Salvation

The burning hole of pain he felt inside of himself was clouding his judgement, just like the tears in his eyes were clouding his vision. But there was still a part of himself, above all the rest, that had learned too much to forget how to survive. That part of him could ignore the gentle movements of the horse beneath him, and the narrow, slippery path in front of him, but it could not ignore the growing clouds of red dust climbing to the horizon in front of him. His senses came alive as if he had gone from asleep to awake.

Evan spurred his horse onwards, careful when he exited the slow moving stream not to lead his mount directly onto the path the led over the little bridge. He came up short of the road, his horse easily navigating the little bank and led them into the scraggly brush along the stream bed. Evan tied the animal behind a small rise far from the road before he carefully crept back towards the bridge on his hands and knees. He made it back to the road just in time to see the mounted army appear over the horizon.

He could feel the rolling vibrations from their hooves even before he could see them, and was still surprised by the site of them. There had to be at least 30 heavily armed men, each on a hulking specimen of a horse. Evan had never seen so many riders assembled in one group. Evan had not even seen 30 rifles in the same place before. From his vantage, behind some scrub brush and with his belly pressed flat to the ground, Evan had some difficulty at first discerning their formation. But once he spotted the wagons, it became more clear to him. There was an well organized vanguard of around 18 riders, a menacing enough site on its own. Behind those riders were four large covered wagons, each with a driver and a rifleman sitting shotgun. The wagons were flanked by eight riders, four on each side, with four mounted gunman trailing in the rear of the column. Although the horsemen wore a motley collection of dark clothing, each had a red arm band tied around their left arm.

The large column paused as they reached the bridge, but there was little hesitation. Evan could tell this group already knew where they were going. Their decisiveness sent a chill through Evan. This small army was headed to the hidden village. The lead group of horsemen organized themselves into three squads of six, and the first two guided their mounts into the small stream. Shortly after they had disappeared out of site around the bend, the first two wagons entered the stream. They were followed by six riders, who proceeded the final two wagons, who proceeded the final six riders. Two of the four rear guard were left at the road. One dismounted to stretch his legs and scoop up water from the shallow stream. Evan knew he had to try to warn the village.

For an organized army, the rear guards did not arrange themselves smartly. They spent so much time stretching and drinking that it was little effort for Evan to sneak up within twenty feet of them. While one guard was distracted by the river, Evan put an arrow straight through the other guard's neck. As that guard fell heavily to the dirt, a second arrow went straight through his companion's heart. Evan was soon carefully picking his way through the cold stream, following the thin dirt trail along the road. Two more guards, making no effort to hide their position, were quickly dispatched around a bend of the trail. And from there, Evan began to cautiously approach the rear guard of the wagon train. Two shots rang out further up the valley, and Evan realized he was too late.

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The march leader raised his left hand, and his men obediently halted. Two shots meant that these settlers they were after were not short on ammo. Two shots also meant they weren't smart enough to disguise their position. That second shot, at least, came from the top of a hill to the left, somewhere near the base of a large tree overlooking the valley. The leader dropped his hand to his side and with a barely recognizable flick, giving a signal. Two men slipped out of the back of the lead wagon and began crawling up the hill through the tall grass. The leader and his men carefully avoided looking at their companions as they snuck their way up the hill. Instead, the leader spent his time scanning the valley ahead. The wooden wall was not yet visible, but he knew it was there. The leader could see his scouts cautiously approaching the top of the grassy hill before two more shots rang out from further up the valley. The two shots were too close together to have come from the same gun and be well aimed, yet both his men slumped forward and slid a short ways down the hill through the thick grass, before they stopped moving forever. This was going to be much harder than the Army had anticipated.

There was something pleasing in that challenge. The Leader hadn't faced opposition this good in many years, and he could respect a well organized opposition. Too often he had ridden like a landslide through helpless villages, easily crushing his opposition, and there was very little honor in that. Here, he might finally have a chance to use the martial skills he had honed for many years.

His voice called out, loud and clear, "I request parlay!"

Only silence followed his words. He waited for a moment, watching the hills in front of him, before calling out again, "I request parlay!"

"Go away," came a response from the near hill to his left. "We don't like visitors and we don't want to talk."

The Leader smiled. He had started a dialogue. "I only want a chance to talk to your leaders without getting shot," he yelled. "Please allow me and just a couple of my men to approach your village."

There was another long, quiet pause. His men, ever obedient, barely stirred as they waited for the response. "Alright," came the voice, "only you and one or two others. Try anything stupid and we'll cut you down."

The Leader nudged his horse forward, and his deputy fell silently in beside him. Around the bend the enormous wooden wall came into view, and the Leader was again impressed. These people had a solid fortification in a well defended position with easy access to water. They had chosen their location very well.

"That's far enough," came a deep voice from behind the wall. The Leader halted his horse.

"I bring greetings from the Red Empire," called out the Leader.

"How did you find this place?" Asked the voice.

The Leader smiled again. "You trade. You venture out from this place. You exist. The Red Army finds everyone eventually."

"What do you want?" asked the voice.

"We want you to join us," yelled the Leader. He had extended this offer many times before, and the speech was well rehearsed. "We offer you the protection of the strongest fighting force in this world. You can roam freely under our protection. No need to hide behind your walls."

"And what do you want from us?" asked the voice.

"Your young men will be conscripted into this army. They will be well armed and well trained in how to defend you. After ten years of service, they will be free to return to this village. Your village will also be asked to provide ten percent of all of its produce to the Army, in order to keep your defenders, and your own young men, well fed and well armed."

"And what if we decline to join you?" said the voice.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," returned the Leader. "This is Red Army territory now. Your village will be living under our blanket of protection. All those who benefit from the safety and order we provide will be expected to contribute."

"I could kill you and most of your men right now. What's to stop me from saying no?"

"You could kill us, that's true. But my men who survived would speed word of what happened to our home, and they would return with even more men," explained the Leader. This was a half truth, he knew. The force behind him was the largest the Red Army could field, but there was no way this village would know that.

"Why do you call yourselves the Red Army?" asked the voice.

Not at lot of people asked that, and the Leader was again impressed. It showed curiosity and a thinking process that could only come from a calm mind. Someone overcome by terror would never consider it.

"Centuries ago, a group of men on horseback ran these plains. They worked it and controlled it. They called themselves "The Cowboys," and wore red arm bands to signify their allegiance to their order. We follow in their footsteps."

"Funny," came the voice. "I knew a different Red Army. We decline your offer and ask you to leave."

The Leader suspected this village might say something like that. It was time to try enticement. Why use force when you didn't have to?

"There are benefits to membership in our league that extend beyond protection. There are assets that exist far beyond your borders that could benefit the people of this village," called out the Leader.

With a flick of his hand, the deputy at his side turned his horse and trotted slowly back to the column of waiting soldiers. The Army had done this dance many times before, and it was well rehearsed. Waiting for him when he returned to the column was a wagon with the top cover removed, and two cows tied to the rear with lead ropes.

As the deputy returned around the bend, the Leader pointed to the items in the cart. "The Red Army is rich, and we extend our wealth to all our members. We have herds of dairy cows for our citizens. We have iron tools and forges capable of making new ones. We have medicines like aspirin and some anti-biotics. We have solar powered generators for warming water and providing heat in the winter." Most of this abundance was also a lie, the Leader knew. Nothing was easy in the blighted lands out on these plains. The Army did have herds of cattle, but most of the meat and milk went to soldiers. They could make iron tools, but raw iron or scrap metal was hard to come by. And the medicine supply was reserved almost exclusively for Army leaders. Of course, as soon as soldiers established themselves in a hungry village that had decided to join, it would be too late to go back to their independence.

"We have all those things already," came the deep voice from behind the towering wooden wall. "Go away."

The Leader smiled. It would have been disappointing if this well defended village had capitulated so easily. It was time to appeal to the men. Men were easier to understand and more decisive and... easier to manipulate. One weakness of most of these stronghold villages was that they were almost always led by men.

"We have other things your village leadership would enjoy. We have gifts and delights for those who properly supervise and manage Army controlled villages," the Leader boasted.

With another almost imperceptible flick of his wrist, the deputy was sent back to the column of soldiers. This time, when he emerged back around the bend, he was followed by four soldiers on foot carrying a wooden crate, followed by three short, hooded figures.

"I said only two men," came the deep voice from behind the walls.

"Please," replied the Leader, his hands raised in a sign of supplication. "Let us show you the delights we can offer."

The soldiers placed the crate on the ground, and immediately began working to remove the lid. When the top was off, the sides easily came away. Inside the crate was a man wearing nothing but a long, loose robe, sitting tied to a chair that was bolted to the floor of the crate. The four soldiers hurried back to the column of wagons.

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Evan had carefully made it through the rear guard of the column and reached the valley wall. He had easily killed the last two members of the rear guard, requiring so little effort that Evan wondered if the soldiers were sloppier than they appeared. Maybe years of mowing down little opposition had allowed them to grow soft. If so, this little hidden village (and Leah, who he tried not to think about but kept creeping into his mind) might just survive. Evan knew their survival might depend largely on him.

Evan crept to a position along the slope of one hill of the valley, just across the river from the rear wagon in the Army's column. From his perch, he could make out the Leader negotiating at the wall, and hear some of what was being yelled back and forth. When the sides of the crate fell away, Evan squinted in surprise. The man clearly bound to the chair by restraints bore a strong resemblance to Tom, the bandit Evan had last encountered on the day he rescued Evelynn. It was hard to tell from this distance, and the man in the chair appeared much cleaner, but he very much looked like Tom.

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Tom sat terrified, shaking in the chair. Ever since Badger had clumsily led him into the ambush in the road, Tom had knew this day was coming. These men intended to kill him in some sort of sacrifice. That was why they had kept him alive all this time while refusing to speak to him. Something terrible was going to happen to him. At least Badger had the good luck to be killed in the ambush.

The three short, hooded figures moved to stand in front of him, facing the huge wooden wall in front of him.

"We have gifts of pleasure for our friends," called out the Leader's voice, startling Tom and causing him to jump from its volume.

At the end of the Leader's last sentence, the hoods and robes fell away from the hooded figures. Tom was shocked yet again. The robes had concealed three women, each little more than five feet tall. All three were now completely naked, and they turned together to face Tom. They were beautiful. The two on the sides looked like they could be sisters, with short red hair and twinkling green eyes. They had similarly slim, well toned bodies with ample breasts capped off with big, pink nipples. They looked like busty gymnasts. The middle, raven haired woman was just slightly shorter, with a skinny body and small but firm breasts.

The Leader smiled. These three beauties were his property under Army law. He sometimes loaned them to one of his officers as a reward for exceptional achievement. And this show they were about to preform was always great for morale. There was no sound from beyond the wooden wall. The Leader guess that, like many, these villagers were too stunned to talk.

The raven haired woman with light blue eyes walked up to Tom and caressed his cheek. Tom was terrified she would pull out a dagger and slice his neck, so he struggled against the ropes that pinned his arms behind him and his legs to the chair legs. Instead, she bent slightly forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Tom was too surprised to kiss her back. As she pulled away, looking at him with her pretty blue eyes, she smiled. Despite himself, Tom smiled back. The young woman leaned forward again and kissed him more deeply, thrusting her tongue between his lips. Tom accepted her affections, and their tongues danced inside his mouth.

The young woman climbed up into Tom's lap so that her knees were on his thighs and her small feet rested on his knees. She pressed her thin, tight body against his as she continued to kiss him. Tom could feel her small, soft breasts pressing against the fabric of his chest, but he was powerless to reach out for them or even push himself harder against her. The woman's hands were stroking his hair as she kissed him deeply, stopping only to kiss her way up his cheek and nibble on his ear. Tom exhaled deeply at the sensation of her tongue playfully flicking at his ear lobe.

Tom felt two soft hands fumbling beneath his robe, then sliding up his thigh and brushing against his slowly hardening member. With the black haired woman atop him, Tom could not see anything beyond her, but he guessed one of the red heads was now gently wrapping her fingers around his growing cock. The hands began softly pumping up and down Tom's thick shaft. The raven haired woman returned to kissing Tom, her fingers lazily running through his hair. The hands beneath his robes now lifted the fabric, exposing his growing cock to the cool air around him. The cool breeze on the skin of his cock was replaced by a soft, wet heat that engulfed his now fully rigid member. As Tom felt the sucking sensation sliding up and down his pole, he realized that the woman was blowing him. He moaned deeply, having not felt sexual release since his time with Evelynn on the road.

In response to his moan, the woman straddling him giggled and finally slid her body aside. She stood to the side of Tom, cradling his head against her breasts. Tom looked down and saw the red haired woman's head bobbing up and down on his cock. The sight ignited fiery sparks of pleasure deep inside his crotch. Her tongue swirled around the head of his member before her whole mouth plunged downward, engulfing his pole in slippery wetness. The sensation of her sucking mouth sliding up and down the entire length of his prick was too much for Tom. It had been too long.

"Oh God," Tom whimpered softly as he felt the anticipatory tingling in his cock. The raven haired woman ran her hands softly up and down his chest as if to encourage the explosion. The head head in his lap slid wetly up and down his shaft in front of his eyes, and Tom could do nothing to stop it. The warm, wet mouth paused its bobbing motion to suckle on the head of his pole before it resumed wetly sliding up and down his member. The sparks fused into one big bolt of pleasure and Tom was suddenly cumming, his sperm bursting up through his cock and into the eagerly waiting mouth in his lap. The red head sucked gently on Tom's cock head, encouraging the last little drops to come out, before turning her head and spitting his seed onto the dirt of the path. Then she looked up at Tom with her beautiful green eyes and smiled at him.

The Leader laughed softly. The bound men often came quickly, his women had expert tongues.

Tom's erection was slowly wilting as the raven haired woman tore open his robes, exposing most of his skin to the cool air. She began kissing Tom's neck, sucking on it softly. The two red heads each straddled one of his legs and leaned forward to suck on his nipples. Tom could feel their naked pussies grinding against his exposed thighs, and he could feel that they were wet. One of the red heads slid her body up over his, presenting her full breasts to his lips. Tom eagerly sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, rubbing at it with his tongue.

"Oh yes," she cried out softly, as the other red head continued to suck on Tom's nipples.

The red heads switched positions, the one on Tom's left now sliding up his body to offer her breasts to his hungry mouth. The one on the right slid down his body and began sucking on his nipple. With the gentle ministrations of three beautiful women, the thought of being killed finally slipped from Tom's mind. His cock also began swelling slightly, a development noticed by the raven haired woman sucking on Tom's neck. She let go of Tom's head and walked around to his front. The woman dropped to her knees while spitting into her hand, before rubbing her saliva up and down Tom's rod. Both of her soft hands closed around his slick road. She began pumping his cock slowly and gently, feeling it stiffen in her grasp, while her partners both stood in front of Tom, offering up their breasts to his playful tongue.

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Evan could clearly see that the soldiers had lost interest in their guard duties. Most were trying to peek around the curve to watch the show being put on for the village. Some had brazenly pulled their cocks out of their pants and were stroking themselves while trying to glimpse the three ladies. Evan hoped they were genuinely careless and soft, as he crept down the hillside towards the last wagon in their train.

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With his cock continuing to grow, the raven haired woman stood aside while the red heads slid their bodies down Tom's. The read heads each took a side between his leg and began running their lips up and down the sides of Tom's rod. Tom marvelled at the sight of them, it was like they were french kissing each other with his cock between their mouths. He groaned at the sensation of their tongues tickling the sides of his pole as the wetness of their lips slid up and down him. They began swirling parallel circles with their tongues on either side of his cock. Finally, one slipped the tip of his pole between her lips and began sucking gently on his cock head. Her green eyes looked deeply into his while he felt her tongue swirling around his tip. The other red head began lapping at Tom's balls with his tongue, trying to also look into his eyes from between his legs.