“Elyn! Are you in there?” Lanala knocked on the door to the fire mage’s quarters and nobody answered her. It was odd. She had asked everyone where Elyn had gone and every answer she got told her she was in her room. Taria, the nimble warrior, always seemed to know exactly where Elyn was and said that she had gone to her room for some ‘alone time.’
Elyn certainly is an oddball Lanala thought. Oddball though she may be there was a certain charm in her cocky attitude and tough talking banter. Elyn was another mistress of magic, like Lanala and Luna, though she had mastered fire, the most dangerous and draining of the magic schools. Whenever she used it, Lanala would find herself exhausted from the sheer effort of conjuring flame. She didn’t know how Elyn had the energy but she seemed to be tireless.
Still thinking about Elyn, Lanala was about to turn and leave when she heard a shuffling sound come from within Elyn’s room. Lanala leaned to the door and listened closely; the shuffling continued and something sounded like it fell over. Then she heard a sort of low groaning.
“Elyn? Are you all right? What’s going on? Are you in there?”
Still no answer. To hell with it Lanala thought. She had already knocked. And if Elyn was in trouble, which she often was, then it was up to her to help. Lanala pushed on the door and found it didn’t budge.
“Locked,” she said to herself. “Hold on, Elyn. I’m coming in.”
Lanala concentrated and placed her right hand on the deadbolt to the door. In her mind, she pictured the inside of the deadbolt and electrical energy arced from her fingers. With further focus, Lanala saw a word enter her mind’s eye. Somewhere in all her days of learning, she kept this word in her memory and the power of the spell summoned it forth. She spoke the word aloud.
“Atavera,” she said.
The word meant ‘open’ in some distant kingdom where humans first discovered the use of magic. Lanala had never known what the word meant but now, with her mastery of lightning and wards, she knew it intuitively. The deadbolt clicked and Lanala had to stop thinking all at once to prevent the spell from sapping more of her energy. When she turned the knob, the after effects made her head spin a bit but a practiced magic user knew that this was just a bit of drowsiness. This was common for any master of magic and she knew that any prolonged use of magic was bound to make her tired. But this minor spell would leave her adept mind in an instant and she’d be fine.
Lanala stepped inside the room and took a cursory glance around. Elyn sure loves red Lanala thought. No surprise there, I suppose. The soft carpet that coated the floor was a vibrant red with yellow trim around the edges. A polished, cherry wood vanity rested up against the wall with a completely blacked out mirror above it. Lanala rolled her eyes.
“Really, Elyn?” she said to herself. “You turned it into a scrying mirror? What are you, some kind of- oh!”
Lanala jumped in surprise when she looked to the fire mage’s large bed. Red, frilled curtains draped about the top of four poles and red sheets and covers adorned the luxurious bed. But what had surprised Lanala was that Elyn, still in her battlemage outfit, lay bound and gagged upon the bed. She didn’t seem to see Lanala when she entered.
Thin, silky rope bound her legs at the ankles and knees. More rope wound around her arms and torso above and below her breasts, though it looked a bit loose. Her hands were held behind her but the spellcaster didn’t see what bound them because Elyn was laying on her back. Lanala didn’t know they made rope in such a vibrant blue colour but it contrasted with Elyn’s clothing perfectly.
The fire mage dressed in what Lanala often described as a ‘provocative’ manner. Elyn seemed to hate covering up her arms and legs and they remained bare, showing off her trim, muscular body. Her’ shirt,’ if it could be called one, was tiny and covered the barest minimum of her upper chest. It was made of a beautiful red satin. She wore what Lanala could only describe as ‘shorts’ though they were so short that they may as well have been underpants. Elyn said she wore underpants underneath it but it seemed almost pointless. They, too, were satin and also red, though the bottom half was black and a red, floral pattern covered the right ‘leg’ of the shorts. Lanala asked Elyn one time why she bothered with her black, steel coated bracers if the rest of her was so unprotected but the fire mage just shrugged and said “I like them.”
Elyn also wore her flat, red shoes which seemed to indicate that she must have been taken by surprise soon after entering the room.
Lanala furrowed her brow when she looked at Elyn’s still open eyes and the fire mage didn’t seem to see her still. Elyn’s sparkling, light red eyes shone with extreme intelligence but also a slightly malicious nature. Elyn was not cruel or mean, really, but there always seemed to be something going on in her mind behind those wild eyes. Lanala noted that Elyn wore a bright orange ball gag that matched the colour of her short hair. Elyn’s hair was thick at the top and parts of it drifted down around the side of her head but it was cropped much closer to her head than the rest of the women of the order. But, in spite of its shorter nature, Lanala still liked Elyn’s hair. It fit her.
But Lanala shook her head. She was getting distracted again. Stepping to the bed, Lanala knelt down and looked directly into Elyn’s face.
“Elyn, what happened?” she asked.
Elyn seemed to look straight through her and moaned softly into the gag. Lanala furrowed her brow.
“Elyn, what’s the matter? What happened to you?”
A spark of recognition entered Elyn’s eyes and she finally looked right at Lanala. A wry smile spread across Elyn’s lips behind the gag and she tried to speak.
“Lmmaghhlla,” she said.
“Hang on let me get this out of your mouth.”
Lanala unbuckled the ball gag and tossed it aside onto Elyn’s bed.
“Lanala,” she said, in her deep, smoky voice. She worked her jaw back and forth after speaking for the first time. “You’ve caught me, I suppose.”
“Caught you? What do you mean? Who did this to you?”
“I did?” Elyn said, a sheepish grin appearing on her face.
“You... oh. Damn it. I should have known,” Lanala said. She stepped back from the bed. “I-I’m sorry to have-”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you found me, actually. Did you see a key anywhere on the floor?”
“A... key? A key for what?”
“I borrowed a pair of shackles,” Elyn said. “But I dropped the key and couldn’t find it anywhere. So I just figured I’d enjoy myself until one of you came to get me. Do you think you could help me out?”
Lanala sighed.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone that you were doing... um, this?”
“Hey, somebody would have come for me. I’m only in my room, after all.”
“The door was locked. What if I hadn’t thought to unlock it and just left? You could have been stuck for days.”
“I know,” Elyn said with a smile. “Exciting, isn’t it?”
“E-exciting?” Lanala stammered. “Why... how... nevermind. I came here to get you, actually. Artema wants us all out in the sparring arena.”
“Well I do still need to get out of these,” Elyn said. “And I still have my aforementioned lost key problem.”
Lanala sighed again. “Where did you see it last?”
“On the vanity,” Elyn said. “I hopped over there to grab it but it fell and I couldn’t see it anywhere on the floor.”
“So why don’t you just... I don’t know. Melt the shackles?”
Elyn chuckled.
“Oh, my dear Lanala,” she said. “It doesn’t work that way. You really don’t understand the fire school, do you?”
Lanala shrugged. “I guess not. All right. Let me find your blasted key then.”
“Thank you, Lanala.”
Lanala crouched down on the floor by Elyn’s vanity and scoured the floor. All she could see was red carpet.
“Do you know what colour the key is?”
Elyn chuckled again.
“Um... would you kill me if I told you I dyed it red?”
“Red!?” Lanala said, whirling around as she stood up. “Are you joking?”
“Unfortunately not,” Elyn said. “But doing that was part of the fun. You should try this sometime.”
“I have,” Lanala said. “But not for years. I’ve been too busy.”
“You can’t work all the time, Lanala. You really should relax more. Think of it as a hobby.”
Lanala scoffed.
“Right, a hobby. Like scrying? Since when were you a two-bit fortune teller, Elyn?”
“Not everyone with a scrying mirror is a fraud. I can see things in there, you know.”
“Yeah, like your own dull expression. At the academy, all I ever saw out of people with scrying mirrors were people trying to bilk everyone out of their money.”
“Then you’ve never met a genuine soothsayer,” Elyn said. She struggled to sit up and stared deep into the black mirror. She smiled. “Ah, look there. You can see Artema. She’s walking down a hallway.”
“Elyn, don’t bother. I know you’re just making this up.”
Elyn smiled wide.
“She’s getting closer now. Oh, she’s stopped in front of a door. She’s raising her hand like she’s going to knock and-”
Elyn was cut off when a heavy knock pounded against her door.
“Elyn? Lanala? Are you in there?” Artema’s strong voice called to them from the hallway.
Lanala looked to the black mirror and saw only her own face staring back. She turned back to Elyn, who still had a wry smile on her face.
“Believe me now? I can do all sorts of mysterious and wonderful things, Lanala. Open your mind up to those possibilities and maybe you’ll see things a little clearer.
“That..” Lanala hesitated. “That was just a lucky guess.”
Lanala turned away from Elyn then and walked to the door. When she opened it, her wife, their leader, stood there with her arms folded.
“What is taking you two so... oh.”
Artema noticed Elyn on the bed, who flashed her a warm smile. Lanala sighed.
“She lost her key,” Lanala said. “I was helping her find it.”
Artema lowered her face into one of her palms and let out a long sigh.
“Elyn, at least tell someone you’re going to do this. Then we won’t have to waste time looking for you.”
“I did. I told Taria.”
“You told her you were taking some ‘alone time,’” Artema said. “That could mean anything. Also, why wouldn’t you have a spare key?”
“It’s more exciting this way,” Elyn said.
“And dangerous.”
“Danger is exciting.”
Artema just shook her head and turned to leave.
“We have spare shackle keys by the training cell hanging up by the window, Lanala. If you can’t find hers, go get one of those. I don’t have any more time for this. The others are waiting for their briefing. I’m not waiting around anymore.”
“But what about us?” Lanala asked.
“I’ll brief you when you’ve finished untying Elyn. All right?”
“Okay...” Lanala said.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Elyn said. She didn’t quite sound sincere.
“Just let someone know next time, all right?” Artema said.
“Will do.”
The hulking leader closed the door and left the two of them alone again.
...
Four women milled about the sparring arena to varying degrees but only one of them stood completely still. A tall, slender woman in an elegant, yellow dress stood with her hands clasped in front of her. She gripped one of her thick, black and yellow bracers and tapped one foot in one of her knee-length, yellow boots on the ground impatiently. The serious woman had her vibrant, red hair cut into a perfect bob. Her shining, golden eyes flitted back and forth between the other three and the door to the quarters where their leader had gone.
One of her hands drifted to the longsword on her right hip and her eyes moved to the small crossbow on her left hip. This was Meryn, known throughout the Island of Ikaatan as the Gold-Eyed Maiden. Before joining the order, Meryn had been a crimefighter who battled criminals in every settlement across the land. She was an excellent fighter and wielded her sword better than almost anyone. Though, soon after she joined the order, she realized that she had never met warriors as good as Taria or Artema. They still bested her every time in sparring.
She had caught the attention of Artema in the Island’s capital city of Diikat. Meryn took on ten members of a crime syndicate that practically ran the city. She took them on all at once and word spread of her impressive skill but she became overwhelmed and the lead woman of the syndicate captured her. Artema rescued her, impressed by the stories of her skill, and offered Meryn the chance to join the order. Meryn had initially hesitated but, when she found herself captured and rescued yet again, she decided that she’d had enough of working alone and accepted.
Artema returned to the sparring arena and the four of them stood to attention. Taria spoke first.
“Where are the other two?”
“They’re... it’s complicated. Just a minor problem. They’ll have to skip the briefing. I’ll talk to them later.”
“Okay...” Taria said, skeptically.
“Do we have a mission?” Mirelle piped in with her typical happy tone.
“We do,” Artema said. “I’ve been informed that most of the Queen’s caravans are not arriving at their destination and their carriages are reported to have been burned. Many couriers have gone missing as well.”
“Sounds like Fa’rah’s bandits,” Taria said, referring to Ikaatan’s most wanted bandit tribe leader.
“It does,” Artema said. “But here’s the problem. She and half her clan were captured by the Queen’s Honour Guard less than three days ago and four more caravans have gone missing since then.”
“So then is someone emulating them?”
“That’s what we’ve been tasked with finding out. One of the caravans was sacked just a few miles up the road from us. But all reports I’ve gotten indicate that it looks like a trap to kidnap guards and the like.”
“This has happened before?” Luna asked. Artema nodded.
“Apparently, whoever these people are, they’re interested more in the people rather than stealing the goods.”
“So are we investigating this nearby caravan?” Meryn asked.
“Not yet,” Artema said. “I’ve sent for a scout. One of the Queen’s spies. You know the one.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Oh, not him.”
“Yes, him,” Artema said. “He’ll be the one to scout ahead to this caravan and then report back to me. I expect him within the next two days.”
“What do we do until then?” Taria asked.
“Step up our training,” Artema said. “Taria, I want you to help Mirelle and Luna with hand-to-hand combat training. Just show them what you know.”
“It will be done, ma’am,” Taria said.
“What about me?” Meryn asked.
“Report to the training cell. We need to get you working on level three. You have a propensity for running into trouble and I want you to be safe, Meryn.”
Meryn’s expression did not change.
“Yes. Of course, ma’am,” she said.
“All right. You have your orders. Get moving, ladies.”
...
“Hggmmph!”
Meryn grunted and struggled but didn’t seem to be making any headway. A wooden pole sat in the far corner of the training cell, in direct sight of the window, and Meryn was currently tied to it.
Thick ropes coiled their way around her ankles, calves, and thighs. The medium-length skirt of her dress rode up a bit and revealed her elegant and toned thigh muscles. More tight ropes kept her arms pinned to her sides and wrapped around the pole just above her elbows and above her biceps. Another had been tied around her forehead, pinning her head in place and preventing her from looking down. Her wrists were bound behind the pole, crossed, and lashed together with a thick rope. A heavy cloth was shoved into her mouth and sealed behind a second cloth, tightly tied behind her head. A third cloth covered her mouth and nose and muffled her grunts into quiet murmurs.
She strained hard against the coils of tight rope but she couldn’t get any of them to budge even slightly. She worked her wrists up and down and tried to reach any of the knots that bound the ropes to her body but everything seemed to be out of reach.
“Mmmmph!” she bellowed into her gag, trying to stamp her foot in frustration. She writhed and squirmed and then struggled as hard as she could but she remained firmly stuck in a standing position attached to the pole.
“Grmm mmmmph!”
“Come on, Meryn,” Artema said. “Don’t let it frustrate you. Keep a clear head and you’ll do fine.”
“Hmmmmph...” Meryn groaned. The blasted ropes were just so tight.
While Meryn struggled, two women walked into the hallway from Artema’s left and stood beside her. They stared into the cell with her.
“You found the key then?” Artema asked.
“Eventually...,” Lanala said. “With Elyn’s stupid mirror.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Elyn said, folding her arms and standing wide like their leader. Artema made Elyn looked positively tiny standing next to her. So did Lanala. Even though Elyn was muscular she was svelte and rather short. Mirelle was the only one shorter than Elyn out of all seven of them, in fact.
“I suppose,” Lanala said. “But it’s still a waste of effort.”
“It helps to be far-seeing, Lanala,” Elyn said. “Oh, and by the way. I won’t be needing that briefing, Artema.”
The huge woman looked her way and gave her an ominous, sidelong glance.
“Why is that?”
“I saw it all. In the mirror. I told Lanala, too.”
Artema sighed.
“I don’t care what you can see in that mirror. You need to be present. You’re just as much a part of this order as the rest of us.”
“I know,” Elyn said. “I would have come sooner but I was a little tied up, you see.”
Artema rolled her eyes at the pun.
“Just try to be careful. And stop wasting your time with that bloody mirror.”
“Really? And have you miss out on information regarding a certain scout?”
Artema growled under her breath.
“You saw him, did you? What happened?”
“He looked injured, but not badly,” Elyn said. “I think he may have gotten attacked on his way to the ruined caravan. Seemed to be favouring his left shoulder a bit.”
“Well do you know if he found anything out?”
“It doesn’t read minds, Artema. I saw him headed our way, though, so I’d wager he found out something.”
Artema shook her head and turned her attention back to the bound and gagged Meryn in the training cell.
“Fine. We’ll see if you’re right when he gets here.”
“Of course I’m right,” Elyn said with a smirk. “I’m so much more than just this dashing face.”
“Shut up, Elyn,” Artema said. She leaned toward the window. “Ten minutes, Meryn!”
The Gold-Eyed Maiden thrashed and struggled harder when Artema said this but still made no progress.
“Say, that looks like fun,” Elyn said, staring at Meryn. “Can I have a turn when she’s done? At, say, level five?”
“You haven’t even passed level two yet,” Artema said. “And no. It’s not a game. I don’t care how much you enjoy it. It’s training and you have to take it seriously.”
“Aww, come on. I just want to know what it feels like. All those chains... it would be such a thrill.”
“No, Elyn,” Artema said, sternly. “And before you ask, no. You can’t use the quiet room. Just go back to your room and play your games.”
Elyn flashed a wicked smile and turned to Lanala.
“Would you help me again?”
Lanala huffed. “You want me to tie you up again? I just finished untying you!”
“Um.. not exactly. I have some chains back in my room. Do you think you could... chain me to one of my bedposts?”
“Are you serious?”
“Please, Lanala? It’ll be so much fun.”
“For you. It’ll be work for me.”
“Lanala,” Artema said. “I’m sick of hearing her whine. Just do this favour for her. And gag her so I don’t have to hear her voice any longer.”
“Artema...”
“Lanala, please. I have work to do. You do this and she’ll be out of our hair for awhile. If you want, I’ll go and free her in a few hours.”
Lanala sighed.
“All right, fine.”
Elyn stepped forward, letting her hips sway, and her smile grew wider.
“Oh this is just excellent,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither,” Lanala said, rolling her eyes.
They returned to Elyn’s room together and Lanala shut the door. When she turned around again, Elyn already had everything laid out on her bed.
“You already had this stuff ready?” Lanala asked.
“Well, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Nevermind. Just get up against that pole there.”
Elyn stood straight and placed her hands behind the bedpost closest to the door. She clamped her legs together and straightened her back. She smiled, sweetly this time.
“Thanks for doing this, Lanala.”
“Yeah, all right. Let’s just get this over with.”
Lanala started by placing Elyn’s own heavy shackles on her wrists. She carefully laid her ridiculous red key on top of the vanity across the room, pushing it far away from the edge.
“It’s right here,” Lanala said. “Just try to tell Artema where it is when she comes in, all right?”
“I can remember that,” Elyn said.
“Good. Now, where do you want me to put all these chains?”
“All over. Legs, arms, everything. And pull them tight.”
“Sure thing,” Lanala said.
She wrapped one of the the thin, red chains around Elyn’s ankles and locked it in place. Lanala found she had enough to chain up Elyn’s legs above and below the knees and at the top of her shapely thighs. Three more went around her waist, attaching to the shackles, and then around her arms above, framing her breasts and the tiny top that covered them. When they were all locked in place, Lanala picked up two orange gags from the bed. One was the ball gag she wore earlier and the other was also a ball gag but with a thick, leather panel covering it. Elyn nodded to the one with the panel.
“That one. It’ll keep me nice and quiet,” she said.
Elyn opened her mouth wide and bit down on the ball when Lanala shoved it into her mouth. She buckled it as tight as she could behind Elyn’s head and then stood back.
“Hey, I’m pretty good at this,” Lanala said.
“Hmm hmmph,” Elyn said in agreement.
“Should I tell Artema when to come and let you out?”
“Mmm mmm,” Elyn said, shaking her head.
“Okay. So just let her come of her own accord? That could be a long time.”
“Mmm mmph,” Elyn said. “Mmmph ummm kmmm.”
“Yeah, I didn’t get a word,” Lanala said. “See you later then?”
“Mmmph,” Elyn said.
“All right. Have fun, I guess.”
“Mmmph. Mmm mmmlph.”
Lanala shut the door and left Elyn to her struggles. The fire mage tugged as hard as she could on the chains that bound her but they had no give. She moaned into her gag and felt an incredible thrill.
“Mmmmmm...”
She took in a deep breath and tried to let out a scream.
“MMPH MMMMMPH!”
She barely made a sound. Elyn had butterflies in her stomach when she realized that no one could hear her muffled cries. She almost couldn’t contain her excitement and shuffled in her bonds uncontrollably. The chains dug into her skin and just made her feel an even greater thrill when they seemed to pull tighter. With a furious shake of her wrists, she felt the weight of the heavy shackles keep her wrists locked behind her and refuse to allow her freedom.
“Mmmmmm...” she moaned again. It was such an incredible thrill. The chains, the shackles, her own stifling gag... she wondered how the others couldn’t love this as much as she did. She always looked forward to escape training and never wanted to succeed. She realized she probably could have by now but the thrill of the tight ropes just made her... give up trying. She’d struggle, sure, but just to feel the ropes better. Elyn tried her best to make a show of it for Artema but she never wanted to escape. The quiet room just made it even better when she’d get to be...
“Mmmnph!’ she cursed. She should have asked Lanala to blindfold her. Oh well. Too late now she thought.
With more butterflies in her stomach, Elyn took in a breath and let loose another scream.
“MMMMMPPPH!”
She slumped back against the bedpost and moaned. This was truly a great thrill indeed.