, the man let go and the merciless cold feeling that petrified her was gone like a black mist under the hot sun. Behind her, she heard Garec give a loud sigh as the tension broke.

"Oh? Hello," A syrupy woman's voice behind her asked. "Are you two highwaymen? Do you wish to rob us?"

Janis bolted up and fell back wide eyed at being caught. The woman bathing had come out and stood before them wrapped in shiny white satin that shined nearly as bright as her exposed shoulders. Her aura made her seem as though she was looking down from a viewing balcony at them rather than standing two paces away among the reeds on the muddy bank of a stream.

Garec stepped away from the bush behind her and cleared his throat loudly. "It is I. I want you." He announced clearly while setting his shoulders back and puffing himself up.

The woman, and even Janis both blushed at his admission.

"You've come to challenge him for me?" She giggled almost sounding hopeful. Her body had a regal posture. She looked them over with equal parts aloofness, and quizzical curiosity as she started to dry her golden hair.

"You cannot have her." A low man's voice said warningly from behind them. Janis and Garec turned to notice the figure in black standing with his hood still completely obscuring his face.

"When did he move?" Janis thought quizzically. That man was within arm's reach surely she would have noticed.

Garec turned, squared up to him, and the two men faced each other. Hostile energies started to build till the air felt like it could crackle. Janis ducked out of the middle of the two and faced them from the same side as the blonde.

"You should get him now before he gets his sword." The blonde urged, though it was unclear whom she was speaking too.

Garec took the hint and reached back to draw his massive sword. He only paused a half second before jumping out to cut down the figure before him. He missed completely, as like a flicking shadow, the figure jumped to the side.

Janis had never seen a fight between two masters before. This fight was only a halfway taste of one. The man in black deftly jump around just out of the sword's long reach seemingly with ease. He kept his hands to his sides and moved only his feet as he weaved around the swings of the long blade. After several close shaves, the two fighters had moved away from the women and circled each other on the even ground near the road.

The men both stopped simultaneously. The figure facing Garec spread his feet and bent his knees taking position. Janis could see building tension in his body. Raising his forward arm, he extended it out, pointed his fist at the hairy man's chest, and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. Garec charged in with a howl and hacked at him in his bloodlust.

*Twang* The sound of metal reverberating accompanied Garec's sword as it flipped through the air into the tall grass.

A flurry of kicks knocked Garec's surprised hairy ass back and he stumbled around trying to gain distance for another assault.

Janis gasped knowing her time of liberation was at hand.

After finding his balance, Garec launched in again. He moved like a brawler throwing his superior weight around. For all his strength and bulk, it did him no good. He was flipped onto the ground when he tried to swing, and when he came back and made for a grab, the figure spun him through the air as though he was only tossing a hat.

"Hurry up!" The blonde shouted as she dressed. She combed her light golden hair through her fingers as she watched.

Janis was struck by her unimpressed poise. She seemed completely unafraid of her bodyguard losing to the brute.

The figure turned his head and gave her a glance before he moved in on Garec. In a blur, he rushed up, captured poor Garec's right arm at the wrist and elbow, and climbed onto his shoulders holding the huge limb tight overhead as his legs coiled around the brute's thick neck. Using both hands to rotate the arm over and past the larger man's head, he paused as though checking his handiwork. Then one move, he hopped down to the left side using the trapped right arm to break his fall.

Janis winced as the huge man gasped and his shoulder and elbow dislocated with a loud *P-puk*.

"Happy?" The figure asked the blonde.

"That man was a suitor. My suitor!" The blonde suddenly protested, "You should have handled him more formally with a sword duel."

"My apologies. I am just a—" He paused to look at Garec who had stubbornly gotten back to his feet. "Oh? Well... excuse me." Something in his voice that made Janis's blood run cold.

"Protect me!" The blonde swooned mocking him as he stepped away. She played the part perfectly, and her eyes misted as she clutched her hands to her breast. "Go my knight, and fight for my honor, and chastity."

"Tsk," The man clicked his tongue and eyed Garec who now stood steady even as his right arm dangled uselessly. Janis almost wanted to tell him to lay down. Garec's stubbornness was not enough to beat this man.

In a blur, the two charged. As the larger Garec took a swing with his only good arm, the smaller man dodged him easily and again climbed his bulk to ride atop his shoulders. He sat up there for a moment looking down with his legs tight around the brute's neck.

Janis jumped as the blonde woman moved up next to her fully dressed in a discreet long dark purple velvet robe. Close up the silky velvet looked so luxurious and comfortable on her, she could have been a rich wife stealing away for an affair, or a baroness taking a ride upon the country. "A sad thing is about to happen to your friend." She said slowly never taking her eyes of the fight.

Enraged, Garec had slapped at the figure who rode him only to get his only working arm caught. After a faint pause, the figure twisted himself so Garec's balance was compromised and forced him to follow the movement by bending sideways at the waist while twisting. The torque of the movement dropped them over to the right side where the figure plopped his butt on the ground and grabbed Garec's furthest foot while keeping his legs tight to poor Garec's neck. For a sick moment marked by the sound of collapsing vertebrae and exploding cartilage, the very top of Garec's head touched the ground just before either of his feet left it. As big man's weight came down onto his head, the legs came off the ground and continued to swing away with the momentum.

Janis sat in awe of the masterful display. Despite being slow, in that other man's hands Garec's death was completely unstoppable.

"Ah, that was disgusting." The blonde remarked as the Garec's limp body spun head over heels through the grass. "I guess Marcos went all out. It was a bad for your friend to pick a fight."

As the figure 'Marcos' walked back, he stretched his arms back overhead and yawned deliberately. He gave Janis a dismissive glance while moving past her to his pack.

"Wait! Please wait, I'll follow!" Janis suddenly felt a rush of words spill out. "Will you teach me to fight like that? Please! You must!"

The blonde glided to him as best she could over the long grass as he made a show of nonchalance by crossing his arms and looking at Janis skeptically with narrowed eyes, and a raised brow.

The blonde gave a polite half smile as she locked onto his eyes and started to speak in a buttery voice that seemed oddly dangerous. "You have been getting more and more reluctant to carry the pack and obey me without question as of late. She shall serve me, and your duties will then be to train her to protect me."

The man snorted looking at the blonde. "Don't be silly, I protect you," The man growled and raised a finger at Janis. "Besides, she looks half dead already, the pack would kill her."

He turned to Janis with fury in his eyes. "Be gone wench. You should just stay out of the way."

Janis cringed at his words knowing them to be true. Feeling weak, she fell to her hands and knees. "Please, I'll do anything to get my honor...To go back... Just teach me, I will fight..." Around her, the world got dark and she collapsed as her stomach rumbled loudly.

"Huh?" a voice asked from the darkness. "What was she mumbling?"

*****

"So that is about what happened." Janis confirmed. "So I guess than you want to hear about something else now?"

"No, this is good!" Ein barked. "Don't worry about that mind stuff, Marcos drills that into us in the practice room 'don't look in their eyes or you'll hesitate. If you must look, look at their nose or their mouth.' People usually can't just kill other, it is difficult even for some to fight each other. Most of our training he says is to make it automatic so that even if you are scared, confused, or tired you will kill without hesitation to save yourself and others."

"But still, you're one of the few to know mercy from Marcos." Ruegin added. "I bet he's pretty pissed he had the chance to kill you and didn't huh?"

Janis seemed to whither. "No he doesn't remember any of that stuff."

*******

For a while, Janis only knew blackness. Slowly colors were added and finally they became images and she started to dream.

Janis's mind dreamed of flawless fights against unwitting buffoons and faceless enfeebled criminals who had once eluded her. As her mind floated, her thoughts returned again and again to the man's fight. He was in complete control well before Garec attacked. Garec had more courage than she gave him credit for to go all out till the end. Even when he touched her, she had felt his power as a tangible ominous feeling.

Old sage Sisters from the enclave she was born in had spoken of that feeling. They called it simply 'a killer's murderous intent'. It was an instinctive hair-raising feeling that people of the sword became sensitive to. It was the same thing you felt when confronting a wild beast. With him, it was strong enough that she could almost visualize the dark aura. This man was powerful, he had to teach her something. She would be accepted, and known throughout the land if she had his kind of power. She wouldn't just have the reputation to return to her old enclave where people knew her, she would be famous enough to enter them all.

Her senses whispered to delirious mind of meat boiling in thick gravy. Steamy musing scents of spices tickled her nose. The crackling of a fire teased her ears.

"Stew," She thought suddenly as her mind surfaced too consciousness.

"I'm really dying..." Her mind lazily pondered. Her body refused to sit quietly, and with a barking cough, she fought to roll onto her back.

"OH? She's awake!" A woman's voice exclaimed.

Janis opened her eyes. It was dark already, and the dying red sunset gave a soft glow in the crisp air. The pretty blonde woman sat on a stool by a fire not ten feet away with her feet tucked up under her robe eying her curiously with interested eyes. Her pale face and features were distinct in the diminished light.

"Interesting that she stayed alive." Marcos responded sounding half incredulous. The other part of his tone made her cringe for appearing so weak before him. "If you really want to get her healthy so she can protect you I guess we'll have to put off heading north..."

Looking past the fire, she could barely make out his dark form stirring a helmet sized pot that hung over a fire. The light seemed to go around him making it hard to see the details of his face.

"...m..mmm..," Janis mumbled trying to croak out words to them.

"She needs some water," The blonde announced.

Behind her, the man paused and looked up from his cooking. "Saliss...be a helper. Get some for her...you know how right?"

"Well...she can go for a little longer..." Saliss responded wrapping her robe tighter and daring a glance back at the man.