Part 18
Chapter 80: The Call
Amazonne knew she was being summoned and it was a summons she could not resist.
Even in Fantasia, moving in bondage required considerable effort and she was panting hard when she finally thought she was far enough away to work herself free without disturbing the rest of the party. It took her nearly an hour more to escape, and she soon realised that tugging on the rope, rotating her wrists to seek out the knots was more effective and safer than trying to saw through the cords by rubbing them against her sword. Eventually she managed to free her left wrist and then untie the rope around her right one. Her elbows were still pinned together and the ropes that bound her ankles were tied to her elbow bonds but with her hands free she was able to use her sword to cut through the cords holding her in the hogtie and then, finally, able to extend her ankles, she sat up and, wedging the sword against a rock, managed to free her arms. This left the rope harness with its knotted crotch rope and intricate bindings designed to constrain and tease her breasts. She was about to cut it away when she saw someone move in the camp and crouched down behind the rock to conceal herself.
She recognised Battle Babe, her skin just a shade off the night darkness itself, visible as a shade that moved across the stars. She watched as the big warrior squatted to pee and then, having relieved herself, stood looking around, the white orbs of her eyes narrowing; Amanda thought she heard the woman sniff the air and look straight at her then she returned to her bed.
Amanda’s body tingled, the acquisition of experience and, a little more thanks to the harness constraining her body. The fingers of her left hand were on her pussy before she realised what she was doing, parting her lips even as she rocked her hips to make the crotch rope move across her sex, the large knot over her anus pushing against it as if seeking entry. She tried to tell herself this really wasn’t a good time but the excitement of the moment overcame her and in a moment she had put the hilt of her sword back in her mouth and, as her left hand stroked and teased her pussy, her right moved to the stiff nipples of her tingling breasts which seemed to be mounting their own escape bid, stretching against loops of cord that circled them.
The orgasm when it came was way larger than she’d expected, a hot wave of pleasure that ripped through her body with all its heightened Fantasia senses, rising to a crescendo that, as it reached its peak, almost made her scream with lust. Somehow, she managed to suppress the cry that came by biting down on her sword handle although a few whimpers of pleasure escaped and she looked back at the camp urgently even as her body tingled with the aftershock of the orgasm.
A small part of her told her to go back into the camp and collect her things or perhaps just go back into the camp. She didn’t listen, she was Amazonne, warrior princess and she turned away and crawled into the darkness with her sword in her mouth and the crotch rope rubbing mercilessly at her pussy.
‘You ok, Honey?’
Ellie opened her eyes.
Someone was removing her gag.
‘Sure, BB. I’m staked out naked with my pussy open to the stars.’ She turned her head to look up at the big warrior but could see little other than an area of darkness and the whites of her eyes.
‘I thought you Seductresses were into this bondage stuff.’
‘We prefer a little more excitement.’ She grinned. ‘So, if you’re in the mood for a little action, there’s not a lot I can do to stop you.’
‘Are you still trying to get a Seduction over on me?’
‘I don’t need to.’ Ellie pouted. ‘Everybody wants a piece of this body.’
‘And if I'm not interested?’
‘You’re interested.’ Ellie said. ‘You like girls.’
Battle Babe sat down beside her and laid a hand on Ellie’s belly. ‘I wanted to tell you, Amazonne left camp about twenty minutes ago.’
‘Left…’. Ellie tried to sit up but the ropes held firm. ‘And you let her go? Where? How? Is she coming back?’
Ellie remembered the argument between her mother and Val, the way the blonde had hit her. She wasn’t entirely sure her mother had not enjoyed the rough sex that had followed. If she had not been staked out, she told herself she would have intervened. As it was she’d ended up being gagged.
‘She’s fine, Honey.’ BB patted Ellie’s belly. ‘There are higher powers at work here. Her time has come.'
‘What do you mean?’ Ellie twisted, pulled on her bonds. ‘You’re freaking me out here.’
‘Her Trial, her encounter with Artemis. That mystical thing that all Adventuresses have to pass through.’
‘Oh.’ Ellie felt herself relax.
‘As for the how.’ BB patted her again. ‘Adventuresses have Escapology as one of their skills. I guess it would probably be useful for a Seductress too judging by what’s happened to you.’
‘We have a negative modifier.’ Ellie looked up at her with a wry expression. ‘But I guess bondage wouldn’t be much fun if I knew I could get out.’
She waited for some response from the warrior but none came.
‘BeeB you ok?’
‘Yeah, fine.’
‘Is there something you want to say to me? You know you can trust me.’ The Persuasion slid out. Once they had been caught once, an individual was vulnerable.
‘Nah, it's…’
‘It’s fine.’ Elle felt her words catch. ‘You can trust me.’
‘I don’t know how you got it out of me but you won’t tell anyone about…my trial?’
‘Of course not.’ Ellie grinned up at the stars. ‘But I’m curious. You could have taken up another character, tried again?’
‘I was already Level 3. I’d done stuff that I didn’t want to lose.’ She paused. ‘It costs to relaunch. They want you to stay in the game, play the character to the end.’
‘What about Caliban?’
Battle Babe shifted suddenly. ‘You think because we’re both black, we’re connected?’
‘No, I saw you in the inn,’ Ellie said. ‘You spoke to him, you’re close.’
‘Nothing escapes you, does it, Seductress?’ She stroked her hand across Ellie’s belly. Lower this time. ’This really is a cute body.’
‘You’re changing the subject.’
’Caliban is my big brother,’ Battle Babe said. ‘We came in together. That was another reason for staying.’
‘He’s…. Why can’t he walk properly?’
‘He was born early. He suffered some bleeding in his brain. He can’t walk in the real, and because the AI uses the areas of our brains in the same way as we do, that translates into difficulties in this world too. He’s much freer here but he has to consciously think about using his legs, essentially telling the AI what he wants to do. He says it’s getting easier but it means he’s slower to progress.’ She chuckled. ‘That and the fact he chose to be a fucking Mage.’
‘He seems like a nice guy.’ Ellie shivered as she remembered the magic he’d used on her helpless body in the pillory.
‘Is that why you robbed him?’ There was just a little malice in the Warrior’s tone.
‘Is that…?’ Ellie paused, her mind making a connection. ‘That’s why you staked me out for three days on our way to Thoth.’
‘I’m sorry, Honey,’ Battle Babe said. ‘That wasn’t really fair but you could have been kinder to him.’
‘He had his revenge. Besides, I’m a Seductress, we’re as self centred as it gets. Plus, I recall you told me I needed to practice my Thief skills.’
‘You were supposed to stay in the training arena, pick the marks, not go freelance.’ Battle Babe paused. ‘I can’t believe you robbed Imelda.’
‘Do you all know each other?’
Battle Babe laughed. ‘It may be a world wide game but it’s a small community at the top. There’s a sort of camaraderie…’. She paused then laughed. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you all this stuff…’. She paused again. ‘Oh fuck!’
‘Sorry.’ Ellie felt suddenly vulnerable.
‘You…!’ Battle Babe shook her head. ‘I unlocked your Illusionist abilities.’
There was a moment’s silence and then the big Warrior laughed loudly and a moment later they heard the ring of steel as Bu-Shi-Doll unsheathed her katana.
‘It’s ok, Doll.’ Battle Babe said as the Samurai loomed over them, her pale skin white in the starlight. The woman nodded and backed away, resheathing her katana and settling back to sleep.
‘I can’t believe you made me break the rules of the game,’ Battle Babe said after a few moments.
‘If it helps. That’s probably what stopped me going down the Dark Path.’
‘Really?’ Battle Babe looked at her, considering. ‘Actually, it does help.’ The Warrior said. ‘I believe in justice.’
‘So I noticed.’ Ellie looked, gesturing towards her bonds with her head.
‘I mean, not Good or Evil…’ The Warrior’s voice took on an edge of passion. ‘…but what is right.’
‘I’d say that makes you Lawful.’
‘Which I guess is why I didn’t get to be an Adventuress.’ Battle Babe looked up at the stars then down at Ellie.
‘It’s good to have something to believe in. A cause to fight for.’
’I hope you’re not building me up as some sort of Paladin.’
‘Maybe.’ Ellie grinned.
‘Honey…’. Battle Bee shook her head.
‘You do know Maiko has the hots for him?’
‘Who?’
‘Caliban.’
‘Katana Girl?’
‘Yes, she’s into older men.’
Battle Babe smiled. ‘I can imagine her appealing to him too though he’ll probably never admit it.’
‘Maybe I could nudge things along when we get back to HomeTown.’
‘You’re forgetting one crucial thing.’
‘The chastity belt?’ Ellie grinned. ‘I’m a Thief, it’s just another lock…’
Amazonne knew she’d found it by the swirls of mist and the scent of open water that were startlingly out of character with the plain across which they’d been travelling. As she entered the trees, the ground softened beneath her bare feet, turning from hard sandy earth to dark mud that began to squelch between her toes. Around her, the night came to life, the throaty bellow of frogs, the buzz of insects; an owl hooted.
The trees grew thicker and soon she was walking with her hand ahead of her, groping almost blindly to avoid the trunks of trees and low branches as she stepped warily trying not to stumble over tree roots in her path.
It might, she thought in retrospect, have been sensible to bring her boots and perhaps even her clothes. Her bow would have been useful too and probably a number of other items from her pack but then, she thought with a smile, she was an Adventuress and her current clothing was doing a perfectly good job of keeping her spirits up.
After leaving the camp, she had jogged across the plain, single sword in her hand, knowing instinctively where she was heading, enjoying a gentle tingle experience, the rub of the snug crotch rope and gentle teasing of the bondage across her breasts. Now, nearing her goal, she could sense her excitement rising further.
Then it came, her first challenge, a roar and a leaping form.
Amanda turned, crouching instantly, wishing for a moment that she had brought her other sword as the beast soared over her, claws raking at the air where she had stood a moment before. The creature landed and turned, snarling, crouching, ready to spring again. In the darkness, she couldn’t make out exactly what it was and, even if she could see it, she realised she probably wouldn’t be able to identify it anyway. She decided it was something like a lion, or perhaps a panther as it was clearly black.
It sprung again and she leapt up into the trees, swinging on a branch, hooking her legs over it and standing, balancing, sword poised. The beast reared on its hind legs and clawed at the trunk of the tree.
‘Nice kitty,’ Amanda called.
The black shape leapt, its claws raking at the tree, snarling as it climbed.
‘Ok, so you are a cat.’ Amanda backed along the branch, sword levelled and the black shape padded towards her. When it leapt, she thrust out her sword and ducked low, felt the blade catch, pierce flesh and knew she had secured a Critical Strike. She released the blade as the momentum of the beast carried it over her head, the body crashing down through branches to land with something between a thump and a squelch in the swamp below.
The tingle of experience was more than she’d expected and it emboldened her. She swung down from the branch and retrieved her sword, feeling the mud soften and then water rising to her ankles.
‘At least I can’t lose my knickers this time,’ she said, tasting a smile on her lips as the water deepened. It was cold but she realised she was sweating after the run and the fight with the beast. As the bottom fell away she placed her sword between her teeth and began to swim, breast stroke this time, gently, trying to disturb the water as little as possible, trying not to fear what might be lurking in the water below.
It was at that moment that the moon rose, casting a soft blue white light across the water.
‘Fitting, I suppose,’ she thought, ‘for Artemis.’
Ahead was the temple and she wasn’t surprised to see it was in the Hellenistic style; steps leading up to a columned entrance, a marble portico depicting classical scenes, centaurs and satyrs cavorting, nymphs dancing, well endowed hoplites fighting.
She felt the water become shallow and was relieved as she set her feet on the bottom, the water running off her naked skin as she waded towards the bank.
‘No sea monsters then.’
That’s when she felt something brush her ankle then wind around it, something else encircled her left calf and then her right thigh. Then, whatever it was, began to pull her back towards the deeper water. She cut down with her sword and felt the pull on her right thigh lessen but then something emerged from the water, a tendril, like the tentacle of an octopus, then another.
She slashed at it with her sword and felt something on her back, wrapping around her belly, another across her shoulders.
‘I really should have read that Monster Manual.’
She struggled, trying to turn, bringing her sword down on a tentacle that was snaking up her belly towards her breasts, severing it.
‘No you don’t!’
But more emerged, until they were all around her, winding around her body, her shoulder, her left arm, she tried to keep her sword arm free but soon that too was tangled and she was held fast then felt herself being dragged back towards the deeper water. She was suddenly frightened, the water cold despite the way it boiled with the writhing tentacles; she was alone, there was no party to call on for support.
‘Let’s face it,’ she thought. ‘I’m a glorified secretary, in thrall to my boss. What the hell am I doing here fighting monsters in the dark and pretending to be an Adventuress? Amanda the Adventuress stopped adventuring when Ellie came along.’
It wasn’t just tentacles now there was something else, something that looked like…mouths.
One reared and bit her shoulder, teeth closing on flesh, biting through.
Amanda screamed and another mouth appeared biting into her thigh just below her pussy.
‘Hey!’ Amanda struggled.
Another mouth closed over her right breast and then she lost her footing and was dragged under the water.
Chapter 81: The Temple of Artemis
As the water closed over her, Amanda resisted the urge to panic.
‘Amazonne, Warrior Princess does not panic,’ she told herself. ‘Amazonne, Warrior Princess has skills that Amanda Trapp does not.’
She felt strength surge through her limbs, easily a match for the strength of the tentacles as she tore them from the body, grabbed at the mouth on her breast, crushing the…neck?…with her fingers, feeling the teeth release. She kicked out, partly swimming, partly driving off the mud at the bottom of the pool until her head broke the surface where she gasped in air, then turned and dove, sword out, stabbing into the darkness of the water, felt her blade make contact with something. The tentacles abruptly withdrew and she turned, kicking away, swimming with strong, urgent strokes for the surface and the bank then running to the steps of the temple where she crouched gasping, water raining from her body and hair as she looked back at the dark water.
‘Definitely not going back that way,’ she said looking up at the moon.
Then, buoyed up by the tingle of XPs, Amazonne, Warrior Princess climbed the remaining steps and entered the temple of Artemis.
There was a flaming torch mounted on the wall.
‘Well, that’s convenient.’ She moved to grab it but spotted a tripwire and stepped back triggering it with her sword releasing crossbow bolts from the wall across her path. Then she took the torch and started down the passageway.
‘She’ll have to do better than that!’
Most of the traps were obvious; a spiked pit hidden by an illusory floor which she jumped easily, a giant boulder that she had to jump into an alcove to avoid; however, it was only luck and her dexterity that saved her when a loose stone triggered a rockfall and she had little choice but to slide down a set of steps that folded beneath her sending her tumbling to a lower level. She lost the torch at this point but the lower level seemed to be illuminated. There were other tests here, some stepping stones over what looked like a bottomless pit, a tightrope to walk and a pillar to climb.
Standing on the top of this she looked around at a vast cavern that extended into darkness.
‘This is way bigger on the inside,’ she thought. ‘Must be some of it is illusion.’
And it was.
An instant later she was in a small chamber, not on the top of a pillar but on a stone floor facing a door. Cautiously she tested the floor, and found it to be solid.
Amazonne walked to the door and pushed it open.
The chamber beyond was lushly furnished, a huge bed draped with crimson silks, rich tapestries hanging for the wall, a thick rug on the tiled floor, a heavy wooden chair scattered with cushions. It was lit by an ornate lantern that cast light in droplets and shadow across the room. Through an open casement, she could see the moon casting a silver light into the room and there, bathed in the soft moonlight was a Jewell.
She was kneeling on all fours, her long dark hair cascading to the floor, head crouched, Amanda noticed over a water bowl from which she was drinking, lapping at the liquid with her tongue like an animal. As Amanda entered, the Jewell lifted her head. Like her fellows she had an oval face with dark eyes, thick lashes; dark painted eyebrows; her nose was broad and her lips thick, lush and rouged; all contriving to give her a coquettish expression Her body was gently curved and her breasts large.
‘Well,’ the Jewell said with a suggestive smile, her dark eyes flashing. ‘You took your time.’
‘I was a little tied up,’ Amanda said, realising she was still wearing the rope harness.
‘So I see.’ The Jewell arched an eyebrow suggestively. ‘But then aren’t we all.’
The brunette was wearing a heavy leather harness with a high collar and a thick strap that ran down between her large, heavy breasts to broaden out into a girdle that was tightly strapped and locked in place around her waist drawing it into an impressive narrowness that was in contrast to but not at all contrary to the rich curves of her body and voluptuous breasts. Her hands were locked into leather mitts.
‘Are you Artemis?’
The brunette shrugged. ‘I might be.’
‘But you’re a Jewell.’
‘Not a Jewell.’ The woman raised a dark painted eyebrow. ‘The Jewell.’
‘I believe you have something for me,’ Amanda said.
‘Oh,’ the Jewell purred. ‘I have a lot to give.’
Amanda levelled her sword. ‘Where is it?’
‘Your sort usually wears more leather.’ The Jewell smiled, apparently not concerned about the sword pointed at her.
‘We’re not all the same.’
‘So I see.’ The Jewell stood and Amanda could see she wore ankle high toe boots and that her ankles were cuffed, encircled by broad leather cuffs. The brunette walked towards her, studying her, the tips of her toe boots tapping lightly on the tiled floor as she stepped off the carpet.
‘Do I need to free you?’ Amanda asked, unnerved suddenly by this unexpected encounter and the other’s scrutiny.
‘I certainly hope not,’ the Jewell laughed. ‘I’m as submissive as they come.’ She raised her mitted hands and used them to lift her breasts, showing the heavy gold rings set in her nipples.
‘I’m just here for the Amulet. If you’d tell me where it is I won’t harm you.’
‘Won’t harm me?’ The Jewell grinned suggestively. ‘That would be a disappointment.’
‘Where is it?’
‘Search me…’. The Jewell spread her arms. ‘It’s certainly here but you’ll have to prove your worth.’
‘But I’ve just…’
‘The journey here is just the start of the adventure.’
‘I snuck away.’ Amanda said quickly, looking round. ‘I have to get back before dawn…’
‘Oh dear. That was a little rash and not very adventurous - needing to be back by breakfast.’
‘Where is Artemis?’ Amanda kept her sword levelled at the Jewell.
‘Not far away.’
‘You?’
The Jewell smiled and they were no longer in the chamber bathed in moonlight but facing each other under a blazing sun, the Jewell wore a rope harness like Amanda’s and was no longer otherwise restrained; she was now armed with a pair of short swords. Around her neck was an amulet like the one Luci had worn, the symbol of Artemis, the bow, the moon and the hare.
When Amanda looked up she saw they were in an arena, like a Roman colosseum, a crowd looking on intently..
‘If you want it, you’d better come and take it.’ The Jewell raised her swords.
‘Two swords.’
‘An Adventuress should be prepared.’ She took up a guard with both swords raised.
‘I was never a Girl Scout.’
‘Then find another way.’
Amanda lunged forward with her single sword hoping to seize the initiative but the Jewell parried.
Around her the crowd roared; female voices, she realised.
‘You’re not really one for preparation, are you?’ The Jewell countered and Amanda fell back parrying, the clash of their swords echoing around the amphitheatre. ‘Just like your final maths assessment.’
'What?’ Amanda almost lowered her guard.
‘An all night party before a maths test…?’
Around her, Amanda heard the crowd urge them on.
‘How did you…?’ Amanda said, keeping her eyes warily on her opponent. 'That’s not fair, you’re reading my mind.’
‘I’m a goddess.’ The Jewell shrugged and beckoned Amanda to attack, smiling as she countered each thrust and cut Amanda made. ‘Though it does seem to have been a very good party and you did meet your husband there.’ She flashed a grin at Amanda. ‘Just as well Adventuresses don’t have to be chaste.’ She sidestepped, changing her guard. ‘By the way, this crotch rope is delightful. That Viking of yours certainly has a talent for bondage. Is that why you stay with her?’
‘Will you stop reading my mind.’ Amanda lunged forward cutting and thrusting, the crowd responding with excitement.
‘It was quite a summer you and Lucius had wasn’t it?’ The Jewell or, perhaps, Amanda thought, Artemis appeared to have no difficulty deflecting her blows.
‘Stop it!’ Amanda said. ‘Isn’t there some sort of rule against…’
‘Reading your mind? Goddesses don’t have to follow the rules.’ The Jewell smiled and countered. ‘That’s one of the rules. You read Classics, you know that.’
‘You’re not a real goddess.’ Amanda said.
‘And you’re not a real Adventuress.’
Amanda paused, it was almost as if everything turned on this. Around her she was aware the crowd had fallen silent as if awaiting her response.
‘You had the world before you and you turned your back on it.’ The Jewell looked genuinely stricken.
‘I had responsibilities, a daughter.’ Hurt and angry, Amanda lunged forward.
‘You and Lucius would have managed,’ the Jewell countered.
‘I couldn’t do that to my child.’ Amanda surged forward again. ‘Taking her off around the world, no home, no education.’
‘Really? It was better for her that you settled into suburban life, took a menial job,' the Jewell frowned. ‘Went without sex for eighteen years!’
‘Will you bloody well stop that.’ Amanda’s blade rang on the Jewell’s as she drove forwards, the crowd baying. ‘It wasn’t eighteen years…’
The Jewell stopped and Amanda felt as if she was frozen or turned to stone, the crowd silent.
‘Count them.’
Amanda did.
‘Oh fuck.’ The need to fight seemed to leave her. What the Jewell had said was true. How could she have done that to herself? How could she have brought Ellie up like that? She thought she might cry.
The Jewell that was Artemis vanished.
‘Hey!’ Amanda shouted at the empty arena, her voice echoing off the stones. ‘Come back and fight me.’
She was in a wrestling ring, a crowd again yelling, cheering. She was standing in something wet and looking down she could see it was mud.
‘What?’
‘I thought perhaps this was more your thing.’
The crowd were men this time, drinking and leering.
‘Mud wresting?’
‘Naked mud wrestling.’ The Jewell closed with her taking up a hold.
Amanda engaged, fingers tightening around her opponent’s rope harness. She tried to steady herself but the mud was slippery and when the Jewell moved she found herself sliding then went over on her back, splashing and squelching in the mud, the Jewell on top of her.
The crowd howled their approval in a chorus of lechery.
‘Perhaps we should discuss your current choice of lover.’
‘Leave Val out of this.’
‘I wasn’t talking about Val.’ The Jewell grabbed Amanda’s hair and pushed her face down into the mud.
Amanda struggled, trying to roll, trying to lift her face from the mud. She could hear the crowd cheering. Summoning her strength, she managed to flip her opponent over, climbing to her knees to straddle her. She realised she was caked in mud and so was the Jewell.
‘Very good,’ the Jewell said, ‘but that’s two Feats of Strength in the last hour and you’re already two points of Damage down.
She sounded calm but Amanda could see her chest heaving as much as Amanda’s from exertion. ‘You didn’t throw Luci off so casually.’
‘She was training me.’
‘Was that why you went back for a second lesson?’ The Jewell winked and rolled, forcing Amanda back onto her back, pinning her down, sitting astride her then ran her hands through her muddy hair and down her body, much to the delight of the crowd.
‘I was playing slave girl,’ Amanda said. ‘It was for the quest. I didn’t have much choice.’
‘And did you have much choice about dancing for that slaver?’
‘That was…’ Amanda paused. She wasn’t sure what that was but she’d enjoyed it and she’d been disappointed to wake up alone the following morning.
‘Adventuresses often end up enslaved but most of them don’t actively seek it,’ the Jewell said with a wink.
‘You seem quite happy with it,’ Amanda said, ’or did you choose to get your nipples done?’ She rolled her opponent over in the mud, coming up on top again and looked around. The crowd were cheering her and she waved to them then ran her hands over her breasts.
The crowd howled with pleasure.
The Jewell vanished, the crowd too and Amanda was left kneeling in the mud.
‘Hey,’ Amanda shouted. ‘We haven’t finished.’
‘You really want us to fight again, Amanda?’
They were back in the temple, in the room with the bed and the tapestries and the carpet; moonlight streaming through the window.
The Jewell was wearing the leather harness again, and the mitts and toe boots and her ankles were hobbled.
‘No,’ Amanda said, ‘but I do want the amulet.’ She raised her sword. ‘And I’m not Amanda, I’m Amazonne.’
The Jewell smiled. ‘So what does that make me?’
Amazonne closed her eyes. ‘Artemis,’ she said with a degree of resignation.
‘Who?’
‘Artemis, the Huntress.’
‘Which makes me…’
‘A goddess?’
‘Yes.’
‘And as a mortal, how should you behave for a goddess.’
‘Really?’ Amanda said. ‘You expect me to kneel?’
‘It is customary.’ The Jewell gave a self deprecating laugh.
‘You’re not a goddess, you’re a slave. You’re a prisoner here.’
‘Yes and no.’ The Jewell held up her mitted hands. ‘I could leave but then why would I want to. I’m a Jewell, bondage is what I do. Add to that an endless string of nubile young wannabes just begging to serve me and you’ll understand why I stay.’
‘So where is Artemis?’
The Jewell gestured upwards and around her. ‘She’s a goddess she probably has better things to do than judge mortals.’
‘So she gave the task to you?’
‘There is a precedent,’ the Jewell said.
‘Paris.’
‘Indeed.’
‘It didn’t turn out that well.’
‘No, it didn’t.’ The Jewell smiled. ’If it helps, think of me as a high priestess.’
‘You’re a Jewell, a slave. How did you get to be high priestess to Artemis?’
‘I told you, not just any Jewell, I’m The Jewell. I was slave to Gord the Artificer. I know you’ve heard of him. You have come from Thoth, after all. Did you visit the Gordian palace? So skilful, such attention to detail.’ She closed her eyes, remembering. ‘Such creations…. Devices to torture and tease a helpless slave girl…and a girl really was helpless when he strapped her to them.’ She sighed. ‘Agony and ecstasy. He was the one who gave me these.’ She lifted her hands and tapped them against her nipple rings. ‘He liked the idea of locking me to his machines by them but I was created as a standard model and my body kept rejecting them. It’s part of the slave role; healing to be able to take it all over again the next day. It took him quite a while to figure out how to make the rings permanent. He had to pierce me two hundred and seventy one times before he finally worked out how to keep them in place.’ She pouted. ‘It’s just as well I enjoy a little nipple torture.’
‘Just as well he didn’t try to pierce you elsewhere.’
‘Oh, he did.’ The Jewell spread her knees and leaned back languidly to reveal the matching gold ring in her clit. ‘That one only took one hundred and six attempts. Just as well he had all those magical devices to strap me to.’
The Jewell gave a knowing pout and straightened up.
‘When he left us I wanted to do something different.’
‘So you put in a CV and applied to be high priestess to Artemis.’
The Jewell laughed. ‘No, I became an Adventuress. If you’re an NPC you’re supposed to buy an avatar and start again but I think the modifications Gord made to my body meant I slipped through the system. I was the first Adventuress actually. It was a new Character Class then. I became a Legend and when I sublimed, I came here. Humble handmaiden to Artemis and Bestower of the Amulet.’
‘Do you tell all Adventuresses this?’
‘Of course not.’ The Jewell smiled. ‘But you did ask. Anyway,’ she said, shaking her long hair. ‘You were about to torture me until I gave up the location of the Amulet.’
Amanda frowned. ‘I don’t usually do the dominant thing.’
‘Then this is the perfect time to learn.’ The Jewell dropped to her knees in front of Amanda. ‘It’s been a while, with little chance of release.’ She tapped her mitted hands against the rings in her nipples. ‘I can’t even play with these properly. And here you are getting me all hot and bothered.’ She bent forwards and picked up something in her mouth; it had a thick leather handle and a dozen knotted leather tines.
‘You could just tell me.’ Amanda said.
The Jewell shook her head and leant forward offering the whip to Amanda.
Chapter 82: The Amulet
Amanda took the whip and ran it across her hand feeling the knotted strands of leather and, for a moment, thinking what it might feel like to have it lashed across her own skin, her breasts, perhaps. The leather handle was slightly wet with the Jewell’s saliva and she looked down at the brunette kneeling expectantly at her feet. It struck her that her own body, her real body, was not unlike the Jewell’s and, if she grew her hair longer, they would be very similar except that her breasts were smaller and probably a little less firm. She couldn’t resist looking at the Jewell’s ankles too; they were thick like hers and yet, how many had fantasised over that body?
She had never whipped anyone before even if feeling the whip on her own body was something she regularly experienced at the hands of her mistress; had regularly experienced at the hands of Lucius back in those days. She liked to be bound when she was spanked or whipped and she enjoyed it more knowing that it was exciting her mistress…or her master. He ex-husband had known just how much pain to give her…
Thwack.
She brought the whip down on the kneeling woman’s breasts.
The Jewell looked up at her, dark eyes flashing.
‘A little harder please, Mistress.’
Thwack.
‘Much better.’ The Jewell smiled as her breasts danced and a smattering of red dots blossomed on her skin like a rash.
Thwack. Amanda struck harder.
‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’ Jewell’s breathing quickened. ‘Mistress.’
An unexpected thrill ran through Amanda’s body at being addressed as Mistress and she struck the kneeling woman again even harder triggering a hiss of pain.
‘Yesss.’
After fourteen lashes, Amanda could tell the Jewell was reaching her limits; the skin of her breasts shining and abraded; the woman was panting, her face pale and a little strained and she realised her own breath was rapid and that she was flushed.
‘Get down on all fours.’
‘Yes, Mistress.’ The Jewell obeyed, presenting her bottom to the whip and moaning with delight as Amanda struck her on the buttocks repeatedly.
She took a dozen leaving the skin of her buttocks red and hot.
‘Let me thank you, Mistress.’ The kneeling brunette smiled coyly.
Amanda walked past her to the bed, turning to sit on it and spreading her legs. The knotted crotch rope still covered her pussy and she knew it was soaking. Delivering the whipping had felt exotic, exciting not just from the gentle tingle of XPs racking up but sexually too. She had enjoyed watching the Jewell gain arousal from the punishment.
‘Mistress does have submissive tastes,' the Jewell said, looking at the knotted rope in Amanda’s spread pussy. ‘Are you sure you shouldn’t have been a Jewell yourself?’
‘Lick it.’ Amanda said, sliding her hand into the Jewell’s thick dark hair.
‘Of course, Mistress.’ The Jewell leant forward and ran her tongue up Amanda’s sex drawing out a line of pleasure. ‘Mmmm.’
She licked again and Amanda’s body tingled thrillingly.
And then the Jewell began in earnest, her tongue running along Amanda’s wet labia and then pushing gently, probing past the tight crotchrope.
‘Uhhhhhh.’ Amanda sighed contentedly. She had become used to the way sensations in Fantasia were heightened but this was exquisite and she could do nothing but close her eyes and give herself over to the pleasure.
In a few moments she was lying back on the bed howling, her fingers digging into the cushions as she thrashed her head from side to side.
‘Mmmmmmmmmmmmnnnngggggghhhh.’ She climaxed, her whole body erupting in a convulsion of pleasure that left her barely able to breathe.
‘I take it Mistress was satisfied.’ The Jewell was being coy again.
Amanda opened her eyes and sat up. The brunette knelt where she had before between Amanda’s spread legs, a satisfied expression on her face.
‘Yes…’. Amanda said weakly. ‘You were…. Can you do that again?’
‘The question, Mistress, is “can you?”.’
‘I might need a few moments.’
‘Then why don’t you continue whipping me?’ Jewell said. ‘My pussy is aching for a good thrashing.’
They changed places, Amanda standing slightly unsteadily and Jewell climbing onto the bed and lying back with her knees apart and her heels pulled up towards her pussy.
‘There are plenty of straps to stop me squirming,’ the Jewell said.
Amanda found them at the side of the bed, looping them through the brunette's legs and around her arms and tightening them so she was pinned down. There were ropes hanging from above too, each fitted with a clamp for the woman’s nipples which when tightened lifted her breasts, stretching them.
‘You might want to gag me,’ Jewell said. ‘I do tend to scream when my pussy is whipped.’
There was a bit gag beside the bed and Amanda slipped it into Jewell’s mouth then tightened it behind her head. Then she stood up, looking down at the helpless women, watching her squirm in the bondage, feeling its limits, enjoying the enforced subjugation of her body, the teasing of the nipple clamps, the gag in her mouth. She was intimately aware of the slave’s intense arousal and the excitement she would have felt were she similarly restrained.
The first stroke of the whip brought a yelp of pain and then a contented sigh as Jewell jerked in her bonds, limbs straining reflexively, nipples jerked and pinched by the clamps. Amanda struck her again, catching the ring in the woman’s clit and moving it, the tines of the whip leaving a spray of red marks down the labia and across her pussy. The Jewell bucked again and Amanda continued to lash the whip across the woman’s drooling pussy until the Jewell was writhing and howling into her gag.
Amanda stopped at eight and removed Jewell’s gag.
‘Thank you, Mistress.’ Jewell gasped.
‘Time to please your mistress again.’
Jewell smiled coyly. ‘Yes, Mistress.’
Amanda climbed onto the bed turning to face the helpless woman’s feet and holding onto the ropes that were clipped to her nipples as she lowered her pussy onto the Jewell’s mouth.
*
It was just as good as before, better perhaps, Jewell’s tongue raking and probing her pussy as she continued whipping the woman’s pussy holding on to the nipple ropes for balance.
‘Oh fuck.’ Amanda climaxed again realising only after she had done it that she’d jerked violently on the nipple rope and, in the throes of the orgasm, wet herself.
‘Thank you, Mistress,’ Jewell said, her face and hair wet.
‘The Amulet.’ Amanda said.
‘You know where it is,’ Jewell said, her tongue gently caressing Amanda’s throbbing pussy.
She did and, unclipping the nipple ropes, Amanda leaned forward and pushed her own tongue into Jewell’s pussy. The helpless woman climaxed almost immediately, gasping and thrashing just as Amanda had done a few moments before and some ten minutes before that.
The Amulet was there, she felt it with her tongue and caught the leather thong on which it was mounted, hooking it with her tongue and drawing another squeal of pleasure from the helpless slave.
‘Nobody’s ever taken it like that before.’ Jewell said as Amanda knelt up, the Amulet dangling from her teeth. ‘But I’ll certainly expect them to do it in future.’
It was late morning when Amanda reached the camp. The sun had been rising when she’d left the temple, exhausted after her trial but fully satisfied.
‘Mum.’ Ellie embraced her. Then her eyes widened. ‘You got it.’
She reached up to touch the amulet that hung on the leather thong around her mother’s neck and Amanda felt a surge of pride. Even so she couldn’t help admonishing her daughter. ‘I’m not “Mum”…’
‘I know.’ Ellie said. ‘You’re Amazonne, Warrior Princess.’
‘Well done.’ Battle Babe rested a large hand on Amanda’s shoulder.
‘Thank you.’ She looked up to see the big warrior smiling.
The others came to offer their congratulations too although Val’s words were not delivered with any warmth.
‘What are you wearing?’ Ellie asked after a moment.
Amanda looked down at the rope harness still binding her body. Some of the strands were frayed and broken and the ropes were as dirty as her skin. ‘It’s the latest fashion in Adventuress gear.’ She laughed. ‘When you’ve got a body like this you may as well flaunt it.’ She grinned at her daughter. ‘Are you worried about being upstaged?’ Amanda put her hands on her hips and pushed her breasts out in a fair imitation of Honey. ‘Which reminds me. I know I’m going to regret asking this but did you say something about spare clothes?’
‘I did.’ Ellie grinned. ‘While you were being debauched in Thoth, I went clothes shopping.’
Amanda stood still and stared at her. ‘Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?’
‘I’m Honey Trapp.’ Ellie said, dropping her voice seductively and running her hands down her body, clad once again in a butterfly kiss. ‘Seductress and goddess of fashion.’
‘Hmm.’ Amanda frowned.
Ellie bent over her satchel in what Amanda now recognised as the flirtatious way of a Seductress and pulled out a bundle which she passed to her mother. Amanda gave her daughter another hug but felt her pull away. ‘Sorry mum. Warrior Princess or not you seriously need a bath.’
‘Charming.’ Amanda laughed.
‘Come on Amazonne, we need to move out.’ Bu-Shi-Doll said. ‘It a full day’s walk to the witch's lands.’
Chapter 83: More Badlands
The jubilation of Amanda’s success was further boosted when she reappeared in the new dress Ellie had bought her, wet-look brown leather that clung to her body like a second skin displaying every contour of her body.
‘A little tight over the breasts,’ she said.
‘It’s supposed to be your size.’ Ellie frowned.
‘Maybe my size has changed,’ Amanda said. ‘Again!’ She looked pointedly at her daughter. Then winked. ‘It is nice though.’ She spun round making the tiny skirt lift exposing her buttocks.
‘It have no knickers,’ Maiko said, then blushed.
‘She’s an Adventuress,’ Battle babe said with a chuckle. ‘She’d only lose them.’
They broke camp in good spirits after this despite an obvious tension between Amanda and Val. However, as the day progressed, the party became gradually quieter, an effect of the eerie quiet of the land around them which became rougher, the vegetation sparser; stunted trees, heathers and lichen and a few flowers clinging to rocks. The air became chiller too as the land climbed.
Ellie had a growing sense of foreboding that went beyond the tension between Amanda and Val who walked apart; Val at the front at Bu-Shi-Doll’s side, manifesting an obvious tension in her gait; Amanda beside her daughter and Maiko. Amanda seemed more at ease, her spirits high and she frequently lifted the amulet to examine it. However, Ellie saw her glancing at the blonde occasionally, her expression changing when she did so.
Despite her excitement, it was clear that her mother was tired after her trial and, as the afternoon wore on, she began to stumble.
‘You ok, mum?’ Ellie whispered.
‘It’s been a long day, Honey,’ Amanda answered, her words slurring. ‘Two Feats of Strength and quite a lot more action besides.’ She grinned then staggered.
Eventually she seemed barely able to put one foot in front of the other and Ellie called to Bu-Shi-Doll.
They made a cold camp a short while later on the borders of the witch’s lands a point at which the low scrub faded to bare rocks and dirt, the way ahead an apparently lifeless wasteland the remains of any vegetation blackened and scorched. As the sun set they could just make out its light on a distant tower rising above the flat, featureless landscape.
Amanda stumbled again, falling to her knees then flopped down, dropping into a deep sleep almost the moment they’d laid their packs down and Ellie covered her with a blanket, turning to see Val standing over her. She thought the woman was about to speak to her but the blonde simply turned on her heel and sat slightly apart from the group.
With her mother asleep and Maiko practicing, Ellie took advantage of her first night of freedom for some time. She had, she reckoned, been tied up pretty much every night since her arrival in Fantasia with the exception of the night they had spent in Thoth. If she was honest, it felt slightly odd. She realised then that she was not feeling the quickening.
‘This place gives me the creeps.’ Battle Babe squatted beside her. ‘You feel it too, Honey?’
‘I thought I was just missing the fun of being staked out.’ She forced a smile.
‘I can oblige if it would help,’ the Warrior said.
‘I’ll pass.’ Honey looked at the Party Leader, reading the anxiety in her face ‘You can beat this legendary red-headed warrior?’
Battle Babe shrugged and looked away.
‘Beeb?’
The Warrior turned back.
‘It doesn’t make much difference,’ she said flatly. ‘I either die or have to sublime and, to be honest, neither option is very appealing.’
‘But if you beat the warrior you’ll get Legendary Status, right?’
Battle Babe shrugged. ‘Maybe.’
‘We could go back to Thoth,’ Ellie suggested.
Battle Babe gave her a sad smile. ’Really?’
‘Nah.’ Ellie hugged the big warrior and this time she didn’t resist.
Then, when Battle Babe had left her, Ellie pulled out Madam So’s Pillow book and read what the old Seductress had to say about ‘Seducing Mages and other Characters of Magical Persuasion’ but found it of little use so she opened ‘On Illusory Magic’ but found it difficult to concentrate so the lay down expecting a long and restless night but was asleep a moment later.
*
‘This is a very powerful witch,’ Battle Babe told them, not for the first time, as they prepared to depart in the morning. ‘Can I just check everyone is fully Healed and up to full strength.’
She looked from one to another of them and they nodded.
‘You up for this, Adventuress?’
Amanda nodded, blushing slightly at the attention. ‘Just try and stop me.’
Battle Babe managed a weak smile but Amanda couldn’t help noticing the tension in her body and the worry in her face.
‘We remove all magic items and leave them here,’ the Party Leader continued. ‘They’ll be useless anyway and we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.’
‘I’m not leaving my magic sword,’ Val protested.
‘Then you stay here,’ BB told her gravely. ‘It won’t do you any good anyway and it can be used against you.’
Val scowled and shrugged her scabbard off.
‘We’ll build a cairn and leave everything we don’t need behind. We need to move quickly.’
BB looked at Ellie.
‘That thing you’re wearing is magic too, I believe.’
‘But if I take it off I’ll be naked,’ Ellie protested.
‘As if anyone will notice.’ Battle Babe gave her a slight wink, her mood apparently lifting for a moment.
Ellie lifted her fingers to activate the butterfly kisses but BB grabbed her hand with a swiftness that Amanda thought she might never match.
‘Take it off, don’t activate it.’ There was an edge of fear in the Warrior's voice which Amanda had not heard before. ‘Like I say, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.’
‘Ok.’ Ellie nodded and BB released her hand.
Amanda watched as the sexualised blonde that was her daughter pulled the gossamer thin string over her shoulder dislodging the pink triangle from her right nipple. Even as Amanda watched, the nipple seemed to pucker and stiffen as if undressing was somehow exciting her and guessing it probably was.
They were going to have to talk about this when they got home.
When she turned she saw Val watching too and noticed that the blonde had her hand inside her chain skirt.
‘Like what you see, darlin’?’ Ellie had clearly seen it too and the Seductress that was Honey pushed her chest forward as she bared her left nipple lifting her fingers to play with the twin pink nubs.
‘Ellie!’ Amanda said, suddenly shocked into action. ‘Stop that.’
‘No Ellie here,’ her daughter said. ‘Just Honey, the Seductress.’ Honey, or perhaps it was Ellie now, strutted towards Val hands on her hips, breasts bare. ‘You have no idea how I like a strong woman,’ she said, running her hand down Val’s arm then squeezing her biceps. ‘Perhaps later I’ll let you squeeze mine too.’ She rubbed her breasts up against the Viking’s arm.
Val glared at her, blue eyes blazing with fury and, for a moment, Amanda thought that her boss might strike her daughter.
‘Honey…’ Amanda protested but only weekly this time..
Ellie glanced at her mother. ‘Sorry mum but your girlfriend has been ogling me all week.’ She spun around facing away from the Viking, bent and slid out of the tiny thong. Still bending over she looked back at Val. ‘Bet you’d like to get your hands on this pussy.’
Ellie stood and turned back, naked now aside from her shiny pink boots, the threads of the butterfly kiss dangling from her hand.
Everyone was staring at her except Amanda who was glaring at Val.
‘We need to talk,’ Amanda said to her former lover.
‘We should get on,’ BB said, breaking the moment of tension.
The tower, a solitary stone finger pointing at the sky in the vastness of the high plain, started as a speck but grew too quickly as they walked towards it, looming black and ominous against the grey sky. There was nothing living around it, no birds in the sky. As they neared Ellie thought she saw a figure and then realised it was a statue, a warrior apparently caught in the action of walking in the same direction as them. Then she spotted another. She was walking beside Battle Babe and turned to the warrior. ‘Are they what I think they are?’
The Party Leader nodded, hefting her axe. ‘That’s why we don’t bring magic.’
‘But the Wand?’ Maiko asked.
‘Clerical, not magic,’ the warrior growled, ‘remember?’
Ellie recalled her first meeting with the warrior and wondered what she might have thought if Battle Babe had been like this. She’d been intimidating enough then but now she had the demeanour of an approaching storm, her face grim, lips pressed together, even the keloid scars seemed to make her expression even more brooding.
‘Is this really a good idea?’ Val said. ‘I mean this party is hardly experienced.’
‘It’s the quest we’ve been given.’ Battle Babe said, resigned yet resolute. ‘We’ve come this far. Besides, we have our Level 3 Adventuress.’ She gave a slight grin. ‘And our Level 5 Seductress, though I’m not quite sure what she’s going to do.’
‘Beeb!’ Ellie said genuinely stung by the warrior’s words but Battle Babe grinned at her, a genuine smile.
‘I know you’ll think of something.’ The Warrior winked at her.
That’s when they saw her, emerging from the tower, the Redheaded Warrior, her wild flame hair the only jot of colour in the whole landscape.
‘This is it,’ Battle Babe said, serious once again. ‘Places everyone.’
They had a plan, a simple one: Battle Babe, Val and Bu-Shi-Doll would tackle the Redheaded Warrior; ‘distract her’ was the phrase their leader had used. Honey would go for the tower with support from Katana Girl. Amazonne would support either or both groups with her bow as needed.
‘Are you really going to do this naked?’ Amanda hissed.
‘Says the woman who spent yesterday in a rope harness.’ Ellie grinned. ‘Besides I’ve got my boots on.’
‘But what about the wand?’
‘Already in place and, if you’re suggesting I can’t keep it there, then you’re forgetting what I’ve been doing for the last week.’
Amanda looked puzzled.
‘Where else would a woman who was about to be whipped naked through the streets keep her protection?’ Ellie patted her lower belly.
Amanda’s eyes widened. ‘You and I are going to need to talk too,’ Amanda said seriously.
Ellie grinned. ‘Going to spank me, mum?’
‘Ellie!’
‘It’s Honey.’ Ellie glanced at her mother sternly. Then she smiled. ‘You know, I really like the idea of having a mum who’s also a Warrior princess.’ She looked around. 'Ready KG?’
‘Ready, Honey-sama.’ Katana Girl appeared beside them, her katana unsheathed.
The two of them moved off to approach from another angle.
Chapter 84: Into the Fire
The redhead was shorter than Ellie might have expected, only a little taller than she, herself; she was muscular though and her breasts, straining at the top of her chainmail bikini were easily a match for the Seductress’. Her skin was freckled and bore the hint of time spent in the sun. She hefted a huge two handed sword that was almost as tall as her and moved with what even Ellie could see was the confidence and grace of an athlete and fighter. She and Maiko watched the party’s three Warriors spread out to face her, weapons ready as they moved towards the tower.
As they neared it, Ellie saw the tower was surrounded by a deep ditch and was surprised that there was no evidence of a bridge although it appeared the warrior had walked across something. Perhaps, she reasoned, it had been some sort of magical platform. Then, flames suddenly flared in front of her, the ditch becoming a moat of fire. Ellie felt the fierce heat and recoiled. If this was magical fire, the ward didn’t seem to be effective against it. She turned to look back wondering what she should do but saw the warriors were engaged now and at that moment heard the first ring of steel in steel as Battle Babe swung her huge axe and the warrior, legs braced wide, blocked it with her sword.
‘What we do Honey?’ Maiko asked.
‘We’ll have to find a way across. Let’s go round.’
They began to circle to the left, clockwise around the tower, glancing back occasionally at the fighting Warriors.
‘It go all round,’ Maiko said. ‘If you cannot go through, the wand not good.’
‘No,’ Ellie conceded. ‘Can we jump it?’
‘Too far,’ Maiko said. ‘We fall in fire and burn.’
‘Hmm.’ Ellie looked up thoughtfully. She was half expecting a figure to appear as the window, an angry Sorceress, gathering magic to hurl at them.
In fact, the window was little more than an arrow slit.
‘You have your bow KG?’
‘Hai, Honey.’
‘Can you get a grappling arrow through that window?’
The Ninja looked up. ‘I think so but we not fit through.’
‘We don’t need to.’ Ellie said. ‘There must be another way in.’ She waited as Maiko strung her bow and nocked the arrow.
The shot flew true and Katana Girl grinned, lifting her hand for a high five which Ellie returned.
‘You’re the best, Maiko.’
‘Katana Girl,’ the Japanese girl said sternly but she was grinning with pride. ‘Or you call me KG.’
‘Let’s go.’ Ellie picked up the rope.
‘But the flames…’
Ellie grabbed Maiko and started to run.
Amanda watched the Warriors fight, part of her wishing she could join the fray but she could see it was a battle far beyond her skills. She saw Val take a cut to the leg. Although it was just a superficial one Amanda felt a pang of anxiety as the prejudice of the last week fell away. She drew back her bow but still there was no target she could safely aim at.
Looking towards the tower she saw Ellie and Maiko peering across the ditch that surrounded the tower, saw Maiko take out her bow.
If she was going to be of little use to the Warriors, she might as well help Ellie and Maiko. Grasping her bow, she began to run towards the tower.
Ellie felt her skin burn as they swung over the leaping flames. She knew she was taking Damage both from the pain and the sickening feeling that told her she was losing Hit Points and when they landed, tumbling and rolling into the base of the tower her boots were smouldering. She reached to beat at them with her hands but then heard Maiko scream. Looking over, she saw Maiko writhing in the grass, her kimono on fire. She leapt forward rolling over her to smother the flames with the only thing she had, her body. She took another point of Damage before she could pull the smouldering garment off her friend’s body, throwing it away from her so it arced into the flames around them and rose like a bird soaring before breaking apart and scattering into tiny sparking embers.
‘Are you ok?’ she asked Maiko trying to ignore the pain in her body. A flurry of XPs took the edge off it but then it returned.
‘Yes…yes…I ok.’ Maiko stood up leaning on the sheath of her katana then her eyes widened. ‘I only take one damage…but Honey you…’
Ellie looked down. Her skin was red, scorched, blistered in places.
Parts of her boots had melted too.
‘I’m ok, KG. I have just over half my Hit Points left.’
‘I have Healing Potion,’ Maiko said with an odd expression. ‘But it over there.’ She pointed across the flame. ‘Sorry.’ Maiko shrugged and they both laughed.
‘I’ll take it when we get back,’ Ellie said as they hugged then winced as Maiko’s body brushed against her burned skin. ‘Come on, there must be a way in.’
‘Honey,’ Maiko said with a grin, lifting her katana. ‘We both naked now.’
‘Not quite.’ Ellie tapped Maiko’s chastity belt.
There was a metal grating at the base of the tower over some steps leading down. It was secured by a large padlock. Ellie pulled a pin from her hair and crouched over it, the lock clicking open a moment later.
‘You getting good at that.’ Maiko said as Ellie lifted the heavy bars.
Ellie was about to descend the steps when Maiko held her back. ‘This job for Honey’s bodyguard. Katana Girl go first.’
‘Ok.’
Holding her katana in front of her, Maiko started down the steps.
It was dark and blissfully cool inside and Ellie couldn’t resist pressing the burnt skin of her bottom against the stones to enjoy the relief of their coolness. At the bottom of the stairs Maiko stopped and reached into her hair.
‘KG,’ Ellie hissed. ‘This is no time to check your hair.’
Maiko turned with a frown. ‘Honey not the only one who keep weapons in hair.’ She opened her hand to reveal a shurikin.
Ellie grinned and nodded, watching as Maiko peered into the dimness ahead then tossed the throwing star, sending it spinning into the gloom. There was a spark on the wall as it struck and Ellie thought the Ninja must have missed but then there was the twang of a bowstring and another and the thump of a crossbow bolt thumping into stone, then another and another as the corridor filled with dust and chips of stone.
The waited for a few moments after the fusillade of missiles so the dust could settle and they could see their way.
The corridor stretched out ahead of them, disappearing into the gloom.
‘We go slowly,’ Maiko said. ‘Maybe there more traps.’
They crept along the corridor for some twenty yards, far further than Ellie would have thought and she began to wonder of this was a way to the magical island on which the tower stood rather than a way inside. A grill ahead of them seemed to confirm her suspicions.
‘I wish Amazonne here,’ Maiko said. ‘She best at spotting traps.’
At that moment there was a violent clanking and a metal portcullis crashed down behind them, trapping them.
‘Shit!’ Maiko said.
Nothing happened for a moment but then there was an ominous grinding sound - stone on stone.
‘Honey,’ Maiko’s voice rose in alarm. ‘Walls are moving.’
Ellie looked about her and saw it was true, the walls on each side of the underground chamber were inching towards them.
In unison they hurled themselves at the wall nearest them, pushing their weight against it but it continued to close in.
‘The grating,’ Ellie said. ‘Maybe we can lift it.’
They tried but it was jammed in place.
Ellie glanced round for any sort of inspiration but there was nothing. ‘Can you use your katana.’
‘My katana?’ Maiko sounded genuinely horrified by the suggestion.
‘Maiko, we’re about to be crushed.’
‘But…’
‘Maiko…KG….’
‘Ok, Honey.’ The Ninja tried to wedge the weapon in but the walls were already too close together.
Reaching out Ellie could now touch both walls and she braced herself.
‘If Amazonne were here, maybe she use Feat of Strength.’ Maiko said.
‘Are there any Ninja tricks that do that?’
‘No.’ Maiko said, leaning against one wall and stretching her legs out to brace against the other.
‘Oh.’ Ellie looked over at Maiko. ‘That’s a pity. I was just beginning to think we might even complete this quest.’ The walls were now almost touching Ellie’s shoulders.
‘Honey.’ Maiko’s voice trembled with the effort of using her strength against the wall. ‘It shame we cannot be together longer.’ She reached out, her hand seeking Ellie’s. ‘It been fun. I leave Gif so you call Maiko back in real.’
‘I’d like that Maiko.’ Ellie squeezed her friend’s hand.
The walls ground closer.