By the Lust of Men
Chapter 2: Unfinished business
It was the year of 1257, during the last days of March. The flowers showed their brightest colors and the weather was perfect. It was during those days that Alissa started with the quest of building a renown for herself. In Calradia - a war torn land - the fastest way to achieve such thing was thorugh the battlefield. Everyday hundreds of men lost their lives in the field and dozens of stories based on the most epic battles were born to increase the winner's renown.
Nobody really know why Alissa chose the path of war, but she was willing to fight to the end for her own cause. She started to raise a small armed unit by recruiting people from the nearby villages inside the Kingdom of Swadia, and even when they were not professional soldiers , hard training turned the fresh recruits into worthy fighters.
After a week of continuous training, she decided it was time to make some denars. So she went to talk with the Guild Master in Suno - a remarkable town belonging to the Kingdom of Swadia. "I haven't seen you around before, do I?" - asked the Guild Master, "No, but you and your friends will do from now on" - said the beautiful young lady - "You sound like a determined woman. I could use someone like you" - added the man, who required people for an important matter - "It has been almost 2 months since a group of bandits came to the area and don't stop robbing the incoming caravans and travellers. They are now out of control and if you are able to kill or capture them, I will reward you with an important sum of denars". "Consider it done" - said Alissa.
With their limited tracking skills, the group was able to identify and follow their target and, judging by the tracks, they were behind a party of aproximately 20 infantry men. It took them almost one day to get close enough for combat and, as soon as they reached the point of no return, things started to go all wrong. Given the lack of combat experience, Alissa tried to surprise the enemy, but she led her men too close and the bandits were able to spot them prematurely, losing the upper hand in combat. The ground began to shake as the enemy cavalry approached them - our heroes were expecting to have the numbers against them, but they were not expecting to fight mounted units. Nevertheless, Alissa and her men charged the enemy valiantly, but one by one, our heroes began to fall.
Although they were greatly outnumbered and were fighting against cavalry units, Alissa and her men caused great damage to the enemy squadron, but soon she would end up surrounded by the enemy and being the last on her feet. She managed to bring a couple of enemy soldiers down before a mounted bandit dropped her unconscious with his wooden lance.
After several days she woke up surrounded by her fellow soldiers - "Where are we?" - she asked, "We have been taken prisioners. We travelled for days but we have now stopped and set a camp. It seems our captors were running away from the military patrol". "What happened to the rest of the group?" - she asked, but somehow she already knew the answer - "Most of them fell in battle or died from combat injuries on the way, we are the only ones still alive. We have tried to escape but security is too tight" - said the man.
As soon as the guard heard the lady's voice he moved her to his boss' tent, where she was supposed to wait until he returns so that they could have a word - but she knew how to use her beauty to her advantage. The guard and the lady were left alone in the boss' tent and she knew it was the opportunity to escape. She unbuttoned her shirt to form a sensual cleavage in her chest and called the man - "What are we doing her?" - and the guard replied intimidated by her beauty - "I... I am to wait until my boss arrives". "I'll need a doctor, my back still aches from the hits received in battle. Or perhaps you could give it a look by yourself?" - she said inciting the guard to come close, while removing her shirt and showing her naked back where she was hit. The guard stunned by her beauty, listened to the girl and approached her. When he was close enough, she used her shirt and wrapped it around the man's neck, pulling as hard as she could until he stopped to breath.
By the lust of men she was able to escape, but before leaving, she wrote a note and passed it to the imprisoned men saying "I am going for back up. I am not leaving you here".
She took her saddle horse and rode away from the enemies, who didn't realize she escaped until the next morning when the boss came back. She went to the nearby villages to gather enough men to rescue her soldiers, but by the time she gathered a good amount of recruits, the bandits were already gone.
She travelled around the land crushing any bandits that crossed in her way, looking for her men without any luck. It was after weeks of searching that she received word that the bandits she was looking for were killed, but that no prisioners were found with them. She failed her fellow men and she would never see them again - there was no way to describe such pain and sadness. She settled a camp and slept for days.
The road to her dreams would be full of victories and defeats, of happy and dark times, but she - she still had to walk the way.