CH 3
Breaking the mid bond, Tikiez said, "Master, you were betrayed. By Soth who abandoned his quest to return home and fight with his wife, and by the Gods."
"Yeah, I was," He agreed to the fire. "So were all those who died in that disaster. My entire town, everyone I knew."
"Know this, I will never betray you. I may try to keep you from doing something else stupid, like having an elf shoot you, but I will never betray you," Tikiez said firmly. "We are the same, both cursed. I am in you and you are in me."
"I won't betray you either," he replied softly.
Tikiez slid over onto his lap and grinned. "You are thinking of a plan?"
"Something in the future, if I'm able," he agreed.
Tikiez grinned. "When I was formed, three others were made just like me. We are physically different, but made of the same stuff with the same magic. If you found my sisters, maybe they will help this plan of yours?"
Eric looked at her grinning face. "It might."
"Shall I search for them?"
"Are they still around?" he asked.
Tikiez leaned down and kissed him deeply. After the long kiss, she savored the hold on him as she wrapped him in her arms. Using the energy from the kiss, she felt out and around them. "I can feel one from here. A little north and far to the west."
"Then we'll go that way."
.
Laurana made sure her Father got home safely. Back in Qualinost, she found Tanis and his mother, Abby. The woman was still going by Abby, though she had remembered Eric's house in Gateway down to the last detail before she ever stepped inside. Eldarin was there also so she asked him to meet her in her and Tanis' rooms. She also had Tanis and Abby there along with Yaralla, a wizard of the court.
Getting them all together at the same table, Laurana said, "There is something that must be cleared up. Sir Eldarin, I want you to tell me about the day Ketherlan and Elanza left Gateway for Qualinost for the last time."
Elarin scowled at her. "That was not a very pleasant day."
"Then it was not," Laurana said firmly. "Tell us the events, if I want details I will ask."
Eldarin let out a breath and gripped his cane. "This is going to be hard for a few people."
"Sir Eldarin, the reason I am asking this, is to discover the truth. You were there. You have first hand knowledge."
"Laurana, why are we going through this?" Tanis asked her.
Laurana clasped his hand. "Because, my love, some things are not adding up. Father still insists your mother was raped by a human brigand." Looking at Eldarin, she said, "That's not true, is it?"
"I know that now," Tanis said softly, "So why go through it again?"
"Because I met your father at an Inn on the northern part of the Solace road. I need to know why, instead of talking to me, he pulled one of his weapons, made me take it and tried to get me to kill him!" All at the table gaped at her.
"He doesn't know!" Abby cried. "He left before we could tell him Tanthalas knows the truth now, so do I."
"He believes he's still hated," Tanis agreed.
"We have to tell him when he comes back to Gateway," Abby said firmly.
"I don't think he will," Laurana told her. "There was a dark haired woman, maybe a wizard. Right after it happened, she grabbed him from behind and they vanished. Later I saw her leaving in a wagon, and not down the Solace road, but off to the east. She gave me a very unpleasant look when she drove away."
"Another woman?" Abby asked wearing a pained face.
"From what I saw, she was there to watch out for him," Laurana told her. "He sent her away, but she reappeared to get him out of there."
"She was his guard?" Tanis asked.
"I believe so. Possibly Eric has done things like this before," Laurana replied.
"He was drunk, wasn't he?" Eldarin asked.
Laurana nodded. "Very."
"With all the steel he sells, I imagine if he's got a buyer, that buyer wants him to deliver it intact. Hence, the guard," Tanis said in a musing tone. "Can we find him?"
"I can," Yaralla said and produced a small pouch. "I returned to the site of the battle where Eric and that woman was. I found the snapped arrows, and managed to get tiny bits of flesh off them. This woman is not human, elf or any other race. The energy I got indicates strongly that she's a demon."
"Demons aren't real," Laruana said firmly.
"This one is," Yaralla stated. "This demon is watching over him. We will need to be very careful. I highly suggest we get it into containment before approaching Eric again. There is a good chance it is twisting his mind."
"Then the sooner, the better," Tanis said.
"Indeed. I already have the containment circle made," Yaralla said. "If you will give me permission to summon this demon?"
"Done," Laurana stated.
.
The wagon was packed up for another day of travel. Eric closed the back gate and heard a gasp from Tikiez. He looked to see her fade, then reform.
"I'm being summoned!" Tikiez said, her face in shock. Turning her tortured face to Eric she cried, "I can't stop it." She then flung a hand at him. Something touched his head like a soft wind. "Find my sisters!" she cried, then she faded away.
In that soft touch, Eric saw a location in his mind. A broken down castle. He felt the direction it was in. "Tikiez? Tikiez, come!" he commanded.
Nothing. He waited a few minutes, not knowing how anyone else could possible summon her. He had her amulet hanging from a thong around his neck. Magic made it invulnerable to damage. He didn't know how she could be called by anyone else. To find out how that was possible, he had to find one of her sisters. He got up on the wagon and drove off to go find this other demon.
.
Laurana, Tanis, Abby and Eldarin stood back out of the way as they watched Yaralla place the lit candles around the edge of the circle on the floor, then cast his spell in strong words. Arms out and up, he chanted the last words strongly.
Yaralla looked at the empty circle. "I don't understand. I felt the spell working …I knew it was working."
"Can you try again?" Tanis asked.
"No, I had to put the bits in the middle of the circle to draw it to the bits," Yaralla replied. He bent closer, his eyes widened. "It did work!" he said firmly, "The bits are gone."
"So, where is the demon?" Laurana asked.
Yaralla walked slowly around the containment, deep in thought. Thinking aloud, he said, "Demons are tricksters. It is in there, but either shrunk itself very, very small, or made itself invisible." Waggling a finger at the containment, he said firmly, "It is in there."
"Show yourself!" Tanis roared.
Nothing happened.
"Please," Abby pleaded. "We need to find Eric. That's all we want."
Yaralla pointed a finger at her. "Be very careful speaking to it! Demons can trick you into making pacts that you will be bound to. It is best to say nothing, no matter how much you want to. DO nothing it tempts you to do."
"I've already seen you," Laurana said. "Remember the Inn? I saw you by Eric. You left after you saw us. Eric commanded you to go away. You returned to take him away. We mean no harm to your charge. We only ask to speak with him."
Nothing happened.
"I suppose I must send it back to the abyss," Yaralla stated in a sad tone. He picked up a scroll and unrolled it. "This will negate any summoning that brought you here into our world, demon. I will give you one last chance to show yourself!"
They all watched the circle. Nothing appeared, no movement or even a sound came from the containment.
Yaralla then said, "Interrupt me if you change your mind, Demon." He then began another chant from the scroll. He went on, his words strong and slow. Due to the slow cadence, this spell took longer. At the strong word at the end, the scroll crumbled into ash. Inside the containment a few tiny bright lights fell to the floor and went out.
"It's gone?" Tanis asked.
Abby clenched her fits to he chest. "Bring it back! We have to find Eric!"
Yaralla turned to her and shrugged. "I can't. I banished it and being aligned with light, I cannot call a demon up, even if I was capable."
"You also negated the containment," a female voice said. Everyone looked at the circle.
A form appeared behind Yaralla, a clawed hand wrapped his throat as they saw the female demon dressed in black with a full leathern wingspan behind it now visible behind him. Horns curled back off it's forehead to touch it's long black hair.
"Don't speak, don't move anything especially your hands, or I rip your head off!" the demon growled.
Yaralla stood in shock, not moving.
Smiling to show it's fangs, it said, "Poor school taught boy. You have no practical experience, do you?" she chided. "Do you realize how easy it would be for me to kill you now?"
"You won't!" Laurana stated.
"How?" Yaralla asked in a squeak. "I banished you!"
Tikiez chuckled. "Go back to school and learn, boy." She then turned her black eyes to the others. "Since you brought me here, I may as well take this chance to say, if ANY of you get within a mile of my Master, I will shred you like a cabbage! It will not be a quick death either, I promise you."
"Eric is my father," Tanis stated.
"I am Eric's love, he deserves to be with me!" Abby stated with tears in her eyes.
"Oh?" Tikiez asked with a raised eyebrow. "And how do you repay that love? Hmmm? Did you stand up for him when everyone around you was calling him a murderer and rapist? Did you even try to go see him after your elf husband ran him through? I know you are aware he can't be killed by normal weapons. I know you are the same soul that was here back then. You loved to take advantage of Master's kindness, but when it really mattered, when he did need someone to hold onto, where were you?"
Abby gaped at her.
"Do I lie?" Tikiez asked.
"You are twisting the truth!" Eldarin barked angrily.
"Look into your own memory, Elf!" Tikiez snapped. "You, or anyone could have at least told Tanthalas the truth. You let him go on believing a lie so Elanza's reputation would not be tarnished. You let the very one who arraigned the ambush to kill his own people go on living his lie and did nothing about it."
"Everyone has made mistakes!" Tanis said heavily. "Everyone has hurt, and has been hurt! It's time for it to end."
"It will, as far as Eric is concerned," Tikiez agreed. "What you people do is up to you. Master will no longer be part of it." Looking at each of them, she added, "If I see you near him again, I will kill you."
She then vanished.
Abby dropped to her knees and burst out crying. Yaralla dropped to his knees and gasped out a breath of relief. He'd been sure he was about to die. Angry at everything, Tanis punched a wall with a scream.
Laurana stood motionless. She had no idea what to do now.
.
Eric found a dirt track heading in the direction he needed to go. He hadn't seen a soul all morning. He also hadn't seen a stream where he could water the horses.
"I'm back!" Tikiez announced from beside him as she appeared, making him recoil.
Trying to hide his surprise at her sudden appearance, he asked, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Some elf wizard summoned me. He found bits of me somewhere, that's how he was able to pull me to him. Lucky for me, he wasn't very experienced, I got away," she explained and winked at him.
"Where'd he get the bits?"
"I think from those arrows you pulled out of me. Next time push them through or just break them off. I'll expel them on my own."
"Should have told me then," Eric grumbled at her.
Tikiez paused and nodded. "You're right, I should have. I got them back, so he can't do that again. Oh, while we're at it, make up a name for me. If you call me by my real name and other people hear, they can use that against me also."
"Got it. Can you see any streams around? The horses will need water."
Tikiez sat up tall, sticking her chest out which made her boob-bounce a little more prominent. "Let's see," she said in a hum. "There's a small stream about a mile ahead that the road passes close to. One shack nearby, I don't sense anyone around."
Eric tried, but could not ignore the shaking of her chest. Tikiez smiled.
"At the stream we can do more than water horses," she beamed, and gave her chest an extra shake.
"You are a sex demon," he said with a chuckle.
"And you know how to keep me happy," she agreed.
Heading on down the road, Eric saw the stream ahead. It wasn't very big, only about 4 feet across and a few inches deep. It was water. Between the stream and the road was a level area about the size of a wagon. Seeing the ground looked moist there, he stopped the wagon on the road. On the other side of the road a few yards off the path was a small hut with a conical grass roof. It looked like a one person place.
"I'll get a fire started," Tikiez announced, spread her wings and jumped up off the wagon to fly to some nearby woods.
Eric unhitched the horses one at a time and took tethered them down by the stream so they could drink and graze. On the flat area, Eric found a circle of rocks already there as well as noticed a sitting stump. It figured, there was a hut here, so apparently someone used this fire pit, though with the weeds in it, it wasn't recently. Eric ripped the weeds out, then got out the tripod and the small pot. He looked close in the stream bed and found a place it was a little deeper, right on front of the fire pit. He scooped the pot most of the way full and set it to the side until Tikiez got back with some wood.
Searching for another rock or something to sit on, he noticed a lone figure standing on the road a ways down in the direction they were going. The dark hair was long, no beard, but by the baggy clothes and the carry sack they had over their shoulder, Eric wasn't sure a this distance if it was a man or woman. The person did look human-sized. He waved. "Hello?"
The person wave back and came on at a walk. Eric continued to look for something to sit on. He found a rock just of the road and hauled at it. It moved and a snake went slithering off into the brush. He hauled again and got it loose. Checking for any other critters under it first, He picked it up with a grunt and set if by the fire ring part way around from the log.
"Hello," came a light voice.
He turned to see it was a young girl. She was also dirty and looked tired. "What are you doing out here by yourself?" he asked.
The girl shrugged slightly and said, "Mom said to go and don't look back. She looked scared when she said it."
"You know why?"
She shook her head. "Dad had gone with some men from the town. Mom went out then came back and told me to go. The first day I ran all I could, then kept walking. I've walked three days. I expected someone to come tell me to stop, but no one has. You're the first person I've seen."
"Hungry?"
"Very, you got food?" she asked hopefully.
Remembering Tikiez said not to say her name in front of anyone, he said, "T's gone for firewood. Once she gets back we'll get some food going before we do the wash water. We need cleaning up."
"OK, thank you, Sir." she said meekly.
"Got a name? I'm Eric."
"Cynthia."
"Well, Cynthia, you look just about ready to fall down. Got two spots here to sit. Pick one. I'll go find another," Eric said and gestured to the fire ring.
Cynthia went over and sat. Hearing wing beats, Eric turned to see Tikiez coming with two armloads of wood. She glided down and landed to jog over to him and folded her wings away. He'd forgotten she was topless. He jerked a thump over his shoulder. "We got a visitor."
Tikiez walked around him and eyed the girl. "You look worn out," she said and dropped the wood.
"Ahh, hi," Cynthia said, eyes wide at seeing anther woman walking round with nothing on above her waist.
Squatting by the fire pit, Tikiez broke the branches she got into smaller pieces and set them in the fireplace. "What are you running from?"
"I'm not sure. Mom pushed me out the back door and said run and don't stop. I haven't."
Tikiez looked at her for a moment, then said, "Eric, there's trouble ahead. After I get the fire started, I'll go see what it is if you want."
"Do it. By the time you get beck, the water should be heated up," he agreed.
Tikiez built the fire, Eric put the pot on and went back to the wagon. Tikiez lit the fire by breathing on it. Flames crackled up.
Cynthia's eyes got wide. "Are you dragon?" she asked.
Tikiez chuckled. "See if you can guess. I'll be back soon." She spread her wings and vaulted into the air and flew away.
Eric found some jerky and brought back a canteen of water. Seeing Cynthia look at him, he wondered what to tell her. "T is unusual," he decided on saying. He handed her the jerky and the canteen. "One piece at a time and drink slow."
She nodded and asked, "She's part dragon?"
Eric thought about it aloud. "Well, she does have those wings like a dragon and she can fly, so I guess so."
"You're not afraid of her?"
"No, should I be?" he asked.
Cynthia nodded. "I head dragons breathe fire and burn people to death."
Eric chuckled. "Yeah, they can. I've found usually, if you leave them alone, they leave you alone. Most of the time. They like to nest in caves and rocks up on hilltops. You see one up there, stay far away. They don't like anyone near their nests."
"OK," she replied meekly. She looked in the bag.
"It's jerky. A little tough, but chew for a bit it'll soften up. Sit here and relax, I'm going over to check the horses." he told her.
The horse had drank their fill and were picking through the grass for the tastiest bits. Getting a scan of the area, he didn't see any animals around to bother them. He did notice some men coming up the road. A pair of hound dogs on long leaches were trotting ahead of the horsemen. "Hey, Cynthia, you know those guys?" he asked.
Cynthia came up behind him. "Ohhh," she whined. "They're coming for me!"
Eric frowned at her. "Explain that. Talk quick."
"Every year, the Lord of the castle takes all the girls who turn 16 into the castle. The Lord keeps three or four and sends the rest back out."
"What happened to the ones he keeps?"
Cynthia shook her head. "They are never seen again."
Coming closer, the hound started baying and ran to the ends of their leashes. Eric pulled a pistol and shot them. The men reined their mounts back, staring at Eric.
"It looked like those dogs were coming for me," Eric announced. "You fellas can tell me what's up, or you can join'em."
The rider on the right said, "We're after that girl. She was to come to the castle, but she ran away. We've come to take her back."
"Why is she wanted?" Eric asked.
"She turned sixteen," the other rider said. "It's her time to come get selected or not."
"For what?" Eric asked.
"That's up to the Lord Picon."
Eric shook his head. "She don't want to go."
"If you shield her, we'll have to kill her family."
"No!" Cynthia cried.
Eric felt Tikiez near, he called out, "T! Kill'em!"
The men drew their swords and looked around. From above Tikiez appeared and thrust her arms down at them. Lightning bolts crackled from her hands down onto the men's heads. The men jerked and flailed, the horses whinnied painfully. Men and horses tumbled dead on the road. Tikiez flew down to him.
"Did you have to kill the horses too?" Eric asked her.
"Sorry," Tikiez said with a shrug.
Cynthia gripped Eric's arm. "They are going to kill my parents if I don't go back!"
"Hon, they are going to kill you, if you do," Tikiez told her. To Eric she said, "I watched down onto the courtyard of that castle. They dragged a girl in who was trying to hide. Once everyone there knew what she did, her throat was cut then they stripped her body and hung it up by the neck."
Cynthia gripped Eric's arm harder.
"That's by no means right," Eric said in a grumble. "How far away's this town?"
"A couple day's ride by horse."
Eric looked around then looked at Cynthia. "You stay here with T. I think I need to go find out if this Lord wants to trade with me."
"Trade?" Cynthia asked. "For me?"
Eric let out a snort. "Hell no, I got serious product. Don't figure I can get any gold for you."
Cynthia frowned at him. Tikiez chuckled and asked, "What do I do?"
Motioning, he told her, "Get rid of the bodies, move the wagon off the road up towards the hut there, see how much meat you can get out of those horses and watch over Cynthia here."
"How about the dogs?"
"Bury them with the men. The horse meat should be plenty."
Tikiez folded her arms under her breasts and eyed him. "So I get to play house servant while you go kick some ass?"
"You said you're my servant, didn't you? Oh, speaking of house, make sure that hut's livable for a few days till I get back."
"Yes, Master," Tikiez said with a sigh.
"Hey, if I gotta make a big mess, I'll call you."
"I'll get you a saddle," Tikiez said and stormed off.
.
Eric saddled one of their horses and rode off with a pack of supplies and one bar of steel.
Cynthia noted that most of the work 'T' was doing, she was using magic. To bury the men and dogs, she conjured a hole in the ground, dumped them in, then made the hole disappear. The wagon she lifted and set it off the road. T then sliced the rear legs off the dead horses and buried the rest. The legs she hung up in a tree.
T glanced at her. "The fire's burning down. Add some wood."
Realizing she was staring, Cythia broke her gaze and did as she was asked. Sitting by the fire, she turned to see T approaching. Those big boobs of her moving freely with her steps. Cynthia snapped her gaze back to the fire.
"You have a question?" T asked.
Cynthia blushed and asked, "I … why do you go around bare chested?"
"Because I can."
Cynthia felt her sit down on the stump nearby. "But, everyone will see you! Women aren't suppose to do that."
T laughed. "There's no one here except us."
"Mr, Thunder saw you."
"Mr. Thunder?" T asked with a giggle.
Meekly, Cynthia said, "I forgot his name. I see him as thunder, you're lightning. That's how I see you. You're both wizards."
"Hmmm," T mused musically. "Thunder and Lightning. Yes, that is appropriate. The two go together."
"You're not ashamed of Mr. Thunder seeing your … chest?"
"Why would I be?" T asked. "I do belong to him, and he likes seeing my breasts. I like him looking too."
"It's just strange. Everyone in my village covers up. Mom told me we should never show our private parts," Cynthia explained.
T smirked and said, "I see. Cynthia, there is nothing shameful about any part of your body. Yeah, I do cover up when we're around other people. Out here, I don't have to hide. I can let Master see whatever he wants, I can fly, I can do whatever magic I want. There's no one to run screaming or trying to kill me."
"I wish I could do those things," Cynthia said in a huff.
"Do what you can. Those clothes look a bit warm. Strip them off and wash yourself down," T said. She snapped her fingers and a small cloth appeared. "Here, use this."
Cynthia blushed. "Out here? In the open?"
T waved her arms in a grand gesture and cried, "There's no one else around. If anyone does come, I will know long before they see us."
"But…"
"Cynthia, look at me."
Cynthia did. T's voice became more firm. "Cynthia, there is nothing shameful about your body. You were lied to by people who didn't know any better. Now, stand up with me."
Cynthia did. For some reason, she could not look away from T.
"We are going to wash and clean those clothes. So, let's have them."
Despite her embarrassment, Cynthia removed her over cloak and handed it to T. She then took off her blouse and chemise, then removed her shoes socks , trousers and underwear. Standing naked before T, she couldn't even raise her arms to cover herself as T scanned her body.
"I see nothing to be ashamed of," T said softly. She handed her the cloth. "You wash up, Be careful, the water's hot. Ill get these clothes cleaned."
Cynthia did. Standing here outside with nothing on, she was breaking a taboo. It felt good. Dunking the cloth in the hot water, she washed slowly. T was squatting by the stream and put her blouse up on a bush to dry.
A thought came to her. Thunder and Lightning were free. Free of rules and demands on them. They lived like they wanted, and she was sure they bowed to no one. Remembering how quickly those castle men died, she was also sure there was no one who would ever make them do anything they didn't want to do.
"Can I stay with you?" she asked T.
T turned her head to look at the skinny girl. "I don't think you would really want that. You can ask Master when he gets back."
Cynthia turned to her to deliberately expose her naked body. "I do! I know you are different, but, no one will ever come to demand you go join a line that you may never be seen again. You won't be carted off to wherever someone demands you go. I want to live like that, not be told what to do and where to go," she stated in a firm tone.
T laughed. Getting up, she put Cynthia's underclothes over another bush. "So, you like your taste of freedom?" she asked with a smirk.
"I do!"
Wearing her smirk, T said, "Freedom isn't free, dear. It's work, it's fighting to keep your freedom. It's far from easy and carries responsibility. At times, it's much easier to just do what Master says. I have defied him for his own good. That was a desperate case though, and he knows why I did it. I really like being with my Master. That is my freedom. I think yours may be a little different than ours."
"Can you show me how?"
T shrugged, then slipped out of her shorts to show she had no underwear. "Sorry , you're too different than I am. Keep that water warm. After I clean my shorts, I'll do your back."
Looking down, Cynthia didn't think before she said, "You're bald down there?"
T pointed to her head. "I only have hair in my head." She then squatted back down and washed her shorts.
T was really odd, but Cynthia couldn't help but to admire how bold she was. It was like T wasn't afraid of anything. With T's offer to help her, she asked, "Can I do your back?"
"Certainly," T said. She wrung her shorts out and found an unoccupied bush to lay them over.
Cynthia sat facing away from T as T ran the wash cloth over her back. It felt so good she sighed. She was also done too soon.
"My turn," T said and handed her the cloth.
Switching places, Cynthia gently washed T's back up and down. T's skin was soft, but she felt hard underneath. She kept washing in pets long after she had cleaned the woman.
"You like that, huh?" T asked.
"This is new to me, and nice," Cynthia admitted.
"Care to do my wings then?" T asked.
"OK."
Watching as long ridges form on T's back, Cynthia was mesmerized as the ridges turned dark then unfolded into dark leathern wings and stretched out to the sides. She washed them carefully, studying the bone structure and the veins within. If anyone told her she'd be doing something like this a week a go, she'd call them a liar. It took a while to cover the whole expanse of T's wings.
When Cynthia was done, T turned around and cast her a smile. "Do you feel brave enough to play for a bit?" she asked softly.
"Play?" Cynthia asked, confused.
T petted her cheek gently, making Cynthia's face heat up. "No one's around, and no one will ever know," she coaxed.
Gazing into T's beautiful face, Cynthia breathed, "OK."
