#Chapter74

He takes in the scene as his eyes rove around the clearing, men dressed as the leopard stand around him, the vile smell from the cooking pot filling his nostrils but what captures his attention is the figure of a young woman, tied to the base of a tree, at the edge of the clearing. The flickering flames of the fire reveal the terror in her eyes, and he hears the low moans of despair that come from her, as she has seen what the Leopard Men are capable of, and is terrified of her fate.

Her only hope is that death will take her quickly.

Ben is pulled...