"It's no use..." Amilla said, coming to a halt. Nearby, Aisha also came to a halt, holding her bow at the ready, an arrow knocked. They'd already been ambushed once their quarry.  "We're not going to find her tonight, either of them. Let's get back to Maritha and tell her what happened." The two amazons had been searching the woods for around half an hour, since Tvirin had disappeared. The light of the setting sun, what little of it filtered through the thick branches and leaves of the forest, was fading fast as the red orb slowly sank over the horizon. The amazon guardswoman didn't relish the thought of trying to find her way back to their camp through this dense wilderness in darkness.

"What about Tvirin?" Aisha asked, concernedly. Since the short north-woman had chased after the elven thief into the woods, they hadn't seen any trace of her. Whether she was dead, or injured, or a prisoner of the elf, or simply lost and wandering about, they had no idea, though given their quarry's record, thus far, of dealing with the amazons she had run into during her flight from the palace, Amilla thought it likely her missing companion was now currently hidden away somewhere, stringently bound and gagged. "We can't just abandon her!"

Amilla shook her head. "We won't do her any good if we get ourselves lost, or worse. We'll meet with Maritha, wait for daylight. Hopefully by then help will have arrived. Then we'll all search through these woods, carefully, and find Tvirin and the thief. Tvirin's a big girl. She can handle one night alone in the woods, no matter what that elf bitch has done with her."    

Aisha nodded, though she still looked unhappy at the prospect.

Amilla turned, eyes scanning the ground. The two amazons had gotten completely turned around, during their chase after Tvirin and their frantic search. She wished she had one of those lodestones, that mages sometimes used, that pointed north, no matter which way you turned, but such magical items were rare, not something you'd expect a lowly guardswoman, even a member of the royal palace guard, to possess. Fortunately, the sun hadn't completely set. Amilla could just make out which direction it was setting in, which would tell her which way was west...

Aisha's eyes widened as a figure stealthily stood from the underbrush behind her, reached underneath her helmet and clamped a hand over the startled amazon's mouth, preventing her from crying out. The unseen attacker's other arm went around the woman's waist. With surprising strength, given the attacker's size, Aisha was dragged back into the bushes.

She groaned into the hand over her mouth as her attacker pushed her to the ground roughly. Her helmet fell off, bouncing off to the side. The hand was removed. Aisha opened her mouth to call out a word of warning to Amilla, but before she could speak, a wad of cloth was stuffed between her teeth. She gagged, trying in vain to spit the balled up fabric out. Meanwhile, the elf, it could be no one else, pulled Aisha's arms behind her back.  Using a single, long coil of rope, she wrapped one end quickly around the amazon's crossed wrists, laying the coils over one another, so they wouldn't come loose. She ran the rope down Aisha's back and did the same with her captive's feet.

It took only moments to complete the struggling guard's bonds. The ropes were not knotted, the tension on the ropes and the way they were layered over one another kept them tight. The more Aisha struggled, the tighter her bonds remained. Even so, she'd wriggle loose soon enough. In the meantime, though...

Amilla stood back in the clearing. She'd been puzzling out where they were now, and how to get back to the camp. Lost in concentration, she hadn't noticed her companion's disappearance. "I think I've figured out which way we need to go, Aisha." Amilla said, triumphantly. She turned around. It wasn't Aisha standing behind her...

***

"Not much further now, ladies." The elf said, playfully, giving a sharp tug on the length of rope, held in the middle, in her right hand. From behind her, a pair of muffled groans answered her. Aisha and Amilla were tethered at the neck to the long rope, at either end. The elf's captive had their hands lashed tightly behind their backs and their feet hobbled, leaving them just enough slack to shuffle after their captor.

Both women had lost their helmets; the elf had stuffed them in the sack she carried over one shoulder, which seemed to contain and endless supply of soft, strong rope and torn strips of cloth, along with something else which had clanked loudly when she dropped the steel helms in with it. She was dressed in a loose brown traveling cloak; the hood had been tossed back to reveal a young, narrow face. Her eyes were large and expressive and her large, prominent ears were unmistakably pointed. The elf maid's hair was a pale blonde, cut short an arranged in an artfully messy tangle. Looking at her, Amilla wouldn't have placed her age higher than 17 or 18 years old, but she knew, with elves, appearances were deceiving. Still, she certainly acted like an amazon girl of that age, gleefully teasing her captives the whole time.      

The two helpless women had no way of replying to her taunts. Their mouths were stuffed with wadded up cloth, torn from the clothes of one of the thief's earlier victims, then cleave gagged long strips of cloth taken from the same source. Luckily, she'd held off blindfolding them, they would have never made it ten yards; as it was they had enough trouble navigating the dense tangle of branches and underbrush with their hands lashed behind their backs and their feet loosely tied together.

Aisha glanced fearfully over at Amilla, who returned it with a frightened look of her own. Taken by surprise, Amilla had been quickly overpowered by the elf that, in spite of her slender frame and youthful appearance, exceeded her in both strength and skill; wrestling the amazon to the ground and trussing her up in moments. Despite her struggles, Amilla had been dragged over to the bushes where Aisha had made scant progress freeing herself. The elf had paused to retie her two prisoners for traveling, before she set off into the woods, the two helpless amazons following along at the end of their tethers...

"Ah...here we are!" The elf said, glancing up as she entered a clearing. Looking up, she could just make out a flash of red hair. Tvirin was still hanging upside down from the tree branch. She had given up struggling for the moment and hung limply, swaying back and forth in a light breeze. "Hallo!" The elf called up, waving mockingly up at her first captive. Tvirin heard her cry and glanced down. The elf's keen hearing picked up the note of muffled despair that escaped the amazon's tightly gagged lips. Her other captives couldn't hear Tvirin's grunts, but they had heard the elf's cry and followed her gaze up into the tree. They moaned in despair to, seeing their friend in such an awkward state.

"You two wait here a moment." the elf said, tying their tether off to the trunk of a nearby sapling. "I'll go and fetch your friend down..." Springing nimbly up the trunk of the tree, she disappeared into the branches. For a few minutes, all the two amazons heard was the rustling of branches and leaves. Up above them, they heard a loud squeal of fright from Tvirin. A second later, the elf reappeared, jumping down from branch to branch, the bound and gagged amazon thrown over one shoulder.

"There!" the thief said, as she set Tvirin down beside the other two amazons. "All together again!" She smiled cheerfully, examining her three tightly bound and gagged captives. "Of course, there are still the other three waiting outside the forest. Can't leave now or they'll ride me down. Can't wait too long, or there will be more guards, come to look for me and I didn't bring enough rope for that!" she laughed. "So it looks like I'll have to see to your other friends before I go...and for that, I'll need a volunteer and a uniform..."

The three watched, Amilla and Aisha nervously, Tvirin glaring angrily up, as their captor looked over the three. Tvirin...too small; Aisha...too tall; Amilla though...just right. The elf stepped forward, drawing her stolen short sword. Amilla's eyes went wide, but to her relief, the elf just cut through the rope leash around her neck. Spinning the amazon around, she sliced through the rope binding her hands and feet next.      

"Now, if you'd be so kindly as to take off your armor and clothes, please." The elf ordered, turning Amilla back around again. The amazon blushed, underneath her gag, but the short sword held in her captor's hands made it quite plain this was no mere request. Reluctantly, Amilla reached up and undid the straps of her breast plate, two at the shoulder, two at the side, letting the two halves fall off her body. She crouched down and undid the straps of her greaves, removing them as well.

Amilla stood, now clad in in a short, red tunic, belted at the waist, and a pair of sandals. She unbuckled the belt, letting it and the empty scabbard hanging from it, fall to the ground. A soft groan escaped her gag as she reached down and grabbed the hem of her tunic. Slowly, Amilla raised it over her head and pulled it off. Underneath it, she was naked, save for a linen loincloth.

"Come on! Don't be shy!" the elf teased. Amilla sighed. She was more then used to the communal baths the palace guards used and the usual teasing the older guards inflicted on the new girls, but still, she felt her cheeks flush red as she stripped off her loincloth and sandals before standing before her captor, naked save for her gag. The smirk that crossed the elf's face as she ran her eyes up and down Amilla's lean, muscled figure didn't help...

"I wish I had some more time to play with you." the elf commented. "You two as well." she nodded to her other captives. "But I think we best be seeing to your other friends." she motioned for Amilla to turn around. With a miserable whimper, Amilla obeyed, placing her hands behind her back as the elf pulled out more rope to tie her up again...

***

"Keep moving." the elf ordered, giving her captive a shove. Aisha stumbled forward, struggling to stay upright. Her feet were still hobbled and the thief had put Aisha's helmet back on. The sun had completely set now, leaving the forest near pitch dark. Peering through the eye holes of her helmet, Aisha had difficulty spotting every root, branch, hole in her way.

Aisha's hands had been untied, but a coil of rope was bound around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides. From a distance, it would be difficult to tell the young amazon was tied up. The helmet hid the band of cloth gagging her. The darkness hid the bonds on her arm and feet.

The other end of the rope was held in the elf's left hand, to keep her hostage from running off. Her other hand held her stolen sword, loosely at her side, but still there, to remind Aisha not to try anything. She had dressed in Amilla's tunic and armor, putting on the guard's helmet, to hide her own features.

"Ah, here we are!" the elf said, her voice muffled by the helmet she wore. Ahead of them, Aisha could finally see a break in the trees ahead of them. She groaned into her gag in relief. It felt like they'd been walking for hours. The amazon was certain they had gotten lost, certainly she had no idea where she was, but her captor had never doubted her sense of direction.

As the two stepped out under the open sky into the starlight, Aisha noticed the light of a campfire, thirty yards in front of them. She whimpered into her gag, spotting Hestia. The young amazon stood, spotting the two of them. She shouted something and Aisha saw Maritha, running over from the fire.

"Come on." the elf whispered, placing an arm around Aisha's waist. Her other hand briefly raised the sword it held, so the blade glinted in the moonlight. "Don't even think of trying anything..." Aisha nodded, nervously, whimpering into her gag in fear. She shuffled forward, as quickly as the ropes around her ankles allowed, her captor moving with her.

"Where's Tvirin?" Maritha said, stepping forward. In the darkness, she obviously took the elf for Amilla. Tvirin and she had been left behind in the forest, lashed together, back to back, blindfolded and gagged. Having experienced the thief's rope skills first hand, Aisha was certain the two of them would not be freeing themselves any time soon.

"Tvirin?" the elf said, mimicking Amilla's voice, near enough the muffling from her helmet covered any difference. Aisha saw Hestia run up, to help them. She grunted into her gag, trying to warn her companion, but Hestia either didn't hear Aisha's warning, or didn't understand.

"She's fine...in fact, she’s currently my captive!" Aisha squealed in surprise as the elf suddenly threw her forward, out of the way. As she fell, the tied up amazon saw the look on Hestia's face as the elf jumped and grabbed her. Then, Aisha hit the ground, the wind knocked out of her. She squirmed, struggling to rise, as Maritha drew her sword...

***

Maritha glared at the elf. Now that she knew to look for it, it was easy enough, in the light of the fire, to spot the differences between Amilla and the thief who'd stolen her armor. She was more slender, the breast plate didn't fit on her quite right, it looked loose. Silently, the amazon cursed her decision to send the three guardswomen into the woods. She had underestimated this not-so common thief and now two of her women were the prisoners of this elf, somewhere in the forest.

"Lower your sword, amazon." the elf ordered. She held her blade to the squirming Hestia's throat, a warning of what would happen if Maritha did not obey.

"Now a chance, thief." Maritha growled, angrily. "I have no guarantee you won't just kill us all the moment I disarm myself."

Underneath her helmet, the elf grinned. A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "Fair enough, I suppose, though I try not to make a habit of killing people I don't need to, especially cute girls like you..." she teased her hostage. Turning back to Maritha, she continued. "So how about this: why don't we settle things with a duel; your sword against mine. If you win, I will tell you where your comrades are and surrender myself to your Amazonian justice."

"And if you win?" Maritha asked. She didn't fancy her chances against this elf woman, she had taken out three of the guard captain's best fighters, quite a feat even if she had ambushed them in the forest; but unfortunately, she didn't see any other way out of this stalemate.

The elf smiled. "Like I said, I try not to kill anyone I don't have to."

"Fine." Maritha conceded.

"Excellent. Now, first, we need to make sure no one interferes with our duel." With her free hand, she reached into a bag hanging at her side. From inside it, the elf pulled out a neatly coiled length of rope. "Go and tie up your friend, the mage there." She nodded towards Livia, tossing the coil of rope towards Maritha.

The amazon caught it in her left hand and turned towards Livia. The mage looked back, her face pale, her eyes wide, with fright. She walked over to the younger woman, keeping watch on the elf out of the corner of her eye. "We had best do as she says, for Hestia's sake." Maritha told her. The elf's sword blade hadn't left her hostage's throat. Maritha stuck her sword into the soft ground, where she could easily grab it if the elf tried anything and began uncoiling the rope.

Livia nodded, turning, crossing her wrists behind her back, she knew what to do. Maritha began wrapping one length around the mage's wrists. Along with the rest of the palace guards, Maritha had been trained in how to properly secure captives, and what to do when you found yourself tied up, for all the good it had done her women against the elf's skill with the rope. Evidently the royal mages had undergone similar training. Maritha quickly bound her wrists, and then tied a harness of rope around her arms and chest, knotting it securely, but not excessively tight.  

"Gag her to." The elf ordered. "I don't want her casting any sort of spell while we're fighting." From inside her bag, she took out several strips of cloth Maritha recognized as having come from a guard's tunic, and tossed them to the amazon. Reluctantly, Maritha did so, stuffing one wadded up strip in Livia's mouth and tying the other around her head, to keep it in. Meanwhile, the elf thief had done the same with Hestia, binding her hands and feet and hogtying her, next to Aisha. Maritha led the mage over by Hestia and had her lie down beside the guard, binding her ankles as well.

"Now, before we begin..." the elf said, standing up from her second captive. Sheathing her sword, the woman reached up and undid the straps of her ill-fitting armor, letting the pieces fall away. She reached up and removed her helmet. Underneath it, her youthful-looking face regarded Maritha with a mocking smirk. "That feels much better." She said, stretching. She was now wearing only the loose fitting tunic, belted at her thin waist, and sandals. "If you are ready, we can start." Her sword rang against the sheath as she drew it and held it low in front of her, falling easily into a fighting stance.

With a wearied sigh, Maritha stood, drawing her own blade. The woman reached up and pulled her own helmet off and tossed it aside. In a battle, where an arrow or wild sword blow could come from any direction, a strong helm was a literal lifesaver. In a one on one duel, though, it was more liability then help, making it difficult to see, or breathe. "Oooh!" The elf teased. "You're pretty cute too! It’d be a shame to kill a pretty thing like you. Why don’t you just surrender? I promise not to hurt you or your friends.” She grinned. “In fact you might even like it, and it would save us some time…”  

"Ignore her." Maritha thought to herself. The thief was trying to make her lose her focus, act blindly and make a fatal mistake. Dropping into her own fighting stance, she cautiously edged forward, keeping her eye on the elf's eyes, to try and predict her moves. Her opponent stood as still as a statue, not moving an inch as Maritha approached, making no move to attack. Evidently, she wanted the amazon to begin the first exchange.

"Hyaa!!!" Moving as quickly as she could, Maritha suddenly lunged forward, swinging her sword in a downward, diagonal arc towards the elf's left shoulder. With a smirk, the thief darted back with her left foot, swinging her body back out of the line of Maritha's swing. The amazon recovered, leaping back, frantically trying to bring her sword into a guard, but the elf made no move to attack.

With another cry, Maritha launched herself forward again. She swung her sword high, feinting another high blow, before dropping down and stabbing low, at the elf's chest. Once again, her opponent reacted quickly, swinging her blade up across Maritha's front to bat her blade aside. This time, she followed that up with a cut of her own. Maritha was too slow to bring her blade up to block it, too slow to dodge back. The elf's sword rang as it cut across Maritha's breastplate. Had she not been wearing it, the amazon would have been gutted. Watching intently, the other captives moaned into their gags in fright.

The guardswoman stumbled back, raising her sword in a defensive guard. The elf smirked. She had gotten a feel for her opponent and knew Maritha, despite her years of training, had nowhere near the elf's skill with the blade. She was toying with the amazon now. When Maritha charged again, aiming to knock aside the other woman's sword and close to grapple, the elf didn't even bother using her sword. She ducked low, underneath Maritha's hasty swing. Reaching up, she grabbed Maritha's sword arm, twisted around so it was pulled over her shoulder and leaned forward. Maritha groaned as she was tossed forward, landing hard on her back. Another groan of despair came from the onlookers.

Maritha struggled to rise. Fortunately, her opponent hadn't followed up on her throw; otherwise the duel would have been over in an instant. She stood, waiting for Maritha to stand and try again. As the amazon got to her feet, she realized she had landed near the campfire, where earlier, she had been cutting food for supper. There, on the ground where she had sat, was her dagger. She reached down and grabbed it in her left hand, turning to face her opponent.

Once again, Maritha charged in. She feinted high with the sword in her right hand, then when the thief attempted to block high, swung for her sword arm with the dagger, forcing the elf to jump back quickly. Maritha followed, pressing close on her, catching the elf's hurried riposte on the dagger's guard and swiping with the sword at the her head. Again, the elf ducked, narrowly. The guard continued to close, keeping her sword and dagger in constant motion, now feinting with the dagger and stabbing in with the sword, now blocking the elf's sword with her own and attacking with the knife. The thief had lost her confident smirk; concentrating on blocking or avoiding Maritha's blows, only sporadically counter attacking. Livia and the others cheered Maritha on, as best they could, gagged.

The amazon grinned. Sweated beaded on her brow, she panting for breath, but across from her, the elf was also sweating from exertion. Though quicker on her feet, more skilled, and surprisingly strong for her build, the elf had not the stamina of her foe. At the end of her training, an amazon guardswoman had to duel every other woman in her company, in one on one duels to three blows with training swords, with no rest between bouts, until she had fought every woman, all thirty of them, twice. With any luck, she could slowly wear her opponent down and take her captive.

The elf seemed to realize this to. She sprang back, regained her footing, and then went at Maritha, her sword a blur. Taken by surprise, the amazon fell back and the thief gained the momentum, pushing her opponent back. Maritha parried the stolen blade with her own and sliced at the elf maid's chest. She ducked back, but the steel blade cut through the thin linen of the elf's tunic, leaving a long tear. The other amazons grunted in loud excitement. Maritha saw a brief look of fright in the elf's eyes. "Next time, it might be your skin..." Maritha said, panting for breath. "…unless you give up now."

The thief quickly hid her fright, behind the familiar smirk. "Next time...it will be...your...skin." she said between gasps for breath. She couldn't have much left in her, now.

"Your choice." Maritha said, with a shrug. She raised her weapons again and went back into her fighting stance. The thief did likewise. Sure enough, as they began trading blows and counter-blows, Maritha could see the elf's movements were not as fast as before, they lacked power behind them. The fight couldn't last much longer...        

The guardswoman raised her sword for another swing and moved forward. The elf raised her own sword to try and block it. Then, suddenly, everything went wrong; Maritha's foot tripped over a root, unseen in the dark grass. A cry on her lips, the woman stumbled forward, trying to stay upright. The thief moved quickly. She stepped forward, to Maritha's right. Her free hand reached up and grabbed Maritha's right arm at the wrist. The elf swung her right leg around, behind Maritha's left. Her right hand, still holding the sword was placed across the amazon's chest. She pushed hard, with the last of her strength, shoving Maritha back. She fell back over the elf's knee, sprawling to the ground.

Nearby, the other three amazons groaned through their gags in disappointment. Before Maritha could rise, the thief kicked at her hand, knocking the dagger out of it. It flew off, into the darkness. She placed a foot on the amazon's sword arm, pinning it to the ground. Leaning forward, the elf placed the tip of her sword gently against Maritha's throat.

"Do you yield?" she asked, smirking.

Maritha groaned softly. "Yes..." she said, nodding. "I yield..."

***

Janira spurred her mount forward, over the next hill. Behind her, the five other amazon guardswomen in her unit followed on their own horses, struggling to keep up with the hard pace their leader was setting. Their line had strung out, as the slower women fell behind. The amazon commander suppressed the urge to yawn. She and her women had been riding through the night, after the mage attached them to had received word from Lady Maritha's detachment that they had cornered the thief in the Yuntai forest.

"I just hope I'm not too late to save them..." Janira thought to herself. A few hours after they'd received Livia's psychic message, Oriana, Janira's mage had received another message, from the palace. A description of the elf had been sent to the court of the elven empress and the identity of their thief was revealed: Lady Shivan Shadowborn, the infamous master thief. Once the greatest spies in the Empresses services, she had left the elven kingdom, looking for personal wealth and new challenges to her skills of infiltration.

"I just hope Maritha got the same warning..." the amazon said softly to herself.  Maritha's companions, though skilled, were too few to hope of catching Shivan. With any luck, they stayed put, together, to wait for reinforcements...  

Just then, Janira came around a bend in the edge of the forest. "Guess not..." she muttered, taking in the scene in front of her: six amazon women stood, in the small clearing, underneath a large oak tree. They had been stripped totally naked and were tightly bound with rope. Their feet were tied at the ankles and knees, their arms at the elbows and wrists, palm to palm with one end of a long rope. The remainder of the rope was run up, over a thick branch of the oak tree, some ten feet in the air, which forced the captives to bend over, in a strict strappedo.

As Janira got closer, she noted the ropes then came down again, where it was tucked underneath a rope tied around the women's waists, then between their legs, where it was tied off, securely, to the front of the rope belt. The effect was obvious: as the helpless captives struggled against their bonds, the ropes would pull tight against their crotch and stimulate them against their will. Only, she realized, the ropes were mixed up, each girl controlling the crotch rope of another girl somewhere along the line.

"Looks like they struggled hard, to..." Janira thought. Looking over the display of captives in front of her, she spotted little Tvirin, near the left end of the line, between Hestia and Amilla. She had obviously fought against her bonds with diligence, the girl at the other end of her rope, Aisha looked like she'd climaxed several times during their captivity.

After a moment, she recognized Maritha, on the right end, tied to Livia. The white haired mage hung limply from her ropes, having been given a hard riding by Maritha's impotent struggles. As Janira approached, she noted all of the amazons had been blindfolded and gagged with strips of red cloth that appeared to be all that remained of their uniforms. From the way their cheeks bulged, more cloth had been stuffed in their mouths to keep them quiet.

Meanwhile, the rest of Janira's squad had caught up. A few chuckled, softly among themselves, seeing the humiliation Maritha and her companions had suffered. The blindfolded women suddenly realized they had been found. A few groaned softly into their gags in relief, begging to be released. Others grew red-faced in embarrassment at having been found in this awkward state.

"Get these women freed." Janira ordered. Almost reluctantly, her women obeyed, dismounting and drawing their knives to cut their comrade's bonds. She stepped over to Maritha. "Don't worry. We'll have you cut loose in just a moment..."

As the guard commander stepped in front of the other guard, she noticed the elf had added something to Maritha's bonds: a coil of rope had been looped several times around Maritha's arms and shoulders, running above and below her large breasts, and around, outside them, pressing the large white globes together. In spite of herself, Janira couldn't help admiring the other woman's endowment. "Next time we're sharing a barracks I'll have to see about getting another look at them sometime..." she thought to herself. Then she noticed a sheaf of paper, stuffed between Maritha's breasts. Reaching down, she pulled it out and unrolled the sheet.

To the Commander of the Amazonian Guard,

You should consider improving the security of your palace. Breaking in was far easier than I had expected. The guards you sent after me were pretty good, but as you can see, they were little more than a passing amusement for me.
If you want what is stolen back, send someone with 10,000 golden crowns to the Free City of Merkesh. I will contact her there. Cooperate and I will keep silent, otherwise I will have to find another buyer, and I am sure it would be quite embarrassing for your Queen if word spread that a thief stole her crown and pawned it off…
--Shivan Shadowborn