Live By The Feather (*/F) - All Parts

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather --

--This is long, for one, and there are lots of different tickling scenes, but its all /F.--

A noxious buzzing filled the black void around me, drowning out the clomping rhythm of hooves as they sifted across dry soil. With my head slightly tilted down, I listened to the scraping of leaves below me and to my right while the slapping flutter of a bird's wings whizzed above my head. The horse beneath me vanished for a moment, and I dropped forward, desperately clasping at the saddle as I shimmied back and forth. Reeling in my erratic breaths, I slowly raised my head again as I tightened my grip on the leather reins. With a sigh, I tilted my head up, golden light piercing my blindfold like thin needles. Taking in a deep inhale of earthly aromas, I stretched my head back while rotating my shoulder. I reached back, rubbing my neck, tilting backward slightly. Groping wildly through the air, my fingers grasped around the leather strap once more as I hunched forward. I heard the mocking flutter of leaves as a bird began to chirp an intoxicating song.

Off to my right, I listened carefully for the familiar thumping of my guide's horse, her mount light and nimble, almost gliding across the ground. Holding my breath, I squinted, scrying through the air for the thin scrapings between the light breeze of fresh air and the rustle of leaves. I waited for several moments, my fingers burrowing into the straps they held as the muscles in my forearms tightened, restraining themselves from grabbing my non-existent sword. Just as I caught the narrow notes she hummed out, the clutter vanished and the world around me lulled to a standstill. Out in the distance a rooster crowed a song of victory, and I felt shade wash over me while a sheet of light rippled across my legs. “You may remove your blindfold now.”

For a moment I sat silently, inhaling deeply the brash, earthy air while my mind buzzed and clamored. Reaching up, I grasped the moist edges of the cloth that had clouded my eyes for the past two days and tugged, feeling the knot wheeze then relax out of existence. A cool breeze nestled against my naked brow as I drew the fabric away. It flapped about listlessly in the wind while I blinked and winced, shutting my eyes against the setting sun's vicious assault as I sharply crooked my head away. Peeking my eyes open, I glanced down the curving road that led back down the low incline of the hill, the grass gobbling up the road. On either side of the path a thin stream of purple plants poked above the grass, rolling away and blending into a soft line of violet that shimmered into emerald then back to violet as the winds caressed the land. In the distance a low mountain rolled away into a forest, the edges of the trees nipped by a thin veil of breathing fog.

A whinny caught my attention and I spun forward. My guide's silvery dress flapped through the air, sparkling like a starlit pond as it wavered, glittering and shimmering with mystic light. She had already circled her horse around and begun descending the sharp incline, her stead heading directly towards a small series of buildings surrounded by a white fence. Off to the side a great field of swaying stalks of corn spiraled out towards the mountain as it lapped around, enclosing this small village. Gazing at the crops, my jaw dropped and I felt my tongue grow fat with saliva at the thought of so much of such a rare delicacy growing here of all places. Shaking my head, I squinted towards my companion, her horse already nearing the foot of the hill. Gathering myself and dispelling my idle thoughts, I flicked my wrists upward, slapping at the reins, ushering my horse to follow my guide’s. Directly to my left a grand, singular tree rose, its hulking trunk claiming the very center of the hill. As I trotted through the shade I could hear the shattering sound of its leaves clamoring together, their shivering song conquering the otherwise still air. Even here, from this distance, the sound of shrieking, maddened laughter emanated from several locations. The air was absolutely palpable with that joyful song of life and only grew in a delirious, sweltering scale as my horse sped towards the bottom of the hill and the elusive fence that corralled the strong, stately buildings together.

As we approached, a single woman waited at the gate, her arms knitted behind her back, her chiseled chin raised as though lifted by strings. Her sable eyes flickered with a phantom flame, staring well past me. In a gust of motion she whirled about, tugging the gate apart, the soggy, somewhat rotted boards trembling upon loose nails as they fanned out, welcoming us. The woman bowed so low as we passed that I thought she might topple over, her long golden hair collapsing about her naked shoulders like a waterfall, the strands glittering along her perfectly silver dress. Looking up, I caught sight of ten or twenty women scurrying across the courtyard like mice, their sparkling sterling dresses flapping at their ankles as they swung together in a small crowd. Some smiled while a few crossed their arms and scowled at one another. One raised and shook a pointed finger in the mischievous face of another.

The thud of the gate crashing shut seemed to send a shock wave through the ground, scattering the women. They cleared the self-asserting road that ran through their camp and formed two lines parallel to one another around it, their heads held high and their shoulders perpendicular to the ground as we walked between them. Behind the women and scattered around the small field, I saw several sets of well weathered stockades lining the fronts of buildings. Some of the devices ran low to the ground, while others rose high up with long benches and tall poles reaching far above them. I noticed that the holes of the nearest stockade were well worn, smoother than a pebble plucked from a stream. One of women coughed and I turned to catch her lowering her head as she covered her mouth. The surrounding women glared and it suddenly felt as though several arrows pierced through me and fell around her, boxing her into a cage.

My guide cantered onward, steering her horse towards a wooden post outside of the large building in the center of the gated area. As she dismounted I looked about, noticing that the women before had vanished, almost as if they had never existed. Spinning my head forward I found my ambassador with her arms crossed. A ray of gilded coral light twinkled over top of the roof, draping through her hair, giving her straight orange locks the appearance of raining star light. In a swift motion she spun over the horse's saddle, sweeping to the side as she spun about. Flashing her arms upward, she dispelled the cloak from her shoulders, the brown flapping wildly as it collapsed onto the post. Her dress rippled with agitation while the toes of her black boots scraped an incantation against the musty dirt. In a huff she whizzed past my horse, her shimmering waterfall of hair shifting backward slightly in her self-made breeze. With a tut, she called out, "We haven't much time if you intend to take the entire tour." Bowing slightly, I jumped from my horse and quickly fumbled with the reins, securing them to the post while the dirt hissed behind me. Turning, I leaned forward, rushing after her stiff backside.

As I stepped to her side she hopped forward, her heels slapping against the ground quickly as she stalked ahead. With a grimace I rubbed at the back of my neck as I coasted along the narrow cloud of dust that my comrade stomped up. Shooting through the courtyard at an angle, we narrow passed the corner of a building before turning sharply towards a sudden, swaying wall of corn stalks. As we stepped along the elongated shadow of the narrow building my eyes ran along its red boards, eventually falling upon the several stockades that lined its walls. I licked my lips as we walked past, my vision skimming the twin holes cut into the thick, heavy looking boards.

Memories of the Duke's wife seeped across my mind, my breath growing heavy within my chest. The hall had been quite full and I had not seen the action. One said she had spoken out of turn, or else said something less than savory towards him, though another claimed she merely lifted her nose and turned away. Regardless the room grew silently. The duke, ever harsh towards disrespect, immediately undid her with words. A heated debate ensued, and then an ultimatum: a night in a cell or an hour in the stockade. The event was made into a show and a single boot was stripped of her. As though to show her her own weakness, he simply ran a finger down her naked foot, then encouraged the party to take advantage of her situation. For the several minutes she squealed and screamed nonstop as the nobles took turns, several at once titillating her small, curved foot , until at last the royal interrogator was called to put an end to her disrespect. She was gagged, and for the better part of an hour his expert hands worked over her sole, her steamy voice calling through the gag as he coerced her to confess a hundred different crimes, including, of all the ridiculous things, not only acting as a spy for Te'lan but that she was in fact the reigning heir of that distant fiefdom, not that a single soul believed her. The interrogator's skills were so great that he somehow tricked the little lady to sincerely beg for more tickling and to have her other boot removed, at which point he ceased and released the exhausted woman. As the last stockade puffed out of my peripheral vision I shivered at the thought of so many women so willingly devoting themselves to such a life, especially if the rumors were true.

The wall of crops rose towards us, each one standing so firmly it looked as though it reached for the sky in an attempt to strangle rain from the clouds. Splitting my lips apart, I clicked my teeth together as we neared, my guide easily sliding between the field that bore the weight of many kingdoms in sheer worth. Slowing, I ran my fingers down one of the leafy husks, feeling the strong veins that lined it. In a moment my guide vanished from sight and I dashed ahead, the husks beating at me as I sped ahead. Catching up with her, I watched in amazement as she held her path without wavering, avoiding each crop without any attempt to do so even while they continually slapped at my face. The lull of earth crunching beneath us as we continued onward nagged at me. Hunching forward, I wrangled my fingers against my neck and nervously croaked out a brief bout of conversation to cut away at the silence. "So.. every one of the women is-- ah-- are they all--"

Without stopping or looking back she spit back "Every woman here." A shrill shriek rattled the air like lightning and several black birds rushed to the sky. They cut sharply through the air, gliding towards the clouds that shrouded the nearby mountain.

Rubbing my hand down my jawline, I pressed my palm into my chin as the words foamed against my tongue "Does that mean – I mean, are you--"

She stopped briefly, her neck craning downward. Casting her arms out to her side, she slowly crinkled her fingers into fists, the muscles in her arms quivering as she firmly planted the words, "Every. Woman. Here." before her. She stamped ahead, kicking up clouds of dirt that streaked against her dress. Without hesitation I dove into the foliage after her.

---

A sigh wept through my chest as I crossed my arms. A bobbing silence oozed over us as the world grew still. The mountains seemed to sigh, and a light, soundless breeze shrugged through the field, forcing the stalks to shiver. Clomping ahead after my guide, I stepped unevenly on the haphazardly raised mounds that rolled up and away beneath me. The breeze picked up, spilling down the mountain side and flooding the field. All around us the stalks shifted and rustled as we swept ahead, the sound of thick leaves catching on one another as the silent wind rained succor through the densely packed crops. Looking around, I could only see a few feet in any direction before the thick swarm of shrugging blockaded my vision. As though the wind bubbled like the sea, a rising tide of shrieking rolled from our side, piercing my spine. Goosebumps cropped up along the back of my neck, and as I listened to the lilting siren's song I felt an enticing wanderlust grip around my heart. My chaperon stopped suddenly, turning her head quickly before diving off towards the alluring melody as it wobbled into a chorus of joyous laughter interwoven with wild screams that shook the ground with buzzing tremors.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather Part 2

A sigh wept through my chest as I crossed my arms. A bobbing silence oozed over us as the world grew still. The mountains seemed to sigh, and a light, soundless breeze shrugged through the field, forcing the stalks to shiver. Clomping ahead after my guide, I stepped unevenly on the haphazardly raised mounds that rolled up and away beneath me. The breeze picked up, spilling down the mountain side and flooding the field. All around us the stalks shifted and rustled as we swept ahead, the sound of thick leaves catching on one another as the silent wind rained succor through the densely packed crops. Looking around, I could only see a few feet in any direction before the thick swarm of shrugging blockaded my vision. As though the wind bubbled like the sea, a rising tide of shrieking rolled from our side, piercing my spine. Goosebumps cropped up along the back of my neck, and as I listened to the lilting siren's song I felt an enticing wanderlust grip around my heart. My chaperon stopped suddenly, turning her head quickly before diving off towards the alluring melody as it wobbled into a chorus of joyous laughter interwoven with wild screams that shook the ground with buzzing tremors.

Though my guide walked straight I darted to and fro, dodging the swipes and stabs of the monstrously large fronts that fluttered around me. Suddenly my guide dove to the right. Pushing my shoulder forward, I stumbled through just in time to catch her zagging to the left, then to the right again. Sprinting forward I came to an empty circle within the field. Spinning about, I peered through the thick forest for the ghost-like woman as my shoulders slumped. Just as I raised my hands to my mouth she appeared on the other end of the circle, fiercely waving me follow as she disappeared again. Nodding, I dashed forward and past several of the crops, almost slamming into her as she came to a near stop.

Turning her head left then right, she stepped to the side, vanishing again. Placing my heads behind my head I sighed, giving chase. Again, I nearly ran into her as she placed a hand to her forehead while she scouted out the field. Tilting my head upwards and to the side, I threw my hands on my hips, my elbows veering out at wide angles. Groaning, I called out, "What ever are we doing out here?"

Her lips lilted into a smirk as a pensive snort of a sigh escaped her. She tilted her head at me and threw back, "You're here to meet the girls, right?" before stepping backwards and ducking into the field. Her voice rang clearly from out of sight. “All of them should be working right now. It’s harvest season, and even for… such an honored guest… we have little time to dedicate to you. Our little community is self-sufficient, after all.”

Sighing, I bent my head and swiped at my nose with my forearm. “And you? You don’t have work.”

Past a few grass-colored stalks I saw her stop and turn her face to the ground. The tip of her tongue brushed against her upper lip. She opened her mouth for a moment, her chest rising and falling as she took in a breath. Turning slightly, she pressed her cheek into her shoulder and looked down her nose at me, her eyelids half covered those brilliant, glittering eyes. “We all have our roles.” She suddenly shot forward, vanishing from my sight.

Striding forward, I chased after her, batting away more of the stalks as sweat began dripping down my face. Though I nearly ran to keep pace, she simply marched as though the surrounding plants made no attempt to impede her. A burning itch grasped my throat and I fell forward, coughing. While struggling to regain tranquility I choked out the words, "Are you their leader, then?"

Stopping, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "We don't have leaders."

Huffing out air, I fell forward, my hands collapsing on my knees. Looking up through my wet hair I saw her damp face as she bit her lower lip. "You're something, though, right?"

Sighing, she dropped her arms and threw her head over her shoulder, her brilliant orange hair scattering through the air like golden grains. "We're all something. I lost the competition and was chosen to escort you is all." Spinning about, the short woman fled through the stalks again.

Groaning, I stood straight and pursued the specter of her determination. Looking over top of her I saw a silver streak dash by about 50 paces ahead. Swinging my arm to my shoulder, I scratched where my neck and shoulder intersected. The word lost tumbled through my mind again and again as we swished forward, buzzing incessantly upon my tongue. Finally, I gave up all resistance and let words fly. "Lost? Isn't this a privilege?"

Stomping a foot, she gave off a loud, exasperated sigh. She turned sharply and glared up at me, her eyes striking like a flurry of daggers. "Yes, lost. I had to leave, and I'll have to leave again to take you back." Quite suddenly a pale, golden haired woman flew upwards, her body hoisted into the air like an unfurling sail. Her body was spun together with a pole nearly as wide around as a tree trunk. From where I was I could clearly see her arms strapped to a second pole that ran perpendicular to the first. Without another word my emissary’s face wilted into a steaming mask and she spun ahead. As we approached the flying blonde woman disappeared from view but the image of her beaming, inexhaustibly pure smile painted onto her eyes and mouth engraved itself into my memory. A wild, impossible to tame shriek soon came from above, howls of laughter riveting across the area. From all around I watched and listened as a flock of birds dampened the air into a billowing black cloth.

At last we broke through the forest into a small clearing. All around us massive strands of grass lay flat against the ground, forming a carpet for the seven women that scurried about. They picked at the stalks rapidly, tossing fraying bundles of leaves into their own private baskets. Through the fronds of one cob that lay defeated on the ground I spied the golden treasure those leaves failed at hiding away. Looking down upon at my shirt, I groaned and began plucking long strands of yellow and green from my shirt.

A shriek shattered the air around me, sending goosebumps up my arms. Turning towards the commotion, my sight was drawn to the woman on the post as she cackled, shaking the entire pole with her frenzied struggles. My gaze dropped a bit, catching a sight of a tall, dark haired woman whose smile mirrored that of the woman above. Although the other women turned their heads as I entered their hallowed grove, the tall one's gaze never broke from the bare feet resting directly in front of her chest. With her fingers she conducted an intricate dance across the glowing sapphire streaks and swirls that blessed the woman's soles. Shifting my weight forward I stood upon my toes in an attempt to obtain a better look, at which point my guide grabbed my arm and drug me closer to the two.

Nearing, the light that pulsed from the woman's feet seemed to black out the rest of the world from me. The sight of her ankles bound by rope and her toes strung together looked so natural, almost as if that was how they were meant to look. With her toes pulled back by the string, her small feet took on a smoothed look much like a polished and stained piece of wood. I felt my fingers twitch as I looked upon them, a deep sense of desire bulging within my chest to simply touch those defenseless feet. Shaking my head, I tried to regain my senses but found I could not look away from the methodical motions cast about by the gleeful brown-haired maiden as she too laughed, the wonderfully chaotic smile that plastered her face perfectly defining joy. They harmonized brilliantly, their voices sparkling like summer rain. Watching them, it felt as though I had drank a cool bucket of water for the first time, quelling a hitherto unknown. I felt refreshed and alive, and yet it paled beside the bliss that those two wore.

Though the guide woman tugged at my arm, my neck craned upwards once again, inexplicably drawn to the hysterical woman on the pole. Despite her feet shimmying back and forth, the bindings at her toes, ankles and thighs hugged tightly, ensuring she received the full effect of the tickling. Already her hair had cascaded about her face and yet despite that her crystal blue eyes pierced through the strands like masterwork pikes prying through the flanks. Despite their stabbing gaze, they appeared glazed over as she rocked back and forth, as though she were looking into her own personal world of pure pleasure while she seemed to struggle to laugh with more and more force, her tiny body convulsing. Throwing her head back, she closed her eyes and grit her teeth as they glimmered in the sun. A deep redness engulfed her face as she squirted giggles through her mouth, until her mouth again gaped open to release another relentless torrent of ticklish laughter. Soon she began to breath quickly and heavily with each laugh, thick moans punctuating each squeal.

My arm ached as I restrained myself from reaching forward. A thud came against the back of my head, blackening the world around me as I slumped forward. Looking around I saw the flock of girls giggling, their hands at their mouths as they looked at one another with mischievous eyes. The ambassador's arms were crossed. "We have a lot of work to do and can't sit here all day. Introduce yourself."

Immediately my hand began rubbing the back of my neck as I bowed lightly. "Yes, sorry. Uhm. Good afternoon. Or good evening, I'm not sure which it is right now. I am-- that is, I represent--"

Sighing, she began speaking quickly. "He is an envoy of Lord Mishkeel the second. He has come looking for an individual to entertain the courts of his Lord. He has traveled far and wide in search of something.. exotic." The last word slid from her mouth, hissing into fumes as it hit the dirt beneath us. The women huddled together, speaking in hushed tones, the word Azeruan spiking between their whispers. A shuddering gasp came from the bound woman and she shook her head, her hair flailing around while a smoldering smirk wrapped around the lips of the woman plucking at her feet.

A plump, bear-like woman that had a sharp, fanning face like a peacock emerged from behind the crowd, pushing herself forward as she placed her hands on her hips. As she strode forward her dress shifted about in a strange way. Odd lumps rolled in the fabric at awkward angles, giving her the look of a great bear or troll. Her neck stretched upward and her eyes narrowed as words sizzled upon her tongue. "You are from Azeruan?" The other girls looked at each other, their eyebrows rising slightly as their lips pursed shut. The laughter of the woman above us transitioned more into moans that she seemed to pour her entire soul into.

Sweat prickled against my neck. For a moment I looked over them, then shook my head. "That is correct."

The group began shouting all at once, their faces red as the shortest woman shook her fists above her head and one slightly taller stamped her feet while turning away in a huff. A woman with breasts the size of her head turned as she crossed her arms, walking away while another with rosy, boyish cheeks simply shrugged and began plucking at the stalks once more. The plump, brutish woman chewed on her lip, turned and started to walk away, then turned back and began shouting. "Why would you bring one of them here?! They destroyed the lake!"

Several grumbles followed from everyone save the rosy cheeked lass as she very intensely looked over a cob. The ambassador stepped forward, her arms at her sides and a steely look tempering her greyish-green eyes. "He is our guest."

The plump woman's lips fell together and a dimple pierced her cheek. She nodded towards me. "If he chose you, would you go?"

Above us the woman began to scream. Looking up, I noticed how red her throat had become. Her mouth had collapsed into a semi-circle with her lower lip drooping off to the side as she her entire body shivered violently. At her feet, the tickler paraded her fingers expertly as her head fell back, her eyes closed and her mouth open in a similar manner to the laughing woman. The tickler’s shoulders shuddered and she grit her teeth, her head crashing back down as she grabbed a foot and began raking ravenously with her free hand. Distilled laughter rained upon us as I looked back towards my host.

"Nobody is forcing anyone to go with him," She said simply as she smoothed the wrinkles from her dress. A presence skittered along the dirt behind me just before two hands set onto my shoulders, pushing me aside. A shorter woman with bouncing curls of amber and a sinister light twinkling in her eyes stepped gingerly towards the bound woman. She shot a glance towards the rosey cheeked maiden and sharply brought her arm up, whisking her fingers inward and holding the pose while the plump woman continued to argue.

The rosey cheeked maiden knit her hands together and bowed her head down before taking steps so small that her boots barely kicked beneath her dress. I overheard the voice of the sweet looking woman that had pushed me aside, “she needs to scream.” Her words flowing discretely under and at the same time as the words of the boarish woman as she stamped her foot, then leaned forward as though she would charge in and tackle us. "Would you or would you not go." She snorted, her eyes squinting as she stared down her nose.

In a quick motion the woman with curls butted the dark haired woman aside and began gnawing on the right heel of the bound woman. I saw the woman's eyes freeze in place as she sucked in her lip, a knowing look of a well versed scholar flitting across those mirrors as she trembled, the stake that held her shaking in the ground. The rope stretched and scraped and rubbed against the wood as she silently whispered 'don't' just as the dark haired woman swooped in, burrowing a passionate kiss against her heel.

As though catastrophe rained against her, the bound woman's lips splattered away as she clenched her teeth and tightly clenched her eyes shut. She shivered as the two women slowly began running their tongues around her heels while their hands stroked down her arch, their nails sprinkling over her toes. The archaic characters throbbed, casting a web of darkness in the air around her. Then, all at once the rosey-cheeked maiden swept in, biting against the woman's toes while clawing into them. Simultaneously, the two women began chewing against her heels while also scratching heavily into her arches. Opening her mouth, the woman screamed “STOP-STOP-STAAAHP!” All around us, the sound of birds crying echoed while the sound of a rainstorm sped through the field. The stalks shook violently as hundreds of birds flew from the field, scattering to the sky while the woman thrashed back and forth, the wood creaking beneath her. The light that emanated from the woman's feet glowed through the mouths and fingers of her tormentors, casting them in wicked shades of night as they diligently went about their work. None of the women around me so much as batted an eye at the sight of the bound woman that the three so thoroughly tore apart.

The little lady that had guided me this far carefully let an eye slip over her shoulder and through her hair, slicing right through me. Rubbing my hands together, I felt my face begin to flush. The sun seemed to burn brighter than before, forcing a great pool of sweat to glisten upon my cheeks. Without looking away she spoke simply. "I would do what is necessary for the community." The plump woman huffed, throwing her hands into the air as she stomped off. The few women that remained huddled around us shook off her words and spun back towards the crops. My guide spun about on her heels and whisped into the field. "Come," she commanded, her words hitting me like a blacksmith’s hammer as it coerced iron together. I stammered forward after her, the screaming of the bound woman clawing into my back.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 3

For a while we walked, a blustering silence gobbling up our slow, steady steps while she stared upwards toward the deepening orange sky. Behind us the air sweltered with the voice of the woman being tickled, her ringing laughter sending wondrous ululations through the field as she howled and shrieked with unrequited pleasure. My shadow stretched further and further back as we walked, as though it had snagged onto something or else found itself unable to leave the clearing. A fierce heat boiled through me as I stared at it, tempted to return and watch the woman. The image of her helpless soles and their spiraling blue runes spun within my mind, filling it with a sense of deliriousness as though I had consumed too much ale. Shaking my head, I opened my mouth and chipped away at the silence with my tongue. "What happened back there?"

The face of my guide puffed up, her cheeks extending as her lips disappeared together. "That woman must have won yesterday, is all."

Stopping, I shook my head and looked down, kicking at the dirt. "I'm sorry?"

Turning around, the young lady's eyebrows burrowed into her eyes as she slammed her fists onto her hips. "It is a great honor to serve as the scarecrow! Did you see how much she enjoyed herself!?" Stamping forward, she lowered her head, appearing like a bull ready to gore me. "Your Lord sends you here unexpectedly and you know nothing of our culture!” She stepped forward, raising a hand and thrusting a finger in my face as she shook her arm up and down. “I'll have you know I've never once had the privilege of being the scarecrow, and--"

She continued to approach, her hot breath flushing around my neck. Throwing my hands up in front of me, I stepped back, my shoulders sliding up towards my ears as I cowered backward. "I-- I just meant-- Well, with Azeruan, and the lake--"

At once she stopped, exhaling. The redness disappeared, and her face returned to the chill one I had become accustomed to. Turning, she began walking forward, her boots pouting against the dirt. As she walked away I threw my arm over my shoulder, rubbing my back. With a quick turn, she fell between the stalks and vanished while drilling out a sharp, single word. “Follow.” My body leapt forward of its own accord.

Above her head and far off in the distance near the mountains, a single, large cloud drifted apart into a foggy, amorphous sheet. A long silence stretched over us while our boots sloshed against the uneven mounds of dirt. Somewhere far in front of us a wolf howled. My guide’s pace slowed. Sighing, her head drooped down and her shoulders melted forward. Her meek, melodious voice chirped through the air. "I apologize for earlier."

Crossing my arms, I stopped for a moment, staring at her hunched back. Lifting my chin above my right shoulder, I stared out through the thick forest and listened for the woman’s crazed cries while imagining her helpless soles. I sighed, then turned forward and spoke out, "It's alright."

Lifting her head, she moved slightly faster. With her face frozen forward, she splattered out a series of quick, steely sentences. "When Azeruan first attacked Ber'Nar a nearby lake was destroyed. We used the water from that lake to create the potion for the Mark."

Scratching my scalp, I turned my head to its side and cracked my neck. My chest burned and ached with passion as I recalled the delirious, mystical light that reverberated from the woman's soles. "The runes on the feet of that woman, you mean?"

Again my guide sighed. "Yes. The Mark."

Rubbing my nose, I tilted my head down. "Can't you just--"

She stopped and turned around, her arms crossed again. I stepped backwards. "No, we can't. It's gone and there isn't another source of water like it. We have some stored up but when that's gone, we're finished. No more." Stepping backwards, she continued in the direction she had been moving while twisting about.

Without moving from where I was I spoke plainly, my words grating harshly against the ground. "I can't imagine you use a lot of it. How many people would even want to experience.. that."

Again her eye crept over her shoulder with that look that saw right through me. "You have no idea how many women we have to turn away now. If we had accepted them all we would have needed ten times the amount of liquid we have stored up." She continued forward

One of my eyebrows flew up and I crossed my arms. "You aren't sla—” I shook my head, and thrust my arms in front of me, “this is willing?"

She stopped. I heard her inhale deeply and watched a shiver wrestle along her back while her arms twitched. She turned around, speaking with a raised, pointed voice as she continued to walk backwards, extending her arms out to her sides in a welcoming motion. "You'll see it, why people come here. For now just accept that I'm telling you it feels wonderful, blissful beyond what this world should allow." Shrugging, I hurried forward as she turned around again, increasing her pace. "We have to hurry, though. We've wasted too much time. Much too much time."

Throwing her arms out, she brushed aside several stalks as though she was swimming through the field. Leaping forward, she cleared the field and we appeared before the small set of structures we had first arrived at. Ahead of us a very tanned woman now sat in one of the stockades, her wrists crossed and shackled above her head. The wood creaked and struggled to contain her as she kicked outward wildly, her legs tugging back in an attempt to reclaim her feet from the prison. Excess mirth rippled across her face in great wrinkles as she floundered about, tossing her head to and fro. The sight was remarkable, and her giggling penetrated deep within me, infecting me with her very personal joys.

As we approached I saw more clearly that a white cloth wrapped about her eyes. Rocking back and forth, she convulsed and giggled as though tickled by a ghost while we walked past. Looking down I saw that all of her toes were tied to the stockade and her soles glittered with a golden powder. Kneeling down, I looked closer at her feet, examining the delicious looking substance that turned her soles into gilded artwork. Beneath that thin coat of powder her skin crinkled together pleasantly while a pale, pearl light thumped and swelled. My guide coughed and I jumped up, speeding after her. She closed her eyes and smiled while tilting her head at an angle. "First one done with her work."

"Ah," I said, stumbling ahead while glancing back at the maiden. My boots scraped against the dirt as I slowed my steps, marveling the woman as she partook of her private, wonderful journey. She suddenly balked forward, cackling madly as she thrust her head from side to side. For a moment her toes flinched, then she gasped and craned downward, biting her tongue between her lips as she thrashed for a brief moment then froze before bending her toes backward, exposing her arches. My fingers tingled and flinched as I mused on taking advantage of the situation.

Tilting her head, my guide pawed at her ear. She bit the left end of her lower lip and crossed her arms, turning away while quickly shuffling out, "It's some strange feather, something about pixie dust.” She shook her head, her hair shifting and falling over her left shoulder. “I don't know where it came from. One of the women brought one with her when she arrived. Used to be a trader."

Rubbing my eye, I yawned and looked ahead towards a small light burning at the entrance of a long barn. "Traders make good money."

She chuckled and smirked, then nodded towards the bag at my hip. As she spoke, she leaned forward, her back arching while she swung her arms behind her and wove them together. "And how much gold did your Lord send with you?" The bag seemed to drag me to the center of the earth at that moment. She stood upright and skipped backward, then spun around and waved me follow. "Let me show you how we make the Mark. I think you'll understand."

Gritting my teeth, I slowed down and scratched my chin. Looking over her shoulder, her eyebrows fell down and her mouth opened slightly. Suddenly she laughed, putting her hands over her stomach as she threw her head back. Wiping her eye, she shook her head, moving forward as she smiled broadly. Running my foot through the dirt, I kicked up a cloud, then followed after her, towards the sound of vigorous laughter that seemed to corrupt the cooling air into a marvelous, otherworldly place. As we passed through the central courtyard, the grass giving way to a well worn road of dirt, we strode past the central building. Glancing at the red boards of the two storied building I began counting the square windows until my eyes ran towards a circular one in the center. Above the window rose the symbol of a golden shield with a wolf's head, struck through on either side by two very detailed stark white feathers. I felt the dirt give way to grass and turned ahead to see that we were now within several paces of a small barn, the red boards of the doors outlined by two white xs. As we crept every nearer the ominous light that poured from within drowned the world while shrieking cackles spilled into the sticky evening.

Pressing a hand against the door, she peered through a crack, then waved me forward as she edged the door ajar ever so slightly. Stepping back, she pushed me towards the half inch gap between the two doors. I carefully pressed my face to the peeling paint and peered inward.

Inside, many people in silver dresses of similar cuts shifted about, swaying behind one another frequently, making it difficult to keep track of any individual person. Through the crowd I espied a pale woman sitting on top of a thick, clean table. She sat naked, save for the leather that kissed her wrists and lips, binding her to the table. Her thick lips cut across her face with a wise, knowing smile that carried the breath of ecstasy upon it. She shook her head suddenly, her tree trunk colored hair dashing away from curiously pointed ears. More curiously, I noted that her bare soles were devoid of the mark. For a moment I wondered why my guide had lied, but for the most part I was distracted by her soles. They shimmered and glistened like moonlight, arcing and swaying into angles of perfection. As she struggled they shifted between smooth, untouched sands of a forgotten shore and wild, untamable wrinkles like a herd of regal horses. Staring into them, I lost sense of myself.

Shaking my head, I became aware of her current state. Her whole body shone with a sheet of sweat and she shirked about, gasping and panting like a perturbed puddle. A hundred looks flickered across her face all at once, giving it a mired mix of agony and pleasure while the crowd of women moved about her, working across her body. Three women hovered around her feet, giving them very explicit attention. One viciously struck at her sole with both hands, the bound woman’s toes stretching and weaving about ineffectively, while the second woman stood a little further back, gripping the woman’s foot and forcing it to endure the maddened raking that was inflicted upon that quivering mass. The third woman knelt down and pressed her face close to the woman’s remaining sole, her mouth moving at a crazed pace as she quickly shifted between soft plucks of kisses and ravaging nips. Holding onto the woman’s foot with both hands, the woman’s tongue leapt about wildly, slithering back and forth as she traced it upward before piercing between her toes. The bound woman bent forward and released a high-pitched shriek as the third woman lightly bit down against her big toe, then thrust it into her mouth.

More woman stood further back and around the woman’s torso, waving their hands up and down her body. One here squeezed at the woman’s floundering knees and another pinched at her wildly flailing hips. Sighing, that woman gently pushed her way through the crowd and stepped onto the table, straddling the bound woman while she thoroughly kneaded her hips. Still women reached through the mass of the crowd, flaying at the woman’s taut stomach with their razor-like nails. Another reached over the shoulders of the women and gently stroked circles around the naked woman’s breasts with a pair of feathers. Yet another woman passionately kissed around the woman’s neck, reaching up her face and leaving a damp line of affection up and around her cheek before nuzzling her chin upward and gently gnawing up her sharp ear. Still another woman shifted around behind the woman, out of sight, while waving her hands around the woman’s backside.

There was so much movement around her that I found it difficult to keep track of any single event. It seemed that she cried, screamed, laughed, gasped and moaned all at once in a single, unsightly breath, her mind and body wracked and overwhelmed with an immaculate amount of sensation. An immense aura of heat pulsed through the crack I gazed in, searing my face. She hopped in place like a wild horse, the loud thuds of her struggles shaking the door. The mob of women seemed to move as one, talking and laughing with their prey as they pointed all around her and spoke about tactics or locations that were not receiving attention. Through it all, the laughter and the slamming of the table and the stomping of feet, I heard a chorus of swaying cloth as the women moved about.

As the bound woman screamed and writhed on the table more women circled the crowd, obscuring my vision. Every now and then a woman, soaked in sweat, would stumble out of the crowd, her body lurching over with exhaustion as she came to rest among a few other chattering women sitting against the back wall. Still other women pounced into the crowd, elbowing others out of the way as they fought to lay waste to that shrieking pile of ticklishness.

In the corner stood a solitary woman, her hands fastened around a tall, gnarled staff of wood. Atop the staff a virulently green light shimmered around a strangely cut green gemstone. The woman stood over top of the staff, her head bowed near the crooked crystal while she silently murmured to herself. A fog like light seemed to emanate from the woman on the table and flow towards the staff. It circled the gem, then spiraled downwards, pulsating and throbbing while it funneled into a small, glass vial. The fog seemed to beat at the edges of the vial before settling into a liquid. A wicked light pulsed virulently from within the glass.

The woman that kissed around the bound woman’s neck stood back. She looked at her target with great care, as she bat her eyelids, her moist eyes flickering. The woman receiving the attention of the crowd rolled her head then dropped it over her chest, panting out a raspy breath. With a vicious, selfish smile the woman that had been planting kisses dove forward, passionately striking her prey’s lips with her own while the former shook her head, the bottled laughter seeping from around her lips. Stepping back, the woman planting kisses waved her hand and the group stopped in unison. The green light that pulsed in the room zipped out and the bound woman fell forward, inhaling deeply. She lifted her head weakly, her eyelids sagging over top of her eyes. Bringing a hand to my chin, I hummed as I looked upon her eyes for the first time: her left a clear pale blue, sparkling like a clear summer sky while the other glowed a fiery red ripped straight from the heart of a star.

She shook her head and licked her lips, letting out a quiet, sobbing voice. “No, not yet,” she pleaded, her head bobbing back and forth limply as she struggled to hold it up. “I can—I can take more.” Everyone in the room smiled and at once their hands pounced for various parts of the bound woman’s body. As soon as their worship of her body recommenced, she thrashed about, slamming her body against the table while shrieking wildly. Her eyes flew wide open and boisterous bout of musical, unrestrained laughter ripped through the door, rending me asunder. I winced as the light in the corner grew brighter than the sun, blinding me. Stepping back, I shook my head to the side and raised my arm to shield my eyes.

As I stepped back I tripped over the woman behind me, falling down and bouncing against the dusty dirt. Groaning, I inhaled and rubbed my back then looked up at my guide, her face transfixed on the events within the small shed. A small bead of drool beaded up near the edge of her mouth. Chuckling, she shook her head and uttered, “That’ll be a powerful one.”

Above us, the moon hid itself behind a thin veil of clouds while the light and laughter rained over top of me, rinsing me in its majesty. Spreading my arms behind me, I looked out over the farm and watched the dread dark of the night sweep over and engulf the buildings in a bout of melancholy. Brushing at my eyebrow, I looked back towards the bard and nudged at it with my chin, speaking out, “So, this is-- what is this?”

Shaking her head, my guide looked down at me, her eyes wide like a playful kitten’s. For a moment she stared at me, and then she shook her head again before nudging her forehead at the door. Crawling forward, I lifted myself up and I looked in again as the woman shook the table. The women at her feet sat back, fervently scratching and scraping away at her soles as though doing so would relinquish an ocean of gold. Elsewhere the other women laid their arms to rest over the bound woman’s body, their fingers lightly running up and down her torso and breasts while they laid flowery kisses all over her. The sounds that emanated from the woman were other- and under- worldly, a concoction of panting, joyous laughter and pained moans. She wailed upon the wall and table, thrashing her head and limbs with all of her might. Even from here I could see tears rippling from her eyes. My guide quietly mouthed "That's what it's like," under her breath.

My eyes narrowed. "That's what what is like?"

Again my ambassador looked to me with her wide, kitten-like eyes. "When someone touches our feet, even a little, it feels like that. Everything she's experiencing, all at once.” She lifted her right heel away from the ground and ground at the dirt with the toe of her boot. “It’s… especially potent on our feet, but we feel it everywhere, at the same.”

Pushing myself to my feet, I lurched forward and peered into the room again, carefully watching the woman as she thrashed about, her mind lost to the immense waterfall of sensation the others poured onto her. I slowly turned back towards my envoy and felt the words drop away from my tongue like astonished boulders. "Every time?"

Crossing her arms, she looked to the ground and kicked the dirt, then looked away as she brought her legs tightly together. "Yes. It's a little different for everyone.” She crossed her arms and inhaled, then looked up at the void above us. “How the Mark is designed, how she is tickled or treated when the potion is made, and how sensitive the recipient already is, but… what you see, that's essentially it." Lowering her arms, she smoothed her dress and blushed lightly as she spun the toe of her boot in the dirt. "I-- mine wasn't as powerful. I think they gave her a much more… sensual session when mine was made." Turning her head, she gazed off into the distance with watery eyes. "It's an amazing feeling, really.” She slowly raised her arms as she continued to speak, carefully rubbing her left hand over her shoulder and the tips of her right hand’s fingers over top of her torso. “It’s like… shadowy serpents wrapping up and all around me, prickling me with a deep, burning pleasure all over but… that's mostly it. It makes me weep every time but, well, I kind of wish it tickled and didn't feel so wonderful, sometimes.” She lowered her arms and wrapped them around her back while lifting her heels from the ground. Raising her head again, she bobbed back and forth from her toes, to her heels. “Sometimes I just want to laugh, just lose sense of the world and turn into a laughing, lost soul. I mean, it tickles – it does – but not – not--" Her eyes seemed to sink in her head as she turned towards the shed again.

A breeze blew, kicking her dress around her ankles and she shook her head, stepping away from the shed and crossing her arms while staring off into the night. Opening my mouth slightly, I raised my hand then lowered it, stepping back as my lips sealed themselves together. A curious twinge gnawed at my gut as I turned, inhaling the earthy air deeply. Above us jealous clouds veiled the moon, though the brittle things cracked apart and scattered soon after their transgression. The sound of footsteps rocked my attention back towards the little ambassador just in time to see her spur off, disappearing quietly into the inky air. I stumbled into the void after her.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 4

Around us crickets strung a loud song into the air as small fire flies in the distance occasionally winked into existence, casting a bubble of illumination around them. All around women screeched and cackled into the murky depths of the dark air, simultaneously phasing closer and further apart as we moved. The colorful melody lilted about me pleasantly. A symphony of soliloquies rose and fell like around me like foamy waves, brushing up against me like the tide. Like the cloak of night the sounds pressed into me from every direction, from out in the crop fields and near the hill I arrived, from out in the endless sea of darkness, from in the buildings and from outside of the buildings a chorus of familiar and foreign voices laughed, sometimes in unison and sometimes against the current. They strummed together and separately, melding and blending into a wonderful harmony of gold and silver tones finer than anything I had ever heard before. Yet we strode forward through the surf as though it didn’t exist at all.

Nearing a pole, we turned sharply towards an isolated building lit alive with fires that pathetically plagiarized the sun. Nearby I heard the quiet clackle of chains rattling against one another. My guide stopped suddenly and turned her head. Our eyes greeted one another despite the cloak of twilight that sought to obscure us. I waited, holding my breath, then turned back towards the noise. She sighed, shook her head and shrugged her shoulders before stepping off towards the ghostly sounds.

Crossing the short distance between us and the posts that separated the farm from the wilderness, she placed a hand on the fence and hopped over, waving me forward. Deftly I mimicked her motion, twirling lightly in the air as I flew up then down. As I landed upon the ground, my boot gave way and I slipped awkwardly, swaying as I slowly fell to a single knee. My guide looked back as she traversed forward, a sly smile gracing her lips as she chuckled quietly. Shaking her head, she crouched slightly and stalked forward towards a tree, craning her neck as she spied across the nearby area before motioning me towards her. Creeping up to her side, we swept forward, circling the tree. From a distance three shadowy shapes flickered into existence, their forms entirely incorporeal. A glowing halo of light flickered from behind them, dousing them in shade. As we neared, a series of murky, bright rose colored lines of light near to the ground throbbed in and out of existence. The rattle of chains cast out a spectral rhythm as my guide placed her hand on my stomach, halting our approach.

One of the figures laughed and I felt my guide's hand quiver. Like the silvery twinge of a harp, a voice called from the tree. "No need to skulk about in the shadows, Milandra. Bring your… guest over, let him have a look." My guide's shoulder and spine shivered as though a cold breeze swept across her. Turning to her, I looked at her quivering eyes while awaiting a command. A furtive laugh came from the glade again and the shadow bent down, the peach flames pulsated as stabbing moans retreated around us in all directions.

"Sometimes," my guide spoke under her breath so quietly that I nearly missed it, "Sometimes, we take on an interrogator, to train in our art-form." Lifting her chin, she motioned her head towards the tree. "These two do the training." Straightening herself, she lifted her chin and spread her shoulders wide, her hand drifting away from my stomach and falling to her side. With a stoic determination she marched forward, her head straight and high. Gulping, I crept along after her.

As we neared the closer woman waved her hand in front of her, her palm towards the sky. My ambassador lowered herself, resting her body upon her knees, her feet cropped beneath and behind her. With a great intensity she looked forward, her eyes a watery, unblinking steel. Crashing down next to her, I crossed my legs, the thick, sickeningly sweet aroma of honey wafting about me. That silvery voice splashed around me again, though it came from the second woman. "We're so glad you could join us, Milandra." The two women, their faces slipping in and out of the night air’s veil, slithered towards us. As they neared it became clear that their forms appeared as reflections of one another. Their hair crept across their faces, hiding away an eye each. The silken, glistening strands flowed slickly down their shoulders like a spider’s sinister legs

From the ground near the flushed pink runes the voice came again. "So glad." A third, muffled voice splintered a sob into the night air. Her form squirmed, and light clinks plinked like rain. A weeping, muffled sob croaked through the air followed by a wispy sniffle. Squinting, I peered into the darkness before me, discerning limited features of the third entity. Through the dank depths that separated us I caught a glimpse of a rose hue marring thick, round cheeks. Above us the clouds crackled away, and rays of silver bathed over top of our small, private grove, revealing the three women. I immediately recognized her as the peachy-cheeked woman from the fields.

Her face slowly trembled while tears lapped around her damp face. A thick cloth spiraled around her face, gobbling up her damp sobbing. The short hair that wrapped around her small, round face clung to her damply. Her shoulders shifted with a forlorn agony and she seemed to wail, the silver chains that wrapped around her silver dress clinking as she shook. The chains latched around her ankles several times then lead to a small hook just before the mute glow emanating from feet. A string wrapped her toes together and they wiggled as one, the moon’s rays slipping down her silvery wrinkles.

A wolf's white smile flashed in the dark. "You know you're our favorite toy, dear. Why don't you visit us more often?" My guide placed her visibly shaking hands upon her knees and dug her fingers into her cloth, crumpling it. The muscles around her face grew terse. The women on my right chuckled, her hand slimily slithering downward, towards a bucket and brush. At once the woman chained to the tree panted out the muffled likeness of ‘please no' to which the right woman only giggled under her breath. Lifting the brush, the maiden carefully raised it to the woman’s quivering heels. My ambassador flinched as the brush moved upwards, leaving a gooey gloss that dulled the glow of the runes. The bound maiden huffed out multiple gasps as her head sagged forward. She trembled and sobbed while the thick coat oozed down her foot.

Sparks seemed to grip the air as a wicked chuckle sizzled about me. Wearing the smile of an imp, the woman slowly drew the brush upward, dangling it above the woman’s tightly clenched toes. Wiggling her fingers, she urged the viscous nectar to condense towards the middle in a long, dangling drip. The chained woman looked up, growing tense. She shook her head in a short, rapid burst, her wide eyes pleading with all of her energy as the thick drop dangled precariously close to her middle toe. Suddenly, the dripping touched down and at once the woman shook as though she fizzled. The pink lines that spiraled along her sole seemed to crackle as the single droplet raced downward. The woman fell forward limply, letting out a series of long, whispery sobs.

In a smooth, steady motion the brush fell downward like a butcher's knife, carefully basting the sparkling liquid against the woman's quivering foot. The bound woman leaned forward, crumpling into a ball as she let out a long, strained groan before heavy sobs fell from her. Clenching her toes tightly, she wiggled her foot back and forth, the gooey liquid arcing downward as the brush dabbed ahead, continuing its demonic work as it dabbed down the center of her arch. Methodically and without flinching the snake of a woman set about coating the woman's foot, only pulling away after the entirity of her trembling sole was coated. Leaning in, she pressed her lips together and the thick globbules of honey rippled away as the chained up woman's legs convulsed against the ground, her foot compressing ever downward as she pressed her shoulders to her ears. Her lips spread further and further apart as she burrowed her ear into her shoulder while thick waterfalls vacated her eyes.

My guide’s chest shook as her breath faltered. The woman on the left peered down her nose at my ambassador. Slowly drifting down like a decayed leaf, her eyes remained transfixed upon my guide even as her face neared the woman’s twitching foot. The bound maiden huffed out multiple gasps as the vile woman extended her lips. They shivered for a moment and the glaze that covered the woman’s foot blew ever so slightly away from her. Letting out a long wheeze, the chained woman groaned, the chains around her ankles clattering loudly. With a sickly chuckle, the woman extended her tongue, grazing it ever so slightly against the edge of the woman’s foot.

At once the gates that were the boyish girl's eyelids slammed shut and she squealed, the backs of her ankles shaking against the ground. Puffing out cat like moans, she swayed her hips and threw her head back, biting hard into her gag. The snake-like woman moved closer, letting her tongue slither a snaking path up the rim of the woman’s foot. The bound maiden’s moans gained a quality not unlike a fierce growl as her tormentor placed her hands upon the backs of her feast. To my right, the other woman edged backwards and placed her elbows onto the grass, then crossed her arms beneath her. Setting her chin upon them, she let out series of ringing chuckles slink through the air like the coiling crests of fog. Simultaneously the two cast their eyes towards my chaperon, their lips curling like a demon's spiky tail. Milandra visibly shook while her hands kneaded her dress, obsessively caressing and smoothing it over and over again. The sobbing moans of the rosy cheeked woman reverberated with every bone in my body as my twitching eyes took in her pained convulsions. The two women continued their slow, methodical work, the left one sharply slashing with her tongue while the other lifted and lowered her chin as she poured her warm, moist breath over the woman’s quivering sole. The eerie light from the runes throbbed quickly, casting a hideous pink light then puffing out before burning alive again.

"It's only a tenth of a bucket, dear," the left one cooed, running the backs of her fingers against the chain. The poor woman shivered violently as though she were bound outdoors in the middle of a blizzard.

Chirping out a giggle, the other woman squawked out, "Mm, yes. How much did we use on dear Milandra?" My ambassador stiffened, her fingers collapsing, crumpling her dress. The rosy cheeked woman's head slumped forward as the two seemingly forgot their work.

Throwing her head back, the first woman cackled out light, feminine laughter. "Two, was it? Long night that, one." Looking over, her lips stretched to the ends of her face. "Right, Milandra?" Several strands of hair fell from behind my guide's ears as her hand snapped up, cramming them back in place.

The woman on my right looked up at me with pouty, powdery eyes. "And she never lets us play with her anymore." A hand crept through the grass, slithering around my guide and onto her boot. With a quick motion my guide slapped it and the hand reeled back in quick retreat. Raising and rubbing her hand, the left-most maiden cooed out an ouch as the two tormentors looked at one another, giggling again. Like mermaids the two rolled onto their stomachs, simultaneously reaching for the black leather that held my guide's feet captive. With lightning accuracy, she slapped all four hands with her right, then edged back. The two women rose again, smiling as they feigned disappointed sighs.

At once their heads snapped to me, and the right spoke. "I bet you haven't even given our guest the courtesy of offering your feet to him." Like a muddy rain puddle the two smiles arced up their faces, their silvery-white teeth slashing at the darkness. The sound of the chain-bound woman gasping for breath ached in the back of my mind.

Milandra stiffened. Looking to the ground, she muttered out "He has but to ask."

The two women looked at one another, clapping their hands together with utmost glee as they looked to me. "And if he ordered you to, you would be our plaything."

The crickets cracked their song in the tense silence. The ambassador's chest heaved as she grunted out an affirmation. Flaming moths darted about my gullet, crashing into the ends of my body with all their might. Though my lips remained fastened together, my jaw dropped as I looked between the four women, my gaze falling upon the rosy cheeked lass held up solely by the chains that kept her to the tree. "All I have to do is ask?"

Leaping forward, the two women grabbed the ends of Milandra's boots, breaking them off. Bowing her head, she inhaled deeply and sat perfectly still. Tossing the pitiful paladins aside, the women sang out in unison, their pearly voices glinting all around me, "At your command, Milord." The muscles in my stomach tensed as I looked down upon the perfectly crafted feet of the woman that had seen me through several hundred miles. Her tiny feet called to me, their plump, grape like toes curling into her soles. A light breeze brushed past, causing the light, golden-orange lines carved across her wrinkles to pulsate as she gasped, her shoulders rushing to her head. Raising a hand, I gently placed it upon her warm, soft soles. The insidious lines shinned brilliantly beneath my fingers. Twisting about in place, she smiled, shrugging off a moan. To my right the stony eyes of the maidens glinted with malice. The woman bound to the tree sobbed out a pathetic groan plastered together with lament.

A firestorm surged through me. I felt my eyelids shift together as her feet throbbed beneath my palm. Thoughts of her rushed before me, her feet prisoners to my fingers. With but a word, I thought to myself repeatedly. Out of the corner of my eye I gazed upon the chains that held those tiny, trembling feet, imagining how beautiful they would instead look upon my shrieking guide. My breath grew hot and tepid, searing my lips as I inhaled and exhaled quickly. With but a word she would laugh mightily and heartily, her soles subjected to the magics that she herself chose to bear. My insides twisted about and I closed my eyes. Heat bellowed through me, spinning faster and faster each time I puffed it away. Opening my eyes, I looked upon her, her head bowed forward, her lips curved into a wretched smile of pleasure. My fingers ached, their tips buzzing and tingling as the siren call of the women rattled about in my head. They slithered around behind me, their fingers crawling across the grass towards Milandra’s willingly defenseless soles. My head bobbed downward and I whistled out a breath. A blinding light of unadulterated power flashed before me. I could reign over her and she would laugh and suffer at my command. With but a word.

The nefarious eyes of the devilish women pierced through me, a sinister light flickering like wildfire within them. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, pausing for a moment while sifting out a carefully mulled sigh. Rising, I passed the twin serpents without looking to them, lifting the fallen guards that were my guide's boots. Approaching her, I thrust them in front of me as she looked up, a large dew drop rolling about at the end of her eye. Closing her eyes, she nodded, slipping her legs out from under her. As I fell to my knee, she extended her feet towards me, her toes pointed directly at my stomach. With a swift motion I slid her boots upon her and waved my hand in front of me, motioning for her to rise. Licking my lips, I crossed my arms and looked away, my sullen voice calling out, "What else do you have to show me?"

With a nod she hopped upwards, her back straight as she quickly strode away towards the cluster of buildings. Her arms wrapped around her back as she sped away, her hands tightly winding together. Hurrying after her, I fell to her side as her head limped downward, hanging meekly while we shuffled forward. To my side I watched as the two women pouted while their cherished prize walked away. Within moments they slid back towards the bound feet of the poor, chained woman. With my head held high I listened intently as she screeched a muffled “Please, no more,” while the twins resumed their work. Her stifled sobs and cries hacked a twisted monument in my mind as we quickly stepped too far away to hear her suffering.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 5

For several moments we surfed through the darkness, the pained howls growing distant and quiet. A submissive "thank you," suddenly emanated from the bowed head of the woman before me. Marching onward, we hopped over the fence again and moved towards the glowing building in front of us, the chains cackling loudly in the distance.

Scratching my chin, words poured from my mouth. "Any idea what sort of bet that poor lass won?"

Slowing to a stop, my guide's eyes firmly examined the ground as she drilled a hole with the toe of her boot. Leaping to action, she raised her head and strode forward gallantly. "Won is.. a word. Tricked is another. They probably offered her a session if she did work for them." Much like a horse with a careless rider, she stopped in her tracks, sliding a bit in the dirt as her head darted to the right and left. Nodding, she continued marching forward. "And, probably, they found some excuse to torment her, not getting enough work done well enough, most likely.” She paused for a moment, pursing her lips together. With a shake of her head, she continued onward. “They're awful, those two. They're experts at bringing you right to the gate of pleasure, dangling you over the cliff without letting you drop down. It's-- well, horrible." Turning, she clasped her hands together, her wavering eyes connecting with mine as she began to bow. "Thank you for not ordering me to endure… that."

Rubbing the back of my neck, I tossed my head to the left. "I thought it was enjoyable?"

Her lips fell together as she exhaled a snort of humid air. "Not that. Not what they do."

Turning sharply, she returned to her route though I stood my ground. "Is it true?" She stopped immediately, her boots clicking together as she stood still as a tree. "Are you really to follow my orders?"

Crossing her arms, she froze in place. Another gust of air cut sharply through the field, knocking up a small wave of dirt close to the ground. Without facing me, she spilled words of molten steel that clunked and sizzled against the dirt. "Yes. For the duration of your stay and until you choose a woman, or to leave without one, I am yours to command." Tossing her head over her shoulder, she looked at me, her eyelids falling half shut so that they appeared as daggers, "It is our contract of hospitality."

Of their own accord my teeth snapped at the inside of my lip. My hands flew together, my fingers pressing against one another as they formed a triangle. With a push I bent my fingers inward, flexing my palms towards one another. I nodded, speaking simply, "I only have one order for you: don't do what you don't want to do." Even in the dark I could see her eyes scan up and down my body. With a smirk and a scuffle of a chuckle she whipped her head back around, continuing forward. Gently rubbing the back of my neck, I twisted off my gauntlets and shoved them between my belt, following after her once again.

Suddenly the clatter of metal clanging heavily against one another caught my attention, pulling my eyesight to a dim light. Two shapes shuffled about there, one occasionally lit alive by the flaming well she encircled, clearly revealing her as the tall, dark haired woman that had adorned the ‘scarecrow’ with such awestruck attention. A stoic look rested on her craggy face, her eyelids slightly lowered, cutting her shimmering eyes in half as she toiled, striking away at a blazing sheet of metal. She disappeared, and a screaming hiss rang out. A high-pitched voice barked out as a bulky shape blocked off the light and took on a luminous cloak. "Twenty is too much! You'll hardly have to work!" Nearing, their features became more prominent and I recognized the slightly plump woman as the one that had yelled at me.

Without looking at her, the tall woman lifted her hammer and thrust it downward in a rapid motion. Her arm appeared as a canvas of spidery silvers and dastardly shadows that writhed and danced about over top of her bulging muscles as she worked. Each time she sent the hammer ringing downward, her muscles vanished beneath her milky flesh such that, even though I had seen them a moment before, I couldn’t fathom them. Despite her smooth complexion she appeared more tenacious than the metal that she worked as she gently caressed it into some unknown entity. As we passed, the stocky woman slammed her hands onto her hips, a vein protruding at the side of her head. From behind I heard a loud huff that rolled about like a neighing horse while the sound of dirt scraping away from a kick pivoted sharply. A sturdy yet supple “Twenty,” rang out between the cries of metal.

Suddenly, my companion’s legs swept widely from side to side, her pace shifting to a sudden amble. She slowed to a crawl so suddenly that I nearly crashed into her. Reaching up and behind herself, she hooked her fingers in my collar and drew my face down, close to her ear. "Time in the stocks. We use it as a currency for trade when necessary." Her fingers relinquished their iron grip and my head cocked back, knocking me back a step as she looked over her shoulder at me, her hand rising to her mouth as she chuckled lightly.

Gently sighing, I stood straight, my shoulders rigid as I corrected my shirt in front of my giggling guide. "Can't imagine anyone would want to touch some of the women here," I said, stomping forward and past the little ambassador. "First that loud bear, and then the ogre at the forge."

Stumbling forward, her eyes bulged and she spluttered while choking on a cough. With a fierce snort and a small pile of laughter she threw out a surprised, “Ogre!” Lifting her neck, she placed her hands on her hips and stretched backwards, then shook her head and skipped to catch up with me. Placing her warm hand on my stomach, she swam in front of me, shaking a finger in my face as she spun around to face the direction she walked. "Well, for one you have it in reverse. That poor woman working the forge right now, she's the hardest worker among us. Spends all day in the fields and then all night at the forge, works breakfast to bed." Touching a finger to her chin she looked up, her twinkling eyes dampened for a moment. "I've only seen her out of her boots perhaps three or four times." Raising her arms, she shook her head and shrugged, then continued forward. "Well, I'm not at the farm all that often anymore, and she usually has all of the girls pestering her for this or that."

Just out of sight, past the huffing forge, tears of stolen moonlight spilled through the air, sparkling a glittering silver and moments later an ecstatic shriek pierced through me. Stopping suddenly, my guide raised her neck slightly, her nose twitching and her eyes narrowing as she scryed through the darkness. Glancing back at me, a seductive smile traced across her lips and she tapped at them twice with a raised index finger before waving in front of her face. Together, we stalked ahead, stepping around the narrow puddles of pewter that the moon haphazardly spilled onto the dirt.

Ahead, in a pale circle of wavering light, a long, thin woman sat perched upon a board, the contraption tilting her at a wide angle towards the ground. Her forehead nearly touched the ground and her raven hair spread all around her, her strands mimicking the obsidian skies by stealing sparkling gems of light while jealously hiding away the thin cloth that wrapped tightly around her eyes. Behind her, her arms crossed at her wrists, her hands spreading towards her shoulder blades like bound butterfly wings while her legs perched into the air, her very bare soles heavily wrapped to the board. A great ring of rope spiraled around her ankles so thickly that she appeared to wear a ball and chain while several more spidery strands of silken string slithered across her soles, each one individually tugging her into the board that held them aloft. The strands spread loosely across her sole, several forming an X over both of her heels and each of her toes while many more stretched from a bundle at the high point of her arch, spreading across both feet. Another few strands stretched from one the outer side of each heel, spanning across her flesh before winding between her toes. Her soles ached and throbbed with a pearl-lavender light as they struggled within their bondage. Above her, a woman, her face grim and terse, stood, hoisting a torch well above her spiraling locks as she readied a small watering can like an axe.

My guide patted at my shoulder several times like a buzzing gnat. Swatting her hand away, I leaned forward, feeling the light singe my nose just as she grasped around either of my biceps and tugged me back. A light tap rang across the back of my head and I gripped my lips together, glaring towards her, yet her gaze remained focused ahead, her eyes watery and bleak as she rolled her lips into her mouth. As I turned back, the executioner of a woman raised the watering can, carefully tilting it so that a single drop of dew dangled on the end precariously. Tipping it back suddenly, she expertly guided the droplet off the curved head, letting it roar through the sky towards its victim.

A gentle thump-plink resounded as the droplet landed just beneath her third toe, rippling through the still air. At once the woman wailed wildly, thrashing her head back and forth, banging the board against the ground. The light that held her feet captive pulsed, and her wrists rebelled within their bindings and her feet flickered, the loose rope scraping against her. Taking in a deep gasp, her lips wavered and twitched as they curled and veered into a dismal smile. My guide watched on, slowly drawing a hand to mouth as her voice slipped through her fingers, “what did she do to deserve this?”

With a glance towards her, my guide shook with a realization, her head slowly popping up while her hand dropped away, swinging like a guillotine as it collapsed against her knee with a thud. The bound woman's voice rattled through the air, a shivering “nnnyaa” snaking through the air. Ahead, the woman with the watering can slowly tilted the head just enough that a trickle of droplets spun through the air, flickering with the yellow light of the torch. The sound of early rain came and the woman panted and gasped out a wavering “ahhhh—ahhhh!” while wiggling her feet back and forth before letting out the howl of a wounded animal.

Quickly twisting the can upright, the woman leered her head down slightly, watching the slow trails of overzealous water spill down the women's soles before dashing off into the ground, spewing up small explosions of dust. With each passing moment the bound woman became more and more animated, the royal runes on her feet beating with an apocalyptic fury, their wicked light flashing within the other woman's black eyes. The rustle of rope crinkled through the air as she continued to struggle, gasping out sharp giggles and slashing at the air with unabated laughter.

Flicking her toes faster and faster, she began to shift her hips before letting out a shrill cackle before relaxing her shoulders and rolling her lips into a throaty “ohhh.” Suddenly clasping her lips shut, she swallowed the cry and began chattering, the strands of thread decorating her feet swiping at her quickly as she struggled against her prison. With a cough she retched out a choking “ahh!” before thrashing her chin against the board. Swaying her feet from side to side, she clenched her toes tightly and drummed them against the board, mewling out a shrill “ahh! Ahhhhh!”

The light on her soles shone brighter than the torch, dispelling the night air around her as the water in the can swished again. Sniffing suddenly, my guide's lower eyelids crept upward and she tucked her lips in, curtly shaking her head. Just as the question began to split my mouth open, she spoke, her whispered tones taking on the guise of the black winds that whistled in the distance, “water torture.” As my guide raised her chin towards the other women, the one with the watering can tilted the weapon deeply, spilling a great splash of water over the other woman's soles. “it--”

Taking in a deep breath, the bound woman flailed her feet within the rope cage that held them before rending the world around us with a catastrophic scream. She spun wildly within her bondage, edging towards the ends of the board, clawing at them with her chin while the bindings tugged her back. A great “aieahaha!” split the air, her crackling voice bursting through the air with cries of “No! No! Stop! No!” The woman writhed about, flapping like a leaf tipping over a waterfall, constantly crushed by the water above it yet still slipping onto the waves, riding and tumbling down them to the pool below. She thrashed ahead, stretching widely before curling her head backward, curving her body into a crescent before letting out a final, excruciating “Noooooo!”

Water twinkled within my guide's eyes as she set her hand against her mouth, the toes of her boots caving in. A light sniffle resounded from her as the woman hopped against the board, slamming her weight into it while her soles squirmed at a vivacious pace such that their wet flesh shimmered with the sheen of moonlight on the water that still clung to her, the golden runes throbbing beneath them while the rope continually stroked at her. Reeling back, my guide took in a deep breath of air and blew out a gusty breath that twirled into a meandering thought. “It's our punishment.” her face slowly spun to face mine, her eyes quivering, “the water itches and burns, but the rope...” She closed her eyes and expelled a thin breath between her teeth as she turned to face the woman's fate again, “I can't accurately describe it. I can't remember how it feels, just that it tickled terribly, but...” For a moment she paused, rattling her two longest fingers against her chin before dropping her hand downward, “it's more that the struggling tickles, and you can't stop yourself. I remember sitting there, knowing I was doing it to myself for hours and hours and that I couldn't make it stop." Her fingers clawed down her chest, then balled into a fist. Rapping her knuckles against her collar bone, she twisted her wrist and pressed her fist into her chest as her eyes tightened. "I remember exactly how I felt then." Her boots skirted across the dirt, and I knew she clenched her toes within her footware. "It was brutal, hellish.”

“But I thought-” I began, my voice splintered away from me.

“No,” she stamped out, her eyebrows dashing towards her nose as she glared towards me. “Not like that.” The bound woman, her face brutally red, stretched her lips wide apart and howled a pained groan that rolled into an agonized laugh. Despite her bondage, the woman seemed to curl together like a wounded spider, her feet writhing about, torturing her without even the remotest thought of restraint. “A lot of the fun is in sharing the experience with another,” she said simply, ruffling her shoulders back as though she puffed plumage at me. Her eyes narrowed, and she stepped towards me, prodding me in the chest, “You saw the woman that provides us with the experience. Think of that, everything she experiences happening all at once, on every spot of your flesh, for hours on end and with nobody else to partake?”

Flustered, I coughed and looked away, slowly shaking my head as the other woman stepped backward from her suffering canary for a moment. Thoughts of the sea faring woman, her feet covered in golden powder, blistered against my mind, but with a quick glance towards my huffing comrade I decided against the question. My guide sighed and shrugged abruptly before quickly thrusting her hands into her arm pits, lacing her arms beneath her breasts as she sharply turned away.

The woman's voice shivered through the air, scratching like nails clawing at the dirt as she let out a teetering “T-t-t-...” Her body shuddered, her shoulders vibrating as her hips thumped against the board. “T-t-t,” she bayed out before hissing out a snicker. Shoving her forehead into the plank, she pushed her shoulders up to her ears, her lips stretching outward and exposing her teeth. “Please,” she choked out, sniffing in a sob before wailing out barbaric laughter. Thrusting her neck out, she split her mouth opened and screamed out, “Tickle me! Please!”

A dark wind blustered through the torch, scattering a malevolent smile of shadow across the woman that held it. Slowly stepping forward, her boots loudly scuffing at the dirt, she approached the woman before leaning down, setting the watering can on the ground and letting the flame of the torch near the women's feet. A resolute “yeeeee---ahhhh!” burst through the air as the flames whipped about above her feet, stroking them with forbidden light. In a quick motion the other woman shot up, impish glee sparkling along her face. Raising her hand, she slowly stroked down her index finger down the outer edge of the woman's foot.

Relinquishing a hailstorm of guffaws, the woman barked and yelped, choking and gasping for air as she let out withering screams of laughter. As though inspired by the reaction, the woman's finger flicked up and away, slowly fading from the woman's foot as she clenched her toes together, her soles convulsing beneath the rope. A groan of “nnn---gaah” ached within her throat and she extended her neck before slapping her head downward and rubbing her cheek against the board. Sputtering out a “Puh,puh...” she sniffled and sobbed out, “please!”

The other woman chuckled coolly, bending down, allowing the torch to dangle near the bound woman's feet once more. At once she became lively, crowing and bawling, whinnying out “no! No!” over and over as the flames licked towards her soles. Taking her time, the woman slowly wrapped her hands around the watering can, leaving the torch near the woman's soles as she rose. Without turning the torch away, the woman raised the watering can, tilting it as the bound woman pleaded wildly, “No! Stop! Stop!” As she sifted the can back and forth, sloshing the water within it, the bound woman grew desperate, slapping her torso against the boards as she struggled to free herself. “Goddess no, no more, please!” she called out before snickering wildly as the ropes rattled against her soles.

The head of the device dipped downward and a great stream of water spilled through the air, leaping across the woman's feet. Sucking in all of the air around her, the woman bounced against the board, a shock frozen onto her face as strangled gasping sounds split the void around her. Stretching her lips far apart, she shot her head backward and screamed, “NOOOO!” splitting the clouds above her with her shriek. Thrashing at wide angles, she continued to shriek “OOO!” endlessly as the water spilled against her, the stolen light from the night sky she housed in her feet illumating the air around us. My guide shivered wildly and spun on her heels, splashing through the puddles of light as she darted towards and around the edge of the nearest building. With a last glance back, I watched as the other woman lowered the torch mere inches above the woman's soles, wafting it back and forth while the pearly waters glazed her soles, the trembling plum light from the runes nearly smothering out the pathetic yellow flame. Turning on my heels, I dashed towards my compatriot, swinging around the building and stepping in pace with her.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 6

After curving around a building, a light winked into existence, throwing long, thin shadows at us. Out in the distance, past a grove of trees, I saw a great fire rise up and whip around. Stretching onward, we passed a partially opened waist high gate that swung back and forth as we walked through. "Oh, that bear,” she stopped and covered her mouth as bent forward and snickered. Shaking her head, a wrinkled smile spun about on her lips and she lightly rapped her fist against my chest, “But that bear, as you called her, she's quite the sweetheart most of the time." Looking at me, she smiled broadly, "Your presence seems to have her agitated." She scratched her cheek, her lips crashing into the side of her face, "Or maybe it's because she wasn't the scarecrow, actually."

Scoffing, I looked away and coughed out, "I doubt that pole could have held her." The little woman choked out laughter, placing her hands to her stomach as she bent over, guffawing.

Quickly turning around, she looked up to me, wrapping her right hand around a fist and placing both against my chest. Her eyes strung mine together and our breath seemed to align. With a quick patter of her eyelids, her eyelashes scattered away, exposing her glistening, defenseless eyes. "Don't tell anyone but that did happen once." She stepped back. "Not because of her weight -- she actually isn't nearly as heavy as she looks -- the thing was cracked and needed replacing but, well, the impression it gave...” She trailed off, shaking her head and rubbing palm over top of her left eye and down her cheek. “She and our current seamstress don't get along--"

"Can't imagine why." She chuckled pleasantly, like the gilded strings of a harp in an empty, marble hallway.

Looking away, she nimbly bit into her lower lip. With a thin sheet of a breath and without turning her head back to face me, she flit her eyes back towards mine and continued whispering, her lips spreading widely despite the near silence of her words. "—And, well, she made her current dress a little less... flattering. That woman, though." Again, she pounced at me, her cupped hands against pressuring my cloth as I braced with my right leg. "Really, she's the nicest person here. She's a bit crude sometimes, but I was here when she took on the Mark.” Above us the thin veil of clouds obscuring the moon parted, bathing my ambassador awash in breathtaking, silvery light. Her dress shimmered resplendently, and her eyes sparkled like watery gemstones. “Her resolve... she took on the most intricate runes any of us have received, and I think her potion was one of the stronger ones, too." Falling back, she looked to the ground, her eyes drifting behind her eyelids again. "She kept screaming for us to not stop, that she wanted to be able to make everyone happy."

Running my hand through my hair I looked away towards the fire off in the field. Shadows snuffed it from existence momentarily as shapes sailed in front of it. "You see, she wasn't going to stay here, I think. Something happened, I don't know." Interlocking her hands behind her neck she sauntered forward, kicking a leg high into the air before bringing it down and thrusting forward only to kick her other leg straight up in a similar fashion.

High pitched squeals radiated in the distance, their lilting sounds like passing over me like a rain of pink petals. I turned, placing my left arm above where my sword would have been. Shaking my head, I faced my guide as she hopped haphazardly from foot to foot. "I didn't understand half of what you said. Intricate runes? So, she's ticklish?"

Her arms dropped to her sides as she spun to me, eyes as wide as a doe's. "Unbelievably so! She's the most ticklish person here! That's why she's usually the scarecrow: it's hard to beat her in the contests. You absolutely need to see her laugh before you leave. It's--" Trailing off, she placed a hand on her knee as she leaned forward, looking off into the solitude of the now empty field of crops.

My hand engulfed my chin, striking the absence of my beard. "Huh," I uttered simply and silently. "What are these contests, exactly?"

A snort came to me and she grabbed my arm, dashing forward towards the light. "There might be some going on at the bonfire. If we hurry, we might get there before the girls grow sleepy." Unable to do much else I ran after her, the screeching pain of my arm disconnecting from my shoulder forcing me after her.

Several coal like questions burned hotly in my mind as we raced past the dilapidated gate, the hem of her dress nipping at my legs. Digging my boots into the ground, I spun my other arm forward. With a heavy motion I grabbed her arm and pulled, calling out a rigid "Stop!" At once she froze, her arms falling to her sides as she faced me and bowed. The sudden change in persona knocked me backwards, and I tripped over a rock, stumbling to the ground. Placing both of her hands over top of her nose, she giggled vehemently.

With but a step forward she closed the distance, offering me her hand. As I reached up to take it she thrust forward and grabbed me, pulling heavily. Our flesh melded together, her supple skin melting away into my own. Sitting there like a rock, a vivid vision of her bare feet before me flashed alive, their sweet touch haunting my hand. My fingers ached at the mere thought of her naked flesh. She tugged a second time, wobbling for a moment. Suddenly she dropped forward, collapsing on top of me, knocking us both down. Laughing like a wild flower, she slapped my chest, yelling through her brilliantly toothy smile, "Why didn't you help yourself up!"

Instinctively my hands grasped her stomach, preparing to push her off but as I touched her she collapsed onto me, nuzzling her head against while placing a hand next to her face. Her eyelids shut, snubbing out the brilliant light of her eyes like the horizon conquers the setting sun. Breathing deeply, she sighed, and I wrapped my arms around her.

Like a mouse, she tilted her head up, her eyelids fluttering open slightly. "Why did you stop?"

Entranced by the sparkling radiance that shone from her eyes, I found myself unable to look away, my jaw drooping open vacantly. Again, the memory of her glowing feet berated my mind. She tilted her head a bit more, her eyelids rising as her lips pursed shut. Pressing the tip of my tongue between my lips, I curved my upper lip in and bit it. Inhaling, I looked up towards the clear sky and spoke, in hushed tones, "Sorry, I just... I wanted to ask you some more questions."

Resting her head back on my bosom she sighed. "You can ask me later, you know."

I shook my head. "I just—there's so much to take in here, so much going on, is all, and you wanted to show me more."

Her chest rose and fell against mine. A cloud of silence ached around us. I held my breath, waiting for her response. Dropping my head back, I felt the dirt part between my hair into a makeshift pillow. Her chest suddenly fell flat, and her voice dripped around me. "You wanted to know about the contests."

Looking away I caught the moon, it's pearly white glow smothered out by a parting cloud. Overhead several stars vied for control of the skies, twinkling at one another violently. "I know."

Her hand moved, her fingers kneading my chest. Edging her head downward, her hair crinkled against her cheek and my shirt bundled together beneath her while tightening around my collar. "What did you want to ask?" she spoke out simply, her voice taking on lighter hues than before.

I opened my mouth and gently shook my head. My eyelids tightened as I attempted to focus on any single thought among the many that bustled through my mind like the wavering fields around us. "Everything. Too many questions popping up all at once."

Chuckling lightly, she ran her hand across my shirt so lightly the fabric didn’t move. "Start at the beginning then."

Inhaling deeply, I shut my eyes, her phantom feet dangling in front of me. "I still don't understand any of this, why anyone would want to experience what you do and why anyone would want to do that to another person."

She opened her eyes, a vacant look dressed across them as they subtly shifted away, scanning the horizon as her breathing intensified. Her bottom lip quivered lightly as she bit it. "I can't tell you why everyone comes here. They all have their own reasons. Before this I was just a farm hand, living a dull life on a forsaken bit of soil." Closing her eyes, she burrowed her head further into my chest. "Not much has changed, I suppose, but well, when it does happen it just... I don't know how to describe it. It's different for everyone, like I told you." Lifting her head, she nudged towards the sky, "It feels like… how I imagine a star feels. You just burn so brightly with a heavenly pleasure when it happens. Nothing else matters, the world fades away and all of those nasty feelings that come with living, they just vanish, fade away." For a moment she trailed off, her eyes staring down the dark field of wavering shadow as they skipped over the flowing grains. In a low voice she whispered, “I imagine that's how royalty feels, sometimes.”

Placing her hands on my shoulders she looked down at me just as the moon slashed away the clouds, silver streaks illuminating her golden-red hair. "Like all of the aches and pains, they just go away and you're in another world. And you saw that woman tickling the scarecrow. It's just, forcing that onto another person, having that much control over how they act.. it's almost as wonderful. Almost.” I felt her fingers grip tightly into my shoulders as she muttered, “Having that much control over another person is thrilling. Her eyes fluttered shut and she inhaled deeply, a crooked smile forming on her lips. “While it's happening you just, you two are one, you laugh and cry and moan just like them. It's a different kind of joy but it's so similar, too. But, ultimately, we do it to one another because each of us wants everyone to experience that bliss as often as possible." Chuckling, she looked away, her body shivering. I tightened my grip as she spoke, "Well, maybe not the twins. I promise you, though, it feels wonderful, absolutely wonderful. I promise you."

A torrent of piercing laughter rushed from the fire and she turned to face it, her lips sagging into a frown. With a slight tug I pulled her closer, her body crashing into my own. Nestling her face back into my chest she whispered, "I promise you," again as her tangerine hair spilled like a waterfall all around me.

Laughter flew around us like a great hurricane, its wild and varied tones rising and falling amongst a sea of pronged pleading and sharp screams. "Is that one of the contests?" I asked, my voice laced with a twinge of sadness. Brushing her cheek against my shirt she nodded in the affirmative. "Should we go?"

Groaning, she tussled her head about, her arm coiling around my neck and pulling me tight. "In a little while. Just a little while longer." Closing my eyes, I breathed heavily, my shoulders relaxing as I drifted into the welcoming grass beneath us. A dull pain ached within my ribs. I pulled her closer and her grip around my neck tightened while she shifted about on top of me, her existence further dissolving into my own.

At that moment, a cricket nearby soliloquized a private ballad just for us. The mournful, creaking tones strummed out loudly, distilling the distant festivities into little more than a background chorus. A chill breeze blew, and she tensed up, her arms contracting to her sides as the wind brushed along the nearby field, trumpeting like a thousand trees scrapping their leaves together. Around us the smell of soil crept about, converging on top of us, enveloping us in its sweetly crisp odor. Closing my eyes, the sight of her feet burned itself into my eyelids so vividly I reached up, half expecting to feel her flesh evaporate beneath me again. Sighing disdainfully, I opened my eyes, looking down at her as I lowered my hand, stroking her orange hair.

Out of nowhere she muttered "What's wrong." I gulped, and she chuckled.

Freeing my hand from her hair, I rubbed my own, gritting my teeth as I looked around. "Ah, I uh--" choking on the words that clogged my throat, I coughed lightly, turning my head. "No, it's just-- I can't forget how beautiful your feet looked when those girls stripped you of your boots, is all." My stomach contorted into an icy ball as she chuckled, a secretive smile wrapping around her face as heated colors rushed to her cheeks.

A coy look crossed her face, contorting her smile into a wicked thing. Behind her head I saw the bottoms of her boots float by, then hover above her. Reaching forward, I just barely scratched my nail against the edge of her heel. Her face contorted, and she squealed wildly, turning away as her nails dug into my shoulders. Turning her face back towards mine, her smile widened as she whispered, "Would you like to see them again?"

Coughing, I brushed my hair from my forehead and wiped a bit of sweat from my cheeks. "You don't have to. I mean, if you don't want to-- I was just--"

Laughing heartily, she dipped forward, her face close to mine, the smell of mint on her hot breath intoxicating me. Her eyelids lilted downward and her lower lip puffed out as she whispered, “Take them. I want you to take them away.” With a breathy sigh, she shagged her head from side to side lightly while flapping her eyelids. “I want to be barefoot, always, helplessly barefoot and constantly tormented, constantly tickled.” Biting her lower lip, her smile faded and she inhaled a sharp, deep breath. “These boots, they’re a prison. It’s awful, unbearable.” Her eyes narrowed and took on a glassy look as her voice took on slow, guttural tones “Take. them.” Turning towards me again, she looked down her nose, her brilliant eyes piercing through me. My heart fluttered about, drumming at my rib cages as she spoke. “I want to be at your mercy. I want you to be relentless in a way the women can’t be. I want to be made to laugh, to scream.” Extending her neck, she brought her nose near mine while her eyes burrowed into mine, “for you.” She licked her lips, smiling so broadly and brightly that the sun was put to shame. “When it happens, when I’m tickled, it’s just… it’s like the forbidden nectar of the gods pours through me. It’s… wonderful.” She opened her eyes, her eyelids pinching at the ends. Tightness nipped at my shoulders as her fingernails pierced through my flesh. She tilted her head down, her smile crackling up into her cheeks. “Take them. I am yours to command, just… say the words, and it will be so.”

Her nose twitched, and her eyes suddenly seemed to melt. Slowly, she laid her chin against my chest, then rolled over onto her cheek. Her eyes narrowed, and she stared off into the field, a dim light twinkling against her glossy eyes. Nuzzling her chin against me, she soundlessly breathed out, “Nobody has ever cared about what I wanted before.”

In the distance lance like screams crackled and laughter flooded the field as we both spun towards the incoming tsunami. Pushing herself up, she skipped to the ground, grasping my arms and tugging me up as she twirled into a stand. Stumbling forward, I reached behind me and brushed dirt from my backside as she walked forward, her arms knitted behind her neck. "We should hurry, or we might miss it."

My arm shot forward and I shouted "Wait." Turning, she looked at me, her mewling eyes and still lips almost pleading with me. Digging my fingers at an itch in my scalp, I looked at the ground, burying the thoughts of her feet as I desperately grasped for something to say. Words drenched the ground before I realized it. "How is the Mark applied?"

She smiled. "I might get to show you before the night is over. The women said the merchant might take them on tonight, but I haven't heard anything yet."

Tilting my head I looked at her, my eyebrows burrowing into my eyes. "Someone would come get us?"

Her eyes went wide, and she laughed heartily. "Oh, no. No no. If she starts receiving the Mark, you'll know." Looking at me she lips curved up gently, her eyes seeming to smile. The look she gave me was enough that my mind could think of nothing but the smell of honey from earlier.

Stepping back, I shook my head and crossed my arms, facing the pitch-black wall where the wind howled at the crops. "One last question," I said, scratching my arm. Turning, I cocked my head and looked at her, "You said you leave here pretty often, but it sounds like you really enjoy your time here."

Her smile collapsed, and she looked to the ground, kneading a tuft of dirt with her boot while weaving a hole into the ground. "That's not a question," she answered simply, turning her back to me. She sighed, and her shoulders sank. "I told you before, I'm not as ticklish as the others. There's just, I don't know how to describe it. a hierarchy based on it.” Looking up, she stretched her arms behind her, the bones of her shoulders popping and cracking as she shifted her weight from her heels to her toes. “Ticklishness matters here, and I'm just, I don't know. My mark just isn’t strong that way.” Slashing at the ground with her boot, she swiped a wide semi-circle into the grass. She tucked her face behind the shoulder she pointed at me, a watery, despondent look claiming her eyes. “I'm ticklish, but not as much. Not nearly as much as – ahh, what did you call her? A bear?" Placing her hand to her mouth, she giggled as several women shrieked shrilly all at once, one high pitched howl punctuating the others much like a lighthouse drowns out a foggy backdrop of stars.

With a snort I turned my head back to the rising storm of black. "She can't be that ticklish."

"Oh my goodness." Stomping her foot, she grabbed my arm and pulled me forward, towards the campfire. "You have no idea, just none whatsoever. You didn't hear her just now?" Scratching my cheek, I shook my head and she gasped, pulling me so hard she nearly threw me to the ground. "Come! She is so ticklish, she-- she's the definition of it, like we all mimic her." Tilting her head, she slowed, putting a finger to the side of her mouth. "Good kisser, too." With a smirk she cocked her head in my direction. "Well, not as good as me. I've got that on her." Pressing her face next to mine she breathlessly drilled words into my skull, "Want to see?" A wicked smile immediately carved itself into existence on her face and her head retreated as she cackled, running forward as I did my best to keep up and prevent my arm from being ripped asunder.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 7

Though the moon lit our path, I stumbled across the uneven dirt, rogue rivets in the ground tripping me up as my ambassador tugged me forward relentlessly. Thick tufts of grass struck at my boots, pushing me to the side as we ascended then quickly flew down a small mound, past a tree. Light faded around us as we neared the trees that deftly hid away the fire, the orange light bouncing a ring of protection just outside the small glade. A murky mist leisurely thrashed at the ground as we neared, a fog of monstrous squeals and laughter wrapping around us like a mantle, guarding us from the thin night air.

Slowing down, my guide walked towards a tree, placing a hand upon the thoroughly lined bark as her chest rose and fell. Stepping behind her I pushed my chest into her back, wrapping my arms around her stomach. A hand gently landed upon my arm, her fingers tracing a light circle against it as she turned her head, nuzzling her cheek against my chest. Shifting my boot forward, I touched the back of her footwear; she gasped gently. Kneading her stomach gently, I pressed my chin into her hair, its colors blazing an inferno as the golden campfire's light coursed through it, fanning the flames as the long shrieks stabbed and pierced through my shirt. Tapping her arm against my hand twice, she spread her arms and moved forward, reaching back and latching her small fingers around my wrist without looking. As she drug me forward, we brushed a low hanging branch aside and came to the fire that sat in a small crater surrounded by a steep three-foot drop.

All around us the twenty or so women in silver robes sat together, talking and laughing. Some held wooden cups while others sat at the feet of maidens, meticulously working at their soles while the subject thrashed and shrieked. To the right a large wooden chair sat upon a boulder, the thing littered with straps of leather and rope. As I breathed in the sweet, carefully chilled night air, my guide drew me forward, collapsing heavily onto the side of the small hill about ten or so yards from the fire. Warm air licked at my face as she drug me down to her side, her arm lashing around my waist and pulling me close as I adjusted my legs.

Across the fire I caught sight of the larger bear of a woman, her wide, naked soles prodded at by the blonde scarecrow woman from before. The scarecrow woman sat on her knees, her bare soles swept with brushstrokes of dirt and fallen blades of grass. They hunkered beneath her, resting lazily. She sat, staring downward, her eyes glazed over as though the world around them didn't exist. With quick, sudden movements her fingers stealthily flicked and darted across the woman's flesh like a rabid spider's legs. The tormented woman shook, her toes wiggling independently of one another while her wide feet flapped back and forth, the saffron lines on her soles throbbing like a stilted heart beat; her hands grasped and rubbed at her cheeks as a sinister howl wretched itself from her half open lips. Laughter spilled from the woman in swift, heated gasps of pleasure as her arms wrapped around her body. Rolling over and moaning like a wailing banshee, she fell to her stomach, her arms grasping and pulling at the grass as if she were climbing the side of a mountain. Despite her movements, the maiden at her soles wrapped an arm around her feet, tugging the woman's legs from her dress as she continued her work unimpeded.

Turning to my left, I watched as two maidens rolled several times, one on top of the other, furiously pressing their lips against each other repeatedly. Tumbling back towards me, a third woman, tall and lanky with a long braided ponytail, stumbled and wobbled forward, her right hand holding a deathlike grip over the wooden goblet in her hand as a golden liquid splashed against the thirsty ground. Kneeling down, she shakily set the cup near the fire and raised her hands, her torso wavering as she watched the cup as though to ensure it stayed. Pointing both index fingers up, she waved them at the cup and nodded before meandering towards the maidens, crashing down heavily at their feet.

Like the wave of an ocean she cast her boney arms around the ankles of the woman on the bottom. Hazily looking at the sky, the bottom woman peered downward through thick, raisin-colored curls while the top woman ruffled the bottom's neck with kisses. Throwing her head back, the bottom woman closed her dark, beady eyes and exhaled a thin sheet of air as her boots were flung from her. Looking down again, her eyes met the drunken smile of the third woman as her fingers began masquerading across the dance-floor of her soles as though they attended a regal ball. A jade light pulsed virulently at the touches, spraying earthly tones up her dress and illuminating the grass beneath her. Cackling and arching her back, her right hand formed a fist and beat at the dirt while the maiden above her looked back, smiling broadly before turning and nuzzling the woman she held onto like a raft in a storm. Brushing her lips up the woman's neck, she blew a venomous breath across her ear before nibbling against it, the eyes of the bottom woman buzzing with a careful seasoning of joyful pleasure. Placing a hand to her lips, she squeaked and squealed while the third woman plucked at her toes, the woman on top slowly casting her tongue down the side of her neck to her shoulder before planting gentle kisses there.

Gasping loudly, the bottom woman grabbed the top woman's shoulders, rolling her over with a devious light in her eyes. The top woman tumbled, her short, russet hair bobbing as she tumbled. Her arms spiraled to her sides as she laughed and smiled widely, her lips vanishing against the top woman's as the lanky woman began her assault anew. The woman with the brownish-blonde curls that had been on the bottom threw her arms up, her black eyes wide as her cheeks caved in. Thrusting her arms tightly around the woman beneath her, she fell forward, her shoulders shifting as her hands rubbed at the back of the now pinned woman.

A sly look appeared on the tickler’s face as her hands disguised themselves as allies, her fingers crawling up the side of the fiery haired woman’s boot. As she tugged it away, the second woman's eyes took on a concocted look of panic, depravity and unrequited desire. Without hesitation the tickler trickled a trail up the arch of the pinned woman and a warm firelight poured from her feet, her body quaking as the woman that held her refused to release her lips, absorbing the laughter that flooded them. Freeing her arms, she pushed the woman that pinned her upward, her head rolling back and forth against her hair fanned out beneath her as she panted a series of long, shrill eeeehps.

The tickler’s face contorted into a pleasant snarl and as she pointed touched the woman’s big toe, sifting her finger up and down, her prey’s face seemed to split as she released a hissy torrent of cackles. Her face froze, her eyes bolting open and her mouth opening into a long, trembling O before turning towards me and letting out a primal, shuddering moan. A second passed and her arms fell slack, her hands landing upon their backs and her fingers spreading and writhing. A broad, devilish smile wrapped around the ringlets of the beady eyed woman as she swept in and began nibbling upon the pinned woman’s neck. At once their quarry’s eyes fluttered as the third woman swept at her foot, waving a single hand back to the top woman's. Gasping and squealing, the top woman turned away. Maddeningly wavering a hand at a foot of both women, the two embraced each other tightly, laughing as a single, unified chorus of mischievous suffering while their green and red-orange lights merged as one.

A light rustling came from behind as crunching leaves hissed and twigs twanged in sorrow. Smiling, the infectious laughter drawing several chuckles out of myself, I turned as dirt crackled and grass swooned, catching the shadows of the two twins as they snuck past the outer watch of trees. Each one slyly raised a hand to her lips as they simultaneously batted their swinging hair aside briefly, the medusa like locks clinging back to the single eye that they guarded from the world. A dimple formed at an opposing cheek on both of their faces as they raised their hands from their sickly smiles. The right one pressed her hand to her forehead as though she were scouting the grounds while the left raised her arms and leaned back into a stretch. Slapping her knee, my guide laughed at some antics, turning towards my right. As her head veered left, her eyes locked onto my face and she spun around, the twins noticing her movements. They smiled and cantered towards us, the fingers on my arm searing into my skin.

Quickly, the two strafed us, one on my right and the other on my guide's left. Ruefully sighing before allowing them passage, the grass beneath them shifted as the two fell with plops so light it sounded as if they landed upon clouds. As though a storm brewed above us, the light of the campfire and the festivities seemed to wink out as the woman next to my companion slithered her arms up my guide's spine, firmly gripping her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she smiled insincerely, words rattling from her mouth. "Our favorite, favorite toy! It's been too long." My guide shuddered as she plucked the hand closer to me from her shoulder, flicking her wrist and disposing of it like a corn husk.

Spiraling words rung from my right as the other sister leaned forward, placing her hands on my knees. "Too, too long." Shivering, my guide grasped my arm again, pulling me into her as she rested her cheek upon my shoulder. Her knees buckled slightly as she shimmied towards me, one boot clamoring behind the other.

The woman on the left removed her remaining hand from my guide's shoulder, drawing a circle around the seam of the dress with the back of her nail before raising a finger and tapping against my guide’s still cheek. "You will play with us, right?" I felt my gut tighten into a lump of sooty coal as the woman to my left pushed herself forward, edging towards my companion's feet.

As the oily woman reached for my guide's boots, she shifted heavily, starting to tuck her feet beneath her. The knot in my stomach took hold, forcing my hand to my guide's shoulder as its fiery roots clawed through me. Shifting forward, I spoke bulkily, my tongue tripping over itself. "She—that is—hospitality--" Shaking my head, I quickly expelled my pent-up excitement. "Of course she will." My guide's eyes stiffened, thick lines cresting towards them; the left side of her upper lip twitched as her nostril flared. The woman at the ambassador’s feet clapped as she placed her hands around my guide's ankles, tugging at them though they refused to waver, her soles instead clamping tightly into the ground. Her fingers burrowed into my arm tightly, her nails pinching into my skin. Wincing, I turned my face back to the festivities as women lovingly tickled the feet of one another, gasping and sighing and sharing their joys with each other. Turning back, I dropped slow words, each guided with a pointed purpose. "I command you to not resist." As though pinned down by my words, her shoulders Suddenly drooped and her knees fell lax as the woman gleefully tugged my guide's feet back to where they had rested before. A glare stabbing sharper than any worldly knife glimmered in my compatriot's eyes as the woman to her left clapped her hands happily before rising and joining her sister.

Laying a hand on her left boot, she slowly drew it down, her sinister eyes needling into my companion's. The woman's lips spread open as the ends dug into her cheeks, a wicked light forming as the tops of the boots neared her soles. My companion gasped as the maid drew the boot upward, the edges of the leather slipping across my companion's heel as the second woman watched, a thin veil of saliva glistening on her lips. Hastily grasping the remaining boot, she too slowly tucked it away, flinging it over her shoulder as her partner reached into her sleeve, unwrapping a length of rope wound to her forearm. Slathering it over my friends ankles, I watched as the fraying strand looped around them, binding them tightly together. With but the tip of a finger glancing her sole, my guide gasped broadly as though she had been rescued from drowning, her head limply falling back as her eyes went wide. The golden light of her soles spilled outward as though a great chest had been pried open, unveiling the hidden treasures of an entire kingdom. Gripping my shirt, she bit her lip, her eyes fluttering as her mouth caved open, releasing a heated, lengthy "awwhh" of a moan that crashed into the ground as her hands crumpled my shirt.

The two women brought their hands to their mouths, looking at each other and chuckling as their victim breathed heavily. "Don't do this," she breathily muttered, her eyes shooting open as her chin drooped into her chest. Her eyes blazed with lust as the twins closed their eyes, smiling broad, toothy grins at her and the light from her soles throbbed warmly. The two shifted like snakes in high grass as they slowly let themselves fall upon their stomachs.

Stabbing their elbows into the ground, they quickly planted their chins upon their palms. The lips of the twin closer to me leapt about in a very animated fashion, expelling breathy words. “Ahh, but this is so much fun.” My guide’s toes twitched and cowered as the sister spoke, the curving lines that wrapped into and around her toes flickering invitingly.

"Ever so much fun!" The left sister slowly whispered in merry, chiming tones while my ambassador clenched her lips together. A groan ratcheted through the air, buzzing against my ear while goosebumps leapt along her neck. Closing their eyes, the two simultaneously pursed their lips as my guide crackled like lightning, her spine convulsing as her head spun about, her hair growing alive as it whipped about in the raging storm.

Repeatedly moaning "Ahh… ahh! Ahhhh!" in high pitched tones, she rolled her head, snapping her eyes shut while the shuddering brightness from her feet beat away, casting out sickly shadows through the grass. Her whole body quivered as she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close as she shoved her face into my chest. With the force of a tidal wave she thrust her body against mine, kicking up a small cloud of dirt behind me as the twins whistled an inaudible song against her soles. Her toes flailed and rolled rapidly, weaving and waving as though attempting to shoo off a demon. Placing my arms around her, I rubbed at her back as she thrust a second time, then a third and a fourth, sobbing, moaning and gasping into my shirt.

Throwing her head back, she mutely shrieked as the left twin plucked at the third toe of my guide's feet. Shaking me with all of her might, she groaned and slammed her forehead into the cavity of my chest, throwing me into a coughing fit as she squealed. Gritting her teeth fiercely, she shook her head, her hair flogging my neck. The twins sat still, their lips curving up though they remained open as steamy air hissed from their lips, coursing over the foot bottoms of my companion like a great hurricane sent by angered gods. A low-pitched screech came from my guide as tiny beadlets of water formed at her eyes, wavering there. Lazily raising a finger, the left twin coyly dabbled her nail so close to my companion's arch that it nearly nicked her flesh. It hovered there, just before her foot, waggling up and down as though tracing an imaginary line of what could have been. An otherworldly, low pitched "nyaaah!" escaped my companion’s lips as she gripped my shirt even tighter, the sound of cloth ripping reverberating from behind me. The fabric at my chest grew wet, clinging to my skin as it absorbed the tears that streaked my guide's glistening face. A grimace of heavenly pain rippled across her as the firelight danced overtop of her. The sound of her teeth clamping and clattering creaked around me, scratching at my neck.

Panting several times a second, her stomach slapped into mine repeatedly as she trilled out manic moans of sounds I had never heard, ranging from "Ooh oooh," to "aye-ahh-mmmph!" Tightening her lips, she reeled back, her spine arching as she convulsed, then released an "ayeek!" With a snort, her eyes burst open as she gasped, a wild, dangerous cyclone of emotion spinning in her eyes as she brought her face back to my chest. She nuzzled her cheek against the wrinkled, wet fabric as her mouth contorted, then fell into a sublimely round figure. Whimpering like a pup, she gasped, breathed in heavily then gasped again. Her hands gripped against me tightly and she forced out a moan that sounded as if she attempted to restrain it within her chest. Grunting, she turned away from me and quickly begged out blisteringly hot words. "Stop them!" Turning her head, her desperate eyes looked into mine as her body thrust against me, a volley of tormented moans splashing into my chin like the churning waves of an ocean at dawn. The light turned insidious as she shook me, her eyes glazing over as she repeatedly panted out a quick series of soft, raspy, "Stop them! Stop them! Stop them!"

Laughing wickedly, the left twin tilted her head onto her shoulder and batted her eyes at her sister. "Awww," she cooed, "should we?" Choking on air, my guide looked down and sobbed several times as thick tears screamed down her face.

Closing her eyes and smiling sincerely, the right twin spoke a single word. "Never." The two knelt forward again, blowing a little harder than before as my guide shrieked and screamed a laughing moan so intense I felt as though it wrapped around my neck, strangling me. Her little toes wiggled all at once, moving independently like a team of unmanned horses galloping across an open field in search of glory and freedom from an unknown oppressor. A soul crushing pant tore at my chest, followed by a moan that seared my ears. Alternating between the two, she shivered and bit her lower lip, then released it, letting it hang unfettered. The sounds she emitted left lacerations upon my psyche as her cowering body quivered against my own.

"Ple—ahhh!" she started before shrugging off another exasperation. "P..puhleeze." she groveled, the absolute candor of her words melting restlessly into the air around us, "I—I—I" she sobbed into my shirt, a thick smile creasing her lips as the left twin scratched at her heel with a single finger. Giggling, she cooed gently until the finger left. Moaning loudly, she wailed on a single agonizing syllable for a lifetime of seconds, her body thrusting into mine harshly. "I can't" she wheezed out, looking up to me with glassy eyes, "Nooh… more."

As I fell into her eyes I came under her spell, distantly seeing the wonder and joy that flickered so deeply within them like a dying flame, the wildfire of a fierce deity spinning into existence within me, desiring to nourish the wonder that she cradled within her. Closing my hanging jaw, I turned and waved at the twins, muttering simply, "You can stop, now."

Hissing, the right one reared back, the coat of glaze that polished her eyes vanishing as she spit out "We are not beholden to you!"

A beastly growl came from behind us. As I turned, I caught sight of the blacksmith as she crossed her bulging arms. Her hair clung damply at her forehead and cheeks as she huffed and wheezed heavier than a soldier after marching half a day in full plate. Although she glowed, her lips and eyes smiling with a begotten light, she still managed to carry a fierce air to her. Behind her, the rosy cheeked maiden stood, trembling. She shook as though she had been drug naked from a snow storm and placed in front of a fireplace, a wild fever coloring her cheeks. Her limbs positively quaked at her sides and she stared at the ground with a vacant look so wide that I thought her eyes might tumble from their sockets. Crossing her arms, she pointed the toes of her boots together as she shuffled her left foot against the dirt with a great jolt, grinding away a small tuft of grass.

I felt my companion shift and saw her arm reach for her boots. Setting my hand on her elbow, I lightly gripped with my fingers and shook my head. For a moment she quivered, her eyes trembling as she looked into mine, then nodded. Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement and turned towards the commotion. The blacksmith's broad eyes narrowed as they fell upon the twins. Like a lion, she lashed out "you two," before stomping forward. The two women fell back, pushing themselves against the dirt as they stumbled into a stand. Grabbing the right one, the black smith threw her over her shoulder. The remaining sister turned and jumped away, but the blacksmith bolted after her, grabbing her by the back of her collar as she let out an ear rending screech. At once the other woman ceased their playing, turning towards the commotion. Meanwhile, my companion rubbed the sole of her right foot against the back of her left, sighing and giggling as she struggled against my shirt.

Looking at her, I felt my eyelids droop in a be-puzzled manner. Without returning the gaze, she murmured "The warmth of the campfire," as she cooed a light elation, her shoulders collapsing as she shook. She bent forward, quickly expelling a sentence in a single breath, "It’s almost as bad.” Rearing her head back, her lips shot up into her cheeks as she hissed out, “I can feeheeheeel each flame licking me." Sharply inhaling, she gasped again as she tucked her knees in, drawing her feet further back. A breeze whipped across the fire, the flames reaching for us. Almost immediately sparks seemed to fly from her soles and her eyes splintered open just before she gasped a raw "ayeee!" A feeble moan croaked from her throat as she wiped at her face with her sleeve.

Looking around us, the women smiled and glowed with their own personal auras as they wiped each other’s faces, returning the feet of their comrades to their boots. Across the fireplace I noted that several women had surrounded the bear, a single woman lifting each of her legs as two others lifted each of her boots, crowing her feet with them. The beast of a woman appeared a ragged mess, her face a boisterous red, her skin scintillating with the phantom of laughter that refused to relinquish its curl from around her lips.

The blacksmith threw the two women down on the ground right next to the campfire and screamed, "These two!" Stamping a foot and crossing her arms, she shook a finger at them.

Straightening her sparkling dress, the bear of a woman took long, slow strides towards the firepit as she began to speak, "What--"

Cocking her head, the blacksmith shouted back, "You know what! Just look at her!" Flinging a thumb over her shoulder, the blacksmith threw everyone’s gaze towards the trembling maiden behind me. The rosy cheeked woman stepped back, looking into the silent darkness that escaped the fire's grasps. The poor twig of a woman shook so hard she looked as though she might fall over. At once two women thundered over, leaping past me. Of the women that approached her, one began rubbing the cowering woman’s back and another massaged her shoulders as they pushed her closer to the campfire while the remaining woman shot venomous glares at the twin vipers writhing before the fire.

The steely face of the bear stared unwaveringly, though creases of rage flared up around the edges of her eyes. "Rope." The women that followed her down to the fire turned and began chittering at one another. Almost immediately the bear turned and screeched at them, "NOW!" Scattering like mice, the women ran about, picking up various lengths of rope and wooden stakes that were strewn about the makeshift campsite. Another breeze bolstered by us, the flames of the fire dancing wildly as heat washed over me. My guide squealed sharply as she buried her face into my chest, her toes collapsing into her soles while that wonderful light emanated from her feet.

The cavalcade of women rushed the rope and stakes to the bear, and she in turn thrust them towards the blacksmith. As the twins rose up, kicking at the ground, four women flew up, pushing them back down, one at each shoulder, holding them against the grass. The blacksmith threw the stakes to the ground and flew forward, tightly grasping the wrists of the taller twin as the stakes rattled against the ground. With a quick motion, she tugged the woman's arms above her head while looping the rope around the twin's wrists. Meanwhile, the scarecrow lapped up the stakes, her eyes sagging as she wound a length of rope into a knot around each spiked piece of wood. After shoving them into the ground, she raised her leg and stomped them so tightly into the dirt that they disappeared beneath the grass.

The women that held the twins to the ground swept forward, tearing off the twin's boots before drifting away. The two women winced out shrieking howls upon their footware being removed. Before them the light of the fire seemed to smoke out of existence and the night air seemed to sparkle with a deep darkness that my eyes could not pierce. In a swift motion, the blacksmith stepped backwards and lassoed a noose around each of their ankles as they tugged mightily, fighting with the barely visible stakes that they were attached to. Shrieking with laughter, the two gasped and panted, their feet flapping mere inches from the fire as they let out pained merriment that stabbed through the night air.

A black, night colored mist seemed to spill from their feet, casting a shadowy, throbbing void before them. The two women huddled together, the leftmost twin placing her head on the shoulder of the taller woman while that sister rested her head on top of her sister’s. Streaks of liquid poured down their cheeks and their faces blossomed into a virulent, beet red. Their voices clawed through the night air, mirroring one another despite their cries falling at different intervals; they serenaded the crowd that formed around them, the women looking about with looks of grim determination plastered onto their faces as they nodded at one another in approval. Throwing a sharp glance to my squirming comrade, I smoked out, "What will happen to them?"

She took in a ragged breath of air, her toes twitching wildly as she fidgeted back and forth. The grass played at her heels and she whipped about, attempting to freeze her feet in place as her chilled voice cracked out, "they'll—they'll—they'll." Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply as she clenched her toes, then winced at the action. "They'll be there all night." She slammed out in a single breath as she threw her arms around my neck, choking me. "First the fi-fi-fire," she stuttered out as she pushed her cheek into my shoulder, "And then the co-co-cold air." She shivered wildly, shaking my torso as she continued, "Just being barefoot is excruciating torture, but af-af-after--" Inhaling, she gulped then rubbed her cheek up my neck, "after what they did, they might be honeyed up for the ants and deer, too."

As the twins screamed and laughed the other women walked away, ushering the rosy cheeked lass to the large wooden chair. Various voices spoke several words at once: "It's ok." "It'll be alright." "We're here for you." Lifting her up, they placed the shivering woman on the chair; one woman lifted her limp arms, gently setting them upon the armrests while others secured her wrists to the chair. The scarecrow, her face plagued with lines of exhaustion, beamed and glowed as she slowly stripped the woman’s boots from her.

A ferocious light bore through the eyes of the scarecrow woman as she glanced with narrow, sly eyes at the other women one at a time. Her thin, high pitched voice rang out, “Tickle her pink, ladies.” The rosey cheeked lass tilted her head deliriously while two women quickly strapped her ankles to the chair then grabbed the backs of her feet while the other eight descended on her soles like a ravenous pack of starved rats. At once she jumped forward, fiercely fighting with the chair as she screamed loudly. The primordial noises she made carried only hints of laughter as she gushed a frenzy of emotion over top the other ladies. Her lips cracked up through her cheeks, nearly meeting her wide eyes, and her face immediately blustered out a light fiercer than the campfire. Falling backwards, her spine arched up and she began to convulse as she continued to scream out croaking laughter, a single ear-wrenching moan piercing from deep within her as static bliss etched itself onto her face. An uncontrollable light seemed to burn from her, lighting similar, blushed and delightful looks onto each of the women's faces as they swiped at the bound girl's feet; each woman smiled and laughed as though they were having the time of their lives.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 8

Returning my gaze to my companion, I drew her tightly to me as she whispered stifled moans against my chest. "Please," she clearly pleaded as she bit my shirt. With muffled words, she continued, "just being barefoot is excruciating-- wonderful, but-- the f-feeee!" a thick breeze punctuating her words as she shrilly lilted laughter into me. Shuddering, she gasped and bit her lower lip as she threw her head back, a coiled smile eating away at her cheeks. "Please! I can't take this much longer!” Gripping her hands into my shirt, she sent tense convulsions through me. “Please let me put my boots back on!"

Chuckling, I scratched innocently at my cheek and spoke out in a singing voice "I thought you liked it?"

Bringing a hand to her face, she pressed her palm against her nose and shook her head. "I like-- this is-- like a thousand white-hot needles. It… ahhh," biting her lip, she nuzzled her cheek against my chin, "Its wonderful and awful, like being brought to the brink, outside the gates of paradise, but not—but not—but," throwing her head back, she swelled and panted several times. "I need--- I need-- tickle my feet, please, I can't, not this. Not anymore."

Looking her in her eyes, I saw the seeds of that joy from earlier take root as I firmly spoke, "I am your master, am I not?"

Her eyes met mine as her hands came to my shoulders, her nails clawing into them. "My master," she said breathlessly. A monstrously hungry light glazed over her eyes. "I will do anything."

Standing up, I lifted her with me as she wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs lightly swaying as I knelt down and snatched up her boots with my right hand. Looking back one last time, I watched as the women played at their game, their plaything crying, sobbing, screaming, laughing and moaning all at once in a confused storm of emotion while she fought with her bonds, her wrists a bright red from the struggle. Turning, I walked into the dark air, the woman in my arms squealing and beating my chest as her toes flickered, her feet attempting to cover one another. "My boots! My boots!" she pleaded, her left hand leaving my neck to paw at them. Moving them further from her reach, I shook my head as she convulsed, "The air! Icy tendrils, its worse than the fire!"

Setting my cheek against hers, I let heated words nibble into her ears, "Suffer for me." She cried a haunting laugh, burying her face into my chest again as she giggled like a mad woman. Taking long, slow strides, I bowed across the blank field, the burning lights of the buildings growing in the distance. As I moved, I carefully swayed back and forth, rocking her feet beneath me. Her fingers gripped into my shirt so tightly that the collar choked me of my breath. Writhing, she spun her forehead to an angle while letting out a lilting sob.

Passing the corner of the fence, I nodded towards a lone tree on the outskirts. “Stop,” she panted out while shaking her head against my chest before whispering out, “Please stop… please stop.” The light from her soles throbbed like the sun as we cut through the night, her toes waggling wildly, their soft drumming tearing at my heart. My eyes grew tense and tight and my chest beat wildly as I walked, wanting nothing more to stop and to play. Not yet, I felt myself think as I took slow, purposeful steps, shaking her in my arms as we moved. Thrashing gently, she kicked her legs then curled her toes tightly and squealed. The leaves rustled above us as we crossed beneath the tree, and she began chattering out half squeaks and squeals while arcing her soles into crescents.

As I stopped at the tree, I gently laid her against it, her form bristling and quivering. Releasing her hands from me, she slapped them together and tightly wound her fingers around another, her body hands fidgeting and flinching. Her feet shook, her heels rattling at the ground while her soles slid back and forth, hiding behind one another. I watched as her toes wiggled wildly, the runes that wrapped around them throbbing so rapidly that they almost seemed to burn infinitely, their fire blazing the air in front of them with a holy light.

"Tickle me," she pleaded as she leaned forward and placed hands on her knees. "Tickle me, I can't—” she gulped, then panted out the rest of her prayers as she reached down towards her ankles, “I can't take this-- tickle me, please-please-please." Huffing rapidly, she gripped her dress, the thing crumbling into wrinkles as her knuckles turned a dreadful white. Crickets chirped a serenade for us as I knelt down, crossing my legs beneath me as I collapsed; through the canopy that blanketed us the velvety black sky nibbled through, brandishing the celestial gems it worshiped so dearly.

The woman before me trembled and arced like a tumultuous lightning bolt rippling through the crowds, afraid to make landfall. Rubbing the back of my head, I grinned sheepishly. "I'm not so sure I'll be as good as--"

Without hesitation her face morphed, her nose flying up as her teeth burst through her lips in a wolfish scream. "DO IT NOW!" she commanded. The air threw me backwards, my right arm saving me from a fall.

With wide eyes I nodded, my form bending towards her feet like a serpent as I breathlessly whispered “tickle-tickle-tickle,” the words oozing across her fluttering skin. Her toes wiggled maddeningly, forming wrinkles down her soles that flapped helplessly at the hot air that splashed across them.

With a furious "Yaagggggh" she threw her head back, her hands flying to her skull as she rustled her hair into chaotic wreckage. Her jaw dropped, her lips curving downward as she turned, wincing and spilling tears across her cheeks. Sniffling sobs wrenched themselves from her throat like splintering wood, her words strewn with agony and suffering, "No mohohore!"

Smiling, I drew in air threw my nostrils as she hopped and shrieked. With fierce determination I swiftly chalked “coochie-coochie,” across her feet, watching them writhe and curl together.

I looked up as her hands slammed back into her knees, her shoulders quaking as she vibrated, her body rocking in place as she bent her head and hotly yelled "Stahp!" Huffing faster than before, she hotly choked out words as she sniveled, "you-- you--" a hiccup gagging her. Sniffing loudly, she shook her head, her watery eyes leering towards mine as she quickly coughed out, "you don't know."

Whipping my fingers through the grass, my hand bartered for passage as they drew circles into the dirt. Impatiently, my hand disregarded the formalities, leaping for her sole, clashing with her toes momentarily before dashing downward, delicately digging into her fertile flesh. At once her feet flew back, her knees bending as her lips synchronized into a sharp v-like smile. Flinging her head back, she bayed into the sky with a high pitched "Ayeeeeee." Steaming eyes crashed into me as I bounded forward, wrapping my arm around her ankle and pulling floundering her foot towards me. The runes shimmered sinisterly, signaling, pleading for the return of my hand. Her own hands bolted to the ground at her sides, tugging mightily at the grass as she giggled. Thoughts began to drizzle out of existence, winking away one after the other until only a hot, dank void remained. The last words to escape me were that I wouldn't let her escape so easily.

Reeling her sole in, my hand bounded for her foot again, striking wild, unfettered blows, my fingers wiggling an outlawed dance against her forbidden flesh. Groaning, I reared back, her powdery skin willfully receiving me like well-tended, flaky and fresh snow that readily withdrew at the slightest provocation. The golden light spilled over me, filling me with a pleasant buzzing as though the sun shone on me. A long, throaty and rolling gasp of pent up relief absolved itself from her before vanishing into vapory nothingness. Loudly exhaling, she gasped and moaned, her hands covering her face, her iris' rolling up into her fluttering eyelids. Feeling my breath quicken, I turned my own torrent of pent up emotion into a furious flurry against her sole, clumping my fingers together and raking them into her arch, her toes popping and bubbling against my bicep as I laced wave after wave into her sole. Twisting wildly, she threw one arm straight into the air then bent her elbow, wrapping her hand down around her ear and grasping at the underside of her chin while her remaining arm struck straight out to her side, curving as she bent her fingers back. Again, her mouth fell into agony as she whinnied, a harrowing gasp of pristine pleasure creeping from some unfathomable depths within her. Groaning exasperatedly, she bellowed a sound that scraped at the insides of her throat as her back bent into a curve, several swift moans claiming her lips.

Tucking my fingers together, I flayed back and forth at the spot just beneath her toes. Placing her hand to her cheek, she giggled gently, the sweetest smile adorning her before she gasped again, falling to her side as she thrashed against the ground in blissful throes. She wobbled and bounced there like crackling embers in a bonfire, shrieking "Ah!" sharply, passionately. As I crept into her carefully guarded toes, wiggling into them, vying for admittance, her shrieks of "Ah!" stabbed recklessly, their edge taking on a serrated tone as they sawed through the claustrophobic air. The runes pulsed so rapidly they grew static, sparking and zapping beneath my fingers as they skid across those arcane enchantments as they cast out a resplendent light brighter than the campfire.

Suddenly striking at her knees, her arms wrapped around them and she tucked her head over top of her legs, rocking back and forth as she screeched out a savage "Ahhhhhhhyeeee" with the force of a tsunami. Her face and throat became a violent red as a mix of sweat and tears dripped like a heavy downpour against the dirt. Long lines of grassy earth crossed her cheek and forehead as she rubbed and nuzzled her head into the ground. Clinging to her damp body, her dress took on muddied colors while she bobbed against the ground like a fish, shrieking endlessly, light giggles sprinkling the madness that escaped her.

Withdrawing my hand for but a second I quickly grasped her other ankle, binding them together with my arm. In that brief moment the brilliant light that she emitted fell quiet, casting us in deep shadow. She immediately pounced upward, an uncontrollable frenzy littering her face like a volcano ready to burst. "Don't stop!" she shrieked loudly as she grasped my collar and tugged me close. Casting my fingers against both of her feet, she laughed and fell onto her back, rolling from side to side while a crazed smile bolting itself into her cheeks. Her big toes pressed into each other and her toes spread out, then rippled forward as she tilted her soles together. Staring into her feet, I felt a wellspring burst within me as her toes wavered, her soles winking wrinkles at me while her runes lit my hands into a spectral mist. I never wanted to stop. I wanted this, now and always; her bare feet always at my disposal, her skin falling to my whims as she suffered for me, suffered for having such beautiful feet, suffered for being so ticklish. Happiness creaked and overflowed within me and my pace quickened, my fingers flying faster and faster as she expelled heavenly pleasure so pure it drove her mad. Banging a fist against the ground, she laughed lightly, one eye tightly shut while the other trembled, rolling back beneath her eyelid. She shook, a puddle of drool forming beneath her gaping mouth as she cackled, culminating in a long screaming moan that lingered on for several minutes, slamming into the distant tree line as it flushed past us, sailing down the hill and scorching the land with bliss.

Distantly, I heard a flutter of wings as the trees above us shook without restraint, their branches and leaves quarreling and squabbling as though a storm roused a brawl between them. Birds cawed as a cloud of black dampened the stars from existence. A long, shrill shriek pierced the sky endlessly, drowning out my guide's bellows. Screaming laughter painted our surroundings a still white, stalling my hand as I turned towards the small farm. A raspy voice that mimicked my companion wheezed out at me; turning, I looked at her as she pushed at the ground, her arms failing as she limply collapsed, gasping for air. "Ple---please.. just.. just a little.. longer" she gasped out, sobbing serenely, quietly. "Just... a little..." her head fell upon its side, her matted hair damply falling over her face. Her neck expanded, and she puffed at her hair, the strands adamantly clinging to her chin and cheeks, refusing to budge. Reaching forward, I threw the defiant hair back over her shoulder, placing a hand there and pulling her up as I embraced her. Her body drooping into mine like the petals of a flower that absorbed entirely too much rain.

Behind her, her feet twitched as she nuzzled me slightly, a weak "please," braying to me. An inferno blazed within me as I reached behind her, wrapping my hand around the outside of her foot, stroking her soft flesh gently with the tips of two fingers, running them down the outer side of her foot. Cooing, she giggled, gasping lightly as she tied her arms tightly around my torso, her head falling backwards as she wheezed a hot gasp of relief into my ear. Light giggles pounded into my chest as she and I laughed together, an extremely wicked yet wholly pleasant smile threading her lips. Drawing my hand upward, I gently grazed around the tips of her toes. She purred lightly before shrieking to life, her arms binding her to my body as she fought feverishly to free herself, her jaw overcome with intense, agonized shrieks of love: no other word existed to describe the outlet of emotion that she brewed within her. Lustful shrieks emanated from her in pure, simple tones as she thrashed within my arm, her feet batting the ground that held them with such care.

Again, the shrill sound echoed from the farm, my guide closing her eyes and huffing loudly, screaming a pained "Ahhh!" as she pushed me away. Her hands rummaged at her face for some semblance of sanity as she kicked her legs out, falling to her stomach. For a few moments she scattered her hands through her hair, sobbing loudly before screaming another tormented "Ahhh!" Ratcheting her eyes open, she scanned our surroundings, her eyes narrowing upon slithering over her boots. Swiping at them, she spun around, tucking her feet back into them in a cold, callous motion. Sliding onto her back, she rose and almost immediately fell backward into the tree, placing a hand on it as she slipped downward, her caving knees faltering beneath her. Jumping up, I fell towards her, my arm enshrouding her shoulder as she collapsed into me, panting and wheezing. Placing a hand on my chest, she looked up, her eyelids drooped over the upper half of her irises. "It’s time." she wheezed. Gulping, she sighed and stood straight, pushing me aside. "They're Marking her."

Resentment stained her face, her eyebrows furrowing intently as she stomped forward, her feet slapping against the earth quickly yet landing gingerly; she walked as though she crossed a knee-deep swamp, her legs slowly rising high into the air before slamming back down. Disappearing into the darkness, my jaw dropped as I shook my head. Placing my hands across my belt, I straightened my pants, my shirt flapping out from my right side as I leapt forward, running after her. Tripping over a traitorous tree root I tumbled forward, rolling across the ground several times as I swallowed a cloud of dust. With a gasp, I felt my eyes bulge as I choked and sputtered, several tears welling up at my eyes that lamented the beauty that had so readily abandoned them. Looking up I saw my guide's silver dress sway from the shadows as she crossed her arms, the claws of exhaustion lacerating the area under her pouting eyes. "Come on then," she muttered simply, turning on her heels as I stumbled upwards, after her.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 9

Setting a hand upon her shoulder she shirked away, speeding past the trees and into the open, downward flowing field. The bold stars above us twinkled merrily as though unaware of what they deigned interrupt. Ahead of us several small torches wafted and wobbled through the air, a chittering of voices coming together into a crowd as the lights overlapped, merging and melding together. The scream laughed again, thundering around us as though the gods themselves blighted the land with the supreme, incomprehensible joy that shook the world. Off to my left two deer looked up, panic erupting in their dark eyes just before they snapped away. To my right I could see the orange of the bonfire, distant pained howls that set my heart aflutter racketing from that direction. Ahead of me my guide laid her hand onto the wooden fence, sighing as she pushed against it once, hopping an inch into the air before plummeting back again. Shaking her head, she pushed again, this time leaping up and over before falling through the air haphazardly and tumbling into the ground, onto her face. Rushing forward, I hurriedly placed a hand on a post, stepping onto the top most board and bounding over top of it. I quickly fell to a knee and grasped my guide by her shoulders before rolling her over. Her head fell gently into my palm as she reached for my chest, her fingers feebly gripping the center of my shirt as she closed her eyes, shakily sitting up. Pushing me aside, she placed a hand to the ground, her knees bending outwards as she rose then walked towards the bobbing lights, their flames alight in her eyes.

Rushing forward, I placed my arm around her midriff as she shirked aside, her hips swaying as she slipped away. Briefly flicking at her hair, she ordered it to a ghost of its former glory before knotting her fingers behind her scalp, her elbows jutting out as she jaunted forward. Just ahead, the lilting sound of voices rising and falling came at us like birds chirping as they scraped at the sky. The collective tones and tribulations fluttered about while merry laughter spun through the sky, drifting and spiraling downward like discarded tail-feathers. As their very flushed faces became clear, several women turned, glancing our way without breaking conversation. A few seconds passed before one nodded and another shrugged, their faces turning back as they beamed at each other with an exuberant, blushing light. To the side of the building, cloaked in shadows, one woman came from behind another. Reaching around the first woman, the second woman wrapped her arms, squeezing tightly. Almost immediately a broad, evil smile appeared on the first as she whipped around, forcing the second woman to the wall, her mouth descending on her comrade’s neck. The second woman bit her lower lip, her knees shaking as she raised the sole of her boot to rest against the wall. With wide eyes she pushed the woman away then jumped forward, tackling her to the ground. The two tumbled for a moment, laughing. Tying her legs around the woman's upper body, the second woman rolled back, grabbing at her ankles and ripping her boots away, hastily flinging her fingers down the woman's exposed soles as the boots sailed through the sky.

At once the woman cried out a carol of laughter, her upper body turning so stiff she appeared as if she had been turned to stone. Shrieking wildly, she seceded a bout of untamed laughter that banged and buzzed in the night air, melodiously merging with the distant shrieks from the campfire. Turning towards my guide, I nudged my boot against hers, placing a hand above her hip. Without looking she slapped my hand and edged forward. A bustling came from behind us. Jumping in place, I turned, raising fists to my chest. Three women approached, the rosy cheeked woman slung between two others. The rosy cheeked woman's head lay dormant as though she were asleep, her boots dragging behind her as she hung there limply. The other women huffed as they inched forward, exertion stamped onto their creased faces. As they muddied past us, the rosy cheeked girl doggedly raised her head, her glazed over eyes blinking then flitting towards me. Meek tones swept through the air, her whisper of a voice scraping the hoarse notes of "hey, you." She smiled and limply raised her hand, her fingers shaking as she waggled them vaguely in my direction while the three darted past the crowd towards the large, central building.

In front of us, a figure pushed through the crowd, breaking through it. Tapping her the index finger of her left hand to the center of her head, the woman continued to stroll forward, streaks of silver swishing down her dress. A wash of torchlight sprinkled down her arms, revealing her bulging muscles before the light flickered onto her face. Turning quickly, the blacksmith dashed her hand through the air in a wild motion, then threw her head back, cackling loudly as the rest of the women raised hands to their lips, chuckling politely. Turning back towards us as she trudged forward, shoving the earth aside as she stomped forward, veins popping at her neck. "Hullo!" she shouted, careening closer like a wild colt busting through a field of wheat. Looking to either side, I stepped back slightly, my left bicep shaking as I raised my right hand to wave. Without looking at me the blacksmith set her hands upon the shoulders of my guide, shaking her. Laughing, the smith smelted hot, fresh words at a near yell, "You're a mess!" Nodding in my direction, her eyes narrowed and she gallantly heated steely words, hammering them loudly, "This guy, huh?"

Chuckling, my guide covered her mouth with her left hand, waving up and down with her right. Her eyes eclipsed to pleasant slits as she nodded towards the barn. Throwing an arm around my guide's shoulder, the blacksmith pulled her that way. "He's ok. You know those vile women though." Pressing her cheek into the blacksmith's arm, she nuzzled her nose then nestled her to rest.

The top of the blacksmith's head threw itself in my direction as she laughed, the two camouflaging themselves with the shadows while the women struggled on the ground next to them, a vindictive violet-white light sparking like lightning. "Right, right!" she said, twisting my guide to face her as the blacksmith mightily hugged my guide, my guide returning the embrace meekly. "Still, he got you good.” Her lips wrapped upward and her nose twitched. “I'm jealous."

Sighing and smiling, soft words lilted from her mouth like anxious dew. "Oh, no."

A wicked smile crested the blacksmith's lips as her hands dropped, repeatedly prodding at my guide's shoulders with index fingers as my guide stepped back into the building. "You know, it’s been a while since you've been back." Ushering forward, she spun the toe of her right boot into the ground, a small cloud flushing up as a divot formed. Placing her hands on her hips, she leaned forward, their noses nearly touching. "Too long."

Placing a hand above her breasts, my guide fanned herself as a duplicitous smile took form on her face. "Ah." she said simply, meekly as she turned her head towards the crowd. "The marking, though."

Grasping my guide by her hips, the blacksmith lifted my companion up as she squeaked, her legs clamping around the woman's torso as the two fell into the barn with a thud. The women to their left glanced over, then returned to their heated debates and conversations. "It can wait! You ought to have a proper welcome home," the blacksmith said hotly as she nuzzled her cheek against my guide's.

Closing her eyes, my guide's head flitted back slightly as she nodded left to right. "Not now." The blacksmith tucked her lips against my guide's neck as her head flitted up, her neck exposing itself. "Tomorrow."

"You're leaving again tomorrow." The blacksmith said, running a finger through the hair that rested on my guide's shoulder, unknotting it.

Tilting her head, my guide placed her cheek against the blacksmith's forehead. "You know I've work to do." From the crowd of women, the Bear emerged, shooing several women aside as they leapt away like frogs. Turning, she eyed up the blacksmith and my companion as well as the laughing bundle upon the ground. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, the bear approached me, stopping at my side then turning on her heels and facing the same direction.

Snorting, the blacksmith simply muttered, "Him? He'll be fine."

My guide shifted her weight to her heel, her fingers twitching as she called out "But—"

"Just a few minutes then." the blacksmith’s words rushed from her mouth, melting against the ground while her lips brushed against my guide's neck. Tugging at her dress, she freed my companion's shoulder, kissing it gently, my companion's lips mouthing silent pleasantries. One of the blacksmith's hands rubbed against the ankle of my compatriot's boot, her fingers fluttering against the stoic sole of her footwear as my guide sharply inhaled, her eyes shooting open.

The blacksmith's upper lip caved into her mouth. Biting it, she smiled as my guide hotly whispered, "Just a few minutes," her arms crissing around the blacksmith's neck. At once her foot was bare, the lethargic leather happily bouncing against the ground. Drilling her trained fingers into my companion’s sole, the woman left thick, white streaks down my guide's glowing golden arch. Ululating an ominous, shrill pitch, my companion panted and pined, laughing once as she let out a deluge of gasps.

Relinquishing her flesh, the blacksmith heavily gripped her ankle while thrusting her body further into my companions. Drawing the foot to her mouth, she pursed her lips together, blowing gently then diving in, driving a ravenous kiss against the center of her foot. My companion bellowed and shrieked as she slid down the building, her legs forming a V shape with her torso as she fiercely burrowed her fingers into the blacksmith's neck. Running her tongue up and down her arch, she began to snap at the wiggling toes, her teeth grazing across them. Immediately spreading apart, the toes welcomed the blacksmith's nibbles at their sensitive stalks; my guide threw her arm back and banged at the building several times as she twisted away, her lips spreading far apart from her tightly clenched teeth. Yawning down the side of the building, she slowly fell, dragging the blacksmith to her knees as they collapsed against the ground in unison. Laughing, the blacksmith pounced on her, tucking my guide's leg beneath herself, placing her sole face up next to her hip as she lowered her face to it, laying into her work like a barbarian. Covering her mouth with both hands, my guide shrieked like a banshee, a long, venomous "O!" reverberating against the hushed night's oppressiveness.

A hand touched my left shoulder. Jumping to my side, I turned and looked up into the chiseled face of the bear-woman, a compassionate yet sad look draped across her eyes. "Come child," she said as a pressure formed between my shoulder blades, prodding me forward. She nodded towards nodding towards the barn as I slowly waltzed in front of her, her voice soaking through me like the steam of a sauna, burning off my will to resist. "Leave them be. The Marking will begin soon."

"Ah," I stammered as her hand drifted to just fingers, propelling me forward. In a blind haze I staggered onward before stopping and flicking a hair from my brow while rubbing the toe of my boot against a verdant, stubborn tuft of grass that stuck out from the sea of dirt, "I thought it already started?"

Letting out a slow chuckle, it curved and curtailed into a low, hearty laugh as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, her head falling back like rainwater over a small cliff full of exposed roots. "No, no, if it had, you would know." Raising an eyebrow, I scratched at my chin and she smiled soothingly, tilting her head and closing her eyes. "Come, I'll show you." With a whoosh she passed me, the wind of her movement whispering within my hair as I turned towards the glowing yellow light that spread from the other side of the barn. Skipping past a small group of chattering women, their features sparking out then hiding away through thin veils of shadow, we skimmed ahead behind another small gathering of giggling women. Clapping her hands together, the bear let out a low growl of "Come on you lot!" before raising her hands and flinging them outward, scattering the others as though they were a flock of sheep. The two women immediately barring her jumped in place while the others scurried apart, shuffling such that they provided us a small hallway, their gazes averted from mine as my eyes scanned across their hidden faces. Just outside of my peripheral vision I watched as the women fell in line behind us, their eyes sparkling with nervous glee as their footfalls clambered in unison.

Pressing my arms against my biceps, I shivered, looking at the single sliver of despondently pewter cloud defiantly sailing across the open sky. As I stepped through the threshold of the emanating glow, the amber light spraying over me, several women sped ahead, grand smiles plaster across their faces as they closed their eyes, sighing pleasantly. The two that first scattered away shimmied forward, their heads hunched ahead as they brushed as the goosebumps on the arms while the others huddled together into a shivering crowd, a phantasm of breath appearing occasionally before immediately banishing itself as though dashed against a stone. Behind us I could hear my guide compassionately yelp as she her piercing voice cried out "Oh goddess!" Stilled gasps of laughter haunted me, digging into my shoulders with each screaming moan that she cried into the night.

Crossing into that golden realm, I turned, looking into the small barn. The table that had held the elf-woman was gone, the grass where it had been still feint. Instead, next to the wall a woman sat on a sturdy device cloaked by the fabric that bound her to it. Her legs were spread apart into a very wide v, tightly wrapped to thick boards with a white cloth that coiled around her. In much the same way, her torso was pinned to another thick board, her arms chained tightly to the wall by still more cloth. The cloth that contained her mummified form sagged slightly as her body writhed beneath it. Strands of it snaked around her neck, chin and forehead, forcing her head to remain quietly still, her black curls spilling over top of the network of bondage. Each bare foot was encased entirely by a heavy pair of boards, the shape of her foot shrouded by puffs of cloth; it seemed as though the wood was cut specifically to house her foot, holes caringly yet sinisterly encasing her toes. A dampness hung at the center of her right foot in the form of a bright crimson smudge that had seemingly been erased. Panting heavily, the woman gasped and choked for air. Her wide, steely eyes darted about, looking through and past the world as though she transcended this realm to another plane of existence.

Stepping forward, a tall copper skinned woman that had hidden in the corner raised a smoldering vile of blood red in one hand, and the pointed quill of a feather in the other. A blissful yet wicked smile slowly rolled up the bound woman's lips as she pursed them together, her voice faltering with hiccups and giggles as she spoke. “I ha--” she turned, coughing lightly into her shoulder, “I hadn't expected it... to be...” she winced, spreading her lips as she sucked in air, “to be that potent.”

The tall, shadowy woman stepped forward, her coppery skin glittering at the light the dancing torches scattered across the small, makeshift room. Nodding, she asked in a salty voice like the sea breeze, "Do you accept the Mark?"

Laughing, the strands of cloth cobbled, the sound of fabric rustling alongside the woman's lilting voice. Without reservation she quickly spewed out, "Of course! I never dreamed it would be this wonderful."

To my left the bear gave a motherly smile. Looking up to her, she tilted her head, whispering with a knowing voice, "Freshlings stay for six months before they're allowed to take on the Mark, so they can decide without doubt. The Mark... well,” shadows overtook her face as she paused and pressed her lips together, letting out a breathy exhale before continuing, “I never can think of how to describe it.” Locking eyes with me, her lower lids sagged and her eyes glossed over, “We use it for pleasure but make no mistake, the Mark is a curse inscribed into the soles of the feet.” Turning back towards the bound woman, the bear tilted her head again then raised her chin towards the bound woman in front of it. “It's Permanent. Her screams from earlier, we gave her a small sample, a drop or two applied directly to her foot. A last chance, really, though even if she refused afterwords it would have remained." Smirking, she shook her head, "she's a tough one, that merchant. This, ah," the bear's eyes fluttered dreamily, her words wafting away like pollen on the wind, "That might be the most potent one yet."

The vial in the woman's hand snarled and cackled a wicked light, a noxious gas coiling around the neck of the vile like a thunderstorm. Approaching the woman's right foot, the woman of the sea knelt down, dipping the quill of the feather into the vial, swirling it. The liquid wheezed out a hiss, a small whirlpool forming as the dripping feather escaped its grasp. Upon lifting away a single drop sighed to the ground, burrowing into the dry dust and letting out a low seething as it pierced inches into the ground. Raising her left hand to her face, the bear bit at her knuckle as the other women looked on, their faces dyed and painted with anticipation and excitement. They crackled and shivered, their eyes unblinking as they stared on. "It's a good thing she's strong," the bear muttered, her teeth digging into her knuckle.

Touching the bottom of the quill to the bound woman's heel, the coppery woman quickly scratched a crooked rune along the edge of her foot. The rune lit alive like the sun bursting over the mountains at dawn, casting a terrible, voracious light that threatened to consume us all as the maiden howled, her scream carrying more force than the winds of a typhoon. At once every woman braced herself, stepping back as they tucked their heads into their shoulders or guarded their faces with their arms while the ruby light flooded the room, washing over them. I stumbled backwards several steps, though the bear stood tall, her shoulders unwavering. The woman's jaw opened lightly, her wonderful smile beguiling the rusty, throaty scream she exhaled.

Her shriek was as endless as the expansive night when clouds gulped up the stars and the moon. She screamed loudly, painfully as her body twitched, the bonds holding her tight. Even her foot barely moved, the personally cut boards gladly performing the task they were assigned. Dipping the feather into the vial, the bronze statue of a woman swirled again before carving a second, wide shape along the edge of her heel. The mysterious letter seemed to meld into her skin before flashing, the scratch immediately adopting its new home while the woman's agonized voice wailed. Lifting my hands, I covered my ears, my eyes unable to look away from the the woman as her face took on bright red hues and her eyes took on a look of agony that I thought unknown to this world. With total focus on the task, the sea-woman dipped again and again, scratching infuriatingly tiny yet detailed symbols into the foot before her, the markings cresting up the outside of her foot, curving just around to the edges.

With the feather pinched between her hand, she leaned forward, her lips parted slightly and her eyes shifting between the canvas before her and the artwork she withdrew from it. As she scratched back and forth in a single spot, slowly sifting away the true nature of the woman's skin, I felt the bound woman's screams mesmerize me. The world swayed around me, and for a moment I saw the image of the woman from earlier in the day while the crowd of women worked her body, extracting from her everything and more. My breath shuddered and I felt myself whisper, “hours” as my eyelids slowly crawled upward, in a flash seeing everything that woman had endured reflected on the face of this woman, all of her suffering bound into that single mark that the sea-faring woman inked into the flat of her flesh, just above her heel.

The bear shivered, her eyelids trembling slightly as she slowly shook her chin. “No lad. Days,” she said, her weightless words tumbling behind us, blown away by the maelstrom of screaming Inhaling sharply, I tucked my tongue over my upper teeth, touching the tip to my upper lip as a series of images flashed before me, of the woman with pointy ears sat proudly provoking her tormentors to further action, begging them to keep going even as they sagged against the walls and the morning light rose across the mountains. Every touch, every cry and scream, every moan and laugh, every sensation, all of that, everything she felt, every rush of emotion, every ounce of joy and agony, compressed into that small sliver of a line that curled above and away from her heel like a sapling and doomed to be repeated a hundred times over around the entirety of her foot. I felt my breath come to a standstill as I watched the woman meticulously work at the woman's sole, inking suffering into it over and over again, swaying the hellish pen back and forth, spreading the liquid thoroughly onto that one scratch mark before dabbing into the bottle for still more liquid to apply there. For a moment my thoughts fell on the other women, each one bearing the same marks, each one suffering the same curse for every minute of every hour of every day of their lives and likely beyond the grave, each one humbled into a sobbing, whimpering mess simply by removing their boots. The glowing runes seared into my vision, the thought that their bare flesh had been willingly weaponized against them such that a single blade of grass or gust of wind could devastate them, leaving them a crying, laughing and entirely helpless crumpled pile of a person.

The woman's scream took on a terrifying turn, dispelling me from my thoughts. Blinking, I watched as the wispy vine like scrawlings were imprinted onto her arch. Her smile faded into a pained look, her eyes pinching shut at the outer corners as she shook, attempting to flail at her bondage. Though the boards of her table shook wildly and the barn itself groaned, shaking back and forth, she remained steadfastly bound, her foot refusing to so much as flinch. Screeching, she sobbed loudly, the legs of the device that held her wiggling as she rocked the wall of the building. To my right, the blacksmith approached, holding my guide in her arms. Her legs hung limply, her smiling face resting against the neck of the blacksmith. Nuzzling at the top of her head with her nose, the blacksmith smiled widely, winking at me as she stopped next to us. Fluttering open, my guide watched the woman before us. "impressive," she whispered lightly as her hand tightened on the blacksmith's shoulder.

Cocking an eye, I turned to her. To my left the bear gripped at her chin, the color in her face draining as her eyes curved into sickles. "It took three sessions to make that much progress on me," she said, her voice straining, crackling with astonishment.

The blacksmith's lips quivered, the fiery runes imprinting themselves onto her black lines as she slowly mouthed "Five," her voice barely audible through the curtain of screaming.

"Also five," my guide said, her lower lip hanging open and her arm quivering as she looked on.

The seals firmly implanted against her arch, the lower two thirds of the woman's foot throbbed wildly, clawing at the night air in maddened throes while the woman wailed and shrieked in luxuriously enthralled, pained gasps. For a moment the sea-woman stood, a mischievous looked clasping her eyes as she meticulously and thoroughly dabbed the quill into the bottle while watching the bound woman thrash behind her bondage. Lifting the feather out of the liquid, she let the loose fluid drip back in before darting towards the ball of the woman's foot. Stepping forward, the bear waved her arms wildly, "That's enough! No more tonight!"

The sea-farer turned, her upper eyelids stoically flat, the quivering quill in her hand bobbing centimeters from the woman's foot. Gulping, the women screamed out "I can take it!" as I covered my ears, her words tearing at my very being. A great hunger tore into me, my fingers twitching as an endless desire to watch her take on more of the ink despite the absolute anguish it put her through. To my side my guide gasped, swooning as the blacksmith's knees buckled. The crowd began to chatter as they turned from one to the other, their faces frozen. Even while her foot remained unharassed, the woman continued to scream and bawl, sobbing wildly while thrusting her hips as she wrenched a afflicted moan. Her fingers dug into her palms, a light trickle of blood dripping down, staining the cloth at her wrist as it gave way, her arm ripping away from the wall. Placing her hand over her face, she howled into it before rubbing at her breasts, her head shaking in its bondage.

A woman ran up from the crowd, wrapping her arms around the bound woman. The bound woman slammed her arm into the back of the woman, forcing her to gasp and fall to her knees. Two others ran up, embracing the bound woman, cooing and shushing her, whispering "It'll be ok." Carefully scraping the fluid from the feather, the sea-woman cleaned the tool before reaching to the ground, plucking a cork and plugging the bottle. In a swift motion she rose and dove into the shadows, glass clinking against wood as the darkness quivered and moaned. The little lady bound to the wall sobbed uncontrollably, her toes flicking in the foot-board as the rest of the crowd ran up, one patting the woman on the head while another snuck an arm behind her back, rubbing at it as she pulled herself close to the little lady.

The dams at her eyes gave way as water poured from them, drool flowing from the ends of her mouth as she gasped and cried out, "Finish it!" The women around her froze, then fell back, one falling onto her bottom as another wavered, fainting. The woman to her side caught her, letting her fall gently to the ground while fanning herself and coming to rest on her knees. The sea-woman looked to the bear. Blinking, the bear's jaw dropped as she nodded consent. Sighing, the bronze woman stepped backward into the shadows, the squeak of a cork exiting a bottle resounding as a sharp spike of virulent red light cast the darkness away, illuminating her face with distilled purpose. With slow, thorough steps she strode towards the woman, kneeling down once more as the bound woman huffed rapidly, half sobbing and half chuckling, the ruby light twinkling across her eyes, an inferno suffering melded with a incredibly voracious desire mingling across her eyes. With gusto the sea-faring woman began her work again, dabbing and marking the ball of the shrieking woman's foot, then the upper side with tiny, detailed letters.

Twitching, the little lady grew silent, her mouth dropping wide open as she closed her eyes, her head lightly rapping at the wall behind her. Thick belts of empty air came like the aftermath of a hurricane as I stared on, the sinister light piercing the darkness with a demonic wickedness to it. Dropping the feather into the vial, the copper woman wiped sweat from her forehead with her forearm before huffing, then dragging the quill out again. Dabbing against her big toe, she began scrawling meticulous, tiny lines around the woman's big toe. At once the little lady ripped her still bound arm from the wall, tightly grasping a woman that remained by her side as she howled out "Oh my goddess yes!"

Though she continued to cry, sob and scream, her voice wailed in the empty country side behind me. Distantly I heard the wind blow, tree branches scraping against one another as the sound of birds fleeing their homes performed behind me. Watching in disbelief, the bear stared as the first toe thirstily lapped up the runes, the other toes flicking, pleading for their turn. Drawing smaller and even more detailed lines into the stalk of her second toe, the little lady howled, letting out a throaty, scraping laugh that scraped the paint from the boards while profusely screaming out in a raw voice "More! More!"

Placing a hand on her chin, my guide sat up, then kicked her legs out, leaping to the ground carefully, her body shaking as she landed before she stumbled and fell to one knee. At once the blacksmith and I rushed forward, each placing a hand around a shoulder as she shakily rose. Looking to the bear, my guide whimpered out, "she's not human."

"A demon," the sound came though the bear's lips barely moved. Throwing a hand up, she brushed her hair straight back. Raising an arm, I covered my mouth with my elbow as the whirlwind picked up pace, the bound woman's screams turning from mere hurricane to an inferno that made the flaming winds of hell seem meek. The heat of her breath threatened to melt my skin lest I step backward, fearing for my life as she shook with enough force to undo the celestial bodies far above. "As soon as she recovers I'm relinquishing leadership to her." The blacksmith nodded knowingly, my guide turning back to the woman. "I've never seen anyone with such a Queenly resolve."

Curving the final runes into her pinky toe, the seafarer stepped back, plucking the cork from the ground and slamming it into the bottle. The little lady screamed in a frenzy as the other women unwrapped the cloth from about her legs and torso, while still others unlocked the boards that held her feet. As she broke free, she curled up, rolling off of the X-shaped table as three women caught her, gently setting her to the ground. Another woman scurried away, grabbing the ankle high boots that sat in the corner. Leaping back, she fixed them back onto the little lady's feet, safeguarding them from the villainous night as the remainder of the women huddled about her, hugging and speaking reassuring words while others cheered her on for her dedication.

The bear stepped backwards, wriggling fingers through her hair as she sighed and turned, stepping through the bobbing glow and vanishing into the darkness. From behind what felt like a mountain wrapped around my neck as the thick neck of the blacksmith towered through my peripheral vision. My guide stumbled to my side and then our arms pressed into one another as the blacksmith squished us together in a great hug. Tucking her cheek into my chest, my guide rolled about, tugging my collar down and pressing her lips just below my neck while the blacksmith nuzzled against my left ear. My guide's hot breath rolled down my shirt as she whispered out “that was wonderful.”

Nailing a response to me, the blacksmith merely stapled a "Yes." onto the end of that statement. Stepping away, the blacksmith spun me around, throwing an arm about my shoulder as my guide fell against my side, her hand resting on my chest. "You're alright, little man." My guide nodded, the blacksmith pushing us into the still air, towards the large building in the center of the grove, the shadows gobbling us up and the earth crunching beneath us.

 

[ElFewja]

Live By The Feather – Part 10

Mists swirled around the ground as we strode ahead, the ghostly fangs of the chilled air setting in through the aura of warmth that seemed to flicker away. Blinking, I could feel the raw scars that the woman's screams carved into my heart. With a look to the shimmering sky above, I saw the imprinted memory of her soles blush across the sky as I slowly breathed out, “It's almost a shame she only has her other foot left to Mark.”

My guide cringed against me suddenly and the blacksmith bellowed out a laugh, slapping me on the back. Above us the wind roared, and a shadow slithered across the center of the moon, bathing us in a strip of shadow within a sea of silver. Tilting her head at an angle, the blacksmith's eyes narrowed into vicious sickles and a wicked smile crept across her lips as she spoke out, “Oh, her other foot needs a sketch, sure.” The grip against my shirt tightened and a sprinkling of color appeared on my guide's cheeks as the blacksmith set a heavy hand against my shoulder, hissing out, “Don't you worry. That sketch needs to be finalized, and after that is re-inking.” My guide shivered and the blacksmith chuckled, smoking out, “and then touch ups.” Leaning back, she pinched her thumb and forefinger on either side of her chin as she looked up. Shooting her gaze back to Milandra, the blacksmith's words hammered against her, “Another week of Marking, maybe?”

Cooing out a slow chuckle, my guide released her grip, tracing the tip of her finger in winding circles around the cloth of my shirt as she whispered out, “Likely a little longer.”

My eyes went wide and coughed out, “she's not done?” The two women briskly snapped their heads from side to side. Thrusting my hand behind me, I rubbed at the back of my neck as I glanced through the wavering shade around us, my words faltering against my tongue. “I—didn't-- I thought-” Swiping my forefingers down the side of my nose, I rubbed my palm against my cheek and inhaled, my words sizzling against my mind as I spoke out “I thought you said it took you five days to take on that much?”

The black smith glanced away, smiling broadly as she slowed to a stop while my companion's chest froze in place as her eyes wandered off into the distance. Lowering her chin into her chest, the blacksmith crossed her arms and strode ahead, chuckling to herself. Brushing her cheek against her shoulder, she cast a sly look back and said, “Milandra didn't tell you much about the marking, eh?” The woman leaning against me became suddenly still, her hand freezing in place and her eyes locking onto the ground before her. Tilting her head downward slightly, the blacksmith's eyes flickered with a mischievous light and the end of her smile cut into her cheek, “And why would that be?” Sweeping her leg out, she spun to face us, her forehead pointed downward and at an angle as she took a step forward, “Milandra?”

I felt my guide's hot breath fluster against my skin as though it were the seawater beating upon the jagged rocks of a cliff falling into the ocean. Her eyes fluttered, and she pressed her lips close together, blowing out a thin needle of air that laid heated stitches against my chest. The blacksmith neared then leisurely reached through the air, plucking at a strand of my guide's hair and tucking it behind her ear as she leaned in and whispered, “You didn't forget, did you?”

“Stop,” my guide said, her meek voice rolling down my shirt as she pressed her hand flatly against my chest. Her eyes glazed over, drifting downward as her chest rose and fell in short, rapid bursts.

“You sobbed the whole time,” the blacksmith's voice edged out, her voice hotter than magma. Running her fingers through my comrade's hair, she thrust a length of air straight back, the end running shorter than the locks that swept down her neck. “You just sat there, bawling, crying over and over again,”

“Don't” my guide moaned out, rolling her head backward and swiping her cheek against her shoulder. The cloud that covered the moon splintered away, raining thin rays of silver around us.

“And you just kept calling out--”

Clicking her teeth together, my guide shut her eyes tightly, her arms quaking as she bit into my chest with her fingers while letting out a ragged “stohop.” Streaming joy stretched across her face, her lips curving upward while the edges of her eyes sagged downward.

Tucking her forehead into my guide's hair, she pressed her mouth against her ear and whispered out steamy words. “Not my feet.” Milandra let out a long, pent up gasp as the out ends of her eyes flickered.

Sucking in air through her teeth, she grimaced, batting out a chuckling before extending her neck and gasping out a groan. “st..sto...”

“Anything..” Whimpering out a moan, my guide bit her lower lip, liquid glittering against her eyes. “else.” With split lips, my guide sobbed out a giggle while clawing her fingers down my shirt, bliss rippling across her face waves, alternating between agony and pleasure. Clenching her teeth, she sucked in a sheet thin breath of air, quickly releasing it in an electric gasp as the muscles in her face relaxed while euphoria washed over her. A golden aura seemed to emanate from her being as she twisted her head suddenly, then froze in place while gritting her teeth.

Wiggling her eyebrows, the blacksmith glanced over at me, splashing her heated words into water while my guide writhed in my grip like steam. “We don't forget even a second of the marking, but Milandra--” As her name was called, my comrade burrowed her face into my shirt, striking at her neck with her shoulder. My shirt grew wet, and I felt her coo and purr into the cloth. “She relives it each time we bring hers up.” She raised her chin at me, and forged a single word that cut through the air, “Watch.”

Gasping, my guide pressed further into me, a muffled and desperate “Please, no!” as she gripped into my arm with her other hand, clumping my sleeve.

The blacksmith's eyes glazed over, her upper lids lowering as she focused on her craftsmanship. Her voice took on a chiseling quality, cutting at my guide as she spoke out, “They started with her toes.” At once Milandra slammed into me, shaking me wildly as she began howling with laughter.

“Don't!” she called out, diving backward, extending her neck straight out, exposing her pale skin at me. A growl of a moan rolled through her, and she shivered wildly, her fingers growing lax as their tips rolled down my chest.

Stepping forward, the blacksmith blew her bellows, bursting hot air around me. “The first rune,” she said and my guide began to convulse, twisting wildly as she thrust her hands to her face, rubbing at her eyes with her palms in very different paces. Her jaw dropped, and she began to giggle before choking on silence, grunting out dry heaves of moans. The blacksmith crossed her arms, looking down her nose at Milandra as she slowly crossed to her side, “was carved into the center of her toe.”

“STOP!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her laughter crashing around me like thousands of bolts of lightning. She flew at me, grabbing my shirt and shaking me, looking up at me with wide, vacant eyes.

“And from the moment they started,” she said, a low chuckle piercing through the storm of laughter, “she kept calling out.”

The two women spoke at the same time, my guide screaming at the top of her lungs while the blacksmith mirrored her in lower, hammering tones. “Not my feet!” Suddenly my guide extended her head, screaming with raw laughter as her face turned bright red. She kicked up her right foot, twisting about on the toes of her left as she thrust her weight into me over and over while thrashing at my shoulders with her hands as though desperately trying to climb a slippery wall devoid of footholds.

Sweeping forward, the blacksmith cupped the woman's boot into her hand, cradling it as she continued her story. “They inked her back and forth, over and over, perfecting that single rune.”

The maiden that wept before me, her glowing, angelic form chained to these earthly realms, ripped the world around me asunder. All around the silver moon light crashed into the world, destroying the void that threatened to consume her as she thrust me back and forth. Through the fits of insane laughter she squirreled out grand gasps of “Ahh! Oh! Ohhh!”as pleasure wracked its noxious presence into her. As she thrashed her head about, her lips spreading into wiry, misshapen polygons with a hundred angles, she began to shatter the world with intense moans before screaming in a single pitch so loud that the skies above trembled. “NOOOOOT MY FEEEEET” she called out, pushing me back as the ground beneath me crumpled away. “ANYTHING ELSE! PLEASE!!” The blacksmith chuckled coolly, stepping away while I wrapped my arms around the woman before me, rubbing at her back. After several moments of spilling out earsplitting melodies, she began to slow down, huffing and puffing while still letting out the occasional shriek of laughter.

With a gut wrenching moan that permanently etched itself into my soul, my guide sagged downward, her knees buckling under her weight as she collapsed into me. The blacksmith thrust her arm around her, hoisting her body up as she sagged to the side. Her eyelids fluttered, narrowly revealing the whites of her eyes as she chest quivered, her fingers trembling as she faintly murmured, “you don't understand.” Clamping her eyes shut, she pressed her lips together and blew out a bout of air before righting herself and lowering her shaking hands, smoothing her dress in sharp bursts as she stepped forward unevenly. Her elbows creaked as she stopped, looking down and rubbing the toe of her boot against the ground, “They tickled her, but--” a shock rolled up her back and she quaked, then became very still and straight, her shoulders pointed backward. Slowly relaxing them, she abruptly brushed her chin down her shoulder as she squealed out, “The things they did to her feet... and to her...” Sniffing, she tilted her head down, her lips spreading outward, tears dropping into the ground as her cracking voice sparked out, “So much pleasure, for so long.” Thrusting her hands upward, she covered her face, sniffing and gasping while giggling very lightly. “It's—I just...” she took in several deep, quick breaths while wrapping her arms around herself, “It's like I'm standing on holy water, all the time.” Looking up, she reached to the sky, fanning her fingers far apart and then grasping at the massive pearl in the sky as she clenched her teeth together and spewed out, “It's so close, but...” she began to shimmy back and forth, sliding one boot onto the other as she began to wiggle her leg free of it.

Bellowing out a laugh, the black smith thrust past me, gently lowering her arm against Milandra's shoulder as a broad smile creased her lips. In a quick motion, the black smith, lowered her head and rubbed her cheek down my guide's shoulder, slowly mewling out “And that's why I love doing such naughty things to you.” My guide splintered momentarily as the blacksmith raised her face, pressing her cheek into Milandra's as she whispered out, “Maybe,” before whetting her tongue with a chuckle while standing upright, “Maybe I just rip those little boots off of you,” she hissed out, dragging the back of her finger over the edge of my guide's shoulder and down her arm while my guide trembled, a cloud of gray blustering around her as she let out ragged, shivering breaths, “and me and the boy make you scream worse than that night.” Huffing, my guide stepped forward without bending her knees, hobbling her legs ahead. Blushing, I followed after as the blacksmith cackled lightly under her breath, winking at me as we stepped in line on either side of my comrade as we neared the line of stockades that guarded the main building.

As we came to the edge of the building, passing the first of a row of stockades, my guide slowed to a stop, her arm withdrawing from me as she vanished behind us. The blacksmith buckled suddenly, falling to her knee; turning, I caught sight of my guide, twisting the blacksmith's arm behind her back as the two tumbled to the ground, broad smiles on their faces. Weaving like a serpent, my guide slithered about, grabbing the blacksmith's ankles as she whipped herself up, dragging the woman towards the stockade by one arm. As though she were hauling a great fishing net, she stepped forward and bent her arm up, thrusting the woman onto the seat of the device before quickly lifting the board and shutting the woman's ankles in it. Unknotting the sash at her waist, she knelt down, grasping the blacksmith's wrists and drawing them behind her, binding them at the wrists. The blacksmith sat, twisting her shoulders as she spun her head over her shoulder and spread her elbows from her torso, tugging at her wrists while her big boots flapped in the stockade. Chuckling, an innocent smile curved onto my guide's lips as she touched her cheek with her index finger. "You didn't think I would let you get away with doing such evil things to me, did you?" Throwing her arms behind her, she stretched her hands backward, her elbows creaking while she closed her eyes and an toothy smile smitten by evil crossed her lips. Pacing to me, she grasped me by the wrist and tugged me away. "Be a good girl and wait a moment," she threw over her shoulder as she hurriedly moved ahead, dragging me behind her, the bones in my arm grinding as she pulled hard.

Swirling around the corner of the building, she unraveled a door knob and spun into a dark, plain hallway with many doors down its length. Stopping at the first, she plucked at a thin chain around her neck, withdrawing a key that dangled back and forth on the necklace. In a smooth motion her arms sagged downward, the moonlight spraying across her backside as she unlocked the door with a satisfying thud. Pushing me inside the nearly barren room, she started to close the door behind me, then reopened it briefly, her eyes half covered by her lids as she stared down. "Ah, before I forget," The moonlight twinkled through her hair, casting several sparkling stars that pulsed along her orange locks, “Who have you selected?”

Scratching my head, I felt my jaw drop as I looked at her. She shook her head, spinning into the room and closing the door behind her. Raising both hands, she motioned me to the solitary bed as she slid against the door and onto the floor. Stepping to the side, I swung my leg about, turning to face the bed. My head hung limply as I stared at it, images of the day playing out before me, "Everyone is so wonderful," I said in a daze, while swinging my head back to face her. Sighing, she looked to the corner, her shoulders drooping. Sitting up, my hands fell limply against my thighs, my voice taking on unkempt tones as I asked , "You like it here, right?"

Chuckling, she raised a hand to her mouth and then threw her head back, laughing as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Silly boy. We all do."

Glancing at my hands, I fidgeted with my fingers, tugging at the joint of my right index finger. Scratching at a mole between my thumb and forefinger, I felt words slowly roll across my tongue, "I don't know if I could ask anyone to leave."

Letting a loud groan of a sigh grumble through her throat, my guide pushed her head backward, bucking at the door with the top of her head, then suddenly shot it down, nodding as she pushed herself up from the floor. Crossing her arms at her breasts, she stepped forward, her shoulder aimed at me like a spear as she looked down her nose. "Any one of us would be honored to become a Lady at court."

Our eyes locked and I fell into her steely gaze, her eyes lined by serrated exhaustion yet huffing and glimmering with hunger. Time seemed to freeze, and I felt the tingling of kindle within my stomach. Her lower eyelids twitched and I gulped, a frenzy of desire, of need, driving me. I dove forward, wrapping my arms around her elbows. Letting out a light gasp, she rolled her head back and raised her arms, brushing against my sides. Immediately I detached from her, grabbing her by the wrists. Her eyebrows rose, and I pushed her back into the door, staring down into her face as I wrapped my arms about her, pinning hers to her side. As I brushed my cheek against hers, her words railed against me, clawing at my backside, leaving fiery trails against me. A lady at court, I thought to myself, the words snuffed out as I envisioned the sobbing wreck she became mere minutes ago at the mere mention of the runes on her soles. I felt my fingers tremble, burrowing into her as my lips twirled upward and my hot breath scratched into her, my tongue flaying her, “Tell me about when you were Marked.”

Her breath shivered against me as I pulled my head back, watching her eyes tremble, her lower lids curving up over her eyes. She glanced away, and just as she started to turn her head I raised my hand, quickly snapping her chin. Her rapid hear beat drummed against me, and her lips parted, warm air cresting towards me. For several moments she stared through me while heat blazed through my chest. Gripping her shoulders, I felt the edges of my eyes harden as I hammered out, "I command you to tell me."

“Don't,” she whispered against her will, her eyes like glowing coals, begging for me to continue. A delicious fear painted across her eyes. I felt her need to resist as she pushed into me. Forcing her back, I thumped her body against the wall and tilted my head down, glancing down my nose at her as the tips of our noses brushed against one another.

She quivered momentarily, and with a shuddering breath she shimmied back, wiggling in place as I lowered my hands to her hips. I felt her arms wrap around my torso, and then she pouted her head down, burrowing her forehead into me. Pulling her tight, I exhaled out, "Take your boot off." Her cheeks shifted and I felt her lips pucker against my chest. Gripping her tightly, I felt every fiber of my being demand for her to suffer, my eyes glimmering with a fierce determination at the thought of how much pleasure she derived from it. Again I saw her, drenched in moonlight, sobbing and panting and moaning at the mere mention of her runes. The toe of her boot tussled against mine, coiling under mine. Her toes wiggled through the leather, and I felt them fade away as my boot sunk into her empty one while she shimmied against the wood. A golden light slowly rose up the door and I saw her naked foot press into the back of the wall as it forced her toes towards me. A primordial thrill filled me at the sight of their golden, pulsing light and my voice, crackling with anticipation, beckoned, "tell me."

Reaching up, I wrapped my right arm around her shoulder and drew her tightly as she tilted her head down and brought her hands upward, gripping into my shirt. The light on her large toe throbbed, and she spoke in sobbing toes. "They--" she sniffled, "they started with my toes." Letting my left hand drop, I brushed my finger nail back and forth against the bottom of her large toe as she began to shake and cackle into my shirt.

For several moments I painted delight into her skin as she shifted about, breathing heavily and letting out strained groans. Her fingers flickered and she twitched slightly, the runes twinkling across her toes one by one as her foot breathed inward, cresting and casting several wrinkles down her sole. Sucking in shaky bouts of air, she spoke out, “they took them-- one by one--” Extending my fingers, I began rubbing my tips along each of her toes, feeling the warmth of the characters that held them hostage pulse into me.

As she swayed about, thrashing her head back and forth while moaning, I briefly saw us together, her bound before me as I dabbed the quill of a feather into a glass jar filled with gold. Wrenching it free, I scattered the liquid joy against her toes, forever binding her with ticklish agony as she howled and screamed, unable to move or resist while she relived the torturous nights of the woman that had endured for her.

Back in reality she suddenly bolted up, bashing my arm with her elbow and kicking it outward before grabbing my hand and planting her lips into its palm. Tears rained down her face uncontrollably as I stroked her toes and as she kissed me, I felt her lips whisper “not my feet” into my hand. A purring moan vacated her lips and a thick tear rolled downward, curving about her cheek and sliding towards her chin.

Brushing my thumb down her cheek, I gently swiped away the trail. Thoughts of the court jesters swirled in my head, of the jeers that were launched at the various clowns and actors that for a time adorned the halls. I thought of her, the guide, standing before the noblewomen, accosted by a guard and thrown into a stockade, strummed at in the corner like a harp. The noblemen and women would, for a time, glance over, until a new play thing caught their buzzing interest for a fraction of a moment. I saw my companion sitting, locked away in her room, collecting dust, her hair graying: a trophy for those that drank wine all day, living off the profits of those that could scarce afford clothing. And yet, despite being a trophy, they sneered at her presence, turning their noses upward and shooing her away. Or worse, they set her in the stockade all day, milking her for loose entertainment in the background between morning and afternoon tea.

I glanced back at the bed as my shoulders grew tight with heat. A weight pushed against me and I felt her nuzzled her cheek into my chest while a snicker smoldered onto my face. “Tell me everything,” I said, pushing aside the thoughts of the nobles.

She shivered wildly and her whole foot lit up. “Not my feet,” she gasped out, panting heavily into my chest as she took in deep breaths. Setting my hand on her shoulder, I kneaded her and traced a single finger around the ball of her foot. She bounced upward, gasping suddenly as her ghostly eyes sparkled, the image of the barn reflected within them. Slowly shaking her head, she blustered out, “They ended the first day by outlining my arch.”

Trickling my fingers down the thick line that snaked down her arch, I soaked in the pleasantness of her skin and of her raw laughter as she crumpled within my arms. “NOOOT MY FEEET!” she cried out, thrashing wildly in my arm and bashing into the wall, twisting and turning away. Her foot remained deathly calm, trained and prepared to receive its orders. Turning about, I stared at the bed, thoughts raining through me: of throwing her at it, of laying over top of her and ripping her boots from her, leaving her forever barefoot while I gently spoke at her feet, tormenting her with my words while offering no relief until she told me every detail of her marking. A bubble burned in my throat at the thought of savoring this torture with her, of flaying her with my fingers, of her covering her face with the pillow, slapping at it with moans and screams while together we honed our craft, our desires feeding each other while we perfected our form until, with a single word, I could send her throes of pleasure so absolute that they dwarfed everything that came before.

I allowed my finger to traipse back upward, dangling over her toes. With great gusto she threw her arms over my shoulders, gripping tightly into me as though to hold on for dear life. As I pressed my fingers into her toes, she hissed out a chuckle. Freezing my fingers, she huffed several times, then spoke out in breathy tones. “They--” she gulped, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, “I remember everything they did to her.” Sighing, she pressed her cheek into my shirt, nuzzling into me. “She requested to be kidnapped and shown no mercy, and they abode. They took her in the night and kept her blindfolded and gagged.”

Biting her lower lip, she shivered slightly and the runes throbbed as though weeping. “But they didn't tickle her, not much. Three or four women took each foot, kissing and licking them.” Her toes wiggled and sparked, “Several nibbled and sucked on her toes, and a few feathered her breasts.” Taking in another shaky breath, she began inhaling rapidly, “They-- they pushed her far past her limits. She needed it to end, but--” She winced suddenly, pressing her nose under my arm as she dug her nails into my shoulder blades. For a moment I began slowly stroking her toes, watching her withhold the smirk for but a second before giving in and laughing freely. “Not my feet!” she whispered into my chest again and again.

After a few seconds I rested the back of my nails against her squirming toes as she moaned, then groaned, her arms shaking. “There was so much fear, fear of losing herself, fear of what would come next.” She sniffled, then clenched her teeth. “But they kept going, pushing her further and further past her breaking point, never allowing her to return. They put her right up to the gates of paradise, but they never permitted her to cross, slowing just enough that she would fall back to earth right before attaining enlightenment.” Her arms began to shake rapidly, and she looked up, her watery eyes trembling wildly with a forbidden heat. “You asked what it was like. I relived that a thousand times for each toe they took from me. I was exhausted beyond measure, and had to endure it for days for each foot.” Shaking her head wildly, she began to giggle, then cackle before mewling out, “not my feet, NOT MY FEET!” She thrust her head back and gulped, inhaling deeply as her features solidified again. Pressing the tip of her tongue over her upper lip, she nodded sharply then spoke out, “And now every time I'm barefoot, I'm there all over again. It's beyond wonderful.”

A soft look sprawled up her lips as she opened her eyes, staring into mine. I smirked at the sudden change of disposition and began rattling my nails up and down the pads of her toes. At once her jaw fell open and she shrieked into my face before pressing into the wall and whipping back and forth wildly, her toes flicking against one another as she squirmed in my grip. Without relenting I dug into her flesh, goaded on by the powerful light I forced her to emit before easing up and removing my hand, setting it against the wall.

Sucking in a breath, the memory of her flesh seared against my finger as I thought upon extracting every ounce of joy and laughter from her, of mastering her flesh, of drowning her in bliss while she begged and pleaded for me to push her further, to find still better ways to torture her. She sobbed wildly in my arms and continued to beg “Not my feet, not my feet!” over and over as she convulsed in my chest. My eyes slipped over the wall and out the window, where I saw the blacksmith, and I felt my heart sink. The thought of her, of Milandra, of this wonderful woman sitting in a stockade outside, alone and barefoot, writhing in agony as the winds tormented her soles, of her having no release from the agony she afflicted onto herself and of the nobles watching her and jesting about that poor girl before returning to their affairs hounded at me. For a moment I saw the blacksmith hoist her up, and of the joy that riddled her face as that woman, one who understood her suffering, ripped her boot from her and sang along with her, cultivating those furious emotions that her feet demanded of her. My breath rose and fell quickly, hotter than the sun as I clamped my teeth together, knowing that the women here would always be better equipped than me to give her what she needed.

Gritting my teeth, I trembled, closing my eyes as I beat down the desire to give her everything she wanted and take everything she could offer. I shifted my stance, breathing heavily and feeling the weight of the gold pulling me into the earth. Shaking my head, I pushed her back, stepping through her arms as I swung my shoulder towards the window pane while slowly meandering to the wall that held it. I heard her wrench in a quiet sob as I sett my hand to the sides of the pane, my vision flying over the landscape of this heaven that the moon blessing the land with her silver light. Tilting my chin down, I spoke roughly like a loose, unsanded plank that rattled about in the night wind, "That young maiden, the one that was chained up by the tree.” I nodded adamantly as I looked up, watching a cloud douse the land in a squirming shadow, “I think she would do nicely."

No response came. For a few seconds I waited, until I heard the knob click. Turning, I saw her through a crack in the door before it snapped shut, sparkling dew serenading her eyes. The lock spun with a click and soft footsteps swept down the hall, soon digested into mere silence. Facing the window once more, I watched the darkness crawl across the land as my guide streamed by, her face down as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. Lifting her head, she returned to the blacksmith, smiling thickly. Her mouth moved quickly and she tilted her head, closing her eyes. The blacksmith turned, a single eyebrow raised. A moment passed and a solemn look overtook her as she slowly shook in head. In a rush the blacksmith's boots led, leaving her naked feet helpless in the stockades. Clapping her hands, my former companion leapt forward, tugging away at the woman's sash as she slipped the thing into the blacksmith's mouth, wrapping it around her head and over her lips. Returning to the dancing feet, she set her face there, her mouth admonishing the flesh for being bare. A shrill series of throaty yet muffled laughter banged against my window pane, echoing through the night as I swept across the musty floor, unhinging the sack at my waist and letting it clatter to the ground. Light twinkled off of the coins as they rolled away. Closing my eyes, I sighed and fell into the bed. Tugging at my pillow, I watched dust rattle off the walls as the woman's horse-like gasps slowly morphed into ravenous, muffled moans while retaining the rapid rise and fall of laughter that shook the floorboards beneath me. Lulled to the void by her siren song, I felt sleep siege upon my eyes, chaining me into blissful repose.

The morning came far too quickly. A rapping at my door startled me awake, the knob ricketing as the lock was vanquished. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes as the rosey cheek maiden stepped in. Instead of the silverish-white robes of the other women she stood before me, resplendent and wonderful just like the stories of the Le'tan. She wore a sequined bra as the only bit of cloth protecting her torso while a baggy, opaque material half hid her legs while a veil of the same sheeny cloth subdued her mouth. On her feet she wore silver slippers finer than that of most noblewomen, her thin, boney feet visible through the fabric. Bowing, she raised a cloak over her shoulders, donning a thick brown hood as she did so. "My master," she said simply.

Pressing my palm against my forehead, I drug my hand down across my right eye as I expelled sleepy air. Looking out the window I saw the sun rise over the edge of a far away mountain, the dawn-light sparkling against the white frost that nipped at the tips of the grass. Smiling, I rose, the little woman proffering her arm to me. Nodding, I hooked our fates together and she set a hand onto my elbow before half escorting and half following me out the door, down the empty hallway. Looking at the closed doors, I heard not a sound, the little woman biting her lower lip as she whispered, "The others have already left for the fields." Shrugging, I rubbed at the back of my neck with my free hand. Outside, steely fresh air nipped at my nose, the distant scent of pine striking at me as two horses restlessly dug at the ground. Withdrawing a thick, black cloth, she bowed her head and bent her knees out to the side. Snapping it up, I brought it to my neck and watched as she walked towards the restless horses, leaping up onto the smaller one. As she grabbed the reigns, the horse walked ahead and took a half circle while she glanced at me, spinning her hand in the air while waving at the second horse. Opening my mouth, I began to say the name of my guide. Almost immediately the little woman shook her head, unfurling a scrap of parchment from within the cloth. "She gave me a map. I'll be guiding you back.”

My eyelids wilted as my heart sank. Slogging towards the horse, I hopped up, edging back and forth in the saddle as I doused my sight behind the black cloth. Inhaling the earthy scents, I felt my horse move and I leaned forward suddenly, grasping on to the horse as we galloped away brisk air jealously cutting at me in punishment while in the distance the field women sung their eternal song of joy and suffering.