Ponkert's eyes darted around the forest. There was no evidence of Yngvi or his companions.
Cautiously, the Earthman rose to his feet and padded to the security of a massive oak trunk. While neither his eyes nor ears could discern any signs of the knight, Ponkert didn't trust his pain-clouded senses, and he had no wish of announcing his naked presence to the world.
Pausing momentarily to push away the dizziness that threatened to drown him in unconsciousness once again, he clung to the gnarled trunk and listened. Only the slight rustle of wind moving through the leaves met his ears. Regaining his balance, he began to move toward the edge of the forest where he and Terri had first seen Yngvi and his troop ride up.
Cat-like he slipped from the cover of one thick trunk to another, until a faint moaning sound drew his attention.
A quick investigation and Ponkert had located the girl he sought. Terri was bound spread-eagled between two trees. Both her wrists and ankles were tightly held by strips of taut rawhide. She, too, was naked and it was obvious Yngvi and his playmates had taken their pleasure before leaving. Her head bung forward, her champagne-coloured hair matted across her firm, proud breasts. Likewise the golden fleece covering her cunt was plastered over her vulva with dried sexual juices. Silvery paths of sperm tracks ran down the soft white interior of her thighs.
Within moments, Ponkert had worked through the leather bonds with his teeth and fingernails and had carried the semi-conscious girl to a mossy bed on the bank of a nearby stream. The remnants of Terri's frock and the cool, clear water formed a soothing compress which he applied to her forehead.
The girl stirred as he bathed her face. Her legs opened slightly and she murmured as if lost in a dream, 'No… Please… Not again. Please…
Please… NO… Oh, please… Please… Yes… Yess… '
Then she was awake, her eyes flashing wide open and recognizing Ponkert crouched beside her.
'Milord, what happened? I remember Yngvi and his thugs making sport with me-and then everything went black,' she said, rolling to her side as if trying to hide her abused sex from his eyes. 'That must have been after the third or fourth time I came… '
She quickly bit her tongue and stared up at Ponkert with deep green eyes of innocence, fully realizing she had revealed the pleasure she had found in the mass rape. Ponkert smiled down at the nude beauty, relieved she was none the worse for the encounter. Gently he bent down and lightly kissed her lips.
'We had better get moving,' he urged softly. 'I need to find my landing craft and arm myself in case your employer and his nasty friends should decide to return.'
Terri's long-fingered hands ran over his broad, bare shoulders then down his arms. 'Milord's arms are just fine! Why do you want more? Will it make you more, a man?'
Ponkert scooted back, blocking an attempt by the girl to move her fingers to his loins. He mentally grinned, knowing that despite her recent multiple rapes, Terri's sexual hunger had not been sated. While he had to admit her offering was hard to resist, the thought that the black knight might return put a damper on any romp in the hay at this moment.
'Never mind that, wench! Let's make tracks!' he scowled, letting a sharp swat of his hand on her pert ass cheeks form the exclamation point to his command.
Terri whimpered, more disappointed than hurt, and sat up. Ponkert glanced around, then spoke, 'Where are the rest of your clothes? Hell, where are mine?'
'Sir Yngvi, the louse, took them,' the blonde scullery maid answered.
'All except for this pitiful rag.'
She handed Ponkert the wet compress he had used. The Earthman accepted it with shrugging shoulders.
'Not much to work with, is it?' he smiled weakly. 'But then, we can't go running around bare-ass naked, now can we?'
'Why not, Milord Ponkert?' Terri insisted.
'I'd get tired of fighting off all the young studs that would be wanting to ravish you,' Ponkert sighed, letting his eyes trace the delectably desirable curves of Terri's well-developed body.
The girl's green eyes rolled to his. 'Milord is too kind.'
'Stop fishing for compliments,' he ordered. 'We need some sort of clothing. And you may drop the 'milord' stuff. Just call me Chad!'
'Chad,' she seemed to whisper, obviously enjoying the sound of the name, then reached up and took back the still wet rag Ponkert held in his hand.
Five minutes later, she had slithered into a crudely fashioned g-string that did little to hide the inviting bulge of her sex. After convincing Ponkert it wasn't unusual for women to go about bare-breasted in her country, she used the remaining fabric to construct an equally revealing loin cloth for him. Quickly the Earthman slipped into the garment, ignoring the wetness that clung to his balls.
Pulling the jiggling-titted girl to her feet, Ponkert made his way to the glade where his escape pod had touched down. A hasty check showed it would never leave the ground again. The main venturi had ruptured and the internal power supply had shorted out, fusing most of the intricate solid state circuitry.
From the cockpit of the small craft, he retrieved a laser pistol and a signal beacon. The hard plastic and polyurethane foam used for the interior could add nothing to their skimpy clothing. Slamming the airlock shut, he fiddled with the compact signal beacon. A small green dot appeared at the extreme edge of the screen, pinpointing the location of Jan's misguided landing. The signal was several hundred kilometers to the north. Ponkert had a long, arduous journey ahead of him before he would again see his lovely copilot.
'Milor-Chad, if I might suggest, we can go to my father's inn. I want nothing more to do with Yngvi or his scullery.'
Since there were no better offers, Ponkert replied, 'Yes. Yngvi is a louse. Lead on, fair lady!'
Terri's green eyes sparkled and she started off toward a small rise to the north. Her coral-tipped jugs bounced freely to and fro. Ponkert willingly followed. No matter what Terri's family was like, at the moment he had no better place to go.
The trek to the inn, about ten kilometers as best the Earthman could estimate, was uneventful. The caravansary, as Terri explained, was located on a main trade route between two small kingdoms. Luckily, none of the numerous caravans Terri described were en route this evening.
Despite his laser, Ponkert felt more than a little naked in this new world.
As they approached the two-story wooden inn, a series of rather high-pitched screams, definitely coming from a woman, followed by several large crashes met their ears. Grabbing Ponkert's hand, Terri trotted forward to the commotion coming from the interior of the building.
Throwing the door open, it took Ponkert but a fraction of a second to take in the scene inside. A fight was in progress. An aproned man, obviously Terri's father, was vigorously fending off the blades of three scurrilous- looking men with an iron fireplace poker.
'Highwaymen!' Terri gasped at his side.
As Ponkert stepped into the room, the innkeeper raised the poker and squarely bashed it into the head of one of his opponents. The attacker crumpled to the floor with a loud howl, then remained still, blood pooling around his head. However, one of the remaining two robbers lunged forward, jarring the innkeeper's weapon from his hand. The helpless man just managed to duck and evade the two blades that sought his throat. Steel thudded into the rough log wall of the inn as the innkeeper scurried away.
As the two highwaymen yanked their blades free, Ponkert rushed forward and grabbed one of the mens' wrists. Retaining a tight hold on the brawny arm, he twisted to his left and tugged downward. The simple application of a little leverage sent the assailant sprawling on his back on the wooden floor of the inn.
Without hesitating, Ponkert followed through his attack, dropping to one knee beside the downed man. Using his fisted hand like a hammer, he delivered a sharp atemi-waza blow to his opponent's exposed throat. A gurgling noise came from the man's mouth, followed by blood that trickled from his lips and nostrils. With his windpipe crushed, the robber would be of no further menace.
Ponkert cast a quick glance over his shoulder. The other swordsman stood behind him, his blade swinging in a high arc above his head-a blow, if ended, that would split Ponkert's head like some hollow gourd.
Almost in reflex action, the half-naked Earthman dived to the side as the blue-steel sword descended. The metal sang in a high-pitched whine as it fell through empty air that had once held its intended victim. So close was
