Chapter 5
Dark clouds gathered over the city of Port Bastion, and the stifling heat slowly gave way to a chill wind that spread an unseasonable cold through its streets.  The stark shadows once cast by the blinding sun became a gray haze that shrouded the city like a miasma.  The city’s great buildings, so triumphant by daylight, became bleak and craggy fixtures that towered above the streets.  Even the great Sorority Houses, the beacons of the city, appeared distant and ominous.  Although the temperature had fallen, few people ventured outside, instead remaining inside the city’s homes and taverns to peer out their windows at the darkening sky.  Throughout all of Port Bastion, no one could shake a great sense of foreboding.
But deep within the Sorority of Sages, the foreboding was of a very different kind.  Jeina woke up to an all-too-familiar sensation: she was completely tied up.  She had been captured again.  Next to her was the prostrate form of Khylia, just beginning to stir from her slumbers.  Apparently the succubus had fared no better than she had when it came to resisting the tickling magic.
Both of them were in a kneeling position, side-by-side, with their wrists shackled together above their heads.  Their ankles were held in padded metal cuffs, with their soles turned upwards.  And both of them were completely stripped of their clothing.  The only difference between them, Jeina noticed from the corner of her eye, was that beneath Khylia on the floor lay a small silver bowl.
Jeina looked sideways at Khylia, and a part of her thrilled to see the object of her desire naked at last.  It was a guilty thrill that was all the more compelling considering the inappropriateness of the situation, but she could not deny it.  She cast her eyes longingly over the smooth supple skin; the perfectly shaped breasts that hung just out of reach; the curvature of her soft, round backside that wiggled so alluringly as she put up a token struggle to break her bondage.  Even the wings, which had been so strange at first, were undeniably a part of her unearthly beauty: an essential brushstroke in a magnificent painting.  Jeina wished more than anything that her hands were free: not so that she could escape, but that she could reach out and touch that body whose siren song called to her.
But her pleasant reverie was cut short when Jeina realized there were other people in the room.  And they were not friendly.  All around them stood an array of short, thin, bookish girls wearing sages’ robes and leers of newfound power.  And among them was a face that Jeina knew to expect even before she saw it: the smiling, vindicated face of May Hazelwood.
“I hope you enjoyed your brief taste of freedom, girls,” said May.  “Because I can assure you, another one is not in the cards for you.”
Jeina looked around at their surroundings.  They had been placed in a cell with bare stone walls: the bondage implements that held them were the only fixtures in the entire room.  A single, steel-reinforced door marked the exit, and the only light came in from small, barred windows a good twenty feet off the ground.  Getting out of here was clearly not going to be easy.
“Oh yes, this time we’re serious,” said May, as she saw Jeina take in her surroundings.  “Did you really think that the two of you managed to escape without our letting you?”
“And why would you do that?” asked Khylia coldly.
“Because of you, my dear,” answered May, stroking Khylia’s hair condescendingly.  Khylia snapped her head away.
“The Red Enchantress told us all about your demonic powers, you see,” May continued.  “Oh yes, we knew what we were facing when we summoned you here.  And we weren’t about to go head-to-head with your magic, at least not until we were completely certain that you had used it all up.  So we let you burn through your powers to escape those stocks.  But even then, there was always the chance that you still had more.  So we cleared the way for you.  We recalled all of our sisters from the wing that we had you held in.  The Red Enchantress even had me withdraw when she sensed that you were getting close to your new friend here.  After all, what was it to us if she went free for a short time?
“And then, we had you locked in the alchemy lab.  We used our powers to tickle you both from afar.  We knew that if the succubus had any demonic power left, she would have used it to save herself.  But no, she let herself be tickled to unconsciousness.  And that’s when the Red Enchantress knew it was safe for us to bring you here.  You’re ours now: completely helpless.”
“Is this what you’ve been reduced to, May?” demanded Jeina.  “Taking orders like a servant?”
May sneered at her.  “Nice try.”
“So what was so important about me that had you so afraid?” asked Khylia with disdain.  “I’m dying to know.”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” said May.  Then she reconsidered.  “Actually, you probably won’t.  But no matter.  Girls!  I think it’s time we show our guests some hospitality!”
Suddenly, Jeina and Khylia were both extremely aware of their discomforting circumstances.  A circle of leering girls formed around them, obviously waiting for a show.  Some stayed back, while others drew in closer, and behind them they could feel two girls coming directly up to them, until…
“YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!”  Both Jeina and Khylia erupted into wild laughter as each of the girls behind them pressed a fingertip into the centers of their soft, upturned feet.  It was a gesture of pure domination: mockingly simple, demonstrating just how vulnerable they were to only a simple touch on their delicate soles.  The girls touching their soles grinned with delight at the effect they were having, reveling in how effortless it was to break these lovely specimens.  And then, eager for even wilder screams, they slowly dragged their fingertips down the length of the soles.  Jeina and Khylia nearly lost their minds.
“You can’t resist that, can you?” asked May over the sounds of their hysterical laughter.  She laughed imperiously.  “Of course not, nobody can!  Not after our Brew has made your feet so unbearably ticklish.  And this is just a taste of our ultimate weapon.  Soon we’ll have all the city’s leaders here, screaming for mercy, begging to tell us their secrets, and no one can stop us!  But then, I think you have other things to worry about right now.”
“WOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!”  Jeina howled as more fingers joined the assault on her tender feet.  They slithered in every direction, with the girls applying their devious techniques to searching out soft spots without mercy.  She threw back her head and cried out in pure madness as she felt a fingernail sink into the tender spot just beneath the ball of her right foot.  A moment later, she heard screams of insanity coming from Khylia, as the girls had apparently discovered an equally devastating spot on her soft, creamy soles.
“Tickle tickle tickle!” giggled one of the sages behind them.  “Let’s really make those feet dance, girls!”
“OH NOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOOO!!!”  Khylia bayed at the ceiling like a wild beast, her toes splaying wildly as she desperately tried to free her feet.  Deprived of her powers, she was completely helpless in a way she had never known before: she was at the mercy of these mortal girls and their diabolical tickle-torture.
“You didn’t know we were such experts at our craft, did you?” lorded May over them.  “Well, we study more than magic here, I’m pleased to say.  We have ancient texts that describe pressure points and reflex manipulation: hundreds of ways to torment a ticklish pair of feet that you’ve never even dreamed of, all recorded in our libraries.  And we’re ready to test them all on you.  Girls!  Show our guests what you’ve learned!”
Suddenly, the fingers tickling their upturned feet changed their attack: the sharp presses gave way to a soft, fluttering touch: like the gentle caress of a feather on their sensitive tootsies.  It seemed to tickle in a hundred places at once, like the brush of a living feather-duster: all the softness of feathers mixed with the cruel precision of fingertips.  Every perfect stroke was maddeningly soft, designed to plunge the mind into insanity.  It was the worst of both worlds.  
“STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAPPP!!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” screamed Jeina, as the feathery assault blinded her with tears.
“NOT THE FEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEETTT!!!” begged Khylia, howling with wild hysteria beside her.  Tears rained down from her cheeks, filling the silver bowl beneath her with the deluge.
The girls’ fingers swept across the soft surfaces with unmatched grace and skill: tracing impossibly elaborate patterns like dancers in a perfectly-choreographed ballet.  They moved in quick circles, long arcs, and quick pivots, always knowing exactly where to go next.  Every touch was the gentlest of caresses: always hovering a fraction of an inch above the quivering skin, always keeping perfect distance until their ballet would call for a quick stroke to a perfectly calculated spot.  It was as though a windswept storm of the softest feathers had engulfed their feet, leaving them to endure its gentle fury.  It was magic in its own way, and as powerful as any spell.
“Do you like that one, girls?” asked May.  “Legend says, this particular technique was used to defeat the Queen Druidess of the Indigo Circle.  One of the most powerful spellcasters of her day, no weapon could stand against her.  That is, until one of her subordinates developed a tickling technique that could break the strongest will.  She was tied up and her royal soles were subjected to this torture for an entire night; the forest echoed with her laughter as she begged for mercy.  She was helpless to fight back against the fluttering touch on her hopelessly soft feet.  And finally, when she could take it no longer, she relinquished her powers to save herself from the unbearable tickling.”
“YEEEEEAAAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAAAA!!!!!”  Neither Jeina nor Khylia, however, were in any shape for a history lesson.  Their soles were flushed bright pink, inviting more girls to join the assault: spreading their tender toes and tickling each one with loving precision.  Never before had their ticklish feet experienced anything that could compare to this.
“No one knows if the story is true or not,” said May with mocking detachment.  “But there’s no denying how effective our technique is.  Why, I’ll bet you would give up a kingdom in a second if it would save your ticklish tootsies, hmm?  But that’s not an option for you.  No, all you can do is laugh for us.”
And laugh they did, as every inch of tender sole-flesh was tickled without mercy.  Their howls of laughter and sweaty, thrashing bodies brought in even more girls, eager to drink in such sensual delights.  A girl kneeled down each in front of Jeina and Khylia, a look of hunger on their faces as they grasped the girls’ sides, tickling them from their stomach up to their ribs and down again, amplifying their laughter even louder.  And then, they plunged their mouths onto the girls’ taut stomachs with delight, licking and swirling their tongues around the girl’s belly buttons, planting soft kisses upon them and tickling them with the tips of their nimble tongues.  The girls’ stomachs shook with laughter beneath their lips, making their tormentors hungrier still for the salty sweetness of their flesh.
“STAAAHAHAHAHAP!!!  STAAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAPPP!!!!!” screamed Jeina through gales of laughter.  But despite herself, she could feel herself becoming enormously aroused.  The wild loss of control, the overwhelming assault on her ticklish body was turning her on like she could not have imagined.  She could feel the wetness between her legs: the tingling and the rising heat that demanded more.  Even if she was tickled to death, she had to have more.
“WOOOHOOHOOHOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOO!!!!!”  Khylia’s hooting laughter reached a fever pitch as the girl in front of her discovered, to her delight, that Khylia’s navel was an intensely ticklish spot on her stunning body.  The girl knelt in front of her, licking it with wild abandon as Khylia’s massive, quaking breasts rested atop the girl’s head.  And between her legs, Jeina could also see a glistening patch of wetness: her companion was every bit as aroused as she was.
And so, it appeared, was May, who seemed no longer content to stand by and watch any longer.  “Make way for me, girls!” she declared.  “It’s about time for me to join in the fun!”  And eagerly she strode behind the girls.  She lustily surveyed the bounty before her: two struggling, naked, hopelessly ticklish bodies with any spot she wanted for the taking.  May reached into the pocket of her dress and removed two long, fluffy feathers: holding one in each hand as she took her place behind them.
“My, it looks like you’re enjoying this,” said May, looking at the droplets of moisture that fell from between the two captive girls’ legs.  “Then let me make this even more intense.  You see, there’s one spot that the Witches’ Brew is almost guaranteed to make…unbearable.”
Jeina hardly had time to run May’s warning through her laughter-addled mind before she felt it: a shock that turned her laughter to a piercing shriek of pure ticklish agony.  For the feather behind her was tickling her delicate, well-toned ass.
“YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”  From the deafening volume of their screams, it was clear that May had found a true weak spot: a vulnerability which neither girl could defend against.  Jeina and Khylia bellowed with laughter in unison, both of them slaves to this new insidious torture.
“Ooh, yes, it’s hard to tell which of you has the most ticklish ass,” said May, licking her lips as the soft feathers slithered up and down the girls’ tender backsides like amorous serpents.  Their two luscious asses wiggled side by side: both of them stunningly perfect in their own way, and both of them helpless against the soft, wispy caress of the feather.
“NO MORE!!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” screamed Jeina.
“OH PLEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!!” begged Khylia,
“We have you, officer, with your toned, firm buns; your hard athlete’s body: so tempting and delicious, I knew I wanted to tickle them from the moment I first laid eyes on you!  And who would have imagined that they were so unbearably ticklish?  Even before the Witches’ Brew, I’ll bet that anyone who slipped a feather under that thong of yours could drive you wild, couldn’t they?  And now your ass is all mine, and I could just feather it forever.”
“BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!”  Jeina could only scream in response.  Bun-feathering had been part of her Guards’ training: she could still remember being in the row of chained-up girls, their panties slipped down to their thighs, being forced to endure the torture of a tickling feather-tip between her sensitive cheeks and being certain that she would die of laughter.  It was a Guard’s duty to be exposed to every form of tickle torture, so that they would be forearmed to resist it in the field.  But even those nightmarish ordeals, that terrified even the bravest of their girls, were nothing compared to this.  Nothing had prepared her for May’s feather sliding between her firm cheeks.
“But you, my unearthly beauty, now this is an ass you don’t see every day,” said May, turning to Khylia.  She swept the feather up and down between the succubus’ tight buns as she spoke, and Khylia thrashed and screamed like a woman possessed.  “So smooth, so impossibly soft and round and tender.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such flawless skin before.  And I’ve definitely never had a chance to feather a demon’s ticklish ass before.  I’m so happy to see you have the same reaction to a feather as the girls from our world do.”
“WOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!!!!!  NOO!!!!!  NOOO!!!!!  NOOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOOO!!!” howled Khylia, as the silver bowl beneath her overflowed with her tears.  Unlike Jeina, Khylia had no training in resisting the more diabolical forms of tickle torture: she had never known what it was like to have a torturer’s feather dancing between her asscheeks.  It was unimaginable torment: every stroke up and down her flawless posterior threatened to tear her mind in half.  Desperately she tried to summon her magic powers to save herself, knowing all the while that it could not be done.  She was completely helpless, but despite this, her loins were on fire with arousal.
The moisture between their legs was dripping down freely now, and every girl who joined the tickling assault on their naked bodies coaxed more and more wetness from them.  The fingers were everywhere: stroking, squeezing, playing with every ticklish spot at once like a pack of hungry predators.  But it was the feathers on their backsides that were truly whipping them into a sexual fury.  They could feel climax building up in them, and nothing could hold it back.  And just then, May slipped her feathers between the girls’ legs.
The soft, wispy feathers gently brushed across the girls’ swollen, throbbing lips, and they knew that there was no holding back any longer.  At precisely the same instance, Jeina and Khylia both threw back their heads and cried to the heavens as the soft feather’s kiss pushed them over the precipice to orgasm.  Their pink lips opened up and rivers of sweet girl juice flowed forth, drenching the feathers below in their warm passion.  Side by side they climaxed, reaching new heights as though pushed to higher ecstasy by the sound of their partner’s screams.  Their laughter intertwined with gasps of blissful intensity, and their ticklish bodies came and came again.  Everything around them came to a halt as their climactic screams split the heavens in two.
Suddenly, as though to mark the dizzying heights of their climax, the room was filled with a deafening sound that was audible even above their screams.  The girls gasped for breath, barely able to tell reality from their own fevered passion.  But something in the back of Jeina’s mind could still identify the sound: it was a rolling crash of thunder, and from the sound of it, it was very close.  At first it meant very little to her, until she realized with some surprise that she was able to think again.  All the sages had stopped what they were doing, leaving herself and Khylia gasping for breath.  The girls had stopped tickling them, and looked around the room nervously at each other.
“It’s—almost time,” said May, obviously nervous but trying to maintain the impression of control.  “We need to go tend to the cauldron.”
“But we know everything is taken care of,” complained another girl, obviously in no hurry to leave.  “We could always stay here just a while longer.”
“And do you want to be the one to explain to her why we were late?” snapped May.
The other girl paled for a moment.  “No.  No, of course not.  You’re right.  We—we need to go.”
“Besides, we have what we need for now,” said May.  She leaned down and picked up the silver bowl beneath Khylia, now filled with her tears.  “I’ll get this to the Enchantress.  The rest of you, I’ll meet you in the evoking chamber.  Oh, and Marie and Helen can watch our guests until we get back.  We wouldn’t want them getting any ideas, now would we?”
May walked carefully out the door carrying the silver bowl, careful not to spill a drop, and was followed by the rest of the girls who filed out in a hurry.  The two girls left behind to watch them were not what Jeina would call intimidating: thin, fairly short girls with thick-rimmed glasses and messily-arranged hair, wearing fairly conservative robes that were nowhere near as outlandish as May’s outfit.  But that didn’t matter much: Jeina and Khylia were still tied up, and these girls were still their jailers, watching them apprehensively from across the room.
Jeina looked at them, wondering if there was some way to turn them to their advantage, or at least, to try to work out an escape plan despite their presence.  They didn’t look very dangerous; perhaps it might be possible to overpower them?  But after a moment, she realized with some surprise that they were not even looking back at her.
They were looking at Khylia.
Khylia, with her finely honed senses, picked up on this immediately.  She glanced back at them with her most subtle come-hither look: inviting and submissive at the same time.  She batted her long eyelashes in their direction and flashed them an almost imperceptible smile.  One of the girls blushed beet-red, and immediately turned around and began staring at the door in embarrassment.  But the other girl did not move.  She was enraptured, staring at this enchanting prisoner with a look of undisguised awe and desire.
The girl staring at her began to tremble, caught between her duty and her overwhelming lust.  But Khylia could see which one was winning.  She arched her back and shook her body from side to side, putting up a token struggle against her bondage.  Her tussled raven hair caressed her smooth back, and her enormous breasts quivered with it.  The wide-eyed girl watched them shake, her eyes fixated on Khylia’s erect nipples and her mouth hanging open.  She had never desired anything the way she desired this dark stranger now.
Khylia moaned gently as she pulled against the cuffs that held her.  On the surface it was a cry of pain from the bondage, but the undertones were even louder.  Her moans were rife with submissive pleasure: cries from the dark realm where pain and rapture intertwined.  Come touch me, her moaning said.  I wait for you.  The only torture is being denied your touch.  The girl staring at her whimpered softly, and walked towards Khylia with slow, trembling steps.
The girl’s hand was outstretched, not even daring to touch this perfect body, as though she were not worthy.  She could smell Khylia’s hot, perfumed breath; feel the warmth of her body as though it were a bonfire.  She had never known what lust was until she had gazed upon this goddess among mortals, and now the object of her desire was within reach.  She could no more have looked away from Khylia than she could have ceased to exist.  And Khylia looked back at her, with every bit as much intensity.  A single tear rolled down her cheek.  Don’t be cruel, she said through the language of her body.  Be merciful.  Touch me.
It was not an offer; it was a command.  The girl placed a single hand on Khylia’s perfect breast, and gasped aloud with the unimaginable pleasure of touching something so beyond beautiful.  Her hand trembled as it caressed Khylia with the softest touch.  And Khylia threw back her head and moaned with orgasmic ecstasy.  Every inch of Khylia’s body quivered with unadulterated pleasure at this gentle touch.  You control my body, she said wordlessly to her captor.  You are everything I have ever wanted.  Only you can satisfy me.
The girl’s hand was as still as a statue as it cupped Khylia’s breast, almost afraid to do more, drinking in the overwhelming ecstasy of its touch.  Slowly, she began to caress it, and she gazed with enchantment at Khylia’s face in the throes of passion.  But…there was longing in that face as well.  She looked back at the girl, and Khylia’s expression mirrored hers exactly: it was filled with longing.  I want to touch you, it said.  I want you to know what I feel right now.  Let me make this complete.
There was nothing she could do to resist such temptation.  With sharp, gasping breath and shaking hands, the girl slowly reached for the cuff on Khylia’s right hand.  The unearthly delights promised by only a simple touch from this goddess were a single motion away.  She inserted a small key into the lock, and began to turn it…
It all happened in the blink of an eye, so quickly that Jeina almost missed it.  The instant Khylia’s hand was free from its cuff, she twisted her body to the side and grabbed the girl by the shoulder.  In a single, effortless motion she lifted the girl off the ground, spun her body in mid-air, and hurled her across the room head-first like a javelin.  She struck the other guard in the head, with flawless marksmanship, and both of their bodies slumped to the floor in unconsciousness.
Jeina blinked.  “Holy hell.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do that before.”
“Well, violence is considered bad form when you’re on the clock,” said Khylia as she unlocked the cuff holding her other wrist.  Apparently she’d also had time to palm the key.  “But these are extenuating circumstances, after all.”  Khylia effortlessly bent back at her waist, thrusting out her chest as she curved her body backwards with a gymnast’s grace to touch her ankles, and reached out to unlock the cuffs holding her ankles.  Once they clicked open, she stood up, stretching her back as her wings fluttered gently behind her.
“Are they OK?” asked Jeina looking at the two girls on the ground.
“They’ll be fine,” said Khylia, unlocking Jeina’s cuffs.  “They’ll just be out for a few hours, is all.”
“Well, that’s good,” said Jeina, getting to her feet.  “Still, it’s too bad we won’t be able to ask them about what the Sages are planning.”
“Actually, I might have some idea,” said Khylia.  “Did you notice what they seemed so interested in taking?”
“You mean, that bowl full of your tears?” asked Jeina.
“Exactly,” said Khylia.  “There’s only one thing I know of that succubus tears are used for: reagents for a thunderstorm spell.”
“A thunderstorm spell?” asked Jeina.  “I suppose that…creates a thunderstorm?”
“Very sharp.”  Khylia chuckled wryly.  “As a spell it takes a great deal of magical energy, as well as quite a few hard-to-get ingredients.  The tears, as well as a few other reagents, are poured into a rune that enchants a massive cauldron of water.  Then the caster calls an invocation to summon stormclouds, and then charges the cauldron with magical energy.  That causes the water in the cauldron to evaporate and infuse into the clouds, where it the rains down later at the caster’s choosing.”  Khylia shrugged, unimpressed.  “Honestly, it’s just a complicated way to make it rain.  Hardly worth it for all the trouble it takes to cast the spell.”
“They were talking about a cauldron,” mused Jeina.  “But why would they want to—“  Suddenly, something clicked into place in her brain.  “Wait.  Wait a minute,” she said.  “You said the water in the cauldron infuses into the stormclouds.  But does it have to be water?”
“Not really,” said Khylia.  “If you really wanted to, you could make it rain beer.  Provided you had enough of it, of course.  And you had a taste for watery beer.”
“But that’s it!” cried Jeina.  “Don’t you see?  May kept talking about ‘unleashing their secret weapon’ on the city!  About how once their plan was complete, they would control everything!  That’s what they’ve been planning to do all along!”  Her voice reached a fever pitch with her revelation.  “They’re going to fill the cauldron with Witches’ Brew!”
“You mean…the potion they used on us?” asked Khylia, now concerned.
“It’s the perfect plan!” cried Jeina.  “They have a potion that can render anyone debilitatingly ticklish, but the only question was how to affect all their enemies at once with it.  Well, this is how!  They’ll make it rain Witches’ Brew over all of Port Bastion for days, even weeks!  All the wells and reservoirs will fill up with their potion; every drop of drinking water will amplify the ticklishness of any girl who drinks it.  And all the while, the Sages will be holed up in their Sorority House, drinking stockpiled water, waiting it out.  And once enough time has passed, they can flush the Witches’ Brew from the water supply with another rainstorm, and then step out into a city where everyone is unbearably ticklish except for them!   Forget about the balance of power, the Sages will own the city after that!  No one will be able to stand against them!”
Even Khylia looked begrudgingly impressed.  “That is quite a plan, all right.”
Jeina nodded.  “And we can’t let them go through with it.  We have to stop them before they can finish that spell, or else all of Port Bastion will belong to them!”  She stopped for a moment, and looked at Khylia.  “But…I understand if this is my fight, not yours.  After all, you don’t live here, and—“
Khylia silenced her, placing a single finger on her lips as she smiled gently.  “Later.  Right now, we have an incantation to stop.”