Please note this is a guest entry.

Lalala. Oh, look! A new chapter of HG-1. I hope there will be flowers, rainbows and butterflies in it!

Zenlith, please include more people for the reverse harem! And that power balance, pff she needs moar power, they shouldn't be almost equals. Also, when are they finally gonna kiss?

Oh hello alternate me. It's not a reverse hare— Y'know what? Fine. Your wish is my command.

Warning: Graphic chapter, disturbing content.

April eyed the four men on the road. One of them looked so young he probably didn’t even have to shave. Were they hostile? Why were they headed towards the terrible place she had just escaped?

One of the men lifted a hand to halt the three others. “This looks like a good place for an ambush. Let’s start with the hill.”

April pressed her body to the ground, hugging the crossbow even tighter. She knew it was a great advantage it was night, but she also knew her luck wouldn’t last if they set up an ambush of their own here.

She lifted her head, looking at a pair of boots that had sunk into the tall grass inches from her nose. A tingling sensation went through her hands and feet, as she felt her hands become moist.

Her line of thought was broken when she heard the sound of feet on the road. Ten.. no, hundreds. She could not tell how many hundreds.

A voice boomed from right over her head. “Ah-crap, the rest is here. Hurry, check the other side.”

the boots moved away from her, she felt relieved yet dared not exhale yet.

She had just evaded capture, by a miracle, neither of the three had been spotted.

She felt a boot step onto her thigh. Her eyes widened.

“WAHH!” the young man yelled when he stumbled.

“You okay?” One of the older men had turned around.

“Sam, someone’s here.”

April felt the adrenaline pump through her veins as she leapt to her feet. She grasped the collar of the young man, forcing him to his feet with such force the back of his head rammed the cocking stirrup of her crossbow.

“Back up! I’ll blow his head off.”

Sam yelled. “AMBUSH!”

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw an entire army run into pike formations below the hill. Few had armor, most of them were wearing nothing but rags, some of the men just a loincloth.

Amongst them stood women and children, what exactly had they encountered?

She backed away slowly. “Kite, oliv—” her eyes fell on her companions, both stood up with pikes placed to their backs, holding their arms over their head in surrender.

April glanced to her remaining three bolts. It would be pretty tough taking on an army with only four.

Sam kneeled down. “Lady Stormshield, we have two of theirs.”

Lady Stormshield, a lady with long golden hair lifted her arm. “I will negotiate with this one, personally.”

She approached April. “You only have a single prisoner, half of what we have. You’re outmatched and outmanned a hundred to one. Surrender.”

April slid the dagger from the young man’s belt, putting it to his throat. She shifted the tip of her crossbow towards Lady Stormshield. “Now I’ve got two.”

A smile cracked on lady Stormshield’s lips as she lifted both her hands. “Very well, I’ll entertain the thought for a moment. What would you do if you had two captives?”

“Tell them to release my companions, or you’ll see what an iron bolt feels like at high velocity.”

Lady Stormshield nodded a few times. “Aggressive and assertive. I like that.” She lowered her hands. “But fortunately I’m not your captive.” She made a short nod towards the left side of April.

Clack.

April twisted her body towards the attacker.

She felt the cold steel of a bolt penetrate her arm, she felt her strength disappearing from her hand, and the dagger dropped to the ground, landing in the soft grass.

The young captive kicked her leg, striking the last bit of splint holding her broken leg. The metal bar flew out with a rip, and April tumbled to the ground.

The young man grabbed his knife and approached her.

April swung her crossbow, striking his legs so hard they were swept away from under him. She lifted the crossbow and brought it down into his face with all the force she could muster.

A handful of men with pikes were already on their way to finish her.

She turned the crossbow towards herself. Should she end it? She felt her hand brush the large metal trigger-mechanism.

“April!” Oliver yelled.

She grit her teeth and pointed the crossbow towards Lady Ann.

Clack.

The tip of the bolt aimed for Lady Ann’s cold heart. Ann turned her head over her shoulder, looking directly at April. She was smiling.

She grasped the bolt, catching it mid-air.

April pushed the crossbow into the ground with all her might. From an angle, she jumped with a single leg towards a wrinkled and gray-haired man with a pike.

The pike flew away as April rammed it with her crossbow, jumping towards the man with a once more lifted crossbow, like a club above her head.

She swung it. He caught it. She felt a boot in her stomach and landed on her back almost where she had come from.

She wanted to cough, yet she couldn’t. She tried to heave in air, but nothing could come.

Her vision blurred, threatening to fade to black. a face above her stared down on her from far above. “I’ll interrogate this one, personally.”

April tried to lift her hands, but even her fingers would not budge. Sam grabbed her by the feet and dragged her across the grass. As her vision faded, her eyes landed on Kite, who was hanging over someone’s back, all his four limbs hanging down.

...

When she woke up, she tried to move, yet her movement was met by a coarse grinding on her wrists. She forced her eyes open and looked down just to see her legs tied to the chair she was sitting on. Not far from her was the side of the tent, perhaps she could—

“Ah, you’re awake.”

April gazed over at Ann’s face.

Ann stood up from the chair behind her desk, which was covered in cases and rope. She took several steps towards April.“Welcome to my office.”

She wrapped her fingers around April’s shoulder, rubbing it with her palm. “I know it’s been hard for you…”

April frowned “Uhmmm.”

Ann stepped around April while lowering her head to eye-level, letting her large green eyes gaze deeply into April’s eyes, with the look a mother would give her child. “But won’t you tell me…”

Ann put her hand on April’s knee, rubbing it back and forth with care.

“Where the rest of you are?”

“You caught all three of us.” April said. “What more do—”

Ann put her finger over April’s mouth. “Shhh. Your pretty mouth shouldn’t lie.” She let out a dazzling smile before stepping sideways, forcing her legs sideways in between April’s legs, carefully lowering her bottom onto April’s knee.

“GAAAAAHH!” A bloodcurdling roar was let out by April as the two broken bone fragments ground against each other. As if electrocuted, her head was flailing around while all her limbs spasmed, only held in place by the tearing of the rope. Tears formed in April’s eyes, yet when her gaze glanced over Ann, a terror was instilled in her. Ann was wearing the brightest smile April had ever seen, but her eyes were narrow, soaked in a thick layer of malicious intent, as if she was enjoying it.

Ann stood up once more, putting a hand over April’s mouth while grabbing something with the other. “ssshhhhh, you’re scaring the men.”

Ann put a piece of cloth between her hands, it flicked as she moved her hands apart, straightening it out.

Every fiber in April’s body moved in perfect harmony with a single purpose; flight. The chair skid across the floor away from Ann in several small leaps. “Wait, please! I swear there’s no one else.” April begged.

A ball of cloth was pushed deeper and deeper into April’s mouth before being fixed with the straight piece of cloth. Ann moved her mouth all the way to April’s ear and her every breath became a loud, yet soft breeze to April.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she whispered, rubbing April’s upper thigh tenderly in small circles, going a bit higher for every time. “I already know.”

April’s eyes widened, and every fiber in her being screamed at her to run. She felt a tingling in her fingers as adrenaline reached them. She made the chair jump with all her might, until it tipped over. Her leg hurt, as if a truck had just rolled over it, yet she could not even scream. Her lungs wouldn’t let her and her throat clutched together at the mere thought. She was frozen in place.

Ann let out a soft laugh. She placed her foot on April’s hip and put weight on it until the chair stopped moving.

Ann stood the chair back up and dragged it across the floor towards her table. she put her mouth close to April’s ear once again. “I have another secret,” She whispered.

“Your companions, the manly heroes,” her voice changed from a soft whisper to a mocking tone. “who will save our little damsel in distress,” She put the back of the chair against the table, grabbing a piece of rope lying on the table.“Their boyish charm was great when my warriors dragged them into the their private tent.”

The rope slid around the back of the chair. “And after fifty of my warriors were done,” She moved the rope to the other end of her table, tying it. ”... and the last man slit their throats…” She smiled. “their mangled corpses were thrown in the roadside.”

The white in April’s eyes showed all the way around a tiny pupil.

Ann placed a hand on April’s cheek, over the cloth holding the gag, softly rubbing it while speaking in a calming tone. “You needn’t be so afraid of me.” She stared directly into April’s eyes. “After all, you and I are going to have fun.”

She grabbed a box on her desk, which was reminiscent of a laptop bag. She rolled it out and it was filled with all manners of tools, from sharp knives to thin nine-tailed steel-tipped whips.

She pulled out a scalpel and a riding whip. Putting both close to April’s face. “Which would you like first?”

April shook her head from side to side, her voice escaping in small bursts of muffled screams. “Mo… Mo… MO”.

She lifted the scalpel. “Perhaps I’ll—” She moved the scalpel, hovering over April’s chest.

April pushed her head backwards, as if she was trying to escape the danger in vain.

She moved it further up, the scalpel rested on April’s neck. She shook her head. “No, not you. You’re not like the captured men.”

The scalpel ran down April’s collar, cutting the shirt.

Ann put the scalpel away, raising the whip instead, letting the tip hang behind her shoulder. “We still have a long, long time together ahead of us.”

The whip flicked into the air and cracked as it descended upon April, tearing the skin from the flesh on her shoulder.

April winced in pain as her entire body shook from the impact. The tears welled in her eyes once more, and blood flowed from her shoulder.

...

What felt like days later, but must have been a few hours, April hung limp by her wrists in iron shackles, they were fastened to a crudely made iron frame. Her back was covered in straight thin wounds, some had thick red crust, others were deep purple marks.

Ann put her hand under April’s jaw and lifted it up.

April’s gaze had gone dull, as if she was looking, yet not. “P-please.”

Ann let go, sitting down on a nearby chair, her legs spread to accommodate the back of the chair.

“Y’know April, I’m actually being nice. You don’t have to give me that look.” She sighed. “When I was in your position, I wasn’t wearing clothes like you.” her gaze shifted towards the top of the tent. “He was a man. A filthy, disgusting, old man. A man with his pathetic and disgusting tastes and urges.” her nose wrinkled in anger before she stood up again.

“He was nothing as caring as I am.” She put her hand under April’s jaw once more and lifted it up, licking April’s lips. “Filthy men are nothing like us women. So soft, caring… Tender.”

She let her tongue slide into April’s mouth, letting it run along the teeth, before lowering April’s head, and letting it rest on her upper chest.

“Tomorrow will soon come, but you don’t need to be afraid. I will protect you. Protect you from all the filth in this world.”

The shackles clicked, April’s weight fell into Ann’s chest.

Ann carried her to a makeshift straw-bed, where she dropped backwards into, still letting April’s head rest in her chest. She rubbed the back of April’s head tenderly once more, speaking in a soft tone. “You did well today. Rest now, you deserve it.”

The dull look in April’s eyes faded, yet she didn’t move.

Ann started humming.

It was a sad melody that April didn’t recognize. Gradually, her eyes closed, and she fell into a deep sleep, despite her burning back.

I'm up to speed. Your move, potato. :D