sageoftruth
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The Fair Drow Maiden and the Blade of the Jungle (Part 2)
Problems with Elves
After their eventful evening in the wilderness, the dark elf and the demoness continued their journey east through the forest. Minerva did not bother preparing any defensive spells, which left Dera feeling on-edge. Her eyes darted around the numerous trees and she carefully listened for any additional pairs of footsteps. “Really? Nothing?” Dera asked. “Not even a simple blinding spell?”
“I see no need,” Minerva replied calmly as they traipsed through the thick forest. This cave is far to the east of the Amazon kingdom, even further east of the lizard kingdom, and south of any possible ninja training grounds. What would I need my spells for? The occasional bandit? I think you’ll do just fine for that.”
“Need I remind you that there is a war brewing between the elves and the drow?" Dera asked impatiently. “What’ll we do if we run into a detachment of drow soldiers? Don’t they usually bring sorceresses?”
Minerva laughed. “We really have been living on the surface for far too long haven’t we? Why would we need to be afraid of drow soldiers? We look just like them. As soon as they see us, perhaps we can ask them for directions to the cave.” She put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. “I suppose I should come up with a good excuse if that’s the case. Perhaps that we’re survivors from a battle gone wrong?”
“Don’t they kill deserters?” Dera asked.
“Good point. How about instead we say that we’re scouts with important information for the queen?” Minerva’s eyes lit up and she nodded. “Yes! Perfect! We have vital information for the queen.” Minerva adopted a deferential tone and put on her best drow messenger impression. “This information could be vital to turning the tide of the war.” The two of them laughed.
“Information, you say?” a voice questioned from the forest. They looked around them but saw no one. Suddenly, several forest elves dropped from the trees and emerged from bushes with swords and bows ready.
“Oh right. If there’s a war, then there’s always the other side,” Dera commented, rolling her eyes. “Got anything to tell them?”
"Please let me through. We are not your enemies. This is very important," Minerva pleaded as she faced down the 20 notched bows of 20 hostile forest elves, each eager to rid the world of yet another dark elf. The head of the group, a slender, black-haired elf stepped forward with a look of self-satisfaction, but his expression changed as he gazed upon his quarry. His nose wrinkled as if the sight of her offended him.
"'Important', you say?" he parroted with typical elven eloquence. "I'll bet it is important. The drow must be desperate indeed if they are sending scouts this deep into enemy territory." The head elf shrugged. “No matter. Just another depraved drow to dispose of, not that anyone will mourn you for it. Your kind don’t know the meaning of compassion.”
Minerva knew she was in no position to respond. Besides, in most cases he wasn’t wrong. “Please, sir, we are members of the council of mages and…” Her voice trailed off. She knew there was no point. If she wanted to convince them that a drow and a demoness belonged to the council, she may as well have pretended to be the queen of Arben herself. Besides, after Dera’s stunt at the last meeting, she doubted that any of the council members would vouch for her.
Just then, Dera materialized her sword and stepped in front of Minerva. "Come on! We're getting nowhere with this!" she urged. She grabbed Minerva by the collar of her robe and jumped high into the air. Considering the situation, Minerva was willing to believe that Dera had made the right choice, but they had forgotten how skilled forest elves were as marksmen. A flurry of arrows and bolas flew into the air.
"Try and ensnare us, will you?" Dera sneered while waving her blade. She swung it with demonic precision, cutting apart all of the arrows. She landed roughly atop a thick tree branch, when a set of bolas flew at them and coiled around her ankles. “Whoa!” she gasped, as her ankles snapped together and she was thrown off balance. She waved her arms wildly, while leaning to counterbalance Minerva’s weight. Minerva set her feet down atop the branch and steadied Dera with her arms. “Whew! Thanks!” Dera sighed.
However, her ears caught the gentle creak of drawn bows, and as she looked around the treetops, she found several elves crouching on branches or clinging to trunks with bows drawn. “Take them alive!” the leader shouted from below. “I have questions for them!” The elves nodded, set aside their bows and began twirling bolas over their heads.
Dera grinned. With a quick swipe from her sword, she severed the cords binding her ankles together and waved it in front of her. “You caught me by surprise before, but nothing gets by my sword.”
Suddenly, she heard a loud groaning creak, followed by a snap as a segment of the branch broke under Minerva’s feet. The dark elf cried out as she began to fall. Dropping her sword, Dera reached to the side and grasped the hood of Minerva’s robe. Minerva yelped as her fall was halted. They were safe for the moment, but several bolas snapped forward from the wrists of skilled elven archers. Both drow and demon were helpless as their arms were pinned to their sides and they tumbled, smacking into a branch or two on the way down.
Both of them grunted as they hit the ground, unable to move a muscle. The elf leader stared down at them, smiled and raised an eyebrow. Minerva sighed. She knew there was no talking their way out of this mess.
* * *
Minerva and her friend knelt side-by-side, wrists and ankles bound by sinew, the elven kind which did not break easily. Their feet were encased inside of wooden boxes carved out of nearby trees.
These wooden boxes that encased their feet were the workshops of tickle sprites, the creation of a mad wizard, and after his defeat by a band of adventures, a part of the ecosystem. Barely an inch tall, these beings we able to nourish themselves off the laughter of others. Encased inside their workshop, Minerva’s feet ceased to be tools for walking and instead became a wellspring of fresh laughter for the sprites.
She had tried using tickle sprites on herself once before out of curiosity, but they proved to be one of the few forms of tickling that even she could not stand. There was no better way to get as many areas of the body tickled with as much precision as possible. The workshop was called that for a reason. Every curl, wrinkle, and crevasse on her foot was treated as an area to be mined for fresh laughter.
It started off as a light nagging little tingle across her sole as the sprites wandered into position on tiny feet, but once they were all assembled things got far more intense. Armed with a feather half its own size, one of the little things took up a position beside Minerva's pinkie toe. Pushing back against her soft dark blue skin, the little creature used his feather to tickle between the base and the tip of her toe, keeping just enough distance to avoid being crushed as it curled on contact. Another fairy handled the tip, tickling around it's warm, ball-like shape. Thanks to the greater length of her next toe, two sprites were able to apply feathers to the ticklish stem between the base and the tip of her toe, while another one went to work polishing the tip of it with his own feather. An additional one positioned himself between the two toes and stroked his feather in a saw-like motion up and down the crevasse between them.
The rest of her toes got the same attention, with the number of sprites increasing as the length of her toes increased. The worst part was at her big toe, which was thick enough for two sprites to stand on each side of it and stroke it with their feathers, while two more tantalized the tip.
It did not end at the toes, however. Three more sprites knelt atop her helpless bare sole, just above the ball of her foot, and stroked more feathers just below the bases of her toes. Two more tickled under the ball of her foot. The arch got special attention. In their study of ticklishness, the arch was considered the prime source of laughter. Four sprites operated a large brush, and dragged it up and down the sole of her foot, going from just above the heel, to just under the ball. Barely ten seconds had passed before Dera was tearfully begging them to release her fiery red foot from its suffering, and two seconds later, Minerva followed suit.
The elf leader watched them squirm without a hint of mercy in his eyes. "What do you know about the drow queen's war plans?" the he asked coldly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I DON'T KNOHOHOHOW!" Minerva laughed. "PLEHEHEHEHEASE! YOU'VE GOTTA BELIEVE MEEHEHEHEHE!"
"PLEHEHEHEHASE! SHE... SHE DOESN'T KNOHOHOHOW ANYTHING! HAHAHAHA!" Dera implored, desperate to feel anything other than the scores of tiny feathers on every square-inch of her foot.
"I won't let you go," the leader said. "You expect me to believe there are drow who aren't fighting for the drow queen's cause? If you think this is bad, I assure you it can get much worse. Now, TALK!”
The two young ladies immediately responded. Minerva frantically appealed to the dignity and morality of elves, while Dera insulted them for being such cruel cowards, but neither of them had anything to say about military plans from a kingdom neither of them had visited in over a decade.
The leader’s eyebrow furrowed. “My first big break in over a week and they have nothing for me?” he murmured to himself. Moodily, he snapped his fingers and on-command, an elven sorceress summoned more sprites who neatly lined up outside the seconds set of boxes. Minerva and Dera both began begging him to stop as they felt the light tickle of fairy feet marching atop the previously unmolested soles of their left feet. Amidst their shrieking laughter, they both looked at the leader with fear and hope in their eyes, but he shot them both a look of cold indifference.
“I SWHEHEHEHEHEAR! WE KNOHOHOHOHOW NOTHING! HAHAHA!” Minerva pleaded.
“I care not,” he sighed. “At least I have the honor of ridding this world of another dark elf in a manner that suits your kind.”
They both felt the feathers fall into place upon their toes, and the brushes upon their arches. Their hearts raced as several tiny feet braced to set them in motion. Everything began to move at once and they entered a whole new world of torture.
Dera shook her head, desperate to erase this torturous reality from her mind. "HAHAHAHAHA! OH SEVEN HELLS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAHAHAHAN'T TAHAHAHAHAKE! ANYMORE! PLEHEHEHEHEASE STOP!" she begged. “LEHEHET US G-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Dera’s chatter cut off. The stimulation was too much and she laughed so hard she could not speak.
Meanwhile, Minerva hunched over. Her body shook with laughter, but no sound came from her mouth. She shook her head and strained against her ropes, as she slowly suffocated from her own laughter.
She recalled many moments from her past. Tickling had filled her with ecstasy, joy, and eventually exhaustion numerous times, but this was the first time it had caused her to feel fear. She recalled lying beside Dera one night while staring at the sky. “That sure was a close one,” Dera had commented. “We barely made it out alive. That wasn’t the way I wanted to end my life.”
“How would you prefer to die, then?” Minerva had asked.
“You first,” Dera said.
Minerva blushed. “To be tickled to death, preferably by you.” The two of them laughed.
Minerva felt foolish as she recalled that. As her bare feet twitched against the overbearing stimulation, as her lungs cried out for air and as her sides ached with each heave of her diaphragm, she wished she could take that back. She did not want to die, not like this, and especially not at the hands of these vile tickle sprites.
Just then, all the elves turned their heads, and their bows. "Hold your fire! It's just another elf," the leader said. Clad in, her usual hide bra and loincloth, and little else, Elanda approached with her heavy longsword at her back.
"Greetings, half-elf," the leader said with a raised hand. "What brings you this way?"
"I'm off to kill me a drow queen," Elanda responded with far less eloquence. "There's a huge bounty on her head."
"Oh, I see," the leader said, sounding disappointed. "Chasing after coin instead of supporting the elven cause? I suppose the influence of the humans has rubbed off on you, half-elf. Then again, any effort that hurts the drow is good for our cause. Best wishes to you."
Dera and Minerva both gazed at her with hope and desperation in their eyes. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE! TAHAHAHAHAKE US! OHOHOHOHOHO! I CAHAHAHAHAN’T TAKE ANYMORE! HAHAHA!” Dera cried.
"I'll take those two as well," Elanda said, pointing at the hysterical dark elf and her demon companion.
"Ah I see. Planning to use her for a strategy of yours?"
"Yeah... something like that," Elanda answered. “They know the place far better than I do, that’s for sure.”
"As you wish. Hopefully they'll be more useful to you than they were to us. Bind them well!" He gestured towards the sorceress and made a sign. She waved her hands and the sprites all vanished into thin air. Dera and Minerva greedily gulped in air as their bodies were finally given a chance to recover.
"Oh thank the Gods!" Minerva cried right before a gag was shoved in her mouth.
“Silence, you!” the leader snapped. “The gods care not for vile scum like you!”
"Thanks!" Elanda said to the elves before using her profound strength to scoop up the two of them and carry them off like sacks of flour. “Wish me luck.”
* * *
Elanda walked until she was certain she was out of the territory of the elves, before untying her parcels. "Phew! That was an impressive bluff," Dera said while stretching her legs.
The half-elven warrior scratched her head. "Huh? That was no bluff. I really am after the drow queen. Thanks to the war, people have put up a huge reward for her capture, or her death. Either works for me.”
Dera swallowed. "But, isn't the queen..."
Minerva clamped her hand over Dera’s mouth. "What a coincidence," she exclaimed. "That's what I'm here for too. I figured being a drow myself, I could waltz right in and claim the bounty.” Unfortunately, the elves out there didn't believe me."
Elanda laughed. "Yeah, they sure didn't. Before I met you, even I would be surprised to hear that a drow is planning to kill the drow queen."
"Only because they don’t have a death wish," Minerva replied. “Many would happily kill her if they thought they had a chance. Nonetheless, regardless of our odds, she must be stopped. Many will suffer if she is allowed to continue her conquest."
"Yeah, that's for sure!" Elanda agreed. "Still, only one of us can collect the reward, and I was hoping to get a new sheath for my sword soon, so..."
"Don't worry about it," Minerva reassured. "I'm not doing this one for the reward. This one is personal." Her tone made Elanda back up a few steps.
"Wow! I never figured you for the vengeful type," Elanda commented. "Anyway after carrying you two all this way, I'm feeling a bit hungry. Could you get a fire going while I find some fresh game?"
"Awww. Carrying us made you hungry?" Dera teased. "After the tickling Nervie and I went through today, I could eat a whole dragon. Let me do the hunting."
"What? You think I can't hunt?" Elanda asked. She stalked up to Dera and stared her down. The demoness only went up to her shoulders, but Dera was not afraid. Elanda poked her firmly in the chest. "You may be fast and powerful, but no one knows the forest like I do. I'll be back with enough to feed all three of us before you can even spot anything."
"All right women," Minerva interjected. "No need be so haughty. We're all friends here. How about I prepare the fire while you two look for game?"
"Sounds good to me," Elanda said.
"Me too," Dera agreed. Their gazes did not part for a second. Without a word, they split off and disappeared into the woods. With that crisis averted, Minerva got a fire going, reclined against the soft ground and started going over her spells. The cave into the underdark was less than a day’s travel away and she needed to be ready.
* * *
Minerva and Dera woke up with full stomachs. After the hunt, Elanda had returned holding a large buck by the neck, only to see Dera standing proudly before her with a corpse of her own. Apparently she had decided there were better game to be found in the abyss, and had caught herself a lesser demon.
The two of them fought endlessly over who had won and what constituted fair play, when finally the smell of both cooked creatures reminded them of their hunger. They continued to argue between mouthfuls of cooked meat, until fatigue and full stomachs sent them both to sleep. They all slept soundly, but the following morning as Minerva and Dera arose from the ground, they found that Elanda was nowhere to be found. All her gear was gone and a set of fresh, thick footprints patterned the soil ahead. The footprints were deep and only the upper halves of them appeared in the soil. Minerva was no tracker, but it was clear the half-elf had left in a hurry.
"Why did she..." Minerva began.
"Because she wanted to go alone," Dera replied with contempt in her voice. "Don’t ask me why. Maybe she had some dark secret, or just didn’t want you to see her slaughtering drow with reckless abandon? All I can say for sure was that her desire to go alone was written all over her face ever since you mentioned that we were after the same bounty.
"She could have told us at least," Minerva mumbled.
Dera laughed. "Her? I don't think so. She's no talker. That buffoon can only bluster and wave her sword, so instead of showing REAL courage and telling you the truth, she just ran ahead of us, hoping we wouldn't catch up."
"That's enough," Minerva scolded. "She may have flaws, but I forbid you to speak ill of her. Even if she lied to us and tried to trick us, I can't let her tackle this by herself. I'll never forgive myself if I let her bravado get herself killed."
Dera leaned back, closed her eyes and smiled cynically. "Relax! She may be dumb, but she's no pushover. It'll take an awful lot of drow to cut her down. Or is it someone else you're worried about?" Dera opened her eyes only to find that Minerva had left too. "Dammit, Minerva! Wait up!"
* * *
Minerva ran as fast as she could, but she lacked the impressive stamina of the elven warrior. She had barely gone half a mile when she began to tire. She struggled to keep going, but her knees wobbled, and her vision grew hazy. She put one foot in front of the other, expecting it to break her fall like legs normally do, and let out a surprised gasp when it didn’t. Just as her strength gave out, powerful arms seized her from behind and scooped her up from the ground. "We’ll never catch her at this rate,” Dera said. “Let me carry you before you pass out!"
“Excellent idea,” Minerva agreed breathlessly. On foot even horses could barely keep up with Dera. They continued forward in complete silence with Minerva riding piggyback. With the exception of leaves rustling under Dera’s feet, and wind blowing in her ears, not a sound could be heard. After a few miles without a word spoken, Dera's patience wore out. "You know, you're heavier than you look," she said with a wry smile.
To her delight, Minerva decided to play along. "Are you saying I need to exercise? You need to learn some respect." Minerva followed up with a firm slap to the bottom that made Dera wince with a mischievous grin.
"Heh! I think I've got just the workout routine for such a naughty wench." With Minerva's lower legs sticking out just below Dera's arms, it was just a matter of reaching down and grasping her rider's soft feet. She felt the sorceress's toes clench in anticipation. "Shall I count for you?"
Minerva giggled as Dera's pointy fingernails explored her feet. "Heeheeheehee! Ooh I feel fitter already! Hahahahahah!" she laughed coquettishly.
"Don't lose focus now! One... two... three..." Dera tickled harder as the count wore on.
"Hohohoho! I dohohohohon't knohohow how much more I cahahahan take! Hahahahahaha!" Minerva laughed. She leaned forward and tightened her grip on Dera's shoulders.
Dera let her nails ride up Minerva's bare legs, which made her squeal with delight. "Keep it up! We'll drop those pounds even if it kills you. Fifty seven... fifty eight..."
Caught up in the moment, she beat her fists against Dera's back, but Dera barely noticed them. "Hahahahaha! Whahahahat are we counting to?" Minerva asked.
"I dunno," Dera replied. "A thousand, maybe?" She grunted as she received another slap on her bottom.
"How insolent! Am I that fat to you?" Minerva jokingly reprimanded.
"Yeouch!" Dera grunted. "You just earned yourself another hundred."
"Oh nohohohohohooho!" Minerva laughed. Dera felt the dark elf's toes grip her thigh as she resumed the tickling. Minerva began to sweat profusely. “Dehehehera! Wait! Wait! Ahahahahahaha!” Minerva felt her legs slip through Dera's arms. She tried to cling to Dera's neck and shoulders, but the demoness had worked up quite a sweat herself. “I'm slipping!” Frantically, she grabbed at Dera's body, looking for anything to hold onto.
“Hehehehey! Stahahahahapit! You're tihihihihi- you're tickling! HahahahAhahahaha!” Dera laughed. As Dera leaned backwards to try and grab Minerva, her partner made a last-ditch effort and reached for Dera's neck. “EEEAAAH!” Dera lost her center of gravity and fell flat on her back, with Minerva beneath her.
“Phew! Sorry about that!” Dera rolled over and saw Minerva lying on her back, her hair spread out behind her like a blanket. Minerva returned a sheepish grin and a shrug, as if she had expected this to happen from the beginning. Neither of them regretted it. “You know, I'm sure that elf knows how to take care of herself,” Dera said. “I really don't feel like moving from this spot.”
“That makes two of us,” Minerva agreed. Dera grinned and reached down for what little clothing the sorceress was wearing under her illusionary garb. She then sensed magic in the air. There was a brief flash and the next moment, she found herself lying on her back with Minerva on top of her. She liked where this was going. Unfortunately, Minerva then pushed up from the ground and stepped back. “However, I'll never forgive myself if I let anything happen to Elanda.”
“Awww!” Dera groaned. “You damn tease! How can you expect me to agree with that after the moment we just had? If we meet up with her, you and I both know that we'll be stuck in straight-and-narrow purgatory until we've got the bounty and can finally part ways with her.”
“Please, Dera. It would mean a lot to me,” Minerva said. Dera crossed her arms and did not respond. “Also, I would be very sad if anything happened to her. You don't want to make me sad, right?”
This cracked Dera's resolve. “Fine! I swear, you may act like an angel, but you can be such a manipulative wench sometimes.” Dera sighed. “Still, that's what I like about you.” She squatted down and reached behind her. “Hop on. Let's go find Elanda.”
“Thanks, Dera. I know I am asking a lot.”
“You are,” Dera agreed. “That's why I get to tickle you for the rest of the trip.”
* * *
The two of them emerged from the forest supporting each other. Their hair was disheveled, and they were both out of breath, but they were both smiling. "What would I ever do without you?" Minerva said. "Thank you for cheering me up."
"That's what I'm here for," Dera replied. Just then, they both looked up to see Elanda standing before them with a sheepish look on her face.
"I.... need your help," Elanda said.
"Look at that," Dera laughed. "She's not such a fool after all." She then turned to Elanda. "So, what was it? The drow? The cave creatures?"
"It wasn't anything like that!" Elanda said defensively. "The bounty said nothing about going underground. I fear no elf, but even I'm not dumb enough to enter a dark cave filled with drow. They'd pick me apart with arrows before I knew they were there." She then turned to Minerva with a somber expression. "Sorry I left you like that. I thought you'd just slow me down, but I can't make it through this cave without your eyes. You can still see in the dark, right?"
“Thought we’d slow you down?” Dera echoed. “Us? Sure.” She grumbled to herself before pushing forward. “Well, hurry up then, warrior. I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting.”
Problems with Elves
After their eventful evening in the wilderness, the dark elf and the demoness continued their journey east through the forest. Minerva did not bother preparing any defensive spells, which left Dera feeling on-edge. Her eyes darted around the numerous trees and she carefully listened for any additional pairs of footsteps. “Really? Nothing?” Dera asked. “Not even a simple blinding spell?”
“I see no need,” Minerva replied calmly as they traipsed through the thick forest. This cave is far to the east of the Amazon kingdom, even further east of the lizard kingdom, and south of any possible ninja training grounds. What would I need my spells for? The occasional bandit? I think you’ll do just fine for that.”
“Need I remind you that there is a war brewing between the elves and the drow?" Dera asked impatiently. “What’ll we do if we run into a detachment of drow soldiers? Don’t they usually bring sorceresses?”
Minerva laughed. “We really have been living on the surface for far too long haven’t we? Why would we need to be afraid of drow soldiers? We look just like them. As soon as they see us, perhaps we can ask them for directions to the cave.” She put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. “I suppose I should come up with a good excuse if that’s the case. Perhaps that we’re survivors from a battle gone wrong?”
“Don’t they kill deserters?” Dera asked.
“Good point. How about instead we say that we’re scouts with important information for the queen?” Minerva’s eyes lit up and she nodded. “Yes! Perfect! We have vital information for the queen.” Minerva adopted a deferential tone and put on her best drow messenger impression. “This information could be vital to turning the tide of the war.” The two of them laughed.
“Information, you say?” a voice questioned from the forest. They looked around them but saw no one. Suddenly, several forest elves dropped from the trees and emerged from bushes with swords and bows ready.
“Oh right. If there’s a war, then there’s always the other side,” Dera commented, rolling her eyes. “Got anything to tell them?”
"Please let me through. We are not your enemies. This is very important," Minerva pleaded as she faced down the 20 notched bows of 20 hostile forest elves, each eager to rid the world of yet another dark elf. The head of the group, a slender, black-haired elf stepped forward with a look of self-satisfaction, but his expression changed as he gazed upon his quarry. His nose wrinkled as if the sight of her offended him.
"'Important', you say?" he parroted with typical elven eloquence. "I'll bet it is important. The drow must be desperate indeed if they are sending scouts this deep into enemy territory." The head elf shrugged. “No matter. Just another depraved drow to dispose of, not that anyone will mourn you for it. Your kind don’t know the meaning of compassion.”
Minerva knew she was in no position to respond. Besides, in most cases he wasn’t wrong. “Please, sir, we are members of the council of mages and…” Her voice trailed off. She knew there was no point. If she wanted to convince them that a drow and a demoness belonged to the council, she may as well have pretended to be the queen of Arben herself. Besides, after Dera’s stunt at the last meeting, she doubted that any of the council members would vouch for her.
Just then, Dera materialized her sword and stepped in front of Minerva. "Come on! We're getting nowhere with this!" she urged. She grabbed Minerva by the collar of her robe and jumped high into the air. Considering the situation, Minerva was willing to believe that Dera had made the right choice, but they had forgotten how skilled forest elves were as marksmen. A flurry of arrows and bolas flew into the air.
"Try and ensnare us, will you?" Dera sneered while waving her blade. She swung it with demonic precision, cutting apart all of the arrows. She landed roughly atop a thick tree branch, when a set of bolas flew at them and coiled around her ankles. “Whoa!” she gasped, as her ankles snapped together and she was thrown off balance. She waved her arms wildly, while leaning to counterbalance Minerva’s weight. Minerva set her feet down atop the branch and steadied Dera with her arms. “Whew! Thanks!” Dera sighed.
However, her ears caught the gentle creak of drawn bows, and as she looked around the treetops, she found several elves crouching on branches or clinging to trunks with bows drawn. “Take them alive!” the leader shouted from below. “I have questions for them!” The elves nodded, set aside their bows and began twirling bolas over their heads.
Dera grinned. With a quick swipe from her sword, she severed the cords binding her ankles together and waved it in front of her. “You caught me by surprise before, but nothing gets by my sword.”
Suddenly, she heard a loud groaning creak, followed by a snap as a segment of the branch broke under Minerva’s feet. The dark elf cried out as she began to fall. Dropping her sword, Dera reached to the side and grasped the hood of Minerva’s robe. Minerva yelped as her fall was halted. They were safe for the moment, but several bolas snapped forward from the wrists of skilled elven archers. Both drow and demon were helpless as their arms were pinned to their sides and they tumbled, smacking into a branch or two on the way down.
Both of them grunted as they hit the ground, unable to move a muscle. The elf leader stared down at them, smiled and raised an eyebrow. Minerva sighed. She knew there was no talking their way out of this mess.
* * *
Minerva and her friend knelt side-by-side, wrists and ankles bound by sinew, the elven kind which did not break easily. Their feet were encased inside of wooden boxes carved out of nearby trees.
These wooden boxes that encased their feet were the workshops of tickle sprites, the creation of a mad wizard, and after his defeat by a band of adventures, a part of the ecosystem. Barely an inch tall, these beings we able to nourish themselves off the laughter of others. Encased inside their workshop, Minerva’s feet ceased to be tools for walking and instead became a wellspring of fresh laughter for the sprites.
She had tried using tickle sprites on herself once before out of curiosity, but they proved to be one of the few forms of tickling that even she could not stand. There was no better way to get as many areas of the body tickled with as much precision as possible. The workshop was called that for a reason. Every curl, wrinkle, and crevasse on her foot was treated as an area to be mined for fresh laughter.
It started off as a light nagging little tingle across her sole as the sprites wandered into position on tiny feet, but once they were all assembled things got far more intense. Armed with a feather half its own size, one of the little things took up a position beside Minerva's pinkie toe. Pushing back against her soft dark blue skin, the little creature used his feather to tickle between the base and the tip of her toe, keeping just enough distance to avoid being crushed as it curled on contact. Another fairy handled the tip, tickling around it's warm, ball-like shape. Thanks to the greater length of her next toe, two sprites were able to apply feathers to the ticklish stem between the base and the tip of her toe, while another one went to work polishing the tip of it with his own feather. An additional one positioned himself between the two toes and stroked his feather in a saw-like motion up and down the crevasse between them.
The rest of her toes got the same attention, with the number of sprites increasing as the length of her toes increased. The worst part was at her big toe, which was thick enough for two sprites to stand on each side of it and stroke it with their feathers, while two more tantalized the tip.
It did not end at the toes, however. Three more sprites knelt atop her helpless bare sole, just above the ball of her foot, and stroked more feathers just below the bases of her toes. Two more tickled under the ball of her foot. The arch got special attention. In their study of ticklishness, the arch was considered the prime source of laughter. Four sprites operated a large brush, and dragged it up and down the sole of her foot, going from just above the heel, to just under the ball. Barely ten seconds had passed before Dera was tearfully begging them to release her fiery red foot from its suffering, and two seconds later, Minerva followed suit.
The elf leader watched them squirm without a hint of mercy in his eyes. "What do you know about the drow queen's war plans?" the he asked coldly.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I DON'T KNOHOHOHOW!" Minerva laughed. "PLEHEHEHEHEASE! YOU'VE GOTTA BELIEVE MEEHEHEHEHE!"
"PLEHEHEHEHASE! SHE... SHE DOESN'T KNOHOHOHOW ANYTHING! HAHAHAHA!" Dera implored, desperate to feel anything other than the scores of tiny feathers on every square-inch of her foot.
"I won't let you go," the leader said. "You expect me to believe there are drow who aren't fighting for the drow queen's cause? If you think this is bad, I assure you it can get much worse. Now, TALK!”
The two young ladies immediately responded. Minerva frantically appealed to the dignity and morality of elves, while Dera insulted them for being such cruel cowards, but neither of them had anything to say about military plans from a kingdom neither of them had visited in over a decade.
The leader’s eyebrow furrowed. “My first big break in over a week and they have nothing for me?” he murmured to himself. Moodily, he snapped his fingers and on-command, an elven sorceress summoned more sprites who neatly lined up outside the seconds set of boxes. Minerva and Dera both began begging him to stop as they felt the light tickle of fairy feet marching atop the previously unmolested soles of their left feet. Amidst their shrieking laughter, they both looked at the leader with fear and hope in their eyes, but he shot them both a look of cold indifference.
“I SWHEHEHEHEHEAR! WE KNOHOHOHOHOW NOTHING! HAHAHA!” Minerva pleaded.
“I care not,” he sighed. “At least I have the honor of ridding this world of another dark elf in a manner that suits your kind.”
They both felt the feathers fall into place upon their toes, and the brushes upon their arches. Their hearts raced as several tiny feet braced to set them in motion. Everything began to move at once and they entered a whole new world of torture.
Dera shook her head, desperate to erase this torturous reality from her mind. "HAHAHAHAHA! OH SEVEN HELLS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAHAHAHAN'T TAHAHAHAHAKE! ANYMORE! PLEHEHEHEHEASE STOP!" she begged. “LEHEHET US G-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Dera’s chatter cut off. The stimulation was too much and she laughed so hard she could not speak.
Meanwhile, Minerva hunched over. Her body shook with laughter, but no sound came from her mouth. She shook her head and strained against her ropes, as she slowly suffocated from her own laughter.
She recalled many moments from her past. Tickling had filled her with ecstasy, joy, and eventually exhaustion numerous times, but this was the first time it had caused her to feel fear. She recalled lying beside Dera one night while staring at the sky. “That sure was a close one,” Dera had commented. “We barely made it out alive. That wasn’t the way I wanted to end my life.”
“How would you prefer to die, then?” Minerva had asked.
“You first,” Dera said.
Minerva blushed. “To be tickled to death, preferably by you.” The two of them laughed.
Minerva felt foolish as she recalled that. As her bare feet twitched against the overbearing stimulation, as her lungs cried out for air and as her sides ached with each heave of her diaphragm, she wished she could take that back. She did not want to die, not like this, and especially not at the hands of these vile tickle sprites.
Just then, all the elves turned their heads, and their bows. "Hold your fire! It's just another elf," the leader said. Clad in, her usual hide bra and loincloth, and little else, Elanda approached with her heavy longsword at her back.
"Greetings, half-elf," the leader said with a raised hand. "What brings you this way?"
"I'm off to kill me a drow queen," Elanda responded with far less eloquence. "There's a huge bounty on her head."
"Oh, I see," the leader said, sounding disappointed. "Chasing after coin instead of supporting the elven cause? I suppose the influence of the humans has rubbed off on you, half-elf. Then again, any effort that hurts the drow is good for our cause. Best wishes to you."
Dera and Minerva both gazed at her with hope and desperation in their eyes. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE! TAHAHAHAHAKE US! OHOHOHOHOHO! I CAHAHAHAHAN’T TAKE ANYMORE! HAHAHA!” Dera cried.
"I'll take those two as well," Elanda said, pointing at the hysterical dark elf and her demon companion.
"Ah I see. Planning to use her for a strategy of yours?"
"Yeah... something like that," Elanda answered. “They know the place far better than I do, that’s for sure.”
"As you wish. Hopefully they'll be more useful to you than they were to us. Bind them well!" He gestured towards the sorceress and made a sign. She waved her hands and the sprites all vanished into thin air. Dera and Minerva greedily gulped in air as their bodies were finally given a chance to recover.
"Oh thank the Gods!" Minerva cried right before a gag was shoved in her mouth.
“Silence, you!” the leader snapped. “The gods care not for vile scum like you!”
"Thanks!" Elanda said to the elves before using her profound strength to scoop up the two of them and carry them off like sacks of flour. “Wish me luck.”
* * *
Elanda walked until she was certain she was out of the territory of the elves, before untying her parcels. "Phew! That was an impressive bluff," Dera said while stretching her legs.
The half-elven warrior scratched her head. "Huh? That was no bluff. I really am after the drow queen. Thanks to the war, people have put up a huge reward for her capture, or her death. Either works for me.”
Dera swallowed. "But, isn't the queen..."
Minerva clamped her hand over Dera’s mouth. "What a coincidence," she exclaimed. "That's what I'm here for too. I figured being a drow myself, I could waltz right in and claim the bounty.” Unfortunately, the elves out there didn't believe me."
Elanda laughed. "Yeah, they sure didn't. Before I met you, even I would be surprised to hear that a drow is planning to kill the drow queen."
"Only because they don’t have a death wish," Minerva replied. “Many would happily kill her if they thought they had a chance. Nonetheless, regardless of our odds, she must be stopped. Many will suffer if she is allowed to continue her conquest."
"Yeah, that's for sure!" Elanda agreed. "Still, only one of us can collect the reward, and I was hoping to get a new sheath for my sword soon, so..."
"Don't worry about it," Minerva reassured. "I'm not doing this one for the reward. This one is personal." Her tone made Elanda back up a few steps.
"Wow! I never figured you for the vengeful type," Elanda commented. "Anyway after carrying you two all this way, I'm feeling a bit hungry. Could you get a fire going while I find some fresh game?"
"Awww. Carrying us made you hungry?" Dera teased. "After the tickling Nervie and I went through today, I could eat a whole dragon. Let me do the hunting."
"What? You think I can't hunt?" Elanda asked. She stalked up to Dera and stared her down. The demoness only went up to her shoulders, but Dera was not afraid. Elanda poked her firmly in the chest. "You may be fast and powerful, but no one knows the forest like I do. I'll be back with enough to feed all three of us before you can even spot anything."
"All right women," Minerva interjected. "No need be so haughty. We're all friends here. How about I prepare the fire while you two look for game?"
"Sounds good to me," Elanda said.
"Me too," Dera agreed. Their gazes did not part for a second. Without a word, they split off and disappeared into the woods. With that crisis averted, Minerva got a fire going, reclined against the soft ground and started going over her spells. The cave into the underdark was less than a day’s travel away and she needed to be ready.
* * *
Minerva and Dera woke up with full stomachs. After the hunt, Elanda had returned holding a large buck by the neck, only to see Dera standing proudly before her with a corpse of her own. Apparently she had decided there were better game to be found in the abyss, and had caught herself a lesser demon.
The two of them fought endlessly over who had won and what constituted fair play, when finally the smell of both cooked creatures reminded them of their hunger. They continued to argue between mouthfuls of cooked meat, until fatigue and full stomachs sent them both to sleep. They all slept soundly, but the following morning as Minerva and Dera arose from the ground, they found that Elanda was nowhere to be found. All her gear was gone and a set of fresh, thick footprints patterned the soil ahead. The footprints were deep and only the upper halves of them appeared in the soil. Minerva was no tracker, but it was clear the half-elf had left in a hurry.
"Why did she..." Minerva began.
"Because she wanted to go alone," Dera replied with contempt in her voice. "Don’t ask me why. Maybe she had some dark secret, or just didn’t want you to see her slaughtering drow with reckless abandon? All I can say for sure was that her desire to go alone was written all over her face ever since you mentioned that we were after the same bounty.
"She could have told us at least," Minerva mumbled.
Dera laughed. "Her? I don't think so. She's no talker. That buffoon can only bluster and wave her sword, so instead of showing REAL courage and telling you the truth, she just ran ahead of us, hoping we wouldn't catch up."
"That's enough," Minerva scolded. "She may have flaws, but I forbid you to speak ill of her. Even if she lied to us and tried to trick us, I can't let her tackle this by herself. I'll never forgive myself if I let her bravado get herself killed."
Dera leaned back, closed her eyes and smiled cynically. "Relax! She may be dumb, but she's no pushover. It'll take an awful lot of drow to cut her down. Or is it someone else you're worried about?" Dera opened her eyes only to find that Minerva had left too. "Dammit, Minerva! Wait up!"
* * *
Minerva ran as fast as she could, but she lacked the impressive stamina of the elven warrior. She had barely gone half a mile when she began to tire. She struggled to keep going, but her knees wobbled, and her vision grew hazy. She put one foot in front of the other, expecting it to break her fall like legs normally do, and let out a surprised gasp when it didn’t. Just as her strength gave out, powerful arms seized her from behind and scooped her up from the ground. "We’ll never catch her at this rate,” Dera said. “Let me carry you before you pass out!"
“Excellent idea,” Minerva agreed breathlessly. On foot even horses could barely keep up with Dera. They continued forward in complete silence with Minerva riding piggyback. With the exception of leaves rustling under Dera’s feet, and wind blowing in her ears, not a sound could be heard. After a few miles without a word spoken, Dera's patience wore out. "You know, you're heavier than you look," she said with a wry smile.
To her delight, Minerva decided to play along. "Are you saying I need to exercise? You need to learn some respect." Minerva followed up with a firm slap to the bottom that made Dera wince with a mischievous grin.
"Heh! I think I've got just the workout routine for such a naughty wench." With Minerva's lower legs sticking out just below Dera's arms, it was just a matter of reaching down and grasping her rider's soft feet. She felt the sorceress's toes clench in anticipation. "Shall I count for you?"
Minerva giggled as Dera's pointy fingernails explored her feet. "Heeheeheehee! Ooh I feel fitter already! Hahahahahah!" she laughed coquettishly.
"Don't lose focus now! One... two... three..." Dera tickled harder as the count wore on.
"Hohohoho! I dohohohohon't knohohow how much more I cahahahan take! Hahahahahaha!" Minerva laughed. She leaned forward and tightened her grip on Dera's shoulders.
Dera let her nails ride up Minerva's bare legs, which made her squeal with delight. "Keep it up! We'll drop those pounds even if it kills you. Fifty seven... fifty eight..."
Caught up in the moment, she beat her fists against Dera's back, but Dera barely noticed them. "Hahahahaha! Whahahahat are we counting to?" Minerva asked.
"I dunno," Dera replied. "A thousand, maybe?" She grunted as she received another slap on her bottom.
"How insolent! Am I that fat to you?" Minerva jokingly reprimanded.
"Yeouch!" Dera grunted. "You just earned yourself another hundred."
"Oh nohohohohohooho!" Minerva laughed. Dera felt the dark elf's toes grip her thigh as she resumed the tickling. Minerva began to sweat profusely. “Dehehehera! Wait! Wait! Ahahahahahaha!” Minerva felt her legs slip through Dera's arms. She tried to cling to Dera's neck and shoulders, but the demoness had worked up quite a sweat herself. “I'm slipping!” Frantically, she grabbed at Dera's body, looking for anything to hold onto.
“Hehehehey! Stahahahahapit! You're tihihihihi- you're tickling! HahahahAhahahaha!” Dera laughed. As Dera leaned backwards to try and grab Minerva, her partner made a last-ditch effort and reached for Dera's neck. “EEEAAAH!” Dera lost her center of gravity and fell flat on her back, with Minerva beneath her.
“Phew! Sorry about that!” Dera rolled over and saw Minerva lying on her back, her hair spread out behind her like a blanket. Minerva returned a sheepish grin and a shrug, as if she had expected this to happen from the beginning. Neither of them regretted it. “You know, I'm sure that elf knows how to take care of herself,” Dera said. “I really don't feel like moving from this spot.”
“That makes two of us,” Minerva agreed. Dera grinned and reached down for what little clothing the sorceress was wearing under her illusionary garb. She then sensed magic in the air. There was a brief flash and the next moment, she found herself lying on her back with Minerva on top of her. She liked where this was going. Unfortunately, Minerva then pushed up from the ground and stepped back. “However, I'll never forgive myself if I let anything happen to Elanda.”
“Awww!” Dera groaned. “You damn tease! How can you expect me to agree with that after the moment we just had? If we meet up with her, you and I both know that we'll be stuck in straight-and-narrow purgatory until we've got the bounty and can finally part ways with her.”
“Please, Dera. It would mean a lot to me,” Minerva said. Dera crossed her arms and did not respond. “Also, I would be very sad if anything happened to her. You don't want to make me sad, right?”
This cracked Dera's resolve. “Fine! I swear, you may act like an angel, but you can be such a manipulative wench sometimes.” Dera sighed. “Still, that's what I like about you.” She squatted down and reached behind her. “Hop on. Let's go find Elanda.”
“Thanks, Dera. I know I am asking a lot.”
“You are,” Dera agreed. “That's why I get to tickle you for the rest of the trip.”
* * *
The two of them emerged from the forest supporting each other. Their hair was disheveled, and they were both out of breath, but they were both smiling. "What would I ever do without you?" Minerva said. "Thank you for cheering me up."
"That's what I'm here for," Dera replied. Just then, they both looked up to see Elanda standing before them with a sheepish look on her face.
"I.... need your help," Elanda said.
"Look at that," Dera laughed. "She's not such a fool after all." She then turned to Elanda. "So, what was it? The drow? The cave creatures?"
"It wasn't anything like that!" Elanda said defensively. "The bounty said nothing about going underground. I fear no elf, but even I'm not dumb enough to enter a dark cave filled with drow. They'd pick me apart with arrows before I knew they were there." She then turned to Minerva with a somber expression. "Sorry I left you like that. I thought you'd just slow me down, but I can't make it through this cave without your eyes. You can still see in the dark, right?"
“Thought we’d slow you down?” Dera echoed. “Us? Sure.” She grumbled to herself before pushing forward. “Well, hurry up then, warrior. I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting.”
