LUMAR: HOUNDS OF DEATH FOREST

<!LUMAR. PART1: THE HOUNDS OF DEATH FOREST.>

<!Princess LiudMila and her escort get slaughtered by Amazons in jungle.>

The great city of Lumar sits at the very edge of huge Mylar forest. To the east the city opens to a bright blue vista of Kamalata bay with a little smoking volcano in the middle, which sticks like a fat conic chimney from the water. To the other three sides the gray limestone battlements of the city walls look straight into the dense entangled mass of palms, lianas, evergreens, shrubs, ferns, vines, moss and you-name-it ' the whole mess that's called Mylar, or Death Forest, and which stretches all the way over horizon in every direction, eventually covering most of Poise plains. Who knows what is hidden beneath the waves of this dark-green ocean, what long forgotten cities it has swallowed, what treasures lie on its bottom, what creatures prowl its depths? The old Mylar keeps its secrets well. But not too well. Because the only thing all secrets in the world have in common is that they all like to pop out and reveal themselves, sooner or later, one way or another, just like those notorious skeletons in closets. But, then again, it's another story. Maybe for the next time-

By some fluke of nature or fate the residents of Lumar, who call themselves "Lumara", are all females, rather tall and slender, of a very pale, almost albino white complexion, with big blue eyes and golden blonde hair. The traditional dress of Lumar is bare skin. The idea is that a warrioress needs no clothes restricting her movements, and tropical climate also encourages nakedness. A rare Lumara lives to her 35^th birthday. For ages Lumaras have been fighting Amazons - suntanned brunettes with dark brown eyes and raven black hair. For ages they were mercilessly exterminating each other mostly because of a dramatic difference in appearance rather than anything else. The phenomenal beauty of Lumaras is a steady source of income for the city. MariKole, the Queen of Lumar, was supplying virgin brides, Lumaras call them "princesses", to all countries of the Big Kodor Valley. For those who understand, beautiful, smart enough to be interesting and funny, highly proficient in the art of love, Lumar princesses are the hottest commodity the city can offer and the business is good!

This time MariKole was sending princess LiudMila, a striking 16-year-old beauty, to be a new wife of Lady Bessiera, the Queen of Terra-Tegana land. Bessie the Queen has recently lost the whole stable of her six bodyguards-wives when her cortege was ambushed by Amazons in Mylar jungle. After this the Queen-warrioress decided not to mix business and pleasure anymore. She wanted real family, real love and real fun in her life, and that's what LiudMila was bringing to her with her beautiful self.

The journey wasn't going to be an easy one, and all preparations were conducted in utter secrecy. The jungle that surrounded Lumar was heavily infested with Amazons who were preying on anything walking on two legs, their own species included. And "putting to sweet sleep" a Lumar princess was absolutely a matter of honor and deepest satisfaction for any Amazon worth her salt. An old wisdom says, "There are no churches in Lumar". Meaning that Lumaras believe in nothing except the inevitability of death. Secrecy or no secrecy, pretty soon the news of another virgin bride being delivered to a client started drifting through pungent air of this tropical city like thin whiffs of mist floating through damp marshes. And they were slowly drifting toward Death Forest-

Just before the dawn, after getting final instructions and a brief farewell from the Queen MariKole herself, LiudMila, her three bodyguards and twenty warrioresses were led into the palace dungeons and from there into a secret tunnel. The tunnel was supposed to take them into Serval ' an extensive underground maze of ancient passages and burrows running under Lumar in all directions and eventually reaching far beyond the city limits into the wilderness. Guided only by the leaping light of oil lamps, they navigated through endless succession of damp corridors and vaulted chambers for what seemed to be eternity, until a half hour or so later they came to the surface deep in the rainforest. The group quickly found its way to a certain cave hidden under a densely wooded hill, where horses and equipment were already waiting. Within twenty minutes LiudMila and her escort were weaving their way through lush vegetation traveling on horseback at a fast trot along an obscure animal path deeper and deeper into Mylar. The day that began so briskly passed quite uneventfully after the expedition fell into a routine of long silent marches and infrequent short rests. At the fall of darkness LiudMila ordered the party to stop for the night and set up a camp on a small clearing in the woods. Three round tents were quickly erected: one big marquee for the princess and two tepees for the troops, the sentries quietly took their posts on the perimeter and the camp settled down for the night. They had no way of knowing that Dega and her war party of ten Amazon riders had been looking for them from the daybreak and finally had came upon their tracks at about noon. Since then the hounds of Death Forest were hot in pursuit plowing the jungle like a pack of hungry sharks on a trail of fresh blood. The fall of night didn't slow them much, their big almond-shaped dark eyes still capable of seeing in such pitch darkness where the blue Lumara eyes were quickly becoming useless. And, hey, it's always getting livelier in the jungle after dark, isn't it?!

Just before the sunrise Dega's girls were at the clearing and silently circled the camp. Ten naked dark-haired women were lying in ambush, stealthily sizing their prey and waiting for a signal from their leader for the game to begin. They didn't have to wait long. Silencing sentries was always a specialty for Dega's team. Two arrows simultaneously piercing the heart always guaranteed a quiet gasp, a soft "O-oh!" and almost noiseless drop of the body. Almost always- After all five sentries met their doom all at once and stretched out on the damp leaves of the forest floor, one by one their terminators started slipping into the camp taking positions at the key points. But nothing is as easy as it seems to be in jungle warfare. The treacherous morning dusk played its trick on the raiders, after all. They failed to detect the sixth sentry who was guarding the horses. When two Amazons moved in to apprehend the mounts, they were up for a bit of unpleasant surprise when they ran nose-to-nose into a guard. Despite being very young, Lumara recovered first. In a swift touch# she plunged her sword into a chest of the nearest intruder, only to feel the steel of the other Amazon's blade entering her own heart a second later. For several moments the trio was cutting a strange scene in the rays of raising sun: three statuesque forms standing interconnected by thin glittering lines of imbedded swords. Then the group broke as two of the figures slowly slid to the ground.

A minute later the flap of one of the tepees flew open and another Lumara came out to investigate the noise. A flash of an arrow ' and with a soft groan the girl crumbled backwards clutching at a thin stem protruding from her chest. This tent was big and tightly packed with ten warrioresses, all in their teens. Being young and inexperienced, they started coming out like angry bees from a hive, and straight into the jaws of waiting Amazons. Each was met with an arrow through the heart, and with quiet "O-oh!"s they were falling backwards throwing their arms and legs. Good morning, blondy! thought Dega sending another arrow between the breasts of the next sleepy girl emerging from the tent. It's like a gracious dance of silent death! Within two minutes all ten were finished, their forms lying sprawled and relaxed on the lawn.

Now the residents of the other tepee started waking up. This tent was much smaller and only four Lumaras were sleeping there, they all older and more seasoned fighters. The first one came out and fell with an arrow in the chest. Only one Amazon was covering the entrance. While inserting a new arrow and drawing her bow, she missed the second warrioress Mixa who slipped out, bolted directly to the horses, jumped one and galloped away. When the next girl appeared through the flaps the huntress was ready for her, and another Lumara's heart stop beating pierced with an Amazon arrow. Tera, the last woman in the tepee, finally figured that something very wrong was going on at the front, cut the back wall and escaped from the rear- and straight into the melee! By now Amazons moved into the camp in force and two of them rushed to finish her off. Tera groped behind her through the cut in the tent, produced two loaded arbalests and shot both attackers point-blank between the breasts. The ladies went down as one, throwing up their arms and legs. Tera quickly gathered their swords and took up a fencer's stance to fend off attack of two more Amazons coming upon her running with blades. It wasn't much of a fight, actually! An expert swordfighter Tera disarmed both women in a single smooth round movement and continuing the same motion sheathed her swords in the bare chests of the attackers. The Amazons slowly sagged backwards, dead before they even hit the ground. Tera didn't even stop to pull the blades from their bodies. She whirled around reaching for her own sword left in the tent- and felt as if she got impaled on a red-hot skewer! Dina, the young Amazon with weird emerald-green eyes, who was slaughtering the first tent together with Dega, shot Tera right between her big and slightly oval nipples, erect and swollen with the excitement of the battle. With surprised "O-oh!" Lumara fell to the ground, her legs making a perfect figure 4 on the grass.

Meanwhile, nimble and feline, the Amazon leader Dega moved toward princess' marquee. A big slender Lumara ' the princess' bodyguard Mika ' was blocking the entrance. Titsy, thought Dega trying to stick the blonde. The guard was well trained and fast. She caught Dega's uplifted arm at the wrist and the Amazon also had to grab her opponent's right hand to block the dagger coming down to her. For several seconds they were standing like this, wrestling, trying to wrench their armed hands from each other grips. Suddenly Dega sensed by her skin rather than saw someone coming behind her back. In one smooth motion she dropped her weapon, let go of Mika's right hand, dived under her left arm and emerged behind bodyguard's back. Before the Lumara had a chance to react, the Amazon grabbed both her hands from behind and bent her backwards, arching the white sinuous body in front of herself as a shield. Another titsy! Are they twins?! Dora, the second bodyguard, looked like an exact copy of Mika. She was holding a dagger with both hands high above her head aiming to stab Dega in the back. Completely taken by surprise by a sudden change in the combatants' position, Dora was unable to stop the chop-like fall of her arms. Driven down with tremendous force, the razor-sharp stiletto passed through Mika's rib cage as if through butter and buried itself to the hilt in her heart. With a gasp of pain and surprise Mika stared incredulously for good ten seconds at a handle jutting from her chest, then her eyes rolled up and she started sagging backwards. Dora, franticly jerking at the handle, tried to free her weapon from the heart of her own sister. It didn't even bulge sitting too deep in the flash, and the dead weight of the lifeless body started to pull her off balance. Dega let go of the corpse's hands, picked up Mika's knife, grabbed the rich blonde tresses of Dora's hair, pulled her backwards and immersed the blade in the girl's ample bosom. The whole encounter lasted no more than a minute, and the bodies of both guards hit the ground almost simultaneously.

Oh, boy! But it was close! The titsies almost got me! She found her own dagger in the grass and cautiously approached LiudMila's marquee. A younger Amazon with a crossbow joined her there. "Shell we?" Ever a "gentleman" Dega motioned for the girl to go in first. Smart move, as usual! Lita, the third bodyguard, who was staying with the princess inside the tent, shot the teen dead on the spot. Another titsy! Triplets? Lita was quickly reloading her crossbow. Dega stepped over the twitching body of her late partner, picked up the weapon fallen from the girl's hands and shot the guard in the chest. The force of impact threw the leggy blonde all the way to the back wall where her curvy form slid to the floor, dead on arrival.

Dega turned around and her eyes met with the big blue eyes of princess LiudMila who was sitting on a small folding bed in the middle of the room. There was no fear in those eyes, only deep sadness and quiet surrender, as if she could see her fate in the pitch black eyes of her executioner. Slowly LiudMila got to her feet. She was a goddess: her ram-rod straight posture, absolutely proportioned body, long legs, full breasts, fresh and beautiful face ' all radiated vibrant energy of youthful womanhood and pure female strength and attractiveness. That's what Lumar princesses are all about! She was standing there, her chest heaving, her nipples erect and excited in bitter-sweet anticipation of the final pain, her lips slightly parted, her eyes riveted to Dega's. The leader of Amazons quickly came up to her, put the left hand on princess' bare shoulder and in a quick, well-practiced stab drove the dagger in her heart, still looking in those wide-open blue eyes. LiudMila gasped. Dega kept thrusting the blade deeper and deeper until the hilt was firmly pressed into the soft skin of the big breasts. The young lady exhaled a low throaty moan. Her eyes rolled up under drooping lids, the long legs started to fold and she began falling backwards. The Amazon kept her kill standing for several moments longer enjoying the last throbbings of a dying heart clearly translated through the steel (Oh, how she cherished those little rewards of her violent life!), and finally let the handle slip from her grip. LiudMila's body fell on the bed, tensed momentarily, the golden triangle of hair between her thighs rose spasmodically. Then she relaxed, her legs spread apart, and at last she stopped moving. Whoa! Awesome bitch! The Amazon stood over the body as if spellbound. The girl, whose life she just extinguished, was Dega's first Lumar princess, and she has never before realized just how magnificently beautiful those broads were. With a violent shake she snapped out of it, and the spell was gone. Well, I guess that's it. Mission accomplished. Dega looked down at a prostrate form for a moment longer, turned and made her way toward the entrance.

Before coming out, she carefully peeped outside. Everything was quiet, naked bodies lying separately and in piles all over the clearing. In the middle of all this was standing Dina still clutching a crossbow. She looked forlorn and somewhat vulnerable, very young with her shoulder-long ponytail. Nice girl, this Dina. Brave and smart. Cute eyes, sort of witchy. I like her. Smily type. As if she heard, Dina smiled and waved to Dega. Dega waved back and came out.

"Is she dead?"

"Yeah, she's a corpse all right. Where are the guys?"

"All dead." Dina smiled again, raised her crossbow and shot Dega in the chest.

Stunned by surprise and searing pain, Dega couldn't move her wide-open eyes from Dina's cold stare. The last what she heard in her life was Dina saying, "You really made my day, bitch! You should have seen your face!" The last thing she felt was sharp pain in her chest when Dina shot her through the heart again just for the sheer pleasure of doing it. And then Dega ceased to exist.

Boy! It felt oh-so-good to squash the bossy bitch! Dina mused very pleased with herself. To her left the bushes quietly parted and an Amazon rode into the clearing. She was one of two girls who rushed after fleeing Mixa ' the only Lumara who escape the slaying of the second tent. The girl was very young, almost a child. She was visibly shaken and scared, close to tears.

"Did you get her?" asked Dina.

"She ambushed us! She doubled back and killed Kira! I just barely got away from her alive!" whined the teen.

The girl cast a furtive glance around. She began feeling increasingly uneasy under scrutiny of Dina's green eyes. Nothing was moving at the clearing, only dead bodies all over the place. Damn! Oh damn! I shouldn't have come back here! I don't want to be here alone with this witch!

As if she read her thoughts Dina produced a soothing, motherly smile.

"Don't worry. It's OK now. It doesn't matter anymore." "Not to you, anyways," she added and shot the girl between the perky, well-developed breasts.

As if bolt stricken the young Amazon stood up in the stirrups, her body arched, her head thrown back in a silent scream. For several long torturous moments she stood like this, feeling the burning stake of a thin arrow eating away at her heart. She fell backwards, dead, quarrel sticking out from her chest, and came to rest supine on the back of her horse, legs and arms dangling down the sides. After stopping for a moment to admire the lethal results of her well-placed shot, the young murderess made a mockingly disgusted face, turned around and walked away. Through the whole encounter the horse showed surprisingly little interest to this drama of life and death played out on its very hide. For this Dina left the animal on its own to dispose of the still quivering remains of its freshly deceased mistress, still spread-eagled on the horse's back and firmly entangled in the riding gear.

Now all things taken care of, Dina threw the last glance over the battlefield. Pale bodies of Lumaras and darker forms of Amazons were sprawled next to each other making the place look like a weird checkerboard. Dina shrugged, turned away and disappeared in the woods. She was smiling again-