<!LUMAR. PART 5. SHE-DEVIL: LOVE.>

<!by Kerianndr, kerianndr@yahoo.com>

<!Dina revenges Birna's death by raiding Queen's Palace single-handedly.>

The news of Birna's death hit Dina with force of a sledgehammer. For several days she was in such despair that it made her almost physically sick. Never before she realized that she was capable of feelings of such intensity. If someone had told her a year ago that she would be so devastated by somebody's death, she would have shot this someone in the mouth. But here she was, totally bent out of shape and bemoaning a Lumara (Lumara, for God sake!!!) They were lovers with Birna for about a year and Dina cherished every minute, every second of their time together. It was hard to imagine a more unlikely couple than these two. A white, tall, gorgeous and haughty Lumara and a suntanned, almost diminutive Amazon girl with piercing green eyes.

Their first meeting was all but romantic. A gang of Amazons was staging a classical ambush on a small unit of Lumara warrioresses riding along some forest trail on their Lumara business. The assault went sour from the very beginning. First, Amazons failed to silence the forward patrol quietly. Before dying one of the blondes managed a yelp alerting the main force. Second, the forest huntresses decided to go ahead with the attack anyway, which was a big mistake as they found out pretty soon. Lumaras regrouped with their usual effectiveness and met the attackers with such barrage of arrows that most of the reckless brunettes were dead before they came close enough for hand-to-hand combat, losing advantage of both surprise and numbers. Five minutes later after intense, silent and very close-and-personal fight, the Amazons were finished. A handful of survivors retreated back into the bushes, and Lumaras, who traditionally hated to leave loose ends, went after them on a search-and-destroy mission.

Dina and Ula, her older partner, were running for dear life, weaving their way through dense mesh of ferns and bushes, with a tall, fierce-looking Lumara close on their heels. Furtive glances over the shoulders told them that the blonde was alone, absolutely intended to run them down and was gaining on them with alarming speed. Soon they were completely out of breath and couldn't run like this for much longer. So they decided to do the only sensible thing in the situation - they split: Ula dashed to the left, Dina to the right. Lumara continued after Ula, the worthiest of her two opponents.

Dina made a circle and run after them navigating by the glimpses of white Lumara's buttocks and legs between the trees about fifty yards ahead. In a minute Ula stopped on a small clearing, turned around and faced her pursuer, holding the sword in both hands in front of herself. The entire battle lasted no more than three seconds. With a forceful upward movement of the sword in her right hand, Lumara lifted Ula's blade high above her head and at the same time plunged the dagger, she held in her other hand, to the hilt into Ula's chest. The Amazon went down as if she didn't have a single bone in her body. Lumara turned around and moved toward Dina who arrived just in time to see the swift end of her partner. Scared out of her wits, Dina bolted back into the woods, stumbled over some protruding root and came a cropper on the grass, losing her weapon in the process. Next moment she felt a strong knee pinning her to the ground, a hand grabbed her ponytail, arching her head backwards, and then she was unceremoniously lifted and rolled over. She looked up into concentrated (not angry, not furious, just concentrated) face of Lumara, who was now holding her by the throat, saw a raised sword on a green background of forest canopy, thought This is it and closed her eyes.

And then a miracle occurred. All of a sudden, Birna (and a fierce Lumara sitting on top of Dina was, of course, Birna) felt something absolutely new to her. To her own great surprise, she felt that for the first time in her life she didn't really want to whack her enemy over the head with her sword. In fact, she didn't want to kill this girl with bewitching green eyes at all. So she put her sword aside and instead made love to Dina, introducing her to the wonders of female-on-female sex right next to the sprawled body of Ula. Overwhelmed by new and wonderful sensations, Dina was sold and addicted on the spot. Birna became for her if not a full-time goddess, then something in the same ballpark.

Soon after their first "meeting" they started seeing each other almost regularly. They did it in the forest, they did it in the Serval underground tunnels, on Birna's boat, even in the Queen's Palace, when Birna was on the guard duty; the danger making it even more fun. Birna knew the city of Lumar inside out, as the back of her hand, and soon Dina did too.

Two or three times Birna mentioned her aspirations to become the next Queen of Lumar. Dina couldn't care less about who was the Queen, but if Birna wanted the job, Dina wanted it too, for Birna. They attempted to push Queen MariKole over the cliff a couple of times, but didn't try real hard. Birna felt that she wasn't ready for the role yet, anyway. So it was mostly love and fun for them, not politics. It was then...

And now Birna, her sweet Birna was no more than a handful of ashes inside the sooty Old Chimney, and somebody was going to pay for this big time. Actually these somebodies had names. Queen MariKole had ordered the hit; Dina had no doubts about it. The jungle inside the city walls was no less cruel than outside. Dina knew everything there was to know about the secret society of masked assassins, because Birna was one of their most active members. They called themselves Tylins (Lumarian for "owl"), and though not very numerous, they were lethal. An expert in making personal enemies everywhere, Birna managed to get herself a bitter foe in the society too. Gonta, a big, well-endowed valkirie of a blonde, Tylin and a commander of a regiment of Lumara troops, hated Birna's guts, jealous of her quick and early rise to the Her Majesty Chief Bodyguard position and her closeness to the Queen. If MariKole wanted somebody to take Birna out, Gonta and her girls were the obvious choice.

Knowing "who", Dina started planning "how", and for the first time in many days she began feeling better...

Lumaras love their Queens and hate to lose them. So, no wonder that the Queen's Palace is the most guarded place in the whole Lumar city. Anyone who wants to get in (if belongs there or invited) has first to cross the moat by a drawbridge and get through a gatehouse in the first ring of walls surrounding the compound. Once inside the outer wall she turns left and goes for about a hundred yards in the space between the outer and inner walls, called "bailey", to another set of gates. Both the gatehouse and bailey are packed with Lumara troops, constantly patrolling, watching, and on alert for any sign of trouble. Only after getting through the second gates the visitor will finally find herself in a courtyard with a three-story palace building in the center of a beautifully set garden. There is also another way into the Palace from outside. A door in the dungeon opens into a passageway leading into the underground labyrinth of Serval. This thick oak door is always locked with heavy dead bolts from inside and considered (and rightly so) the most secure door in the building. And that is pretty much it... Well, OK, there is another way to get into the Palace grounds, but not many people know about it. In the far corner of the garden stands a huge baobab. The one thousand-year-old tree had been there long before the city of Lumar grew around it, and will probably be still around long after the city crumbles to dust. The baobab is a symbol of Lumar (in more than one sense, come to think about it) and even represented on the royal coat-of-arms and seal as a sign of strength, endurance and eternity. Pesky Tylins in their constant search for an extra edge in everything (extra access, extra knowledge, extra power etc.) had found long ago that in the very core of the huge baobab's trunk the wood was all dead and rotten. So they started secretly digging a borrow from the treetop down to the roots and then deeper and deeper into the ground until they eventually connected to some long-forgotten and never-used underground tunnel. A fairly athletic person can reach her hand into a hole in the tunnel ceiling, grab the end of a knotted rope and climb up through the old tree into the courtyard within five minutes. One only needs to know where and in which of the dozens of tunnels under the palace to look for it. Of course, Birna knew. She and Dina used to laugh that Tylin smarties would eat their beaked masks if they only knew that one of their most trusted members was smuggling her Amazon lover into the Queen's Palace through their precious "extra access". But it was then, and now Dina was sitting in the thick foliage under a full moon, a killing machine fueled by revenge and hatred. And, boy, was she ready for action!

Dina knew the layout of the palace and courtyard around it pretty well. The Queen's quarters were on the third floor. Most of the guarding took place at the drawbridge, outer wall, gatehouse and bailey, and there were only ten palace guards inside the inner wall giving the place some privacy. Two guards were stationed at the gates, one of them making frequent patrolling trips around the inner perimeter of the wall. Two more troops stood on the steps at the Palace entrance. There were three sentries in the halls inside the building, one on each floor. And finally three guards were usually taking a break in the pool-room on the first floor, constantly rotating and relieving the ones on duty.

Quietly, like a shadow, Dina slid down the callous, scaly bark of the ancient tree, squatted behind some gnarled, jutting roots and looked around. The coast was clear; no guards in sight so far. A covered stone gallery, projected from the wall on corbels at about its half-height, ran along the inner wall around the whole courtyard. It was fronted by a row of narrow loop-holes, cut through the stone and looking outside into the bailey, and a safeguarding waist-high balustrade ran along its courtyard edge. Narrow stone stairs were spaced at even intervals around the perimeter allowing access to the gallery from the courtyard. All in all it was a cozy dark place, where the palace guards were not required and rare bothered to check, and in which hospitable darkness Dina and Birna had done their thing more than once before. Dina climbed the nearest stairs to the gallery and crouching sneaked to the gates. At the moment both guards were standing there speaking quietly. Dina waited. Soon one of them nodded, turned around, and with a crossbow in her hands embarked on her routine patrol around the garden. Dina followed her in the gallery, staying slightly behind and keeping low behind the banisters of the balustrade. It took the guard about ten minutes to walk to the far side of the garden behind the Palace. Dina checked that the guard couldn't be seen from the gates anymore, took careful aim and shot her between shoulder blades with her crossbow. Lumara arched backwards and sank to the ground without a sound. Dina walked down, dragged the body into the bushes, then returned to the gallery and sneaked back to the gates to wait. After another fifteen minutes the second guard at the gates became worried about her missing partner.

"Hey, Alcey!" she called to one of the girls at the Palace entrance. "Can you come over and relieve me for ten minutes. I'll be right back."

Alcey shrugged and came over to the gates. The second guard went along the wall repeating the route of the first one. Dina followed her in the gallery. When they were behind the Palace, Dina shot her in the back, hid the body next to the first one and returned to the gates again. There she crept to the closest stairs and, doing her best to imitate the second guard's voice, said in half-whisper, "Alcey! Alcey! Come here for a second! Take a look at this!"

Startled Alcey almost jumped.

"Lissa, is it you?! What are you doing up there?! Where is Cerba!? Get down here this minute, for God sake! Are you out of your mind?!" she whispered in exasperation.

"Alcey! Come here real quick! You don't wonna miss this!"

Alcey shrugged, waived OK to the remaining guard at the Palace entrance and climbed stairs to the gallery.

"Lissa, you are crazy! What is that? Where are you? Just make it quick. It's pitch dark here, and I don't see a thing!"
It was very dark in the gallery and she couldn't see Dina standing behind her. Don't worry, I'll make it real quick. Dina clamped a hand over Lumara's mouth and stabbed her in the heart, bending and dragging her backwards. A long shudder went through the body in her hands and then it went jelly-meek, and she quietly lowered it to the floor. After making sure that Alcey was dead, Dina carefully peeped over the railings. The last guard in the garden was standing on the brightly lit steps at the Palace entrance and couldn't see into the darkness of the gallery. The distance to her was about fifty yards and Dina, a crack arbalest shot, shouldered her crossbow and took careful aim. For Lumara on the steps it was like an every sensible sentry's nightmare. Where did these idiots go? What is she supposed to do now? Go look for them in the gallery? Alert other guards? She hated when Alcey did irresponsible things like this. What are these clowns doing up there? Checking out screwing raccoons? I hate these idio... Dina's arrow pierced her heart, abruptly ending all her worries. The Amazon quickly ran to the body sprawled on the steps and dragged it into the garden, away from sight. OK, the courtyard was now clean. She sneaked to the top of the stairs and stealthily looked inside through the thick glass of the front doors. The guard was there all right. Now she was in the far end of the hall going away from the main entrance, but if Dina tried to open the door, she would hear it and turn around. I'll have to really bluff it through, Dina thought. If my luck holds. When the guard finished her trip down the hall, came back to the entrance and turned around to go down the hall again, Dina hefted her crossbow in the right hand, opened the door with the left and walked in. Lumara turned, Dina shot her and that was it. She had just enough time to catch the body before it hit the floor. This time of night the building was mostly empty, Dina knew it from her own experience. She opened the first door to her right and dragged the body in. No littering in the Palace hallways please, as Birna used to say. Her next visit was going to be to the pool-room down the hall where three free-of-duty guards were taking their well-deserved break around a pool. Dina looked at the lifeless form at her feet. Some extra firepower might come handy. The bitches might not take it nicely to be disturbed. She turned the body over, stripped the crossbow from the sling on the guard's back, and checked it, making sure that it was loaded. Then she looked out into the hall. It was still empty. Dina closed the door behind, walked down to the pool-room and listened at the door. Several voices inside were talking quietly. Holding arbalests in both hands, she opened the door with her foot and stepped in. Three guards were sitting in chairs, one was facing the door, two others with their backs to it. Dina shot the first one in the chest, and the girl gasped, toppled the chair over and fell on her back, her right leg still wrapped over the seat. The two other Lumaras turned around and were looking at Dina in disbelief. Before they had a chance to recover, Dina shot a taller one of the two, dropped both crossbows to the floor, drew her knife and charged forward. The last girl was very young and about Dina's size. She sprang up, ran to the pool and jumped in. Dina took a running plunge after her. Lumara easily dove the length of the pool, pulled herself half-way out of the water at the other side, lunged her hand forward reaching where several cross-bows were leaned to the wall, and grabbed one. Before she was completely out of the pool, Dina surfaced behind her, caught her by the leg and jerked her back. The blonde lost balance, flung up her arms and fell back into the water, going under and losing the grip on her weapon. When she broke the surface again, empty-handed, bobbing out to her waist and gulping for air, Dina was waiting for her. She plunged her knife in the girl's heart and held it there until the last thrashings subsided. Then she let go of the handle, and the limp body floated away, face-down, trailing the long golden hair through the water.

Now that the pool-party was over, Dina got out of the water, dried herself up, picked up her gear and quietly slipped out of the room. Before going to the higher floors, she went to the kitchen downstairs. A lonely cook was standing with her back to the door, doing dishes at the sink.

"Hi."

The cook, a plump girl of about fifteen, turned around and stared at Dina with surprise and horror. I just love when their faces fall like this, Dina mused to herself.

"Get on the table."

The girl's eyes were darting from Dina's face to a crossbow in her hands and she didn't move.

"Look. I just want to tie you up. If I wanted to kill you, I would have shot you already. Now move!" Dina saw that the girl didn't believe her, but climbed on the table and sat there, anyway. Who cares.

"Lie down. On your back. Spread your arms and legs. And close your eyes. If I see you staring at me I'll shoot you."

The girl did as told. Dina came to a rack with carving knives and picked one. She hefted it in her hand, put it back and took another one, bigger. Then she came to the girl, lifted the heavy knife with two hands high above her head and plunged it down between the big breasts with all her force, running it all the way through the girl's chest and deep into the oak table beneath. The girl's eyes shot open and she tried to scream, spasmodically heaving her belly and thighs upward. Dina quickly put the left hand over the girl's mouth, her right hand holding the thrashing body down.

"Sh-sh! It's OK! It's OK!" she said in mockingly soothing voice, smiling.

Finally the girl stopped moving and lay still. Dina looked at the spread-eagled body on the table with amusement. Nice. Cook is cooked. And served.

After the kitchen Dina took stairs to the second floor, going quickly but quietly. On the landing she pressed herself to the wall and listened. She could swear that far down the hall somebody was quietly singing. The guard bored with the dull duty of watching the rows of empty rooms was humming under her nose a simple tune. The sound seemed to be getting fainter, and Dina ventured a quick look around the corner. A tall Lumara was walking away from her in the far end of the hall, but was about to turn around soon. One of the rooms on this floor Dina knew intimately well. Once upon a time she and Birna appreciated the softness of the bed and carpet in a small bedroom just across the hall from where she was standing right now. The bedroom had a sidedoor leading to an adjacent guestroom, which also had its own exit into the main hall. Moving on tiptoes, Dina crossed to the door and slipped in. Inside she went straight to the window, opened it, took a small vase from a night table, put it on the window-sill, returned back to the door and waited. In a little while she heard that the singing guard was back. As soon as she passed the door, Dina ran to the window, knocked the vase to the floor, slipped through the sidedoor into the guestroom and took position at the door to the hall. The guard heard the noise, drew her sword and went to investigate. She carefully opened the door into the bedroom, and Dina used the moment to slip out from the guestroom into the hall. In the hall she tiptoed to the bedroom door, which the guard closed behind herself, put her ear to the wood and started listening to what was going on inside. As she expected the guard saw the open window and the vase on the floor, searched the room thoroughly, found no one, went into the guestroom, found no one there either, decided that it was just wind, closed the window, put the vase back on the sill and headed for the door. When Dina sensed that Lumara was close and about to open it from inside, she made two steps back and, taking a running start, threw herself on the door from outside. The heavy door flew open into the guard's face, smacking her in the forehead and knocking her down backwards on her butt. When Dina sauntered to her, Lumara was sitting on the floor with closed eyes, half-stunned, shaking her head and waiting for sparks and stars to stop dancing under her lids. She wasn't really worried (Who could walk around the palace at this hour but another guard?), but in a lot of pain. Dina picked up the guard's sword from the floor, made a wide swing and stuck it in the sitting girl's chest. She definitely wasn't in the mood to take any prisoners today.

The guard on the next floor was now the last obstacle between her and the Queen, and Dina was getting impatient. Nothing came to her mind, except just trying to fight her way through using surprise and pushing her luck a little farther. As it turned out it wasn't necessary. When she got to the third floor and peeked into the hall, she saw that the guard was sleeping. A lanky Lumara was sitting on the floor, her head drooping to her chest, and long blonde hair hanging like a veil around her face. After watching the Sleeping Beauty for five minutes, Dina decided that she was completely out. She pussyfooted to the guard, propped her with her own sword, putting the tip of the blade between the guard's breasts and wedging the handle on the floor between Lumara's legs with her own foot, put both hands on the blonde's bare shoulders and pushed downward with all her weight and force. The young woman made a rasping sound, but didn't writhe much. After brief initial resistance the body started sliding down the blade. Dina kept pushing until she saw the blooded tip sticking out from the guard's back and then, feeling no more life under her palms, she removed her hands. The body remained in a slumped sitting posture.