Duke Diablo
4th Level Red Feather
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Chapter 3 is out. Enjoy
If he still knew how to do it, Elerion would have woken up with a smile on his face. The news he just got couldn't be better. It appeared a war was about to errupt in Yamamoto, and the great empire was to fall down to it's knees. Perfect. While the fools will be busying themselves warring against each other, he and Morganna will use that little blonde seer and steal the Chosen One right from under their noses. When the war will be over, their precious Chosen One will be far from Yamamoto, doing his and Morganna's bidding by killing off angels all over Enterion. Once the heaven's gate close upon this realm, devils and demons will pour out from numerous portals he and Morganna will open. The result will be utter chaos... and war. War unlike any mankind has ever seen. They will have to fight off demons and monsters worse than they could even dream of, and the shining knights and kings will be able to offer no protection. Who will the people turn for protection then? To the Chosen One and the duo that she answers to. Yes. He and Morganna will forge a kingdom greater than any other in Enterion with people rallying behind the only force truly able to stop the demons. And then, when all other kingdoms will be at their knees, when the power behind him and Morganna will be by far the greatest power on the plane, they will close the portals, using the Chosen One to fight the demons back into the abyss where they came from, and take over what's left of once great and mighty kingdoms of men, elves, dwarves... even those of dark beings such as orcs and dark elves. Ah, yes. Ultimate power. He always did want a drow slave, to see a dark elven woman crawling at his feet, obeying his every command. He didn't know why, nor did he care. The pleasure of seeing the broken thing crawl beneath him was all he was interested in.
Suddenly, he slapped himself to get back to reality. The deed wasn't done yet, and he had no time for daydreaming. Not if they wanted to do everything right. Finding the Chosen One and keeping her out of the sight of nobles will require staying on their toes all the time. Speaking of which, he decided to visit Morganna and Aurora in their cabin and check up on them.
«Hey, Elerion!», Morganna greeted him cheerfully as he entered the cabin. As expected, she was playing with Aurora, who was tied to the bed spread-eagle, and the only thing she was wearing was the leather gag in her mouth. The demonkin was using a feather to tickle the area between her legs, making the blonde sweat from excitement. When Elerion came in, she was already close to orgasm, trying to rub her pussy against the feather wildly. However, Morganna did not allow it, going for a slow, torturous method of reaching the heights.
«Good morning», Elerion replied. «I just came with the news: as expected, all the major armies of the west have mobilized and are heading for Yamamoto. The great empire of the east will be plunged into war, and we will get the Chosen One.»
When she heard the news, Morganna's lips slowly spread into a statisfied smile. She turned to Aurora, who was desperately trying to orgasm.
«Hear this, my little Aurora?», she said, continuing the strokes along her flooding pussy. «Everything is going just as we planned it. And do you know what it means? It means that we will soon have a whole dungeon full of tickle-slaves, and I'll even let you tickle some of them if you behave. And that Chosen One looks mighty cute, too. Would you like to tickle her? Would you?»
Aurora nodded in response, her eyes closed and her head placed as far back as she could. She was moaning through her gag, and the wet stain on her bed was spreading at unbelievable rate.
Only a moment later, she exploded into orgasm. Her eyes opened as wide as they could, and she practically screamed from behind her gag, arching her back and pulling at her bonds with all of her power. Her whole body was trembling from the force of orgasm. The poor thing must have been kept on the edge for hours to have such reaction. Morganna probably had another whole-night seance with her, Elerion figured, as it took ten seconds for the blonde to get back from her position. Ten seconds. That is how long the orgasm lasted. What surprised Elerion is that, when it ended, the blonde was still conscious. Barely, but conscious. He turned his eyes towards Morganna. She was enjoying the sight, that he could tell. However, she didn't stop now. She placed one hand on Aurora's belly, starting to dance with her fingers like spider's legs, while her other hand was fingering the blonde's pleasure spot. The reaction was priceless: even though she was exhausted from orgasm, the blonde started to squirm in her bonds, pulling at them with her full power. Reaching the peak made her body even more sensitive... and ticklish, thus providing Morganna with more entertainment... and making the young seer wish she had fainted. Also, her body this sensitive, orgasms started to come quickly, one after another, each making Aurora more sensitive and more ticklish.
«Well, the two of you seem to be having a good time, so I'd best be off», Elerion said, leaving the demonkin and blonde alone. As he was leaving, he was followed by the sound of another desperate scream of orgasmic pleasure.
* * *
«No! Please, I didn't do anything!», Markara begged the four elven women who were tying her up.
«Oh, no?», one of them, probably the leader, replied. «Then how do you explain moving around our village in the middle of the night, dark one?»
«Please! I am a night elf! The sun hurts me!», Markara begged desparately, tears welling up in her eyes. «I just wanted to pass through your village because it's the shortest route to Iltarian port. I swear I wasn't going to hurt anyone!»
«Save your breath for screaming, dark one, because we don't believe you!», the leader continued. «You were tresspassing in our village, and we will kill you for that... slowly.»
«So, how do we kill her, sister?», one of them asked, taking her blade out. «Do we cut her apart, limb from limb?»
«No», the grin on the leader's face was even more terrifying than any that Markara has seen in her kin... and being a dark elf, that really meant something. «I want to try another method on this one.» Then, she turned to the other girls and ordered: «Tie her feet to those trees over there!»
The girls nodded and took Markara to two young trees, about a foot away one from another, and tied her feet to them. Her hands tied behind her backs, all Markara could do is try and wiggle away from her bonds. However, she couldn't do such a thing. Trees, even though they were still young, had deep roots, and she couldn't move at all. The bondage of her hands was also flawless: there was no untying those knots, or escaping them. All she managed to accomplish by trying to escape them was tiring herself out and dirtying her hair and clothes. Her silver hair now had brown patches from dirt all over it, and her clothes had a more brownish color to themselves. What were they going to do to her, Markara wandered. Well, whatever it was, she was sure she wasn't going to like it.
«Now, put these two there», the leader told the two women from the group, holding two canisters full of honey, with tiny holes at the bottom, from where honey was already dripping slowly, and pointing at two branches high up, but right above Markara's feet. This was getting wierder and wierder. While the two women were doing so, the leading elf approached the captive dark elf and took her shoes and socks, revealing a pair of two beautiful, tender feet. They tied her feet in the height of their waists, Markara, noticed.
«Please, let me go!», Markara begged again, but the elven woman just smiled coldly and told her associate:
«Put these in her mouth.»
She was holding Markara's socks in her hand. The other elf took the socks and approached Markara's face, placing her socks right under her nose.
«Does it smell nice?», the girl teased cruely. «Come on, take a good, long sniff. That's a girl. Now, open wide...»
Saying so, the girl stuffed the socks into her captive's mouth, while the leader scratched her exposed, restrained soles lightly. Markara's feet twitched right away, and she screamed from behind her gag. She was extremely ticklish. If that was what they were going to do to her... oh, no, please, say it's not true...
«Mmf! Mmmmf!!!», she tried to beg again, pulling at her bonds with all of her strength, but neither helped. The leader of the elves gave her another one of her cruel smile as the honey buckets were in place and honey started to drop on Markara's soles.
«Aww... don't worry, we'll let you have some company soon», she said, laughing. «Some animals should be arriving soon... and you know how they like honey. Well... we'll let you have some fun with them... all the way till morning.»
No. Please, say it's not true, Markara thought. Their plan was to have her tied until morning, when the sun would slowly but surely kill her. In the meantime, they planned to torture her using animals. Markara was crying as she came to this realization. She tried to beg, to curse, to escape... anything, just to escape this horrible torture, but she was powerless. She couldn't do anything. There was no escaping her bondage, and there was no delaying the sunlight as well.
«Well, we have to go now», the leader said when the rest of her 'squad' gathered on the ground. They started walking away when the leader turned to Markara again. «Some of us sleep at night, you know?» The one standing next to her giggled.
«Well said, Sylvana», she said, sucking up her leader's ass. «Let's go and leave this looser here.»
«Well... good night», the girl they called Sylvana told Markara, bursting into laughter. Then, she and her group walked away, leaving Markara tied up, with honey dripping on her feet. Realizing they were gone, Markara tried to fight, to break free of her bonds, but it was of no use. Those girls tied her up pretty well. There was no escaping the bondage.
Damn it!, Markara cursed for herself. Those girls were even more sadistic than some of her kin. Especially their leader... Sylvana. She was beautiful, Markara gave her that, but her demanor... her green eyes were colder than ice, Markara thought. She was really enjoying this, the thought of a dark elf being tortured to death just for walking through her village.
With this realization in mind, Markara started to cry bitter tears. It was over... it was only a matter of time before some animal comes and starts feasting on her feet. It will probably either tickle or hurt like hell, but it was just an uverture for the real thing: the painful death on the sunlight.
Markara was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even see the doe that approached her. That is why she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt soft, tender licks on her feet. She tried to scream, but her gag did not allow so, calming down when she saw what was the cause... but only lightly. Her heart was still beating fast, and the licks, even though they were light, indeed did tickle. However, the creature found Markara's honey-coated soles quite tasty, so it started to lick more bravely, increasing the intensity of tickling. Markara started to pull on her bonds, trying to free herself as hard as she could, but it was of no use. The binds proved too good and strong for her again, and all she could do was take the licks. Her feet were twitching, trying to escape the creature's tongue, but it was of no use. Immobilized as they were, her soles were completely exposed to the doe's tongue. And not just the soles. Markara's toes were the target as well all too often as the creature feasted on this new delicious wiggly treat. On the ground, Markara was doing her best to free her hands, rolling in dirt, trying to set herself free, to escape the torment of this unsuspecting tormentor. Despite her best efforts, despite her strongest pullings at the ropes, despite her frantic wiggling of the feet, she wasn't able to escape this torment. Even though she was laughing desperately from the depths of her soul (a sound muffled by her own socks), Markara was crying. She has passed the point of despair, and was now accepting her fate, sad as it was. She was thinking about her life so far, about her friends, family, and all the other people that never accepted her. Her 'friends' and family because of her kind-hearted nature and loathing of violence, and the outside world for her heritage. Maybe she shouldn't have been too surprised by this, she thought. After being shunned by everyone, it was only natural for an outcast like her to be killed by the very people who didn't understand her... and who feared her. She tried to hold herself from any reaction, giving up on escaping, but her body didn't listen. It was squirming all by itself, without any orders from her, as a reflex, as was the laughter coming. She was too ticklish to stand still at such a torture and preserve her strength.
And so, lick by lick, the torture went on. The doe was delighted to find such a source of food, while the one whose feet were serving as a plate for such a dish was cursing the day she was born. To make matters worse, a pair of squirrels discovered the other honey-coated foot, and were exploring it carefully. Markara couldn't stand it. Even their moving around her feet, touching them with their small paws was a ticklish torture for her. And then, when one of them finally started to nibble and lick her foot, the dark elf arched her back as hard as she could, pulling her head back and starting to scream as hard as she could from the extreme sensation of tickling that was overwhelming her body.
Five minutes passed. Then ten. Whole hour of tickling later, Markara was on her wits end. The small, cute animals appeared like devils to her, and she was already beginning to beg the sun to shine in her thoughts. The very sun she craved to be able to walk under. That was the reason she left her race in the first place. To be able to walk under the sun normally, to find a way to live freely in a world where her peaceful nature will be welcomed, not shunned. But, she thought, she failed, and was now begging that same sun to kill her, and put an end to her sad, failed existence.
And then, the licking stopped and the doe collapsed near Markara, a pool of blood slowly forming around it. The squirrels fled and Markara looked at the fallen animal. An arrow was protruding from it's neck.
«Are you all right?», she heard a voice coming towards her. Soon, an elven man appeared in front of her, a surprised look on his face. «What... what happened here?» He probably never thought that he would meet a drow in such a place and in such circumstances. He stood there for a few long moments, shocked, staring at Markara, not knowing what to do. Finally, he ran his finger up her foot, scooping up some honey from it, thus making Markara squirm in her bonds. Then, he smelled the substance and put it into his mouth.
«Honey?», he concluded, surprised by his findings. Markara tried to call out to him, to explain the situation to him, to beg him not to kill her, but the gag made any form of communication impossible. Luckily, the man noticed that, so he removed the gag from her mouth.
«Thank you!», the drow thanked the man, her face full of tears. «Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Please... I mean you no harm, I just want to pass through to Iltarian port. Please...»
The man judged her words and appearance and, figuring that she was no real threat to him in such a state, he cut her bonds, setting the girl free.
The moment Markara regained her mobility, she flung herself into the man's arms, crying from happiness.
«Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you... thousand times thank you!», she repeated, holding the man tightly. «I... I thought I was done for.»
«Easy now», the man said, freeing himself from Markara's iron grip. Then, he looked her in the eyes. «Who did this to you and why?»
Markara was crying as she told her story. «I... I don't know why... I was just passing through the nearby elven village... I wasn't going to hurt anyone, I swear... when some girls attacked me and tied me, accusing me of planning to kill them. Please... I just want to be left alone, that's all... I don't want to hurt anybody!»
«Come on, now», the man said, hugging her. «It's all over now. Those girls are no longer here. Are you all right?»
Markara calmed down a bit. «Yes... I-I think so. They wanted to torture me this way, to have animals lick my feet until the sunrise, when I would slowly die...»
When the dark elven woman mentioned sunrise, the man looked around, as if he remembered something.
«Ah, yes, sunrise... it's coming pretty soon, so we best hurry, or my arrival will be in vain. Can you walk?» He offered his hand to Markara.
The drow woman sniffed, putting her wet socks on, and then her shoes. «Yeah, I think so. I'm just exhausted, that's all.» When she got up, she looked at the stranger. Now it occured to her that she didn't even know his name. «Um... my name is Markara. Thank you again for saving me.»
«Nice to meet you, Markara», the man replied, smiling. He had such a pleasant smile, Markara thought, very much unline Sylvanas' one. «I'm Alanor.» He looked around. «Well... follow me. I know a way around the village, and there is a place for you to rest that's sheltered from the sun. It's not a palace, but it should do.»
«Y... you're actually going to help me out?», Markara asked, surprised.
«Well, of course I'm going to help you», the man said, wandering what kind of a stupid question that was. «You seem pretty harmless, and it's a gentleman's duty to help damsels in distress.»
Markara smiled. This was the first time someone actually called her damsel. Before it was just 'that silly wench' or 'the demon' or things worse than that. Everywhere she went she was hated, but now this man... this man was actually going to help her. She barely restrained herself from crying.
When the man marked his game so he could return to it (and hid it carefuly) and Markara cleaned herself up a bit, Alanor started leading the way.
«So, why do you want to go to Iltarian?», Alarion asked, trying to kill time in idle chatter.
«I'm traveling for Yamamoto», Markara answered honestly. It was the least she could do, she thought, for a man who just saved her life.
«Yamamoto?», Alanor sounded surprised. «You too?»
Markara smiled. «Yeah... maybe there I will be able to find someone to transform me.»
«Um, transform you?»
«Yes.» Markara said, looking him in the eyes. «I want to find someone to transform me into a real, daylight elf.»
«But why?», Alanor was confused. «I mean, you are beautiful this way as well... your hair...»
«Ah, you're just flattering me», Markara cut him off in the middle of sentence. She didn't want empty compliments. «But that's not it... I want to walk in the sun, away from the night where all the attrocities happen. I want to be in the light, see all the beauties of the day. The colors...»
«The night has it's beauties as well», Alanor countered, looking at the stars. «Do you see the silver moon? The bright stars shining upon us? There is something beautiful in that contrast, in their mystic glow. Markara, don't change yourself. Change the world.»
«How? How can one man change the entire world?»
«Well, she can't... unless she realizes that she is beautiful herself, in her own way», Alanor said, kissing Markara on the lips. It was so sudden, Markara thought, but so beautiful. She embraced her savior, returning the kiss, feeling true happiness for the first time in her life.
«Alanor!»
Suddenly, a sharp shout pierced the night, and their lips parted. Alanor quickly let go of Markara, telling her: «It's the elves from the village! Continue this way until you reach a great old oak with elven rune saying 'friends'. There is a hidden passage beneath it's roots that should serve as a shelter. Now go! Quickly! I'll hold them off!»
Markara, knowing now that Alanor wanted what's best for her, followed his advice and quickly parted with him.
«Goodbye!», she yelled. «When we meet again, I will be a real elf!»
If he still knew how to do it, Elerion would have woken up with a smile on his face. The news he just got couldn't be better. It appeared a war was about to errupt in Yamamoto, and the great empire was to fall down to it's knees. Perfect. While the fools will be busying themselves warring against each other, he and Morganna will use that little blonde seer and steal the Chosen One right from under their noses. When the war will be over, their precious Chosen One will be far from Yamamoto, doing his and Morganna's bidding by killing off angels all over Enterion. Once the heaven's gate close upon this realm, devils and demons will pour out from numerous portals he and Morganna will open. The result will be utter chaos... and war. War unlike any mankind has ever seen. They will have to fight off demons and monsters worse than they could even dream of, and the shining knights and kings will be able to offer no protection. Who will the people turn for protection then? To the Chosen One and the duo that she answers to. Yes. He and Morganna will forge a kingdom greater than any other in Enterion with people rallying behind the only force truly able to stop the demons. And then, when all other kingdoms will be at their knees, when the power behind him and Morganna will be by far the greatest power on the plane, they will close the portals, using the Chosen One to fight the demons back into the abyss where they came from, and take over what's left of once great and mighty kingdoms of men, elves, dwarves... even those of dark beings such as orcs and dark elves. Ah, yes. Ultimate power. He always did want a drow slave, to see a dark elven woman crawling at his feet, obeying his every command. He didn't know why, nor did he care. The pleasure of seeing the broken thing crawl beneath him was all he was interested in.
Suddenly, he slapped himself to get back to reality. The deed wasn't done yet, and he had no time for daydreaming. Not if they wanted to do everything right. Finding the Chosen One and keeping her out of the sight of nobles will require staying on their toes all the time. Speaking of which, he decided to visit Morganna and Aurora in their cabin and check up on them.
«Hey, Elerion!», Morganna greeted him cheerfully as he entered the cabin. As expected, she was playing with Aurora, who was tied to the bed spread-eagle, and the only thing she was wearing was the leather gag in her mouth. The demonkin was using a feather to tickle the area between her legs, making the blonde sweat from excitement. When Elerion came in, she was already close to orgasm, trying to rub her pussy against the feather wildly. However, Morganna did not allow it, going for a slow, torturous method of reaching the heights.
«Good morning», Elerion replied. «I just came with the news: as expected, all the major armies of the west have mobilized and are heading for Yamamoto. The great empire of the east will be plunged into war, and we will get the Chosen One.»
When she heard the news, Morganna's lips slowly spread into a statisfied smile. She turned to Aurora, who was desperately trying to orgasm.
«Hear this, my little Aurora?», she said, continuing the strokes along her flooding pussy. «Everything is going just as we planned it. And do you know what it means? It means that we will soon have a whole dungeon full of tickle-slaves, and I'll even let you tickle some of them if you behave. And that Chosen One looks mighty cute, too. Would you like to tickle her? Would you?»
Aurora nodded in response, her eyes closed and her head placed as far back as she could. She was moaning through her gag, and the wet stain on her bed was spreading at unbelievable rate.
Only a moment later, she exploded into orgasm. Her eyes opened as wide as they could, and she practically screamed from behind her gag, arching her back and pulling at her bonds with all of her power. Her whole body was trembling from the force of orgasm. The poor thing must have been kept on the edge for hours to have such reaction. Morganna probably had another whole-night seance with her, Elerion figured, as it took ten seconds for the blonde to get back from her position. Ten seconds. That is how long the orgasm lasted. What surprised Elerion is that, when it ended, the blonde was still conscious. Barely, but conscious. He turned his eyes towards Morganna. She was enjoying the sight, that he could tell. However, she didn't stop now. She placed one hand on Aurora's belly, starting to dance with her fingers like spider's legs, while her other hand was fingering the blonde's pleasure spot. The reaction was priceless: even though she was exhausted from orgasm, the blonde started to squirm in her bonds, pulling at them with her full power. Reaching the peak made her body even more sensitive... and ticklish, thus providing Morganna with more entertainment... and making the young seer wish she had fainted. Also, her body this sensitive, orgasms started to come quickly, one after another, each making Aurora more sensitive and more ticklish.
«Well, the two of you seem to be having a good time, so I'd best be off», Elerion said, leaving the demonkin and blonde alone. As he was leaving, he was followed by the sound of another desperate scream of orgasmic pleasure.
* * *
«No! Please, I didn't do anything!», Markara begged the four elven women who were tying her up.
«Oh, no?», one of them, probably the leader, replied. «Then how do you explain moving around our village in the middle of the night, dark one?»
«Please! I am a night elf! The sun hurts me!», Markara begged desparately, tears welling up in her eyes. «I just wanted to pass through your village because it's the shortest route to Iltarian port. I swear I wasn't going to hurt anyone!»
«Save your breath for screaming, dark one, because we don't believe you!», the leader continued. «You were tresspassing in our village, and we will kill you for that... slowly.»
«So, how do we kill her, sister?», one of them asked, taking her blade out. «Do we cut her apart, limb from limb?»
«No», the grin on the leader's face was even more terrifying than any that Markara has seen in her kin... and being a dark elf, that really meant something. «I want to try another method on this one.» Then, she turned to the other girls and ordered: «Tie her feet to those trees over there!»
The girls nodded and took Markara to two young trees, about a foot away one from another, and tied her feet to them. Her hands tied behind her backs, all Markara could do is try and wiggle away from her bonds. However, she couldn't do such a thing. Trees, even though they were still young, had deep roots, and she couldn't move at all. The bondage of her hands was also flawless: there was no untying those knots, or escaping them. All she managed to accomplish by trying to escape them was tiring herself out and dirtying her hair and clothes. Her silver hair now had brown patches from dirt all over it, and her clothes had a more brownish color to themselves. What were they going to do to her, Markara wandered. Well, whatever it was, she was sure she wasn't going to like it.
«Now, put these two there», the leader told the two women from the group, holding two canisters full of honey, with tiny holes at the bottom, from where honey was already dripping slowly, and pointing at two branches high up, but right above Markara's feet. This was getting wierder and wierder. While the two women were doing so, the leading elf approached the captive dark elf and took her shoes and socks, revealing a pair of two beautiful, tender feet. They tied her feet in the height of their waists, Markara, noticed.
«Please, let me go!», Markara begged again, but the elven woman just smiled coldly and told her associate:
«Put these in her mouth.»
She was holding Markara's socks in her hand. The other elf took the socks and approached Markara's face, placing her socks right under her nose.
«Does it smell nice?», the girl teased cruely. «Come on, take a good, long sniff. That's a girl. Now, open wide...»
Saying so, the girl stuffed the socks into her captive's mouth, while the leader scratched her exposed, restrained soles lightly. Markara's feet twitched right away, and she screamed from behind her gag. She was extremely ticklish. If that was what they were going to do to her... oh, no, please, say it's not true...
«Mmf! Mmmmf!!!», she tried to beg again, pulling at her bonds with all of her strength, but neither helped. The leader of the elves gave her another one of her cruel smile as the honey buckets were in place and honey started to drop on Markara's soles.
«Aww... don't worry, we'll let you have some company soon», she said, laughing. «Some animals should be arriving soon... and you know how they like honey. Well... we'll let you have some fun with them... all the way till morning.»
No. Please, say it's not true, Markara thought. Their plan was to have her tied until morning, when the sun would slowly but surely kill her. In the meantime, they planned to torture her using animals. Markara was crying as she came to this realization. She tried to beg, to curse, to escape... anything, just to escape this horrible torture, but she was powerless. She couldn't do anything. There was no escaping her bondage, and there was no delaying the sunlight as well.
«Well, we have to go now», the leader said when the rest of her 'squad' gathered on the ground. They started walking away when the leader turned to Markara again. «Some of us sleep at night, you know?» The one standing next to her giggled.
«Well said, Sylvana», she said, sucking up her leader's ass. «Let's go and leave this looser here.»
«Well... good night», the girl they called Sylvana told Markara, bursting into laughter. Then, she and her group walked away, leaving Markara tied up, with honey dripping on her feet. Realizing they were gone, Markara tried to fight, to break free of her bonds, but it was of no use. Those girls tied her up pretty well. There was no escaping the bondage.
Damn it!, Markara cursed for herself. Those girls were even more sadistic than some of her kin. Especially their leader... Sylvana. She was beautiful, Markara gave her that, but her demanor... her green eyes were colder than ice, Markara thought. She was really enjoying this, the thought of a dark elf being tortured to death just for walking through her village.
With this realization in mind, Markara started to cry bitter tears. It was over... it was only a matter of time before some animal comes and starts feasting on her feet. It will probably either tickle or hurt like hell, but it was just an uverture for the real thing: the painful death on the sunlight.
Markara was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even see the doe that approached her. That is why she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt soft, tender licks on her feet. She tried to scream, but her gag did not allow so, calming down when she saw what was the cause... but only lightly. Her heart was still beating fast, and the licks, even though they were light, indeed did tickle. However, the creature found Markara's honey-coated soles quite tasty, so it started to lick more bravely, increasing the intensity of tickling. Markara started to pull on her bonds, trying to free herself as hard as she could, but it was of no use. The binds proved too good and strong for her again, and all she could do was take the licks. Her feet were twitching, trying to escape the creature's tongue, but it was of no use. Immobilized as they were, her soles were completely exposed to the doe's tongue. And not just the soles. Markara's toes were the target as well all too often as the creature feasted on this new delicious wiggly treat. On the ground, Markara was doing her best to free her hands, rolling in dirt, trying to set herself free, to escape the torment of this unsuspecting tormentor. Despite her best efforts, despite her strongest pullings at the ropes, despite her frantic wiggling of the feet, she wasn't able to escape this torment. Even though she was laughing desperately from the depths of her soul (a sound muffled by her own socks), Markara was crying. She has passed the point of despair, and was now accepting her fate, sad as it was. She was thinking about her life so far, about her friends, family, and all the other people that never accepted her. Her 'friends' and family because of her kind-hearted nature and loathing of violence, and the outside world for her heritage. Maybe she shouldn't have been too surprised by this, she thought. After being shunned by everyone, it was only natural for an outcast like her to be killed by the very people who didn't understand her... and who feared her. She tried to hold herself from any reaction, giving up on escaping, but her body didn't listen. It was squirming all by itself, without any orders from her, as a reflex, as was the laughter coming. She was too ticklish to stand still at such a torture and preserve her strength.
And so, lick by lick, the torture went on. The doe was delighted to find such a source of food, while the one whose feet were serving as a plate for such a dish was cursing the day she was born. To make matters worse, a pair of squirrels discovered the other honey-coated foot, and were exploring it carefully. Markara couldn't stand it. Even their moving around her feet, touching them with their small paws was a ticklish torture for her. And then, when one of them finally started to nibble and lick her foot, the dark elf arched her back as hard as she could, pulling her head back and starting to scream as hard as she could from the extreme sensation of tickling that was overwhelming her body.
Five minutes passed. Then ten. Whole hour of tickling later, Markara was on her wits end. The small, cute animals appeared like devils to her, and she was already beginning to beg the sun to shine in her thoughts. The very sun she craved to be able to walk under. That was the reason she left her race in the first place. To be able to walk under the sun normally, to find a way to live freely in a world where her peaceful nature will be welcomed, not shunned. But, she thought, she failed, and was now begging that same sun to kill her, and put an end to her sad, failed existence.
And then, the licking stopped and the doe collapsed near Markara, a pool of blood slowly forming around it. The squirrels fled and Markara looked at the fallen animal. An arrow was protruding from it's neck.
«Are you all right?», she heard a voice coming towards her. Soon, an elven man appeared in front of her, a surprised look on his face. «What... what happened here?» He probably never thought that he would meet a drow in such a place and in such circumstances. He stood there for a few long moments, shocked, staring at Markara, not knowing what to do. Finally, he ran his finger up her foot, scooping up some honey from it, thus making Markara squirm in her bonds. Then, he smelled the substance and put it into his mouth.
«Honey?», he concluded, surprised by his findings. Markara tried to call out to him, to explain the situation to him, to beg him not to kill her, but the gag made any form of communication impossible. Luckily, the man noticed that, so he removed the gag from her mouth.
«Thank you!», the drow thanked the man, her face full of tears. «Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Please... I mean you no harm, I just want to pass through to Iltarian port. Please...»
The man judged her words and appearance and, figuring that she was no real threat to him in such a state, he cut her bonds, setting the girl free.
The moment Markara regained her mobility, she flung herself into the man's arms, crying from happiness.
«Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you... thousand times thank you!», she repeated, holding the man tightly. «I... I thought I was done for.»
«Easy now», the man said, freeing himself from Markara's iron grip. Then, he looked her in the eyes. «Who did this to you and why?»
Markara was crying as she told her story. «I... I don't know why... I was just passing through the nearby elven village... I wasn't going to hurt anyone, I swear... when some girls attacked me and tied me, accusing me of planning to kill them. Please... I just want to be left alone, that's all... I don't want to hurt anybody!»
«Come on, now», the man said, hugging her. «It's all over now. Those girls are no longer here. Are you all right?»
Markara calmed down a bit. «Yes... I-I think so. They wanted to torture me this way, to have animals lick my feet until the sunrise, when I would slowly die...»
When the dark elven woman mentioned sunrise, the man looked around, as if he remembered something.
«Ah, yes, sunrise... it's coming pretty soon, so we best hurry, or my arrival will be in vain. Can you walk?» He offered his hand to Markara.
The drow woman sniffed, putting her wet socks on, and then her shoes. «Yeah, I think so. I'm just exhausted, that's all.» When she got up, she looked at the stranger. Now it occured to her that she didn't even know his name. «Um... my name is Markara. Thank you again for saving me.»
«Nice to meet you, Markara», the man replied, smiling. He had such a pleasant smile, Markara thought, very much unline Sylvanas' one. «I'm Alanor.» He looked around. «Well... follow me. I know a way around the village, and there is a place for you to rest that's sheltered from the sun. It's not a palace, but it should do.»
«Y... you're actually going to help me out?», Markara asked, surprised.
«Well, of course I'm going to help you», the man said, wandering what kind of a stupid question that was. «You seem pretty harmless, and it's a gentleman's duty to help damsels in distress.»
Markara smiled. This was the first time someone actually called her damsel. Before it was just 'that silly wench' or 'the demon' or things worse than that. Everywhere she went she was hated, but now this man... this man was actually going to help her. She barely restrained herself from crying.
When the man marked his game so he could return to it (and hid it carefuly) and Markara cleaned herself up a bit, Alanor started leading the way.
«So, why do you want to go to Iltarian?», Alarion asked, trying to kill time in idle chatter.
«I'm traveling for Yamamoto», Markara answered honestly. It was the least she could do, she thought, for a man who just saved her life.
«Yamamoto?», Alanor sounded surprised. «You too?»
Markara smiled. «Yeah... maybe there I will be able to find someone to transform me.»
«Um, transform you?»
«Yes.» Markara said, looking him in the eyes. «I want to find someone to transform me into a real, daylight elf.»
«But why?», Alanor was confused. «I mean, you are beautiful this way as well... your hair...»
«Ah, you're just flattering me», Markara cut him off in the middle of sentence. She didn't want empty compliments. «But that's not it... I want to walk in the sun, away from the night where all the attrocities happen. I want to be in the light, see all the beauties of the day. The colors...»
«The night has it's beauties as well», Alanor countered, looking at the stars. «Do you see the silver moon? The bright stars shining upon us? There is something beautiful in that contrast, in their mystic glow. Markara, don't change yourself. Change the world.»
«How? How can one man change the entire world?»
«Well, she can't... unless she realizes that she is beautiful herself, in her own way», Alanor said, kissing Markara on the lips. It was so sudden, Markara thought, but so beautiful. She embraced her savior, returning the kiss, feeling true happiness for the first time in her life.
«Alanor!»
Suddenly, a sharp shout pierced the night, and their lips parted. Alanor quickly let go of Markara, telling her: «It's the elves from the village! Continue this way until you reach a great old oak with elven rune saying 'friends'. There is a hidden passage beneath it's roots that should serve as a shelter. Now go! Quickly! I'll hold them off!»
Markara, knowing now that Alanor wanted what's best for her, followed his advice and quickly parted with him.
«Goodbye!», she yelled. «When we meet again, I will be a real elf!»
