Eliana’s Quest, Part I: The Cave of
Nightmare
Early in the morning, with the sky still slate grey that spoke of clouds and a sun still too weak to burn through the haze, the massive wooden and iron-strapped gate that protected one of the three entrances to the city of Niefel creaked and clanked as it was slowly raised into the recesses of the gatehouse above. A lone black-cloaked figure waited for the gate to raise fully and the guards to allow her passage into the walled town. Niefel was a prosperous city, able to afford high stone walls with parapets, and to pay a fair-sized militia on top of that. No mere marauding gang would be able to disturb the peace of this prosperous city, and the merchants here were willing to pay the higher taxes in exchange for the security that armed men and stone walls provided. This was not to say that the king levied excessive tax on the subjects of his city; maintaining a wall and paying a militia cost a fair bit of money, and that was just life. You could lose a portion of your money to taxes, or lose it all to a marauder, along with losing your life.
The king of this city controlled a rather small domain as kingdoms went, a fair-sized city and perhaps two miles of farms outside the walls, but it was a nice place to live, and gemstone mines provided a secure source of income for the inhabitants. The farmers sold their crops to feed the miners, who worked in the mines excavating precious stones, which were then shipped back to the city. Once there, jewelers cut and polished the stones, which were then either put directly on sale as jewelry, or more frequently sold to the traders who frequently passed through, who resold them in the large cities for intricate crafting or magical infusion. All in all, it was a rather nice and pretty self-contained economy, with a king who had the good sense not to let his ego rule his brain and took only enough in taxes to maintain the city and provide a small yet neat profit for the king himself. In a truly large kingdom, the king of this city would appear to be more of a high noble, but that was just semantics.
No, the weak point of this king, King Cros, was not his greed. The story that the townsfolk liked to recite with pride was how the king had jailed a merchant who had suggested they corner the gemstone trade and retain a greater share of the profits for themselves. It was a tired story, exaggerated and conveniently remembered. The gate jarred into place with a loud thudding sound, jolting the figure waiting to pass back into reality and out of the reminders she’d already gone over in her head a hundred times. King Cros’ weakness wasn’t his greed, it was –
“Excuse me,” a solider said, clad in a gleaming red breastplate and helmet and holding a pike across her path to make her come to a halt. “If you’re going to be walking through the city, you must have your hood down. No exceptions.” He then fell silent, watching the black-cloaked figure intently. The pulled-up hood and the loose cloak hid distinguishing features, which was exactly what a thief or brigand would want. His response, however, was a sigh of vexation, and then something – her arms – started to move beneath the cloak, and before he could reply, she had not only pulled down the hood but doffed the cloak altogether, bundling it beneath her arm.
“Is this what you wanted?” Eliana the Sorceress asked, smiling in a not altogether innocent way at the guard who had challenged her. The long brown hair that fell between her shoulder blades, swept back so as to be tucked behind her ears, cascaded along the back of her tight black dress. The dress bore no sleeves, and the left shoulder bore no strap, though the dress still covered the skin to her collarbone. It fit tightly, too. Very tightly, but even more so from her ribs to her waist, almost letting you see the contours of her body through the clothing… From the ribs on her right side, at the level of her breasts, to her navel, there was a wide slit in the dress; and another, from her left hip all the way down her leg, revealing the intricate sandals she wore, as well as the dagger strapped to her upper thigh. “Satisfied I’m not a thief? Good,” she said, and walked past the guard, who did a double-take as she passed by…
Eliana smirked to herself. The king’s weakness was beautiful women, and her very, very generous chest guaranteed that she’d be given a second look… indeed, if you looked closely, you could see the curve of her breast from the wide slit on her right side. Or could you? It was rude to stare… Eliana giggled, walking confidently now as she strode down the main cobblestone street of the city, headed towards the manor. Her face bore a confident, bright smile as her stride spoke of a woman who was not afraid to show herself. Dark eyes seemed to twinkle like pools of darkness lit intermittently by scuttling clouds hiding a full moon. Her skin bore a healthy tan; enough to give her a bronze color without making her look too dark, and you could tell that there were no tan lines on her body… what that said about her was open to personal interpretation.
It was true that her breasts were rather large for her; being only of five feet six inches, she was merely average height, and her build was even a slight bit slim for her height, meaning that her breasts had a tendency to weigh her down if she wasn’t careful… Back pains could be alleviated through the use of magic, but issues of balance could not. Rather than complain about how inconvenient and painful her large chest was, Eliana chose to make use of what she had been given. That wasn’t to say that her breasts weren’t inconvenient and didn’t cause her back to ache. They did, and Eliana would find herself grumbling along with the best of them about “goddamn balloon tits”.
Still, as she held her head high and strode down the street in a tight-fitting black dress that even had a little sheen to it, she turned male heads, earned female glares, and caused mothers to cover the eyes of their children. It didn’t matter, really. Eliana was also an accomplished sorceress in addition to having a large chest, so you couldn’t say that she was all boobs and no brains. You could say, in all fairness, that her moral compass wavered more than a little bit. Burning down someone’s house and destroying their crops just because she could was not something that Eliana would do. Waiting until a young man’s eyes were buried in her chest and sweet-talking him out of a few gold coins was more her style. Eliana could be vindictive, indifferent, vengeful and nasty; it was the absence of evil more than the presence of good that defined her view of the world. Most of all she sought power and recognition, which was why she was here.
A few years after leaving home, running about the countryside one step ahead of angry, jealous women and men who realized they’d been had, Eliana realized that she wasn’t going to get any kind of recognition or the chance to gain power if she continued to be just a step above a petty thief. Being recognized required doing something that everyone saw, and an act of great evil just got you reviled and hunted by bounty hunters from six different kingdoms. So, Eliana figured, why not play the good girl for a bit and make a show of helping the kingdom solve its problems? Besides, a lot of the caves and ruins where you could find artifacts and other items of magical power were guarded closely by their respective kingdoms, and entering without permission was rather difficult. Especially with those incorruptible Paladins around, Eliana groused to herself.
The city was not so large as to have a second, inner wall for the manor’s protection. If this city had been attacked previously by attackers who had gotten past the main outer wall, this probably would not have been the case, but the king and his advisors probably balanced the need for security with the need to not have tax riots. That just meant it was a matter of entering the open doors to the manor, although once inside, she was confronted with another pair of guards, who were treated to a glimpse of her charms from the start instead of greeting an indistinct black-cloaked shape. The two soldiers traded a look, their red breastplates and helmets looking considerably cleaner and shinier than the armor of their compatriots outside, and the soldier on the left approached her.
“Halt,” he commanded, making such an obvious effort not to stare at her chest that he might as well have been doing so anyway. But to his credit, he didn’t miss his cue or stutter. “What business brings you to the manor of our King Cros?”
“This,” Eliana said simply, reaching into the folded cloak she carried under her arm and withdrawing a folded parchment, unfurling it and passing it across to the guard. It was nothing special, really; simply one of those posters that kings put up all over the place when they had a problem they needed solved. In this case, it was a fairly simple case of a thief who had waylaid a cart of gems returning from the mines. This was of course not an uncommon attempt of thievery, because who wouldn’t want a cartful of gems? Apparently there had been something special about this cart, though, because only one piece had been taken, and the rest of the gems left undisturbed. Of course, this piece had been rare and special, being taken to a large city from Niefel for further study and inspection by dusty academics, probably left forever to rot in their vaults after they got bored with it. The artifact had caused quite a stir in the city while it had been in there, so it was no surprise that someone had tried to steal it. According to the reports of the survivors, the attacker had been an enormous, barbaric warrior, who had shrugged off the attacks of the guards with ease and employed her brute strength to overpower the caravan and steal the artifact.
“It says your King needs someone who can venture into the cave and confront the thief, doesn’t it? And from what I saw, this cave is ‘cursed’ somehow, a curse that makes everyone who tries to enter run out screaming and frothing in terror. Myself, being a brilliant sorceress, can probably discover the source of this curse and neutralize it, allowing me to venture into the cave, defeat the thief, recover the artifact and so on.” Eliana waved a hand in a general manner to finish her sentence while the soldier read over the poster that beseeched heroes of the land to see King Cros for a quest of justice or something. It said right there on the poster to go and see the king, so how could he refuse? Obviously, he couldn’t, so he looked from her to the poster a few times, shrugged, and stepped out of her way.
“All right, you may pass. Wait outside of the audience chamber to be summoned.” Eliana nodded and left the poster with him, striding up the carpeted main hall, glancing left and right down the wings of the manor. It wasn’t terribly big, and made of wood rather than stone, but it was high-quality wood, and a whole lot cheaper than stone. Easier to work with, too. Maybe this Cros guy really was into the whole idea of taking less so his people could live with more? It did seem to be working, Eliana admitted begrudgingly, noticing the lack of extravagant artwork or furnishings. It seemed more like the home of a hardworking merchant than someone who would call himself a king.
Eliana followed the carpet down the hall and up a short flight of stairs, opening the plain but well-made wooden doors strapped with iron reinforcing bands curled in a sideways trefoil shape. Tugging the door open, she entered a smaller room that was better decorated, with ornate and gilded furniture that was padded with silk cushions, lit with silver lanterns that hung from the ceiling, the wicks on the candles trimmed and the candles themselves free of excess wax. Also inside, waiting just outside the curtain that led into the throne room proper, was a female attendant wearing silver-trimmed livery, who nodded at Eliana’s arrival.
“Please wait here until His Majesty is ready to see you,” she said, before ducking behind the red silk curtains with gold trim. Eliana sat down in a red silk chair as the attendant scurried off to inform King Cros of his visitor. She didn’t think it would take very long before she had her audience; there was no one else in the room, so the only possible reason she’d have to wait was because someone was already in there. Eliana gave brief consideration to trying to eavesdrop if there was, but dismissed the motion, because kings tended to take a dim view of guests who eavesdropped on their audiences. Whatever it was that was being said probably wasn’t too important anyhow.
But no, there wasn’t anyone else; within the space of two minutes, the slim girl had come scurrying back into the waiting room and bowed. “His Majesty King Cros will see you now,” she said, and then stepped aside from the still-rustling curtains, gesturing for Eliana to enter. Eliana got up and nodded, brushing the curtains aside with her head held high as she entered the considerably brighter throne room. It was, though, not terribly grand for a throne room, the high ceiling being the only thing that was grand about it. The red carpet led up to the throne, which sat upon the raised dais, looking down on those who were requesting an audience with the throne’s occupant. The dais was only four steps high, though. Eliana approached the base of the steps and knelt.
“Your Majesty,” she said, bending her knee and bowing. The cut of her dress actually did not expose very much in the way of cleavage, but the bowing motion caused her breasts to bob and wiggle for a moment before settling down. She had found that approach to be almost more effective; wearing a low-cut dress was essentially advertising the fact that you were attempting to boggle someone with sex appeal, and if a target were alerted to that fact, they’d not only be harder to persuade, but often offended that such an attempt had been made.
“What business do you bring me today?” King Cros asked, stroking his goatee as he did so. A youngish man, only in his mid-thirties or so, blonde hair still full on his head and face, he looked... almost out of place in the kingly robes. To be certain, they were not terribly elaborate, but the familiar red-and-white king’s robes were present, as well as a coronet and a staff. Both gleamed gold and were, in the only touch of excessive opulence that could be seen, liberally set with gemstones of every color. The coronet looked somewhat silly sitting atop his head, for King Cros was not a man small in stature, and the gemstones catching the light from every angle reeked of trying too hard. Nonetheless, his eyes lingered on the female subject before him.
“Your Majesty, I am Eliana, a skilled sorceress,” Eliana began. “I have heard of the trouble you had recently with a thief stealing a valuable artifact from one of your caravans, and absconding with it to a cursed cave that none of your soldiers have been able to enter. Being skilled in the arcane arts, I believe I can neutralize this curse and pursue the thief into the cave, bringing the felon to justice and retrieving the artifact.” The prepared speech slid off of Eliana’s tongue without so much as a hitch, and as she looked up after finishing, she gave her chest a bit of a heave, enough to make her breasts sway once more. She had to hide the grimace that came with putting more motion into them while in a kneeling position; it would look extremely undignified to topple onto her face while attempting to draw the king’s eyes. Though, with the way that the waiting room had been empty, she might have gotten the job without the need to titillate his senses. Best to be safe, though.
“Yes, I was hoping you had come for that. You see,” Cros said, getting off of his throne and making a sweeping gesture that sent his robe rippling, “all of my soldiers are fine men, but whatever enchantment seeps into that cave turns even the bravest man into a gibbering child before five minutes have passed within its walls. I know not what the cause is, but I cannot fault my men. I can only conclude that the thief somehow constructed this barrier to prevent us from apprehending her and recovering the stolen artifact.”
“Your Majesty,” Eliana prompted gently, with another swaying of her breasts, “may I ask, what does this artifact look like, and what does it do?”
“What it does…” he began, then gathered his thoughts and began again, pointedly not looking at her as he began to pace. “What it does, we don’t know, but it is a ring with a fiery gemstone set into it. The ring is odd, flattened and broader than a normal one, and it reportedly did not fit well on anyone’s finger. Also, it appears to be brass, but no amount of polishing would remove the tarnish evident on it.” He nodded in her direction, pointing dramatically at her with the scepter. “I want you to retrieve the ring and bring the thief to justice.”
“What will the reward be?” Eliana asked, trying not to look too excited at the mention of the ring’s description. Suddenly this job was turning out to be far more than she had hoped for. By the way he had described the ring, it could be one of the ones she was looking for… “I hope I am not being too forward about this proposition,” she said suddenly. “I simply felt that… the poster did not state the reward for this task, and I wanted to ensure that it would be worth my time.” Eliana nearly bit her tongue and grimaced after saying that. No, no, no. It made her sound far too self-centered and mercenary.
Fortunately, King Cros seemed not to notice, either because he was distracted by her or he figured it was a normal question for someone in her situation to ask. “Reward? Ah yes, that. We shall discuss the reward based on your performance of the job when you return, but by my honor I will not seek to cheat you.” Eliana had to accept that, she knew. A man like Cros took his honor seriously, and if she implied that his honor was not good enough, he would be likely to get offended. Best to accept that for now.
“Very well, my liege. If you will excuse me, I will retire then, and make my preparations to leave tomorrow.” Eliana bowed again and stood, turning so that the side of her dress that was slit faced him…
“Wait!” King Cros called, then seemed to bite his tongue and regret speaking. But then he went on: “Since you are the only one who has come forward to undertake this task, I ask that you accept my hospitality for the night and remain here before you set out tomorrow.”
Eliana hid the smile that formed on her face as she turned around to smile at the king. “Why, Your Majesty! That’s most generous of you…”
The next day Eliana set off for this cave early in the morning, smiling to herself at how well the events of the previous day had gone. Being a guest in the King’s manor had allowed her to sleep in a comfortable bed, bathe herself, and eat an excellent breakfast before setting off on the half-hour’s walk to the nearby hills and the caves therein. It was not hard to identify the proper cave, even at a distance, because of the group of soldiers clustered around the entrance. There were about six of them all told, plus one that appeared to be an officer, set off from the rest of them and appearing to study the cave. From this distance, it was hard to make out details, but she assumed they were waiting for her to bring the thief out of the cave so she could be taken to the King’s prisons and charged with thievery. But as the king had said, none of them wanted to enter the cave; they all stood at least six feet away from the entrance.
As the mist that rolled through the hills began to thin as the sun was rising, a frown crept across Eliana’s face as she continued to study the group at a distance, using a staff to help her walk up the hilly countryside. She wasn’t accustomed to long hikes, and it was times like these that hefty breasts were more of a hurt than a help… especially because that damned slit kept threatening to slip her left breast out more than she cared to show. Common soldiers didn’t need that degree of enticement… and to make matters worse, the soldier standing apart from the rest wasn’t the captain. The Niefelese soldiers all wore red-and-brown armor and vestments, but this soldier wore golden armor, carrying a tasseled spear. Eliana’s mood soured. There stood one of the most irritating people in the land, a Paladin.
The Paladins were, as you might guess, an organization that was dedicated to upholding truth, justice, morality, and things of that sort. Fortunately, they weren’t religious zealots (and those organizations were just downright scary) but their presumption of the moral high ground on every issue and their attempts to tell everyone else around them how to act were rather irritating. In irritation, Eliana tugged her dress over herself a little more in an attempt to avoid comment. Especially because, as she noticed when she approached the cave entrance, the long, flowing red hair and piercing blue eyes of this Paladin belonged to a female. Female Paladins were even worse in their condemnation of what they viewed as socially immoral, one example being scanty dress.
“So, the
king sends his mistress to attempt the
“Well,” Eliana said with a sideways look, stopping beside the Paladin, “the fact that you’re here means that you must have attempted this cave yourself, no? And if you’re standing outside, it means… that you too failed to conquer the cave. Am I correct?” Eliana asked, a raised eyebrow accompanying her sly smile. She had hit the mark squarely; spots of color bloomed in the Paladin’s cheeks, and she turned her head away with a harrumph, chin raised in a haughty manner.
The captain of the local militia was actually identifiable by the cloak he was wearing, but it blended in with his plate mail and outfit sufficiently as to be hard to identify from behind. He approached Eliana now and sketched a short bow, seemingly unfazed by her appearance. She wondered why, but maybe he had been forewarned, or maybe he wasn’t interested in women. Wouldn’t that be amusing? “You are the Sorceress Eliana, correct?” he asked. “We’ve been instructed to wait for you. The thief is still in there and has not emerged since we arrived here.” He made way for her, and one of the soldiers nearby struck flint to a torch and set it ablaze before handing it to her.
“Be careful,” he said after handing her the torch. “They say this cave finds the thing you fear the most and warps your mind until you can’t think of anything else. All those who have gone in have fled in terror.” He glanced over at the haughty Paladin, who didn’t say anything, but Eliana imagined she was blushing harder. Well, it was nice to see her brought down a peg.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Eliana said, and composed herself before entering. What did she fear? Really, she didn’t have an overwhelming fear of anything. And it was probably an enchantment of some kind that magnified natural uneasiness and fed the feeling of terror until it became so overwhelming as to override rational thought. If so, that meant the thief was probably a sorceress herself. But… the guards for the convoy had described a huge assailant. Maybe she was part of a team? Brute strength to pull off the robbery, and a brainy partner to figure out what the artifact was for and use it to its intended purpose. A team, then… still, Eliana figured they would not be expecting someone to defeat the enchantment, and she could catch them by surprise. Maybe even catch them sleeping. Eliana smiled to herself and headed deeper into the cave, where the light from outside no longer penetrated.
Something brushed against her left side, and without thinking she flicked her fingers against it, imagining it to be a spider or a cobweb or something of that sort. No sooner had she done that than another feeling brushed her right leg, and it held for longer this time, brushing up her leg. Looking down in irritation, she saw that a cobweb had gotten stuck in her dress. Hmmph. Shaking it out, Eliana continued onward. If she got unsettled by a cobweb getting stuck in her dress, she was going to end up falling prey to the enchantment.
Eliana ventured deeper into the cave, and it hadn’t shown her anything yet besides mild weaving back and forth. It was almost a straight line, and the only hazards were the things that seemed to constantly be brushing against her sides and legs. It got worse as she progressed into the cave, and that was probably because previous adventurers hadn’t gotten this far. Eliana looked around, left and right, and wondering if she was walking in a circle. It was while her head was turned that it happened. A soft feeling flowed from the front of her body around the sides, like she had walked through a giant spiderweb. The sensation ran like fine threads from her abdomen, up over her breasts, flowing around her sides, caressing them with the touch of a silken thread. The touch flowed between and along her legs, and down to her ankles… All at once, Eliana shuddered and sucked in her breath sharply, coming to a sharp halt and quivering.
“What… was that?” Eliana panted, looking all around. There weren’t the tattered remnants of a spider web in front of her or behind her. Eliana turned around and looked to see what was behind her… and then came a sensation that could have come from no spiderweb. It was that same silky, caressing sensation, except this time it came from bottom to top, swirling over the exposed skin of her feet, trailing up her legs beneath her dress… “Nahaha… stop, stop that!” Eliana squealed, doing a foolish dance on the spot as the sensation swept from toes to chest, tickling as it went.
“Can they see me? Or is this whole ‘worst fear’ business a load of crap?” Eliana growled, determining that there was nothing around by sweeping the torch in every direction and seeing nothing that even remotely resembled a spiderweb. There was definitely something in this cave that would get into someone’s mind, but what exactly was it? She couldn’t detect any particular enchantment that she knew of, but an enchantment of this level was sufficiently advanced that hiding its presence somehow wouldn’t be too hard for someone that could cast this spell in the first place. Assuming it was a spell and not something attached to the cave itself… and maybe that artifact that was stolen somehow protected the thief from the curse? That was a possibility.
Eliana decided that it would be best to swiftly press on before whatever it was came back. Maybe if she could get to wherever the thief was, she could steal the artifact and gain the protection it might or might not provide. Whatever the answer, staying here was a bad idea. Eliana swiftly started to walk deeper into the cave… and squealed, nearly waving the torch out as gentle strands of a feathery touch flowed from her underarms and right over her breasts. The touch was maddening! It sent tingling jolts through her body, making her bounce and fidget and sending her limbs out of control. The torch flew from her grasp and rolled onto the floor, still lit, thank goodness.
As soon as the sensation passed, Eliana leaned over to pick up the torch, and as if the touch was guided by intelligence beyond her comprehension, another feeling sprang up. It felt as if this time, something soft and feathery flew into the large slit on the left side of her dress, and curled around one large breast, then the other, looping around in an infinity shape. Eliana recoiled back from the torch, clutching at her chest, and laughing hysterically. “Nohooo! NOHOHO STOP! STOPPIT! STHAHAAHAHAHAAA!!!!” She backed into the wall, squealing and bouncing, her left breast starting to slip out of the slit, but it made no difference to the sensation which was looping and curling around her breasts, driving her mad. “STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAP!!!”
Eliana squealed, and started to run deeper into the cave, picking up the torch and running, trying to outrun the sensation, which had coiled down around her waist. It reminded her of an eel, a soft feathery eel, that was curling and twisting around her body, running in a circle around her belly now, dipping some feathery tendril into her navel. “NOOOOOOOOHHAAAAHAHAAA!!” Eliana screeched, tripping and sending the torch hurtling into a wall, where it got snuffed out, leaving Eliana in total darkness. “D-dammiththahahahAHAHahahAHAh thahaha hahHHAAHAHAH GHAHAHAA! STHAHAHAH AHAHH STOPPIT! STOP!! SHAHAHHAAHAHA!!!”
Eliana was too busy laughing hysterically and rolling about on the floor, clutching her staff to herself and curled into a ball, to consider exactly what was happening to her. Why was this happening? It seemed so long ago… things she had long forgotten, that were coming to memory, buried in the fog of the past, slowly emerging from the thick mists… but before she could think about it anymore, her brain overloaded. Total darkness and an overwhelming, intensely electrifying sensation coursing through her body finally overcame her senses and, while her world could not go black, her nerves finally shut off and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Eliana came to, and she was surprised that the first thing she noticed when her eyes opened was that it was bright. “Augh!” she cried in dismay, slamming her eyes shut in response to the light. But the brief glimpse she had gotten while her eyes were open told her that it wasn’t daylight but firelight that illuminated the area… Getting back to her senses, she realized she could hear the crackling of a fire and feel its heat. She tried to rub her eyes, but her arms were restrained. That wasn’t a surprise, unfortunately… not considering the circumstances under which she’d entered the cave. Eliana struggled to open her eyes while she took stock of her situation. Her arms were tied over her head, feeling like they were lashed to her own staff. Her legs were bound from thighs to ankles with a cord of some kind, holding the fabric tight to her leg and concealing the holster she wore around her thigh for the dagger. It felt like it was still there, at least. What good it would do her when she couldn’t reach it, she didn’t know. But at least it was still there. Eliana wiggled, and felt her back press against cold stone. So she was tied to a wall.
By this time, Eliana had managed to adjust her eyes enough to open them a bit, by staring at the floor and keeping them cracked open just a little. When she had regained her vision, she looked up and scanned the room. It definitely seemed like someone had set up camp in here; there was a lot of food, water, a couple of sacks of gold coins in one corner. That indicated this thief was pretty well off… a fire was in the middle, a spit set up over it with the remnants of some meat hanging on it. It could be lunch, or maybe last night’s dinner depending on how picky her captor was about neatness. And speaking of her captor, there she was just on the other side of the fire…
“So yer awake, eh? I was wonderin’ why it took those louts so long t’ send someone after me. Heh heh heh, maybe they all get scared off by the curse of this cave, eh? You’re the first one t’ make it this far… though I was wonderin’ why the hell you was all up and screamin’ like a banshee before I found ya.” Eliana gasped. Her captor was female, but nearly seven feet tall, darkly tanned and heavily muscled skin… she wore the regalia of a barbarian, metal boots, a tattered leather fringe and loincloth, furry wristbands and a breastplate over a tight-fitting cotton shirt that was also worn at the fringes. Her arms, and her stomach, like her legs, were muscled heavily, but her size was so great it appeared proportional… Around her neck she wore what seemed to be a necklace of teeth from some wild animal, and a furry collar above that. Her eyes were emerald green, much brighter than her skin, and piercing… her dark hair hung wild down her back, looking as if it hadn’t seen a comb in weeks.
“You’re the thief?” Eliana said, gaping, as the huge woman came over to her, drawing a wicked-looking curved dagger from a belt sheath and examining its blade in the firelight before grinning and approaching her. Eliana flattened herself against the wall, trying to wiggle back and forth, suddenly quite fearful of her large adversary. “H-hey! What are you going to do with that? Don’t come any closer!” she said, a quaver in her voice. Eliana had never been stoic, or impervious to pain, or foolishly courageous. Saving her own skin was always her first concern, and a run-in with that knife didn’t look like it would be terribly beneficial to her. The barbarian woman just grinned, which set Eliana’s mind tumbling through a spasm of fear. “N-no!”
“What I want from ya,” the large woman said, clearly amused at Eliana’s antics as she eyed the knife and tried to get away from it, “is ta know what’s goin’ on outside. I know those fools from Niefel are prob’ly after me after I raided their precious wagon, but I haven’t seen any of ‘em in days. Probably can’t make it through the curse, which is good fer me,” she said with a grin, “but I’m thinkin’ of getting outta here, ya know? I can’t be sittin’ in this musty old cave forever. So what I wanna know,” she said with a glint in her eye, laying the flat of the blade against Eliana’s throat, “is what’s waitin’ fer me outside.”
“Soldiers,” Eliana babbled immediately, trying not to breathe too much so as to avoid slicing herself on that blade. “Soldiers, six of them, and a Paladin besides, all waiting outside of the cave mouth. None of them look like they’re waiting for you to come out; when I came, they were all waiting for me to come in, so I could bring you out and they’d arrest you.” Eliana spoke quickly, not caring a whit for the soldiers and Paladin outside. They weren’t her problem, now were they? Of course not. The barbarian woman considered this a moment, and then laughed, taking the knife from Eliana’s throat and putting it back in her sheath.
“You talked mighty fast, didn’t ya? Heh heh. You must be someone they hired, mercenary seems t’ me, only care about yer own skin.” She grinned at Eliana, then seemed to consider something. “But I can’t just leave ya here entirely unharmed or anythin’. It would ruin my reputation…”
“R-reputation?” Eliana squealed, suddenly fighting more than ever to get free. In the course of her struggling, her left breast slipped more and more, until finally it popped free, hanging half-revealed out of the side of her dress, which caused her to give off another squeal of dismay, because the barbarian woman seemed to take interest in it. “Don’t you dare –!”
“I’m sick of ‘you’ this and ‘you’ that,” she interrupted, grinning and casually running her rough fingertips over the side of Eliana’s breast. “Call me Merion, it’s my name. And who might ya be, little one? Well… I guess I can only call ya ‘little one’ in a certain sense o’ the word, eh?” Merion chuckled, which made Eliana blush angrily.
“E-Eliana is my name,” she said, not out of defiance or anything, but because she dared not resist the barbarian woman who held Eliana’s fate in her hands. The grazing of fingertips against her half-exposed breast made her squirm noticeably, leading Merion to do it again. “Stop that!” Eliana squealed, fighting to keep a smile from somehow getting onto her face. Why in the world would she have to fight a smile at a time like this?
“Stop that hmm? I haven’t done anythin’ yet,” Merion grinned. “Eliana, eh? Seems like you’ve got quite a big mouth t’ go with yer big tits.” She laughed, drawing her knife again and seeming to examine Eliana’s throat as she ran her hand against the curve of one large breast, the furry armband she wore gently grazing the skin… “Ya know, I’ve found that sometimes if ya want somethin’ out of a woman, ya gotta use… special means,” she said with a grin, the point of her knife roaming back and forth as if searching for something. “A man, ya can beat ‘im until he coughs up what y’wanna know, but women, damn, stubborn bitches they can be! Ya can beat some of ‘em to within an inch of their life an’ they’ll spit in yer eye and curse ya with their dyin’ breath! Sometimes it’s not the pain but other things y’gotta do. Ahh… here!” Merion reached in, flicking something with the tip of her knife.
Eliana, for her part, had been watching the knife point intently, quivering, because it was pointed right at her throat. But the stroking on her left breast, combined with the fuzzy armband teasing her skin, was increasingly bringing the urge to giggle to her throat. Angrily she managed to stomp it down, and flinched as Merion flicked something, but realized she was fine… though her dress felt looser than it had a minute ago. “Wait, what did you…?”
“I told ya,” Merion interrupted, putting her knife back and continuing to stroke the exposed curve of one breast, watching Eliana’s face intently. “It’s not pain that’ll get ya. Women, see, women have different bodies, better tolerance for pain than a man does… but women are sensitive a lot in certain places, y’know? Just a matter of knowin’ where to apply the touch…” With her free hand, Merion pulled the slit open a little wider, causing the breast to spill out more, exposing the nipple of Eliana’s left breast. The movement caused a cascade, and Eliana realized that Merion must have slit the strap on her shoulder, because the front of her dress simply peeled down, letting both of her breasts hang free. She gasped, not so much from embarrassment as shock, and her mouth twisted into a comically contorted grin. Merion was looking satisfied with her work, and put her curved dagger away, which made Eliana sigh with relief. It also meant that she wasn’t touching Eliana’s breasts, which gave the sorceress a chance to catch her breath and try to figure out what the barbarian woman was attempting to do.
She wondered if the other woman was a lesbian and concluded that she was plenty butch enough to fit the role, but this train of thought didn’t make it very far before Merion’s rough fingers found her breasts again. This time her fingers grazed the edges and made a very perceptible wiggling motion that sent such a shock through Eliana’s body that a burst of laughter was inevitable. “Stahhahahahap that!” Eliana demanded, her angry glare more an expression of anger at herself for acting in this way. But oddly, Merion didn’t stop, and she just kept going. The maddening, quivering, wildly jumping sensation that had suddenly overtaken Eliana’s torso simply grew and expanded, finally giving her mind a chance to identify and recall the sensation… “Stop! Dehahahahahah I demand you stop thihihis immediately!” Eliana squealed, her chest bouncing from her attempts to free herself, though her dress remained attached around her middle simply by virtue of how tight it was.
Merion seemed to be enjoying herself… those rough fingertips stimulated Eliana’s sensitive skin in a way she had long forgotten, exploring the undersides of her breasts, tickling over the tops and in between… She seemed to particularly enjoy gently lifting one and using her other hand to tickle at its underside, which drove Eliana particularly wild; her back pressed into the stone wall, backside wriggling frantically at the unforgiving rock as if to wear away enough of it to allow her to lean back from the tickling. Her fingers curled and uncurled, tight and quivering fists one moment and frantically trying to reach the ropes that bound her wrists the next. The staff was somehow jammed into two protruding parts of the wall that held it in place despite her struggles; Eliana was unable to free herself no matter how much she strained. She wasn’t strong enough to break the staff by leaning forward, and didn’t have the presence of mind to realize that she needed to lift the staff up and out to get free. But the barbarian woman was taller than Eliana anyway, which meant that the sorceress would have needed a few minutes to stretch and stand on tiptoe to get it high enough. Those were minutes she didn’t have, and standing on tiptoe would have required concentration, seeing how her legs were bound together with cord.
“So do ya see what I was sayin’?” Merion asked with a wide grin, tickling at Eliana’s breasts and knowing it was driving the busty sorceress crazy. A soft city type like her went all white-faced at the thought of pain and babbled whatever it was she knew, but she didn’t know that pain wasn’t the only aspect of torture one had to consider. Besides, people would start saying anything you wanted to hear just to make the pain stop, and that wasn’t accurate information. This was outright maddening, and there wasn’t any deep-seated desire in the human psyche to make tickling stop. Merion stopped tickling Eliana for a moment, but only long enough to detach some of the furry ornaments she wore. Before Eliana could even regain her voice, Merion was dangling the soft fur of the trinkets and brushing them lightly back and forth atop Eliana’s nipples.
Quite simply, the sorceress screeched, the sensation enough to cause Eliana to scream with laughter. Just those simple soft sensations brushing atop her sensitive nipples was causing… a reaction the likes of which she had never before known, a reaction replete with tingles and giddiness that seemed to squeeze her lungs empty so that she could laugh. “HEEHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAH!! STOP! STOP THAHAAAAT!” Eliana cried out, her bound-up legs hopping up and down as her body tried to find a way to move that would express all of the pent-up desire to do so. Of course, what she really wanted to do was move out of the way… “HEHEHAHAA GHAAAAD! OH GHAHAAHAHAWD HTHEEHEHEEH STHAAHAHAHAHA I CNEHEHEH EHAHAAA!!!” Eliana’s ability to finish her sentences or even express coherent thoughts was slipping away, and the hopping up and down made her breasts jiggle in a way that amused Merion. This spurred her on to greater efforts, of course.
“Hoppin’ up and down like a bunny rabbit, are yeh? Well, given yer tits like that, I think y’could manage to screw like a bunny rabbit too, just hangin’ around a bar or somethin’. ‘Specially the way you dress.” Merion chuckled, alternating the use of her furry ornaments and fingers, and soon Eliana was engaged in a laughter-filled dance, howling with her head tossed back and alternating between attempting to curse at the woman and attempting to plead. Neither attempt was terribly coherent and Merion ignored both, grinning as the staff clattered with her jumping and attempts to wiggle free… Just for fun, Merion dropped a hand and squeezed Eliana’s side briefly, through the dress that still managed to cling somewhat, though it was slowly peeling itself down to the waist. Below the waist, it was tied to her legs by cords.
But the squeeze to her side surprised Eliana enough to elicit yet another jump, and this one was just high enough to dislodge the staff from where it had been jammed into the rock wall. Eliana tumbled forward, and sensing that she was freer than before, attempted to somehow fight back by using the staff to whack Merion in the head through twisting her upper body. But Merion simply caught Eliana as she fell forward, unable to balance herself with her legs tied, and tickled her on the sides. “KyehaheahHAHAAHah! Hahahahah stopp! Stop that! Let mehehehehehehehe go!! HEHEHEHEE! I’ve heheheehahahahaaaa already told you what you want to knohohoooowwwww!” Eliana protested, regaining her voice somewhat as Merion was forced to choose a different spot. But the embarrassment of being caught in this ‘hug’ with her bare breasts pressed against the barbarian woman caused Eliana’s cheeks to glow bright red. In this embrace, the other woman’s superior strength ended the contest before it even began; Eliana’s helpless struggles served for nothing until she tripped while trying to kick Merion.
Falling down on her rear with a squeak, Eliana could feel the heat of Merion’s fire somewhere near her head, though fortunately not close enough to be catching her hair on fire. Merion decided to straddle Eliana’s legs, and her rough hands next sought out Eliana’s feet. Because of the way the sandals strapped on all the way up to her calves, Merion couldn’t remove them completely, but that was okay because the soles of the sandals were decidedly lacking; it was more than easy enough to get her fingers in there and stroke Eliana’s soles. Predictably, this sent the sorceress into a frenzy. “STHAHAHAHAHHAHAPPIT! NAAHAAH!! HEHEHEHE!! HSHTAHAAHAHAH GHAHAHAH!! NOHOOOO!!!” Eliana’s stomach muscles flexed as she tried to do a sit-up and reach Merion’s back with her bound hands, but her breasts were too heavy and her muscles too weak. She gave up, flopping back down on the ground as fingertips slipped between her sole and sandal, stroking the part of the arch Merion could reach. Here, at least, the barbarian’s size prevented her from exploring too much on Eliana’s soles…
The fire seemed to be growing hotter, and in a panic Eliana checked to see that she had not been set on fire in any way. But she did notice, in a moment of lucidity, that an ember had leapt onto the ropes binding her right hand, and that a slow fire was damaging the rope, maybe enough for her to break it… Merion didn’t notice anything, although the next touch was in the center of her arch, and Eliana forgot burning ropes for a second as her back arched in howling response to the stimulation of her sensitive foot, trying to kick and jerk her feet free. All she was able to manage through her torrent of spastic laughter was some wiggling of her feet back and forth, but the sandals restrained her as well as helped her, and whatever Merion could reach was essentially hers for the taking. The only reason Merion stopped was because she reached for her curved dagger… Eliana knew she meant to cut the sandals off. The burning rope at her wrist had nearly parted itself, leaving a burn on her wrist, but she ignored it in her adrenaline… With one hand free, she was able to slide the staff sideways out of the ropes that bound it to her left wrist, and levered herself into a sitting position. “Don’t you dare touch my sandals!” she yelled, bringing the staff down in a mighty overhead strike on the back of the barbarian’s head.
The staff cracked cleanly in two where it struck, and Merion grunted, rubbing the back of her head. “Ow! What’d ya do that for?!” she growled, looking back at the wide-eyed Eliana, frozen with dismay as she looked at the broken staff in her hands. “So yeh got free, did you? Well, no matter, ‘twas only a matter ‘o time before ya got free anyhow.” Merion grinned, turning around and looking the sorceress up and down, who was apparently frozen with disbelief that the world had betrayed her so cruelly. “Ah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Merion chuckled. “Now what t’do with ya…” Eliana’s breasts, full and appealing like fresh fruit, caught her eye…
“N-no, this just isn’t fair!” Eliana cried, her wits finally catching up with her. “It just isn’t!” Sounding all the world like a spoiled child, Eliana let the broken staff drop from her hands in defeat and her lower lip jutted out. “Why do I have to be so ticklish? This isn’t fair at all! In a fair fight I could beat you, but this stupid cave got me first, and… and then…!” Eliana was shocked to see Merion start laughing heartily, as if she’d just made a funny joke. Eliana crossed her arms under her breasts, looking peeved now, and snapped, “What’s so funny, huh? This is all like a big game to you, isn’t it? Tying me up, slicing my clothes off, tickling me until I can barely think…”
“Ya sound like you’re Daddy’s little girl cryin’ because you didn’t get a shiny new toy on your birthday,” Merion said, calming down from her outburst of laughter. “Listen here, Eliana, life ain’t goin’ ta be fair. Just ‘cause you’re ticklish doesn’t mean that ya get to sit here and throw a big fit about life not being fair. Being ticklish doesn’t mean squat – “
“That’s easy for you to say!” Eliana interrupted. “It’s easy to say that it doesn’t matter when you’re not so ticklish that a little poke makes you jump through the roof!” It was coming back to her now, Eliana knew… the reason why she had felt those things coming through the cave. Back all those years ago, still living on her family’s farm, her siblings had tickled her so frequently that she had genuinely refused to leave her ‘safe spot’ until her father had interceded and assured her that it would stop. Of course, it hadn’t, but from those moments it had somehow been ingrained in her as a ‘fear’. It was silly to think she was afraid of tickling, Eliana insisted to herself, but the cave’s enchantment must have picked up on the debilitating weakness buried in the mists of time. Eliana had forgotten about those episodes, like she had forgotten or stopped thinking about most things that concerned her family, long ago. But there was no time to reminisce, because Merion was… untying her? “What are you doing?” Eliana demanded, in shock.
“Well, this here cave feeds on yer worst fears, and it magnifies them tenfold ‘til you’re babblin’ like a babe,” Merion said. “Given the way you were screamin’ when I found ya, I bet that the cave found that you were ticklish. So I don’t need ta worry about ya runnin’ off if I untie ya. There,” she said as the cord came undone and Eliana’s legs were free. “And as fer the other part of yer complaint… here.” Merion rolled off of her legs and started to unfasten her boots while Eliana watched in silence. When Merion was barefoot, her large, tanned soles faced Eliana, and Merion gestured. “Go on an’ have fun. I’ll prove my point to ya.”
“Some point,” Eliana groused, coming over to the upturned soles which had been presented to her nonetheless. “It’s not even any real argument to make… I bet you’re not even ticklish and you’re just doing this to make fun – “ Eliana’s eyes went wide and she stopped mid-motion, again, as the foot scooted out of her reach in the blink of an eye, accompanied by Merion’s deep chuckle.
“Ahaha, hehe, sorry, I didn’t keep control of myself, try that again,” she said, putting her foot back in place with a visible effort on her face to steel herself. Eliana’s smaller, softer fingers didn’t stimulate Merion’s rougher skin as had been the case when Eliana had been on the receiving end, but Eliana’s fingernails had grown about half an inch, and they made up the difference, producing a quiet scratching sound. “Gyahahawhhwhww…. Hehehahaawhhhh… gheheehehe, d-damned fingernails, you soft girls havin’ them fancy…!”
“Shh,” Eliana chided teasingly, gripping Merion’s foot with her other hand even though she knew it would make little difference if the larger woman wanted to move it. At first she suspected that Merion might have been faking, but as her gentle scratching explored the heel of Merion’s foot, then the arch and instep, making nothing more than a two-fingered stroking motion, Merion’s face contorted into the expression of someone trying not to laugh. Her powerful fists struck the floor and the wall as she fought to keep herself still. “I didn’t know a barbarian could have sensitive feet like this, I’m impressed, Merion,” Eliana teased her. “And a big strong barbarian like you has a force of will strong enough to keep still, right?” Merion simply nodded assent, guffawing and chortling with laughter now. Eliana’s fingers probed beneath the wiggling toes of the barbarian woman, and… “Was that a squeak I heard? A little giggle? Hmm?” Evidently, even borrowed power served to make Eliana feel that she was in control. She abandoned holding the foot and using reserved motions to descend on both feet in a spider-tickling motion, going from toes to heels down both feet and bringing forth a roar of laughter.
“YehehEHEHEHAAHAHAHAH sthahahahwwpit! HEhehEHEHEHEhehhaahahahah kn-knockit off! STHAHA! HAHAhahaaaha… heheehheeh ehehEHEHEHEHehaahahaa! AHAHHWWHWHWWWhhhh!!! GHGHEHAAAA!!!” It was much different than Eliana’s high-pitched, squealing laughter, but exhibiting the same out-of-control inflections that had been featured before… yet her feet remained mostly in the same spot, quivering and curling a bit as Eliana’s fingers found sensitive spots. It was her torso that moved the most, twisting and curling and her arms thrashing, beating against the floor and walls of the cave.
Just when Eliana was starting to enjoy herself, a pair of massive hands closed over her wrists and pulled them away from Merion’s soles. “Th-the point ihihs,” Merion said, trying to regain control in both a figurative and literal sense, “that just bein’ ticklish like that isn’t an excuse to give up or start whinin’ and stuff. Ya see, I’m ticklish too, always have been, real bad. But it didn’t stop me gettin’ through this cave. It’s mind over matter, ya know, just gotta have a strong enough will ta deal with it. In the meantime,” Merion said with a grin that made Eliana shiver, “I’ve gots me an idea of how ta get outta this stinkin’ cave.” Eliana’s sense of foreboding turned out to be accurate, as Merion’s hands suddenly dropped her wrists and went back to her breasts, tickling rapidly as she outlined her idea.
“With yer comin’ in here and all that, well, it’s gonna be a bit of a pain gettin’ back out again. But then I figured, I can use ya.” Merion ignored Eliana’s squeals of protest and her attempts to pry the hands away, lifting the smaller girl into her lap. “Yer gonna take me outside and I’m gonna be all ‘arrested’ by those guards… but they’re gonna put ya up in the King’s mansion, yeah? So what you do after they put me in the cell is come on down and let me out… that’s all, ya don’t gotta do anything else, just get me outta the cell, and we’ll call it even, I won’t tell ‘em ya helped me and you get ta play the big hero and all that nonsense. For yer trouble I’ll give ya that stupid little trinket they were so worked up about – doesn’t do a damn thing anyway. I stole the merchants’ gold as compensation, but I ain’t gonna make off with those gems – pain in the arse to get gold outta ‘em. So what do ya say? Either ya can agree now to the plan, or we can stay here a few days longer playin’ titty tickle.”
Eliana only managed to hear bits and snatches of the plan, too busy trying to squirm her way out of Merion’s lap to really listen, but she found herself nodding and agreeing anyway. “YehHEHEEHEHEHehehehEEHEHe heheheHEHEH yes yeshshhahahah I’ll dahhahaah ahah heheheh do it! YehehHHHEHAAHAAA! STHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAA!! NOHOHO DON’T TIHIIIHICKLE THERE!!! I SAID I’LL DOHOHOOO IT!” Eliana laid there on the floor of the cave, panting, as Merion rose and began to gather her things. Tying the bags of gold onto her belt, she put her boots back on and collected everything before stomping out the fire and eating the rest of the meat on the spit.
“That hits the spot… so, yeah, well, yer stick is gone, you’ll have to find a new one, but here.” After Eliana stood up, Merion took the slit ends of the strap and tied a knot in them, so that Eliana’s dress actually covered her again. “You’ll need to have this sewn up proper, of course, but that should at least keep ya covered until ya get back to the town. So, are ya ready?” Now that the fire was out, the only light that remained was a torch the barbarian had lit before. “Here’s what we’ll do, since ya apparently can’t handle the cave’s curse. You just keep yer eyes closed and keep your hand on me, I’ll guide ya out until we get closer to the entrance where it’s not so bad, then you tie my wrists or somethin’ and we’ll just march outta the cave and play like ya caught me. Then we go through with the rest of the plan, mmkay?”
“I don’t have any choice, now do I?” Eliana grumbled, but there was nothing else she could do, if she stayed she’d be alone in this dark and cursed cave to starve. “I only have one question,” she said as she closed her eyes, linking her right arm with Merion’s left. “How’d you get this deep into the cave in the first place?”
“Focus, Eliana,” Merion said with a grin as they started off. “Keep yer eyes closed and focus on not bein’ afraid. It’s the fear that gets ya. Makes ya see things and think things are there that aren’t. So let’s go.” Eliana didn’t say anything else as they proceeded back into the cave tunnel. She didn’t even think much about walking, letting Merion guide her through the cave’s twists and turns. Even focused like she was, she felt some tickly-cobweb sensations brush against her body again, each greeted with a giggle and a twist or murmur, but Merion squeezed her arm until the sensation subsided. Loathe as she was to admit it, the barbarian’s advice was helpful.
It wasn’t until they were three-quarters of the way through the tunnel that Merion suddenly whispered, “I bet the cave was givin’ your tits a nice ticklin’ when you came through the first time.” Eliana’s mind immediately conjured up the memory of the feathery serpent-like feeling looping around her breasts, and she squealed, hopping and clutching her arms to her chest as it felt like fingers started to tickle at her chest… but it was very light and faint, noticeable enough to tickle but not enough to get her in the state that she had been in before. Merion’s grin clearly indicated she’d done this on purpose as she handed Eliana the rope. “Heh heh, got ya. Come on, tie my wrists up and we’ll get goin’.”
“Very funny,” Eliana groused. “I bet that foot-tickling was pretty nice, too.” But Merion just stood there with an infuriating grin. “Oh, fine, rub it in, why don’t you…” Merion put her hands behind her back and Eliana started to tie them. Or at least, tried to tie them… Merion waited patiently for about a minute before growling, “What the hell’s going on back there?” Eliana, not wanting to admit that she had no idea what to do with ropes, didn’t say anything, so Merion grabbed the rope from her and took it, sighing.
“Honestly, ya don’t know anything, ya wet-behind-the-ears mercenary. If I wasn’t yer first mark you’d probably have been sliced up and yer hide hung out ta dry by now…” Merion was looping the rope around her wrists, making some adjustments, and tying a few loose knots, before giving it back to Eliana and giving instructions. “Just put my wrists into the loops and tug on the hanging end, and it’ll tighten up to make at least a decent knot.” Eliana did so again, feeling a bit irritated that this quest had turned out this way… instead of proving her worth by capturing the thief, here she was taking advice and being complicit in a plan to help her escape… “There, that feels good. Now take my dagger,” Merion instructed, “and we can go.”
As two figures emerged from the darkness of the cave, the soldiers and the Paladin turned, the soldiers coming forward with proper shackles to affix on the wrists of Merion and lead her away. The captain approached Eliana in the bustle of the soldiers formally arresting her, and bowed. “Thank you so very much for catching this thief. We’ll be certain that she ends up in the cells for a long time to come. Sorry to be rushed, but I have to make sure she makes it back to the cell. King Cros wishes for you to come to the palace afterward – I’m sure he wants to congratulate you. Farewell!” The whole thing had been rather rushed, Eliana thought with a snort, feeling somewhat slighted. Though, in the process of being “arrested”, Merion had winked at her before being led off… Eliana had been considering reneging on the deal and just going off on her own, leaving Merion to sit in the cell, but decided it was a bad idea. First of all, Merion could finger Eliana’s complicity with the thief and have the soldiers looking for her. Second, Merion could probably break out on her own, and then she’d have a pissed-off barbarian on her trail who had knowledge of Eliana’s new greatest weakness… and that was something to be avoided at all costs.
“So, it seems that you’ve managed to succeed here.” Eliana was startled out of her reverie by the Paladin, who wasn’t actually speaking directly to her, but Eliana had thought everyone else had already left, not realizing the red-haired Paladin was still here. “The thief’s been caught, but where is the treasure? You don’t have it – you couldn’t hide anything in that outfit – and the thief doesn’t have it, because the soldiers searched her. Maybe she left it in the cave to be spiteful, or destroyed it.” The Paladin shrugged, looking at Eliana and the curved dagger she held. “I still can’t believe an arrogant young pup like you managed to subdue a thief like that, much less overcome the curse of the cave… perhaps I’ll have to keep an eye on you, after all.” The Paladin nodded and started down the knoll after the soldiers, leaving Eliana standing alone by the mouth of the cave, and looking at the dagger in her hand, realizing that the ring Merion had stolen was carefully fitted over the handle and pressed up against the hilt, almost impossible to see unless you were holding it. When had she done that…?
Well, she had promised Eliana the treasure, and she had delivered, too, in a way so that no questions would be asked about it so long as she could keep the ring hidden. But Eliana’s attention was drawn now to that very ring. If she guessed right, this ring would be useful only to her or another sorceress… probably something they would have discovered when studying it. Maybe this foolishness would come to one good end… Eliana counted herself lucky to have run into Merion, and maybe she could repay the gift of the ring with springing her from the King’s jails. It wasn’t as if she was doing it for free, of course. This ring had been her payment. Right.
With that detail fixed in her mind, Eliana strode after the Paladin and the King’s soldiers with Merion in tow… she wanted to get back to that room and do a little studying…