The Hunt
Esmeralda stood hidden among the great toadstools of the Mushroom Wood as she stalked her prey. Loana the Giantess towered over her at more than twelve feet but still managed to move quietly and hide skillfully. The two pixies, Amber and Indigo, were each on one of Esmeralda’s shoulders. They were their true size which was not even three inches tall.
They all studied their prey intently.
“These fools are not worth the effort, Esmeralda,” Loanna said gruffly. Loanna had an artifact necklace of what she claimed were dragon's teeth. It allowed her to increase or decrease her size as she saw fit. It was a necessary skill for when stealth as opposed to brute force was required. With Madame Jordanna’s instruction, she was now able to become as small as a pixie or as large as a dinosaur but pronouncing the correct magic words. Loanna however, usually preferred to maintain her normal size and use the magic sparingly.
Three months has passed and Esmeralda now donned the spell caster’s robes. Hers were a dark green with a silver lining and silver runes. She’d excelled more than any had expected at the Academy and now she had been sent away with her classmates from the controlled atmosphere of the Academy to the unpredictable realms to go about using her skills and to bring back magic for Madame Jordanna.
Esmeralda’s third eye had detected the prey she was tracking as soon as Danea crossed them over to the Elfling Realm. Her sense of magic and detecting it was quite acute. It was more than any of the many students of the Academy.
She looked at her prey now and she knew fully well that Loanna was right. Three little Elfings of so little power would not yield enough magic to cover the magic spent on bringing them here.
“Let them go,” Indigo urged whispering to her ear. “There are bigger fish in the sea. Bigger than those bullies at least. Our time is limited. Let us make the best of it.”
“You’re the leader, Esmeralda,” Amber said to her other ear. “I agree with Indigo that they are not exactly the best the Elfings have to offer, but we will do what you tell us to do.”
“Okay,” Esmeralda finally said making up her mind. “I have a plan. But to make it work I need you all to cooperate even though it might not seem like the best course of action. Are we agreed?”
Her companions nodded in agreement.
“Good,” she said smiling.
So began the hunt.
* * * * * *
It had been a week since Lea and her Elfling cousins had gang tickled their most recent traveler. The last one had been a Centaur. She was traveling alone and was seemingly trying to keep from being noticed. It was a mistake to be traveling alone in the notorious Mushroom Wood where it was well known that even the most resilient warriors have been tickled to submission by Elfling gangs.
The Centaur was being cautious and she probably knew what would happen if she was detected. She was a beautiful female with long flowing dark hair and full round breasts that she displayed proudly. Lea smiled. She always loved tickling the pretty ones.
Lea had a good third eye and she had spotted her from far away. The Centaur had a good amount of magic however Lea knew she could not take her alone. She alerted cousins Serge and Gabrielle and together they quickly laid their trap.
Serge had magic seeds that grew into powerful vines at his command. He placed them on the path and as the centaur passed he spoke the words of magic that made them grow wildly. The vines grew instantly and wrapped around the Centaur’s legs tangling and not allowing her to advance.
The Centaur was alarmed and tried to pull away with her powerful equine legs as she drew her spear and tried to cut her way free. Lea leapt from a toadstool nearby and landed squarely on the centaur’s bare back. She immediately dug her small sharp nails into her victim’s sides and the spear flew from her victim’s hands to the ground as she shrieked in surprise at the unexpected tickling.
Gabrielle rushed from hiding and with her star tipped wand touched each of the struggling equine legs while whispering words of magic. The powerful legs were paralyzed and Serge’s vines now concentrated on restraining her arms until she was totally immobilized.
Lea slid off and joined her cousins to speak with their captive face to face and gloat. For Elflings, gloating is always half the pleasure of doing anything. They have a saying: “If you can’t gloat before you do a task, you might as well not do it.”
“Release me, fair Elflings,” the Centaur pleaded struggling yet against her restraints with her arms but to no avail. “I mean no harm. I am Lauranis of the Royal Centaur Family and I have tumbled by accident through a wormhole to your realm. Harm me not, and a great reward will await you in my Kingdom.”
”Elfings have no allegiance to anyone among the Realms save our own Elfling King,” Gabrielle replied with a laugh. “And as His Majesty says, ‘when in doubt, tickle first, ask questions later’.”
Gabrielle climbed the vines until she was almost face to face with her tall captive. Serge commanded the vines to hold his cousin in place while she prepared to tickle her victim.
“Please…” the Centaur pleaded.
“Laugh for me, beautiful princess,” Gabrielle said as she smiled with glee sending her sharp nails to scratch gently under Lauranis’s heavy breasts. She tickled her upper rib cage sending the Centaur into spasms of laughter. Lea mounted from behind once again and she dug her fingers into the Centaur’s bare underarms. She shook violently and screamed as her ticklish underarms were attacked.
Serge drew near and not wanting to be left out placed a finger into the centaur’s deep round belly button and wiggled gently. She shrieked differently now and Serge beamed with pleasure at the difference a single finger could do during a gang tickle. It didn’t take long before the centaur grew weak and finally passed out leaving a hefty prize for the ticklers at her forehead.
Her sweat drenched hair covered her drooping head as her voluptuous body hung limply in her restraints. Gabrielle gently cast the Centaur’s beautiful dark hair to the side and took the prize placing it into her pocket.
”Hey!” Lea shouted. “I wanted some of that!”
“You didn’t use magic,” Gabrielle said matter-of-factly, “You can have your part of the bounty when we finishing dragging her back to the King’s Dungeon.”
“I spotted her,” Lea said angrily. “I always spot them and I always get the smallest part of the spoils!”
“Survival of the fittest,” Serge said tickling her from behind on her rib cage. Lea’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. She could not escape nor could she use her magic ring of sleep.
“You’re a weak ticklish girl,” Gabrielle said joining in reaching her underarms and digging her fingers in. “We are your elders and we are better ticklers than you, Lea.”
Lea could not respond. She laughed in terror until she finally gave up and her magic appeared in a bright red ball of energy above her head. Gabrielle took it, looked at it with contempt and dropped it next to Lea’s exhausted form.
“Keep your weak magic,” she said. “When you awake, come for your part of the bounty. It is more than you deserve, but let it not be said your cousins are not generous.”
* * * * * *
That had been a week ago. Today, Lea was now just plain bored. She got her part of the bounty when the centaur was delivered to the king’s dungeon, but now a whole week had gone by and nothing.
Gabrielle and Serge were practicing tickling each other. They honed their skills that way. Most of the tickling was simple tickle fights, jabbing fingers to the ribs to test technique and ticklishness.
Lea was never allowed to participate however and she always felt left out and under appreciated by her cousins. She always dreamed of the day she would have both of her cousins trapped and restrained and it would be her chance to tickle them to submission and gloat over them for a change.
She continued in her thoughts daydreaming of vengeance until she spied a dark shape sneaking closer to them from among the toad stools and was shocked she had not noticed it before.
“Head’s up!” she shouted at Serge and Gabrielle who paused in mid tickle.
They both turned to see the spell caster who approached.
“Halt there, stranger!” Serge commanded.
The spell caster obeyed.
“Who goes there without announcing himself to the Elfling King?” Gabrielle asked. “A rogue spell caster is punished my imprisonment in the King’s Dungeon!”
“So I’ve been told,” said Esmeralda as she removed her hood. “But I come not to be tormented in your foul dungeon, but rather to torment those who chose to torment me before!”
“You! The Tenderfoot!” Gabrielle shouted as she recognized the spell caster. “You were supposed to have been a tickle toy for the Tickle Scourge. She’s never left anyone behind!”
Esmeralda shrugged.
“You’re no spell caster, Esmeralda,” Lea said as she and she cousins tried to surround Esmeralda. “No one could learn so quickly. Let’s take her!”
Lea lunged at Esmeralda trying to reach a tickle spot while her cousins approached in similar fashion.
Esmeralda moved swiftly and using demon techniques she threw Lea aside to the ground, tossed Serge over her head and swept Gabrielle’s feet from under her. Part magic and part skill, she had learned may Demon secrets from Danea.
The three Elfings groaned in pain as they pulled each other to their feet.
“A lucky shot,” Serge said as he reached into his pocket and threw a handful of seeds in Esmeralda’s direction.
Nives worg staf, dolh reh staf! he chanted.
The seeds grew into vines and tried to hold Esmeralda still.
Gema pumj! Esmeralda shouted and she took a great leap into the air and away from the vines and onto the tall toadstools.
She felt confident she could take such a great leap with her new magic stills, but fate did not favor her and she slipped on the wet edge of a toadstool and tumbled to the ground.
She fell hard upon her back upon the soft ground and groaned deeply. Before she could get her bearings again she heard Gabrielle whispering familiar words of magic and she felt a five tipped star touch her forehead.
Byod eb slilt dan emov on rome! she said as Esmeralda saw the star flash.
She had become totally paralyzed from head to toe. Only her eyes could look from side to side.
“We caught you again, foolish tenderfoot!” Gabrielle said triumphantly twirling her wands between her fingers. “You should never have returned to the Mushroom Wood.”
Serge pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to gag Esmeralda. “Can’t have you spell casting all of a sudden, can we?” he said with a smile as he tied a tight knot. “There’s no Tickle Scourge this time, so you’re really going to get it good.”
“I see someone has already opened your third eye,” Gabrielle observed. “I should have like to have that privilege. No matter. I will simply have to make up for that oversight.”
Hade bovae het cenk, emov neco rome! Gabrielle said as she touched Esmeralda’s forehead once more with the glowing wand.
Instantly movement returned to Esmeralda’s head and she was able to turn her head and make muffled sounds through the gag.
“They say that being totally paralyzed and unable to move or laugh while being tickled is the greatest torture that can possibly exist,” Gabrielle mused while Serge and Lea began removing Esmeralda’s boots and stockings from her limp feet. Esmeralda could feel every contact and even feel the cool air on her bare feet, but she could not move a single toe.
“However, we Elflings take pleasure in watching our victims struggle and beg for mercy,” she said smiling. “I will take personal pleasure in listening to your muffled pleas for mercy.”
With both feet bare, Lea and Serge each took a foot in their hands and they tickled. Esmeralda laughed instantly into the gag. Lea gently raked her fingers up and down her sole. The soft tickling was maddening. Serge on the other hand dug his ten fingers into her sole working hard to find her tickle spot on her foot and exploit it as much as possible.
Esmeralda’s head shook violently as she laughed into the gag. Gabrielle straddled Esmeralda and opened her spell caster robe and reached in digging under her black undergarment until she reached her soft flesh below. Gabrielle started tickling her belly with her nails and slowly moved to the sides until she was sliding up the ribs. It was all ticklish territory, and Gabrielle watched with glee as Esmeralda’s reactions varied from place to place.
She finally connected at her sweet spot in her rib cage and Esmeralda began to shriek fiercely. What should have been a bucking bronco was a limp body with a head that seemed ready to fall off from such violent movements. She screamed and laughed into the gag, but she would not give the Elflings the satisfaction of her begging.
Esmeralda calmed her thoughts and tried to relax and slowly the tide turned. Her laughing was no less intense, but it was an even constant laughing without shrieks or shouting into the gag. The Elflings were frustrated by the inability to break her. They continued for a full hour but Esmeralda somehow hung on.
Gabrielle was furious. She went for the feet and tickled in earnest convinced that there must be a way to force the tenderfoot to give up. She had conquered tenderfoot prey with a single finger in a matter of minutes. She could not believe Esmeralda’s endurance. She was ticklish, no doubt, but she was dealing with it in ways the Elflings had never seen before.
“I’ve never seen such endurance before,” Gabrielle said throwing up hands in defeat. Esmeralda was breathing heavily but she seemed stronger than at the beginning of the tickling session.
“Her aura is much stronger than it was the last time we saw her,” Serge commented as he dropped a seed at Esmeralda’s feet and commanded it to grow into a small vine that tickled her sole and made her laugh again albeit in a much more subdued manner. “The King would reward us well for her capture. Maybe three fold the bounty of the Centaur princess.”
“Very well!” Gabrielle decided. “Let’s tie her up and haul her back to the King’s Dungeon. At the very least she’ll be an easier move than that blasted Centaur.”
Serge tied Esmeralda’s wrists and ankles together with the vines that he had grown to capture Esmeralda. The vines were strong and held her tight. Feeling and movement was returning to her body but it was too late. Serge passed a staff through her arms and legs and Gabrielle and Serge each took an end on their shoulder lifting her into the air.
“Be a dear and send the tenderfoot to sleep, Lea,” Gabrielle asked. “We can’t have her discovering the way back to the dungeon.”
“As if it mattered,” Lea muttered softly. “She’ll never get out the King’s Dungeon.” Lea drew her hand with its magic ring to Esmeralda’s face. Esmeralda pleaded into the gag and shook her head in protest.
“Hush,” Lea said softly. “When you awake you will be deep in the King’s Dungeon.”
Yese rea pyless, yese stum scole, eb slilt dan plees! Lea chanted.
The thin green gas issued once again from the ring and fought its way into Esmeralda’s nostrils. She held her breathe a few seconds and fought to stay awake but she succumbed to the magic gas and fell into a deep magical sleep.
“She’s pretty when she’s asleep,” Serge mentioned as he tickled Esmeralda’s bare feet just to make sure she was asleep. There was no response at all from Esmeralda’s sleeping form.
“She’ll be much prettier when she’s broken in the King’s Dungeon,” Gabrielle said angrily. “I’ll be there until she broken.”
“And if she doesn’t break?” Lea asked.
“Then I'll just have to watch her be tickled until death!” Gabrielle replied grimly.
To be continued…
Esmeralda stood hidden among the great toadstools of the Mushroom Wood as she stalked her prey. Loana the Giantess towered over her at more than twelve feet but still managed to move quietly and hide skillfully. The two pixies, Amber and Indigo, were each on one of Esmeralda’s shoulders. They were their true size which was not even three inches tall.
They all studied their prey intently.
“These fools are not worth the effort, Esmeralda,” Loanna said gruffly. Loanna had an artifact necklace of what she claimed were dragon's teeth. It allowed her to increase or decrease her size as she saw fit. It was a necessary skill for when stealth as opposed to brute force was required. With Madame Jordanna’s instruction, she was now able to become as small as a pixie or as large as a dinosaur but pronouncing the correct magic words. Loanna however, usually preferred to maintain her normal size and use the magic sparingly.
Three months has passed and Esmeralda now donned the spell caster’s robes. Hers were a dark green with a silver lining and silver runes. She’d excelled more than any had expected at the Academy and now she had been sent away with her classmates from the controlled atmosphere of the Academy to the unpredictable realms to go about using her skills and to bring back magic for Madame Jordanna.
Esmeralda’s third eye had detected the prey she was tracking as soon as Danea crossed them over to the Elfling Realm. Her sense of magic and detecting it was quite acute. It was more than any of the many students of the Academy.
She looked at her prey now and she knew fully well that Loanna was right. Three little Elfings of so little power would not yield enough magic to cover the magic spent on bringing them here.
“Let them go,” Indigo urged whispering to her ear. “There are bigger fish in the sea. Bigger than those bullies at least. Our time is limited. Let us make the best of it.”
“You’re the leader, Esmeralda,” Amber said to her other ear. “I agree with Indigo that they are not exactly the best the Elfings have to offer, but we will do what you tell us to do.”
“Okay,” Esmeralda finally said making up her mind. “I have a plan. But to make it work I need you all to cooperate even though it might not seem like the best course of action. Are we agreed?”
Her companions nodded in agreement.
“Good,” she said smiling.
So began the hunt.
* * * * * *
It had been a week since Lea and her Elfling cousins had gang tickled their most recent traveler. The last one had been a Centaur. She was traveling alone and was seemingly trying to keep from being noticed. It was a mistake to be traveling alone in the notorious Mushroom Wood where it was well known that even the most resilient warriors have been tickled to submission by Elfling gangs.
The Centaur was being cautious and she probably knew what would happen if she was detected. She was a beautiful female with long flowing dark hair and full round breasts that she displayed proudly. Lea smiled. She always loved tickling the pretty ones.
Lea had a good third eye and she had spotted her from far away. The Centaur had a good amount of magic however Lea knew she could not take her alone. She alerted cousins Serge and Gabrielle and together they quickly laid their trap.
Serge had magic seeds that grew into powerful vines at his command. He placed them on the path and as the centaur passed he spoke the words of magic that made them grow wildly. The vines grew instantly and wrapped around the Centaur’s legs tangling and not allowing her to advance.
The Centaur was alarmed and tried to pull away with her powerful equine legs as she drew her spear and tried to cut her way free. Lea leapt from a toadstool nearby and landed squarely on the centaur’s bare back. She immediately dug her small sharp nails into her victim’s sides and the spear flew from her victim’s hands to the ground as she shrieked in surprise at the unexpected tickling.
Gabrielle rushed from hiding and with her star tipped wand touched each of the struggling equine legs while whispering words of magic. The powerful legs were paralyzed and Serge’s vines now concentrated on restraining her arms until she was totally immobilized.
Lea slid off and joined her cousins to speak with their captive face to face and gloat. For Elflings, gloating is always half the pleasure of doing anything. They have a saying: “If you can’t gloat before you do a task, you might as well not do it.”
“Release me, fair Elflings,” the Centaur pleaded struggling yet against her restraints with her arms but to no avail. “I mean no harm. I am Lauranis of the Royal Centaur Family and I have tumbled by accident through a wormhole to your realm. Harm me not, and a great reward will await you in my Kingdom.”
”Elfings have no allegiance to anyone among the Realms save our own Elfling King,” Gabrielle replied with a laugh. “And as His Majesty says, ‘when in doubt, tickle first, ask questions later’.”
Gabrielle climbed the vines until she was almost face to face with her tall captive. Serge commanded the vines to hold his cousin in place while she prepared to tickle her victim.
“Please…” the Centaur pleaded.
“Laugh for me, beautiful princess,” Gabrielle said as she smiled with glee sending her sharp nails to scratch gently under Lauranis’s heavy breasts. She tickled her upper rib cage sending the Centaur into spasms of laughter. Lea mounted from behind once again and she dug her fingers into the Centaur’s bare underarms. She shook violently and screamed as her ticklish underarms were attacked.
Serge drew near and not wanting to be left out placed a finger into the centaur’s deep round belly button and wiggled gently. She shrieked differently now and Serge beamed with pleasure at the difference a single finger could do during a gang tickle. It didn’t take long before the centaur grew weak and finally passed out leaving a hefty prize for the ticklers at her forehead.
Her sweat drenched hair covered her drooping head as her voluptuous body hung limply in her restraints. Gabrielle gently cast the Centaur’s beautiful dark hair to the side and took the prize placing it into her pocket.
”Hey!” Lea shouted. “I wanted some of that!”
“You didn’t use magic,” Gabrielle said matter-of-factly, “You can have your part of the bounty when we finishing dragging her back to the King’s Dungeon.”
“I spotted her,” Lea said angrily. “I always spot them and I always get the smallest part of the spoils!”
“Survival of the fittest,” Serge said tickling her from behind on her rib cage. Lea’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. She could not escape nor could she use her magic ring of sleep.
“You’re a weak ticklish girl,” Gabrielle said joining in reaching her underarms and digging her fingers in. “We are your elders and we are better ticklers than you, Lea.”
Lea could not respond. She laughed in terror until she finally gave up and her magic appeared in a bright red ball of energy above her head. Gabrielle took it, looked at it with contempt and dropped it next to Lea’s exhausted form.
“Keep your weak magic,” she said. “When you awake, come for your part of the bounty. It is more than you deserve, but let it not be said your cousins are not generous.”
* * * * * *
That had been a week ago. Today, Lea was now just plain bored. She got her part of the bounty when the centaur was delivered to the king’s dungeon, but now a whole week had gone by and nothing.
Gabrielle and Serge were practicing tickling each other. They honed their skills that way. Most of the tickling was simple tickle fights, jabbing fingers to the ribs to test technique and ticklishness.
Lea was never allowed to participate however and she always felt left out and under appreciated by her cousins. She always dreamed of the day she would have both of her cousins trapped and restrained and it would be her chance to tickle them to submission and gloat over them for a change.
She continued in her thoughts daydreaming of vengeance until she spied a dark shape sneaking closer to them from among the toad stools and was shocked she had not noticed it before.
“Head’s up!” she shouted at Serge and Gabrielle who paused in mid tickle.
They both turned to see the spell caster who approached.
“Halt there, stranger!” Serge commanded.
The spell caster obeyed.
“Who goes there without announcing himself to the Elfling King?” Gabrielle asked. “A rogue spell caster is punished my imprisonment in the King’s Dungeon!”
“So I’ve been told,” said Esmeralda as she removed her hood. “But I come not to be tormented in your foul dungeon, but rather to torment those who chose to torment me before!”
“You! The Tenderfoot!” Gabrielle shouted as she recognized the spell caster. “You were supposed to have been a tickle toy for the Tickle Scourge. She’s never left anyone behind!”
Esmeralda shrugged.
“You’re no spell caster, Esmeralda,” Lea said as she and she cousins tried to surround Esmeralda. “No one could learn so quickly. Let’s take her!”
Lea lunged at Esmeralda trying to reach a tickle spot while her cousins approached in similar fashion.
Esmeralda moved swiftly and using demon techniques she threw Lea aside to the ground, tossed Serge over her head and swept Gabrielle’s feet from under her. Part magic and part skill, she had learned may Demon secrets from Danea.
The three Elfings groaned in pain as they pulled each other to their feet.
“A lucky shot,” Serge said as he reached into his pocket and threw a handful of seeds in Esmeralda’s direction.
Nives worg staf, dolh reh staf! he chanted.
The seeds grew into vines and tried to hold Esmeralda still.
Gema pumj! Esmeralda shouted and she took a great leap into the air and away from the vines and onto the tall toadstools.
She felt confident she could take such a great leap with her new magic stills, but fate did not favor her and she slipped on the wet edge of a toadstool and tumbled to the ground.
She fell hard upon her back upon the soft ground and groaned deeply. Before she could get her bearings again she heard Gabrielle whispering familiar words of magic and she felt a five tipped star touch her forehead.
Byod eb slilt dan emov on rome! she said as Esmeralda saw the star flash.
She had become totally paralyzed from head to toe. Only her eyes could look from side to side.
“We caught you again, foolish tenderfoot!” Gabrielle said triumphantly twirling her wands between her fingers. “You should never have returned to the Mushroom Wood.”
Serge pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to gag Esmeralda. “Can’t have you spell casting all of a sudden, can we?” he said with a smile as he tied a tight knot. “There’s no Tickle Scourge this time, so you’re really going to get it good.”
“I see someone has already opened your third eye,” Gabrielle observed. “I should have like to have that privilege. No matter. I will simply have to make up for that oversight.”
Hade bovae het cenk, emov neco rome! Gabrielle said as she touched Esmeralda’s forehead once more with the glowing wand.
Instantly movement returned to Esmeralda’s head and she was able to turn her head and make muffled sounds through the gag.
“They say that being totally paralyzed and unable to move or laugh while being tickled is the greatest torture that can possibly exist,” Gabrielle mused while Serge and Lea began removing Esmeralda’s boots and stockings from her limp feet. Esmeralda could feel every contact and even feel the cool air on her bare feet, but she could not move a single toe.
“However, we Elflings take pleasure in watching our victims struggle and beg for mercy,” she said smiling. “I will take personal pleasure in listening to your muffled pleas for mercy.”
With both feet bare, Lea and Serge each took a foot in their hands and they tickled. Esmeralda laughed instantly into the gag. Lea gently raked her fingers up and down her sole. The soft tickling was maddening. Serge on the other hand dug his ten fingers into her sole working hard to find her tickle spot on her foot and exploit it as much as possible.
Esmeralda’s head shook violently as she laughed into the gag. Gabrielle straddled Esmeralda and opened her spell caster robe and reached in digging under her black undergarment until she reached her soft flesh below. Gabrielle started tickling her belly with her nails and slowly moved to the sides until she was sliding up the ribs. It was all ticklish territory, and Gabrielle watched with glee as Esmeralda’s reactions varied from place to place.
She finally connected at her sweet spot in her rib cage and Esmeralda began to shriek fiercely. What should have been a bucking bronco was a limp body with a head that seemed ready to fall off from such violent movements. She screamed and laughed into the gag, but she would not give the Elflings the satisfaction of her begging.
Esmeralda calmed her thoughts and tried to relax and slowly the tide turned. Her laughing was no less intense, but it was an even constant laughing without shrieks or shouting into the gag. The Elflings were frustrated by the inability to break her. They continued for a full hour but Esmeralda somehow hung on.
Gabrielle was furious. She went for the feet and tickled in earnest convinced that there must be a way to force the tenderfoot to give up. She had conquered tenderfoot prey with a single finger in a matter of minutes. She could not believe Esmeralda’s endurance. She was ticklish, no doubt, but she was dealing with it in ways the Elflings had never seen before.
“I’ve never seen such endurance before,” Gabrielle said throwing up hands in defeat. Esmeralda was breathing heavily but she seemed stronger than at the beginning of the tickling session.
“Her aura is much stronger than it was the last time we saw her,” Serge commented as he dropped a seed at Esmeralda’s feet and commanded it to grow into a small vine that tickled her sole and made her laugh again albeit in a much more subdued manner. “The King would reward us well for her capture. Maybe three fold the bounty of the Centaur princess.”
“Very well!” Gabrielle decided. “Let’s tie her up and haul her back to the King’s Dungeon. At the very least she’ll be an easier move than that blasted Centaur.”
Serge tied Esmeralda’s wrists and ankles together with the vines that he had grown to capture Esmeralda. The vines were strong and held her tight. Feeling and movement was returning to her body but it was too late. Serge passed a staff through her arms and legs and Gabrielle and Serge each took an end on their shoulder lifting her into the air.
“Be a dear and send the tenderfoot to sleep, Lea,” Gabrielle asked. “We can’t have her discovering the way back to the dungeon.”
“As if it mattered,” Lea muttered softly. “She’ll never get out the King’s Dungeon.” Lea drew her hand with its magic ring to Esmeralda’s face. Esmeralda pleaded into the gag and shook her head in protest.
“Hush,” Lea said softly. “When you awake you will be deep in the King’s Dungeon.”
Yese rea pyless, yese stum scole, eb slilt dan plees! Lea chanted.
The thin green gas issued once again from the ring and fought its way into Esmeralda’s nostrils. She held her breathe a few seconds and fought to stay awake but she succumbed to the magic gas and fell into a deep magical sleep.
“She’s pretty when she’s asleep,” Serge mentioned as he tickled Esmeralda’s bare feet just to make sure she was asleep. There was no response at all from Esmeralda’s sleeping form.
“She’ll be much prettier when she’s broken in the King’s Dungeon,” Gabrielle said angrily. “I’ll be there until she broken.”
“And if she doesn’t break?” Lea asked.
“Then I'll just have to watch her be tickled until death!” Gabrielle replied grimly.
To be continued…
