Chapter Four: Lost In The Woods
As Novaoa stumbled through the woods, moving deeper and deeper into their untamed wilds, her naked feet became progressively more covered in filth. It took a long time for the mighty Nemorvian warrior to start coming out of the mental haze the enchanted lion's head had put her in. The thick fog that crowded out her thoughts was finally starting to clear. She was once more becoming aware of her surroundings, although she didn't yet have control of her body. Her movements forward, however, were slowing.
Her slow zombie-like walk slowly came to a halt. The naked Nemorvian blinked and looked around, confused by how she had gotten to where she was. "Where am I?" she muttered. Slowly memories started to come back to her, the lion's head and how it had put her and her Nemorvian sisters into some kind of deep trance then the two men coming in and using them all.
The memory made her clench her fists in anger. She had sworn she would never let men use her like that again. Recalling the shameful event brought other memories flooding back into her mind, memories of her long life as a whore in various brothels. Being used by a never-ending series of men of every race, sold from one owner to another till she had ended up in Iphasea City.
"Never again," she whispered, repeating the vow she had made the day she had escaped, taking those she could with her. And now she had failed them, failed without a fight. She cursed herself for having been so careless and cursed again when she thought of Kilne and Amitkoa. Although she assumed they were still sitting entranced in the bathhouse she didn't know for certain, by now someone else could have found them and done far worse to them than had already been done.
She had to get back to them, had to save them then press on with their mission to save the other Nemorvians held in sexual servitude in Iphasea City. First, though, she'd need to find her way back to the bathhouse.
Novaoa looked around and realized she was deep in the forest, far deeper than she'd ever dared go. There was no hint of what direction she had come from, something made worse by the way she'd turned around in confused circles while her mind had been clearing. Looking up she could see that the sun was beginning to set and that soon it would be dark. These woods were a dangerous place at night even when armed. She stood there naked and weaponless, knowing she might be in grave danger.
Not far from where she stood was a small rocky rise which she began heading towards, hoping that if she climbed it she might be able to see over the trees to find the road she had come from or maybe even spot the bathhouse itself.
As she approached she discovered the opening of a cave, the sight bringing her great joy.
At least I'll have a place of relative safety to hide in during the long, dark night
, she thought.
But was it really a place of safety? As she drew nearer she slowed, seeing signs that this cave might already be inhabited. Paths seemed to be trampled in the underbrush heading out in several directions and at the mouth of the cave there were bones scattered about that looked as if they had been gnawed clean by some kind of beast.
As she stared into the cave she wondered if it was home to wolves
. No,
she thought,
I HOPE something as mundane and relatively harmless as wolves live in there. There's something in the air... A smell. A feeling. Something FAR worse than wolves might call this home. But what could it be?
She had her answer almost immediately as a massive figure began to emerge from the shadows of the cave. She gasped and took a step back as a huge troll stepped out of the cave, yawning and rubbing its eyes like a simple-minded child.