Part 19
Chapter 85: Truths
‘Honey?’
Amanda could see her daughter and Maiko in the corridor ahead and she tried to work out what they were doing. They both seemed to be leaning against one of the tunnel walls holding hands. They’d both been behaving strangely since nearing the tower, appearing scared to cross the ditch then using Maiko’s grappling arrow and a rope rather than walking across the bridge. She’d watched as the pair had rolled together in the grass then Ellie had ripped off Maiko’s clothes.
It was nice to see her daughter expressing herself but she had thought that Ellie might take this final part of their quest more seriously.
‘Mum. Help,’ Ellie called anxiously and, Amanda realised, the pair were not leaning against the wall but trying to push it over. Perhaps they had found a secret door they were trying to push open.
‘What’s up, Honey?’
‘The walls, mum, they’re going to crush us.’
Amanda looked around her. ‘Ellie, are you ok?’
‘The walls, mum.’ Ellie looked puzzled. ‘How…? How did you get in here? The flames…’
‘Flames?’ Amanda said even more confused.
‘The walls,’ Maiko shouted. ‘We must brace the walls.’
‘Ellie, Maiko.’ Amanda suddenly realised what was happening. ‘Stop it!’ She used her maternal voice. ‘You’re being silly.’
‘But…’
Amanda stepped to the side into the spot where she could see Ellie looking at the wall.
‘How…?’
‘It’s an Illusion,’ Amanda said. ‘The walls aren’t moving.’
Ellie watched her mother walk through what appeared to be a solid iron portcullis then pick up some dirt from the floor and throw it at the wall. For a moment it seemed to stop, suspended in the air and then the pattern took the shape of a step, then another…resolving into a staircase.
‘Mum…’ Ellie realised she was staring.
‘That’s Amazonne, Warrior Princess to you, Honey.’ Amanda said with a smile. ‘And you’re welcome.’
‘Thanks, Mu…. Amazonne.’
‘Oh, here you go Maiko.’ Amanda held out the kimono.
‘But it burnt…I saw…’ Maiko said.
‘Illusion?’ Ellie mused, the reality dawning on her.
‘If illusion…’ Maiko asked, skeptical, ‘then why you get burnt?’
‘Illusory magic,’ Ellie said.
Maiko frowned. ‘I not understand.’
‘Take my word for it,’ Ellie said. ‘Which means…if you believe an illusion you suffer damage from it but…’ She looked down. ‘Yes!’ She raised her fist in triumph. ‘My boots are safe.’
‘There was a time, Honey, when such things were beneath you.’
‘That was before I was Honey Trapp, smoking hot Level 5 Seductress,’ Ellie said sweeping a hand through her long blonde hair.
‘Here.’ Amanda pulled a pot out of her pack. ‘Healing Lotion. It won’t restore your Hit Points but it will make you feel better.’
‘Thanks.’ Ellie dipped her fingers into the pot and smeared it over her burnt skin. ‘Oh, that feels soooo good.’
‘Thank you, Amazonne-san.’ Maiko did the same.
‘Got to have my Seductress looking her best to face this Sorceress,’ Amanda said with a wink.
‘Your Seductress?’
‘In the absence of Battle Babe, I think that makes me party leader,’ Amanda said. ‘I’m clearly the most level headed one here.’
Ellie pouted but didn’t say anything.
‘Besides,’ Amanda added. ‘This sort of stuff is what we Adventuresses do.’ She looked at Maiko. ‘Are you going to put on your kimono?’
‘No, I happy naked,’ Maiko said. ‘Honey naked. Katana Girl naked, almost.’
Amanda looked at her daughter.
‘Don’t even think about it mum.’
‘I wasn’t,’ Amanda said. ‘One day you’ll discover it’s not about what you take off, it’s about what you keep on.’
Ellie grinned. ‘You do look pretty hot in that mum.’
‘I know!’ Amanda said, giving a slight curtsey and lifting the brief skirt of her leather dress.
Ellie rolled her eyes.
‘Shall we go?’ Amanda said and started up the stairs uncovered by seeing through the Illusion.
There were no traps on the stairs and they found themselves in a stone chamber facing two statues, a man and a woman, both naked; the man holding a mace and the woman a sword.
‘Do you think they’re…' Ellie had been about to ask if they were more adventurers turned to stone but then the statues began to move with the sound of stone grinding on stone.
Amanda had her swords out in an instant and Maiko pushed forward as they ran to engage the now advancing statues.
The figures were slow and Ellie saw Maiko duck under a stroke from the woman’s sword and land a cut of her own on the woman’s belly but, despite its sharpness, the katana simply produced a shower of sparks. Amanda blocked the man’s mace with one sword and launched a kick at him but then howled with pain as she made contact.
‘Not illusions then.’
Both fighters struck again, Amanda with her swords this time but they simply clanked on the stone.
‘What do we do?’ asked Maiko, dodging another blow.
‘Golems,’ Amanda shouted suddenly. ‘Libidon Golems. They have a vulnerable point where their life force was infused. It’s usually…’
Ellie watched as her mother ducked the male statue’s mace and stepped behind him bringing one of her swords down in the back of his neck; there was a flash and steam hissed, Ellie sensed magic in the room. The man’s movements seemed to slow but he raised his mace again and began to turn. Amanda was ready, however, and stepping agilely round, drove her other sword into the back of the man’s neck. There was another sound of stone grating on stone and the man went still. A moment later, the female statue ground to a halt too as Maiko drove her katana into the back of the woman’s neck.
‘…behind the neck,’ Maiko called.
‘Whoa!’ Amanda said, reeling. Then she smiled. ‘I love that level up feeling.’
‘Well done mum.’
‘I’ve told you, it’s…’
‘Amazonne, Warrior Princess, I know.’ Ellie grinned. ‘But you’re also my kick-ass mum.’
The joy on Amanda’s face was impossible to miss.
‘How you know about Libidon Golems, Amazonne-san?’ Maiko asked.
‘I’m an Adventuress.’ Amanda grinned. ‘I know all kinds of stuff.’ She paused. ‘Actually, they’re after Libido Vampires in the Monster Manual.’
Whatever was beyond the doorway that the golems were guarding was hidden in darkness and they peered cautiously inside.
‘Anyone have a lantern?’ Ellie asked.
‘No but I have a candle,’ Amanda said. She reached into her pack and pulled out a candle and a tinderbox. Striking a flint she set a spark to the candle which flared to life.
There was a sheer drop in front of them and a doorway perhaps eight feet ahead.
‘I think I can jump that.’ Amanda said, stepping back.
‘Wait,’ Maiko said. ‘Let’s be sure.’ She picked up a piece of stone and threw it at the far wall.
‘Did…?’ Amanda looked at the Ninja in confusion.
‘It bounce off.’ Maiko said. ‘I may be Warrior, but I not stupid. Another illusion.’ She threw another stone and this time Amanda saw the solid wall.
To the side was a spiral staircase.
‘I go first,’ said Maiko. ‘I Warrior.’ She held her katana before her; her eyes shining with excitement.
Amanda moved forward to stop her but Ellie held her back, shaking her head and the Adventuress nodded.
Ellie followed Maiko and Amanda up the stairs, their way lit by Amanda’s candle, the flame flickering and throwing shadows which danced eerily on the walls. As they rounded the first turn, she felt the temperature begin to drop and then a breeze catch her bare skin.
Ahead Maiko screamed and Ellie saw her step back, katana raised, then she stumbled on the stairs and Amanda reached out to catch her.
‘What is it?’ Ellie called.
‘Ghost!’ Maiko called back, fear in her voice.
The candle flame danced wildly and Ellie feared it would go out. Ahead she saw a shape, pale and…ghostly, a flickering something that wasn’t a shadow. Maiko swung her katana but it simply passed through the shape as if through smoke.
‘What I do?’ Maiko said. The fear in her voice rose to panic.
Around her, the shadows of the candle seemed to be transforming from black to white, morphing into dancing wraiths.
They needed, Ellie realised, light and she imagined it - bright white light, dazzling, bathing the staircase. Illusory light that would flare and drive away all the shadows, drowning them, obliterating them.
When the light faded, the candle burned steadily and they were alone again.
‘Illusion…’ Ellie’s voice wavered and when Amanda turned she could see a greyness in her daughter’s face. ‘Illusory light…to drive…’ Ellie steadied herself on the wall. ‘The Shadows…' She was panting.
‘Honey, are you ok?’
‘Yes,’ Ellie gasped. ‘Hard work, these illusions.’
They paused for a moment and when Ellie had recovered her breath, continued to climb, far further, Amanda thought, than the height of a tower and, as she thought this they reached a door.
‘Do you think this is it?’ Amanda whispered.
‘I guess so,’ Ellie said, her colour returning.
‘Does anyone have any idea what we do now?’ Amanda asked.
‘I should go in,’ Ellie said. ‘I have the wand.’ She patted her belly and Amanda rolled her eyes. ‘Just give me a moment.’
A look of concentration passed over Ellie’s face and an odd red light began to creep over her features, the pallor of her skin increasing, colour ebbing.
‘You ok, Honey?’
Ellie turned. ‘Yes, fine.’ Her voice, Amanda thought, sounded strange.
‘What’s happening to your hair?’ For a moment, it appeared that Ellie’s hair was catching fire, its blonde strands becoming orange and then red.
Suddenly a redhead stood before her, pale skinned, beautiful. As Amanda watched rings appeared in her daughter’s nipples.
Then the redheaded warrior stood before her.
Ellie winked and turned the handle of the door.
Chapter 86: The Witch’s Chamber
Ellie dropped to her knees as she entered the room in the guise of the Redheaded Warrior.
The chamber was sumptuously furnished, a huge bed in the centre covered in black silk sheets, a gold canopy above it, the seemingly obligatory ottoman at its foot, a black leather chaise-longue, rugs on the floor, in intricate patterns of black and gold.
She could feel the presence of Sorcery in the room although, she thought, it was somehow less pervasive as she might have expected.
It was odd, Ellie thought as she took in the scene, that the Sorceress was blonde. Blonde and very familiar. She’d expected a brunette, raven haired and pale skinned not the buxom blonde who stood before her looking…surprisingly, looking exactly like Honey with those wide blue innocent eyes that were almost too large for her face and her luscious lips and those huge breasts; luscious gold blonde hair that seemed to shine with a light of its own. This other Honey was wearing a black gauzy robe that hung open at the front but even where it covered her did nothing to hide the gorgeous body beneath. She was also wearing shiny black leather thigh boots with massive stiletto heels.
‘Mistress.’ Ellie bowed her head. ‘I have vanquished the intruders.’
The sorceress regarded her.
It was like looking in the mirror.
‘Well done, my love.’ The sorceress opened her arms, the gauzy dress parting seductively and Ellie rose, stepping forward into the embrace.
As their bodies touched, Ellie pulled the blonde’s lips to her own. It felt rather odd, realising she was about to find out what it felt like to kiss herself, then the warm firmness of the other avatar’s lips washed over her, the press of her body, the unmissable presence of those huge breasts pressed against her own.
In her mind, Ellie formed the Seduction, even as she felt the other woman’s hands slide across her body. The Sorceress began to return the kiss with more passion, warm lips on Ellie’s, parting, her tongue pressing eagerly into Ellie’s mouth and she found herself saying a silent prayer to Aphrodite for the Seduction would work and the Wand to protect her.
It really had been quite a journey from her first experience playing tongues with the half-orc guards, her body coated with the lingering scent of the skunk gas to attempting a Seduction on one of the most powerful users of magic in the land.
She’d half expected the Wand in her pussy to be nothing but a kinky sham, to feel her life sucked away to feed the Sorceress’ magic but it certainly didn’t feel like she was dying and when she felt the other woman hold her more firmly, her tongue pressing against Ellie’s, those hands sliding down her back and over her buttocks, pulling her; those fingers caressing her, she actually began to enjoy it.
She knew now that she preferred girls. Especially this girl. It seemed odd that she’d ever been interested in boys or, indeed, anyone else.
When their lips parted, Ellie was breathless, gasping, consumed with passion, overcome with a need for them to kiss again. The blonde was so beautiful.
‘Please.’ She lifted her head, her mouth open, lips seeking another kiss.
‘My boots need attention, Slave.’
‘Yes, Mistress,’ Ellie whispered, dropping to her knees reverently and bending to lap at the shiny black leather of the blonde’s boots.
In the doorway, Amanda’s eyes met Maiko’s and the Ninja nodded. The two surged forward, weapons raised, the young Japanese just ahead. The Sorceress looked up but Ellie remained on her knees, lips and tongue still caressing the leather of the blonde’s boots.
Ahead of her, Amanda saw Maiko raise her katana to strike but the Sorceress extended a hand and the little Ninja was flung back against the bare stone wall of the tower, arms and legs spread, heavy shackles springing out of the stone to pin her wrists and ankles then her arms and thighs, another circling her neck and then two crossing between her small breasts.
Amazonne shouted a prayer to Artemis and pressed on but even as she did so felt her body becoming heavier, a sensation that increased and spread to her limbs until she could barely place one foot in front of the other, could barely lift her arms to wield her swords. She looked down to see that her body was wrapped in heavy chains; they ran across her shoulders and encircled her chest, ran between her breasts and around her waist and down between her legs; chains were entwined around her limbs too, locked in place with heavy padlocks; she could feel a heavy iron collar around her neck; a solid metal ball trailed from heavy shackle locked to each of her ankles and, as she succumbed to the weight, dropping to her knees on the bare stone floor, she saw a ball and chain cuffed to each of her wrists too. She tried to hold onto her swords but they were just too much and she let them fall, helpless, as they clattered onto the stone floor.
She watched, from her knees as the Sorceress smiled and bent to pet Ellie who still knelt at the blonde’s feet, enthralled, her tongue still caressing the shiny leather boots. It was at that moment, her senses attuned to the room, that Amanda thought she felt another presence.
‘You won’t be needing this any longer.’ The sorceress pulled Ellie’s dagger from the bindings that held it to her thigh.
‘Mistress.’ Ellie nodded slightly, still bent over the woman’s boots, her pink tongue flicking across the leather, her long golden hair draped across the bare wood floor like a carpet.
The Sorceress looked down at Amanda and, for a moment, the Adventuress feared she was going to use the dagger she held but she dropped it, point first, and it stuck in the wooden floor barely inches from where Amanda knelt, immobilised in the heavy chains.
‘I’m going to enjoy having you as my slave,’ the Sorceress said with smug satisfaction, returning her attention to Ellie. ‘This body is gorgeous.’
‘Thank you, Mistress.’ Ellie knelt up, parting her thighs and placing her hands behind her head, displaying her body to the blonde.
Amanda tried not to feel maternal or protective. She had seen quite a different side of her daughter in the last week or so.
‘Did you really think you could Seduce me?’ the blonde asked.
‘No, Mistress.’ Ellie lifted her head, her blue eyes wide, adoring. ‘But you can’t blame a girl for trying.’
‘I’m going to punish you for it.’
‘Mmmm,’ Ellie murmured. ‘I’d like that.’
‘I’m sure you would.’ The sorceress pinched Ellie's nipple, twisting it. ‘Which is just as well, as you’ll find I’m a bit of a sadist.’
She bent and caressed Ellie’s other nipple. ‘We’ll have to get these pierced, of course.’
‘Yes, Mistress,’ Ellie said dreamily.
‘And I’ll have to brand you.’ The sorceress stood and walked towards the brazier.
Brazier!
Amanda hadn’t noticed that before and she wondered if this was more illusion. It had all seemed so clear outside the wall and then, as they’d penetrated deeper into the tower, it had all become more muddled, passages appearing longer than they were, staircases that went on forever, the ghosts…
She wasn’t sure if they’d been real or not.
The chains certainly weren't an illusion. They were thick enough to keep a troll in check. She could barely move, simply watch, as the Sorceress walked to the glowing brazier and lifted a red hot iron. The blonde looked at her and Amanda seemed to feel the heat of the coals in her gaze. Then she felt the chains tighten, squeezing her, tightening around her chest and then between her legs, pressing against her pussy and belly. She thought this might be how it would have felt if she’d been caught by a giant snake.
In her younger days, adventurers always seemed to be encountering giant snakes. There was Conan the Barbarian…
It was becoming hard to breathe.
She tried to think of a way out. Could she draw Ellie out of the trance the Sorceress seemed to have put her in? She turned as best she could to look at Maiko but the Ninja was spread helplessly on the bare stone wall, pinned there, naked save her chastity belt and just as helpless as Amanda herself.
The chains tightened again crushing her and she felt the sickening sensation as she took a point of Damage.
Maybe the Warriors would arrive in the nick of time and rescue her like in the movies. She wasn’t quite sure how she’d feel about Val rescuing her.
The chains tightened again and she began to feel light-headed from the nausea as another Hit Point dropped from her total.
This had been quite a journey, from the Amanda who had agreed to the trip to please her lover, to Amazonne Warrior Princess, a fully fledged Adventuress. She really wasn’t sure what Monday morning might bring after all that had happened with Val; she’d probably have to look for another job; but the time she’d spent with Ellie had been nice. The time she’d spent with Luci had been nice too; very nice - that was something she really would like to repeat, though it didn’t look very likely now.
The chains tightened and another two points dropped off Amanda’s Hit Points.
Luci had hinted that they would still be in Thoth when the party got back; if they got back.
Who’d have thought a woman with that gorgeous body could grow a penis at will? Two penises! And be into bondage. A little over a week ago, Amanda had thought this world would all be a silly game but she’d actually enjoyed herself; more than enjoyed herself; it was just a shame it was all about to end; and they’d been doing so well.
She watched the Sorceress walk back toward Ellie, the tip of the branding iron glowing with red heat. Artemis’ wet thighs, that body was gorgeous! She understood why she’d lusted after Honey’s body when she’d first seen it. And here she was where she liked to be down on her knees in bondage. This woman might be killing her slowly, but what a way to go. The words of the Adventuress’ section of the Player’s Handbook came back to her about expecting to spend a fair amount of time in bondage and probably finding herself enslaved occasionally.
Her slavery, such as it was, had been all too brief.
She wouldn’t mind being enslaved by this Sorceress; she’d willingly worship those boots. The woman had already promised Ellie a pair of nipple rings like Luci; the female version of Luci at least.
There really were things in this world she didn’t understand. Why hadn’t she read the manual more carefully, she used to love reading…
Even as she thought it the Sorceress lowered the branding iron towards Ellie’s right breast. Ellie didn’t move, simply knelt there smiling, hands behind her head.
‘Nobody does that to my daughter.’ Amanda thought it so loudly she might have said it as she lunged forward and grabbed the dagger, her Feat-of-Strength giving her superhuman abilities. In the same move she raised the dagger and stabbed the Sorceress in the back knowing even as the dagger found its mark she’d scored a Critical Hit.
She saw the Sorceress stagger forward, even as the chains dragged Amanda back to her knees; but the woman didn’t fall, Amanda was now defenceless, and she knew it; knew that she was about to be vaporised in a Fireball or shattered like a crystal or whatever it was the high level Sorceresses did when the didn’t want to enslave their opponents. If she was turned to stone like the figures they’d seen outside the tower then at least she’d get to spend the rest of eternity in bondage.
Chapter 87: Release
‘No!’ Ellie screamed as her mistress, the mistress she loved, pitched forwards. She had been waiting, enraptured, enamoured, doting on her mistress, her beautiful mistress waiting for this goddess to claim her, mark her as her own, to enslave her. She had known that she would die for this woman, suffer torment for her. She had been dimly aware that her mother too had been kneeling, apparently enraptured by the blonde Sorceress’ beauty and then suddenly, inexplicably, had betrayed her.
The rage she had felt had been all consuming, a desire to kill this woman who had betrayed her beloved mistress.
Then, for a moment, hope surged as her beautiful mistress turned and raised her hands but then blood welled from her throat and she crumpled.
Ellie screamed again, leaping to seize her dagger and plunge it into her mother’s heart.
Then her thoughts cleared abruptly and she looked up at her mother, the rage evaporating.
‘Mum?’
Amanda was panting hard, her skin glistening with sweat, standing unsteadily as if she had just undertaken some colossal labour.
Then they were falling, the tower collapsing around them, magic dissolving…no, not magic…Illusion.
Ellie found herself standing among the ruins of a stone tower; there were no longer flames around it, just a trench of ashes, no brazier, no tapestries, no curtained bed. Amanda had fallen to her knees and Ellie stepped forward, helping her to her feet.
‘Are you ok?’
‘Yes, fine.’ Amanda was trembling. ‘Just give me a moment to recover.’
‘Honey, what happen?’ Maiko was looking around her, mouth open in surprise. ‘She use magic to enslave you.’
‘No,’ Ellie said. ‘Not magic.’ She couldn’t help smiling despite their peril. ‘She Seduced me.’
‘Seduced you?’ Maiko and Amanda said it together.
‘Yes.’ Ellie said, looking down at the twisted body of the ‘Sorceress’, the dagger protruding from her back. ‘She was a Seductress, not a Sorceress. A high level one. And all this…that…’ Ellie gestured to the ruins of the tower, ‘…was illusion.’
‘Most of it was pretty awful,’ Amanda said. ‘The passageways didn’t fit together.’ She grinned. ‘Though I liked the chains.’
Ellie looked at her mother in surprise. ‘Chains.’
‘I’ll tell you later,’ Amanda said. ‘We need to know what’s happened to the others.’
They turned and looked. Across the ditch that had been the fiery moat the red-headed warrior and Battle Babe were engaged in what looked like some choreographed dance, weapons flashing. To one side Bu-Shi-Doll lay on her side, clearly wounded and Val knelt, her hand across her belly, blood seeping between her fingers.
‘Grandma.’ Maiko shouted.
‘Val.’ Amanda spoke, more softly.
‘If Seductress not controlling Warrior, why she still fighting?’
That’s when Ellie felt it. Sorcery. She spun round. She’d sensed it before, she realised, when she’d entered the blonde’s chamber and had assumed that made the blonde a Sorceress. ‘There, look!’
Behind a buttress was a cage, a magical one with no bars, just a metal frame and within it, imprisoned, was a woman; she was hooded, a black leather hood laced tight over her head blindfolding her and there was black ball gag in her mouth held in place by a plethora of heavy leather straps. Other than the hood, the woman was naked; her skin was pale, she looked like a marble statue, blue-white as if kissed by moonlight; a long mane of raven black hair cascaded down her back as if running from the hood. She stood bent slightly forwards, up on her toes, legs spread, arms stretched towards the sides of her prison; shackles around her wrists and ankles held her in place and a chain from to top of the gag harness held her head up but, though the chains held her, her posture was controlled by lighter chains fastened to the frame of her prison, one from clover style clamps on each of her nipples gently guided her forwards, two more clamped to her labia pulled her bottom back. There was a plug in her anus with a chain to the top of the cage and one from her clamped clitoris to the floor.
‘Wow!’ Amanda whistled appreciatively. ‘That’s classy bondage.’
‘I think we’ve found our Sorceress.’ Ellie sensed the magic that radiated off the helpless woman. It was the most powerful thing she had felt and it seemed to writhe and prowl seeking release. She could sense its frustration.
‘Did someone get to her first?’ Amanda asked.
‘What we do?’ Maiko said. ‘Do we kill her?’
‘She doesn’t look like she’ll be much trouble,’ Ellie said.
‘She cannot harm you.’
Ellie looked up and found the redheaded warrior standing beside her. The woman was breathing hard from the exertion of her recent combat and she noticed that the warrior’s huge two handed sword was bloodstained. She glanced over at the spot where she’d last seen Battle Babe duelling with the redhead and saw two figures crouched over a third.
‘Two of your companions will live,’ the warrior said matter of factly.
Beside her, Maiko gave a little yelp.
It was Val and Bu-Shi-Doll who crouched over Battle Babe.
Suddenly, Amanda was in front of the redheaded warrior, twin blades raised. ‘Stay back!’
‘Your spirit is strong, Adventures,’ the warrior said with a touch of amusement in her voice. ‘But I have just bested your party’s three main fighters. Put down your swords. I will not harm you.’
Amanda lowered her weapons, her face colouring slightly.
‘I seek your aid,’ the warrior said.
‘What?’ Amanda raised her swords again. ‘You’ve just killed Battle Babe.’
‘And if you aid me to release my mistress, she may be able to save her.’ The warrior’s blue eyes were stern, piercing.
‘Why can’t you…?’ Ellie said cautiously, gesturing to the magical prison with its beautiful pale inmate.
The warrior lifted a hand to her neck and touched the collar. ‘I am not permitted to approach the cage.’
‘Wait…' Ellie frowned. ‘How…?’
The Warrior sighed and hunched forward resting on her sword, her eyes regarding the helpless Sorceress in her prison. ‘After I rescued her from the dragon, she kept me in bondage for a thousand years. I was her sex toy…constantly aroused. I worshipped her, adored her. After a time she came to trust me, removed the wards she had laid on me and we became lovers, true lovers.’ The warrior smiled. ‘Our lovemaking was passionate, intense…. Can you imagine the pleasure magic can bring.’
Ellie suppressed a small grin.
‘Eventually, she allowed me to bind her,’ the warrior continued. ‘She had never allowed another that much control over her and it thrilled her. She loved to feel the joy of submission just as I had felt it for all those years. She helped me to construct this prison so she would be utterly powerless, so that I would have true control over her.’
‘Wow!’ Maiko exclaimed then covered her mouth as all three women turned to look at her. ‘It such a beautiful story.’ She smiled and held her hands out by way of apology, her face colouring. ‘What? I young Japanese girl, I dream of romance and true love.’
The warrior gave a weak smile. ‘I was in love. We were in love. Then…' Her face became troubled. ‘Then the Seductress came and beguiled me. She took the form of my mistress, collared me, made me bind my true mistress and then banished me from her.’
The warrior’s eyes swept across the prisoner again. ‘I wear this Collar of Obedience, I had no choice but to obey her. Having gained control over me, the Seductress sent me out to plunder and destroy.’
‘But she’s dead, why are you still bound by it?’ Amanda asked.
‘Magical object,’ Ellie said. ‘When magic is imbued into an inanimate object, it becomes permanent.’
‘Oh.’ Amanda said with more than a hint of irony. ‘Obviously.’ Then she stepped forward. ‘Let me take a look.’
The Warrior immediately raised her sword.
‘It’s ok,’ Ellie said. ‘She knows what she’s doing.’
Amanda glanced at her daughter and gave an appreciative grin then she produced a lock pick. The warrior put her sword aside and lifted her chin. Amanda inserted the pick, fiddled for a moment and then there was a tiny click. ‘Easy when you know how.’ Amanda smiled.
‘Way to go, Mum.’
‘Amazonne!’ Amanda snapped looking at her daughter with a smile.
The collar fell away and the Warrior rubbed her neck. The skin where the collar had been was pale, almost white.
‘Thank you.’ The Warrior smiled.
‘Whoa!.’ Amanda staggered and the warrior caught her.
‘Mum…Am…Are you ok?’
‘I’m fine Honey.’ Amanda gasped, holding onto the Warrior for support. ‘Just…just killed a Level 10 Seductress with a Critical Strike and now I’ve picked a magical lock. Fuck…. I think I’ve just gone to Level 5.’ She straightened up and brushed the Warrior’s arm where her nails had dug into the flesh.
‘I will free my Mistress now?’ the Warrior said, ignoring Amanda.
Ellie looked at the helpless Sorceress. ‘Are you sure you want to. Won’t she be a little upset?’
‘I must face her wrath,’ the Warrior said, ‘and now you have no way to stop me.’ She pushed forward striding towards the prison, stepping through its boundary to a hiss of magic that shimmered in the air around her. Yet, for all her physical power, there was a gentleness, almost reverence in the way she approached her lover, helpless in her magical prison. Ellie watched as the warrior ran a hand down the pale flesh of the woman’s side, a finger curving under one of the large breasts. The Sorceress moved, shifting in her bonds, the chains clicking faintly, tugging gently on her clamped nipples and labia. Ellie saw the warrior say something and the beautiful pale skinned captive nodded sending more ripples through the chains confining her.
Gently, the redhead reached up and removed one of the nipple clamps. The woman gave a slight gasp around her gag and the warrior bent to kiss the newly freed nipple before freeing the other one. The woman straightened a little, the pull of the chains relieved, and arched her back. Then the warrior crouched and removed the clamps from the woman’s labia and clitoris and the captive leant forward, stretching in her chains, the one above her head slack now.
There was a key hanging from the collar of the hood and the Warrior took it and inserted it into the lock on the collar then undid the harness holding the gag in place. The woman licked her lips as the ball was removed from her mouth, her tongue strikingly pink against her pale lips. Their lips brushed and the Sorceress shifted again in a gentle rustle of chains. Then the Warrior squatted again to release the cuffs on the captive’s ankles before freeing her wrists. The woman stood erect as the warrior began to unlace her hood.
‘It so beautiful.’ Ellie heard Maiko say and looked to see tears running down the little Japanese girl’s face. She slid an arm around her friend’s shoulders and felt her trembling.
‘I don’t want to spoil the party,’ Amanda said quietly. ‘But what exactly was keeping Maleficent there in check? Should we be using the collar in case she’s a little pissed off at her sex game going beyond its expected limits.’
‘Just base iron,’ the warrior said with a smile. ‘Just as it was a thousand years ago when she had been imprisoned for five hundred years.’
‘And how many years has it been this time?’
The Warrior shrugged. ‘A little over twenty.’
‘Wow!’ Amanda grinned.
‘The collar will not be necessary,’ the Warrior said as she slipped the iron collar from her lover's neck and pulled off the hood.
The Sorceress’ eyes snapped open, black as night. She was as strikingly beautiful as her body had suggested, beautiful in a regal, terrifying and surprisingly mature way. They had, Amanda realised, seen a lot of young, beautiful people…avatars, whatever they were. This woman appeared to be older, late fifties perhaps; though her face was striking she had crows feet at the corner of her eyes and laughter lines around her mouth.
The black eyes had no pupils but Amanda knew the Sorceress was looking right at her and could do nothing as the woman lifted a hand towards her.
‘You, will give me your life.’ The voice was low, harsh, at odds with the elegant face and the beautiful body; a rasp.
The hand beckoned her and it was as if Amanda had no control over her body; she took a step forward, and another.
‘Come.’ That rasp again and Amanda took another step and another.
‘No,’ Ellie shouted and Amanda saw her rush forward.
The Sorceress’ other hand flew out and fire erupted from her fingertips.
Amanda screamed a warning to stay back but it was too late. Ellie didn’t stand a chance as flames engulfed her body.
Chapter 88: Reckoning
Ellie had seen the spell erupt for the Sorceress’ fingers but could do nothing other than wait for the impact. The fire had seemed to dance before her in slow motion and she’d wondered if this was how deaths happened in Fantasia, that time stretched so it literally happened in slow motion, a chance for your character’s life to flash before your eyes, a kind of memory review so you left the game with all your deeds fresh in your mind.
She’d expected it to hurt, just as the flames that had scorched her as she’d crossed the moat or the beating she’d taken from the Master Assassin yet when the flames struck they simply seemed to roll around her and the impact was little more than a gentle nudge, a pressure as if she was walking through water. She stood looking at is, amazed by the beauty of the flames as they danced around her.
Then it was gone and she was back in the ruined tower.
The expression on the Sorceress’ face was one of amazement but then she turned her gaze back to Amanda and drew her close. The raven haired sorceress still held her mother in an enchantment and the two were about to kiss. The Sorceress would suck the life from her mother and Ellie was too far away to stop it. She cast around for a plan but there was nothing she could do. She looked to Maiko but the Samurai was held back, her body tangled in vines and ivy that had wrapped itself around her limbs and body and was snaking up towards her neck.
The pale lips met Amanda’s and Ellie felt the flare of magic.
Amanda staggered and Ellie saw her avatar flicker. The Sorceress held her tight and pulled her in for a second kiss.
‘No!’ The Warrior stepped forward and knocked Amanda aside. ‘No Mistress, take me.’
The Sorceress lifted her gaze, anger in her expression.
‘Mistress, please.’ The Warrior took the Sorceress in her arms.
‘No.’ The Sorceress’ voice was softer and, now Ellie looked, her face was younger.
‘Just a few years, Mistress, until you are recovered.’ The Warrior smiled sadly. ‘Or take my life for what I have done to you.’
The Sorceress gaze levelled on the redhead. ‘My love.’ She touched the Warrior’s cheek.
Then the two kissed.
Again, magic pulsed in the air and Ellie thought she saw the colour drain from the Warrior’s red hair, white streaking it as the shape of her body changed, not much but there was a roughness to her skin that had not been there before a slight sag to her bottom.
When their lips parted, the Warrior’s face was lined just as the Sorceress’ had been but she was smiling and looking at her mistress who was now young and achingly beautiful with her pale skin and raven-dark hair.
The Sorceress caressed the warrior’s cheek. ‘Thank you.’ Then she turned and looked at Ellie.
‘Er…' Ellie stammered. ‘Sister Stephania’s Ward.’
‘Very resourceful.’ The voice matched the body now, soft, playful almost but also capable of command.
‘Please.’ Ellie said. ‘Our friend is dead. Can you help us?’
The Sorceress looked to her Redheaded Warrior.
‘I slew her at the command of the Seductress but these people helped me to free you.’
The Sorceress frowned.
‘Please, Mistress.’
‘Very well.’ The Sorceress looked to Ellie. ‘But be aware this will be a magical Reanimation, not a Resurrection.’
‘Um.’ Amanda said cautiously. ‘What does that mean.’
The Sorceress rounded on her. ‘It means, Adventuress, that what you get back depends on how far things have progressed. A Resurrection calls the soul back to the body, a Reanimation gives the body life.’
Amanda frowned. ‘And if things have gone too far?’
‘You get a Zombie.’
‘Oh.’
The Sorceress looked down as if seeing the body of the dead Seductress for the first time then she bent and pulled Ellie’s dagger from the body before rolling it over with her foot and glaring at the Warrior. Then, she turned and strode towards the moat, a bridge forming beneath her feet as she crossed. Ellie and the others followed warily fearing that it would disappear as instantly as it appeared but it seemed to last for her to cross. Beyond the moat Battle Babe lay on her back, her arms across her chest holding her axe. Bu-Shi-Doll stood solemnly beside her and Val knelt, hand still on her belly, an empty bottle of Healing Potion at her side.
As they approached Bu-Shi-Doll snatched up her weapon, though Ellie could see the Samurai was unsteady on her feet, her face pale and sweating. She levelled the naginata towards the Redheaded Warrior and her mistress although it seemed to take almost all of her effort.
‘It’s ok,’ Ellie said as calmly as she could. ‘The Sorceress will help her.’
‘She is beyond help.’ Bu-Shi-Doll frowned looking wary, her eyes taking in the pale, raven-haired beauty then she saw the Warrior and Ellie noticed her expression of surprise.
‘I told them this armour was inadequate,’ Val grumbled from where she knelt, lifting her hands to show a livid red scar across her belly. ‘That could have been me.’ She gestured to the body of the party leader.
Bu-Shi-Doll glanced at her. ‘You are healed,’ she said sharply. Then she lowered her weapon, resting the butt on the ground and leaning heavily on it.
The Sorceress stepped past her.
‘The spell requires the destruction of a clerical artefact, a token to the gods for disruption of the circle.’ The Sorceress said matter of factly. ‘And the blood of a virgin.’ She looked at Maiko who stepped back warily. The Sorceress smiled. ‘Only a little blood, but the artefact will be destroyed.’
‘We don’t have any clerical items,’ Ellie said.
‘You do,’ the Sorceress said. She looked down at Ellie’s sex.
‘Oh.’ Ellie looked down at her belly. ‘I see Is there nothing else? This was kind of useful.’
‘If you wish to save your friend,’ the Sorceress said, ‘then I need the Wand. It contains divine power which I do not possess.’
‘Oh, ok.’ Ellie turned away and slipped the dildo out of her pussy cringing at the wet squelch that she knew everyone would have heard. ‘Here.’
The Sorceress took it disdainfully, holding it at a distance.
‘Virgin.’ She looked at Maiko, beckoning her forwards.
‘It’s ok, KG,’ Ellie said to reassure her friend.
‘If you say, Honey-sama, then I believe.’ Katana Girl stepped forward.
‘Hold out your arm.’
Maiko obeyed and the Sorceress ran the dagger across the Ninja’s arm. Blood welled from the cut and the Sorceress guided her towards the body of the Party Leader.
Ellie felt magic in the air again, powerful magic, it was like a pressure, as if she was deep under water and the weight of the water was bearing down and in on her. Suddenly, lightning flashed then thunder rolled across the sky and beneath her feet the earth shook. She could hear the Sorceress speaking, words she could not understand. The air turned cold, very cold and the pressure on her increased further as the world around her darkened, rimes of frost forming on the ground as heavy clouds covered the sky.
In front of her, the Sorceress held up Sister Stephania’s Wand and squeezed Maiko’s arm making blood drip onto Battle Babe’s body.
There was more lightning and more thunder and the earth shook again and then the chill and darkness passed.
Battle Babe’s chest heaved and she opened her eyes.
‘Beeb-sama?’ Bu-Shi-Doll said, crouching beside the party leader. ‘You live.’
Battle Babe looked around then studied her hands before twisting to look at the wound in her side which was now closed. ‘Yeah, I guess so.’
‘What it like?’ Bu-Shi-Doll pressed. ‘I never died before.’
Battle Babe tipped her head to the side and thought. ‘It was kind of spiritual…. Grey, a little dull but peaceful.’ She grinned. ‘Not for the Sorceress though. Demogorgan himself came for that one.’ She shook her head. ‘Black heart.’
‘Actually.’ Ellie stepped forward. ‘That wasn’t the Sorceress. That was a Seductress.’
‘Fuck.’ The big warrior looked up at Ellie. ‘You guys are full of surprises.’
‘It was the real Sorceress who saved you.’
Battle Babe’s eyes widened. ‘Shit, a magical reanimation. I am actually alive right? Not like some reanimated Zombie?’
‘Your spirit was still present.’ The Sorceress said, stepping forward. ‘It was as if you knew you would be coming back.’
‘I knew my party would come through for me.’ Battle Babe said, looking round at the adventurers. Then her eyes lighted on the red-headed warrior and she reached for her axe.
‘I’m sorry.’ The Warrior said, lifting her sword in salute.
Battle Babe looked around then back at the Warrior. ‘Are we on the same side now?’
‘Kind of.’ Ellie stepped forward. ‘More a truce, I think.’
Battle Babe looked up at the warrior, studying her face. ‘You…’
‘Yes.’ The redhead nodded. ‘I am starting to feel my age.’ She smiled, lines etching more deeply in her face. ‘I hope you will forgive what was done in the spirit of combat.’
‘Damn, right.’ Battle Babe looked up at her. ‘I’ve always taken on all comers in a fair fight but I certainly met my match today.’
‘I have had a long time to practice.’ The red-headed Warrior extended her hand and helped Battle Babe to her feet. ‘You fought well. There is no ill-will, I hope.’
Battle Babe looked down at her body. ‘I guess not.’
The two warriors embraced.
‘So we’re all ok?’ Battle Babe looked around.
‘A minor wound to the thigh.’ Bu-Shi-Doll bowed slightly.
‘Best take some healing potion.’ Battle Babe said.
‘I have some in my bag.’ Maiko began to run towards the ruined tower.
Battle Babe switched her attention to Val. ‘And you.’
‘Bloody great sword in the abdomen. When I find out who changed my armour I’ll skin them alive.’
Battle Babe touched her on the shoulder. ‘You’re here and that’s the main thing.’ She looked at Ellie.‘And you, Seductress.’ Her eyes took in the healing burns on Ellie’s skin. ‘I take it the Wand didn’t work.’
‘Oh, it worked,’ Ellie said. ‘These are illusory burns.’
‘They look pretty real to me.’ Battle Babe gently touched Ellie’s burned arm.
‘Oh, they’re real enough.’ Ellie winced. ‘You should have seen them before the Healing Lotion. The wand doesn’t work against Illusory magic.’
‘And, the Wand, did you use it the way you thought?’ The big warrior grinned.
‘Oh, yes.’ Ellie grinned back. ‘It made the whole thing rather exciting really.’ She winked.
‘How did you know what to do with it?’
‘Apart from the obvious?’ Ellie raised an eyebrow. ‘Actually, when I thought about it, it was obvious where a woman who’s been stripped naked and is facing torture would hide a Ward from her god.’
BB grinned. ‘I thought I’d seen it all but this one’s been quite an adventure. I’m going to have a Seductress on the team again.’
‘You don’t still wish we’d brought a mage then?’ Ellie asked.
‘I think we’d have been outgunned here.’ She clapped Ellie on the shoulder and she winced.
‘You ok, Amazonne?’ Battle Babe appeared to notice Amanda standing to one side. She was looking pale and holding the collar she’d removed from the warrior’s neck.
‘Yeah, I think so.’
‘The Sorceress took some of her life.’ Ellie said.
‘Just a level.’ The Sorceress said tersely. ‘It could have been a lot worse.’
‘Here.’ Maiko, breathless from her run to the tower, handed her the Healing Potion.
‘No,’ said Ellie, ‘Bu Shi Doll needs it more than I do.’
Maiko turned and passed the flask to her grandmother with a bow. Bu-Shi-Doll bowed back stiffly and then bowed to Ellie. Then she lifted the flask to her lips and drank down the potion wincing at the taste.
‘You know.’ Ellie said. ‘It was Maiko who saved you.’
Battle Babe looked at the little Japanese girl, still naked other than her chastity belt.
‘Virgin blood?’ BB asked.
‘Indeed.’
‘I wondered why I keep thinking about sex.’
Maiko gave a little squeak and lifted her hands to her mouth, her face blushing a furious red.
‘Those who have crossed are always a little changed,’ the Sorceress said. ‘And the two of you will remain bonded.’
‘I hope she doesn’t learn too many bad habits from me.’ BB said. ‘Domo arigato, Katana Girl.’ The big warrior bowed.
‘Can you read all my thoughts?’ Maiko asked, her eyes wide.
Battle Babe smiled, looming over her ‘Just feel your emotions.’ She looked around. ‘Actually, I can feel…sense stuff.’ She frowned thoughtfully. ‘It’s hard to explain. When I was…over there, I didn’t really understand what was going on around me but I could sense you on this side of the Veil. I guess that’s why I stayed on.’
Chapter 89: School’s Out
‘Mum?’ Ellie fell in beside Amanda.
‘Eh?’ Amanda looked round. She’d been walking in silence for some time, slightly hunched over and was still holding the collar in both hands.
‘Was it bad?’
‘Eh?’ Amanda seemed lost in thought.
‘Mum.’ Ellie reached out and touched her shoulder. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I…’ she said weakly then stopped looking down at the collar again.
‘Is it what the Sorceress did to you?’ Ellie asked gently. ‘Was it awful?’
Amanda shook her head.
‘Why don’t you give me that?’ Ellie reached out to take the collar.
‘No!’ Amanda pulled it back.
‘Mum, you’re scaring me.’
‘I’m going to give it to her,’ Amanda said.
‘Mum, what are you talking about?’
‘I’m going to give the collar to Val.’ Amanda stopped. ‘It’s the best solution.'
‘Solution?’
‘She can collar me and I’ll be her slave here just like I am in the real. She’ll be happy and we can put all this behind us.’
‘Put all this behind us?’ Ellie held her gaze. ‘Surely you can’t mean that. This has been one of the best things you and I have ever done together.’
A flicker of a smile passed over Amanda’s face.
‘Yes, it has been fun but I don’t think Val would agree with you.’
‘Fuck Val.’
‘Ellie! We’re going back to the real soon,’ Amanda said reasonably. ‘We…I have to face reality. Val is my boss and…she…we…I…. I have bills to pay and she’s…’
‘Mum. You can’t please everyone. Sometimes you’ve got to choose a side, stand up for yourself.’
‘That’s fine here, Honey but the real world is different.’
‘No, Mum, it’s not. When I was younger you were always telling me it was important to do the right thing, quoting all your myths and legends.’
‘I have you to think of.’
‘Mum, I’m nineteen. I can look after myself. I’ve just survived a fireball from a Sublimed Sorceress for Aphrodite’s sake.’ She grimaced at the expletive the AI had forced on her. ‘I’m fucking immortal. And you’ve just killed a Dark Seductress.’
‘None of that’s real,’ Amanda said.
‘It felt bloody real. Mum don’t you think this is all a metaphor for life. Are we really going to go home after this and go back to our lives.’
‘Our safe lives.’
‘Our boring lives.’ Ellie was close to tears. ‘Mum, I’ve learnt so much about you this past fortnight and I know you gave it all up for me. It’s time to start living again.’
Amanda smiled. ‘I was pretty wild.’
‘You were a fucking Adventuress in the real world, mum.’
‘I still think…’
‘No, mum. I won’t let you.’
‘You can’t stop me.’
‘Sorry, mum.’ Ellie held her mother by the shoulders. ‘GIVE ME THE COLLAR.’
Amanda’s eyes glazed for a moment and Ellie know the Command had taken. She also knew it wouldn’t have taken if Amanda hadn’t wanted it to.
Amanda passed her the collar and Ellie stuffed it into her satchel then she took Amanda in her arms and hugged her tightly.
‘You’re the best, mum.’
Amanda’s arms closed around her.
‘Thank you.’ Amanda whispered.
‘We’ve finished early,’ BB said as they reached the cairn where they’d stowed their spare items including Val’s magic sword. ‘That gives you about 48 hours R&R.’
‘Does that mean I can go back to Thoth?’ Amanda asked.
’Yeah, I guess so.’ Battle Babe looked at her quizzically. ‘Want to see what you missed?’
Amanda shifted awkwardly. ‘Something like that.’
‘You can probably get there in a day without us lumbering warriors.’
‘I’d like to go too,’ Ellie said. ‘I’m hardly overloaded.’ She grinned. ‘And if I am, I'll just leave my clothes behind.’
‘No change there,’ Val said grimly and Amanda glared at her. ‘I’m not saying your daughter’s a slut, Mand, but I’m surprised you allow it.’
‘I allow it, because she’s my daughter.’ Amanda said, drawing herself up to her full height and pushing out her formidable chest. ‘And if you want to disagree, we can go over there and duel to first blood.’
‘I don’t think that will be necessary.’ Battle Babe stepped between them. ‘Val, Doll, want to come into the wilderness and do a little hack and slay.’
‘Hai.’ Bu-Shi-Doll bowed slightly.
Val glared past Battle Babe at Amanda then looked up at the big Warrior. ‘You got it, Beeb. Wouldn’t want to spend my time in that stupid city anyway.’
‘How about you Katana Girl?’ Battle Babe asked.
‘I like to go to Thoth with Honey.’ She looked expectantly at her grandmother.
‘Please, Doll-Sama,’ Ellie said, resisting the urge to try a Persuasion. ‘It’s not as if anything can happen. I’m Level 5, Amazon is Level 4 and KG must be almost Level 4.’
‘And I wear chastity belt, in case anyone forgotten,’ Maiko added.
‘Besides,’ Amanda added. ‘If you can’t let your hair down in VR, where can you do it?’
Bu-Shi-Doll regarded them coolly then she nodded. ‘Hai!’
‘Domo arigato.’ Amanda, Ellie and Maiko all bowed at once.
‘Nice haul Adventuress.’ The guard on the gate to Thoth appraised Ellie and Miako and Ellie saw her mother give a proud smile and put a finger to her hips as she pulled Maiko closer and parted her kimono just as Ellie had done a few days before.
‘Should fetch a good price.’ The guard grinned. ‘The other one has something about her too.’ His gaze swept over Ellie and she bowed her head making herself blush as suggested in the writings of Madam So.
Amanda looked suddenly uncomfortable and Ellie guessed she was trying to remind herself that the girl on the leash was Honey and not her daughter which must be difficult with the illusion she was projecting of her real world appearance, especially as was completely naked.
Returning to Thoth had been an obvious plan but there was still the matter of the Assassin’s Guild and the palace guard. It was only three days after the raid on the palace. Creating an illusion that she looked like herself was a lot easier than trying to look like someone else. She had discovered that when she’d impersonate the red-headed warrior. There was probably a rule against it but the game hadn’t stopped her and she wasn’t very skilled with Illusion yet.
The guard complementing her had been a surprise but he wasn’t the first to look at her, she had seen others watching her from a distance. At first, she’d thought they were looking at Maiko but then she’d seen her reflection in a polished shield and realised that, while she might not look like Honey, she certainly moved like her and, although she’d tried not to, with the effort of maintaining the illusion as they stood in line to enter the city she’d found herself automatically presenting her body as Honey did, head up, shoulders back, breasts thrust out. Presenting themselves was what Seductresses did and the steady trickle of XPs as she maintained the Illusion was a gentle reminder of the pleasures that brought.
She was, however, grateful when they slipped into a dark side street just inside the gate and, after a moment she was able to release the projection, revealing blonde, pouting Honey.
‘Why did you have to make yourself naked?’ Amanda asked with an edge to her voice as she began to untie Honey’s wrists.
‘It’s easier than imagining clothes,’ Ellie said. ‘Besides, I was supposed to be a slave for sale, I could hardly wear my overalls.’
Amanda looked at her thoughtfully. ‘I think we should go clothes shopping together when we get home.’
‘Mum!’ Ellie protested but then smiled. She had, she realised, enjoyed being Honey and, while she wasn’t about to go to college in a butterfly kiss, it probably was time to emerge from her cocoon. She rubbed her wrists.
‘Rope burns?’ Amazon asked and Ellie grinned at her.
Amanda moved on to untie Maiko.
‘Leave it, Mum,’ Ellie said. ‘I’ll do that.’
‘Well, if you’re sure.’
‘Of course, Mum.’ Ellie flashed a killer Honey smile. ‘You get on and have fun.’
‘Ok.’ Amazonne smiled back. ‘Look after her!’ She looked at Maiko. ‘Look after each other.’
‘Of course.’ Ellie propelled her mother out of the alley.
‘What we do now?’ Maiko asked when Amanda had gone.
Ellie grinned. ‘I think you mean, “What do we do now, Mistress?”’
‘You might be able to do kinky stuff,’ Maiko said pointedly. ‘I still in chastity.’
Ellie opened her satchel and pulled out her Thieves’ Tools.
‘You not gonna pick this.’ Maiko looked down. ‘It special lock.’
‘Oh, I think I’m up to it.’ Ellie knelt down and parted Maiko’s kimono. Then she selected a pick from her kit and inserted it onto the lock.
‘You think I not tried before?’
‘With respect Maiko, you’re a Warrior. A very good Warrior I admit and you do have Ninja skills but I’m a higher level than you…' She wiggled the pick. ‘And…' She pushed the pick in harder, making Maiko take a step back. ‘And, at the end of the day…' Ellie touched the locket on her neck. ‘I have this Locket of Luck.’ Ellie turned her hand over to show Maiko the locket she’d stolen from Prospero on their previous visit to Thoth.
There was a clunk and Maiko gasped as Ellie lifted the two halves of the chastity belt off her friend.
‘You did it!’ Maiko jumped into the air. ‘You take it off!’ She looked down. ‘Oh!’
‘Yeah.’ Ellie said, looking at the thin coat of dark hair that the belt had concealed.
‘You try shaving pubes with katana!’ Maiko said, apparently reading Honey’s thoughts if not Ellie’s. ‘Specially when you can’t see!’
‘Maiko.’ Ellie held up her hand placatingly. ‘That wasn’t a criticism but here we are, two single girls in the most debauched city in the whole of creation and we have an entire two days to enjoy it.’ She grinned. ‘I think we should undertake a little pampering and ensure we’re ready.’
Maiko thought for a moment. ‘Maiko trust you, Honey-sama, but Maiko also desperate to get laid.’
‘Remember, at the moment I’m Ellie, or at least I will be and, unfortunately for you, your hands are tied behind your back and I’m way higher Level.’ Ellie stood and took up the leash that was looped round Maiko’s neck. ‘Which means we’re doing pampering first or, at least you are. I can do what I like.’ She called back the illusion of real world Ellie, paused and then altered it, making her breasts larger and donning something that resembled Amanda’s new black and purple costume.’ Then she turned and lead the Japanese girl out of the alley. ‘Besides…' She said turning back watching the kimono billow out exposing the little oriental’s pert body. ‘If I make you even prettier, I can pimp you out as a much higher class of whore.’
Amanda entered ‘The Pleasure Dome’ after a brief stop at the provisions shop. She was eager to meet Luci again but it was early and she was also mindful of the need to prepare for her next adventure.
She’d spent most of her money on a Bow of Sighting giving her +2 on targeting and doubling her chance of a Critical Hit when using it outside the sphere of combat. She’s also bought a couple of Healing Potions and an ‘Amulet of Guidance’ from an Artificer called Prospero who she’d found slightly effeminate but completely charming, and who had claimed she could use it to contact Artemis at times when she was lost. She’d thought about upgrading her armour but she’d grown rather fond of the leather-clad Adventuress look and quite frankly it was liberating not to have to wear knickers. She’d also gone for a little pampering.
It was early in the day and the tavern was relatively empty. Despite this there were a couple of lingerie-clad slaves in reception, one of whom, the Kristal, she was sure she recognised from her previous visit.
‘Madam.’ The proprietor approached her waving her towards a cushion in the main salon.
‘I’m here to meet someone,’ Amanda said, sitting.
The man studied her for a moment and then recognition crossed his face and he smiled. ‘I can offer you work? A woman with your talents can make much money, slave or free.’
‘No.’ Amanda said, her hand going to her sword hilt.
‘Of course.’ The proprietor backed away and snapped his fingers causing a slave in a harem costume to appear carrying a tray with brandy. The proprietor poured Amanda a glass.
Amanda regarded him shrewdly.
‘This is on the house.’ He fawned with practiced ease. ‘Brave Adventuresses are always welcome at The Pleasure Dome.’
Amanda heard the clock in the square chime ten and realised it really was very early.
She took the glass and downed it, gasping as the alcohol burned her throat.
‘Esteemed Adventuress.’ The proprietor bobbed obsequiously and sighed. ‘I have grave news.’
For the first time Amanda felt a pang of fear.
‘The man you seek is not coming.’
Amanda’s head sagged as her world fell into ruins. ‘No!’ She gasped.
‘I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, esteemed Adventuress.’ Then he smiled. ‘But, as I say, I can offer you a very lucrative contract.’
She was on her feet in an instant, one of her swords sliding from its sheath as the man took a hasty step backwards.
‘I am sorry.’ The man held up his hands. ‘Truly I am, but am merely the messenger.’
‘Where is he?’ Amanda snarled. ‘I will hunt him down and kill him!’
‘No.’ The Maitre D’ waved his hands frantically in fear. ‘No! Please. He said to give you this.’ He fumbled in his pockets and produced a data disc. ‘He gave me this.’
‘Then I’ll kill him in the real world.’
It was an hour later when Ellie led Maiko to the back door of ‘The Pleasure Dome.’
‘You!’ The proprietor hissed as he opened the rear door to find Ellie standing on the threshold with Maiko leashed behind her.
‘I have another slave for you.’ Ellie said, drawing Maiko forward.
The proprietor looked at Maiko leashed and collared, jewelled pendants dangling from clamps on her nipples.
‘Why did you free that Adventuress?’ the man asked aggressively ‘She was a real hot slut. In fact…' He glanced furtively from side to side. ‘There was nothing she would not do.’
Beside Ellie, Maiko gasped.
‘She flaunted herself, she took it any way, she swallow on command…ate pussy and the things she got up to with one of my Kristals.…’ He rubbed his hands gleefully. ‘I cannot believe you free her.’
‘I didn’t exactly free her.’ Ellie said.
‘You mean she escaped?’ He looked shocked. ‘She was here just now, a free woman. Perhaps you can recapture her. She’s so volatile, that one. Feisty. Drew sword on me when I told her that her lover was not here.’ He grinned. ‘I love a strong woman.’
‘This one’s strong too.’ Ellie said, pulling Maiko forward. ‘She’s a warrior…. Was a warrior,’ she corrected. ‘Until I captured her…a Samurai.’
‘She doesn’t look much.’ The proprietor said, eyeing Maiko. ‘Anyway, I’m not interested; I got fined by the Slaver's Guild for renting out an unlicensed slave the last time we did business.’
Despite his words, his eyes continued to rove across Maiko’s naked body.
In the last hour, Ellie and Maiko had been pampered and primped; Maiko, her pubic patch now smoothly shaven, had short spiked hair and was heavily made up with dark eyeliner and heavy green eyeshadow; her lips and nipples shone ruby red.
‘This one will do what you tell her and do it just as eagerly as the Adventuress.’ Ellie drew her finger across Maiko’s smooth shaven pubic area. ‘Look,’ she said, keeping her voice low and glancing around. ‘She’s been kept in chastity.’
The faint outline of the belt was visible on her naked skin.
‘She’s so hot for it she’ll probably explode if she’s not used a dozen times tonight.’
She felt Maiko’s look of expectation…excitement…fear.
‘Truly a virgin?’ The innkeeper regarded Maiko in awe.
‘I swear on it.’ Ellie told him then leant forward lowering her voice. ‘All orifices.’
The proprietor looked at Maiko lasciviously. ’How much?’
‘One hundred.’
The innkeeper’s mouth dropped open. ‘No!’ He shook his head. ‘It’s too much…Especially for an unlicensed.’
‘All orifices.’ Ellie’s hand ran up Maiko’s belly brushing her nipple and making the pendant swing. ‘She’s worth it. I’ll take her to one of your competitors if I have to.’
The innkeeper’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
‘How about you come and perform with her?’ he asked, looking directly at Honey.
Ellie felt a tiny twinge of anxiety. She had assumed that with her Bargaining skills and her Seduction she would easily be able to pull off a deal.
‘Krowns or gold?’ Said the innkeeper.
Ellie took a breath. There was a latent character class trait inside her telling her that a night in the PleasureDome would be wildly sexual and she suddenly felt her body yearning to take the offer.
That’s when she realised he was using the Merchant’s Patter.
‘I’m afraid I’m busy,’ she snapped, shaking out the hook that had nearly caught her.
‘Perhaps I’m not that interested in your slave.’
Ellie leaned forward almost shoving Honey’s breasts into the man’s face and saw his expression change.
‘Perhaps you’re mistaken.’ She introduced Seduction into her voice and adjusted one of her breasts in front of his eyes, her thumb brushing her nipple and making it swell instantly. ‘I’d be sooo pleased if you’d take her,’ she purred.
The innkeeper somehow managed to look at her face and she pouted, red lips parting and tongue licking white teeth.
‘Well…’
He was faltering and she felt the tingle of Experience telling her the Seduction had been successful.
‘All orifices.’ She slid a finger into Maiko’s mouth. ‘Every…single…one.’ She spaced the words, her tone creaking with sexual innuendo, her mouth forming the syllables suggestively. Maiko sucked obligingly on Ellie’s finger.
‘Eighty five.’ The innkeeper’s voice was shaking and he was starting to sweat.
‘One hundred.’ Ellie said as Maiko took her finger deeper into her mouth. ‘And she’s yours until tomorrow evening.
‘Alright.’ The innkeeper gasped.
‘You won’t regret it.’ Ellie passed Maiko’s leash to the man.