“So, what a nerve you two have selling guns in my region,” The Region Lord said, unloading his double barrel pistol. Placing the two shells to the side, he then placed two red tipped bullets into the gun.

“Answer well, or these fire-lizard rounds will put you both up in smoke,” the Region Lord said, his eyes hovering between Charlie and the Head Merchant.

“I think you will find that this village isn’t part of your territory, my lord,” the Head Merchant said.

“And I think you will find you also can’t force yourself upon natives,” Charlie muttered under his breath.

“Ha! You two fuck wits! You think you have any sort of power?” the Region Lord cackled.

“And I think you will find that as the Head Merchant of the foreign branch of the Merchant Union, I hold a lot more influence than you,” the Head Merchant said, not even giving the slightest hint of fear.

Charlie did the same, but for a different reason. Rage fogged his mind as he was tempted to leap forward, take the gun from the Region Lord, and shoot him in the chest there and then. The Region Lord grunted.

“It would be a shame though if you got lost in the desert and were devoured by a pack of starving Desert Crawlers,” the Region Lord said, a wide smirk on his face.

“What do you want,” Charlie said, wanting to deflect the anger from the Head Merchant to himself.

“I want to know what you think gives you the right to sell guns to these savages,” The Region Lord said, taking his double barrel pistol and slamming it onto the table. Charlie looked across to the Head Merchant. He wasn’t budging.

“Two gold,” the Head Merchant said, the eyes of the Region Lord lighting up as he heard of the opportunity of money.

“Ah, so now your speaking my language,” the Region Lord said, tucking his pistol into his jacket. Taking his hat off his muddy brown hair, he offered the hat to the Head Merchant.

Reaching into a small leather pouch on his side, the Head Merchant revealed two large gold coins. Placing the coins into the hat, he immediately stood and grabbed Charlie by the arm. As he dragged him to the door, the Region Lord called after them.

“Remember, on all trades made, you must give me my tax!”

“Cunt!” Charlie yelled, raising his middle finger to the Region Lord as he left the wagon. Hopping down the stairs, he followed after the Head Merchant.

“Bastard,” He muttered as he caught up to the Head Merchant. He followed him for a few minutes until they were far enough away from the Region Lord.

“So, all of that, was literally just to get a little money out of us?” Charlie said, finally breaking the silence.

“Yeah, he does that from time to time,” The Head Merchant stopped and turned to Charlie.

“That’s finished now, he won’t bother you, so you can go,” the Head Merchant said, but Charlie didn’t move.

“You know quite a bit about his behaviour, right?” Charlie said, seeing an opportunity.

“Yeah, I guess, I’ve worked with him for five years since he became the Region Lord,” The Head Merchant said, staring at Charlie with intrigue.

“I eerrrr, wanted to ask something, you know, hypothetically,” Charlie said, not knowing whether or not what he was about to say would get him in trouble.

“Go for it,” the Head Merchant replied, having already heard about Nolkonoe’s rape from some Vultures. He had been doing this kind of stuff for the past five years.

“If you were to try and… beat him, you know, get back at him. What would you do? We were going to try and show the union about how he harasses the native physically and sexual, but I would like some input from you,” Charlie asked. The Head Merchant looked at him for a moment.

“Don’t do anything stupid. The union won’t do anything unless they think it will affect their coins. But if I had to do something, I’d hit him where it hurts…in his pocket. I would go for his coins, that would get the attention of the Union. He is a merchant after all, find a way to fuck with his trade or money, that would probably do something. But you didn’t hear that from me, so if you plan to get yourself killed it isn’t my problem,” The Head Merchant explained.

“Thank you, sir!” Charlie said, now having an idea of what he could do to try and fight the Region Lord.

Nodding to him, he turned and sprinted. The Head Merchant only sighed as he reached into his coat. Bringing out a large cigar he raised it to his lips and lit it.

“That boy will get himself killed one of these days,” he murmured, taking another drag on his cigar.

Charlie sprinted back to the main part of the village. Ideas buzzed around his mind as he tried to think of ways that he could harm the earnings of the Region Lord. Halfway through the thought, he was stopped as he saw several vulture women loitering around a table. An unusual sight as they would normally be harassing someone for money, but they weren’t.

On seeing him, the women sprinted to his side. Grabbing his arms, they dragged him off into the village. Usually he would have struggled, but they were taking him down the same route to the Vulture compound as before, so he didn’t resist. As suspected, the women took him into the compound. As he entered, he noted that there were many more guards than there had been the last time.

Taking him inside the compound, he was greeted by the Chiefess and what appeared to be the seventy warriors mentioned before, who were now crowding around Nolkonoe. A bright smile appeared across the face of Nolkonoe as she saw Charlie. Seeing her reaction, the Chiefess looked to where her gaze landed and gave the same expression of excitement as she saw Charlie.

Charlie placed a hand onto the Chiefess’s face as she started to bombard him with kisses. Nolkonoe giggled as she watched her Chiefess almost smother the poor boy in affection. Each woman was painted in their war colours. Their hair decorated with feathers and in their hands the Chiefess held a single war spear while Nolkonoe held an axe.

“Come, let’s get you ready for the counterattack. Phukomeia and Ourupadia shall keep you guarded while the rest of us engage in combat,” Nolkonoe waved a hand and the Chiefess escorted Charlie over to the stone altar, still making sure he remained close to her side. Narrowing his eyes, Charlie felt a mixture of annoyance and relief at the news he would have Phukomeia and Ourupadia guarding him.

On one hand he wanted to be safe. On the other he felt as if he would be a burden and should try to help. Maybe the adrenaline from almost being killed by the Region Lord, still ran in his blood as he spoke.

“I would like to help more… if possible,” Charlie said, stuttering slightly between words as his rationality tried to battle against what he was saying. Turning to him, Nolkonoe smiled and gestured to the stone altar.

“You, your guards and another warrior shall be armed with the guns, you shall kill enemies from afar with the archers while we battle on the ground,” Nolkonoe explained, Charlies eyes landing on the four guns as she spoke. Smiling, Charlie nodded to her.

“I won’t let you down miss,” he said, his mile growing larger as he approached the guns. Looking over the fine metal work, he picked up one of the pistols. Examining it closely, he admired the intricate craftmanship and dedication that had gone into making the weapon.

When he had used this kind of gun before during the Desert Crawler attack, he had understandably failed to notice the detail carved into gun.

“Amazing,” he said as he clicked the cylinder release along the side of the gun. The large, cylinder capsule fell to the side limply, allowing him to see the chamber into which the bullets were to be loaded. Twenty-four shots across the four clips that made up the cylinder. Perfect.

“Great, you seem happy, now get naked,” Nolkonoe said, an expectant smile on her face. Charlie looked at her confused for a few seconds.

“Sorry what?” the women around him laughed, not understanding what he had just said, but they recognised the tone of confusion in his voice.

“Don’t worry, we know that a merchant such as yourself shouldn’t be put in this kind of situation, so we shall paint you as one of our warriors to smuggle you out,” Nolkonoe explained, a sadistic grin coming over her face as several Vultures grabbed him. Hoisting him into the air, the women carried him off into the sacrificial hut.

Standing by the doorway to keep guard, the Chiefess watched as the women stripped him. Nolkonoe approached her with a bowl of white paint, Nolkonoe herself held a bowl of red paint.

“Come, enjoy,” she said as the women inside stripped Charlie of all stiches of clothing. Shaking, he watched as the Vultures stepped back and Nolkonoe and the Chiefess sat down by his side.

The Chiefess started by rubbing his arms with white paint, purposely slowing at points to get a good feel of him. Subtly she pressed her body against him as she rubbed his chest and back. As she finished his front, she crawled around him like a cat to his back. Leaning closer until her breasts pressed against him, she placed a small kiss onto his neck. Shivers ran down his spine as she then nibbled the top of his ear.

Jumping, the cool paint surprised him as she began to smother the liquid over his back. Phukomeia entered the hut with another bowl of white paint. She moved to his front and started to rub his chest in paint while the Chiefess did his back. Doing his best to keep himself distracted and not get aroused, Charlie kept his eyes fixed downwards. But the bites and licks from the three native women kept him concentrated.

Kissing and stroking him, the women soon painted his chest, back, and arms.

“Stand,” Phukomeia demanded as the Chiefess and Nolkonoe forced him to his feet. Moving to his front, the Chiefess showed her dominance to the other women as she placed a kiss onto his lips and allowed his erection to press against her. Pulling back, she looked him in the eyes. Raising her index finger on her right hand, she tapped it onto his lips.

“Mine,” she said, kissing him again before shooting glare to the two women. Since they were her friends, she was alright with them touching him… but not too much.

Understanding her glare, the women stepped back as they allowed the Chiefess to be the one to paint his legs. Crouching, she began to smother his legs in the white paint. Noticing the two women giggling, the Chiefess looked up from her handy work. Smirking, she saw Charlie’s member now stood tall in front of her face.

Looking up to see his blushing red face, the Chiefess decided to tease him more. Licking her lips she bit at the tip of his penis, making him jump slightly and soliciting laughs from the watching women. Noticing that Charlie was sucking in his cheeks and looking away, Nolkonoe approached.

“Don’t be embarrassed, it is normal for a male to have such an attraction to such a beautiful woman between your legs,” Nolkonoe said, smiling as she saw him try to hide his erection with his hands.

“And the fact I’m naked and being ogled at,” Charlie said in defence.

“Don’t worry, none here would dare to touch you while the Chiefess is present,” Phukomeia reassured while the Chiefess gave a few playful bites at his balls. Nolkonoe moved to her side. Leaning down, she placed a kiss onto the side of the Chiefess’s face.

“We need to leave soon, so finish painting him, and we shall get him in a grass skirt,” Nolkonoe teased as the Chiefess finished applying the white paint. After a little debate, over what kind of patterns to paint, they decided to use the warrior paint as it would blend in more with the group. Nolkonoe and a handful of vultures were a little annoyed as they had wanted to paint him as a Vulture member, but the Chiefess was insistent on him being painted as a warrior.

Once adorned with his last layer of paint, they placed him in a grass skirt and armed him with a gun. Now he was ready to go, his first ever battle…