The Interrogator
Haydeen was an Elfling born far away from the Elfing Realm and its Mushroom Wood. She had been orphaned at a very young age and she had been brought in and raised among the Fae in their noble Realm.
The Faerie Folk did not usually take kindly to Elflings, but Haydeen had golden blond hair which was uncommon among the Elfling and her dark pupil-less eyes had an unusual bluish tinge to them. The Fae took this as a good omen and welcomed her among them.
Haydeen adapted well to the Fae way of life and the Fae loved her very much. The Fae were very skilled in spell casting, but Haydeen did not care much for the more complex and powerful spells. She concentrated on simple cantrips and spent her time becoming highly proficient in this basic spell casting.
Her true gift was that she was truly a skilled tickler. She used an array of tickling tools involving feathers, brushes and other tools, not to mention her sharp fingernails. Each feather and each brush caused a different sensation and Haydeen had a knack to figure out which tool was best for each tickle spot. Not even the strongest of wills could resist her meticulous tickling.
She wore the tools of her trade in a bandolier which she wore at all times. The bandolier of tickle tools became a symbol how which she would be recognized whereever she went.
As news of her skill of tickling and breaking the so called “not ticklish”, her services grew in demand among the Realms. Wishing to learn more and meet new challenges, she left the Fae Realm to travel the other realms at the summons of many kings and queens who were curious to see this humble looking Elfling who was capable of breaking the will of anyone who dared face her.
Lord Xavis had contracted her services in his Palace in the Animus Realm regarding a wager he had with the powerful spell caster Orion Pax. Lord Xavis had dared say that he could provide a tickler that could break Orion’s will.
He had sent his sister Ela to tickle torture Orion Pax and even though she was his best tickler in his entire Realm, she could do no more than extract simple lighthearted laughter from him.
Frustrated by this, he paid Haydeen a small fortune for her to use her skills on the powerful spell caster. Lord Xavis was not certain that the the unknown tickler would be successful and he was rather worried he would lose the wager to the powerful spell caster.
The meeting was set in the court and Orion met with the small Haydeen. He wore black spell caster robes indicating a very high rank among spell casters despite his young age. Despite his rank, he did not look down on her as many of her incredulous victims usually did. The handsome man was courteous and led her politely to the chamber where she was to tickle him.
“I am at your command, sweet Elfling,” he said with a charming smile.
Haydeen nervously ordered the spell caster to strip and lay down on the luxurious bed in the chamber. He obeyed and laid his bare body on the bed awaiting her orders.
She said nothing and simply tied Orion Pax down to the bed using silk sashes and attaching them to the bed’s posts. When she was done, he was spread eagle on the bed and totally at her mercy.
She did not speak to him at all and simply started reviewing all the usually tickle spots probing to see if she could determine the best spots. She got very few reactions, but she knew Orion was holding the laughter in.
She frowned deeply at first, but she then did what she always did in these cases. She went step by step analyzing every spot until she did get the desired response. She’d try with different tools until she could get some degree of reaction from the spell caster. Hard bristled brushes on his feet with the right angle and right pressure made his feet pull on the restraints and made him laugh gently. It was a far way from breaking the powerful man but at least a first step.
The brushes were successful, but she needed much more. She spoke one phrase of the only words of magic she knew:
Tunicone ot kectil no!
The brushes glowed and they continued to tickle exactly in the same way she had been tickling. The laughter continued.
Soft tipped feathers were placed at his underarms and hard tipped feathers at his rib cage. A metallic pinwheel was applied to his thighs and it ran up and down again adding to the tickling. Each time she spoke the same words and left tools there to continue the tickling.
His laughter grew with each new spot and as he began to lose more and more control, Haydeen could see he was becoming more and more aroused. He was actually enjoying being tickled.
She had never seen that before and she was fascinated by the man’s fortitude.
She continued to add more and more tools and he laughed more and more unable to neither contain the laughter nor contain his arousal which made Haydeen a bit nervous. She was running out of tickling tools and the bandolier was going to be empty soon. She had yet to fully break the spell caster who was holding on firmly to his sanity.
With no tools other than her hands left she was ready to concede defeat if her last assault resulted unsuccessful.
She reached down to his private parts and tickled the powerful spell caster there gently with her sharp nails.
Eureka!
His reaction was totally unexpected to the spell caster and she felt the tide turn at that moment as her light fingernails continued to stroke gently. There was no going back. His will was broken at that moment and a flood of laughter was drawn from him. He shook in his bonds and screamed and begged for mercy. Haydeen was merciless and drove her advantage home now adding speaking and taunting to her arsenal.
“Beg me for mercy!” she hissed as she continued the attack.
“Mercy! Please stop! I concede!” he shouted.
“Promise me anything I wish!” she shouted back at him so he could hear over his own desperate laughter.
“Anything! Anything!” he shouted.
“Swear it!”
“I do! I swear! Anything! Just stop!”
She continued the onslaught until finally he went totally rigid as all his muscles contracted and then suddenly limp as he sank into unconsciousness. A sphere of magic appeared above his head. It was bright and the power inside was that of ten ticklees.
She studied it and Orion’s unconscious form drenched in sweat. She made a decision against taking the magic, and she pressed gently on the magic jewel watching as it was absorbed back into Orion’s body. He quickly recovered and she released him from the silk bondage. He silently dressed and prepared to meet Lord Xavis and recognize his defeat.
“You are a formidable tickler,” Orion Pax finally told her. “Your technique is slow for a tickle warrior and your spell casting is weak, but your special strengths will far outweigh your weaknesses. The magic was yours, by the way. You beat me fairly.”
“Perhaps, but instead I wish to ask for something,” Haydeen said nervously. “Something regarding your promise.”
“Promise?”
“You promised me anything,” she explained.
Orion Pax nodded. “Under duress and threat of continued tickling, but I did promise nonetheless. What is it that you wish, clever Elfling?”
“Would you tickle me with your magic?” she asked timidly.
He smiled. “Why would you want that? I’ve been known to be a rather wicked tickler. I can’t imagine why you would want that.”
“I am a great tickler although I know it is slow and with little magic. You are a great spell caster quick and with strong magic,” she said. “I wish to be tickled by you so I might improve my own art.”
Haydeen lied. She wished to be tickled by this powerful person who was a total enigma to her. Here was a person who actually loved both being tickled and tickling like no one she had even met before. She had seen his passion for receiving tickling and she needed to feel first hand his tickling ability.
“Very well,” he said. “Then I will show you my most powerful magic. Just be warned that once I start I will not stop no matter how much you might beg.”
“I understand,” she replied coolly. “I give no quarter myself and I do not expect it when I am on the receiving end.”
“Spoken like a true tickler,” he said admiring her grudgingly.
“Need I remove my clothing or do you need to restrain me?” she asked nervously as she picked up the silk sashes.
“No. You needn’t remove any of your clothing nor must you be restrained by those means,” Orion Pax replied calmly. “Just relax.”
Whodsa yobe, whodsa naertsir! he whispered as the air around the powerful spell caster shimmered and the shadows of the room suddenly came to life. The shadows moved like snakes a first, slithering leisurely and deliberately around the room. Strands of shadow floated through the air moving in slowly and then suddenly they struck with lightning speed.
Haydeen gasped as the shadows came to life and took physical form. They wrapped tightly around her ankles and wrists and pulled her into the air spread eagle and fully taut.
Orion Pax gently removed her bandolier and placed it aside. He then pulled off her slippers and admired her beautiful pale feet. He studied the feet closely as if trying to memorize every toe and every wrinkle on the sole.
“You have pretty feet,” he said admiringly.
Before Haydeen could answer, she felt the spell caster’s fingers on her soles and she began to laugh. She had gained such a reputation as a tickler that it had been ages since anyone had seriously tickled her. Especially her feet.
“I enjoy starting at the feet,” he confessed. “It never ceases to amaze me how such a gentle touch on such an ordinary body part can cause such intense reactions.”
She had seemed to have forgotten what it felt like to be tickled, but her memory was instantly refreshed and she felt the involuntary laughter swell with in her. She was so unused to the tickling that she was unable to keep it
in. She laughed in spite of herself.
Such basic tickling, she thought. This is not the tickling of a master. Had she been mistaken?
He continued to tickle her and he seemed to enjoy it. She laughed and could not control it, but she secretly felt disappointed. It was not any worse than any other time she had been tickled.
“Enough play,” he said reading her thoughts. “You gave me your very best. I will respond in kind.”
Whodsa yobe, whodsa kliect! Orion whispered and the shadows grew and they engulfed her body.
The shadows crept over her soles and slithered under her clothes. The tickling sensation she had felt on her feet increased tenfold while other shadowy wisps went to other parts of her body. Tickle spots that had remained untouched for years had a rude awakening. Behind the knees, her belly, her rib cage, her under arms. The tickling was perfectly balanced to elicit the greatest balance between pleasurable laughter and desperation bordering dangerously upon madness.
She twisted and yelled and screamed between laughter as she felt totally under the control of the spell caster. The shadows could tickle quickly or slowly, hard or soft, gently or aggressively. They seemed to have a mind of their own and knew exactly where and how to tickle her.
Her head went back and forth wildly while the rest of her body tried anything to escape from her shadowy bonds. The tickling was persistent, ruthless and much to her surprise arousing.
It came as no surprise that under such skilled tickling she would not last long. Her overwhelmed senses simply preferred the peace of oblivion to the overload and she finally slipped into unconsciousness after only a few minutes at the mercy of the spell caster.
When she awoke, she felt revived and Orion Pax was watching her as she rested upon the bed. Her slippers were on her feet and her bandolier was strapped across her body once more with all her tickle tools in place. All the shadows in the room were in their place as well.
“Ready?” he asked. “I was just waiting for you so we can go and tell Lord Xavis that he has won our wager.”
“Wait!” Haydeen pleaded suddenly. “You need not tell him that you lost. You are the better tickler among the two of us.”
Orion smiled. “That is a moot issue. You tickled me well and I am more than thankful to have been on the receiving end of your admirable skills. I will acknowledge defeat and Xavis will gloat for the rest of the evening.”
“You act as if it were all somehow to your advantage,” Haydeen observed.
Orion laughed. “A spider doesn’t explain the web to the flies, but another spider can appreciate the web from afar,” he said. “If you are a spider, like I think you are, you will understand.”
And with that mysterious riddle, they returned to the court.
* * * * *
By the time Esmeralda awoke, she was deep in the Elfling King’s Dungeon. Her spell caster robe had been cast to one side and her bare feet were placed in a heavy set of wooden stocks with her arms held above her head in cold iron shackles. She was no longer gagged, but it made little difference. Cold iron, as she had learned, neutralized any form of spell casting.
The chamber was well lit for a dungeon. Globes of glass gave up a soft glow and illuminated the room. The walls were white and seemed to be carved out of some of the huge mushrooms of the Mushroom Wood.
The King’s Dungeon was where the Elfling King gained much of his power by tormenting his prisoners. Many had challenged the King’s might but none who had been taken to the dungeons had returned to speak of the experience.
Three months ago, Esmeralda was a normal college student studying Computer Science with a promising career ahead of her. Now she was stuck in a world she did not know how to escape from, but while here she planned to make the best of it.
Getting captured didn’t seem to make too much sense, but Esmeralda’s skills had grown in leaps and bounds and what better place to hunt for magic than in the core from where the Elfling King reaped his vast magic?
Gabrielle, Serge and Lea entered the dungeon through a large door and strode over to Esmeralda.
“Anything to say for yourself, foolish tenderfoot?” Gabrielle asked gloating.
Esmeralda said nothing and simply stared back coldly.
“You underestimated us,” Serge chimed in. “You will never leave the King’s Dungeon. You’ll suffer under the Chief Interrogator’s hands and you will never escape here.”
“You might have been able to resist our tickle torture, but I assure you that there is no way you can resist the King’s Chief Interrogator,” Gabrielle said. “She’ll enjoy such a special Tenderfoot as yourself. She so loves a challenge.”
A loud and strong laughter from another room interrupted them.
“That Centaur Princess is putting up a fight,” Serge said listening to laughter as one would taste a fine wine. “Chief Interrogator Haydeen has been very pleased with her. But she won’t last long. She is much too ticklish.”
“No, she won’t last long at all,” Gabrielle agreed. “Then it will be your turn, Tenderfoot,” she said giving Esmeralda’s bare foot a quick tickle with the star tip of her magic wand. Esmeralda’s foot moved wildly but she managed to contain her laughter.
“We’ll go to gloat over our other captive next door and when she is finished, we’ll return with Chief Interrogator Haydeen,” Gabrielle said. “If you won’t speak with us, I’m certain you will be more than willing to beg for mercy from Chief Hayden.”
Gabrielle and Serge headed for the door and Lea followed, but they stopped her at the door. “Watch the prisoner, see she doesn’t get any ideas,”
Gabrielle ordered before leaving the chamber.
Lea frowned and obeyed and sat along at Esmeralda’s feet, pouting and tickling lightly Esmeralda’s feet making her twitch and making her a bit nervous.
“Why do you let them bully you around?” Esmeralda asked hoping the conversation would distract her idly tickling fingers.
“Because I’m more ticklish than they are,” she said playing with Esmeralda’s big toe. It didn’t tickle as much, but it was still annoying. “I can’t hold it in like you do. They tickle me and I just fall apart. I guess I’m just weak that way. I try to tickle back, but I’ve never been able to get back at Serge or Gabrielle for all the times they’ve tickled me.”
“Well you are quite ticklish,” Esmeralda said recalling the time she saw the Elfing get tickled when she first arrived. “Even more than the prisoner next door, I’ll wager.”
The laughter in the room next door was growing in intensity. Esmeralda judged that the victim would not last very long.
“I could teach you how to resist tickling,” Esmeralda said cautiously. “I was once as ticklish as you are and I still am, but I’ve learned how to control it as you have already seen. Maybe I’m no match for this Chief Interrogator Haydeen, but I’ve held my own against you and your Elfling friends. Just imagine if I could show you how to withstand a tickle attack from Serge and Gabrielle.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Lea asked suspiciously. “I caught you and put you to sleep twice. Maybe you’re just saying that to get me to free you from those shackles.”
Esmeralda shrugged. “I won’t lie. I do want to get free. I’d give the advice and then you can decide if it’s worth letting me free or not.”
“Okay, but I won’t let you free,” Lea said. “Not until you finish and only if I’m convinced it’s worth getting in trouble with the other Elflings.”
“Fair enough,” Esmeralda said. “But since I’m stuck in these shackles and stocks, you’ll have to help me.”
“Tell me what to do.”
“Place my foot against your belly,” Esmeralda ordered.
Lea obeyed and Esmeralda curled her toes and jabbed around the Elfling’s belly through her thin silken clothes.
Lea laughed instantly and pulled away. “You see?” she said. “I can’t take any amount of tickling.”
“You just need to concentrate,” Esmeralda explained. “Try again. This time place my foot against your bare belly and concentrate harder.”
Lea did so again and this time placed the foot upon her belly. Esmeralda did not tickle but her toes were cold and it made Lea laugh.
“Ok,” Esmeralda said. “I’ll show you how it is done. Close your eyes and concentrate really hard.”
Lea did as she was told.
“Tell me when you ready,” Esmeralda said.
“I’m ready!” Lea said concentrating deeply and taking a deep breath.
“Do it!” Esmeralda whispered.
“Do what?” Lea asked with her eyes still closed waiting in expectation for the tickling to begin.
Lea opened her eyes and a cloud of shiny golden dust burst in front of her face. She froze. The Elfling was still as a statue.
Esmeralda tickled with her foot and was pleased to see there was not reaction from her Elfling captor.
“Pixie dust,” Amber said gleaming with pride as she hovered before the Elfling. “It gets them every time.”
Loanna had grown to full size and was forced to kneel on one knee to fit in the chamber. Indigo was busy trying to pick the locks to the shackles and release Esmeralda.
“I was starting to suffocate in that secret piuch of your spell caster robe," Loanna said relieved to be back at her normal size. "Let me tear those flimsy chains apart,” she said growing impatient as Indigo worked on the lock.
“No,” Esmeralda said. “You can’t damage the equipment. Our primary objective comes first. I will distract the Elflings while the rest of you carry on. We’ll leave when we’ve got what we came for. No sooner.”
“Chief Interrogator Haydeen is a dangerous tickler,” Amber said hovering in front of Esmeralda. “She was trained among the Fae. She tickled Orion Pax to submission. She has never met a person she could not break. She’s way out of our league.”
“All the more reason for you three to rush along before the pixie dust wears off on our Elfling friend,” Esmeralda insisted. “Besides, I can take whatever this Haydeen person can dish out.”
The companions looked at each other doubtfully, but they agreed that haste was of the essence and they left.
The centaur’s laughter had reached its climax and had died down. A moment passed and she could hear steps approach the chamber.
Esmeralda suddenly felt a bad feeling in her stomach and wondered if maybe this time she had really bit more than she could chew.
"Bring it on," she whispered to herself.
To be continued.
Haydeen was an Elfling born far away from the Elfing Realm and its Mushroom Wood. She had been orphaned at a very young age and she had been brought in and raised among the Fae in their noble Realm.
The Faerie Folk did not usually take kindly to Elflings, but Haydeen had golden blond hair which was uncommon among the Elfling and her dark pupil-less eyes had an unusual bluish tinge to them. The Fae took this as a good omen and welcomed her among them.
Haydeen adapted well to the Fae way of life and the Fae loved her very much. The Fae were very skilled in spell casting, but Haydeen did not care much for the more complex and powerful spells. She concentrated on simple cantrips and spent her time becoming highly proficient in this basic spell casting.
Her true gift was that she was truly a skilled tickler. She used an array of tickling tools involving feathers, brushes and other tools, not to mention her sharp fingernails. Each feather and each brush caused a different sensation and Haydeen had a knack to figure out which tool was best for each tickle spot. Not even the strongest of wills could resist her meticulous tickling.
She wore the tools of her trade in a bandolier which she wore at all times. The bandolier of tickle tools became a symbol how which she would be recognized whereever she went.
As news of her skill of tickling and breaking the so called “not ticklish”, her services grew in demand among the Realms. Wishing to learn more and meet new challenges, she left the Fae Realm to travel the other realms at the summons of many kings and queens who were curious to see this humble looking Elfling who was capable of breaking the will of anyone who dared face her.
Lord Xavis had contracted her services in his Palace in the Animus Realm regarding a wager he had with the powerful spell caster Orion Pax. Lord Xavis had dared say that he could provide a tickler that could break Orion’s will.
He had sent his sister Ela to tickle torture Orion Pax and even though she was his best tickler in his entire Realm, she could do no more than extract simple lighthearted laughter from him.
Frustrated by this, he paid Haydeen a small fortune for her to use her skills on the powerful spell caster. Lord Xavis was not certain that the the unknown tickler would be successful and he was rather worried he would lose the wager to the powerful spell caster.
The meeting was set in the court and Orion met with the small Haydeen. He wore black spell caster robes indicating a very high rank among spell casters despite his young age. Despite his rank, he did not look down on her as many of her incredulous victims usually did. The handsome man was courteous and led her politely to the chamber where she was to tickle him.
“I am at your command, sweet Elfling,” he said with a charming smile.
Haydeen nervously ordered the spell caster to strip and lay down on the luxurious bed in the chamber. He obeyed and laid his bare body on the bed awaiting her orders.
She said nothing and simply tied Orion Pax down to the bed using silk sashes and attaching them to the bed’s posts. When she was done, he was spread eagle on the bed and totally at her mercy.
She did not speak to him at all and simply started reviewing all the usually tickle spots probing to see if she could determine the best spots. She got very few reactions, but she knew Orion was holding the laughter in.
She frowned deeply at first, but she then did what she always did in these cases. She went step by step analyzing every spot until she did get the desired response. She’d try with different tools until she could get some degree of reaction from the spell caster. Hard bristled brushes on his feet with the right angle and right pressure made his feet pull on the restraints and made him laugh gently. It was a far way from breaking the powerful man but at least a first step.
The brushes were successful, but she needed much more. She spoke one phrase of the only words of magic she knew:
Tunicone ot kectil no!
The brushes glowed and they continued to tickle exactly in the same way she had been tickling. The laughter continued.
Soft tipped feathers were placed at his underarms and hard tipped feathers at his rib cage. A metallic pinwheel was applied to his thighs and it ran up and down again adding to the tickling. Each time she spoke the same words and left tools there to continue the tickling.
His laughter grew with each new spot and as he began to lose more and more control, Haydeen could see he was becoming more and more aroused. He was actually enjoying being tickled.
She had never seen that before and she was fascinated by the man’s fortitude.
She continued to add more and more tools and he laughed more and more unable to neither contain the laughter nor contain his arousal which made Haydeen a bit nervous. She was running out of tickling tools and the bandolier was going to be empty soon. She had yet to fully break the spell caster who was holding on firmly to his sanity.
With no tools other than her hands left she was ready to concede defeat if her last assault resulted unsuccessful.
She reached down to his private parts and tickled the powerful spell caster there gently with her sharp nails.
Eureka!
His reaction was totally unexpected to the spell caster and she felt the tide turn at that moment as her light fingernails continued to stroke gently. There was no going back. His will was broken at that moment and a flood of laughter was drawn from him. He shook in his bonds and screamed and begged for mercy. Haydeen was merciless and drove her advantage home now adding speaking and taunting to her arsenal.
“Beg me for mercy!” she hissed as she continued the attack.
“Mercy! Please stop! I concede!” he shouted.
“Promise me anything I wish!” she shouted back at him so he could hear over his own desperate laughter.
“Anything! Anything!” he shouted.
“Swear it!”
“I do! I swear! Anything! Just stop!”
She continued the onslaught until finally he went totally rigid as all his muscles contracted and then suddenly limp as he sank into unconsciousness. A sphere of magic appeared above his head. It was bright and the power inside was that of ten ticklees.
She studied it and Orion’s unconscious form drenched in sweat. She made a decision against taking the magic, and she pressed gently on the magic jewel watching as it was absorbed back into Orion’s body. He quickly recovered and she released him from the silk bondage. He silently dressed and prepared to meet Lord Xavis and recognize his defeat.
“You are a formidable tickler,” Orion Pax finally told her. “Your technique is slow for a tickle warrior and your spell casting is weak, but your special strengths will far outweigh your weaknesses. The magic was yours, by the way. You beat me fairly.”
“Perhaps, but instead I wish to ask for something,” Haydeen said nervously. “Something regarding your promise.”
“Promise?”
“You promised me anything,” she explained.
Orion Pax nodded. “Under duress and threat of continued tickling, but I did promise nonetheless. What is it that you wish, clever Elfling?”
“Would you tickle me with your magic?” she asked timidly.
He smiled. “Why would you want that? I’ve been known to be a rather wicked tickler. I can’t imagine why you would want that.”
“I am a great tickler although I know it is slow and with little magic. You are a great spell caster quick and with strong magic,” she said. “I wish to be tickled by you so I might improve my own art.”
Haydeen lied. She wished to be tickled by this powerful person who was a total enigma to her. Here was a person who actually loved both being tickled and tickling like no one she had even met before. She had seen his passion for receiving tickling and she needed to feel first hand his tickling ability.
“Very well,” he said. “Then I will show you my most powerful magic. Just be warned that once I start I will not stop no matter how much you might beg.”
“I understand,” she replied coolly. “I give no quarter myself and I do not expect it when I am on the receiving end.”
“Spoken like a true tickler,” he said admiring her grudgingly.
“Need I remove my clothing or do you need to restrain me?” she asked nervously as she picked up the silk sashes.
“No. You needn’t remove any of your clothing nor must you be restrained by those means,” Orion Pax replied calmly. “Just relax.”
Whodsa yobe, whodsa naertsir! he whispered as the air around the powerful spell caster shimmered and the shadows of the room suddenly came to life. The shadows moved like snakes a first, slithering leisurely and deliberately around the room. Strands of shadow floated through the air moving in slowly and then suddenly they struck with lightning speed.
Haydeen gasped as the shadows came to life and took physical form. They wrapped tightly around her ankles and wrists and pulled her into the air spread eagle and fully taut.
Orion Pax gently removed her bandolier and placed it aside. He then pulled off her slippers and admired her beautiful pale feet. He studied the feet closely as if trying to memorize every toe and every wrinkle on the sole.
“You have pretty feet,” he said admiringly.
Before Haydeen could answer, she felt the spell caster’s fingers on her soles and she began to laugh. She had gained such a reputation as a tickler that it had been ages since anyone had seriously tickled her. Especially her feet.
“I enjoy starting at the feet,” he confessed. “It never ceases to amaze me how such a gentle touch on such an ordinary body part can cause such intense reactions.”
She had seemed to have forgotten what it felt like to be tickled, but her memory was instantly refreshed and she felt the involuntary laughter swell with in her. She was so unused to the tickling that she was unable to keep it
in. She laughed in spite of herself.
Such basic tickling, she thought. This is not the tickling of a master. Had she been mistaken?
He continued to tickle her and he seemed to enjoy it. She laughed and could not control it, but she secretly felt disappointed. It was not any worse than any other time she had been tickled.
“Enough play,” he said reading her thoughts. “You gave me your very best. I will respond in kind.”
Whodsa yobe, whodsa kliect! Orion whispered and the shadows grew and they engulfed her body.
The shadows crept over her soles and slithered under her clothes. The tickling sensation she had felt on her feet increased tenfold while other shadowy wisps went to other parts of her body. Tickle spots that had remained untouched for years had a rude awakening. Behind the knees, her belly, her rib cage, her under arms. The tickling was perfectly balanced to elicit the greatest balance between pleasurable laughter and desperation bordering dangerously upon madness.
She twisted and yelled and screamed between laughter as she felt totally under the control of the spell caster. The shadows could tickle quickly or slowly, hard or soft, gently or aggressively. They seemed to have a mind of their own and knew exactly where and how to tickle her.
Her head went back and forth wildly while the rest of her body tried anything to escape from her shadowy bonds. The tickling was persistent, ruthless and much to her surprise arousing.
It came as no surprise that under such skilled tickling she would not last long. Her overwhelmed senses simply preferred the peace of oblivion to the overload and she finally slipped into unconsciousness after only a few minutes at the mercy of the spell caster.
When she awoke, she felt revived and Orion Pax was watching her as she rested upon the bed. Her slippers were on her feet and her bandolier was strapped across her body once more with all her tickle tools in place. All the shadows in the room were in their place as well.
“Ready?” he asked. “I was just waiting for you so we can go and tell Lord Xavis that he has won our wager.”
“Wait!” Haydeen pleaded suddenly. “You need not tell him that you lost. You are the better tickler among the two of us.”
Orion smiled. “That is a moot issue. You tickled me well and I am more than thankful to have been on the receiving end of your admirable skills. I will acknowledge defeat and Xavis will gloat for the rest of the evening.”
“You act as if it were all somehow to your advantage,” Haydeen observed.
Orion laughed. “A spider doesn’t explain the web to the flies, but another spider can appreciate the web from afar,” he said. “If you are a spider, like I think you are, you will understand.”
And with that mysterious riddle, they returned to the court.
* * * * *
By the time Esmeralda awoke, she was deep in the Elfling King’s Dungeon. Her spell caster robe had been cast to one side and her bare feet were placed in a heavy set of wooden stocks with her arms held above her head in cold iron shackles. She was no longer gagged, but it made little difference. Cold iron, as she had learned, neutralized any form of spell casting.
The chamber was well lit for a dungeon. Globes of glass gave up a soft glow and illuminated the room. The walls were white and seemed to be carved out of some of the huge mushrooms of the Mushroom Wood.
The King’s Dungeon was where the Elfling King gained much of his power by tormenting his prisoners. Many had challenged the King’s might but none who had been taken to the dungeons had returned to speak of the experience.
Three months ago, Esmeralda was a normal college student studying Computer Science with a promising career ahead of her. Now she was stuck in a world she did not know how to escape from, but while here she planned to make the best of it.
Getting captured didn’t seem to make too much sense, but Esmeralda’s skills had grown in leaps and bounds and what better place to hunt for magic than in the core from where the Elfling King reaped his vast magic?
Gabrielle, Serge and Lea entered the dungeon through a large door and strode over to Esmeralda.
“Anything to say for yourself, foolish tenderfoot?” Gabrielle asked gloating.
Esmeralda said nothing and simply stared back coldly.
“You underestimated us,” Serge chimed in. “You will never leave the King’s Dungeon. You’ll suffer under the Chief Interrogator’s hands and you will never escape here.”
“You might have been able to resist our tickle torture, but I assure you that there is no way you can resist the King’s Chief Interrogator,” Gabrielle said. “She’ll enjoy such a special Tenderfoot as yourself. She so loves a challenge.”
A loud and strong laughter from another room interrupted them.
“That Centaur Princess is putting up a fight,” Serge said listening to laughter as one would taste a fine wine. “Chief Interrogator Haydeen has been very pleased with her. But she won’t last long. She is much too ticklish.”
“No, she won’t last long at all,” Gabrielle agreed. “Then it will be your turn, Tenderfoot,” she said giving Esmeralda’s bare foot a quick tickle with the star tip of her magic wand. Esmeralda’s foot moved wildly but she managed to contain her laughter.
“We’ll go to gloat over our other captive next door and when she is finished, we’ll return with Chief Interrogator Haydeen,” Gabrielle said. “If you won’t speak with us, I’m certain you will be more than willing to beg for mercy from Chief Hayden.”
Gabrielle and Serge headed for the door and Lea followed, but they stopped her at the door. “Watch the prisoner, see she doesn’t get any ideas,”
Gabrielle ordered before leaving the chamber.
Lea frowned and obeyed and sat along at Esmeralda’s feet, pouting and tickling lightly Esmeralda’s feet making her twitch and making her a bit nervous.
“Why do you let them bully you around?” Esmeralda asked hoping the conversation would distract her idly tickling fingers.
“Because I’m more ticklish than they are,” she said playing with Esmeralda’s big toe. It didn’t tickle as much, but it was still annoying. “I can’t hold it in like you do. They tickle me and I just fall apart. I guess I’m just weak that way. I try to tickle back, but I’ve never been able to get back at Serge or Gabrielle for all the times they’ve tickled me.”
“Well you are quite ticklish,” Esmeralda said recalling the time she saw the Elfing get tickled when she first arrived. “Even more than the prisoner next door, I’ll wager.”
The laughter in the room next door was growing in intensity. Esmeralda judged that the victim would not last very long.
“I could teach you how to resist tickling,” Esmeralda said cautiously. “I was once as ticklish as you are and I still am, but I’ve learned how to control it as you have already seen. Maybe I’m no match for this Chief Interrogator Haydeen, but I’ve held my own against you and your Elfling friends. Just imagine if I could show you how to withstand a tickle attack from Serge and Gabrielle.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Lea asked suspiciously. “I caught you and put you to sleep twice. Maybe you’re just saying that to get me to free you from those shackles.”
Esmeralda shrugged. “I won’t lie. I do want to get free. I’d give the advice and then you can decide if it’s worth letting me free or not.”
“Okay, but I won’t let you free,” Lea said. “Not until you finish and only if I’m convinced it’s worth getting in trouble with the other Elflings.”
“Fair enough,” Esmeralda said. “But since I’m stuck in these shackles and stocks, you’ll have to help me.”
“Tell me what to do.”
“Place my foot against your belly,” Esmeralda ordered.
Lea obeyed and Esmeralda curled her toes and jabbed around the Elfling’s belly through her thin silken clothes.
Lea laughed instantly and pulled away. “You see?” she said. “I can’t take any amount of tickling.”
“You just need to concentrate,” Esmeralda explained. “Try again. This time place my foot against your bare belly and concentrate harder.”
Lea did so again and this time placed the foot upon her belly. Esmeralda did not tickle but her toes were cold and it made Lea laugh.
“Ok,” Esmeralda said. “I’ll show you how it is done. Close your eyes and concentrate really hard.”
Lea did as she was told.
“Tell me when you ready,” Esmeralda said.
“I’m ready!” Lea said concentrating deeply and taking a deep breath.
“Do it!” Esmeralda whispered.
“Do what?” Lea asked with her eyes still closed waiting in expectation for the tickling to begin.
Lea opened her eyes and a cloud of shiny golden dust burst in front of her face. She froze. The Elfling was still as a statue.
Esmeralda tickled with her foot and was pleased to see there was not reaction from her Elfling captor.
“Pixie dust,” Amber said gleaming with pride as she hovered before the Elfling. “It gets them every time.”
Loanna had grown to full size and was forced to kneel on one knee to fit in the chamber. Indigo was busy trying to pick the locks to the shackles and release Esmeralda.
“I was starting to suffocate in that secret piuch of your spell caster robe," Loanna said relieved to be back at her normal size. "Let me tear those flimsy chains apart,” she said growing impatient as Indigo worked on the lock.
“No,” Esmeralda said. “You can’t damage the equipment. Our primary objective comes first. I will distract the Elflings while the rest of you carry on. We’ll leave when we’ve got what we came for. No sooner.”
“Chief Interrogator Haydeen is a dangerous tickler,” Amber said hovering in front of Esmeralda. “She was trained among the Fae. She tickled Orion Pax to submission. She has never met a person she could not break. She’s way out of our league.”
“All the more reason for you three to rush along before the pixie dust wears off on our Elfling friend,” Esmeralda insisted. “Besides, I can take whatever this Haydeen person can dish out.”
The companions looked at each other doubtfully, but they agreed that haste was of the essence and they left.
The centaur’s laughter had reached its climax and had died down. A moment passed and she could hear steps approach the chamber.
Esmeralda suddenly felt a bad feeling in her stomach and wondered if maybe this time she had really bit more than she could chew.
"Bring it on," she whispered to herself.
To be continued.
