This fantasy story contains plenty of non-consensual sex that is quite brutal and graphic in nature. Though I didn't want the story to be too sadistic or misogynistic.
This revised version was submitted April 2014, it has been re-edited and has small changes throughout, which I hope will improve it.
Cheers, -Ax
-0643, day 21, month 04, Fangrind Forest.
The air was crisp and cool in the early hours around dawn. I made my way through the forest on foot. I like that time of the day, the world is just waking up and there's the promise of a new day ahead.
I had purpose, today I was going to collect me some ears. I knew these woods well, I learned to be a ranger here. I was a farmers' daughter, growing up in the West Acton riverlands, and seemed destined to be a farmers' wife. Then, by chance, I met a ranger named Baden in a nearby village. We fell deeply for each other. He was my brave, dashing ranger. I would give him my maidenhead, but he had to work for it. I had him take me out into the wilderness and teach me to be a ranger. I was already quite skilled with a bow, and liked to hunt.
That was a long time ago now and Baden was long gone.
After a stint working for the Rangers Guild, I fell in with my party and took part in all manner of dangerous and exciting quests. We were a team of four powerful adventures, lead by the charismatic sourceress, Sierra. Our reputation spread across the kingdoms, as slayers of mighty monsters and champions of justice. We also partied hard and had lots of amazing sex. It was the best time of my life, but all good things must come to an end. I had been on my own for almost six years now.
I moved swiftly through the long grass that hugged the tree line. Then I crouched next to a tree and listened. There were plenty of noises I could identify, nothing seemed out of place. I began striding deeper into the woods. I knew where I was going--Fort Nikes. It was actually the ruins of a fort that would have seen plenty of bloodshed in the ancient wars. Now it was just a stone ruin, being slowly reclaimed by the forest.
It still attracted campers though, sometimes bandit gangs would hide out there, or small goblin tribes, or the odd insane witch or wizard. That day I was hoping to find some orcs camping there. The Fangrind Forest sat at the northern borders of the kingdom, and orc raiding parties had been traveling through here as they invaded our land.
Orcs have become quite a problem for our dear King. They never used to come down this far south before, but something had been drawing them here for the last five years. King Farquad II had sent all his soldiers off to fight his latest war to the west, and didn't know what to do about all the raping and pillaging and killing that was going on in his land. He called on all adventurers and wanna-be adventurers to do their civil duty and fight off the orc invaders. It didn't work out very well for him.
I was doing my part, helping out the Rangers Guild, even though I wasn't a member any more. They were grateful for any help they could get. Then the King discovered that gold speaks louder than words, and decided to dig into his treasury. He decreed a bounty of one hundred gold pieces for each orc ear.
Suddenly a dead orc was worth two hundred gp. I was thrilled. My efforts in fighting off the orc raiders would have a monetary reward. I would put the gold to good use, using it to honor my fallen comrades and see that the are remembered. But I wasn't the only one getting in on the action, I knew that I had to watch out for orc hunters as much as orcs.
I continued to swiftly weave through the trees as I descended into the forest. If I kept up that pace I would make it to Fort Nikes by midday. I kept a brisk pace, but stopped frequently to watch and listen as I got closer to Fort Nikes. The sun was shining directly above me, over the canopies of the large trees. I decided to circle the area on my approach, to scout the ruins.
I crept about slowly and carefully as I approached my destination. I came across some large humanoid tracks that looked fairly fresh, it raised my hopes that there were orcs there. I could see the large pale walls of the ruins rising up ahead. The tall stone walls were covered with a greyish green moss that helped it to blend in with the large trees around it.
The terrain around the fort was bumpy and uneven and quite lush, with plenty of trees, bushes and rocks about. I knew the area well. The ruined fort sat on top of a small hill. It still had three of its large outer walls in tact, but no roof and was open to one side. I knew that you could access the high upper floor through a crumbled stone staircase, if only for a lookout. It was what made this place an appealing hideout for so many. I was very careful to stay out of sight as I snuck around, slowly edging closer to the ruins.
As I moved around I saw an orc. The big ugly green bastard was just standing by the wall, staring out into the forest. He hadn't spotted me. His rough green skin was partially covered with thick leather armor. I could see a large sword strapped to his back. His face was squashed-up and ugly, his head was bald with large pointed ears sticking out each side. Valuable ears, they were what I had come for.
I continued to carefully scout around until I was quite certain there were five of them, two armed with bows. None of them looked to be a magic user. They looked to be scouts. Perfect, one thousand gp worth of ears, and not too many for me to take down on my own, particularly if I started attacking from range.
I unslung my custom elven longbow from my shoulder and slowly made my way around to the other side of the flowing creek. I got into position behind a large boulder, with the brook between me and the ruined fort. It was a prime archery spot. The fort was within my range. If the orcs wanted to get me, they had to go around the body of water, or through it. Either way it would allow me the opportunity to stick them with more arrows.
I silently watched the fort. They did have an archer stationed up on the second floor. I would take him out first, then the second archer that was inside, hopefully before he could get a shot off. Then I would take the other brutes out one by one. If one or two of them would get close, I was confident in my shortsword skills.
I drew a steel tipped arrow from the quiver on my back and lined up the orc archer on the upper level. I had a clear shot. He had no idea that death was aimed at his fat ugly head. Suddenly there was a loud painful scream from the other side of the fort. It drew the orc archers' attention and he moved out of sight. Then I heard more screams and shouts from the orcs.
What the hell was going on?
I sprung into action without thinking, moving out from cover until I had the orc sniper in my sights. I aimed my bow up at him and loosed. The arrow slammed through the back of his skull and his bulky body crashed to the ground.
I grabbed another arrow and notched it as fast as I could. Speed loading wasn't my thing, but accuracy was. I swiftly moved around and noticed the other archer by a gap in the wall. I shot an arrow through his neck. He clutched his throat and let out a loud gargling sound as blood spilled down to his chest. He fell back against the wall and slid down to the ground as he died.
Suddenly there was another orc running at me, yelling loudly with his axe held high. I quickly let off a shot and the arrow slammed into his shoulder. He still came at me, I dropped my bow and pulled my shortsword from my belt. Then the orc fell over and his heavy body crashed into the dirt. I could see some sort of strange vine wrapped around his legs. I ran up and kicked his axe away as he raised it, then ran the point of my shortsword through his thick skull.
I quickly scanned the area. There didn't appear to be any other immediate threats. I didn't know where the other two orcs had gotten to, but they weren't attacking me. I picked up my bow and notched another arrow, before I started making my way into the ruins.
I cautiously walked through the gap in the wall, past the orc archer I had killed. On the other side of the wall I saw the last two orcs slumped over dead. There didn't appear to be any obvious wounds on them, but someone had killed them.
I pointed my bow out into the woods. "Who's there?" I called out. "Come out where I can see you." There was a brief pause, then someone started moving out from the bushes. I held my bow up as what appeared to be a young woman in robes came forward.
She held her hands up in front of her, "It's okay, I don't mean you any harm."
She was young and strikingly pretty, with long red hair that framed her feminine face and flowed down past her shoulders. She wore an elaborate green mage robe. When she got closer, I could see that she had mismatched eyes, one green and one hazel. She wore a stupid smirk on her face as she looked me over as well.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Aerowyn, and you are...?"
"Rohme."
"Well met, Rohme. That was fun, wasn't it? We took out all those smelly orcs. We make a good team."
I still had my bow pointed at her, "No, not well met. No, we're not a team. These are my orcs. I had them well scouted out before you came barging in here. Get the hell out of here! Now!"
"Look, I understand you're still a little fired up from the battle, but I'm not your enemy."
"What kind of mage are you Aerowyn?"
"Just a beginner really. Just a girl starting out down the long, long road of knowledge."
I spotted some fine grey hairs on her robe. "Did you come in on horseback?"
"Yes, I rode in on my faithful steed Jester. He's somewhere nearby."
"I didn't hear a horse coming."
"A simple spell, to silence my horse."
I nodded down at the dead orcs, "What did you do to them?"
"Thornbite; deadly magical poison. Effective."
"Right...How old are you Aerowyn?"
"Sixty-four."