Tenderfoot Part Nine
The Return of the Tickle Scourge
Esmeralda’s departure from the Academy had been swift. She packed her things in a few minutes and prepared to leave.
Loanna shed more than a tear as they embraced and said their good-bye.
“If you ever need help of a Giant, just mention my name and I’ll make sure you get all the help you need,” Loanna said echoing a similar offer from the Centaur Princess Laurannis.
“I’d say the same of Tenderfoots,” Esmeralda said with a smile as she wiped aside her own tears, “but I can’t say I’ve met all that many.”
Her name “Esmeralda” slowly faded from the bed where it was inscribed the first day she stepped foot in her sleeping quarters. It seemed everyone and everything in the Academy knew that it was time for her to go.
Deana, the Demon Mistress and Keeper of the Academy met her outside the Hall of Heroes where they had met a scarce three months ago when Esmeralda fell though the sky. She gave Esmeralda an affectionate hug and prepared to lift her up to the crystal ball exit to the Academy’s world.
Amber and Indigo came flying forth urgently.
“You’re not leaving without saying goodbye are you?” Indigo asked with a grin.
“Where were you two?” Esmeralda asked hurriedly. “I was looking all over for you. I have to go now. Patrisa has already passed and is waiting on the other side with Madame Jordanna.”
Amber and Indigo, the same height as Esmeralda while within the Academy, smiled and each other but did not reply.
“We’ll take her up,” Amber said to Deana as each of the Pixies each placed an arm under each of Esmeralda’s arms. Their gossamer wings beat wildly and they lifted Esmeralda swiftly into the air.
“We’ll see each other again,” Esmeralda said as she approached the crystal entrance and felt a tear creep into her eye.
“We’re sure we will,” Amber and Indigo said in unison with a grin plastered over their faces.
Before she could respond she saw a flash as she passed through the crystal. She felt herself grow until she was full size once again.
She was back in the Fortune Teller’s shop. She was back in the Wundermarket.
She saw Madame Jordanna and Patrisa shake hands across the fortune telling table and a sealed scroll was given from the Elfling to the Tickle Scourge.
“Lord Xavis won’t know what hit him,” Patrisa said with a wide grin. “Let’s go, Tenderfoot.”
“I’m not a Tenderfoot anymore,” Esmeralda rebuked proudly.
“So long as you are my protégé and I am your mentor, you are still a Tenderfoot,” Patrisa replied firmly. “But I hear you stormed the Elfling King’s Dungeon. And that is no small feat of a Tenderfoot.”
Esmeralda smiled as she felt a bit of pride thanks to the Tickle Scourge’s compliment.
Patrisa smiled and shook her head. “Lord Xavis and his Palace await. Say your goodbyes and let us be gone!” Patrisa left the room.
“Good bye, Madame Jordanna,” Esmeralda said extending her hand to the Elfling teacher. “Thank you so much for your guidance.”
“It was my privilege,” she said taking Emeralda’s hand in her own hands and holding it tightly. “It is no small endeavor which you and the Scourge embark upon. Do well on your quest, Esmeralda, and maybe a statue of yours will some day be erected in the hall of heroes.”
“I’ll do my best,” Esmeralda replied leaving the tent.
“I just hope it’s enough,” Madame Jordanna said thoughtful to herself after their departure. “For all our sakes.”
* * * * * *
“Where are we headed?” Esmeralda asked of Patrisa as they walked cloaked through the Wundermarket. The different vendors of different races no longer appeared strange to Esmeralda as they pressed through the crowds.
“There are no wormholes to our destination,” Patrisa answered in a hushed tone. “They sealed them all since the last time I raided the palace. We need to arrange transport. We will need certain supplies from an apothecary if my plan is to work so we may enter the palace.”
“An apothecary?” Esmeralda repeated. “You mean something like a pharmacy?”
“No, I mean a Wundermarket Apothecary,” she said. “Nothing like any pharmacy you’ve known.”
Esmeralda knew better than to ask too many questions.
They entered a wagon similar to that of Peter the Peddler with a sign that stated “Ancient Apothecary”. The inside of the wagon was also similar to Pete the Peddler’s just instead of magic objects the walls were lines with small bottles sporting pills of all kinds.
Esmeralda and Patrisa stepped up to the counter and tapped a bell on the counter.
A creature with a Dinosaur head wearing a head mirror strapped to it, walked into the room wearing a white lab jacket and holding a mortar and pestle in his hands crushing a fine white powder.
“What can I get for you kind folks?” he asked as he paused from his work to look up at his clients.
“You!” Esmeralda exclaimed. “Peter the Peddler! You left us out to dry!”
“Shhhh!” he said placing his index finger on his lips. “It’s Pete the Pill Provider now! Every Animus headhunter out there thinks Peter the Peddler somehow helped you escape. I have no idea where they got that idea.”
”Tell us, Petey,” Patrisa said pulling free her fighting sticks, “what’s going to stop us from pounding some sense into that lizard head of yours?”
“Di-no-saur!” Pete rebuked angrily offended by the remark. “It’s a dinosaur head, you thick headed tickler! And I did not leave you out to dry. You got home free didn’t you? I hope Silk has been happy with his new mistress.”
The mechanical spider climbed out of Esmeralda’s robes and onto her shoulder and nodded with its mechanical head in an affirmative yes.
“Well, now I am a Pill Provider. My days peddling magical artifacts are over. The Animus headhunters will see to making sure I sell no more artifacts in the Wundermarket,” he said straightening his lab coat. “However business is business. Now I provide the best pills the Wundermarket has to offer. I’d be glad to give you girls an excellent discount.”
“In that case, I’ll need some Long Lasting Animus pills,” Patrisa said lowering her fighting sticks. “Just a couple. And the some Extra Strength Tickleberry Juice pills.”
“Ok, I can do that,” Pete said rummaging through the shelves looking for the requested pills.
“I’ll need to test those Tickleberry Juice Pills. And I’ll need you to peddle one last time.”
“Peddle? Well that’s what I used to do best,” Peter pulling down some bottles of pills. “They won’t let me peddle here in the Wundermarket though. What do you need me to peddle?”
“Us,” Patrisa replied.
* * * * * * *
“Clever,” Peter admitted as he listened to Patrisa’s plan. “Daring, innovative, dangerous. But most importantly…”
He drew near Patrisa so only she and Esmeralda could hear.
“What’s in it for me?”
“Proceeds from selling the two most ticklish slaves to Lord Xavis’s Harem,” Patrisa replied. “Whatever you can squeeze out of those Animus slave traders is yours for the taking.”
“I’m in,” Peter replied clapping his hands gleefully.
“Well then, let’s have a look at those Tickleberry pills,” Patrisa requested.
“These are Extra Strength,” Peter said placing two pink pills in Patrisa’s open palm. “They’ll take a bit to kick in and the effect is good afor a couple hours. I hope you realize what this will do to you.”
“I know what they should do,” Patrisa said as she swallowed the pills and washed them down with a glass of water.
“We are a couple of very ticklish girls. No one is going to deny that,” Patrisa said including Esmeralda in the conversation. “If we get caught and restrained we are going to laugh and laugh hard. However, Lord Xavis can be lazy when it comes to tickling his harem girls. If he has to make an extra effort to tickle his girls he doesn’t want them. Fakers are detected long before they even reach the palace.”
She pulled out her fighting sticks, pointing Ash to her feet and Oak to her wrists.
Sha kaet noes klanes, kao kaet noes stwirs! She spoke.
The weapons glowed and from the ends of the wooden sticks branches grew and wrapped tightly around the Tickle Scourge’s wrists and ankles. She was suspended and spread eagle in the air.
“My feet and underarms are absolutely not ticklish. It is a true rarity among the creatures of the Realms. There are those who can resist a while, but truly unticklish feet are rare indeed. Lord Xavis would not look twice at a slave without ticklish feet or underarms,” she said as she was suspended in the air.
“Tenderfoot, tickle my feet and underarms,” she ordered. “Don’t stop until you have broken me. No matter what I say. I want to see how much you have advanced.”
Esmeralda obeyed. She understood Patrisa’s intentions. She wanted to test the pills and their effectiveness and at the same time test Esmeralda’s mettle. Esmeralda had no intention of disappointing.
She removed Patrisa’s sandals leaving the Scourge’s feet bare. She remembered watching Lucil’s futile attempt to tickle those pretty white soles. Esmeralda wasted no time and immediately began to scratch and tickle her mentor’s bare soles. There was no reaction at all. Light stroking, hard stroking, nothing made a difference.
“Your pills are useless, Petey!” Patisa exclaimed. “I feel absolutely nothing.”
Esmeralda frowned but continued to tickle probing the sole, between the toes, the arch, the heel, but to no avail.
“Give them a chance,” Peter replied. “They’ll kick in any moment now.”
It started with a slight twitch. Had Esmeralda blinked, she would have missed it. Then there was another twitch. She watched Patrisa’s face intently watching for reactions. A small concealed smile seemed to form in the corner of Patrisa’s mouth. It was clear to Esmeralda that Patrisa was holding the laughter in and that she was going to test her skills.
The twitching continued to grow in intensity, toes began to curl.
True to his word, Pete the Pill Providor’s Tickleberry Juice Pills were “kicking in”. Indeed they would not be the only things “kicking” in the next few moments, Esmeralda realized.
Esmeralda spread the toes and tickled in between as she enjoyed the new sensations that Patrisa tried to bottle up inside. She broke into laughter and her toes curls trying to keep Esmeralda’s fingers trapped. It was a petty maneuver actually. Esmeralda simply tickled the sides of her feet and the fingers were suddenly released to continue their assault.
“Stop it,” Patrisa begged as she began to laugh uncontrollably. “The test is over, the pills work.”
“I know,” Esmeralda said pausing.
“Let me go then,” she ordered. “Say the words: ‘seleare twirts, seleare klanes’. I cannot free myself.”
“How convenient,” Esmeralda remarked striding up where Patrisa could see her. She looked her in the eyes and Patrisa prepared to scold the young Tenderfoot when she felt sharp nails dig into her unsuspecting and previously unticklish armpits.
Patrisa howled in surprise and laughter. She had always smirked at the petty attempts to tickle her underarms and feet. She tickled other person’s feet and underarm mercilessly thousands of times before always wondering how it would feel to be ticklish there.
Now she knew.
And she was not happy about it.
Patrisa screamed and laughed uncontrollably.
Esmeralda could not remember ever tickling such pretty and such ticklish underarms. She cherished the moment. She had not had the opportunity to hear Patrisa laugh because Lucil had kept her gagged during the ordeal. It was beautiful laughter and Esmeralda enjoyed having the opportunity to tickle the infamous Tickle Scourge.
“Stop it! Enough!” Patrisa demanded notably angry but unable to resist the tickling assault.
Again Esmeralda obeyed. To a certain extent. Peter watched the entire ordeal with much amusement. He seemed to know what was next.
Esmeralda quietly and nonchalantly unstrapped the leather armor that protected Patrisa’s belly and sides leaving her in a thin brown undergarment which would hardly stop a tickle attack.
Patrisa instantly protested. “No! I told you just the feet and underarms! Nothing more! I didn’t tell you to go after my sides!”
Esmeralda placed an open palm on Patrisa’s belly and drew near the Socurge’s ear so only she could hear.
”Are you in any position to give orders, Tickle Scourge?” she asked.
Patrisa gulped but did not reply.
“I thought so,” Esmeralda replied as her fingers danced along Patrisa’s belly. The reaction was explosive and not quite what Esmeralda expected. She watched her buck and kick wildly when Lucil tickled her, but it seemed now that with the little pink tickle pills she was even more ticklish.
Her laughter was thick and hard and laced with desperate screams. Her body twisted and pulled at her fighting sticks but they would not budge.
“Stop it!” she cried between screams. “Mercy! Quickly, finish me quickly!”
Esmeralda realized that she was not going to get the admiration of the Tickle Scourge by being a softie. She withdrew as she felt Patrisa approaching her limit and allowed her a moment’s respite before continuing her assault.
Esmeralda went back to her feet and tickled them lightly tickling at a slower however no less relentless pace. There was no real skill necessary since they were so ticklish. Patrisa laughed and screamed and the feet thrashed like Esmeralda had never seen feet thrash before. Her own feet were quite ticklish, but nothing like Patrisa’s feet at this moment.
Esmeralda abandoned the feet and tickled her insteps and her shins watching Patrisa struggle to maintain a steady level of laughter and not spin out of control. Esmeralda slid her fingers behind her hard muscular calves and Patrisa went wild again laughing and screaming without control.
Esmeralda put her fingertips together on the tops of Patrisa’s knees and slowly opened her hand. An innocent tickling game she’d play with her cousins was now a terrible cruel torture. Patrisa laughed even more if possible and Esmeralda could not resist but to laugh with her. Patrisa approached her limit once more and Esmeralda once again denied her the comfort of oblivion.
“I’ve never been ticklish on my legs…” Patrisa said panting heavily and speaking with difficulty. “Never. I’ve never felt so ticklish in my entire life. Please, Tenderfoot, let me go, you’ve proven your point.”
Esmeralda leaned over so she could look Patrisa right into her icy blue eyes.
“Have I?” Esmeralda asked.
Before Patrisa could answer Esmeralda cruelly dug her fingers into her victim’s still untouched sides. It was clearly Patrisa’s most ticklish spot. Augmented by the pink tickle pills, their ticklishness was unmatched.
Patrisa screamed and shook violently. It might have been a red hot poker being pressed to her sides instead of Esmeralda’s dancing fingers. Esmeralda finally went in for the kill using her best technique to bring Patrisa to a tickling climax.
It did not take long.
In less than thirty seconds the mighty Tickle Scourge gasped and finally went limp. She no longer reacted to Esmeralda’s stimulus. Her body rested and her facial expressions relaxed. A bright red jewel appeared above her head.
Peter clapped loudly. “Bravo!” he called. “I have not seen a show like that in quite a long time. I must say that I am impressed.”
Esmeralda pressed the jewel back into Patrisa’s third eye and she immediately began to stir and recover.
Seleare twirts, seleare klanes, she said to the fighting sticks, Ash and Oak. She touched each of them and they glowed before gently setting their mistress on the floor and releasing her from her bondage.
Patrisa stood up. Her long straight blond hair was tangled and her brown undergarment wrinkled. She strode over to Peter and took his hand.
”Excellent pills,” she said as a compliment. “You have a great future as a pill provider.”
“I know, I know,” he said with total lack of modesty. If his green dinosaur skin could blush however, it would.
“And you,” she said turning to Esmeralda. “What you did was uncalled for. It was brazen, it was cruel and it was brutal.”
Esmeralda suddenly did not feel as secure as she had while the Tickle Scourge was restrained. As the Tickle Scourge drew near, she instinctively crossed her arms and covered her most ticklish spots.
Instead of a tickling assault, the Tickle Scourge engaged in a powerful embrace.
”You finally learned what it takes to be a tickler in this world,” Patrisa said. “I am so proud of you. You were absolutely ruthless!”
Esmeralda was still learning to be a great tickler in this strange world. But try as she might, she just couldn’t stop being surprised time and time again by the way this world worked.
She shrugged to herself.
She was getting used to that.
* * * * * *
The Elfling King was furious.
He was a nameless king. There was a curious reason why. He had been Elfling King longer than any creature of the Realms could recall. So much time had passed that he himself had forgotten his name and had preferred to go by his title: The Elfling King.
Many believed his longevity was due to the magic he extracted from his victims in his vast dungeons. If this was true, he had much cause to be angry.
Chief Interrogator Haydeen was taken in shackles before the mighty Elfling King.
“You, Chief Interrogator, were responsible for the first robbery and escape from my dungeons for as long as I can remember,” he said pointing a long crooked finger accusingly. “And my memory goes back well past your lifespan ten fold.”
He was old and wrinkled and had a full head of snow white hair. He was taller than most Elflings also; he towered a full head over even Haydeen who was considered tall among the Elflings. He was so unlike any of the other younger Elflings in these ways. His only real give away as an Elfling were his dark and hollow black pupils and long pointed ears. He wore white robes of the finest silk and sat upon a throne carved into a white and red spotted toadstool. On his head he wore a white crown made of bone.
“I will avenge you, my Liege, I swear!” Haydeen begged throwing herself on her knees. “Give me the opportunity to do so.”
“Bah!” he said waving a hand to the sentry behind her to force him to pick her off the ground. “You are nor a Warrior nor a Spell Caster. If I sent you out after them, it would be a terrible waste of an Interrogator.”
Haydeen paused her pleas at this comment. If she was too valuable to be sent on a suicide mission, perhaps she was too valuable to languish in a dungeon.
As if reading her thoughts, the Elfling King spoke: “You will be punished accordingly, I will see to that. But you ARE my very best Interrogator and I will not allow you to be wasted among thick headed tickle mongers.”
Haydeen felt the sentry release her from her shackles.
“Instead I have contracted the services of someone who can indeed avenge my honor and bring me this Esmeralda.” He said the name with disdain as if it brought a foul taste to his mouth.
“Who is this person, my Liege?” Haydeen asked massaging her wrists.
“I am that person,” a voice that was vaguely familiar answered from the shadows.
“Orion!” Haydeen exclaimed.
“Orion Pax. The Shade. The Shadow. Name him what you wish,” the Elfling King said gesturing to the black clad spell as he emerged from the shadows. “He has returned from the cold and cruel world he came from and he will bring me this Tenderfoot.”
“For a price, Lord Elfling King,” Orion replied coolly. “For a price.”
“Of course,” the Elfling King scoffed. “Your sorts are all mercenaries. You’re not much different than this Esmeralda and that treacherous Tickle Scourge.”
“Except that I am at your service,” Orion answered. “And the Shade has never failed a client.”
“True,” the Elfling King said grudgingly.
“I request only one last thing,” Orion said. “Send your Interrogator with me on this quest so I might easily identify this Tenderfoot.”
Haydeen’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
“She is to be punished for her negligence,” the Elfling King replied not all too happy with the suggestion.
“Allow me to take that burden on my shoulders,” Orion offered. “I will punish her accordingly with as much enthusiasm as the Lord Elfling King would.”
“My Liege!” Haydeen cried out. “Of all the presumptuous and insolent requests—“
”Very well,” the Elfling King said waving his hand in disinterest as if to rid himself of the problem. “Haydeen will go with you. Bring her back to me in one piece or I will hunt you down myself, Master Spell Caster.”
It was clear that it was not an idle threat.
“My Liege!” Haydeen protested.
“You will obey!” the Elfling King snarled, “or I will tickle you worse than you have ever tickled Master Interrogator. I have spells that have not been uttered in centuries. Do as the Shade requests and redeem yourself in helping him bring back this foul person to suffer at my hands.”
Resigned with her fate she bowed her head and said. “As you command, my Liege.”
Orion Pax also bowed slightly and followed her out of the Elfling King’s court.
“Fools! All of them!” the Elfling King muttered to himself as he watched them leave.
The dice had been cast. He sat back in his throne and sipped a glass of blood red wine as he spent the rest of the day contemplating the future.
* * * * *
Peter’s wagon was pulled by a magnificent magical and mechanical horse not much unlike Silk. Peter had named the horse Mule. Made of copper and bronze, it released steam instead of neighing and it made much more noise than a normal horse. It galloped at a frightful speed but the wagon somehow kept steady.
It was such a smooth ride that Esmeralda never noticed when they left the Wundermarket upon its solid cloud or when they landed on solid ground jetting through a forest road at back breaking speed.
“You look splendid, ladies,” Peter complimented after having given Silk specific instructions on how to design their disguises.
Patrisa and Esmeralda were clad in skimpy dancing girl outfits that left little to the imagination leaving bellies, legs and arms bare.
“This is ridiculous,” Esmeralda said through a fairly transparent veil that covered half her face. “I mean I thought Xavis’s harem was interested in ticklishness not in a meat market!”
“Presentation is half the battle when you peddle,” Peter said examining the costumes. He stepped behind Esmeralda and placed Silk around her neck with a chain as if it were some sort of medallion. “There. That way Silk will be able to enter with you.”
“Slaves are actually very well treated in Xavis’s Harem. They have private property and even their own servents,” Patrisa commented as she pressed the ends of each of her fighting sticks together until they were two small coin shaped disks of wood. She added these to her costume as well. “Many a ticklish girl will actually volunteer to be his slave.”
“But what about the veil?” Esmeralda asked looking at herself in the mirror certain that the veil was useless as a disguise. “Lucil will see me coming from a mile away.”
Esmeralda secretly liked what she saw in the mirror. With months of hard training her body looked tons better now in this costume than it ever did in a bikini the few times she wore it at the beach back home.
“That is what this pill is for,” Peter said placing a rainbow colored pill in each of their open palms and offering a glass of water. “Animus Long Lasting Strength. I made them myself.”
Patrisa swallowed the pill without comment and saved half of the water for Esmeralda.
Esmeralda placed the pill in her mouth and quickly swallowed it.
“What’s going to happen?” Esmeralda asked at least grateful the pills were not pink.
“The Animus are cursed,” Patrisa explained. “They were one time like manlings, but they were forced by the curse to take the image of animals and thus they have the body of a manling and a head of an animal. We are simply using a magical pill to simulate the curse for a limited amount of time.”
Brown feathers began to appear on Patrisa’s face until her head twisted and became distorted. When it came into focus once more, her head became that of a Golden Eagle. “You see,” the eagle face said. “We all become like the animal we most resemble.”
“A bird of prey!” Peter said exclaiming. “How appropriate for the Tickle Scourge!”
Patrisa nodded and turned to Esmeralda. “Take a look at yourself in the mirror.”
Esmeralda obeyed and say that her head was no longer hers but that of an orange striped tiger with green emerald eyes.
“The strength and fortitude of a tiger,” Peter said nodding with approval. “I should have guessed.”
“We are ready then. How far to the slave market?” Patrisa asked looking out the wagon.
“We’re in the Fae Realm right now,” Peter said judging from the trees they were passing and the road. I’ve peddled here many times in the past. Mule needs no rest. We’ll pass soon through the Centaur Realm tonight and we’ll enter the Animus Realm by early tomorrow morning.”
“Good,” Patrisa said lying down on a couch in the wagon and covering herself with a blanket. “I suggest you get some sleep, Tenderfoot. We have a long sleepless quest ahead of us.”
“Sweet dreams, ladies,” Peter said as he went out front to check up on the magical and mechanical steed.
Esmeralda sat alone on another strange divan on the other side of the strange and magical wagon. It was only three yards wide on the outside, but due to some strange magical distortion of space, it was ten yards wide on the inside.
So Patrisa was sleeping rather far away from Esmeralda. She lied down touching her now furry face with her hand and wondering how long she would go around looking like a tiger.
“Pssst!” came a noise from above her shoulder. She sat up with a start.
“It’s us. Amber and Indigo,” said the pixie from the secret pocket of her dark green robes.
“What are you doing here?” Esmeralda asked in a hushed whisper.
“You are in danger,” Amber whispered. “We are here to protect you. We crossed from the Academy with you and we’ve been in your pocket ever since.”
“Aren’t you going to get in trouble for leaving the Academy?” Esmeralda asked.
The pixies shrugged together in unison.
“You’re more important,” Indigo said. “We’ll be around so don’t you worry!”
The pixies hid once more and their light colorful glows disappeared. Esmeralda listened for Patrisa’s breathing and she appeared to be snoring gently.
Esmeralda thought about the pixies and as she went to sleep she discovered they were right.
With her friends around, there was no need to worry.
To be continued…
NEXT: Into the Red Panther’s Palace
The Return of the Tickle Scourge
Esmeralda’s departure from the Academy had been swift. She packed her things in a few minutes and prepared to leave.
Loanna shed more than a tear as they embraced and said their good-bye.
“If you ever need help of a Giant, just mention my name and I’ll make sure you get all the help you need,” Loanna said echoing a similar offer from the Centaur Princess Laurannis.
“I’d say the same of Tenderfoots,” Esmeralda said with a smile as she wiped aside her own tears, “but I can’t say I’ve met all that many.”
Her name “Esmeralda” slowly faded from the bed where it was inscribed the first day she stepped foot in her sleeping quarters. It seemed everyone and everything in the Academy knew that it was time for her to go.
Deana, the Demon Mistress and Keeper of the Academy met her outside the Hall of Heroes where they had met a scarce three months ago when Esmeralda fell though the sky. She gave Esmeralda an affectionate hug and prepared to lift her up to the crystal ball exit to the Academy’s world.
Amber and Indigo came flying forth urgently.
“You’re not leaving without saying goodbye are you?” Indigo asked with a grin.
“Where were you two?” Esmeralda asked hurriedly. “I was looking all over for you. I have to go now. Patrisa has already passed and is waiting on the other side with Madame Jordanna.”
Amber and Indigo, the same height as Esmeralda while within the Academy, smiled and each other but did not reply.
“We’ll take her up,” Amber said to Deana as each of the Pixies each placed an arm under each of Esmeralda’s arms. Their gossamer wings beat wildly and they lifted Esmeralda swiftly into the air.
“We’ll see each other again,” Esmeralda said as she approached the crystal entrance and felt a tear creep into her eye.
“We’re sure we will,” Amber and Indigo said in unison with a grin plastered over their faces.
Before she could respond she saw a flash as she passed through the crystal. She felt herself grow until she was full size once again.
She was back in the Fortune Teller’s shop. She was back in the Wundermarket.
She saw Madame Jordanna and Patrisa shake hands across the fortune telling table and a sealed scroll was given from the Elfling to the Tickle Scourge.
“Lord Xavis won’t know what hit him,” Patrisa said with a wide grin. “Let’s go, Tenderfoot.”
“I’m not a Tenderfoot anymore,” Esmeralda rebuked proudly.
“So long as you are my protégé and I am your mentor, you are still a Tenderfoot,” Patrisa replied firmly. “But I hear you stormed the Elfling King’s Dungeon. And that is no small feat of a Tenderfoot.”
Esmeralda smiled as she felt a bit of pride thanks to the Tickle Scourge’s compliment.
Patrisa smiled and shook her head. “Lord Xavis and his Palace await. Say your goodbyes and let us be gone!” Patrisa left the room.
“Good bye, Madame Jordanna,” Esmeralda said extending her hand to the Elfling teacher. “Thank you so much for your guidance.”
“It was my privilege,” she said taking Emeralda’s hand in her own hands and holding it tightly. “It is no small endeavor which you and the Scourge embark upon. Do well on your quest, Esmeralda, and maybe a statue of yours will some day be erected in the hall of heroes.”
“I’ll do my best,” Esmeralda replied leaving the tent.
“I just hope it’s enough,” Madame Jordanna said thoughtful to herself after their departure. “For all our sakes.”
* * * * * *
“Where are we headed?” Esmeralda asked of Patrisa as they walked cloaked through the Wundermarket. The different vendors of different races no longer appeared strange to Esmeralda as they pressed through the crowds.
“There are no wormholes to our destination,” Patrisa answered in a hushed tone. “They sealed them all since the last time I raided the palace. We need to arrange transport. We will need certain supplies from an apothecary if my plan is to work so we may enter the palace.”
“An apothecary?” Esmeralda repeated. “You mean something like a pharmacy?”
“No, I mean a Wundermarket Apothecary,” she said. “Nothing like any pharmacy you’ve known.”
Esmeralda knew better than to ask too many questions.
They entered a wagon similar to that of Peter the Peddler with a sign that stated “Ancient Apothecary”. The inside of the wagon was also similar to Pete the Peddler’s just instead of magic objects the walls were lines with small bottles sporting pills of all kinds.
Esmeralda and Patrisa stepped up to the counter and tapped a bell on the counter.
A creature with a Dinosaur head wearing a head mirror strapped to it, walked into the room wearing a white lab jacket and holding a mortar and pestle in his hands crushing a fine white powder.
“What can I get for you kind folks?” he asked as he paused from his work to look up at his clients.
“You!” Esmeralda exclaimed. “Peter the Peddler! You left us out to dry!”
“Shhhh!” he said placing his index finger on his lips. “It’s Pete the Pill Provider now! Every Animus headhunter out there thinks Peter the Peddler somehow helped you escape. I have no idea where they got that idea.”
”Tell us, Petey,” Patrisa said pulling free her fighting sticks, “what’s going to stop us from pounding some sense into that lizard head of yours?”
“Di-no-saur!” Pete rebuked angrily offended by the remark. “It’s a dinosaur head, you thick headed tickler! And I did not leave you out to dry. You got home free didn’t you? I hope Silk has been happy with his new mistress.”
The mechanical spider climbed out of Esmeralda’s robes and onto her shoulder and nodded with its mechanical head in an affirmative yes.
“Well, now I am a Pill Provider. My days peddling magical artifacts are over. The Animus headhunters will see to making sure I sell no more artifacts in the Wundermarket,” he said straightening his lab coat. “However business is business. Now I provide the best pills the Wundermarket has to offer. I’d be glad to give you girls an excellent discount.”
“In that case, I’ll need some Long Lasting Animus pills,” Patrisa said lowering her fighting sticks. “Just a couple. And the some Extra Strength Tickleberry Juice pills.”
“Ok, I can do that,” Pete said rummaging through the shelves looking for the requested pills.
“I’ll need to test those Tickleberry Juice Pills. And I’ll need you to peddle one last time.”
“Peddle? Well that’s what I used to do best,” Peter pulling down some bottles of pills. “They won’t let me peddle here in the Wundermarket though. What do you need me to peddle?”
“Us,” Patrisa replied.
* * * * * * *
“Clever,” Peter admitted as he listened to Patrisa’s plan. “Daring, innovative, dangerous. But most importantly…”
He drew near Patrisa so only she and Esmeralda could hear.
“What’s in it for me?”
“Proceeds from selling the two most ticklish slaves to Lord Xavis’s Harem,” Patrisa replied. “Whatever you can squeeze out of those Animus slave traders is yours for the taking.”
“I’m in,” Peter replied clapping his hands gleefully.
“Well then, let’s have a look at those Tickleberry pills,” Patrisa requested.
“These are Extra Strength,” Peter said placing two pink pills in Patrisa’s open palm. “They’ll take a bit to kick in and the effect is good afor a couple hours. I hope you realize what this will do to you.”
“I know what they should do,” Patrisa said as she swallowed the pills and washed them down with a glass of water.
“We are a couple of very ticklish girls. No one is going to deny that,” Patrisa said including Esmeralda in the conversation. “If we get caught and restrained we are going to laugh and laugh hard. However, Lord Xavis can be lazy when it comes to tickling his harem girls. If he has to make an extra effort to tickle his girls he doesn’t want them. Fakers are detected long before they even reach the palace.”
She pulled out her fighting sticks, pointing Ash to her feet and Oak to her wrists.
Sha kaet noes klanes, kao kaet noes stwirs! She spoke.
The weapons glowed and from the ends of the wooden sticks branches grew and wrapped tightly around the Tickle Scourge’s wrists and ankles. She was suspended and spread eagle in the air.
“My feet and underarms are absolutely not ticklish. It is a true rarity among the creatures of the Realms. There are those who can resist a while, but truly unticklish feet are rare indeed. Lord Xavis would not look twice at a slave without ticklish feet or underarms,” she said as she was suspended in the air.
“Tenderfoot, tickle my feet and underarms,” she ordered. “Don’t stop until you have broken me. No matter what I say. I want to see how much you have advanced.”
Esmeralda obeyed. She understood Patrisa’s intentions. She wanted to test the pills and their effectiveness and at the same time test Esmeralda’s mettle. Esmeralda had no intention of disappointing.
She removed Patrisa’s sandals leaving the Scourge’s feet bare. She remembered watching Lucil’s futile attempt to tickle those pretty white soles. Esmeralda wasted no time and immediately began to scratch and tickle her mentor’s bare soles. There was no reaction at all. Light stroking, hard stroking, nothing made a difference.
“Your pills are useless, Petey!” Patisa exclaimed. “I feel absolutely nothing.”
Esmeralda frowned but continued to tickle probing the sole, between the toes, the arch, the heel, but to no avail.
“Give them a chance,” Peter replied. “They’ll kick in any moment now.”
It started with a slight twitch. Had Esmeralda blinked, she would have missed it. Then there was another twitch. She watched Patrisa’s face intently watching for reactions. A small concealed smile seemed to form in the corner of Patrisa’s mouth. It was clear to Esmeralda that Patrisa was holding the laughter in and that she was going to test her skills.
The twitching continued to grow in intensity, toes began to curl.
True to his word, Pete the Pill Providor’s Tickleberry Juice Pills were “kicking in”. Indeed they would not be the only things “kicking” in the next few moments, Esmeralda realized.
Esmeralda spread the toes and tickled in between as she enjoyed the new sensations that Patrisa tried to bottle up inside. She broke into laughter and her toes curls trying to keep Esmeralda’s fingers trapped. It was a petty maneuver actually. Esmeralda simply tickled the sides of her feet and the fingers were suddenly released to continue their assault.
“Stop it,” Patrisa begged as she began to laugh uncontrollably. “The test is over, the pills work.”
“I know,” Esmeralda said pausing.
“Let me go then,” she ordered. “Say the words: ‘seleare twirts, seleare klanes’. I cannot free myself.”
“How convenient,” Esmeralda remarked striding up where Patrisa could see her. She looked her in the eyes and Patrisa prepared to scold the young Tenderfoot when she felt sharp nails dig into her unsuspecting and previously unticklish armpits.
Patrisa howled in surprise and laughter. She had always smirked at the petty attempts to tickle her underarms and feet. She tickled other person’s feet and underarm mercilessly thousands of times before always wondering how it would feel to be ticklish there.
Now she knew.
And she was not happy about it.
Patrisa screamed and laughed uncontrollably.
Esmeralda could not remember ever tickling such pretty and such ticklish underarms. She cherished the moment. She had not had the opportunity to hear Patrisa laugh because Lucil had kept her gagged during the ordeal. It was beautiful laughter and Esmeralda enjoyed having the opportunity to tickle the infamous Tickle Scourge.
“Stop it! Enough!” Patrisa demanded notably angry but unable to resist the tickling assault.
Again Esmeralda obeyed. To a certain extent. Peter watched the entire ordeal with much amusement. He seemed to know what was next.
Esmeralda quietly and nonchalantly unstrapped the leather armor that protected Patrisa’s belly and sides leaving her in a thin brown undergarment which would hardly stop a tickle attack.
Patrisa instantly protested. “No! I told you just the feet and underarms! Nothing more! I didn’t tell you to go after my sides!”
Esmeralda placed an open palm on Patrisa’s belly and drew near the Socurge’s ear so only she could hear.
”Are you in any position to give orders, Tickle Scourge?” she asked.
Patrisa gulped but did not reply.
“I thought so,” Esmeralda replied as her fingers danced along Patrisa’s belly. The reaction was explosive and not quite what Esmeralda expected. She watched her buck and kick wildly when Lucil tickled her, but it seemed now that with the little pink tickle pills she was even more ticklish.
Her laughter was thick and hard and laced with desperate screams. Her body twisted and pulled at her fighting sticks but they would not budge.
“Stop it!” she cried between screams. “Mercy! Quickly, finish me quickly!”
Esmeralda realized that she was not going to get the admiration of the Tickle Scourge by being a softie. She withdrew as she felt Patrisa approaching her limit and allowed her a moment’s respite before continuing her assault.
Esmeralda went back to her feet and tickled them lightly tickling at a slower however no less relentless pace. There was no real skill necessary since they were so ticklish. Patrisa laughed and screamed and the feet thrashed like Esmeralda had never seen feet thrash before. Her own feet were quite ticklish, but nothing like Patrisa’s feet at this moment.
Esmeralda abandoned the feet and tickled her insteps and her shins watching Patrisa struggle to maintain a steady level of laughter and not spin out of control. Esmeralda slid her fingers behind her hard muscular calves and Patrisa went wild again laughing and screaming without control.
Esmeralda put her fingertips together on the tops of Patrisa’s knees and slowly opened her hand. An innocent tickling game she’d play with her cousins was now a terrible cruel torture. Patrisa laughed even more if possible and Esmeralda could not resist but to laugh with her. Patrisa approached her limit once more and Esmeralda once again denied her the comfort of oblivion.
“I’ve never been ticklish on my legs…” Patrisa said panting heavily and speaking with difficulty. “Never. I’ve never felt so ticklish in my entire life. Please, Tenderfoot, let me go, you’ve proven your point.”
Esmeralda leaned over so she could look Patrisa right into her icy blue eyes.
“Have I?” Esmeralda asked.
Before Patrisa could answer Esmeralda cruelly dug her fingers into her victim’s still untouched sides. It was clearly Patrisa’s most ticklish spot. Augmented by the pink tickle pills, their ticklishness was unmatched.
Patrisa screamed and shook violently. It might have been a red hot poker being pressed to her sides instead of Esmeralda’s dancing fingers. Esmeralda finally went in for the kill using her best technique to bring Patrisa to a tickling climax.
It did not take long.
In less than thirty seconds the mighty Tickle Scourge gasped and finally went limp. She no longer reacted to Esmeralda’s stimulus. Her body rested and her facial expressions relaxed. A bright red jewel appeared above her head.
Peter clapped loudly. “Bravo!” he called. “I have not seen a show like that in quite a long time. I must say that I am impressed.”
Esmeralda pressed the jewel back into Patrisa’s third eye and she immediately began to stir and recover.
Seleare twirts, seleare klanes, she said to the fighting sticks, Ash and Oak. She touched each of them and they glowed before gently setting their mistress on the floor and releasing her from her bondage.
Patrisa stood up. Her long straight blond hair was tangled and her brown undergarment wrinkled. She strode over to Peter and took his hand.
”Excellent pills,” she said as a compliment. “You have a great future as a pill provider.”
“I know, I know,” he said with total lack of modesty. If his green dinosaur skin could blush however, it would.
“And you,” she said turning to Esmeralda. “What you did was uncalled for. It was brazen, it was cruel and it was brutal.”
Esmeralda suddenly did not feel as secure as she had while the Tickle Scourge was restrained. As the Tickle Scourge drew near, she instinctively crossed her arms and covered her most ticklish spots.
Instead of a tickling assault, the Tickle Scourge engaged in a powerful embrace.
”You finally learned what it takes to be a tickler in this world,” Patrisa said. “I am so proud of you. You were absolutely ruthless!”
Esmeralda was still learning to be a great tickler in this strange world. But try as she might, she just couldn’t stop being surprised time and time again by the way this world worked.
She shrugged to herself.
She was getting used to that.
* * * * * *
The Elfling King was furious.
He was a nameless king. There was a curious reason why. He had been Elfling King longer than any creature of the Realms could recall. So much time had passed that he himself had forgotten his name and had preferred to go by his title: The Elfling King.
Many believed his longevity was due to the magic he extracted from his victims in his vast dungeons. If this was true, he had much cause to be angry.
Chief Interrogator Haydeen was taken in shackles before the mighty Elfling King.
“You, Chief Interrogator, were responsible for the first robbery and escape from my dungeons for as long as I can remember,” he said pointing a long crooked finger accusingly. “And my memory goes back well past your lifespan ten fold.”
He was old and wrinkled and had a full head of snow white hair. He was taller than most Elflings also; he towered a full head over even Haydeen who was considered tall among the Elflings. He was so unlike any of the other younger Elflings in these ways. His only real give away as an Elfling were his dark and hollow black pupils and long pointed ears. He wore white robes of the finest silk and sat upon a throne carved into a white and red spotted toadstool. On his head he wore a white crown made of bone.
“I will avenge you, my Liege, I swear!” Haydeen begged throwing herself on her knees. “Give me the opportunity to do so.”
“Bah!” he said waving a hand to the sentry behind her to force him to pick her off the ground. “You are nor a Warrior nor a Spell Caster. If I sent you out after them, it would be a terrible waste of an Interrogator.”
Haydeen paused her pleas at this comment. If she was too valuable to be sent on a suicide mission, perhaps she was too valuable to languish in a dungeon.
As if reading her thoughts, the Elfling King spoke: “You will be punished accordingly, I will see to that. But you ARE my very best Interrogator and I will not allow you to be wasted among thick headed tickle mongers.”
Haydeen felt the sentry release her from her shackles.
“Instead I have contracted the services of someone who can indeed avenge my honor and bring me this Esmeralda.” He said the name with disdain as if it brought a foul taste to his mouth.
“Who is this person, my Liege?” Haydeen asked massaging her wrists.
“I am that person,” a voice that was vaguely familiar answered from the shadows.
“Orion!” Haydeen exclaimed.
“Orion Pax. The Shade. The Shadow. Name him what you wish,” the Elfling King said gesturing to the black clad spell as he emerged from the shadows. “He has returned from the cold and cruel world he came from and he will bring me this Tenderfoot.”
“For a price, Lord Elfling King,” Orion replied coolly. “For a price.”
“Of course,” the Elfling King scoffed. “Your sorts are all mercenaries. You’re not much different than this Esmeralda and that treacherous Tickle Scourge.”
“Except that I am at your service,” Orion answered. “And the Shade has never failed a client.”
“True,” the Elfling King said grudgingly.
“I request only one last thing,” Orion said. “Send your Interrogator with me on this quest so I might easily identify this Tenderfoot.”
Haydeen’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
“She is to be punished for her negligence,” the Elfling King replied not all too happy with the suggestion.
“Allow me to take that burden on my shoulders,” Orion offered. “I will punish her accordingly with as much enthusiasm as the Lord Elfling King would.”
“My Liege!” Haydeen cried out. “Of all the presumptuous and insolent requests—“
”Very well,” the Elfling King said waving his hand in disinterest as if to rid himself of the problem. “Haydeen will go with you. Bring her back to me in one piece or I will hunt you down myself, Master Spell Caster.”
It was clear that it was not an idle threat.
“My Liege!” Haydeen protested.
“You will obey!” the Elfling King snarled, “or I will tickle you worse than you have ever tickled Master Interrogator. I have spells that have not been uttered in centuries. Do as the Shade requests and redeem yourself in helping him bring back this foul person to suffer at my hands.”
Resigned with her fate she bowed her head and said. “As you command, my Liege.”
Orion Pax also bowed slightly and followed her out of the Elfling King’s court.
“Fools! All of them!” the Elfling King muttered to himself as he watched them leave.
The dice had been cast. He sat back in his throne and sipped a glass of blood red wine as he spent the rest of the day contemplating the future.
* * * * *
Peter’s wagon was pulled by a magnificent magical and mechanical horse not much unlike Silk. Peter had named the horse Mule. Made of copper and bronze, it released steam instead of neighing and it made much more noise than a normal horse. It galloped at a frightful speed but the wagon somehow kept steady.
It was such a smooth ride that Esmeralda never noticed when they left the Wundermarket upon its solid cloud or when they landed on solid ground jetting through a forest road at back breaking speed.
“You look splendid, ladies,” Peter complimented after having given Silk specific instructions on how to design their disguises.
Patrisa and Esmeralda were clad in skimpy dancing girl outfits that left little to the imagination leaving bellies, legs and arms bare.
“This is ridiculous,” Esmeralda said through a fairly transparent veil that covered half her face. “I mean I thought Xavis’s harem was interested in ticklishness not in a meat market!”
“Presentation is half the battle when you peddle,” Peter said examining the costumes. He stepped behind Esmeralda and placed Silk around her neck with a chain as if it were some sort of medallion. “There. That way Silk will be able to enter with you.”
“Slaves are actually very well treated in Xavis’s Harem. They have private property and even their own servents,” Patrisa commented as she pressed the ends of each of her fighting sticks together until they were two small coin shaped disks of wood. She added these to her costume as well. “Many a ticklish girl will actually volunteer to be his slave.”
“But what about the veil?” Esmeralda asked looking at herself in the mirror certain that the veil was useless as a disguise. “Lucil will see me coming from a mile away.”
Esmeralda secretly liked what she saw in the mirror. With months of hard training her body looked tons better now in this costume than it ever did in a bikini the few times she wore it at the beach back home.
“That is what this pill is for,” Peter said placing a rainbow colored pill in each of their open palms and offering a glass of water. “Animus Long Lasting Strength. I made them myself.”
Patrisa swallowed the pill without comment and saved half of the water for Esmeralda.
Esmeralda placed the pill in her mouth and quickly swallowed it.
“What’s going to happen?” Esmeralda asked at least grateful the pills were not pink.
“The Animus are cursed,” Patrisa explained. “They were one time like manlings, but they were forced by the curse to take the image of animals and thus they have the body of a manling and a head of an animal. We are simply using a magical pill to simulate the curse for a limited amount of time.”
Brown feathers began to appear on Patrisa’s face until her head twisted and became distorted. When it came into focus once more, her head became that of a Golden Eagle. “You see,” the eagle face said. “We all become like the animal we most resemble.”
“A bird of prey!” Peter said exclaiming. “How appropriate for the Tickle Scourge!”
Patrisa nodded and turned to Esmeralda. “Take a look at yourself in the mirror.”
Esmeralda obeyed and say that her head was no longer hers but that of an orange striped tiger with green emerald eyes.
“The strength and fortitude of a tiger,” Peter said nodding with approval. “I should have guessed.”
“We are ready then. How far to the slave market?” Patrisa asked looking out the wagon.
“We’re in the Fae Realm right now,” Peter said judging from the trees they were passing and the road. I’ve peddled here many times in the past. Mule needs no rest. We’ll pass soon through the Centaur Realm tonight and we’ll enter the Animus Realm by early tomorrow morning.”
“Good,” Patrisa said lying down on a couch in the wagon and covering herself with a blanket. “I suggest you get some sleep, Tenderfoot. We have a long sleepless quest ahead of us.”
“Sweet dreams, ladies,” Peter said as he went out front to check up on the magical and mechanical steed.
Esmeralda sat alone on another strange divan on the other side of the strange and magical wagon. It was only three yards wide on the outside, but due to some strange magical distortion of space, it was ten yards wide on the inside.
So Patrisa was sleeping rather far away from Esmeralda. She lied down touching her now furry face with her hand and wondering how long she would go around looking like a tiger.
“Pssst!” came a noise from above her shoulder. She sat up with a start.
“It’s us. Amber and Indigo,” said the pixie from the secret pocket of her dark green robes.
“What are you doing here?” Esmeralda asked in a hushed whisper.
“You are in danger,” Amber whispered. “We are here to protect you. We crossed from the Academy with you and we’ve been in your pocket ever since.”
“Aren’t you going to get in trouble for leaving the Academy?” Esmeralda asked.
The pixies shrugged together in unison.
“You’re more important,” Indigo said. “We’ll be around so don’t you worry!”
The pixies hid once more and their light colorful glows disappeared. Esmeralda listened for Patrisa’s breathing and she appeared to be snoring gently.
Esmeralda thought about the pixies and as she went to sleep she discovered they were right.
With her friends around, there was no need to worry.
To be continued…
NEXT: Into the Red Panther’s Palace
