Some exposition from Aliyah

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Dareios’ greeting was genuinely truthful and caused partly by the fact that she had led their rescue and partly by her appearance.

“We can all see that you think that,” Jalee remarked as Dareios’ horsedick started to swell back into its usual turgid state.

“I’m Dareios,” Dareios said after smiling at Jalee’s remark, “and these women are my companions; Jalee, Kandra and Vanya.”

“Aliyah,” a man stepped up from within the crowd behind the busty blonde, with the three whores’ immediately turning their attention to him, “it might be good to leave the introductions till later and focus on getting out of here.”

“Yes Hargar, you’re right,” Aliyah agreed, and Dareios and his companions were soon treated to the spectacle of the dozen or so attackers gather up weapons from the bandits, executing those who were merely wounded.

The killing of the defenceless bandits didn’t disturb Dareios at all, due to the fact that they themselves had shown the same lack of mercy to the townsfolk of Northmoor.

“You’re a warrior, aren’t you?” Aliyah, who had remained next to the recently liberated foursome while “her people” looted the convoy, asked Dareios.

“Yes, sort of. I was raised to fight for the honour of Teitum.”

“Teitum?”

“He’s my god.”

“Our goddess must know him.” Aliyah suggested, but said nothing more on the matter.

“And you?” She instead asked the three women.

“We’re whores, who have to find our stuff,” Kandra explained, upon which Aliyah nodded at her, allowing the three of them to go through the destroyed convoy, looking for their outfits and other possessions.

“Whores?” Aliyah asked Dareios as the busty trio sauntered away.

“Yes?” Dareios asked, not quite understanding the question.

“What’s that?” Aliyah clarified her question, looking as if she genuinely didn’t understand the term.

“Uh, a whore is someone for whom fucking is a profession.”

“Oh, so they’re like our priestesses then?” Aliyah placed the question in such a cheerful fashion that it seemed to clash with her status as the leader of a band of warriors.

“Yeah, something like that.”

As he was surrounded by dead bodies and still feeling pretty fatigued after a night spent on the move, Dareios settled for equipping himself with a sword and then waiting for the rest of the party to get ready to leave.

Aliyah remained with Dareios, showing signs of being quite smitten with him, and told him about how her people, a group of people which had formed as outcasts from the surrounding communities had mixed with the native inhabitants of the woods and how their apparently unnamed goddess had found them and offered them her blessings, making them her people, although this didn’t explain how they could all be such spectacular physical specimens.

The warlord’s soldiers had gradually made their way through the forest, taking control of the old convoy route which ran through it and setting up several camps from which they conducted slaving expeditions, abducting members of the tribe and bringing them to the warlord, who would sell them in return for gold and weapons.

“And will happen to us?” Dareios asked, although he felt quite assured by the fact that no one had objected to him arming himself with a sword.

“You will come with us; the priestesses will want to speak to you.”

Hoping that these priestesses were the same ones as those who saw fucking as a profession, Dareios allowed himself to be led off the road and into the woods.

There was no trail to be seen, but the party nonetheless moved with ease through the plethora of pine trees, with Hargar leading the way and Dareios walking next to his three friends.