STEPPE HANGING

Execution 

      There is an old tale about a woman who took up the sword and went to war. 	It does not tell of her battles however. Instead it talks of her life after the war when she journeyed in search of a teacher. It is a short story. 
    Once she had been a warrior, or at least almost one. She had earned a sword and shield and had used them on a field of battle. Finding she needed more training she had traveled across these dammed treeless plains for weeks in search of a reported arms master. Tired and wishing to sleep under a roof she had come to the town in search of food, drink, information, and a bed. 
    Things had gone so well until he had entered the inn. He was large and already drunk. What he saw was a blond girl\woman sitting alone with a pack and weapons next to her. The more he looked the better he liked what he was looking at and before long he was next to her. She tried to dissuade him but he insisted. An appeal for help fell on deaf ears. Then he started to paw her and attempted to rip her tunic off her body. It was plain that he was planning on raping her right there on the floor of the taproom. She broke free but was cornered. He lunged for her. A tankard of ale became the weapon to defend her honor with and she used it. A roundhouse swing caught him on the side on the head and he went down in a heap. At first she had thought it was all over but she was oh so wrong. A look down revealed he was most likely dead as the side of his skull was badly dented. Within seconds it seemed there was a disturbance and four armed and armored guardsmen came in. From there it went straight to hell. The drunken would be rapist turned out to be the local lord’s son and he was not pleased. Her protests that she had only been defending herself were brushed aside. 
    She had found herself being stripped and was then gang raped there in the lord’s hall. A virgin defiled for defending herself. In truth she was worth looking at and thought of having her could set any man’s loins aflame. She was tall, almost two yards. Large firm tits, a tight ass, long red hair with a matching patch covering her woman’s hole. Her life on the road and her training had left her with a firm well sculpted body carried by long well shaped legs.  Countless rapes later not all of which were in her cunt she was once more dragged to the great hall. Beaten, bit, and bruised she was a mess and could stand only with help as her sentence was passed. She was to be shorn bald all over her body then given the rest of the day to recover. At sunset she was to be turned out and given until dawn of the second day to be gone from his lands. She would leave with nothing except her life. If on the dawn of the second day she was caught still on his lands she would be hung on the spot and her body left for the beasts.   
     The filthy water and garbage she was provided was better than nothing and by nightfall she could move and walk enough to leave. She knew she was a dead woman. Even if she could somehow manage to get clear of his lands the first marauders she happened upon would use her for sport and with any luck would just kill her cleanly. By Satan’s balls any naked shorn woman was clearly fair game for any man. Still the warrior in her forced her to try, just maybe she might get lucky. Perhaps some farmer or trader would give her shelter in return for her body. By noon of the first day she knew she would never make it. The cramps in her belly were almost bad enough to stop her and her feet were ripped to shreds. Finding scant water and less food she still pressed on as best she could. From time to time she thought she saw signs of pursuit behind her but was not sure. Perhaps followers was a better term. Anybody chasing her could run her down without even making their horse sweat. 
     By dawn on the second day she knew she had failed. Reduced to a crawl and even crawling she had no chance of getting clear. The cramps in her guts were worse and she was bleeding from her slit even though it was not her time of the month. She had been gut shot by all those members that had plowed into her during her captivity and she knew like everyone with a gut wound she was dying. She staggered until she tripped over a stone and fell face first in the dirt. Unable to rise right away she laid there and must have passed out for the next thing she knew  she was surrounded by for mounted men. Death had found her. They dismounted and ground tied their horses. To her surprise she was offered water. Allowed to sit and recover for a spell she dared not believe her luck. No men such as these would ever allow a chance like this to pass. And they did not. Once she was recovered enough to stand and try walking she was knocked back down and promptly raped. She was taken every way a man could enter a woman and several times by each. 
    Finally the rape was over. Her hands were tied in front of her and she was knocked flat on her back. Her ankles were tied to two stout stakes in the ground and a noose placed around her neck. 
Three of the men picked up the other end of the rope while the leader squatted down to watch her face as the noose tightened around her neck. Although all three pulled as hard as they could they could not quite kill her. Each breath was pure torture and had to by fought for with everything she possessed  she somehow still lived even after an eternity of strangling. Finally a horse was brought over and the rope hooked to the girth. This time there was no denying the noose. It still took a few breaths worth of time but her throat was finally squeezed shut. She fought to the bitter end with the pain mounting to levels she would have thought could be found in hell only. She not only suffered from the noose tightening around her neck and the burning in her chest but from the agony in her belly as it was stretched and from the pulling of her joints as the noose and the stakes acted like a rack. Then through the pain and the red mist came peace and release. Her body gave up the uneven battle and ran down to free her sprit. The old tale swears she went to the resting place of warriors and was welcomed by all there and spent all time in the company of fellow warriors drinking and gaming. But that’s just a tale.