Tales of a Tenderfoot "The Vixen and the Hound" Part 6 (Adult Fantasy Tickling Story)
“They All Fall Down”
Orion watched his two captives intently under the light of a minor light spell he cast into the room.
They seemed like decent folk.
Certainly stealing from an important Realmslord can get you in trouble, but he was guilty of that himself on many an occasion. Besides, in this world, tickling and being tickled, and taking and being taken from are simply part of the day to day flair that made this world interesting.
He looked at them. He in particular admired the soles of the Fox headed Animus. She was attractive for Fox type and she seemed to be the type used to be in charge. He liked to see the stronger personalities restrained. He enjoyed breaking them down. The Hound, as he was called, was a more quiet type, but he sensed a powerful spirit within. He’d leave him for the attentions of those he knew would at least give him their undivided attention.
The Vixen and the Hound did not speak.
He was not surprised. He’d found himself in similar situations and placed many dozens more in the same. Does anyone ever really cooperate without having be encouraged by the feather? Or maybe people want to be tickled out of their mind and they just can’t bring themselves to admit it.
Which ever the case, the two captives would be questioned and they would answer. He was persuasive when putting his captives to the feather. He had yet to find someone able to resist his titillating touch.
“Very well, I’ll take your silence as a vote for ‘involuntarily’,” Orion said. “There are two of you and I do not like to split my attention, so I will call upon some assistance.”
He pressed the side of the golden sphere he had used to track them and a portal opened. Three young Elfling warriors stepped through the portal. They were garbed in the uniforms of a sentry of the Lady of the Morning Dew.
It was better that he took them with him in that manner, he thought. No one slowing him down or interfering with his style.
“My liaisons traveled with me the whole way in the sphere,” he explained showing them the Golden Sphere. “I’m impressed with your antagonist. He or she is well connected and has many useful resources ready to be used. This sort of clever artifact is usually beyond the grasp of even some of the most powerful Realms Lords.”
The three Elflings were stoic and serious like none Orion had ever seen before. They eyed both the Vixen and the Hound and nodded among themselves with approval.
They had been his contact the entire time. They showed no emotion and appeared to have none to betray. He secretly longed to tickle them and break their stony faces, but that would have to wait for another occasion.
“The Animus will tell us what we want to know,” he said addressing them. “You can make an example of the Manling if you wish. Maybe the Animus will reconsider the folly of her silence.”
They drew near the Hound with an almost clinical approach studying his well formed body. These were disciplined hardened warrior women with an agenda. They would leave no leaf unturned before engaging in their task.
Orion watched as they traced their fingers over his entire body making him twitch and even snort in stifled laughter as they touched but did not quite tickle him. They nodded to each other in unison and they each pulled out an identical black bristled brush.
Orion had seen many brushes before. He’d been on the receiving end of bristled brushes more times than he’d care to recall. These particular brushes were of superior craftsmanship compared to those ordinary tools of torture. These bristles were magical. He could tell. And not only magical, each bristle was sentient. He watched each individual bristle quiver in eager anticipation as they approached their victim. What the Elflings lacked in creative imagination in tickling they would more than make up for with the magical brushes.
One Elfling placed the brush’s bristles against the Hound’s large foot and brushed briskly against his sole. He immediately began to scream and shout in mirthful terror. The Elfling mechanically switched between feet maintaining her expression always business like. The other two Elfling warrior maidens each attacked a side of his torso promptly applying the brushes to his sides and ribs with expert discipline.
The Hound howled uncontrollably shaking and convulsing. The shadow coils held him taut and the Elflings were persistent in their torturous tickling. Orion felt the coils stretch extremely tight and he had to adjust his concentration to maintain the spell or the Hound’s thrashing might break him free.
“We do not have to do more than is really necessary,” the Shade said addressing the Vixen. “So I’ll put it like this. You can tell me where the treasure is hidden and I will stop this torture. You are both probably going to be tortured anyway down the line, but in this case later is always preferable to now.”
The Vixen shook her head watching the Hound flail and laugh desperately under the bristled brushes of the Elflings.
“You seem like the tough types who disappoint somewhat when placed under pressure,” the Orion said observing her intently. “I’m a good judge of character. You are going to spill the beans if I tickle you, right?”
“No,” the Vixen said trying to stir some semblance of self confidence. Orion could tell she would break; he knew the type that could be broken easily.
“Do not say I did not give you a chance,” Orion said pulling a long black feather from his cloak and twirling it menacingly by the quill.
* * * * *
Vivian knew she was in trouble.
For all her strong and resistant appearance, she was easily persuaded by an onslaught of tickling.
And the Shade seemed to be a disciplined tickler.
He spoke a word of magic and she was instantly flipped over face down while still stretched out spread eagle. Vivian faced the bed below her but did not quite touch it. She could not look back and she had difficulty even seeing Nate out of the corner of her eye. For all practical purposes she was blindfolded to all which was to happen behind her.
So, not only disciplined, but also devious.
The Shade took her silken night gown in his hand and cut it at the end with what she assumed was a knife. He then tore the delicate material apart and it fell softly from her body leaving her naked.
That was to be expected, Vivian thought to herself. She did not feel especially self conscious. But she did feel slightly more vulnerable. That was of course the idea.
The Shade started by brushing Vivian’s sole with the soft edge of the black feather. The motion was slow but deliberate as one might softly brush dust off of a delicate surface. It tickled but only slightly and she could keep the laughter controlled despite wincing as it glided up and down her sole and twirled around her toes. She could not keep the foot still however and it jerked and twitched wildly.
Tickling with a feather is a challenge. Vivian knew quite well that the right feather, magical or not, was a weapon that could create a myriad of sensations. By varying angle and pressure and the actual part of the feather touching a surface, the possible sensations are limitless. That goes without mentioning the quill of the feather which has a hard point and is a tickling tool all in itself.
So she groaned realizing that the torture was just about to begin.
He traced the feather over her calves, the back of her knees and her thighs. There he paused to reposition himself and he dusted off her buttocks seemingly enjoying the task careful to fit the tip in between the butt crack. Vivian laughed despite herself as the nerves on her bottom were easily stimulated. He traced over her hips and brushed her sides and her back. She laughed and twisted, but this was still far from being torture.
He traced her underarms and her arms as well careful to leave no spot untouched by the soft black feather. He teased her neck with the feather twirling it towards the back of her ears making her shake her head violently while she suppressed laughter as best she could.
Meanwhile, Nate’s hopeless laughter died down. The Elflings had stopped tickling him. Any more and he would be senseless. They understood that much about tickle torture but they certainly lacked finesse. Nate’s senses would soon dull to the best the Elflings could dish out and then he’d hold out for a long long time.
Vivian realized that her situation was much more precarious.
“Now it is your turn,” the Shade said gently to her ear.
She felt him at her feet and felt him grasp her toes and pull them back on one foot. She then felt the quill placed firmly and deliberately in a tickling motion on her taut sole. It was excruciating how the spikes of laughter traveled up her body and burst forth from her lips. The quill touched perfectly her most sensitive spots. There was no defense from his firm grip and titillating scribbling on her sole.
He stopped for only a moment and then he sent his fingers dancing on each of her soles. He ran his skilled fingers up and down her soles with expert skill caressing her heels and toes in the process. He was just as concentrated as the Elflings in his work, but there was real passion there. He was enjoying tickling her. His touch was like the Scourge’s. Analytical, yet at the same time like the touch of an artist.
She screamed as the sensations became torturous.
His touch was like that of a favorite lover’s. Gentle, yet firm and knowing yet inquisitive. He moved swiftly up and down her body giving her no respite. He drilled his fingers into her armpits stroking a ticklish nerve she did not realize she had. He returned to her hips relishing in her sensitive nerves.
“Don’t give in!” Nate demanded between his own laughter and screams as the Elflings resumed the onslaught. The Elflings were brushing the back of his knees, his thighs and the back of his neck.
“You want to tell,” the Shade said softly with a voice like silk. “You just require more persuasion.”
He nibbled at her sides with his teeth biting her sensitive ribcage. And that was just too much for her to bear. The sheer desperation generated by the hot breath, the moist lips and the biting teeth was simply too much for her to bear. It blew away any willpower she had left.
“I’ll tell, I’ll tell,” she finally said giving in. “It’s in a safe house. I can tell you how to get there.”
He bit her one last time making her shriek and laugh one last time.
“I thought so,” Orion said with a broad smile of satisfaction.
* * * * *
She told in detail the way to the safe house.
The Elflings left to check the safe house and Vivian and Nate were left alone with the Shade.
Orion rolled them each in a heavy carpet and tied the carpet tight with belts before releasing them from the shadow coil’s grasp. Only their heads and feet were visible and they were as immobile as they were in the shadow coil’s grasp.
“Magic requires quite a bit of concentration,” he said standing over them. “Sometimes simple is better.”
“The treasure is much more than anything you are being paid,” Nate said carefully. “You could keep all the treasure for all we care. Surely that is simple.”
“That would break my word and my word is my bond,” he said seriously. “My clients can depend on me and that makes me worth what I am. You mind as well try and get a good night’s sleep. The Elflings will take a while.”
“I can’t sleep tied up like this,” the Vixen protested.
Orion cast a spell. His sleep spells were weak for the most part but unable to move the sleeping mist was unavoidable it it would eventually take its toll.
The Vixen yawned and her eyelids quickly drooped and finally closed as she fell into a deep and magical sleep. The Hound quickly joined her.
Orion drew a finger up and down their soles with no reactions. He was satisfied that they would sleep the rest of the night through, so he sat down the chair and pulled his cloak over him in an attempt to sleep himself.
He could not sleep though.
He kept thinking about his world and his plans to return.
* * * * *
Dawn came and sunlight began to fill the room.
Orion let the light spell he had cast dissipate as the light entered. It was one less spell to maintain. He felt a bit taxed by the magical exertion and the sleepless night, but he was still strong enough to conjure up some powerful spell if necessary.
He stood up at the window and felt the sun on his face and for a moment closed his eyes and basked in the warm sunny rays.
“I’d think a Shadow Mage would flee from sunlight,” the Hound said finally awake and perhaps trying to make conversation.
“A shadow loves neither light nor darkness more than the other,” Orion explained. “Too much of one is complete darkness and too little of another banishes the shadow. Duality is the nature of the shadow and the nature of all of us.”
“Maybe you,” the Vixen said. “But not I, Shade.”
“Really?” Orion said intrigued. “You are the sum of your virtues AND your vices. You are who you are because of your fortunes but also because of your misfortunes. Darkness and Light are nothing without each other.”
“So we should allow darkness into our heart and our lives as you have?” the Vixen questioned.
“No,” Orion answered. “I am simply stating that the darkness is there. We should recognize it and not ignore it.”
“What drives a man like you to become a Shadow Mage?” the Hound asked after a brief pause. “I’ve heard the training is grueling and most die young and tragically or are even driven to madness.”
“You’ve heard right, Hound,” Orion answered recalling many of his peers who had already suffered those fates. “I do this because I need to be the best. I will return to my world- our world. That desire is what makes me continue forward.”
“You don’t like it here?” the Hound asked. “I find that hard to believe from a person like you who is so adapted to life in the Realms.”
“Very few do as well as we have,” Orion admitted. “I myself have done extremely well, but I’m doing all I can to get back. I loved tickling in my life in our world as well. I want to return and eventually I will do so.”
“Is there a way back?” the Hound asked.
“I believe there is, and I mean to find it,” Orion said. “I know for a fact that this world and our own are intimately related. We are reflections of our own persons in our world. I also believe that this world is also linked to ours, however in a more subtle matter. I cannot prove anything and it is more of a gut feeling than anything, but when I do get back I will be sure to watch out for those subtle manifestations.”
“I’m quite happy here,” the Hound said.
Orion smiled.
“You’ll get the itch to go back one day. I don’t doubt you enjoy your life here. And I wish you the very best. But life takes many turns,” he said with a touch of melancholy.
“I love him,” the Vixen said. “I won’t let him go.”
Orion smiled.
“I was loved and it was not enough,” Orion said softly before shaking his head and casting off a sad memory. “I like you two. A bit idealistic for my taste, but maybe I’m just getting old. I wish I could turn back on my contract, but a deal is a deal. You’re a clever pair. You should find your way out of this problem and you’ll be the better for it.”
“And if we don’t,” the Hound asked.
“All problems eventually come to an end,” Orion said shrugging. “Be it one way or another.”
* * * * *
The Elflings finally returned.
“The safe house location is accurate and we have recovered the treasure,” the Elfling said. “About half of the total is there.”
“Good, then my contract is completed,” the Orion said. “I expect payment in full.”
One of the Elflings handed over a heavy bag full of magical gems.
“This is it. You are welcome to count,” the Elfling said.
Orion felt the weight. “Feels about right. Besides, your boss should know what happens when people short change the Shade.”
“So long Vixen and Hound,” Orion said. “A shame we had to meet like this. Perhaps we’ll be on the same side next time. Or maybe we’ll meet in our world, Hound. First round of beer is on me.”
He smiled and he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
* * * * *
“Where are you taking us?” Vivian asked as the Elfling reopened the portal in the sphere.
“We travel light,” one Elfling explained. “One runner. The rest of us in the sphere.”
“And what do you mean to do to us?” Vivian asked.
“You’ll see,” the Elfling answered clamping her fingers on a nerve on Vivian’s neck.
Her eyes went wide at first as if in surprise. They then closed slowly until she was unconscious.
They carefully stroked her soles with their magic brushes to be certain she was senseless and then undid the straps and freed her from the carpet. Still naked, they lifted her off the ground by the arms and ankles taking her through the portal.
They returned shortly and one of the Elflings approached Nate.
“You won’t be able to carry me,” Nate observed. “I could walk through the portal.”
“We’ll drag you,” the Ellfing said as a matter of fact as she placed her hand on a nerve on his neck and pressed gently. “Nap time, Hound.”
He stiffened as he felt the pressure on his neck and then relaxed as the world faded away.
* * * * *
Vivian awoke. She felt a pinch on her neck and she was quickly revived.
“We meet again,” the Lady of the Morning Dew said looking at her through her white veil.
Nate was next to her mounted up on one of the mechanical rings just as she was. They had placed her as well in one of the rings as well. Her body was still bare save a white loincloth.
They were in what must be the inside of the sphere. It was a large luminous room. In one corner was a the treasure she and Nate had taken.
Nate as usual was still out like a light.
“I branded you,” the Lady explained. “The rune can be traced anywhere in the Realms and beyond. It was only a matter of time before I captured you. I took the liberty of hiring the Shade to do the dirty work. Time is not a luxury for me.”
“Let him go,” Vivian said. “I’ll be your slave, your servant, your statue if I must be. He’s just a Tenderfoot. He doesn’t deserve to end like this.”
“He’s a Tenderfoot who will follow you to the end of the Realms and beyond,” the Lady said. “I’ve seen how you look at each other. The only way to counter that is that you face your demise together.”
The Lady stepped over to Nate and she tickled his senseless soles with her fingers. There was no reaction from the large ticklish feet Vivian knew to be extremely ticklish.
The Lady nodded to one of the Elflings who climbed up behind Nate and pressed a point on his neck reviving him.
He immediately began to laugh as his big feet thrashed under the Lady’s small hands and nails.
She moved the ring and reached up his inner thighs tickling under the loincloth sending him into spasms of laughter.
She stopped and watched him gather is bearings after such a rude awakening.
“The trip back is a day with the runner going nonstop,” she said. “Time moves slower here in the sphere and there is opportunity for entertainment during our journey.”
She approached the rings and caressed their edge, gently running her hand over the fine craftsmanship.
“These rings are not just means of restraint. They are not just means of torture, either. They are complex machines capable of following complex orders,” the Lady said as she pulled levers and pushed buttons on each of the rings.
The huge rings began to move in a series of clicks and Vivian’s ring moved of its own accord placing itself behind Nate and clicking neatly into place. Vivian faced Nate’s wide and muscular back.
A shrill whirling sound came from the top of Nate’s ring and a long and sharp spear tip began to turn round and round as it slowly descended towards his head.
“The ring will perforate his head in matter of minutes,” the Lady explained. “You can stop the descent by tickling your mate. Only vicious merciless tickling will persuade the ring from skewering your partner’s head, so make haste.”
Vivian felt the ring relax the tension on her arms while maintaining her restrained.
Nate looked up at the approaching spearhead.
“You’d better do something,” Nate said wincing at the spearhead that would surely kill him if left to its own devices.
Vivian did not hesitate. She dug her nails into Nate’s sides sticking them deep in between his ribs and making him instantly howl and struggle in the ring. The spearhead paused and slowly began to retreat. She shifted to his armpits digging in deep into his flesh knowing that the extra pressure would make the tickling torturous to Nate.
The spear retreated more as Vivian continued her tickling for several minutes. Suddenly she was stretched taut once more and the spear retreated back into the ring.
The rings moved and broke apart again. They turned and Nate was now facing Vivian face to face. A spear point appeared above her head and it quickly approached her head.
“The rings will switch when things start getting to comfortable,” the Lady explained. “You are encouraged to cooperate.”
Nate’s hands were free and he reached out tickling Vivian’s round breasts. Despite tickling her savagely, Vivian welcomed his warm touch. The spear paused and it receded as Nate moved on to Vivian’s smooth armpits and sides. They looked at each other intently and they seemed convinced they could weather this storm.
“I’ve seen most couples collapse over period of five or six hours with rather... sticky... consequences,” the Lady said. “A precious few last a full day under the rotating spears.”
The rings shifted again and Nate was turned upside down with his feet pulled together and facing Vivian. She felt her restraints loosen and she lovingly tickled his feet with extra vigor. Her tickling made him laugh and scream and beg. She began to feel a bit of a comfort zone. They could tickle each other like this maybe for days if need be.
Vivian suddenly felt nails scratch her bare soles and she herself felt the laughter swell inside her. She looked down at her feet and saw the Lady teasingly tickling her feet. The breech in her concentration and lack of tickling on Nate sent the spear jerking closer to his head and she heard his breaking voice call out to her.
“Viv, don’t stop now,” he shouted as the spear approached his head.
She concentrated as best she could and tickled his feet once again, this time desperately raking his soles with the hope that she could send the spear back and resist the tickling sensations on her own soles.
The ring pulled her tight again and they moved again. Now it was Vivian who was upside down facing Nate’s feet. She felt Nate go quickly to work on her feet caressing her feet gently but at the same time digging his fingers into ticklish spots he knew would drive her mad.
Vivian watched the Lady draw near Nate’s feet and she lifted her veil. She placed Nate’s toes into her mouth and sucked on them. Nate went wild as the sensations traveled up his body and he ceased tickling Vivian.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten how your lips ravaged my toes, Hound,” the Lady said pausing before returning to the desperate toes Nathan could not move.
Vivian watched the spear dangerously approach her head and then felt Nate clamp his own lips on her toes. He laughed between his lips but that only added to the sensation. She exploded in desperate laughter as he darted his tongue in between her toes. She felt aroused with the attention on her toes and she twisted around helplessly in her restraints.
The cycles continued for hours and the Lady became more and more devious in her distractions. She resorted to the brushes elevating the distractions this way a few notches. Her tickling switched erratically between intense torturous tickling to distracting erotic tickling.
As the hours flew by they grew more and more weary and the effort to continue tickling the other became a tremendous task. The spears drew nearer and nearer even at one point drawing a drop of blood on Nate’s head as it came as close as it could without doing permanent damage.
The level of exhaustion was terrible. The intense concentration and the torturous tickling had driven them beyond their limits. Suddenly when all seemed lost and it seemed certain one of them must fail, the terrible machine stopped.
“We’ve arrived,” the Lady said. “Welcome to your doom.”
* * * * *
They had finally arrived at the Lady’s fortress.
The ring released them, but they were too tired to even stand.
They were dragged away by a dozen Elfling warriors. They were bathed and dressed again in their clothes. They were fed and they ate greedily at spear point feeling some strength return. But that was a short lived improvement as they understood the food must have been drugged and all hopes for a possible escape faded away with that realization. Unable to fight it after having been so weakened, they slept a deep and restoring slumber.
When they awoke, they found themselves again with in the rings in an antechamber to the courtyard. They were fully dressed now and Vivian and Nate looked at each other grimly.
“Looks like we’re really in trouble,” Nate said grimly as he listened to the Elflings cheering outside in the courtyard.
“I’m sorry. I should have never taken you under my wing,” Vivian apologized. “You wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“You’re right,” he said much to her surprise. “I would not be here, I would not have spent the best years of my life in company of the woman I love.”
Vivian smiled.
“You’ll track me down, what ever happens?” Vivian asked.
“To the end of the world and beyond,” Nate said confidently.
There was a new cheer outside and several Elflings entered and carted the rings out onto the courtyard.
“Hail to the intruders,” the Lady of the Morning Dew greeted and the Elflings cheered. “They tried to steal from us. They tried to defy Fate. But Fate has spoken,” she said gesturing to the wheel set on white. “Who are we to deny her?”
Nate and Vivian realized there would be no extra turn of the wheel of fate.
The Lady drew near the pair and pulled back her veil. Nate nor Vivian could look away. It was impossible. It was simply irresistible. They has seen her beauty before but now with the magic behind it it was beauty that hurt; a true aching beauty. Her perfect face was that; simply perfect.
Nate and Vivian felt something inside of themselves break.
They were released from the ring and Nate would have loved to launch himself at the Lady, but his feet felt leaden and his arms would not obey him.
“Your bodies will be preserved in stone,” the Lady declared as she lowered her veil once more. “I have yet to find what can damage this stone you will become. As for your soul, it is also protected between the folds of time and space. You will not age, you will not die. You will watch on for all eternity.”
Elflings whirled around them in a storm of activity coaxing both victims into the positions they desired. Nate’s blow gun was put in his hands and Vivian’s bola was put above her head, but they could not use them.
“Your senses are intact,” the Lady explained. “You will see all that passes. You will feel the gentle breeze, the morning sun. You will hear the rustling of the leaves. You will smell the moisture in the air before it rains. You are here in all the meanings of the word and yet you are not.”
It did not seem to matter what she had to say. They became stiffer and stiffer and the Lady of the Morning Dew took their faces in her hands and sculpted a brave look with her fingers.
They became cold stone statues.
“Yes,” she said touching the stone. “Beautiful. Your beauty will not wither; it will live on like it does with me.”
She caressed them both gently as if they were her most prized possessions.
“Send them to the front. They are my newest favorites.”
* * * * *
Some weeks later, the Elfling King arrived accompanied by a small army of Elflings.
Nate and Vivian watched him arrive from their favored position in the courtyard.
He did not seem pleased.
“You’ve requested a delay regarding the payment of the tribute,” he said standing just outside the courtyard in his immaculate white robes. The Lady of the Morning Dew stood in between Nate and Vivian within the limits of the courtyard.
“I have about eight tenths of the tribute,” she said. “This year has been bad.”
“I care not dear sister what problems you might have,” the Elfling King said sneering. “You are able to hold onto this small corner of the Elfling wood as yours and yours alone. But should you default, I am within my right to take this fortress and this vale again under my jurisdiction. I cannot harm you nor can I remove you from this fortress. But I can take your subjects away from you. I can retake this part of the Elfling Realm by force.”
“You would not dare,” she said her voice filled with loathing and disgust.
“I would. That and more,” the Elfling King said. “A storm is coming. A cleansing storm. The world will be finally in my hands. And I cannot allow there to be pockets of resistance by those who do not wish to recognize me as their king!”
“You may not take the land, nor my subjects, nor my fortress, nor my autonomy,” the Lady stated. “That was pacted long ago.”
“Pacted under obligation of payment of tribute,” the Elfling King sneered. “Say it is a matter of principle or a matter of convenience. It matters little to me. I will take your subjects, your fortress and anything I see fit. I am your King, whether you like it nor not.”
“Stop, brother,” the Lady said gravely. “I can stop you. I will stop you if you proceed. I am bound not to slay you, but there are many ways to stop you without slaying you.”
“Pray tell you would show me,” the Elfling King snorted. “I’ve always thought you’ve lacked a backbone. To see my sister bare some teeth and show some bite would be a pleasant change.”
“You were warned brother,” she said. “Fate has made her decision!”
She lifted the veil and the Elfling King immediately spoke a work of magic and passed his hand over his face.
His face vanished and was replaced by a perfectly reflective surface.
The Lady of the Morning Dew stared back at her own glorious, terrible beauty and her eyes went blank with surprise.
“I had the Tickle Scourge sent out here to find treasure. Indirectly through my minion, Madame Jordanna,” the Elfling King explained still not daring to look up at his sister. “The Scourge did not know what she was looking for exactly, but she was told there was opportunity. Madame Jordanna assured me that that was enough a hint for one of her kind. A resourceful one that Scourge. She would never knowingly do anything to benefit me. But in the end she has benefited me much. How convenient indeed.”
The Lady turned pale and she felt her limbs stiffen.
“I knew how much had been taken,” the Elfling King said stepping into the courtyard and now looking at his sister’s face to face as she began to turn to stone. “I knew you would default. That was all I needed to know. A little prick to your pride was enough to send the wheel turning and this time Fate does not favor you.”
He pulled away the veil and positioned her in a proud and noble pose as she became a statue just like the thousands scattered over her courtyard.
“I’ll leave you here at the front of the courtyard watching over the Elfling realm and onto the hated Centaur plains. It will be only a few years before all is razed and destroyed and a new world is created under my guidance. Farewell, sister.”
“What of the subjects, my liege?” an Elfling commander asked his King.
“Take them,” he ordered. “Our force is ten times their size. Without their Lady, they are nothing. We’ll take them to the dungeons and teach them obedience and servitude again.”
“They are protected by powerful magic,” the commander said hesitating. “It will be difficult to break them.”
“Trivial rune,” the Elfling King scoffed as his Elfling forces raided the fortress. “I could undo it blindfolded. Who do you think taught her those runes?”
He scanned the fortress but did not feel especially inclined to enter. “Empty the coffers, take all of value that can be easily taken. Leave the rest. I will leave the spells in place. It will still be difficult to find. A few years and it will all be reclaimed by the forest.”
He looked at his sister with leering satisfaction.
“Then she really will be just a legend,” he said.
* * * * *
The seasons came and went and Nate was trapped. His only consolation was that he was with Vivian. He could see her and she could see him. That was the only thing that kept him from going mad. There was no sleep, no dreaming. Just steady endless watching.
One day, years later, things felt differently. Something grand was about to happen. They watched an Elfling army march onto the Centaur plains. Nate guessed that what he could see on the horizon was Kilect Ratheet, the sacred ruins bordering the Elfling Realm.
Hours later, something felt terribly wrong. Something terrible had transpired there although Nate could not see it. There was a sort of ominous electricity in the air he could feel.
A huge creature was headed towards the Elfling realm coming from Kilect Ratheet and it seemed to come in a straight line towards the fortress of the Lady of the Morning Dew.
“I hunger,” the huge towering figure said as it arrived at the courtyard to the fortress. Its huge mouth opened and it displayed row after row of sharp teeth. It appeared to be a deformed Elfling with a hulking body of grey colored muscle and tangled grey hair. At its forehead a round white gem shined brightly. “There are souls here, I can smell them. Thousands of them, yet I cannot claim them.”
He cast statues left and right as if looking for something. He finally took the Lady in one hand and Vivian in the other.
Do not take Vivian, Nathan begged silently. I will really go mad without her.
“A body encased in magical marble and a soul anchored between time and space,” the huge horrible creature said studying the two statues intently sniffing at them as if their scent would reveal their secrets. “Magically protected to keep its victims alive but keep their souls free from those like I who feeds on souls. Almost invulnerable.”
He studied the two statues in his hands. A wicked smile crept into the side of its bloated and hideous face. He crushed them both in his hands and a blue light was freed from each statue. The lights faded into the air as he tried to grasp at them and they quickly disappeared.
“Almost invulnerable,” he said chuckling, “but not quite.”
The crumbled pieces of what was once the Lady of the Morning Dew and Vivian showered down onto the courtyard much to Nate’s complete and utter horror.
“I waste my time,” the terrible creature said. “My hunger will not be satisfied here.”
He walked away to terrorize the rest of the forest leaving Nate alone.
A single tear formed in his left eye and traveled down his marble cheek and on to the ground below.
The difference was that now, he truly was alone.
To be concluded...
Next: “The Hound Returns”
“They All Fall Down”
Orion watched his two captives intently under the light of a minor light spell he cast into the room.
They seemed like decent folk.
Certainly stealing from an important Realmslord can get you in trouble, but he was guilty of that himself on many an occasion. Besides, in this world, tickling and being tickled, and taking and being taken from are simply part of the day to day flair that made this world interesting.
He looked at them. He in particular admired the soles of the Fox headed Animus. She was attractive for Fox type and she seemed to be the type used to be in charge. He liked to see the stronger personalities restrained. He enjoyed breaking them down. The Hound, as he was called, was a more quiet type, but he sensed a powerful spirit within. He’d leave him for the attentions of those he knew would at least give him their undivided attention.
The Vixen and the Hound did not speak.
He was not surprised. He’d found himself in similar situations and placed many dozens more in the same. Does anyone ever really cooperate without having be encouraged by the feather? Or maybe people want to be tickled out of their mind and they just can’t bring themselves to admit it.
Which ever the case, the two captives would be questioned and they would answer. He was persuasive when putting his captives to the feather. He had yet to find someone able to resist his titillating touch.
“Very well, I’ll take your silence as a vote for ‘involuntarily’,” Orion said. “There are two of you and I do not like to split my attention, so I will call upon some assistance.”
He pressed the side of the golden sphere he had used to track them and a portal opened. Three young Elfling warriors stepped through the portal. They were garbed in the uniforms of a sentry of the Lady of the Morning Dew.
It was better that he took them with him in that manner, he thought. No one slowing him down or interfering with his style.
“My liaisons traveled with me the whole way in the sphere,” he explained showing them the Golden Sphere. “I’m impressed with your antagonist. He or she is well connected and has many useful resources ready to be used. This sort of clever artifact is usually beyond the grasp of even some of the most powerful Realms Lords.”
The three Elflings were stoic and serious like none Orion had ever seen before. They eyed both the Vixen and the Hound and nodded among themselves with approval.
They had been his contact the entire time. They showed no emotion and appeared to have none to betray. He secretly longed to tickle them and break their stony faces, but that would have to wait for another occasion.
“The Animus will tell us what we want to know,” he said addressing them. “You can make an example of the Manling if you wish. Maybe the Animus will reconsider the folly of her silence.”
They drew near the Hound with an almost clinical approach studying his well formed body. These were disciplined hardened warrior women with an agenda. They would leave no leaf unturned before engaging in their task.
Orion watched as they traced their fingers over his entire body making him twitch and even snort in stifled laughter as they touched but did not quite tickle him. They nodded to each other in unison and they each pulled out an identical black bristled brush.
Orion had seen many brushes before. He’d been on the receiving end of bristled brushes more times than he’d care to recall. These particular brushes were of superior craftsmanship compared to those ordinary tools of torture. These bristles were magical. He could tell. And not only magical, each bristle was sentient. He watched each individual bristle quiver in eager anticipation as they approached their victim. What the Elflings lacked in creative imagination in tickling they would more than make up for with the magical brushes.
One Elfling placed the brush’s bristles against the Hound’s large foot and brushed briskly against his sole. He immediately began to scream and shout in mirthful terror. The Elfling mechanically switched between feet maintaining her expression always business like. The other two Elfling warrior maidens each attacked a side of his torso promptly applying the brushes to his sides and ribs with expert discipline.
The Hound howled uncontrollably shaking and convulsing. The shadow coils held him taut and the Elflings were persistent in their torturous tickling. Orion felt the coils stretch extremely tight and he had to adjust his concentration to maintain the spell or the Hound’s thrashing might break him free.
“We do not have to do more than is really necessary,” the Shade said addressing the Vixen. “So I’ll put it like this. You can tell me where the treasure is hidden and I will stop this torture. You are both probably going to be tortured anyway down the line, but in this case later is always preferable to now.”
The Vixen shook her head watching the Hound flail and laugh desperately under the bristled brushes of the Elflings.
“You seem like the tough types who disappoint somewhat when placed under pressure,” the Orion said observing her intently. “I’m a good judge of character. You are going to spill the beans if I tickle you, right?”
“No,” the Vixen said trying to stir some semblance of self confidence. Orion could tell she would break; he knew the type that could be broken easily.
“Do not say I did not give you a chance,” Orion said pulling a long black feather from his cloak and twirling it menacingly by the quill.
* * * * *
Vivian knew she was in trouble.
For all her strong and resistant appearance, she was easily persuaded by an onslaught of tickling.
And the Shade seemed to be a disciplined tickler.
He spoke a word of magic and she was instantly flipped over face down while still stretched out spread eagle. Vivian faced the bed below her but did not quite touch it. She could not look back and she had difficulty even seeing Nate out of the corner of her eye. For all practical purposes she was blindfolded to all which was to happen behind her.
So, not only disciplined, but also devious.
The Shade took her silken night gown in his hand and cut it at the end with what she assumed was a knife. He then tore the delicate material apart and it fell softly from her body leaving her naked.
That was to be expected, Vivian thought to herself. She did not feel especially self conscious. But she did feel slightly more vulnerable. That was of course the idea.
The Shade started by brushing Vivian’s sole with the soft edge of the black feather. The motion was slow but deliberate as one might softly brush dust off of a delicate surface. It tickled but only slightly and she could keep the laughter controlled despite wincing as it glided up and down her sole and twirled around her toes. She could not keep the foot still however and it jerked and twitched wildly.
Tickling with a feather is a challenge. Vivian knew quite well that the right feather, magical or not, was a weapon that could create a myriad of sensations. By varying angle and pressure and the actual part of the feather touching a surface, the possible sensations are limitless. That goes without mentioning the quill of the feather which has a hard point and is a tickling tool all in itself.
So she groaned realizing that the torture was just about to begin.
He traced the feather over her calves, the back of her knees and her thighs. There he paused to reposition himself and he dusted off her buttocks seemingly enjoying the task careful to fit the tip in between the butt crack. Vivian laughed despite herself as the nerves on her bottom were easily stimulated. He traced over her hips and brushed her sides and her back. She laughed and twisted, but this was still far from being torture.
He traced her underarms and her arms as well careful to leave no spot untouched by the soft black feather. He teased her neck with the feather twirling it towards the back of her ears making her shake her head violently while she suppressed laughter as best she could.
Meanwhile, Nate’s hopeless laughter died down. The Elflings had stopped tickling him. Any more and he would be senseless. They understood that much about tickle torture but they certainly lacked finesse. Nate’s senses would soon dull to the best the Elflings could dish out and then he’d hold out for a long long time.
Vivian realized that her situation was much more precarious.
“Now it is your turn,” the Shade said gently to her ear.
She felt him at her feet and felt him grasp her toes and pull them back on one foot. She then felt the quill placed firmly and deliberately in a tickling motion on her taut sole. It was excruciating how the spikes of laughter traveled up her body and burst forth from her lips. The quill touched perfectly her most sensitive spots. There was no defense from his firm grip and titillating scribbling on her sole.
He stopped for only a moment and then he sent his fingers dancing on each of her soles. He ran his skilled fingers up and down her soles with expert skill caressing her heels and toes in the process. He was just as concentrated as the Elflings in his work, but there was real passion there. He was enjoying tickling her. His touch was like the Scourge’s. Analytical, yet at the same time like the touch of an artist.
She screamed as the sensations became torturous.
His touch was like that of a favorite lover’s. Gentle, yet firm and knowing yet inquisitive. He moved swiftly up and down her body giving her no respite. He drilled his fingers into her armpits stroking a ticklish nerve she did not realize she had. He returned to her hips relishing in her sensitive nerves.
“Don’t give in!” Nate demanded between his own laughter and screams as the Elflings resumed the onslaught. The Elflings were brushing the back of his knees, his thighs and the back of his neck.
“You want to tell,” the Shade said softly with a voice like silk. “You just require more persuasion.”
He nibbled at her sides with his teeth biting her sensitive ribcage. And that was just too much for her to bear. The sheer desperation generated by the hot breath, the moist lips and the biting teeth was simply too much for her to bear. It blew away any willpower she had left.
“I’ll tell, I’ll tell,” she finally said giving in. “It’s in a safe house. I can tell you how to get there.”
He bit her one last time making her shriek and laugh one last time.
“I thought so,” Orion said with a broad smile of satisfaction.
* * * * *
She told in detail the way to the safe house.
The Elflings left to check the safe house and Vivian and Nate were left alone with the Shade.
Orion rolled them each in a heavy carpet and tied the carpet tight with belts before releasing them from the shadow coil’s grasp. Only their heads and feet were visible and they were as immobile as they were in the shadow coil’s grasp.
“Magic requires quite a bit of concentration,” he said standing over them. “Sometimes simple is better.”
“The treasure is much more than anything you are being paid,” Nate said carefully. “You could keep all the treasure for all we care. Surely that is simple.”
“That would break my word and my word is my bond,” he said seriously. “My clients can depend on me and that makes me worth what I am. You mind as well try and get a good night’s sleep. The Elflings will take a while.”
“I can’t sleep tied up like this,” the Vixen protested.
Orion cast a spell. His sleep spells were weak for the most part but unable to move the sleeping mist was unavoidable it it would eventually take its toll.
The Vixen yawned and her eyelids quickly drooped and finally closed as she fell into a deep and magical sleep. The Hound quickly joined her.
Orion drew a finger up and down their soles with no reactions. He was satisfied that they would sleep the rest of the night through, so he sat down the chair and pulled his cloak over him in an attempt to sleep himself.
He could not sleep though.
He kept thinking about his world and his plans to return.
* * * * *
Dawn came and sunlight began to fill the room.
Orion let the light spell he had cast dissipate as the light entered. It was one less spell to maintain. He felt a bit taxed by the magical exertion and the sleepless night, but he was still strong enough to conjure up some powerful spell if necessary.
He stood up at the window and felt the sun on his face and for a moment closed his eyes and basked in the warm sunny rays.
“I’d think a Shadow Mage would flee from sunlight,” the Hound said finally awake and perhaps trying to make conversation.
“A shadow loves neither light nor darkness more than the other,” Orion explained. “Too much of one is complete darkness and too little of another banishes the shadow. Duality is the nature of the shadow and the nature of all of us.”
“Maybe you,” the Vixen said. “But not I, Shade.”
“Really?” Orion said intrigued. “You are the sum of your virtues AND your vices. You are who you are because of your fortunes but also because of your misfortunes. Darkness and Light are nothing without each other.”
“So we should allow darkness into our heart and our lives as you have?” the Vixen questioned.
“No,” Orion answered. “I am simply stating that the darkness is there. We should recognize it and not ignore it.”
“What drives a man like you to become a Shadow Mage?” the Hound asked after a brief pause. “I’ve heard the training is grueling and most die young and tragically or are even driven to madness.”
“You’ve heard right, Hound,” Orion answered recalling many of his peers who had already suffered those fates. “I do this because I need to be the best. I will return to my world- our world. That desire is what makes me continue forward.”
“You don’t like it here?” the Hound asked. “I find that hard to believe from a person like you who is so adapted to life in the Realms.”
“Very few do as well as we have,” Orion admitted. “I myself have done extremely well, but I’m doing all I can to get back. I loved tickling in my life in our world as well. I want to return and eventually I will do so.”
“Is there a way back?” the Hound asked.
“I believe there is, and I mean to find it,” Orion said. “I know for a fact that this world and our own are intimately related. We are reflections of our own persons in our world. I also believe that this world is also linked to ours, however in a more subtle matter. I cannot prove anything and it is more of a gut feeling than anything, but when I do get back I will be sure to watch out for those subtle manifestations.”
“I’m quite happy here,” the Hound said.
Orion smiled.
“You’ll get the itch to go back one day. I don’t doubt you enjoy your life here. And I wish you the very best. But life takes many turns,” he said with a touch of melancholy.
“I love him,” the Vixen said. “I won’t let him go.”
Orion smiled.
“I was loved and it was not enough,” Orion said softly before shaking his head and casting off a sad memory. “I like you two. A bit idealistic for my taste, but maybe I’m just getting old. I wish I could turn back on my contract, but a deal is a deal. You’re a clever pair. You should find your way out of this problem and you’ll be the better for it.”
“And if we don’t,” the Hound asked.
“All problems eventually come to an end,” Orion said shrugging. “Be it one way or another.”
* * * * *
The Elflings finally returned.
“The safe house location is accurate and we have recovered the treasure,” the Elfling said. “About half of the total is there.”
“Good, then my contract is completed,” the Orion said. “I expect payment in full.”
One of the Elflings handed over a heavy bag full of magical gems.
“This is it. You are welcome to count,” the Elfling said.
Orion felt the weight. “Feels about right. Besides, your boss should know what happens when people short change the Shade.”
“So long Vixen and Hound,” Orion said. “A shame we had to meet like this. Perhaps we’ll be on the same side next time. Or maybe we’ll meet in our world, Hound. First round of beer is on me.”
He smiled and he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
* * * * *
“Where are you taking us?” Vivian asked as the Elfling reopened the portal in the sphere.
“We travel light,” one Elfling explained. “One runner. The rest of us in the sphere.”
“And what do you mean to do to us?” Vivian asked.
“You’ll see,” the Elfling answered clamping her fingers on a nerve on Vivian’s neck.
Her eyes went wide at first as if in surprise. They then closed slowly until she was unconscious.
They carefully stroked her soles with their magic brushes to be certain she was senseless and then undid the straps and freed her from the carpet. Still naked, they lifted her off the ground by the arms and ankles taking her through the portal.
They returned shortly and one of the Elflings approached Nate.
“You won’t be able to carry me,” Nate observed. “I could walk through the portal.”
“We’ll drag you,” the Ellfing said as a matter of fact as she placed her hand on a nerve on his neck and pressed gently. “Nap time, Hound.”
He stiffened as he felt the pressure on his neck and then relaxed as the world faded away.
* * * * *
Vivian awoke. She felt a pinch on her neck and she was quickly revived.
“We meet again,” the Lady of the Morning Dew said looking at her through her white veil.
Nate was next to her mounted up on one of the mechanical rings just as she was. They had placed her as well in one of the rings as well. Her body was still bare save a white loincloth.
They were in what must be the inside of the sphere. It was a large luminous room. In one corner was a the treasure she and Nate had taken.
Nate as usual was still out like a light.
“I branded you,” the Lady explained. “The rune can be traced anywhere in the Realms and beyond. It was only a matter of time before I captured you. I took the liberty of hiring the Shade to do the dirty work. Time is not a luxury for me.”
“Let him go,” Vivian said. “I’ll be your slave, your servant, your statue if I must be. He’s just a Tenderfoot. He doesn’t deserve to end like this.”
“He’s a Tenderfoot who will follow you to the end of the Realms and beyond,” the Lady said. “I’ve seen how you look at each other. The only way to counter that is that you face your demise together.”
The Lady stepped over to Nate and she tickled his senseless soles with her fingers. There was no reaction from the large ticklish feet Vivian knew to be extremely ticklish.
The Lady nodded to one of the Elflings who climbed up behind Nate and pressed a point on his neck reviving him.
He immediately began to laugh as his big feet thrashed under the Lady’s small hands and nails.
She moved the ring and reached up his inner thighs tickling under the loincloth sending him into spasms of laughter.
She stopped and watched him gather is bearings after such a rude awakening.
“The trip back is a day with the runner going nonstop,” she said. “Time moves slower here in the sphere and there is opportunity for entertainment during our journey.”
She approached the rings and caressed their edge, gently running her hand over the fine craftsmanship.
“These rings are not just means of restraint. They are not just means of torture, either. They are complex machines capable of following complex orders,” the Lady said as she pulled levers and pushed buttons on each of the rings.
The huge rings began to move in a series of clicks and Vivian’s ring moved of its own accord placing itself behind Nate and clicking neatly into place. Vivian faced Nate’s wide and muscular back.
A shrill whirling sound came from the top of Nate’s ring and a long and sharp spear tip began to turn round and round as it slowly descended towards his head.
“The ring will perforate his head in matter of minutes,” the Lady explained. “You can stop the descent by tickling your mate. Only vicious merciless tickling will persuade the ring from skewering your partner’s head, so make haste.”
Vivian felt the ring relax the tension on her arms while maintaining her restrained.
Nate looked up at the approaching spearhead.
“You’d better do something,” Nate said wincing at the spearhead that would surely kill him if left to its own devices.
Vivian did not hesitate. She dug her nails into Nate’s sides sticking them deep in between his ribs and making him instantly howl and struggle in the ring. The spearhead paused and slowly began to retreat. She shifted to his armpits digging in deep into his flesh knowing that the extra pressure would make the tickling torturous to Nate.
The spear retreated more as Vivian continued her tickling for several minutes. Suddenly she was stretched taut once more and the spear retreated back into the ring.
The rings moved and broke apart again. They turned and Nate was now facing Vivian face to face. A spear point appeared above her head and it quickly approached her head.
“The rings will switch when things start getting to comfortable,” the Lady explained. “You are encouraged to cooperate.”
Nate’s hands were free and he reached out tickling Vivian’s round breasts. Despite tickling her savagely, Vivian welcomed his warm touch. The spear paused and it receded as Nate moved on to Vivian’s smooth armpits and sides. They looked at each other intently and they seemed convinced they could weather this storm.
“I’ve seen most couples collapse over period of five or six hours with rather... sticky... consequences,” the Lady said. “A precious few last a full day under the rotating spears.”
The rings shifted again and Nate was turned upside down with his feet pulled together and facing Vivian. She felt her restraints loosen and she lovingly tickled his feet with extra vigor. Her tickling made him laugh and scream and beg. She began to feel a bit of a comfort zone. They could tickle each other like this maybe for days if need be.
Vivian suddenly felt nails scratch her bare soles and she herself felt the laughter swell inside her. She looked down at her feet and saw the Lady teasingly tickling her feet. The breech in her concentration and lack of tickling on Nate sent the spear jerking closer to his head and she heard his breaking voice call out to her.
“Viv, don’t stop now,” he shouted as the spear approached his head.
She concentrated as best she could and tickled his feet once again, this time desperately raking his soles with the hope that she could send the spear back and resist the tickling sensations on her own soles.
The ring pulled her tight again and they moved again. Now it was Vivian who was upside down facing Nate’s feet. She felt Nate go quickly to work on her feet caressing her feet gently but at the same time digging his fingers into ticklish spots he knew would drive her mad.
Vivian watched the Lady draw near Nate’s feet and she lifted her veil. She placed Nate’s toes into her mouth and sucked on them. Nate went wild as the sensations traveled up his body and he ceased tickling Vivian.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten how your lips ravaged my toes, Hound,” the Lady said pausing before returning to the desperate toes Nathan could not move.
Vivian watched the spear dangerously approach her head and then felt Nate clamp his own lips on her toes. He laughed between his lips but that only added to the sensation. She exploded in desperate laughter as he darted his tongue in between her toes. She felt aroused with the attention on her toes and she twisted around helplessly in her restraints.
The cycles continued for hours and the Lady became more and more devious in her distractions. She resorted to the brushes elevating the distractions this way a few notches. Her tickling switched erratically between intense torturous tickling to distracting erotic tickling.
As the hours flew by they grew more and more weary and the effort to continue tickling the other became a tremendous task. The spears drew nearer and nearer even at one point drawing a drop of blood on Nate’s head as it came as close as it could without doing permanent damage.
The level of exhaustion was terrible. The intense concentration and the torturous tickling had driven them beyond their limits. Suddenly when all seemed lost and it seemed certain one of them must fail, the terrible machine stopped.
“We’ve arrived,” the Lady said. “Welcome to your doom.”
* * * * *
They had finally arrived at the Lady’s fortress.
The ring released them, but they were too tired to even stand.
They were dragged away by a dozen Elfling warriors. They were bathed and dressed again in their clothes. They were fed and they ate greedily at spear point feeling some strength return. But that was a short lived improvement as they understood the food must have been drugged and all hopes for a possible escape faded away with that realization. Unable to fight it after having been so weakened, they slept a deep and restoring slumber.
When they awoke, they found themselves again with in the rings in an antechamber to the courtyard. They were fully dressed now and Vivian and Nate looked at each other grimly.
“Looks like we’re really in trouble,” Nate said grimly as he listened to the Elflings cheering outside in the courtyard.
“I’m sorry. I should have never taken you under my wing,” Vivian apologized. “You wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“You’re right,” he said much to her surprise. “I would not be here, I would not have spent the best years of my life in company of the woman I love.”
Vivian smiled.
“You’ll track me down, what ever happens?” Vivian asked.
“To the end of the world and beyond,” Nate said confidently.
There was a new cheer outside and several Elflings entered and carted the rings out onto the courtyard.
“Hail to the intruders,” the Lady of the Morning Dew greeted and the Elflings cheered. “They tried to steal from us. They tried to defy Fate. But Fate has spoken,” she said gesturing to the wheel set on white. “Who are we to deny her?”
Nate and Vivian realized there would be no extra turn of the wheel of fate.
The Lady drew near the pair and pulled back her veil. Nate nor Vivian could look away. It was impossible. It was simply irresistible. They has seen her beauty before but now with the magic behind it it was beauty that hurt; a true aching beauty. Her perfect face was that; simply perfect.
Nate and Vivian felt something inside of themselves break.
They were released from the ring and Nate would have loved to launch himself at the Lady, but his feet felt leaden and his arms would not obey him.
“Your bodies will be preserved in stone,” the Lady declared as she lowered her veil once more. “I have yet to find what can damage this stone you will become. As for your soul, it is also protected between the folds of time and space. You will not age, you will not die. You will watch on for all eternity.”
Elflings whirled around them in a storm of activity coaxing both victims into the positions they desired. Nate’s blow gun was put in his hands and Vivian’s bola was put above her head, but they could not use them.
“Your senses are intact,” the Lady explained. “You will see all that passes. You will feel the gentle breeze, the morning sun. You will hear the rustling of the leaves. You will smell the moisture in the air before it rains. You are here in all the meanings of the word and yet you are not.”
It did not seem to matter what she had to say. They became stiffer and stiffer and the Lady of the Morning Dew took their faces in her hands and sculpted a brave look with her fingers.
They became cold stone statues.
“Yes,” she said touching the stone. “Beautiful. Your beauty will not wither; it will live on like it does with me.”
She caressed them both gently as if they were her most prized possessions.
“Send them to the front. They are my newest favorites.”
* * * * *
Some weeks later, the Elfling King arrived accompanied by a small army of Elflings.
Nate and Vivian watched him arrive from their favored position in the courtyard.
He did not seem pleased.
“You’ve requested a delay regarding the payment of the tribute,” he said standing just outside the courtyard in his immaculate white robes. The Lady of the Morning Dew stood in between Nate and Vivian within the limits of the courtyard.
“I have about eight tenths of the tribute,” she said. “This year has been bad.”
“I care not dear sister what problems you might have,” the Elfling King said sneering. “You are able to hold onto this small corner of the Elfling wood as yours and yours alone. But should you default, I am within my right to take this fortress and this vale again under my jurisdiction. I cannot harm you nor can I remove you from this fortress. But I can take your subjects away from you. I can retake this part of the Elfling Realm by force.”
“You would not dare,” she said her voice filled with loathing and disgust.
“I would. That and more,” the Elfling King said. “A storm is coming. A cleansing storm. The world will be finally in my hands. And I cannot allow there to be pockets of resistance by those who do not wish to recognize me as their king!”
“You may not take the land, nor my subjects, nor my fortress, nor my autonomy,” the Lady stated. “That was pacted long ago.”
“Pacted under obligation of payment of tribute,” the Elfling King sneered. “Say it is a matter of principle or a matter of convenience. It matters little to me. I will take your subjects, your fortress and anything I see fit. I am your King, whether you like it nor not.”
“Stop, brother,” the Lady said gravely. “I can stop you. I will stop you if you proceed. I am bound not to slay you, but there are many ways to stop you without slaying you.”
“Pray tell you would show me,” the Elfling King snorted. “I’ve always thought you’ve lacked a backbone. To see my sister bare some teeth and show some bite would be a pleasant change.”
“You were warned brother,” she said. “Fate has made her decision!”
She lifted the veil and the Elfling King immediately spoke a work of magic and passed his hand over his face.
His face vanished and was replaced by a perfectly reflective surface.
The Lady of the Morning Dew stared back at her own glorious, terrible beauty and her eyes went blank with surprise.
“I had the Tickle Scourge sent out here to find treasure. Indirectly through my minion, Madame Jordanna,” the Elfling King explained still not daring to look up at his sister. “The Scourge did not know what she was looking for exactly, but she was told there was opportunity. Madame Jordanna assured me that that was enough a hint for one of her kind. A resourceful one that Scourge. She would never knowingly do anything to benefit me. But in the end she has benefited me much. How convenient indeed.”
The Lady turned pale and she felt her limbs stiffen.
“I knew how much had been taken,” the Elfling King said stepping into the courtyard and now looking at his sister’s face to face as she began to turn to stone. “I knew you would default. That was all I needed to know. A little prick to your pride was enough to send the wheel turning and this time Fate does not favor you.”
He pulled away the veil and positioned her in a proud and noble pose as she became a statue just like the thousands scattered over her courtyard.
“I’ll leave you here at the front of the courtyard watching over the Elfling realm and onto the hated Centaur plains. It will be only a few years before all is razed and destroyed and a new world is created under my guidance. Farewell, sister.”
“What of the subjects, my liege?” an Elfling commander asked his King.
“Take them,” he ordered. “Our force is ten times their size. Without their Lady, they are nothing. We’ll take them to the dungeons and teach them obedience and servitude again.”
“They are protected by powerful magic,” the commander said hesitating. “It will be difficult to break them.”
“Trivial rune,” the Elfling King scoffed as his Elfling forces raided the fortress. “I could undo it blindfolded. Who do you think taught her those runes?”
He scanned the fortress but did not feel especially inclined to enter. “Empty the coffers, take all of value that can be easily taken. Leave the rest. I will leave the spells in place. It will still be difficult to find. A few years and it will all be reclaimed by the forest.”
He looked at his sister with leering satisfaction.
“Then she really will be just a legend,” he said.
* * * * *
The seasons came and went and Nate was trapped. His only consolation was that he was with Vivian. He could see her and she could see him. That was the only thing that kept him from going mad. There was no sleep, no dreaming. Just steady endless watching.
One day, years later, things felt differently. Something grand was about to happen. They watched an Elfling army march onto the Centaur plains. Nate guessed that what he could see on the horizon was Kilect Ratheet, the sacred ruins bordering the Elfling Realm.
Hours later, something felt terribly wrong. Something terrible had transpired there although Nate could not see it. There was a sort of ominous electricity in the air he could feel.
A huge creature was headed towards the Elfling realm coming from Kilect Ratheet and it seemed to come in a straight line towards the fortress of the Lady of the Morning Dew.
“I hunger,” the huge towering figure said as it arrived at the courtyard to the fortress. Its huge mouth opened and it displayed row after row of sharp teeth. It appeared to be a deformed Elfling with a hulking body of grey colored muscle and tangled grey hair. At its forehead a round white gem shined brightly. “There are souls here, I can smell them. Thousands of them, yet I cannot claim them.”
He cast statues left and right as if looking for something. He finally took the Lady in one hand and Vivian in the other.
Do not take Vivian, Nathan begged silently. I will really go mad without her.
“A body encased in magical marble and a soul anchored between time and space,” the huge horrible creature said studying the two statues intently sniffing at them as if their scent would reveal their secrets. “Magically protected to keep its victims alive but keep their souls free from those like I who feeds on souls. Almost invulnerable.”
He studied the two statues in his hands. A wicked smile crept into the side of its bloated and hideous face. He crushed them both in his hands and a blue light was freed from each statue. The lights faded into the air as he tried to grasp at them and they quickly disappeared.
“Almost invulnerable,” he said chuckling, “but not quite.”
The crumbled pieces of what was once the Lady of the Morning Dew and Vivian showered down onto the courtyard much to Nate’s complete and utter horror.
“I waste my time,” the terrible creature said. “My hunger will not be satisfied here.”
He walked away to terrorize the rest of the forest leaving Nate alone.
A single tear formed in his left eye and traveled down his marble cheek and on to the ground below.
The difference was that now, he truly was alone.
To be concluded...
Next: “The Hound Returns”
