The Truth Saying
Haydeen returned to Lord Xavis’s court that fateful night in company of Orion Pax who reported with what she perceived as mock disappointment that he had been defeated by the small Elfling. Just as the master spell caster had foretold, the Lord of the Cat Clan, began to gloat.
He declared the day a holiday and a long evening of feasting and debauchery began. The entire Realm shared in their lord’s triumph and wine and food flowed freely from within the palace. None could remember such a great festivity in ages.
Haydeen was not interested in such celebrations. She was honored to have had the opportunity to tickle and be tickled by a legendary spell caster. She simply kept to herself and finally retired to her room for the night planning which realm she would visit next in her quest to improve her abilities.
Haydeen was rudely awoken from a fitful sleep by two palace guards with the heads of hippopotamus who barged into her room and dragged her from the bed. She was not a skilled spell caster or a tickle warrior. She could only protest as they dragged her barefoot and in her sleeping gown to Lord Xavis’s court.
Many angry and anxious voices clamored in the lord’s throne room and she could tell that something terrible had happened. Lord Xavis sat on his throne with his sister Ela at his side. He had a stern and angry countenance that Haydeen had never imagined could exist even in her darkest nightmares.
“You!” Lord Xavis shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at Haydeen. His characteristic red panther head was even redder if such was even possible. “You and those Manling intruders tickled three hundred of my harem girls and reaped their magic! You and that blasted spell caster staged the entire evening!”
“I don’t understand what you mean, my lord,” Haydeen stammered not understanding what the lord was referring to.
Ela, who also had the red panther head that was trait among the noble Cat Clan, explained. ”While the festivities continued last night and while palace security let its guard down, the Tickle Scourge – no doubt in cooperation with the infamous Orion Pax – tickled three hundred of the harem girls. Orion Pax is no where to be found and we have eye witness accounts that the Scourge staged the raid. We believe you feigned your victory over him as part of a scheme to steal the Lord’s magic.”
“I would never consider such at thing,” Haydeen replied with her jaw slack in complete shock and disbelief.
A spider doesn’t explain the web to the flies…
“I sentence you to death by tickling!” Lord Xavis shouted in rage. “Send for my best ticklers and strap her down! I want the death sentence carried out immediately in my presence!”
His subjects obeyed and stocks were procured with amazing haste. Two women stepped forward with black hoods cast over their heads prepared to carry out their lord’s command.
“I am innocent!” Haydeen protested as the hippopotamus headed guards placed her in the stocks and forced her hands and feet into them. “I have done no wrong!”
“I’ve handed down my sentence,” Xavis snarled. “I’ll have at least the satisfaction of watching you laugh to death in lieu of those wicked Manlings.”
“Just a moment, my Lord,” Ela said placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder trying to calm him. “I am your truthsayer and interrogator. Allow me to confirm her guilt before we waste a skilled tickler. It would only serve the Scourge and the Shade if we sentence a potential ally to death.”
Xavis paused for a moment to think and grimaced as he realized the soundness of his sister’s advice. “Do what you must,” Xavis said growling to himself, “but do it quickly. If she is guilty I will tickle her to death myself!”
Ela strode down to the stocks and gently took Haydeen’s feet in her hands. She did not tickle her, nor did she torture her in any way. Hers was a method of interrogation that was unknown to Haydeen until that moment.
That would be a moment that would change Haydeen’s life forever.
Haydeen was compelled to tell the truth while under Ela’s control and much to Xavis disappointment, she was pardoned since she played no part in the plot and she had indeed tickled the master spell caster into submission.
Free of the stocks and the death sentence, Haydeen rushed to Ela and on her knees and begged for the knowledge of truth saying.
“I must learn,” she begged. “I will be the greatest interrogator of all if I could learn your skills.”
Ela smiled. “Serve Lord Xavis as his tickler and you will have a harem of three hundred to practice upon and a dungeon of countless prisoners to interrogate and torment at our master’s whim. Do so, and I promise you that you truly will one day become the best tickler interrogator among the realms.”
And so Haydeen entered the service of Lord Xavis and under Ela’s tutelage she became the most feared Interrogator of all the Realms. Kings and queens of other realms would beg Lord Xavis for her services which he gladly provided. For a hefty price, of course.
Her service would end years later in a wager struck and lost with the Elfling King. Alas Lord Xavis’s love of gambling always cost him dearly; usually much more than what he was prone to win.
It was sad to leave the service of Xavis and Ela, but the Elfling King’s dungeon proved to be another challenge where she would demonstrate her skills and gain still more in reputation as the greatest interrogator among the realms.
* * * * * *
Haydeen entered the chamber where the tenderfoor was being kept and the two Elflings that had captured her and the Centaur princess ushered in behind her.
A third elfling was in the room but she just stared blankly at the captive tenderfoot and was pushed out of the way and ignored by her cousins.
The prisoner was pretty with large green eyes and wore the black under garments of a spell caster. She had her dark hair drawn in a pony tail and she seemed rather calm compared to most persons Haydeen interrogated.
The prisoner’s feet were already bare and in the stocks and her arms were chained high above her. She was not going anywhere.
”I am Chief Interrogator Haydeen,” she said presenting herself to the prisoner as she always did.
The tenderfoot was silent.
“She’s a bit stuck up as you can see, Chief Interrogator,” Gabrielle commented. “The spell caster robes have gone to her head as you can clearly see.”
Haydeen silenced her with a sharp gaze.
“I always offer the opportunity to tell me what I wish to know without any coercion of any sort,” Haydeen said to tenderfoot. “I will know if you are lying. I’ve learned all the secrets of truths and lies and I will always know one from the other. For those who cooperate, I always promise to make their torture swift and with as little discomfort as possible.”
The prisoner simply stared blankly ahead.
”Very well,” Haydeen said shrugging. “Let us begin. What is your name?”
There was only silence in the room.
“I understand,” Haydeen said. “You wish to be difficult. Your Elfling captors have told me you are resistant to tickling. That is of no consequence really, but unlike other interrogators who resort to tickling to acquire their information, I have other more subtle methods.”
Haydeen removed a small vial of oil from her bandolier and emptied a bit into her hands. She rubbed it into her hands and then proceeded to rub the oil into her captive'sfeet. It did not tickle and Haydeen could see the spell caster watching warily, totally unaware of what was about to happen.
Haydeen began the truth saying process rubbing and pressing her fingers into her captive’s feet. It had a relaxing effect on the tenderfoot and Haydeen watched all tension melt away from her captive's face. Haydeen continued the truth saying ritual manipulating pressure points and rubbing a secret herbal oil into her captive’s sole in an ancient technique. The tenderfoot struggled visibly with these relaxing sensations which swiftly eroded her will to resist. Her eyes fluttered and quickly closed as she fell into a deep trance-like state.
Haydeen did not halt her stimulation of pressure points of the soles. The truth saying technique was not in itself magical and required that those secret points be stimulated so that the recipient would answer questions in a totally relaxed state.
“Well then, what is your name?” Haydeen asked loudly.
“Esmeralda,” she answered in dreamy hollow voice.
“Good girl,” Haydeen said soothingly as she tried to make the relaxed mood more intense. Over the years she had perfected Ela’s truth saying technique to the point where it could be applied to any creature with feet. The Centaur princess in the other chamber of course had been an exception.
Haydeen was forced to extract information the old fashioned way…
The Chief Interrogator fired away with her questions asking where Esmeralda was from, where did she learn spell casting and a myriad of other questions that seemed irrelevant such as what was her favorite color (green), what was her favorite number (nine), how did she prefer her eggs (scrambled). Getting answers to easy questions made it easier to get answers for the more difficult questions.
“Why were you in the Mushroom Wood?” was one of these more difficult questions.
“I came to the Mushroom Wood to raid the Elfling King’s Realm and avenge myself upon three Elflings,” Esmeralda answered calmly.
Gabrielle gulped. “She wasn’t here by chance. She came here deliberately.”
Haydeen ignored Gabrielle and reflected on the answer and asked the next question. “What do you want to raid in the Elfling King’s Realm?”
“The King’s Dungeon,” Esmeralda answered.
”I knew it!” Gabrielle exclaimed. “She wanted us to capture her.”
“But she didn’t count on the King’s Dungeon,” Serge said with a big smile plastered on his face. “Nobody escapes the King’s Dungeon.”
A spider doesn’t explain the web to the flies…
The words popped into Hayden’s head and she suddenly had a very bad feeling concerning this very strange tenderfoot.
“How do you expect to escape this chamber?” Haydeen asked.
“I will strangle the other elflings and I will cast a spell upon you,” Esmeralda said matter-of-factly.
“She’s mad,” Gabrielle said. “Tickle her and we’ll see if she still feels the same.”
Haydeen still felt uneasy with the strange answer and ceased with the truth saying.
Esmeralda slowly shook her head and broke the trance.
”So now you know,” she said smiling. “What do you plan to do about it?”
Haydeen straightened her bandolier and answered Esmeralda with action, not words.
* * * * *
Esmeralda had not anticipated the truth saying.
She felt a bit disappointed having revealed so much information about herself. She was fully conscious while the questions were asked. It was simply impossible to resist answering the questions.
But the plan went on and in buying time with the truth saying, she had a certain advantage since she’d avoided being tickled at least for a while. The down part was that one of the many questions asked was ‘where was she most ticklish?’ which she answered to her dismay with more detail than she would have cared to reveal.
Haydeen drew a knife from her bandolier and drew near Esmeralda. For a moment she thought the Elfling might try to stab her with the knife, but instead the interrogator turned torturer simply cut a slit in her black clothing near her upper rib cage. With the slit open, Haydeen reached in, made contact with Esmeralda’s flesh and automatically found her worst tickle spot with her sharp fingernails.
Esmeralda did not even bother to resist. Touched in the right place with the right pressure, there was no way she could resist yielding to the laughter and hopeless twisting and thrashing.
She began to laugh uncontrollably and she tried to move from side to side as much as the stocks and the chains above her head would permit. Haydeen wrapped an arm around Esmeralda’s waist and tried to hold her still as she pulled tool after tool from her bandolier. A feather was tried as were several brushes. However, what tickled Esmeralda the most was a round tipped end of the handle of a brush. Haydeen used a digging motion in between the ribs where Esmeralda was most ticklish. Esmeralda conceded to herself that Haydeen indeed was an incredibly skilled tickler and that her hopelessly ticklish spot had never been stimulated to such a degree.
Tunicone ot kectil no! Haydeen uttered and the tip of the brush continued to tickle Esmeralda with the same motion as if Haydeen were still holding the tool in her hand. Esmeralda felt her blood run icy as she began to realize that with her petty magic, Haydeen would be able to spellbind every tool on her belt, giving her the tickling equivalent of a score of ticklers.
What skill! Esmeralda thought grudgingly as she realized that things were most certainly going to get worse before they got better.
Haydeen repeated the procedure on Esmeralda’s other side, and Esmeralda knew that her ticklishness was quite symmetrical so the effect would simply double up.
And that it did. Esmeralda was now shouting between laughter as two of her most ticklish spots were being tickled simultaneously and incessantly. The magic cantrip on the brushes would surely last hours. Esmeralda was certain her stamina with such a skilled tickler would be measured in no more than minutes.
Haydeen stepped back to appreciate her work as an artist would when painting a masterpiece. She then went on to concentrate on Esmeralda’s feet. She tickled them casually looking for the spot on the arch which tickled most. Esmeralda’s feet thrashed and moved as much as the stocks would permit. It was an effective technique to keep the tickling from achieving maximum effectiveness.
“I could paralyze the foot to keep it from flaying,” Gabrielle offered drawing forth a star tipped wand Esmeralda had already encountered twice.
“Not necessary,” Haydeen said curtly as she pulled a small roll of soft twine from her bandolier and cut two lengths with her knife. She quickly made a loop on the end of each length of twine and lassoed Esmeralda’s big toes with the soft twine. She then simply pulled back on the big toe until the foot’s sole was stretched and taut and then tied the end to a hook on the top of the stocks. She repeated the process on the other foot.
With the feet moving just enough to cause Esmeralda more desperation than if her feet were totally motionless, Haydeen picked the perfect tool for Esmeralda’s arch: a thick bristled brush. Haydeen added a twisting motion to the brush and watched with satisfaction as the foot twisted anxiously. The tide of Esmeralda’s laughter turned more towards hysterical screaming rather than wild laughter.
The process was calmly repeated on the other foot, but apparently Haydeen was not satisfied with only that. She placed several narrow tipped paint brushes in between the toes and with a few brief words of magic she set them into motion on their own. Esmeralda wiggled and tried to close on the brushes with her toes, but the brushes seemed to have a life of their own and when clamped upon the brushes next to the captured brushes would tickle the tops of her toes until she released the captive brush.
Esmeralda was impressed. With almost no magic, Haydeen was beginning to seriously worry her. If her friends did not return promptly, she would almost certain succumb to this impressive and methodical tickler.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she began to shriek and shout for mercy. No matter how much she tried to relax, she could not resist the intense tickling that was focused in ways to maximize its effect and reduce her ability to resist the sensations. All was focused in one single effort. It was not to torment her, but rather to simply break her powerful will to resist.
Haydeen now circled Esmeralda studying her closely as a vulture circles its dying prey to eventually feast upon its dead flesh. It was only a question of time until with the final drop would send the glass overflowing and Esmeralda would surrender to the tickling.
A fluffy feather sent into motion at a ticklish ear. A pinwheel was set rolling gently up and down her neck despite her efforts to shake it off. Haydeen’s bandolier was quickly running out of tickling tools.
More than use them for their tickling effectiveness, Haydeen was simply looking for more ways to distract Esmeralda and make her fold.
Hoarse from laughing and shouting, Esmeralda felt the lightheadedness that accompanied succumbing fully to tickling. She learned that it was due to the sudden rush of magic, preparing to leave the body through the third eye.
If she passed out, it was unlikely she would ever be able to escape the King’s Dungeon.
She had thought her plan was flexible enough to meet almost any variable. The web was carefully spun to trap her enemies and now she realized that perhaps it was she who was trapped in a web of her own design.
She could only hope that her friends were faring better.
To be continued…
Looks like the last part for this year. Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year to all!
Haydeen returned to Lord Xavis’s court that fateful night in company of Orion Pax who reported with what she perceived as mock disappointment that he had been defeated by the small Elfling. Just as the master spell caster had foretold, the Lord of the Cat Clan, began to gloat.
He declared the day a holiday and a long evening of feasting and debauchery began. The entire Realm shared in their lord’s triumph and wine and food flowed freely from within the palace. None could remember such a great festivity in ages.
Haydeen was not interested in such celebrations. She was honored to have had the opportunity to tickle and be tickled by a legendary spell caster. She simply kept to herself and finally retired to her room for the night planning which realm she would visit next in her quest to improve her abilities.
Haydeen was rudely awoken from a fitful sleep by two palace guards with the heads of hippopotamus who barged into her room and dragged her from the bed. She was not a skilled spell caster or a tickle warrior. She could only protest as they dragged her barefoot and in her sleeping gown to Lord Xavis’s court.
Many angry and anxious voices clamored in the lord’s throne room and she could tell that something terrible had happened. Lord Xavis sat on his throne with his sister Ela at his side. He had a stern and angry countenance that Haydeen had never imagined could exist even in her darkest nightmares.
“You!” Lord Xavis shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at Haydeen. His characteristic red panther head was even redder if such was even possible. “You and those Manling intruders tickled three hundred of my harem girls and reaped their magic! You and that blasted spell caster staged the entire evening!”
“I don’t understand what you mean, my lord,” Haydeen stammered not understanding what the lord was referring to.
Ela, who also had the red panther head that was trait among the noble Cat Clan, explained. ”While the festivities continued last night and while palace security let its guard down, the Tickle Scourge – no doubt in cooperation with the infamous Orion Pax – tickled three hundred of the harem girls. Orion Pax is no where to be found and we have eye witness accounts that the Scourge staged the raid. We believe you feigned your victory over him as part of a scheme to steal the Lord’s magic.”
“I would never consider such at thing,” Haydeen replied with her jaw slack in complete shock and disbelief.
A spider doesn’t explain the web to the flies…
“I sentence you to death by tickling!” Lord Xavis shouted in rage. “Send for my best ticklers and strap her down! I want the death sentence carried out immediately in my presence!”
His subjects obeyed and stocks were procured with amazing haste. Two women stepped forward with black hoods cast over their heads prepared to carry out their lord’s command.
“I am innocent!” Haydeen protested as the hippopotamus headed guards placed her in the stocks and forced her hands and feet into them. “I have done no wrong!”
“I’ve handed down my sentence,” Xavis snarled. “I’ll have at least the satisfaction of watching you laugh to death in lieu of those wicked Manlings.”
“Just a moment, my Lord,” Ela said placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder trying to calm him. “I am your truthsayer and interrogator. Allow me to confirm her guilt before we waste a skilled tickler. It would only serve the Scourge and the Shade if we sentence a potential ally to death.”
Xavis paused for a moment to think and grimaced as he realized the soundness of his sister’s advice. “Do what you must,” Xavis said growling to himself, “but do it quickly. If she is guilty I will tickle her to death myself!”
Ela strode down to the stocks and gently took Haydeen’s feet in her hands. She did not tickle her, nor did she torture her in any way. Hers was a method of interrogation that was unknown to Haydeen until that moment.
That would be a moment that would change Haydeen’s life forever.
Haydeen was compelled to tell the truth while under Ela’s control and much to Xavis disappointment, she was pardoned since she played no part in the plot and she had indeed tickled the master spell caster into submission.
Free of the stocks and the death sentence, Haydeen rushed to Ela and on her knees and begged for the knowledge of truth saying.
“I must learn,” she begged. “I will be the greatest interrogator of all if I could learn your skills.”
Ela smiled. “Serve Lord Xavis as his tickler and you will have a harem of three hundred to practice upon and a dungeon of countless prisoners to interrogate and torment at our master’s whim. Do so, and I promise you that you truly will one day become the best tickler interrogator among the realms.”
And so Haydeen entered the service of Lord Xavis and under Ela’s tutelage she became the most feared Interrogator of all the Realms. Kings and queens of other realms would beg Lord Xavis for her services which he gladly provided. For a hefty price, of course.
Her service would end years later in a wager struck and lost with the Elfling King. Alas Lord Xavis’s love of gambling always cost him dearly; usually much more than what he was prone to win.
It was sad to leave the service of Xavis and Ela, but the Elfling King’s dungeon proved to be another challenge where she would demonstrate her skills and gain still more in reputation as the greatest interrogator among the realms.
* * * * * *
Haydeen entered the chamber where the tenderfoor was being kept and the two Elflings that had captured her and the Centaur princess ushered in behind her.
A third elfling was in the room but she just stared blankly at the captive tenderfoot and was pushed out of the way and ignored by her cousins.
The prisoner was pretty with large green eyes and wore the black under garments of a spell caster. She had her dark hair drawn in a pony tail and she seemed rather calm compared to most persons Haydeen interrogated.
The prisoner’s feet were already bare and in the stocks and her arms were chained high above her. She was not going anywhere.
”I am Chief Interrogator Haydeen,” she said presenting herself to the prisoner as she always did.
The tenderfoot was silent.
“She’s a bit stuck up as you can see, Chief Interrogator,” Gabrielle commented. “The spell caster robes have gone to her head as you can clearly see.”
Haydeen silenced her with a sharp gaze.
“I always offer the opportunity to tell me what I wish to know without any coercion of any sort,” Haydeen said to tenderfoot. “I will know if you are lying. I’ve learned all the secrets of truths and lies and I will always know one from the other. For those who cooperate, I always promise to make their torture swift and with as little discomfort as possible.”
The prisoner simply stared blankly ahead.
”Very well,” Haydeen said shrugging. “Let us begin. What is your name?”
There was only silence in the room.
“I understand,” Haydeen said. “You wish to be difficult. Your Elfling captors have told me you are resistant to tickling. That is of no consequence really, but unlike other interrogators who resort to tickling to acquire their information, I have other more subtle methods.”
Haydeen removed a small vial of oil from her bandolier and emptied a bit into her hands. She rubbed it into her hands and then proceeded to rub the oil into her captive'sfeet. It did not tickle and Haydeen could see the spell caster watching warily, totally unaware of what was about to happen.
Haydeen began the truth saying process rubbing and pressing her fingers into her captive’s feet. It had a relaxing effect on the tenderfoot and Haydeen watched all tension melt away from her captive's face. Haydeen continued the truth saying ritual manipulating pressure points and rubbing a secret herbal oil into her captive’s sole in an ancient technique. The tenderfoot struggled visibly with these relaxing sensations which swiftly eroded her will to resist. Her eyes fluttered and quickly closed as she fell into a deep trance-like state.
Haydeen did not halt her stimulation of pressure points of the soles. The truth saying technique was not in itself magical and required that those secret points be stimulated so that the recipient would answer questions in a totally relaxed state.
“Well then, what is your name?” Haydeen asked loudly.
“Esmeralda,” she answered in dreamy hollow voice.
“Good girl,” Haydeen said soothingly as she tried to make the relaxed mood more intense. Over the years she had perfected Ela’s truth saying technique to the point where it could be applied to any creature with feet. The Centaur princess in the other chamber of course had been an exception.
Haydeen was forced to extract information the old fashioned way…
The Chief Interrogator fired away with her questions asking where Esmeralda was from, where did she learn spell casting and a myriad of other questions that seemed irrelevant such as what was her favorite color (green), what was her favorite number (nine), how did she prefer her eggs (scrambled). Getting answers to easy questions made it easier to get answers for the more difficult questions.
“Why were you in the Mushroom Wood?” was one of these more difficult questions.
“I came to the Mushroom Wood to raid the Elfling King’s Realm and avenge myself upon three Elflings,” Esmeralda answered calmly.
Gabrielle gulped. “She wasn’t here by chance. She came here deliberately.”
Haydeen ignored Gabrielle and reflected on the answer and asked the next question. “What do you want to raid in the Elfling King’s Realm?”
“The King’s Dungeon,” Esmeralda answered.
”I knew it!” Gabrielle exclaimed. “She wanted us to capture her.”
“But she didn’t count on the King’s Dungeon,” Serge said with a big smile plastered on his face. “Nobody escapes the King’s Dungeon.”
A spider doesn’t explain the web to the flies…
The words popped into Hayden’s head and she suddenly had a very bad feeling concerning this very strange tenderfoot.
“How do you expect to escape this chamber?” Haydeen asked.
“I will strangle the other elflings and I will cast a spell upon you,” Esmeralda said matter-of-factly.
“She’s mad,” Gabrielle said. “Tickle her and we’ll see if she still feels the same.”
Haydeen still felt uneasy with the strange answer and ceased with the truth saying.
Esmeralda slowly shook her head and broke the trance.
”So now you know,” she said smiling. “What do you plan to do about it?”
Haydeen straightened her bandolier and answered Esmeralda with action, not words.
* * * * *
Esmeralda had not anticipated the truth saying.
She felt a bit disappointed having revealed so much information about herself. She was fully conscious while the questions were asked. It was simply impossible to resist answering the questions.
But the plan went on and in buying time with the truth saying, she had a certain advantage since she’d avoided being tickled at least for a while. The down part was that one of the many questions asked was ‘where was she most ticklish?’ which she answered to her dismay with more detail than she would have cared to reveal.
Haydeen drew a knife from her bandolier and drew near Esmeralda. For a moment she thought the Elfling might try to stab her with the knife, but instead the interrogator turned torturer simply cut a slit in her black clothing near her upper rib cage. With the slit open, Haydeen reached in, made contact with Esmeralda’s flesh and automatically found her worst tickle spot with her sharp fingernails.
Esmeralda did not even bother to resist. Touched in the right place with the right pressure, there was no way she could resist yielding to the laughter and hopeless twisting and thrashing.
She began to laugh uncontrollably and she tried to move from side to side as much as the stocks and the chains above her head would permit. Haydeen wrapped an arm around Esmeralda’s waist and tried to hold her still as she pulled tool after tool from her bandolier. A feather was tried as were several brushes. However, what tickled Esmeralda the most was a round tipped end of the handle of a brush. Haydeen used a digging motion in between the ribs where Esmeralda was most ticklish. Esmeralda conceded to herself that Haydeen indeed was an incredibly skilled tickler and that her hopelessly ticklish spot had never been stimulated to such a degree.
Tunicone ot kectil no! Haydeen uttered and the tip of the brush continued to tickle Esmeralda with the same motion as if Haydeen were still holding the tool in her hand. Esmeralda felt her blood run icy as she began to realize that with her petty magic, Haydeen would be able to spellbind every tool on her belt, giving her the tickling equivalent of a score of ticklers.
What skill! Esmeralda thought grudgingly as she realized that things were most certainly going to get worse before they got better.
Haydeen repeated the procedure on Esmeralda’s other side, and Esmeralda knew that her ticklishness was quite symmetrical so the effect would simply double up.
And that it did. Esmeralda was now shouting between laughter as two of her most ticklish spots were being tickled simultaneously and incessantly. The magic cantrip on the brushes would surely last hours. Esmeralda was certain her stamina with such a skilled tickler would be measured in no more than minutes.
Haydeen stepped back to appreciate her work as an artist would when painting a masterpiece. She then went on to concentrate on Esmeralda’s feet. She tickled them casually looking for the spot on the arch which tickled most. Esmeralda’s feet thrashed and moved as much as the stocks would permit. It was an effective technique to keep the tickling from achieving maximum effectiveness.
“I could paralyze the foot to keep it from flaying,” Gabrielle offered drawing forth a star tipped wand Esmeralda had already encountered twice.
“Not necessary,” Haydeen said curtly as she pulled a small roll of soft twine from her bandolier and cut two lengths with her knife. She quickly made a loop on the end of each length of twine and lassoed Esmeralda’s big toes with the soft twine. She then simply pulled back on the big toe until the foot’s sole was stretched and taut and then tied the end to a hook on the top of the stocks. She repeated the process on the other foot.
With the feet moving just enough to cause Esmeralda more desperation than if her feet were totally motionless, Haydeen picked the perfect tool for Esmeralda’s arch: a thick bristled brush. Haydeen added a twisting motion to the brush and watched with satisfaction as the foot twisted anxiously. The tide of Esmeralda’s laughter turned more towards hysterical screaming rather than wild laughter.
The process was calmly repeated on the other foot, but apparently Haydeen was not satisfied with only that. She placed several narrow tipped paint brushes in between the toes and with a few brief words of magic she set them into motion on their own. Esmeralda wiggled and tried to close on the brushes with her toes, but the brushes seemed to have a life of their own and when clamped upon the brushes next to the captured brushes would tickle the tops of her toes until she released the captive brush.
Esmeralda was impressed. With almost no magic, Haydeen was beginning to seriously worry her. If her friends did not return promptly, she would almost certain succumb to this impressive and methodical tickler.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she began to shriek and shout for mercy. No matter how much she tried to relax, she could not resist the intense tickling that was focused in ways to maximize its effect and reduce her ability to resist the sensations. All was focused in one single effort. It was not to torment her, but rather to simply break her powerful will to resist.
Haydeen now circled Esmeralda studying her closely as a vulture circles its dying prey to eventually feast upon its dead flesh. It was only a question of time until with the final drop would send the glass overflowing and Esmeralda would surrender to the tickling.
A fluffy feather sent into motion at a ticklish ear. A pinwheel was set rolling gently up and down her neck despite her efforts to shake it off. Haydeen’s bandolier was quickly running out of tickling tools.
More than use them for their tickling effectiveness, Haydeen was simply looking for more ways to distract Esmeralda and make her fold.
Hoarse from laughing and shouting, Esmeralda felt the lightheadedness that accompanied succumbing fully to tickling. She learned that it was due to the sudden rush of magic, preparing to leave the body through the third eye.
If she passed out, it was unlikely she would ever be able to escape the King’s Dungeon.
She had thought her plan was flexible enough to meet almost any variable. The web was carefully spun to trap her enemies and now she realized that perhaps it was she who was trapped in a web of her own design.
She could only hope that her friends were faring better.
To be continued…
Looks like the last part for this year. Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year to all!
