Disclaimer: None of The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon is in anyway shape or form mine. If it was mine, it would still be on the air. I suppose that I would also be rich too. Since neither of those are true, I am using all of this without permission.

Thanks: I would like to thank Jan Lee & Sealgirl for both their support and stories. I would also like to thank Rana Kane for beta reading this for me. Trust me, the story looks and sounds a lot better because of her input.

On that encouraging note: This is my first Dungeons and Dragons cartoon fanfic. I appreciate reviews. I am a Venger/Sheila shipper and like the characters. There are many Venger and Sheila stories both on the fan fiction website and in other places that didn't end. The difference between those stories and mine is that mine will have an ending. I swear it on this unicorn's horn. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

The Prisoner

By

D.B. Cooper

Chapter 1

Captured

Denora stood silently, looking at her new charge. The first thing she saw was not her beauty, although she was beautiful, or the fact that she was injured and blood still crusted her face and hair, but that she was good. An inner light, almost an aura, seemed to hang around her. Especially in this dark place in Venger's deepest dungeon.

Sheila lay before her. A chain ran from Sheila's ankle to the stone slab. She had lain semi-conscious for almost a day. The air was damp and dank here. Denora thought for a moment. Did she need food or rest first? No, better to clean the wound before anything else.

"My name is Denora. I will bring you food and something to tend your injuries with."

Denora turned and walked out. Sheila was left to lie alone in the dark.

She crawled into a ball and lay there shivering. Her head ached. The world seemed to come at her in waves.

Where am I? she thought to herself miserably. Her last thought before starting to drift was of where the others could be.

Denora moved quickly and returned with two servant girls carrying food (cheese and grapes), water, blankets, towels, and bandages. The two Orcs guarding the door were nasty creatures, but would not trouble her.

Sheila was startled into sitting up when the door swung open, spilling light into the chamber.

She took the water and drank greedily. It ran down the sides of her face, wetting her tunic. When she was done, Denora gave her food. Sheila wolfed it down as quickly as she could, barely noticing the other two women looking at her. By the time she was done eating, Denora had placed bandages on the slab. Sheila had a nasty bump on the head from when she had been captured. It had stopped bleeding by this time. The wound was deep and nasty but easy enough to clean. One of the servants pulled two blankets and a pillow out of a basket. Denora nodded slightly to Sheila, and then gestured the maids out of the room and followed them out.

Sheila sat there for hours in the dark. More than anything else, this was her greatest fear. Not just the dark, but being alone. No one else, just her. Her and her thoughts.

I wonder who those people are. Better still, where am I? That was still on her mind when she finally managed to drift off to sleep.

When she awoke, she was still alone in the dark. The slab underneath her was cold. Tracing her hands over the stone, she could feel its jagged edges. Her body ached from lying on it.

Well, there was no use crying about it. Trying to be brave, she bit down on her fear. By walking with her arm in front of her, she began to explore. Standing at the end of the chain, her fingers could just barely touch the door to her cell. She could feel her nerves standing on edge. What had happened to her? Where was she? Where were Hank and Bobby and Uni and . . . .

It was at that exact moment that the door to the dungeon swung open. Light spilled into the cell, momentarily dazzling Sheila's eyes. When her eyes adjusted, she saw that Venger stood before her!

The only sound was a small gasp before she fainted dead away.

--

Venger stared down expressionlessly at the unconscious thief. His plans had worked perfectly. It had been too easy to capture her. He had even left her Cloak there. Her weapon was not important now. Only she was. If he read the signs right, she was the one.

He closed the door before he teleported to his throne room. With a thought, he could go anywhere in his castle. It was his domain and under his control. He knew every event that occurred as soon as it happened. Then he summoned Denora.

--

Sheila came to by degrees. The wound in her scalp had started bleeding again. A faint trickle of blood ran down her left cheek. The world seemed to be spinning like that time she had gone to a friend's party and drank beer. That had been a few months before coming to the Realm.

Trying to think clearly, she realized what had happened. She was captured by Venger! She frantically thought of what to do. She stood up a little too fast, and tripped over the chain. The floor came up fast. That was the last thing Sheila knew for a while.

--

Once there, Denora curtsied and awaited instructions. She was unsure of what was to happen to the young girl, but would carry out her orders no matter what.

"Make ready the rooms for our guest. When the time comes, I will take her there myself. Go now and tend to your task."

Denora hurried to obey. She was in her early sixties and had been running the palace staff for fifteen years. Her hair still had some black in it and her eyes saw fine. What Venger wanted done was easy to accomplish. She immediately summoned a dozen maids. She could see in their eyes that rumors were already flying. In her youth, she had heard a phrase about 'taking a wild dragon by the horns.' That was the route to go now.

"I will not have you engaged in idle gossip. For Lord Venger needs work from you. We are to ready the suites in the north tower at once. It has not been used in some time. As I'm sure you are already aware, we have a new guest. She is the Lady Sheila, and we will do our best to make her welcome."

--

Sheila struggled to consciousness again. This time, she just lay there and waited for everything to stop spinning. After a time, she managed to sit up with her back against the stone slab that was her bed in this horrid place. A wave of nausea swept over her, and she needed to take long deep, slow breaths until it passed. Finally, she managed to crawl back onto her stone bed.

It was still dark, and she was still alone. How long would she be made to sit here with no one else? Fear trickled through her, trying to rob her of her calm.

Sheila took a deep breath and tried to think clearly. She had been captured by Venger. The thought that she might never see her friends or home again dominated her mind. However, a second thought soon topped that. What is he going to do to me?

She huddled there miserably, trying to think. The last thing she remembered before this was scouting ahead in the forest. Then something had happened. But what? Touching her head where it hurt, she felt a liquid that could only be blood. Someone had obviously attacked her, and who or on whose orders was obvious.

--

Venger stood silently in his throne room, pondering this turn of events. He thought about how best to proceed. After a while, he came to his decision. If he planned his moves right, she would be his. Not just by owning her body, but also her soul. He would be considerate to her at first. She would have every luxury. He would let her be at peace for a while before he began. After all, there was no reason to rush. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere.