“Picking up the Pieces”
“Enough,” Dagoos said ceasing his tickling all over Damaris's body. “I will hear you speak and I expect nothing less than screeching pleas for a merciful death.”
Dagoos spoke a word of magic and Damaris's head became free of his spell.
“Phillip!” she shouted much to the Demon's surprise.
“Have I not been thorough? Have I not been cruel?” Dagoos pondered out loud. “Perhaps I should leave subtleties aside. Perhaps a blade is better than a feather. Mayhap a knife will extract that which a finger could not.”
“I love Phillip and you will not stop me from rescuing him,” Damaris vowed.
“I have no idea who this Phillip is, nor do I particularly care,” Dagoos said actually quite disappointed that there were no screams for mercy. “However you tire me now. Without screams of terror, there is no reason to keep you alive. It might seem unsportsmanlike for me to run you through with my sword like this, but sometimes the situation simply merits it.”
He drew a long slender blade from his scabbard and placed its sharp point at Damaris's heart.
“I'll go straight through the heart and be done with it,” he said grinning handsomely. “I hope to break your heart and this Phillip's with one single stroke.”
“Stay your hand,” a woman's voice called from the doorway. “If you wish to keep it attached to your arm.”
Dagoos turned quite irritated and watched the form of a tall brown bear enter the chamber. The gaze of the creature was not that of a wild beast and the words were spoken by lips that could not naturally speak.
“Shapeshifter,” Dagoos said sneering as he recognized the magic. “Your types' bark is always bigger than your bite. Come then, fight Dagoos. Let's see what you are truly made of.”
The bear charged at Dagoos and he skillfully stepped out of the way slicing into the bear's arm. The bear roared in pain and anger.
“You see? I need no magic to defeat you,” Dagoos said leering. “My swordsmanship should be more than enough to defeat you.”
The bear charged again and once more Dagoos sliced into the animal's flesh another wicked cut.
Blood bathed the chamber as the two dueled on. Dagoos continued to dominate the combat dodging and slicing at the bear who slowly began to weaken.
This would have continued until the inevitable defeat of the bear had the strategy remained the same. But the bear had other intentions and when Dagoos least expected, it sprung upon him in a full out right attack.
Dagoos gasped and stabbed with his sword through the center of the bear's mass, but this would not stop the bear who grasped the blade with one claw not allowing it to escape. Even as the blade sunk deep into the bear's flesh, the bear continued to slash at the demon with the other claw.
Seeing victory slip from his fingers, Dagoos finally decided to shout a command that froze the bear in place above him. The demon general slipped out from under the bear shaken and trembling. His perfect hair was disheveled and he bore several claw wounds on his face and body.
“Damned shapeshifter,” Dagoos cursed. “You see? I've never lost a duel. I always win.”
Those would be his last words.
His eyes went wide and he grunted as a sword tip protruded from his chest having entered neatly from his back and through his heart.
Damaris drew near him from behind and whispered to his ear: “It might seem unsportsmanlike for me to run you through with my sword like this, but sometimes the situation simply merits it.”
The demon expired and fell to the ground. His spell on the bear was ended. The bear fell to the ground and converted back to its original form: the bloodied form of Gertrude the Wytch.
“I saved you, did I not?” Gertrude asked through bloodstained lips.
“You did,” Damaris replied taking the Wytch her her arms. “Dagoos could not keep his spell on more than one at a time. Your Blood Debt is paid in full.”
“Good. I'd liked to have helped you find your mortal lover regardless,” Gertrude said with difficulty, “But that won't be possible, will it?”
“You'll be all right,” Damaris said weakly trying to think of something to do with the terrible wounds.
“Liar,” Gertrude said smiling. “But I thank you for this. I always wanted to go out with a great deed. I suppose being the undoing of General Dagoos should be quite impressive. A shame no one will know.”
“They'll know,” Damaris promised solemnly. “They'll know.”
Gertrude died in her arms.
* * * * *
No one quite knew what happened on Dagoos's flying citadel on its final night.
There were screams and shouts for mercy as each and every last person on board was put to the sword. But there would be no witness left to tell any tale.
The castle was driven into the ground south of Summerland.
The crash was heard from many miles away and both the Darque and the Summerlanders wondered what it had meant.
Near the crash there is a block of stone from the black castle that rests on the site of a grave. On it, there is an inscription made with Angelic steel which weather and time can never erase.
“Here lies Gertrude the Wytch, Undoer of General Dagoos and Bane of the Darque. She Died Well. ”
* * * * *
Phillip could not have picked a better companion among his own rangers better than the Southlander princess X'mena. She kept the pace. She knew the land and the dangers that abounded. She did not complain about hardships. She even took a shift at night on watch so he could sleep a bit.
The pace they kept was back breaking and filled with peril. Their run ins with the Darque were many and every time their lives were fully at risk. Phillip's skill with a bow and the magical weapons X'mena had secured made the difference every single time.
The Wyldelands were a difficult land to cross. There were huge open spaces to cover and they found themselves more times than not traveling by the cover of night.
Phillip's keen sense of direction and his ability to live off the land made this possible.
They remained deep in the Wyldelands and still far from the Summerland border. Something would happen at that point that would change the course of their flight dramatically.
It was a cool cloudy morning and a small squad of Darque forces had passed near their hiding place.
They were twelve Trolls and a dark mage in the squad. They were patrolling the land surely picking off pockets of resistance. A dozen Trolls and a dark mage seemed a small group, but against enemies who were not properly armed, they were an invincible force. Phillip was sure that many small groups were much more effective than a few large groups against the Wyldelanders.
Normally they would let them pass by and then move ahead on another path. But this time it was different.
They had a prisoner with them which Phillip found strange. He'd found the remnants of those few pockets of resistance and the resisters were usually massacred relentlessly. The Darque did not seem to interested in taking prisoners.
The prisoner was garbed in pink robes, and was gagged and bound with heavy rope. A Troll carried her over his shoulder. She was bare foot and the dark mage taunted her by tickling her exposed bare feet.
Her reactions to the tickling were desperate and violent. It might have been a hot poker being applied to those feet.
Phillip grimaced at the torture and abuse, and he glanced quickly at X'mena who bore a similar expression. Without him asking, she nodded in approval of his unasked plan.
They were linked physically, but with every passing day they were becoming more and more linked by their thoughts.
Thirteen mortal shots were not easy, but he'd done better and without the magical weapons X'mena had given him.
His first shot was for the dark mage. He was the leader of the detail and he had the ability to attack at range or perhaps charm him with spells that he and X'mena had no defense against.
One shot and the mage fell to the ground dead.
By the time the attack was detected, the Troll carrying the prisoner fell with a feathered arrow protruding from his eye.
Three more had fallen before the rest of the Trolls detected where the arrows were coming from.
They rushed his position. There was no other strategy that these hairy beasts understood.
Phillip calmly shot them down one by one, but he realized that if they did not desist, his position would still be overrun.
He did not panic and he kept firing arrow after arrow, and as the penultimate troll fell, the last Troll was within close range and he pounded into Phillip casting the death dealing bow out of his hands.
The troll raised his black iron shod talons over his head and prepared to slash at Phillip when his eyes suddenly twisted in pain and surprise and a silver blade was pressed through his body.
The lifeless troll fell forward and Phillip rolled out of the way as the body crashed harmlessly next to him.
He looked up at X'mena with a bloodied magical sword in her hand.
"Well done," Phillip complimented.
"King Tepik made sure his daughters were skilled in all the arts,” she said. “And the art of battle is no different of any other art."
Phillip nodded.
"I'm thankful for that," he said. "Let's hope the captive is just as thankful and that our efforts have not been in vain.
They released the captive who was a small woman in mage clothes. The pink robes were not of any guild Phillip knew but they seemed strangely familiar.
Her auburn hair was tangled and she took a few moments to compose herself.
"Thank you," she said.
"No time for that," Phillip said and he threw her still bound over his shoulder while X'mena went around collecting arrows from their victims. They were too valuable to leave on the enemies. "These patrols report back to to the main forces. When this one fails to report, they'll send more patrols. Now we have to rush to a new position during the day. That will be quite dangerous."
She did not weigh much and together they dashed across the plains until they found a new series of caves from where they could watch the advance of the enemy from any direction.
A couple hours later, they sat together in a circle at the mouth of a cave and X'mena shared their provisions with their guest.
"I am Phillip, and this is X'mena,” Phillip said making introductions. “We are headed to Summerland and you are welcome to accompany us if you please."
"I am Leandra and I am a mage," she said. "I thank you for your rescue. The Darque caught me in deep meditation. They want as many mages as they can get their hands on. They want us corrupted to their cause. I am very thankful for your rescue. I can help you out of the Wyldelands if you would find that useful. I can get us out of here today with my magic if it pleases you.”
Phillip and X'mena looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Phillip calculated at leas a week or more hard traveling before reaching the border.
Leandra took a small pouch from her robe and opened it carefully. She removed a seed from its interior and placed it into a small hole she had made in the ground with her finger.
She then covered the seed with earth and then took a flask of water from her robe. She poured the liquid on the seed.
"Aren't you going to cast a spell?" X'mena asked curiously waiting to hear the words of magic spoken.
"Eventually," Leandra said. "But I need my friend to put things in order."
The Ranger and the Princess exchanged confused glances.
The seed sprouted as a small plant before their eyes and it grew at a frightful pace. It became a huge writhing plant that was wider than a horse, and a head taller than Phillip. It has long rope-like vines with bristled tips and long feather-like leaves.
"Seize!" Leandra commanded pointing at Phillip and X'mena. The plant's long and huge vines launched themselves at the pair.
The vines wrapped themselves around ankles and arms. Phillip went instinctively to his sword, but he could not remove it in time. X'mena struggled as well slipping away a few times from the vines but finally she was overwhelmed as well.
Within moments they were trapped by the strange animated plant.
"Nice girl," Leandra said soothingly stroking the plant as if it were a pet.
"You tricked us. We saved your life," Phillip protested.
"You did and for that I am thankful, but I am no Wytch nor a Demon. My obligation is first to my mistress,” Leandra said. “I am a servant of Joy and your presence has been requested."
"By whom?" Phillip asked angrily.
"Lady Abarrach is angry with your precious Damaris,” the mage said. “She wants to see you and who am I to defy the will of Lady Abarrach?"
“How do you know of Damaris?” Phillip demanded “Who is this Lady Abarrach?”
"Boots!" Leandra commanded pointing at X'mena's soft leather boots and ignoring Phillip.
The plant instantly reacted and pulled the boots off leaving X'mena's feet bare.
“You'll learn soon enough,” Leandra said as she took the boots and placed them on her own feet. She took a few steps testing them. "A size larger than mine, but beggars can't be choosers."
"What of me?" X'mena asked.
Leandra drew her fingers over X'mena's bare soles and tickled heartily. The princess screamed instantly and laughed her deep sensual laugh. Phillip joined her in laughter much to his despair. Leandra's finger on X'mena's tender soles were felt on Phillips soles even thorugh his thick boots.
"Oh my, linked are we?" Leandra asked. "I'd have left you here to your luck, but such a nicely cast spell can't go to waste. Besides, there is always place for the ticklish in Joy."
Leandra continued to tickle X'mena's feet with great interest enjoying her laughter and that of Phillip. She stopped reluctantly as one does when he or she realizes there is work to be done before engaging in play.
"I need to concentrate now to open a portal,” she said smiling at their breathless faces, “so you are welcome to rest while I do my work."
"No," Phillip protested. "Stop--"
"Gag," Leandra commanded and the plant instantly wrapped leaves and vines over Phillip and X'mena's mouths keeping them silent.
"That's better," Leandra said.
The captives mumbled into the gag and protested more and more.
"The portal will take several hours to open, so you mind as well settle down and get some rest."
Phillip and X'mena both protested loudly into their gags.
"Very well," Leandra said shaking her head. "Send them to dreamland, pet."
Flowers about to blossom that decorated the giant plant pointed themselves at the captives and as they flowered they issued forth a fine pollen.
Phillip and X'mena both struggled trying to hold their breathes.
Leandra calmly traced X'mena's soles with her sharp nails. X'mena burst into laughter and sucking in a mouthful of pollen. Phillip, feeling the sensations himself, also laughed and drew in a breath of the narcotic pollen.
They laughed for a moment as Leandra continued to tickle and slowly the reactions became less and less potent until Leandra could dig her fingers deep into X'mena's soles without any reaction.
"Very nice," she commented. "Now, to work!"
* * * * *
Phillip awoke to see Leandra chanting a spell. Her voice and her chanting seemed familiar but he could not place it.
X'mena was also awakening and he bid her to keep silent as they gathered their bearings and decided what to do.
They did not have to use words between them anymore. They seemed to sense the thoughts of the other without speaking.
They watched as a portal began to open. A doorway to another world had formed.
"This is the doorway to Joy," Leandra explained as she checked on her captives. "It is the doorway to a world of laughter and lust and it is sought by many. It is not an easy door to open and it is one way from here, but it will suffice."
The plant that held Phillip and X'mena tight began to glow a faint red color.
Leandra became alarmed.
"What is it?" Phillip asked.
"The Darque is approaching our position," Leandra said. "No matter. If they dare come through the portal they will have a nasty surprise waiting for them."
The plant uprooted itself and it began to move on its vines towards the doorway to cross with Phillip and X'mena into the portal. They crossed and they were greeted by sweet warm air of another world.
Leandra crossed with them and waited patiently in front of the portal expecting something to happen.
Suddenly a form emerged from the portal dressed black and moving as swift as the eye could follow. The form was that of a woman and she seized Leandra from behind and pulled free a dagger from her belt.
"These two are mine," Orphea sneered. Her face was covered with dust and the black lines painted on her face gave her a menacing look. "Send them back through the portal."
"I cannot," Leandra. "The portal is one way."
Orphea turned behind her and sure enough, there was no way back through the portal.
"Then you will open another one," Orphea answered.
"I certainly shall not," Leandra said smiling. “I would not even if I could.”
Orphea lost her patience and stabbed the mage through the ribs.
Leandra exploded in laughter instead of screams of pain. Orphea repeatedly stabbed her enemy and she only accomplished that Leandra laugh harder yet.
Leandra watched with amusement how Orphea stood baffled.
"Your weapons are useless here,” Leandra explained stepping away. “This is Joy, and your sharp charmed blade tickles like a playful finger jabbing at my ribs. You cannot harm yourself or anyone else with your weapons or your body."
Orphea sneered and instead of answering, quickly cast a powerful spell that would send a ball of fire to engulf the insolent mage. Instead, a cloud of flower petals engulfed Leandra making her laugh at the tickling sensations and Orphea's obvious frustration.
"We are in Joy and your violent spells will be of no use here,” Leandra said between giggles. “My spells however are a totally different story...
"Sieze!" she commanded and the animated plant stretched out and took Orphea. She struggled like a wildcat kicking and slashing out helplessly.
"Let's see," Leandra said reaching in between the vines to wiggle her hand into Orphea's clothes and onto her bare ribs. “This, my dear is the only attack on the rib cage that will have any effect while here on Joy.”
She tickled intently and Orphea went wild screaming.
“You're quite ticklish and that is good,” Leandra said drawing closely. “I cannot afford to have a spell caster like you conscious, so you won't mind taking a nap while we arrive at our destination."
The same flowers from the magical plant drew near and opened gently spraying Orphea's face with pollen. Leandra shielded her face as she stayed near and tickled her victim once more on the ribs. Orphea screamed. She fought the tickling and the slumber that crashed simultaneously upon her but she quickly lost the battle and she fell into a slumber so deep that no amount of tickling could could stir her.
“You two are not spell casters,” Leandra said. “You can enjoy the view as we head out to Lady Abarrach's palace.”
Phillip and X'mena studied their surroundings. The world of Joy was not much different than the world that Phillip and X'mena knew. The differences were subtle in some instances but downright dramatic in others as they were soon to discover.
The sky was not blue. It had a pinkish tinge to it. The road Leandra followed was lined with grass and trees and nature which did not seem much different from Summerland for instance. But there were no animals to be seen. The trees bore fruit that Phillip did not recognize. There were gentle brooks that carried fresh cold water through the land, but none was deeper than one's knees and the water flowed gently over a soft sandy surface. There was no need for bridges.
There were small differences compared to others Phillip would observe during the long trip. There were no fields. There were no cattle. The weather was perfect. It was not hot, nor cold, nor dry nor humid. Everything was a very comfortable “just right”. There were no houses nor barns nor any other kind of buildings other than the palace Leandra mentioned.
People there were, but while they seemed like ordinary folks, they behaved in the manner of a citizen of Joy.
If there was a priority for the day it was tickling and lovemaking. Nothing more. The brooks ran freely with cool water to drink, the fruit was all ripe and ready for the taking. With this perfect climate there was no need for house or shelter. It was love and lust and not much more.
The people of Joy engaged in fornication everywhere Phillip looked. If he were riding through Summerland he would see people working and farming and earning their living. Here it seemed there was no need for that. There was only the need to tickle and to make love gratuitously.
There was no shame nor embarrassment in being tickled to laughter and tears. There was no modesty and no timidness when it came to making love in public.
It was indeed a world of laughter and lust as Leandra called it. Its name was well chosen.
After several hours of being led through the world, they finally reached the grand palace of Lady Abarrach.
It was a huge hall made of pinkish white marble with huge towers. There were no battlements or any signs of a guard or an army. It seemed there was no need for such this in the world of Joy.
Inside the palace the tickling and lovemaking grew ten times so. The walls of the majestic palace instead of being decorated with great paintings or sculpture, they were lined with victims restrained while courtesans took the time to tickle them senseless.
Stocks, racks, crosses, and all forms of restraint were used. Fingers, feathers, brushes and all sorts of instruments were used. Everyone seemed to be extremely ticklish.
Sex was everywhere. Lovers lay in every corner of the palace intoxicated with laughter and pleasure. Lovemaking was conducted with full consent although everyone seemed so charged sexually that it seemed it might even be impossible that one would not consent to an opportunity to make love to a new partner.
Tickling and sex seemed to go hand in hand and many times they overlapped each other in unexpected ways.
It seemed to be a world of debauchery. A world of vice and ruin. And yet it was so alluring and so exciting to Phillip that he felt embarrassed at how his heart accelerated and how his blood rushed.
People turned and watched them as they were taken into the palace by Leandra. They watched curiously and then went back to their activities be it tickling, sex or a combination of both.
Lady Abarrach was found in a huge central hall in the palace. She sat upon her throne and watched through a score or more of hovering of crystal balls the events going on in her realm. Her feather masked face and hawkish appearance seems hostile in the world that seemed carefree.
“You've brought Damaris's lover, Leandra,” Lady Abarrach stated even before turning.
“As you bade,” Leandra answer. “I live to serve Joy.”
“So it is,” she replied darkly. “You bring me three ticklish specimens. A minion of the Darque, a Southlander wench and a Summerlander who's lover has wronged me.”
“Damaris is as gentle as a dove, she could never have harmed you,” Phillip said vehemently.
“Damaris is not a gentle dove. She is more lethal than five score of your finest Summerland soldiers. And one his is to harm me and another is to wrong me. The former is impossible, the latter is for what your Damaris will pay,” Lady Abarrach stated. “But I will not argue with a ticklish nerve like yourself. I will punish your Damaris in the way I chose and when I choose.”
She turned away from Phillip and focused her attention on X'mena.
“Southlander, royal, ticklish,” she said staring at X'mena intently. “You'd be worth something if I cared for worldly possessions. You are worth more because the Darque wants you. We will see what we do with you. Perhaps you will be my instrument in my plan for vengeance.”
“And you, the Darque's minion,” Lady Abarrach said staring down on the sleeping form of Orphea. “Wake up when I speak to you.”
“She's won't wake for hours,” Leandra interjected. “She's a skilled mage. I could take no risks leaving her conscious.”
“She'll wake for me,” Lady Abarrach said. She raised her hand and the animated plant released Orphea.
Before she fell to the ground she was suspended in the air by an unseen force. She hovered in the air and Lady Abarrach with gentle movements of her hands coaxed invisible hands to pull off Orphea's boots and stockings.
Lady Abarrach began to tickle Orphea's soles with her long sharp nails. There was no reaction from her.
“She won't feel a thing,” Leandra commented. “The slumber is quite deep and long lasting.”
“My nails are also long and they when they scratch they dig deep into the flesh and into the very being of those I choose to stimulate and arouse,” Lady Abarrach said.
At first there was no reaction at all but slowly the soles seemed to twitch minutely then quite noticeably. Orphea started to giggle and the foot began to shake and within moments she was awake and laughing and screaming madly. She was unable to move and Lady Abarrach tickled her with relish.
“Release the other two and have this one run the gauntlet. The courtesans will enjoy her. Mayhap when I see her again she will be a babbling mass of madness and I will then send her back to her Master.”
Leandra took Orphea away and Phillip could only imagine that the gauntlet was the huge circuit of tickling that he noticed in the interior of the palace. She had her pet plant release them before she left.
“I've had you released because you can do nothing to harm me or disrupt the conditions here on Joy,” Lady Abarrach explained. “You cannot attack me and you cannot escape because there is no where to escape to. You could not even kill yourselves even if you wished to. You are trapped here as much as I am and the other citizens of Joy. If you are wise you will adapt to the ways of Joy and you will engage in the activities that keep them sane. If you do not, you will simply slowly lose your sanity.”
“What of Damaris?” Phillip asked.
“What of her?” Lady Abarrach said shrugging. “Tis business between her and I.
“But as for you, you'd do well to live like the Joyans do. You'll soon realize that pleasure loses its luster after a while and everyone seeks anything to break the monotony. The most valuable coin here in Joy is entertainment. Entertain me and I just might send you back to your world.”
* * * * *
Joy was heaven and hell wrapped up together in one.
X'mena was convinced of this.
It was always day time. It was always pleasant. She had lost her boots to Leandra but there was no need for footwear on Joy. The ground was always covered with soft lawn or fine sand or the cool marble of the palace. Eventually Phillip abandoned his boots as well.
X'mena was at first shocked at the open tickling and lovemaking but she quickly became more used to it. People would ask from time to time to join them in games of sex and tickling. A simple “no” was all that was needed for them to shrug and respectively move on.
Being able to relax for a while after so many days of persecution during their flight from the Southlands was a relief at first.
Drink was plentiful and food was there for the taking.
People slept when tired. Drank when thirsty. Ate when hungry. Made love when aroused. And tickled when bored.
That was the blessed and cursed existence on Joy.
X'mena and Phillip remained together at all times. They spoke often and learned more about each other. They tried to keep their calm but they both were anxious to get back to their world.
Sometimes she wondered if their would be a world to go back to if the Darque conquered all the lands in the North and in the Sea.
She secretly entertained the idea that they might be stranded on Joy indefinitely. No one aged on Joy, so they could likely be here forever.
X'mena has disliked Phillip when she had met him. But during and after their flight she came to respect him and even to love him. She knew he had his wife. This woman named Damaris who he mentioned in his sleep.
Strangely, he spoke less and less of Damaris in his sleep while on Joy. Even here they watched over each other's sleep. She loved every moment watching Phillip secretly and admiring his handsome features.
X'mena and Phillip did not engage in any sexual or tickling affairs. Not even to torment Orphea who was being tickled out of her mind by any and all of the inhabitants of Joy. Lady Abarrach was right. The Darque minion was sure to be driven mad before long.
X'mena could not find it in her to feel sorry for her.
What she was beginning to feel was an urge that was growing and growing with every passing day. She wished she could have Phillip's hands on her body caressing and even (gasp!) tickling her. She watched other couples tickling and making love and she prayed it could be her under his fingers and she sating his desires.
She knew he was feeling similar, but she knew how much it tormented him to betray his Damaris.
Sometimes she would be playful with Phillip. She would draw her nails on the sole of her own foot which was bearably ticklish for her for she was tickling herself but terribly ticklish for Phillip who caught off guard would laugh himself into a stupor.
It became a little game tickling each other on their own feet. Jabbing their own ribs. Innocent but on Joy nothing was innocent.
Their urges and fantasies were constant and there seemed only one way to seek release.
Leandra visited them from time to time.
Mostly to check up on them and advise them to engage in the the love and lust of Joy. However, onde say she came bearing news from Lady Abarrach.
“Lady Abarrach asked me to dissolve the link between you two,” she explained. “She is no longer entertained by your tame tickling and lack of lovemaking.”
“She sees everything?” Phillip asked.
Leandra nodded.
“Nothing escapes her watchful eye,” she said.
“And the link?” X'mena asked.
“Gone,” Leandra replied while the both tried to test the link and found it non existent.
“I do feel bad. You are really nice people and you did save my life,” Leandra said. “Lady Abarrach is a demon and her word is good as gold. If you only entertained her a bit, she might soften up to the idea of sending you home.”
Phillip took Leandra by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. X'mena understood his intent instantly.
“The way I see it, you owe us,” he said.
Leandra did not seemed too thrilled at the idea, but she did not protest as they tied her down securely. There were no lack of places and tools to restrain people with on Joy.
X'mena took off her boots and tossed them aside. Leandra was small and she had small feet. X'mena opened her pink robes revealing a tight and fit body with nice curves and small breasts.
“Be gentle,” Leandra pleaded closing her eyes as if it would somehow dull the sensations.
X'mena went straight for Leandra's arm pits and dug her nails in deeply. Leandra instantly screamed and shook violently in the restraints. Phillip directed his attention to Leandra's feet which were equally ticklish.
X'mena enjoyed being in control of her victim. She tickled Leandra's ribs and enjoyed the intervals of laughter and screaming as she gently but steadfastly traced in between her ribs. Leandra was ticklish everywhere. Her ears, her neck, her breasts, her hips and her belly were all ripe ticklish spots there for the taking. X'mena laughed herself as she found that even tickling Leandra's chin would make her laugh.
People walking by watched approvingly as Phillip and X'mena tortured Leandra. X'mena had been doing a spectacular job and so did Phillip who skillfully stimulated her sensitive feet and legs. She watched Phillip move up her calves and to Leandra's knees. X'mena wished desperately that it was her feet and her legs under Phillip's fingers instead of Leandra's. She could not understand why she should desire so much to be at his mercy, but it was so.
When they finished with Leandra she was as weak as a newborn kitten. She was drenched in sweat and she was too tired to even move. The onlookers applauded and X'mena had a keen sensation of self satisfaction she had not felt for some time.
“Well done,” Lady Abarrach said stepping in between the onlookers and applauding. “For a pair of amateurs who have not embraced the ways of Joy you have impressed many veterans of Joy including myself.”
“Is this entertainment enough that you would return us to our world?” X'mena asked beating Phillip to the exact same question.
Lady Abarrach motioned the onlookers away and they abandoned the site moving on to other more tantalizing activities inspired by what they had seen.
“It is certainly not 'enough',” the demon said. “Do you think I am so easily entertained? But I will be generous. I will be merciful. You wish to leave this place. I will provide you with a way back to your world. I cannot follow you back. But the doorway is charmed and it will not open until you have tickled each other ruthlessly and then made passionate love for my entertainment. Those are my terms. I am a Demon and I must keep my word.”
“And if we decide not to do this?” Phillip asked.
Lady Abarrach shrugged. “Then welcome to eternity on Joy.”
* * * * *
Days went by and both X'mena and Phillip were quite subdued.
They did not talk much and that bothered X'mena.
She knew what he was thinking.
“Let us do this, Phillip and let us begone of this place,” X'mena finally stated bluntly. “Our place is on our world with our people. Whether the Darque rules or not.”
“I could not do this to you,” he said.
“Because of Damaris?” X'mena asked feeling downcast.
“Of course there is Damaris,” he said. “But I see you as my friend and I---”
“Hush,” she said. “Whatever you do to me, you will not hurt me or change in any way how I feel towards you. Say no more. I shall go first. You must be merciless.”
Phillip nodded slowly in agreement.
They searched for a quiet and private place and there were many in the realm of Joy.
Phillip tied her down to the soft green sward using soft silken rope and attaching it to the ground which somehow automatically took the silken end and pulled her taut.
X'mena felt butterflies in her stomach. She, X'mena, daughter of Tepik, who despised being tickled all her life was now suddenly giddy and anxious for a foreigner to tickle her out of her senses.
Phillip touched X'mena's sides gently and electricity coursed through his fingers. She laughed out loud her deep and sensual laugh and she twisted under his fingers but it did not seem to be any torture.
He went over her body like a lover and searched her for reactions. He was obviously enjoying every cry and every jump as she reacted to his tickling. He caressed her feet as he tickled her and she loved his touch and how he pried her curled toes open to forced more laughter still from her. He drew his fingers up and down her soles with skill she had not seen before. He suddenly shifted from her vulnerable soles to her knees which responded well but not nearly as well as her inner thighs. She screamed with laughter and noticeable excitement. She felt the tenseness of the tickling merging with the sexual and she could see how the two could go hand in hand in the world of Joy.
Phillip seemed aroused himself and he decided to move on his journey. His hands went to her hips and and to her belly. He watched her twist under his fingers and he expertly adjusted pressure and frequency to maximize her reaction. His index finger teased around her belly button before penetrating her belly button. While she screamed and laughed her deep laugh as he tortured her navel he nibbled her bare sides gently.
He went to her underarms and tickled her masterfully running his fingers up and down like a spider's legs making her laugh more and more. She laughed loud and powerfully. He tickled her ears and the nape of her neck with his powerful hands and she was again as responsive as anywhere else on her body. She was ticklish everywhere and each ticklish spot seemed to awake a new and exciting sensation. She resisted nothing, she simply gave herself up to Phillip and his tickling fingers.
She encouraged him and challenged him to tickle her harder to make her laugh even more desperately.
She laughed longer and harder than she had ever laughed before. Not even being tortured by the Darque had she laughed so. And this time, like never before in her life, she loved every moment of it.
When Phillip finished, she was spent and tired but happy. The smile on her face did not fade once the tickling stopped.
They waited until X'mena was rested and she did not say anything. She simply rose and took him by the hand and let him to a place of her choosing.
She tied his wrists together and pulled them over his head. She then tied his ankles together and the sward pulled the silken ropes tight. He was stretched out long and he was at her mercy.
She started with his feet tickling very lightly and he grunted and growled as her nails touched his soles and scratched lightly. His reactions were very masculine and very serious. She scratched a bit harder and he quickly broke down into a beautiful laughter that made her smile.
He was hers. If only for a while she could do with him as she pleased.
She went all over his body tickling his hard muscles and watching how he tugged helplessly trying to escape his bondage. She tickled his rib cage and his hard abdomen and she now took her turn to nibble with her teeth at his belly and he went wild.
She watched as his manhood became hard under his trousers and watched it intently as she continued to tickle him all over his body. She watched which tickling kindled more passion and she pressed her body innocently against his as she tortured his underarms and feet.
She knew he loved her feet and has caught him many a time admiring the. She reached down across his body to tickle his bare feet making sure that he could see her own soles as she tortured him.
She tickled him until she felt that she had completed the condition of “ruthless” and then continued somewhat more.
He was hard and excited and she looked at his manhood thinking that maybe she should take the initiative and finish the last condition that would grant them their freedom from Joy.
“No,” Phillip said looking at her and reading her intentions.
X'mena felt embarrassed and nodded as she released him.
She turned away unable to look at him. Perhaps she had gone too far. Perhaps he would not forgive her for taking him so far.
“I understand,” she said feeling tears well in her eyes. “I know that you belong to another. We will find another way.”
Phillip placed his hand on her shoulder and he turned her planting a hard and powerful kiss on herlips. His hands went to her body as he removed her clothes and placed his hands on her naked body. He crushed her body to his as if he were trying to cover her with his body. He pulled away only to bury his face in her bosom showering her breasts and nipples with tender kisses.
He plunged his manhood into her and she welcomed him in eagerly rubbing her feet against his legs so he might feel her soles.
X'mena felt pleasure like she had never felt before.
She tickled his sides gently. Not so much to disrupt the act, but rather to enhance it. Phillip laughed and playfully tickled her back.
He was hers. Phillip was hers if only for this day. If only for this act.
She could tell Phillip could no longer resist. Joy enhanced everything in the sexual and tickling act. He could not hold back the dam of his need and she did not allow him to attempt to hold back any longer. She pressured him in just the right point to make him climax into her.
He shouted out loud and X'mena screamed with delight.
They lay down next to each other. Spent, exhausted and as far as X'mena could tell, very very happy.
A doorway appeared in front of them.
It was the doorway to their world.
“X'mena,” Phillip began to say.
“Don't say anything,” she interrupted. She held him close and he in turn wrapped his arms around her. “If when we cross that portal your feelings for me change, I will understand.”
They said nothing else, and Phillip held her in his arms for a long while.
Ready, the dressed and looking back on the world they had come to hate and to love, they bade it goodbye as they crossed.
* * * * *
“A pretty ending,” Leandra said watching in one of Lady Abarrach's globes.
“My plan is unleashed,” Lady Abarrach said. “Damaris will become green with envy.”
“Damaris will become red with rage when she discovers I broke him and rode him,” Orphea said hoarsely from a rack that she was attached to. She was naked and stretched out on the rack. “He is already tainted. The Angel whore will smell me all over him.”
Lady Abarrach frowned. Orphea has resisted much more than she had expected. The Darque servant was tired and her face was streaked with tears from the ordeal she had been put through. But she remained lucid and defiant and that could not be so. They had sent her to Lady Abarrach so that she herself might try to break the sanity of the Darque's minion.
“Fool,” Lady Abarrach sneered at Orphea and then turned back to her crystal globes where she watched Phillip and X'mena prepare to cross the portal. “She will forgive him for lust. But something more than lust happened today. I saw that from the very first day they arrived. This will break her heart. And that is a fitting fate for her having wronged me.”
“Damaris might surprise you,” Leandra stated. “I met her before and she has a powerful will.”
Lady Abarrach scoffed. “This Darque minion also has a powerful will. But you will see when I place my hands upon her, she will be as weak as any other victim who comes under my fingers. She has held on to sanity long enough, and it is time that she face her fate as well. Is that not so, Orphea?”
The demon mistress and the mage turned to look at the victim on the rack.
They both gasped as they could not recall having gasped before.
The rack was empty.
Orphea had escaped.
To be continued....
Next: Backlash!
“Enough,” Dagoos said ceasing his tickling all over Damaris's body. “I will hear you speak and I expect nothing less than screeching pleas for a merciful death.”
Dagoos spoke a word of magic and Damaris's head became free of his spell.
“Phillip!” she shouted much to the Demon's surprise.
“Have I not been thorough? Have I not been cruel?” Dagoos pondered out loud. “Perhaps I should leave subtleties aside. Perhaps a blade is better than a feather. Mayhap a knife will extract that which a finger could not.”
“I love Phillip and you will not stop me from rescuing him,” Damaris vowed.
“I have no idea who this Phillip is, nor do I particularly care,” Dagoos said actually quite disappointed that there were no screams for mercy. “However you tire me now. Without screams of terror, there is no reason to keep you alive. It might seem unsportsmanlike for me to run you through with my sword like this, but sometimes the situation simply merits it.”
He drew a long slender blade from his scabbard and placed its sharp point at Damaris's heart.
“I'll go straight through the heart and be done with it,” he said grinning handsomely. “I hope to break your heart and this Phillip's with one single stroke.”
“Stay your hand,” a woman's voice called from the doorway. “If you wish to keep it attached to your arm.”
Dagoos turned quite irritated and watched the form of a tall brown bear enter the chamber. The gaze of the creature was not that of a wild beast and the words were spoken by lips that could not naturally speak.
“Shapeshifter,” Dagoos said sneering as he recognized the magic. “Your types' bark is always bigger than your bite. Come then, fight Dagoos. Let's see what you are truly made of.”
The bear charged at Dagoos and he skillfully stepped out of the way slicing into the bear's arm. The bear roared in pain and anger.
“You see? I need no magic to defeat you,” Dagoos said leering. “My swordsmanship should be more than enough to defeat you.”
The bear charged again and once more Dagoos sliced into the animal's flesh another wicked cut.
Blood bathed the chamber as the two dueled on. Dagoos continued to dominate the combat dodging and slicing at the bear who slowly began to weaken.
This would have continued until the inevitable defeat of the bear had the strategy remained the same. But the bear had other intentions and when Dagoos least expected, it sprung upon him in a full out right attack.
Dagoos gasped and stabbed with his sword through the center of the bear's mass, but this would not stop the bear who grasped the blade with one claw not allowing it to escape. Even as the blade sunk deep into the bear's flesh, the bear continued to slash at the demon with the other claw.
Seeing victory slip from his fingers, Dagoos finally decided to shout a command that froze the bear in place above him. The demon general slipped out from under the bear shaken and trembling. His perfect hair was disheveled and he bore several claw wounds on his face and body.
“Damned shapeshifter,” Dagoos cursed. “You see? I've never lost a duel. I always win.”
Those would be his last words.
His eyes went wide and he grunted as a sword tip protruded from his chest having entered neatly from his back and through his heart.
Damaris drew near him from behind and whispered to his ear: “It might seem unsportsmanlike for me to run you through with my sword like this, but sometimes the situation simply merits it.”
The demon expired and fell to the ground. His spell on the bear was ended. The bear fell to the ground and converted back to its original form: the bloodied form of Gertrude the Wytch.
“I saved you, did I not?” Gertrude asked through bloodstained lips.
“You did,” Damaris replied taking the Wytch her her arms. “Dagoos could not keep his spell on more than one at a time. Your Blood Debt is paid in full.”
“Good. I'd liked to have helped you find your mortal lover regardless,” Gertrude said with difficulty, “But that won't be possible, will it?”
“You'll be all right,” Damaris said weakly trying to think of something to do with the terrible wounds.
“Liar,” Gertrude said smiling. “But I thank you for this. I always wanted to go out with a great deed. I suppose being the undoing of General Dagoos should be quite impressive. A shame no one will know.”
“They'll know,” Damaris promised solemnly. “They'll know.”
Gertrude died in her arms.
* * * * *
No one quite knew what happened on Dagoos's flying citadel on its final night.
There were screams and shouts for mercy as each and every last person on board was put to the sword. But there would be no witness left to tell any tale.
The castle was driven into the ground south of Summerland.
The crash was heard from many miles away and both the Darque and the Summerlanders wondered what it had meant.
Near the crash there is a block of stone from the black castle that rests on the site of a grave. On it, there is an inscription made with Angelic steel which weather and time can never erase.
“Here lies Gertrude the Wytch, Undoer of General Dagoos and Bane of the Darque. She Died Well. ”
* * * * *
Phillip could not have picked a better companion among his own rangers better than the Southlander princess X'mena. She kept the pace. She knew the land and the dangers that abounded. She did not complain about hardships. She even took a shift at night on watch so he could sleep a bit.
The pace they kept was back breaking and filled with peril. Their run ins with the Darque were many and every time their lives were fully at risk. Phillip's skill with a bow and the magical weapons X'mena had secured made the difference every single time.
The Wyldelands were a difficult land to cross. There were huge open spaces to cover and they found themselves more times than not traveling by the cover of night.
Phillip's keen sense of direction and his ability to live off the land made this possible.
They remained deep in the Wyldelands and still far from the Summerland border. Something would happen at that point that would change the course of their flight dramatically.
It was a cool cloudy morning and a small squad of Darque forces had passed near their hiding place.
They were twelve Trolls and a dark mage in the squad. They were patrolling the land surely picking off pockets of resistance. A dozen Trolls and a dark mage seemed a small group, but against enemies who were not properly armed, they were an invincible force. Phillip was sure that many small groups were much more effective than a few large groups against the Wyldelanders.
Normally they would let them pass by and then move ahead on another path. But this time it was different.
They had a prisoner with them which Phillip found strange. He'd found the remnants of those few pockets of resistance and the resisters were usually massacred relentlessly. The Darque did not seem to interested in taking prisoners.
The prisoner was garbed in pink robes, and was gagged and bound with heavy rope. A Troll carried her over his shoulder. She was bare foot and the dark mage taunted her by tickling her exposed bare feet.
Her reactions to the tickling were desperate and violent. It might have been a hot poker being applied to those feet.
Phillip grimaced at the torture and abuse, and he glanced quickly at X'mena who bore a similar expression. Without him asking, she nodded in approval of his unasked plan.
They were linked physically, but with every passing day they were becoming more and more linked by their thoughts.
Thirteen mortal shots were not easy, but he'd done better and without the magical weapons X'mena had given him.
His first shot was for the dark mage. He was the leader of the detail and he had the ability to attack at range or perhaps charm him with spells that he and X'mena had no defense against.
One shot and the mage fell to the ground dead.
By the time the attack was detected, the Troll carrying the prisoner fell with a feathered arrow protruding from his eye.
Three more had fallen before the rest of the Trolls detected where the arrows were coming from.
They rushed his position. There was no other strategy that these hairy beasts understood.
Phillip calmly shot them down one by one, but he realized that if they did not desist, his position would still be overrun.
He did not panic and he kept firing arrow after arrow, and as the penultimate troll fell, the last Troll was within close range and he pounded into Phillip casting the death dealing bow out of his hands.
The troll raised his black iron shod talons over his head and prepared to slash at Phillip when his eyes suddenly twisted in pain and surprise and a silver blade was pressed through his body.
The lifeless troll fell forward and Phillip rolled out of the way as the body crashed harmlessly next to him.
He looked up at X'mena with a bloodied magical sword in her hand.
"Well done," Phillip complimented.
"King Tepik made sure his daughters were skilled in all the arts,” she said. “And the art of battle is no different of any other art."
Phillip nodded.
"I'm thankful for that," he said. "Let's hope the captive is just as thankful and that our efforts have not been in vain.
They released the captive who was a small woman in mage clothes. The pink robes were not of any guild Phillip knew but they seemed strangely familiar.
Her auburn hair was tangled and she took a few moments to compose herself.
"Thank you," she said.
"No time for that," Phillip said and he threw her still bound over his shoulder while X'mena went around collecting arrows from their victims. They were too valuable to leave on the enemies. "These patrols report back to to the main forces. When this one fails to report, they'll send more patrols. Now we have to rush to a new position during the day. That will be quite dangerous."
She did not weigh much and together they dashed across the plains until they found a new series of caves from where they could watch the advance of the enemy from any direction.
A couple hours later, they sat together in a circle at the mouth of a cave and X'mena shared their provisions with their guest.
"I am Phillip, and this is X'mena,” Phillip said making introductions. “We are headed to Summerland and you are welcome to accompany us if you please."
"I am Leandra and I am a mage," she said. "I thank you for your rescue. The Darque caught me in deep meditation. They want as many mages as they can get their hands on. They want us corrupted to their cause. I am very thankful for your rescue. I can help you out of the Wyldelands if you would find that useful. I can get us out of here today with my magic if it pleases you.”
Phillip and X'mena looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Phillip calculated at leas a week or more hard traveling before reaching the border.
Leandra took a small pouch from her robe and opened it carefully. She removed a seed from its interior and placed it into a small hole she had made in the ground with her finger.
She then covered the seed with earth and then took a flask of water from her robe. She poured the liquid on the seed.
"Aren't you going to cast a spell?" X'mena asked curiously waiting to hear the words of magic spoken.
"Eventually," Leandra said. "But I need my friend to put things in order."
The Ranger and the Princess exchanged confused glances.
The seed sprouted as a small plant before their eyes and it grew at a frightful pace. It became a huge writhing plant that was wider than a horse, and a head taller than Phillip. It has long rope-like vines with bristled tips and long feather-like leaves.
"Seize!" Leandra commanded pointing at Phillip and X'mena. The plant's long and huge vines launched themselves at the pair.
The vines wrapped themselves around ankles and arms. Phillip went instinctively to his sword, but he could not remove it in time. X'mena struggled as well slipping away a few times from the vines but finally she was overwhelmed as well.
Within moments they were trapped by the strange animated plant.
"Nice girl," Leandra said soothingly stroking the plant as if it were a pet.
"You tricked us. We saved your life," Phillip protested.
"You did and for that I am thankful, but I am no Wytch nor a Demon. My obligation is first to my mistress,” Leandra said. “I am a servant of Joy and your presence has been requested."
"By whom?" Phillip asked angrily.
"Lady Abarrach is angry with your precious Damaris,” the mage said. “She wants to see you and who am I to defy the will of Lady Abarrach?"
“How do you know of Damaris?” Phillip demanded “Who is this Lady Abarrach?”
"Boots!" Leandra commanded pointing at X'mena's soft leather boots and ignoring Phillip.
The plant instantly reacted and pulled the boots off leaving X'mena's feet bare.
“You'll learn soon enough,” Leandra said as she took the boots and placed them on her own feet. She took a few steps testing them. "A size larger than mine, but beggars can't be choosers."
"What of me?" X'mena asked.
Leandra drew her fingers over X'mena's bare soles and tickled heartily. The princess screamed instantly and laughed her deep sensual laugh. Phillip joined her in laughter much to his despair. Leandra's finger on X'mena's tender soles were felt on Phillips soles even thorugh his thick boots.
"Oh my, linked are we?" Leandra asked. "I'd have left you here to your luck, but such a nicely cast spell can't go to waste. Besides, there is always place for the ticklish in Joy."
Leandra continued to tickle X'mena's feet with great interest enjoying her laughter and that of Phillip. She stopped reluctantly as one does when he or she realizes there is work to be done before engaging in play.
"I need to concentrate now to open a portal,” she said smiling at their breathless faces, “so you are welcome to rest while I do my work."
"No," Phillip protested. "Stop--"
"Gag," Leandra commanded and the plant instantly wrapped leaves and vines over Phillip and X'mena's mouths keeping them silent.
"That's better," Leandra said.
The captives mumbled into the gag and protested more and more.
"The portal will take several hours to open, so you mind as well settle down and get some rest."
Phillip and X'mena both protested loudly into their gags.
"Very well," Leandra said shaking her head. "Send them to dreamland, pet."
Flowers about to blossom that decorated the giant plant pointed themselves at the captives and as they flowered they issued forth a fine pollen.
Phillip and X'mena both struggled trying to hold their breathes.
Leandra calmly traced X'mena's soles with her sharp nails. X'mena burst into laughter and sucking in a mouthful of pollen. Phillip, feeling the sensations himself, also laughed and drew in a breath of the narcotic pollen.
They laughed for a moment as Leandra continued to tickle and slowly the reactions became less and less potent until Leandra could dig her fingers deep into X'mena's soles without any reaction.
"Very nice," she commented. "Now, to work!"
* * * * *
Phillip awoke to see Leandra chanting a spell. Her voice and her chanting seemed familiar but he could not place it.
X'mena was also awakening and he bid her to keep silent as they gathered their bearings and decided what to do.
They did not have to use words between them anymore. They seemed to sense the thoughts of the other without speaking.
They watched as a portal began to open. A doorway to another world had formed.
"This is the doorway to Joy," Leandra explained as she checked on her captives. "It is the doorway to a world of laughter and lust and it is sought by many. It is not an easy door to open and it is one way from here, but it will suffice."
The plant that held Phillip and X'mena tight began to glow a faint red color.
Leandra became alarmed.
"What is it?" Phillip asked.
"The Darque is approaching our position," Leandra said. "No matter. If they dare come through the portal they will have a nasty surprise waiting for them."
The plant uprooted itself and it began to move on its vines towards the doorway to cross with Phillip and X'mena into the portal. They crossed and they were greeted by sweet warm air of another world.
Leandra crossed with them and waited patiently in front of the portal expecting something to happen.
Suddenly a form emerged from the portal dressed black and moving as swift as the eye could follow. The form was that of a woman and she seized Leandra from behind and pulled free a dagger from her belt.
"These two are mine," Orphea sneered. Her face was covered with dust and the black lines painted on her face gave her a menacing look. "Send them back through the portal."
"I cannot," Leandra. "The portal is one way."
Orphea turned behind her and sure enough, there was no way back through the portal.
"Then you will open another one," Orphea answered.
"I certainly shall not," Leandra said smiling. “I would not even if I could.”
Orphea lost her patience and stabbed the mage through the ribs.
Leandra exploded in laughter instead of screams of pain. Orphea repeatedly stabbed her enemy and she only accomplished that Leandra laugh harder yet.
Leandra watched with amusement how Orphea stood baffled.
"Your weapons are useless here,” Leandra explained stepping away. “This is Joy, and your sharp charmed blade tickles like a playful finger jabbing at my ribs. You cannot harm yourself or anyone else with your weapons or your body."
Orphea sneered and instead of answering, quickly cast a powerful spell that would send a ball of fire to engulf the insolent mage. Instead, a cloud of flower petals engulfed Leandra making her laugh at the tickling sensations and Orphea's obvious frustration.
"We are in Joy and your violent spells will be of no use here,” Leandra said between giggles. “My spells however are a totally different story...
"Sieze!" she commanded and the animated plant stretched out and took Orphea. She struggled like a wildcat kicking and slashing out helplessly.
"Let's see," Leandra said reaching in between the vines to wiggle her hand into Orphea's clothes and onto her bare ribs. “This, my dear is the only attack on the rib cage that will have any effect while here on Joy.”
She tickled intently and Orphea went wild screaming.
“You're quite ticklish and that is good,” Leandra said drawing closely. “I cannot afford to have a spell caster like you conscious, so you won't mind taking a nap while we arrive at our destination."
The same flowers from the magical plant drew near and opened gently spraying Orphea's face with pollen. Leandra shielded her face as she stayed near and tickled her victim once more on the ribs. Orphea screamed. She fought the tickling and the slumber that crashed simultaneously upon her but she quickly lost the battle and she fell into a slumber so deep that no amount of tickling could could stir her.
“You two are not spell casters,” Leandra said. “You can enjoy the view as we head out to Lady Abarrach's palace.”
Phillip and X'mena studied their surroundings. The world of Joy was not much different than the world that Phillip and X'mena knew. The differences were subtle in some instances but downright dramatic in others as they were soon to discover.
The sky was not blue. It had a pinkish tinge to it. The road Leandra followed was lined with grass and trees and nature which did not seem much different from Summerland for instance. But there were no animals to be seen. The trees bore fruit that Phillip did not recognize. There were gentle brooks that carried fresh cold water through the land, but none was deeper than one's knees and the water flowed gently over a soft sandy surface. There was no need for bridges.
There were small differences compared to others Phillip would observe during the long trip. There were no fields. There were no cattle. The weather was perfect. It was not hot, nor cold, nor dry nor humid. Everything was a very comfortable “just right”. There were no houses nor barns nor any other kind of buildings other than the palace Leandra mentioned.
People there were, but while they seemed like ordinary folks, they behaved in the manner of a citizen of Joy.
If there was a priority for the day it was tickling and lovemaking. Nothing more. The brooks ran freely with cool water to drink, the fruit was all ripe and ready for the taking. With this perfect climate there was no need for house or shelter. It was love and lust and not much more.
The people of Joy engaged in fornication everywhere Phillip looked. If he were riding through Summerland he would see people working and farming and earning their living. Here it seemed there was no need for that. There was only the need to tickle and to make love gratuitously.
There was no shame nor embarrassment in being tickled to laughter and tears. There was no modesty and no timidness when it came to making love in public.
It was indeed a world of laughter and lust as Leandra called it. Its name was well chosen.
After several hours of being led through the world, they finally reached the grand palace of Lady Abarrach.
It was a huge hall made of pinkish white marble with huge towers. There were no battlements or any signs of a guard or an army. It seemed there was no need for such this in the world of Joy.
Inside the palace the tickling and lovemaking grew ten times so. The walls of the majestic palace instead of being decorated with great paintings or sculpture, they were lined with victims restrained while courtesans took the time to tickle them senseless.
Stocks, racks, crosses, and all forms of restraint were used. Fingers, feathers, brushes and all sorts of instruments were used. Everyone seemed to be extremely ticklish.
Sex was everywhere. Lovers lay in every corner of the palace intoxicated with laughter and pleasure. Lovemaking was conducted with full consent although everyone seemed so charged sexually that it seemed it might even be impossible that one would not consent to an opportunity to make love to a new partner.
Tickling and sex seemed to go hand in hand and many times they overlapped each other in unexpected ways.
It seemed to be a world of debauchery. A world of vice and ruin. And yet it was so alluring and so exciting to Phillip that he felt embarrassed at how his heart accelerated and how his blood rushed.
People turned and watched them as they were taken into the palace by Leandra. They watched curiously and then went back to their activities be it tickling, sex or a combination of both.
Lady Abarrach was found in a huge central hall in the palace. She sat upon her throne and watched through a score or more of hovering of crystal balls the events going on in her realm. Her feather masked face and hawkish appearance seems hostile in the world that seemed carefree.
“You've brought Damaris's lover, Leandra,” Lady Abarrach stated even before turning.
“As you bade,” Leandra answer. “I live to serve Joy.”
“So it is,” she replied darkly. “You bring me three ticklish specimens. A minion of the Darque, a Southlander wench and a Summerlander who's lover has wronged me.”
“Damaris is as gentle as a dove, she could never have harmed you,” Phillip said vehemently.
“Damaris is not a gentle dove. She is more lethal than five score of your finest Summerland soldiers. And one his is to harm me and another is to wrong me. The former is impossible, the latter is for what your Damaris will pay,” Lady Abarrach stated. “But I will not argue with a ticklish nerve like yourself. I will punish your Damaris in the way I chose and when I choose.”
She turned away from Phillip and focused her attention on X'mena.
“Southlander, royal, ticklish,” she said staring at X'mena intently. “You'd be worth something if I cared for worldly possessions. You are worth more because the Darque wants you. We will see what we do with you. Perhaps you will be my instrument in my plan for vengeance.”
“And you, the Darque's minion,” Lady Abarrach said staring down on the sleeping form of Orphea. “Wake up when I speak to you.”
“She's won't wake for hours,” Leandra interjected. “She's a skilled mage. I could take no risks leaving her conscious.”
“She'll wake for me,” Lady Abarrach said. She raised her hand and the animated plant released Orphea.
Before she fell to the ground she was suspended in the air by an unseen force. She hovered in the air and Lady Abarrach with gentle movements of her hands coaxed invisible hands to pull off Orphea's boots and stockings.
Lady Abarrach began to tickle Orphea's soles with her long sharp nails. There was no reaction from her.
“She won't feel a thing,” Leandra commented. “The slumber is quite deep and long lasting.”
“My nails are also long and they when they scratch they dig deep into the flesh and into the very being of those I choose to stimulate and arouse,” Lady Abarrach said.
At first there was no reaction at all but slowly the soles seemed to twitch minutely then quite noticeably. Orphea started to giggle and the foot began to shake and within moments she was awake and laughing and screaming madly. She was unable to move and Lady Abarrach tickled her with relish.
“Release the other two and have this one run the gauntlet. The courtesans will enjoy her. Mayhap when I see her again she will be a babbling mass of madness and I will then send her back to her Master.”
Leandra took Orphea away and Phillip could only imagine that the gauntlet was the huge circuit of tickling that he noticed in the interior of the palace. She had her pet plant release them before she left.
“I've had you released because you can do nothing to harm me or disrupt the conditions here on Joy,” Lady Abarrach explained. “You cannot attack me and you cannot escape because there is no where to escape to. You could not even kill yourselves even if you wished to. You are trapped here as much as I am and the other citizens of Joy. If you are wise you will adapt to the ways of Joy and you will engage in the activities that keep them sane. If you do not, you will simply slowly lose your sanity.”
“What of Damaris?” Phillip asked.
“What of her?” Lady Abarrach said shrugging. “Tis business between her and I.
“But as for you, you'd do well to live like the Joyans do. You'll soon realize that pleasure loses its luster after a while and everyone seeks anything to break the monotony. The most valuable coin here in Joy is entertainment. Entertain me and I just might send you back to your world.”
* * * * *
Joy was heaven and hell wrapped up together in one.
X'mena was convinced of this.
It was always day time. It was always pleasant. She had lost her boots to Leandra but there was no need for footwear on Joy. The ground was always covered with soft lawn or fine sand or the cool marble of the palace. Eventually Phillip abandoned his boots as well.
X'mena was at first shocked at the open tickling and lovemaking but she quickly became more used to it. People would ask from time to time to join them in games of sex and tickling. A simple “no” was all that was needed for them to shrug and respectively move on.
Being able to relax for a while after so many days of persecution during their flight from the Southlands was a relief at first.
Drink was plentiful and food was there for the taking.
People slept when tired. Drank when thirsty. Ate when hungry. Made love when aroused. And tickled when bored.
That was the blessed and cursed existence on Joy.
X'mena and Phillip remained together at all times. They spoke often and learned more about each other. They tried to keep their calm but they both were anxious to get back to their world.
Sometimes she wondered if their would be a world to go back to if the Darque conquered all the lands in the North and in the Sea.
She secretly entertained the idea that they might be stranded on Joy indefinitely. No one aged on Joy, so they could likely be here forever.
X'mena has disliked Phillip when she had met him. But during and after their flight she came to respect him and even to love him. She knew he had his wife. This woman named Damaris who he mentioned in his sleep.
Strangely, he spoke less and less of Damaris in his sleep while on Joy. Even here they watched over each other's sleep. She loved every moment watching Phillip secretly and admiring his handsome features.
X'mena and Phillip did not engage in any sexual or tickling affairs. Not even to torment Orphea who was being tickled out of her mind by any and all of the inhabitants of Joy. Lady Abarrach was right. The Darque minion was sure to be driven mad before long.
X'mena could not find it in her to feel sorry for her.
What she was beginning to feel was an urge that was growing and growing with every passing day. She wished she could have Phillip's hands on her body caressing and even (gasp!) tickling her. She watched other couples tickling and making love and she prayed it could be her under his fingers and she sating his desires.
She knew he was feeling similar, but she knew how much it tormented him to betray his Damaris.
Sometimes she would be playful with Phillip. She would draw her nails on the sole of her own foot which was bearably ticklish for her for she was tickling herself but terribly ticklish for Phillip who caught off guard would laugh himself into a stupor.
It became a little game tickling each other on their own feet. Jabbing their own ribs. Innocent but on Joy nothing was innocent.
Their urges and fantasies were constant and there seemed only one way to seek release.
Leandra visited them from time to time.
Mostly to check up on them and advise them to engage in the the love and lust of Joy. However, onde say she came bearing news from Lady Abarrach.
“Lady Abarrach asked me to dissolve the link between you two,” she explained. “She is no longer entertained by your tame tickling and lack of lovemaking.”
“She sees everything?” Phillip asked.
Leandra nodded.
“Nothing escapes her watchful eye,” she said.
“And the link?” X'mena asked.
“Gone,” Leandra replied while the both tried to test the link and found it non existent.
“I do feel bad. You are really nice people and you did save my life,” Leandra said. “Lady Abarrach is a demon and her word is good as gold. If you only entertained her a bit, she might soften up to the idea of sending you home.”
Phillip took Leandra by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. X'mena understood his intent instantly.
“The way I see it, you owe us,” he said.
Leandra did not seemed too thrilled at the idea, but she did not protest as they tied her down securely. There were no lack of places and tools to restrain people with on Joy.
X'mena took off her boots and tossed them aside. Leandra was small and she had small feet. X'mena opened her pink robes revealing a tight and fit body with nice curves and small breasts.
“Be gentle,” Leandra pleaded closing her eyes as if it would somehow dull the sensations.
X'mena went straight for Leandra's arm pits and dug her nails in deeply. Leandra instantly screamed and shook violently in the restraints. Phillip directed his attention to Leandra's feet which were equally ticklish.
X'mena enjoyed being in control of her victim. She tickled Leandra's ribs and enjoyed the intervals of laughter and screaming as she gently but steadfastly traced in between her ribs. Leandra was ticklish everywhere. Her ears, her neck, her breasts, her hips and her belly were all ripe ticklish spots there for the taking. X'mena laughed herself as she found that even tickling Leandra's chin would make her laugh.
People walking by watched approvingly as Phillip and X'mena tortured Leandra. X'mena had been doing a spectacular job and so did Phillip who skillfully stimulated her sensitive feet and legs. She watched Phillip move up her calves and to Leandra's knees. X'mena wished desperately that it was her feet and her legs under Phillip's fingers instead of Leandra's. She could not understand why she should desire so much to be at his mercy, but it was so.
When they finished with Leandra she was as weak as a newborn kitten. She was drenched in sweat and she was too tired to even move. The onlookers applauded and X'mena had a keen sensation of self satisfaction she had not felt for some time.
“Well done,” Lady Abarrach said stepping in between the onlookers and applauding. “For a pair of amateurs who have not embraced the ways of Joy you have impressed many veterans of Joy including myself.”
“Is this entertainment enough that you would return us to our world?” X'mena asked beating Phillip to the exact same question.
Lady Abarrach motioned the onlookers away and they abandoned the site moving on to other more tantalizing activities inspired by what they had seen.
“It is certainly not 'enough',” the demon said. “Do you think I am so easily entertained? But I will be generous. I will be merciful. You wish to leave this place. I will provide you with a way back to your world. I cannot follow you back. But the doorway is charmed and it will not open until you have tickled each other ruthlessly and then made passionate love for my entertainment. Those are my terms. I am a Demon and I must keep my word.”
“And if we decide not to do this?” Phillip asked.
Lady Abarrach shrugged. “Then welcome to eternity on Joy.”
* * * * *
Days went by and both X'mena and Phillip were quite subdued.
They did not talk much and that bothered X'mena.
She knew what he was thinking.
“Let us do this, Phillip and let us begone of this place,” X'mena finally stated bluntly. “Our place is on our world with our people. Whether the Darque rules or not.”
“I could not do this to you,” he said.
“Because of Damaris?” X'mena asked feeling downcast.
“Of course there is Damaris,” he said. “But I see you as my friend and I---”
“Hush,” she said. “Whatever you do to me, you will not hurt me or change in any way how I feel towards you. Say no more. I shall go first. You must be merciless.”
Phillip nodded slowly in agreement.
They searched for a quiet and private place and there were many in the realm of Joy.
Phillip tied her down to the soft green sward using soft silken rope and attaching it to the ground which somehow automatically took the silken end and pulled her taut.
X'mena felt butterflies in her stomach. She, X'mena, daughter of Tepik, who despised being tickled all her life was now suddenly giddy and anxious for a foreigner to tickle her out of her senses.
Phillip touched X'mena's sides gently and electricity coursed through his fingers. She laughed out loud her deep and sensual laugh and she twisted under his fingers but it did not seem to be any torture.
He went over her body like a lover and searched her for reactions. He was obviously enjoying every cry and every jump as she reacted to his tickling. He caressed her feet as he tickled her and she loved his touch and how he pried her curled toes open to forced more laughter still from her. He drew his fingers up and down her soles with skill she had not seen before. He suddenly shifted from her vulnerable soles to her knees which responded well but not nearly as well as her inner thighs. She screamed with laughter and noticeable excitement. She felt the tenseness of the tickling merging with the sexual and she could see how the two could go hand in hand in the world of Joy.
Phillip seemed aroused himself and he decided to move on his journey. His hands went to her hips and and to her belly. He watched her twist under his fingers and he expertly adjusted pressure and frequency to maximize her reaction. His index finger teased around her belly button before penetrating her belly button. While she screamed and laughed her deep laugh as he tortured her navel he nibbled her bare sides gently.
He went to her underarms and tickled her masterfully running his fingers up and down like a spider's legs making her laugh more and more. She laughed loud and powerfully. He tickled her ears and the nape of her neck with his powerful hands and she was again as responsive as anywhere else on her body. She was ticklish everywhere and each ticklish spot seemed to awake a new and exciting sensation. She resisted nothing, she simply gave herself up to Phillip and his tickling fingers.
She encouraged him and challenged him to tickle her harder to make her laugh even more desperately.
She laughed longer and harder than she had ever laughed before. Not even being tortured by the Darque had she laughed so. And this time, like never before in her life, she loved every moment of it.
When Phillip finished, she was spent and tired but happy. The smile on her face did not fade once the tickling stopped.
They waited until X'mena was rested and she did not say anything. She simply rose and took him by the hand and let him to a place of her choosing.
She tied his wrists together and pulled them over his head. She then tied his ankles together and the sward pulled the silken ropes tight. He was stretched out long and he was at her mercy.
She started with his feet tickling very lightly and he grunted and growled as her nails touched his soles and scratched lightly. His reactions were very masculine and very serious. She scratched a bit harder and he quickly broke down into a beautiful laughter that made her smile.
He was hers. If only for a while she could do with him as she pleased.
She went all over his body tickling his hard muscles and watching how he tugged helplessly trying to escape his bondage. She tickled his rib cage and his hard abdomen and she now took her turn to nibble with her teeth at his belly and he went wild.
She watched as his manhood became hard under his trousers and watched it intently as she continued to tickle him all over his body. She watched which tickling kindled more passion and she pressed her body innocently against his as she tortured his underarms and feet.
She knew he loved her feet and has caught him many a time admiring the. She reached down across his body to tickle his bare feet making sure that he could see her own soles as she tortured him.
She tickled him until she felt that she had completed the condition of “ruthless” and then continued somewhat more.
He was hard and excited and she looked at his manhood thinking that maybe she should take the initiative and finish the last condition that would grant them their freedom from Joy.
“No,” Phillip said looking at her and reading her intentions.
X'mena felt embarrassed and nodded as she released him.
She turned away unable to look at him. Perhaps she had gone too far. Perhaps he would not forgive her for taking him so far.
“I understand,” she said feeling tears well in her eyes. “I know that you belong to another. We will find another way.”
Phillip placed his hand on her shoulder and he turned her planting a hard and powerful kiss on herlips. His hands went to her body as he removed her clothes and placed his hands on her naked body. He crushed her body to his as if he were trying to cover her with his body. He pulled away only to bury his face in her bosom showering her breasts and nipples with tender kisses.
He plunged his manhood into her and she welcomed him in eagerly rubbing her feet against his legs so he might feel her soles.
X'mena felt pleasure like she had never felt before.
She tickled his sides gently. Not so much to disrupt the act, but rather to enhance it. Phillip laughed and playfully tickled her back.
He was hers. Phillip was hers if only for this day. If only for this act.
She could tell Phillip could no longer resist. Joy enhanced everything in the sexual and tickling act. He could not hold back the dam of his need and she did not allow him to attempt to hold back any longer. She pressured him in just the right point to make him climax into her.
He shouted out loud and X'mena screamed with delight.
They lay down next to each other. Spent, exhausted and as far as X'mena could tell, very very happy.
A doorway appeared in front of them.
It was the doorway to their world.
“X'mena,” Phillip began to say.
“Don't say anything,” she interrupted. She held him close and he in turn wrapped his arms around her. “If when we cross that portal your feelings for me change, I will understand.”
They said nothing else, and Phillip held her in his arms for a long while.
Ready, the dressed and looking back on the world they had come to hate and to love, they bade it goodbye as they crossed.
* * * * *
“A pretty ending,” Leandra said watching in one of Lady Abarrach's globes.
“My plan is unleashed,” Lady Abarrach said. “Damaris will become green with envy.”
“Damaris will become red with rage when she discovers I broke him and rode him,” Orphea said hoarsely from a rack that she was attached to. She was naked and stretched out on the rack. “He is already tainted. The Angel whore will smell me all over him.”
Lady Abarrach frowned. Orphea has resisted much more than she had expected. The Darque servant was tired and her face was streaked with tears from the ordeal she had been put through. But she remained lucid and defiant and that could not be so. They had sent her to Lady Abarrach so that she herself might try to break the sanity of the Darque's minion.
“Fool,” Lady Abarrach sneered at Orphea and then turned back to her crystal globes where she watched Phillip and X'mena prepare to cross the portal. “She will forgive him for lust. But something more than lust happened today. I saw that from the very first day they arrived. This will break her heart. And that is a fitting fate for her having wronged me.”
“Damaris might surprise you,” Leandra stated. “I met her before and she has a powerful will.”
Lady Abarrach scoffed. “This Darque minion also has a powerful will. But you will see when I place my hands upon her, she will be as weak as any other victim who comes under my fingers. She has held on to sanity long enough, and it is time that she face her fate as well. Is that not so, Orphea?”
The demon mistress and the mage turned to look at the victim on the rack.
They both gasped as they could not recall having gasped before.
The rack was empty.
Orphea had escaped.
To be continued....
Next: Backlash!
