The denouement for our heroines is fast approaching! Let's see where this next chapter takes them!
The Characters:
Camilla – Strong and athletic, Camilla’s greatest aspiration is to rush the Sorority of City Guards. A believer in law and order above all, Camilla tends to be the responsible one in a group. She has been drafted by the Dark Lady, leader of the Sorority of Thieves, to find a dangerous magical idol. Camilla is ticklish all over her body, a weakness which cost her admission to the Sorority of City Guards the last time she rushed them.
Maggie – One-quarter giantess, Maggie is twelve feet tall with an enormous pair of feet to match her stature. Maggie belongs to the Sorority of Explorers, but despite her rustic job and physical strength she tends to be quite girly, taking regular pedicures as part of her life as a city girl. Maggie’s worst tickle spots are her giant-sized feet, which are hyper-ticklish to the touch. But there is a good side to her sensitive tootsies: an expert foot massage can take her to the heights of utter ecstasy.
Mindy – Geek girl and avid tabletop gamer, Mindy belongs to the Sorority of Sages where she studies the phenomenon of magic between roleplaying sessions. Mindy has no end of tickle spots, but is most ticklish on her upper body, especially her underarms and her enormous breasts. However, as ticklish as Mindy is, tickling has an intensely erotic effect on her. Being tickled, especially on her breasts, has brought Mindy to some of the most overwhelming orgasms she has ever experienced.
The Story So Far:
Our three heroines have been captured! Both Mindy and Maggie have awoken to discover the identity of their captors: the shadow elves, a magical and reclusive race which was responsible for creating the golden idol the three girls have been chasing. And now, it appears the golden idol has its sights set on them!
Meanwhile, Camilla was plagued by nightmares, showing her visions of centuries ago when the idol was originally crafted by a powerful warlord whom it eventually turned against. But the greatest revalation came last: the warlord was none other than the Dark Lady Lucaria, leader of the Sorority of Thieves!
As Camilla awakens and deals with this new development, Sonia has made her way into the shadow elven lair to find Camilla. But has she come as friend or foe?
And now...
City of Sororities - Chapter 7
Camilla reeled from the implications of her revelation. The Dark Lady Lucaria, leader of the Sorority of Thieves, had at one time been the shadow elven warlord who created the golden idol. Defeated by her own creation, stripped of her powers and cast out of shadow elven society, she had built a new identity in the world of humans. And now, Camilla was under her employ to track down that idol and destroy it.
As though that were not enough, now a sister of the Sorority of Thieves stood before her in the flesh. The woman calling herself Sonia looked down at Camilla without surprise or disbelief of any kind, only the quiet patience of a woman doing a job that is proceeding according to plan. There was only one explanation.
“You’ve been following us?” asked Camilla.
Sonia nodded. “From the moment the three of you met. We were given to understand that the idol was especially interested in the three of you, and so this was our best chance to find where it was hidden. We never would have found this place without your help; it’s miles underground and protected with some very powerful magic wards.”
“And so that was our role all along?” asked Camilla, incensed and almost shouting. “To get captured and lead you here? To act as bait?!”
Sonia shook her head. “If you had been intended as bait, then your role in this would be over. As it stands, the Dark Lady needs you to perform some additional services for her.”
“Who cares what she needs?!” demanded Camilla. “I don’t take orders from her, or from you either! I didn’t ask to be a part of any of this!”
Sonia looked at her, unperturbed. “Do you want my help, or don’t you?” she asked simply.
Camilla glared up at Sonia from her position shackled to the stone altar. Despite her anger, Camilla still remained level-headed enough to pick her battles. This was not one she was going to win.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked icily after a pause.
“I have been sent to help you,” said Sonia, “but the fact remains that the idol is interested in you. You and your friends are the only ones who can get close enough to it to defeat it. Since a direct assault is out of the question, I’m afraid I can only offer my help indirectly. The main effort must fall to you.”
“How convenient,” muttered Camilla.
Sonia ignored the snub, however, and began taking something out of her pack. It was a long wire, with what looked like a series of talismans attached to it. Sonia busied herself placing the talismans next to the shackles that held Camilla’s wrists and ankles to the stone altar.
“What is that?” asked Camilla.
“A device I brought with me,” answered Sonia. “This should help free you from your bondage.”
“Is it magic?” asked Camilla.
Sonia shook her head. “Magic would be detected in an instant here, if it even worked at all. This is the latest technology from the Sorority of Thieves. Small charges filled with black powder, using flint strikers to ignite them. They were designed to blow apart locks, so they are ideal in this circumstance.”
Camilla felt Sonia wrap a thin wire around her right arm, so tiny that in this dim light it was invisible even to her. “This wire connects to the charges,” explained Sonia. “I’m connecting it to a very small pin in the palm of your right hand. This will act as a trigger for the charges. When you press down on the pin, the black powder will blow apart all the locks simultaneously. Have you got that?”
Camilla nodded. “When should I use it?” she asked.
“As late as possible,” said Sonia. “I’ll be searching these caverns for your two friends, but we want to keep your captor as busy as possible. Wait until she’s distracted, and then use the trigger pin to break free and overpower her. Hopefully by that time I’ll have more information on the whereabouts of your friends.”
“But how will I know when—“ began Camilla.
“Shhh!” Sonia whispered suddenly. She cocked her head slightly and pricked up her ears with the keen sensibilities of a wolf who hears an almost inaudible sound in the distance.
“My time is just about up,” said Sonia, backing off from the rack. “Just remember what I told you.”
“Wait!” called Camilla. “You can’t just—“
But Sonia had already bounded off into the darkness, leaving Camilla alone. She glared angrily at the darkness.
“Bitch,” she hissed under her breath.
But her anger quickly turned to a sense of foreboding. Whatever Sonia had felt at the periphery of her senses, Camilla could suddenly feel now. It was a strong magical presence approaching her in the darkness, like the idol and yet more focused in its intent. A moment later, the blackness parted, and into Camilla’s view walked a slender, breathtakingly beautiful woman with ivory-white skin.
Unlike her friends, however, Camilla did not find herself facing the unknown. An even more frightening sense of familiarity enveloped her as she looked first at the body and then at the face of her approaching captor.
“You!” gasped Camilla. “I saw you!”
The memories came rushing back to Camilla as vividly as if they had been her own. Without a doubt, Camilla had seen this woman in her visions. In the great war of the idol that split the society of the shadow elves in two, this woman had been one of the great lieutenants of the idol. Camilla had seen her face in snatches of dreams, visions half-remembered by warriors on both sides as they gazed on her face, the mistress and executor of the idol’s will.
“Then we know each other,” said the mistress with a gentle, mocking smile. “For you, in turn, work for the Aggressor.”
It took Camilla a moment to realize to whom she must be referring: the warlord in her dreams, who Camilla now knew was none other than the Dark Lady Lucaria.
“I don’t work for her!” Camilla insisted. “She tricked us!”
“Nonetheless you are here at her behest,” said the mistress. “But your loyalties are not the issue. You have been…requested. A dubious honor granted only to the truly unlucky few, to whom you and your friends now belong.”
The mistress walked closer to Camilla, and despite herself Camilla found her gaze wandering to the voluptuous curves and exposed flesh of her sensual captor. “The power I serve is very interested in you particularly, my dear,” the mistress continued, her long hair flowing behind her as she walked. “Even with no magical training, the visions were bequeathed to you. Your mind alone latched on to the echoes of the past that explained the true nature of this struggle. I can see that you are truly a powerful opponent. And to match with you, I must choose my weapons carefully.”
Camilla was about to ask what she meant, when the mistress reached into a fold of her thin, tight halter top. Camilla would have believed that there was barely enough room to hold the enormous pair of breasts already confined inside, much less anything else. But somehow, the mistress’ hand emerged holding a small object which she presented to Camilla for consideration.
It was a small tool that could fit in the palm of a hand, but Camilla could feel the power it radiated. The mistress held it delicately by a pencil-thin handle of carved ivory, which blossomed at the end into a brilliant bouquet of soft pink feathers. The feathers were perfectly layered, like the petals of a flawless rose.
“This, too, is one of our most treasured artifacts,” explained the mistress. “Carved and enchanted by the selfsame sorceress who created the idol, as a means to subdue her enemies. And now it is drafted into the service of the idol, to be used against whomever it chooses. And now, that includes you.”
Camilla gulped, looking down at her bare feet. She had faced tickling before, she told herself. She could withstand it. She shut her eyes and focused as the diabolical tool came closer…
“EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!” Even though she was no stranger to tickling, Camilla was completely unprepared for the intensity of the feathers’ first soft kiss on her bare feet. She had been prepared for the laughter to slowly break through her defenses like water through a cracking dam. But a single brush of the feathered wand across her soft bare feet brought forth laughter like a hurricane. There were no giggles, no struggle for composure and self-control, only gales and gales of wild, hysterical laughter.
“They all think they can fight it,” mused the mistress, gently feathering Camilla’s soles as she screamed. “They think that a fight of wills awaits them, a struggle. But how wrong they are.” She chuckled softly as she twirled the feathers over the centers of Camilla’s delicate arches. “All that awaits is endless tickling.”
“PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEAASE!!! ANYTHING BUT THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!!!” screamed Camilla, and she meant it. At that moment she would have braved any danger or faced any foe if it would have saved her feet from the furious tickling they were enduring.
“Such a common reaction, my dear,” cooed the mistress. “The sorcery in the wand amplifies the fear, the terror, the ticklish madness. An effective weapon against those who would try to resist: no consequences are as unthinkable as facing the tickling of the feathers.”
“AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I’LL TAHAHAHALK!!! I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHAHALK!!!” howled Camilla, desperately trying to bargain as the feathers brushed with magical intensity across her ticklish feet.
“But I have nothing to ask you,” smiled the mistress, gently guiding the wand between her thumb and forefinger. “Except perhaps how badly it tickles, and that I already know.”
“PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!!! NOOOHOOHOOHOOHOO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORRRRE!!!!” Camilla knew now why Sonia had refused to confide in her: even though she might be Camilla’s only hope of escape, Camilla would have sold her out in a second to save her ticklish tootsies. She would have volunteered the information, desperately hoping that it might buy her a reprieve from this nightmare of feathering. But she had no information to offer, nothing to give except her own hysterical laughter that filled the caverns.
“You have no idea what an honor it is to be tickled by this artifact,” the mistress remarked over Camilla’s screams as she dusted the helpless arches. “It has been used to break some of our greatest enemies, to interrogate the most legendary spies. No matter the will, the effect it has is always the same.”
“BWAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA!!!!” thundered Camilla, her laughter blending in concert with its own echo. The feathering of her feet was becoming even more unbearable, as the mistress ended her playful teasing and started on techniques designed to break her. The feathers dragged slowly over her soles like an artist’s brush painting a canvas, stopping to focus on the especially soft danger spots that made Camilla cry with laughter.
But even more torturous than the feathering was the knowledge that Camilla could escape it at any time. She still had Sonia’s trigger pin, and by striking it at any time she could blow the locks open and escape this hellish torture. But she would never get far. She was weakened while her torturer was invigorated: she would be re-captured at once. But still, there would be those blissful few seconds where she was free from the torment of the feather. The temptation to play her trump card early was overwhelming: only with an iron will did Camilla force her fingers away from the pin.
“PLEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!!!! MERCEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!!” howled Camilla. The feather wand tickled over the balls of her feet, moving up to torture her toes. The mistress held each one daintily between her fingers, pulling it back gently so that it was stretched immobile for its feathering. Less than halfway through, Camilla thought she was going to die.
“Do these ticklish feet need a rest, my dear?” purred the mistress, as she continued to work them over with obvious delight.
“YEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEESSSSSS!!!!” screamed Camilla through her laughter. There was nothing she wanted more in the world at that moment.
“Then allow me to grant your request,” the mistress replied. To Camilla’s amazement, she felt the tickling on her feet suddenly abate as the feathers were drawn away. But the relief lasted only a moment, as Camilla felt a new sensation. She felt the soft feathers touch her ankle, gliding upwards along her long legs.
Camilla’s legs were some of her best and most developed features, with every muscle built up from tireless exercise until they rippled with strength. With her powerful hamstrings and quadriceps, her legs could deliver a crippling kick, or wrap around an opponent and practically crush them. But like the rest of her body, they too bore the weakness of excruciatingly soft skin. Camilla could feel herself tremble as the feathers glided up her smooth calves, and she exploded into girlish giggling and leg-thrashing as the feathers brushed the sensitive undersides of her knees. But they did not stop there.
“MMMMPPPPHHHH!!! MMMPPHHHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Camilla burst into laughter as the feathers finally reached one of the most ticklish spots on her entire body: her creamy inner thighs. With her legs spread apart on the stone altar and her tiny shorts truncating just below her curvaceous ass, there was nothing to protect them from the onslaught of the feathered wand. The soft, pale skin was nearly shadow elven in its complexion: the pale white color of moonlight spoke to how tender this hidden flesh truly was. But Camilla was finding out for the first time what an enchanted feather could do to these ticklish thighs.
“Yes, I knew you had more to give,” murmured the mistress, basking in an aura that seemingly only she could feel. “Surrender to it. Feel the unbearable pleasure lurking below the surface of the torture. Let it out.”
“EEEAAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!! MERCEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!” howled Camilla. This was even worse than having her feet feathered: she could see why the mistress had made her choice. All the power in Camilla’s toned muscular body was brought to bear as she desperately tried to close her legs and spare her ticklish thighs from the caress of the feathers. But it was hopeless: she was held motionless as these secret spots faced tickling torture that she had never imagined was possible. She screamed with laughter and tossed her head, covering the stone surface of the altar with her flying tears.
“Yes, these soft thighs are the key,” said the mistress lasciviously. She moved the feathered wand up Camilla’s legs ever so slowly, and with every fraction of an inch she discovered new sensitive regions, each more hopelessly ticklish than the last. She beamed with delight every time she evoked a new and more hysterical response.
“NOT THEEEHEEHEEHEEHEERE!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Camilla’s shorts were providing her with no quarter from this fiendish and methodical treatment. She roared with tortured laughter and pulled desperately at her bonds, even as she remembered her ace in the hole that she could not use yet. But more humiliating than her ticklish agony was an awareness of a growing arousal inside her. Her nipples grew hard at the feathers’ touch, and beneath her shorts she could feel herself growing moist in response to the tickling of her helpless thighs.
“Don’t fight it, my dear.” Camilla could hear the mistress’ voice through the blur of tears. “There is nothing you can do. Give in to the tickling.”
But even with the furnace of lust stoked inside her, Camilla was a fighter. She fought for control, and that made the tickling of her sensitive thighs a hundred times worse. It was pure, unabated torture that she would do anything to stop. But there was only one thing she could do, and she had to hold off.
“BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NO MOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOORRRE!!!” cried Camilla. Laughter was her only outlet, her only way to keep a grip on sanity. Now that she needed every ounce of her strength, now was not the time to waste her effort on holding it in or censoring her words. With her ticklish thighs under attack, now was simply the time to laugh.
But even with all her fortitude, Camilla could feel her resolve slipping. The feathering on her tender skin was the worst tickling she had ever endured, and with every moment it became worse. She tried to fight it, summoning the last of her willpower to fight through the haze of desperation and laughter. But the temptation of release was too great. As some part of her still-conscious mind watched in horror, Camilla pressed down on the trigger pin in her palm.
Nothing happened.
There were no words to describe the depths of her despair at that moment. Frantically she pressed it again and again, jamming down on it as she balled her fists in laughter, but every time there was only an impotent click. There were none of the explosions Sonia had promised, nothing to win her freedom. She had been lied to, tricked and left to laugh herself to death in the depths of these caverns.
The mistress’ taunting voice rang in her ears, singing “koochie-koo” as she feathered Camilla’s unbearably ticklish thighs. The soft voice was a counterpoint to her own wild, unrestrained laughter, following her as she plunged into the abyss of hopelessness. At that moment, Camilla for the first time let herself go.
Only a moment was enough. As she allowed herself to give in to the sensations, the suppressed flames of desire became a roaring inferno. She stopped fighting their approach and allowed herself to be carried away by the unstoppable force. Summoning the last of her strength, Camilla arched her back off the stone slab, opened her legs as far apart as she could, and gave a sharp piercing cry that cut through the darkness as she reached a mind-shattering orgasm.
Time slowed around Camilla as unbridled passion exploded out of her body in waves. The intensity that had been held behind those walls of self-restraint was greater than could possibly have been imagined. Even the mistress, who feathered Camilla’s thighs and kept her orgasm at a never-ending climax, was struck by its sheer power. She gasped as she felt the first wave of the lustful aura strike her, as though she had been struck by a typhoon. The mistress’ hands trembled as she felt it, taken aback by how powerful it was. Even the golden glow of the watchful idol seemed to flicker as it felt the explosion it had been waiting for. For an endless moment, all of them stood stunned by the unbearable ecstasy.
And then, that moment was shattered. From out of the darkness came a rampaging force which struck without warning: both the mistress and the idol, held in the grip of orgasmic bliss, saw it coming a second too late. A mighty blow descended upon the scene, striking the ground with such power that it sent splintered fragments of rock flying in every direction. The mistress screamed in terror: caught unawares, her only instinct was to protect the idol. The leapt into the idol’s golden glow to shield it from harm as Camilla opened her eyes to see what had caused this cataclysmic interruption.
In front of her like a knight in shining armor stood Maggie, charging into the fray. She was flanked by two more familiar faces: Mindy and Sonia stood beside her. Camilla’s heart leapt to see her two friends free and well: at that moment, no friends in the world could have been a dearer sight. In seconds Maggie’s massive strength, fueled by retribution, had snapped Camilla’s bonds. Camilla watched nearly dumbfounded as Maggie then lifted up the stone altar above her head, and with a single motion heaved it in the direction of the idol.
Any nonmagical target would never have stood a chance. But the shadow elven mistress was prepared to fight dearly for her charge. She held up her hands, and from her fingertips emanated a bolt of golden light, channeling the aura of the idol into a piercing ray of focused magical energy. It sliced through the flying altar, vaporizing it instantly, but it did not stop there. It flew further forwards towards the four girls, and for one horrible moment it seemed inevitable that it would strike them, and that they too would suffer the fate of the altar…
And then, at the last moment, a glowing blue shield suddenly appeared in front of the four girls. The golden bolt struck the shield and immediately rebounded, flying back towards the figure who had cast it. There was an explosion of stone, and a shriek of terror from the mistress, and then in a desperate burst of light both she and the idol vanished and were gone.
The girls stood momentarily stunned, not knowing where their salvation had come from. Then, they turned around, and saw Mindy, still holding up her hands with a soft blue glow enveloping them and a triumphant smile on her face.
“I thought you said you couldn’t do magic!” said Maggie in disbelief.
“I said I wouldn’t,” corrected Mindy with a self-satisfied smile. “There’s a difference.”
“So,” asked Camilla, “is she…?” It was the question on everyone’s mind.
“No.” Mindy shook her head. “She used a magical portal to teleport herself and the idol out of harm’s way. Look, you can see it coalescing.”
Mindy pointed at the last location of their opponents, and just as she did, golden strands of energy began to swirl about a glowing nexus in midair. In seconds, hanging in the air was a golden magical portal, floating an inch above the ground. On the other side of this portal, each of them realized, were the fugitives.
Under normal circumstances, the news of an escaped criminal would set Camilla on the trail like a bloodhound. However, now there was something on her chest which stung her at an even deeper level, and only now was she aware how deeply the fury went. She turned to Sonia, who stood impassively off to the side.
“You…you lied to me!” shouted Camilla, staring at Sonia with unbridled rage. “You set up those charges so they wouldn’t go off, and then you left me alone and defenseless!”
Sonia merely shrugged. “I couldn’t take the chance that you might decide to trigger it early. That would have blown my cover once they realized where the charges came from. But the belief that you had a secret weapon probably helped you to hold on longer against the torture, and I needed the extra time to find your friends.”
“Who are you to make that decision?” demanded Mindy, coming to the defense of her friend.
“I’m the one who let you out,” answered Sonia matter-of-factly. “That qualifies me to make a few judgment calls.”
“Judgment calls,” repeated Maggie with a sneer. “Just the sort of arrogance I’d expect from the Sorority of Thieves.”
Sonia, however, remained unruffled in the face of this universal enmity. “Think what you like, but you have a bigger problem right now,” she said. “The idol is still out there somewhere, and it still wants the three of you. Especially since you’re working for the Dark Lady.”
“I am not working for her!” shouted Camilla, enraged.
Sonia shrugged. “Semantics. The idol believes you are, and I’m given to understand it has some history with the Dark Lady. So I would strongly suggest that if you want to avoid re-capture, you complete the Dark Lady’s work and finish what you started.”
All three girls turned on Sonia simultaneously, and it was no mystery what they were thinking.
“Why you—“ growled Maggie.
“You think you can just—“ began Camilla.
“I’ll show you what I think of—“ started Mindy.
But Sonia could clearly tell when she had worn out her welcome. Without waiting for any of the girls to finish their thoughts, Sonia leapt deftly backwards into a patch of shadows. Her disappearance was instantaneous: one moment she was there, and the next she was long gone, leaving the three girls alone in the depths of the caves with their unfinished insults and threats.
“Where did she go?” asked Maggie.
“Wherever she went, we won’t be following,” grumbled Camilla. As much as she identified with the City Guards, she had to admit that when it came to stealth and tracking skills, the Sorority of Thieves trained their sisters to be the best. Trying to follow Sonia’s tracks out of these caves would be like trying to track a werewolf through a forest at midnight. And that left only one option for escape.
“Mindy,” asked Camilla, “is there any way you can determine where this portal leads?”
Mindy shook her head sadly. “It could go anywhere. But the only way to find out for certain is to go through and see for ourselves.”
Each of the three girls looked at each other without a word. Without having to speak, they knew they were all of one mind. After as far as they had come together, and what they had endured, they were not going to back down. Whatever unknowns might lie on the other side of that glimmering portal, they were ready to face them together. Camilla, Maggie, and Mindy took one final look at each other, and all together they leapt into the portal and vanished.
The Characters:
Camilla – Strong and athletic, Camilla’s greatest aspiration is to rush the Sorority of City Guards. A believer in law and order above all, Camilla tends to be the responsible one in a group. She has been drafted by the Dark Lady, leader of the Sorority of Thieves, to find a dangerous magical idol. Camilla is ticklish all over her body, a weakness which cost her admission to the Sorority of City Guards the last time she rushed them.
Maggie – One-quarter giantess, Maggie is twelve feet tall with an enormous pair of feet to match her stature. Maggie belongs to the Sorority of Explorers, but despite her rustic job and physical strength she tends to be quite girly, taking regular pedicures as part of her life as a city girl. Maggie’s worst tickle spots are her giant-sized feet, which are hyper-ticklish to the touch. But there is a good side to her sensitive tootsies: an expert foot massage can take her to the heights of utter ecstasy.
Mindy – Geek girl and avid tabletop gamer, Mindy belongs to the Sorority of Sages where she studies the phenomenon of magic between roleplaying sessions. Mindy has no end of tickle spots, but is most ticklish on her upper body, especially her underarms and her enormous breasts. However, as ticklish as Mindy is, tickling has an intensely erotic effect on her. Being tickled, especially on her breasts, has brought Mindy to some of the most overwhelming orgasms she has ever experienced.
The Story So Far:
Our three heroines have been captured! Both Mindy and Maggie have awoken to discover the identity of their captors: the shadow elves, a magical and reclusive race which was responsible for creating the golden idol the three girls have been chasing. And now, it appears the golden idol has its sights set on them!
Meanwhile, Camilla was plagued by nightmares, showing her visions of centuries ago when the idol was originally crafted by a powerful warlord whom it eventually turned against. But the greatest revalation came last: the warlord was none other than the Dark Lady Lucaria, leader of the Sorority of Thieves!
As Camilla awakens and deals with this new development, Sonia has made her way into the shadow elven lair to find Camilla. But has she come as friend or foe?
And now...
City of Sororities - Chapter 7
Camilla reeled from the implications of her revelation. The Dark Lady Lucaria, leader of the Sorority of Thieves, had at one time been the shadow elven warlord who created the golden idol. Defeated by her own creation, stripped of her powers and cast out of shadow elven society, she had built a new identity in the world of humans. And now, Camilla was under her employ to track down that idol and destroy it.
As though that were not enough, now a sister of the Sorority of Thieves stood before her in the flesh. The woman calling herself Sonia looked down at Camilla without surprise or disbelief of any kind, only the quiet patience of a woman doing a job that is proceeding according to plan. There was only one explanation.
“You’ve been following us?” asked Camilla.
Sonia nodded. “From the moment the three of you met. We were given to understand that the idol was especially interested in the three of you, and so this was our best chance to find where it was hidden. We never would have found this place without your help; it’s miles underground and protected with some very powerful magic wards.”
“And so that was our role all along?” asked Camilla, incensed and almost shouting. “To get captured and lead you here? To act as bait?!”
Sonia shook her head. “If you had been intended as bait, then your role in this would be over. As it stands, the Dark Lady needs you to perform some additional services for her.”
“Who cares what she needs?!” demanded Camilla. “I don’t take orders from her, or from you either! I didn’t ask to be a part of any of this!”
Sonia looked at her, unperturbed. “Do you want my help, or don’t you?” she asked simply.
Camilla glared up at Sonia from her position shackled to the stone altar. Despite her anger, Camilla still remained level-headed enough to pick her battles. This was not one she was going to win.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked icily after a pause.
“I have been sent to help you,” said Sonia, “but the fact remains that the idol is interested in you. You and your friends are the only ones who can get close enough to it to defeat it. Since a direct assault is out of the question, I’m afraid I can only offer my help indirectly. The main effort must fall to you.”
“How convenient,” muttered Camilla.
Sonia ignored the snub, however, and began taking something out of her pack. It was a long wire, with what looked like a series of talismans attached to it. Sonia busied herself placing the talismans next to the shackles that held Camilla’s wrists and ankles to the stone altar.
“What is that?” asked Camilla.
“A device I brought with me,” answered Sonia. “This should help free you from your bondage.”
“Is it magic?” asked Camilla.
Sonia shook her head. “Magic would be detected in an instant here, if it even worked at all. This is the latest technology from the Sorority of Thieves. Small charges filled with black powder, using flint strikers to ignite them. They were designed to blow apart locks, so they are ideal in this circumstance.”
Camilla felt Sonia wrap a thin wire around her right arm, so tiny that in this dim light it was invisible even to her. “This wire connects to the charges,” explained Sonia. “I’m connecting it to a very small pin in the palm of your right hand. This will act as a trigger for the charges. When you press down on the pin, the black powder will blow apart all the locks simultaneously. Have you got that?”
Camilla nodded. “When should I use it?” she asked.
“As late as possible,” said Sonia. “I’ll be searching these caverns for your two friends, but we want to keep your captor as busy as possible. Wait until she’s distracted, and then use the trigger pin to break free and overpower her. Hopefully by that time I’ll have more information on the whereabouts of your friends.”
“But how will I know when—“ began Camilla.
“Shhh!” Sonia whispered suddenly. She cocked her head slightly and pricked up her ears with the keen sensibilities of a wolf who hears an almost inaudible sound in the distance.
“My time is just about up,” said Sonia, backing off from the rack. “Just remember what I told you.”
“Wait!” called Camilla. “You can’t just—“
But Sonia had already bounded off into the darkness, leaving Camilla alone. She glared angrily at the darkness.
“Bitch,” she hissed under her breath.
But her anger quickly turned to a sense of foreboding. Whatever Sonia had felt at the periphery of her senses, Camilla could suddenly feel now. It was a strong magical presence approaching her in the darkness, like the idol and yet more focused in its intent. A moment later, the blackness parted, and into Camilla’s view walked a slender, breathtakingly beautiful woman with ivory-white skin.
Unlike her friends, however, Camilla did not find herself facing the unknown. An even more frightening sense of familiarity enveloped her as she looked first at the body and then at the face of her approaching captor.
“You!” gasped Camilla. “I saw you!”
The memories came rushing back to Camilla as vividly as if they had been her own. Without a doubt, Camilla had seen this woman in her visions. In the great war of the idol that split the society of the shadow elves in two, this woman had been one of the great lieutenants of the idol. Camilla had seen her face in snatches of dreams, visions half-remembered by warriors on both sides as they gazed on her face, the mistress and executor of the idol’s will.
“Then we know each other,” said the mistress with a gentle, mocking smile. “For you, in turn, work for the Aggressor.”
It took Camilla a moment to realize to whom she must be referring: the warlord in her dreams, who Camilla now knew was none other than the Dark Lady Lucaria.
“I don’t work for her!” Camilla insisted. “She tricked us!”
“Nonetheless you are here at her behest,” said the mistress. “But your loyalties are not the issue. You have been…requested. A dubious honor granted only to the truly unlucky few, to whom you and your friends now belong.”
The mistress walked closer to Camilla, and despite herself Camilla found her gaze wandering to the voluptuous curves and exposed flesh of her sensual captor. “The power I serve is very interested in you particularly, my dear,” the mistress continued, her long hair flowing behind her as she walked. “Even with no magical training, the visions were bequeathed to you. Your mind alone latched on to the echoes of the past that explained the true nature of this struggle. I can see that you are truly a powerful opponent. And to match with you, I must choose my weapons carefully.”
Camilla was about to ask what she meant, when the mistress reached into a fold of her thin, tight halter top. Camilla would have believed that there was barely enough room to hold the enormous pair of breasts already confined inside, much less anything else. But somehow, the mistress’ hand emerged holding a small object which she presented to Camilla for consideration.
It was a small tool that could fit in the palm of a hand, but Camilla could feel the power it radiated. The mistress held it delicately by a pencil-thin handle of carved ivory, which blossomed at the end into a brilliant bouquet of soft pink feathers. The feathers were perfectly layered, like the petals of a flawless rose.
“This, too, is one of our most treasured artifacts,” explained the mistress. “Carved and enchanted by the selfsame sorceress who created the idol, as a means to subdue her enemies. And now it is drafted into the service of the idol, to be used against whomever it chooses. And now, that includes you.”
Camilla gulped, looking down at her bare feet. She had faced tickling before, she told herself. She could withstand it. She shut her eyes and focused as the diabolical tool came closer…
“EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!” Even though she was no stranger to tickling, Camilla was completely unprepared for the intensity of the feathers’ first soft kiss on her bare feet. She had been prepared for the laughter to slowly break through her defenses like water through a cracking dam. But a single brush of the feathered wand across her soft bare feet brought forth laughter like a hurricane. There were no giggles, no struggle for composure and self-control, only gales and gales of wild, hysterical laughter.
“They all think they can fight it,” mused the mistress, gently feathering Camilla’s soles as she screamed. “They think that a fight of wills awaits them, a struggle. But how wrong they are.” She chuckled softly as she twirled the feathers over the centers of Camilla’s delicate arches. “All that awaits is endless tickling.”
“PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEAASE!!! ANYTHING BUT THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!!!” screamed Camilla, and she meant it. At that moment she would have braved any danger or faced any foe if it would have saved her feet from the furious tickling they were enduring.
“Such a common reaction, my dear,” cooed the mistress. “The sorcery in the wand amplifies the fear, the terror, the ticklish madness. An effective weapon against those who would try to resist: no consequences are as unthinkable as facing the tickling of the feathers.”
“AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I’LL TAHAHAHALK!!! I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHAHALK!!!” howled Camilla, desperately trying to bargain as the feathers brushed with magical intensity across her ticklish feet.
“But I have nothing to ask you,” smiled the mistress, gently guiding the wand between her thumb and forefinger. “Except perhaps how badly it tickles, and that I already know.”
“PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!!! NOOOHOOHOOHOOHOO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORRRRE!!!!” Camilla knew now why Sonia had refused to confide in her: even though she might be Camilla’s only hope of escape, Camilla would have sold her out in a second to save her ticklish tootsies. She would have volunteered the information, desperately hoping that it might buy her a reprieve from this nightmare of feathering. But she had no information to offer, nothing to give except her own hysterical laughter that filled the caverns.
“You have no idea what an honor it is to be tickled by this artifact,” the mistress remarked over Camilla’s screams as she dusted the helpless arches. “It has been used to break some of our greatest enemies, to interrogate the most legendary spies. No matter the will, the effect it has is always the same.”
“BWAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA HAAAA!!!!” thundered Camilla, her laughter blending in concert with its own echo. The feathering of her feet was becoming even more unbearable, as the mistress ended her playful teasing and started on techniques designed to break her. The feathers dragged slowly over her soles like an artist’s brush painting a canvas, stopping to focus on the especially soft danger spots that made Camilla cry with laughter.
But even more torturous than the feathering was the knowledge that Camilla could escape it at any time. She still had Sonia’s trigger pin, and by striking it at any time she could blow the locks open and escape this hellish torture. But she would never get far. She was weakened while her torturer was invigorated: she would be re-captured at once. But still, there would be those blissful few seconds where she was free from the torment of the feather. The temptation to play her trump card early was overwhelming: only with an iron will did Camilla force her fingers away from the pin.
“PLEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!!!! MERCEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!!” howled Camilla. The feather wand tickled over the balls of her feet, moving up to torture her toes. The mistress held each one daintily between her fingers, pulling it back gently so that it was stretched immobile for its feathering. Less than halfway through, Camilla thought she was going to die.
“Do these ticklish feet need a rest, my dear?” purred the mistress, as she continued to work them over with obvious delight.
“YEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEESSSSSS!!!!” screamed Camilla through her laughter. There was nothing she wanted more in the world at that moment.
“Then allow me to grant your request,” the mistress replied. To Camilla’s amazement, she felt the tickling on her feet suddenly abate as the feathers were drawn away. But the relief lasted only a moment, as Camilla felt a new sensation. She felt the soft feathers touch her ankle, gliding upwards along her long legs.
Camilla’s legs were some of her best and most developed features, with every muscle built up from tireless exercise until they rippled with strength. With her powerful hamstrings and quadriceps, her legs could deliver a crippling kick, or wrap around an opponent and practically crush them. But like the rest of her body, they too bore the weakness of excruciatingly soft skin. Camilla could feel herself tremble as the feathers glided up her smooth calves, and she exploded into girlish giggling and leg-thrashing as the feathers brushed the sensitive undersides of her knees. But they did not stop there.
“MMMMPPPPHHHH!!! MMMPPHHHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Camilla burst into laughter as the feathers finally reached one of the most ticklish spots on her entire body: her creamy inner thighs. With her legs spread apart on the stone altar and her tiny shorts truncating just below her curvaceous ass, there was nothing to protect them from the onslaught of the feathered wand. The soft, pale skin was nearly shadow elven in its complexion: the pale white color of moonlight spoke to how tender this hidden flesh truly was. But Camilla was finding out for the first time what an enchanted feather could do to these ticklish thighs.
“Yes, I knew you had more to give,” murmured the mistress, basking in an aura that seemingly only she could feel. “Surrender to it. Feel the unbearable pleasure lurking below the surface of the torture. Let it out.”
“EEEAAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!! MERCEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!” howled Camilla. This was even worse than having her feet feathered: she could see why the mistress had made her choice. All the power in Camilla’s toned muscular body was brought to bear as she desperately tried to close her legs and spare her ticklish thighs from the caress of the feathers. But it was hopeless: she was held motionless as these secret spots faced tickling torture that she had never imagined was possible. She screamed with laughter and tossed her head, covering the stone surface of the altar with her flying tears.
“Yes, these soft thighs are the key,” said the mistress lasciviously. She moved the feathered wand up Camilla’s legs ever so slowly, and with every fraction of an inch she discovered new sensitive regions, each more hopelessly ticklish than the last. She beamed with delight every time she evoked a new and more hysterical response.
“NOT THEEEHEEHEEHEEHEERE!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Camilla’s shorts were providing her with no quarter from this fiendish and methodical treatment. She roared with tortured laughter and pulled desperately at her bonds, even as she remembered her ace in the hole that she could not use yet. But more humiliating than her ticklish agony was an awareness of a growing arousal inside her. Her nipples grew hard at the feathers’ touch, and beneath her shorts she could feel herself growing moist in response to the tickling of her helpless thighs.
“Don’t fight it, my dear.” Camilla could hear the mistress’ voice through the blur of tears. “There is nothing you can do. Give in to the tickling.”
But even with the furnace of lust stoked inside her, Camilla was a fighter. She fought for control, and that made the tickling of her sensitive thighs a hundred times worse. It was pure, unabated torture that she would do anything to stop. But there was only one thing she could do, and she had to hold off.
“BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NO MOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOORRRE!!!” cried Camilla. Laughter was her only outlet, her only way to keep a grip on sanity. Now that she needed every ounce of her strength, now was not the time to waste her effort on holding it in or censoring her words. With her ticklish thighs under attack, now was simply the time to laugh.
But even with all her fortitude, Camilla could feel her resolve slipping. The feathering on her tender skin was the worst tickling she had ever endured, and with every moment it became worse. She tried to fight it, summoning the last of her willpower to fight through the haze of desperation and laughter. But the temptation of release was too great. As some part of her still-conscious mind watched in horror, Camilla pressed down on the trigger pin in her palm.
Nothing happened.
There were no words to describe the depths of her despair at that moment. Frantically she pressed it again and again, jamming down on it as she balled her fists in laughter, but every time there was only an impotent click. There were none of the explosions Sonia had promised, nothing to win her freedom. She had been lied to, tricked and left to laugh herself to death in the depths of these caverns.
The mistress’ taunting voice rang in her ears, singing “koochie-koo” as she feathered Camilla’s unbearably ticklish thighs. The soft voice was a counterpoint to her own wild, unrestrained laughter, following her as she plunged into the abyss of hopelessness. At that moment, Camilla for the first time let herself go.
Only a moment was enough. As she allowed herself to give in to the sensations, the suppressed flames of desire became a roaring inferno. She stopped fighting their approach and allowed herself to be carried away by the unstoppable force. Summoning the last of her strength, Camilla arched her back off the stone slab, opened her legs as far apart as she could, and gave a sharp piercing cry that cut through the darkness as she reached a mind-shattering orgasm.
Time slowed around Camilla as unbridled passion exploded out of her body in waves. The intensity that had been held behind those walls of self-restraint was greater than could possibly have been imagined. Even the mistress, who feathered Camilla’s thighs and kept her orgasm at a never-ending climax, was struck by its sheer power. She gasped as she felt the first wave of the lustful aura strike her, as though she had been struck by a typhoon. The mistress’ hands trembled as she felt it, taken aback by how powerful it was. Even the golden glow of the watchful idol seemed to flicker as it felt the explosion it had been waiting for. For an endless moment, all of them stood stunned by the unbearable ecstasy.
And then, that moment was shattered. From out of the darkness came a rampaging force which struck without warning: both the mistress and the idol, held in the grip of orgasmic bliss, saw it coming a second too late. A mighty blow descended upon the scene, striking the ground with such power that it sent splintered fragments of rock flying in every direction. The mistress screamed in terror: caught unawares, her only instinct was to protect the idol. The leapt into the idol’s golden glow to shield it from harm as Camilla opened her eyes to see what had caused this cataclysmic interruption.
In front of her like a knight in shining armor stood Maggie, charging into the fray. She was flanked by two more familiar faces: Mindy and Sonia stood beside her. Camilla’s heart leapt to see her two friends free and well: at that moment, no friends in the world could have been a dearer sight. In seconds Maggie’s massive strength, fueled by retribution, had snapped Camilla’s bonds. Camilla watched nearly dumbfounded as Maggie then lifted up the stone altar above her head, and with a single motion heaved it in the direction of the idol.
Any nonmagical target would never have stood a chance. But the shadow elven mistress was prepared to fight dearly for her charge. She held up her hands, and from her fingertips emanated a bolt of golden light, channeling the aura of the idol into a piercing ray of focused magical energy. It sliced through the flying altar, vaporizing it instantly, but it did not stop there. It flew further forwards towards the four girls, and for one horrible moment it seemed inevitable that it would strike them, and that they too would suffer the fate of the altar…
And then, at the last moment, a glowing blue shield suddenly appeared in front of the four girls. The golden bolt struck the shield and immediately rebounded, flying back towards the figure who had cast it. There was an explosion of stone, and a shriek of terror from the mistress, and then in a desperate burst of light both she and the idol vanished and were gone.
The girls stood momentarily stunned, not knowing where their salvation had come from. Then, they turned around, and saw Mindy, still holding up her hands with a soft blue glow enveloping them and a triumphant smile on her face.
“I thought you said you couldn’t do magic!” said Maggie in disbelief.
“I said I wouldn’t,” corrected Mindy with a self-satisfied smile. “There’s a difference.”
“So,” asked Camilla, “is she…?” It was the question on everyone’s mind.
“No.” Mindy shook her head. “She used a magical portal to teleport herself and the idol out of harm’s way. Look, you can see it coalescing.”
Mindy pointed at the last location of their opponents, and just as she did, golden strands of energy began to swirl about a glowing nexus in midair. In seconds, hanging in the air was a golden magical portal, floating an inch above the ground. On the other side of this portal, each of them realized, were the fugitives.
Under normal circumstances, the news of an escaped criminal would set Camilla on the trail like a bloodhound. However, now there was something on her chest which stung her at an even deeper level, and only now was she aware how deeply the fury went. She turned to Sonia, who stood impassively off to the side.
“You…you lied to me!” shouted Camilla, staring at Sonia with unbridled rage. “You set up those charges so they wouldn’t go off, and then you left me alone and defenseless!”
Sonia merely shrugged. “I couldn’t take the chance that you might decide to trigger it early. That would have blown my cover once they realized where the charges came from. But the belief that you had a secret weapon probably helped you to hold on longer against the torture, and I needed the extra time to find your friends.”
“Who are you to make that decision?” demanded Mindy, coming to the defense of her friend.
“I’m the one who let you out,” answered Sonia matter-of-factly. “That qualifies me to make a few judgment calls.”
“Judgment calls,” repeated Maggie with a sneer. “Just the sort of arrogance I’d expect from the Sorority of Thieves.”
Sonia, however, remained unruffled in the face of this universal enmity. “Think what you like, but you have a bigger problem right now,” she said. “The idol is still out there somewhere, and it still wants the three of you. Especially since you’re working for the Dark Lady.”
“I am not working for her!” shouted Camilla, enraged.
Sonia shrugged. “Semantics. The idol believes you are, and I’m given to understand it has some history with the Dark Lady. So I would strongly suggest that if you want to avoid re-capture, you complete the Dark Lady’s work and finish what you started.”
All three girls turned on Sonia simultaneously, and it was no mystery what they were thinking.
“Why you—“ growled Maggie.
“You think you can just—“ began Camilla.
“I’ll show you what I think of—“ started Mindy.
But Sonia could clearly tell when she had worn out her welcome. Without waiting for any of the girls to finish their thoughts, Sonia leapt deftly backwards into a patch of shadows. Her disappearance was instantaneous: one moment she was there, and the next she was long gone, leaving the three girls alone in the depths of the caves with their unfinished insults and threats.
“Where did she go?” asked Maggie.
“Wherever she went, we won’t be following,” grumbled Camilla. As much as she identified with the City Guards, she had to admit that when it came to stealth and tracking skills, the Sorority of Thieves trained their sisters to be the best. Trying to follow Sonia’s tracks out of these caves would be like trying to track a werewolf through a forest at midnight. And that left only one option for escape.
“Mindy,” asked Camilla, “is there any way you can determine where this portal leads?”
Mindy shook her head sadly. “It could go anywhere. But the only way to find out for certain is to go through and see for ourselves.”
Each of the three girls looked at each other without a word. Without having to speak, they knew they were all of one mind. After as far as they had come together, and what they had endured, they were not going to back down. Whatever unknowns might lie on the other side of that glimmering portal, they were ready to face them together. Camilla, Maggie, and Mindy took one final look at each other, and all together they leapt into the portal and vanished.
