Featherdemon
3rd Level Red Feather
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- Jun 17, 2003
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Hello,
Please find below for your consideration the penultimate part of my tribute story to LBH. In this section Gedan's ticklishness is well and truly put to the test and the shadow of doom starts to fall on Mr Kristov and his followers.
Part 1: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=66393
Part 2: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=66977
Part 3: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=69124
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Gedan sat back with her bare feet resting in the stocks, waiting. The stage was set for a tickling extravaganza that none present would ever forget and she was going to at the centre of it. The mere thought of what was to come brought waves of giddy happiness to the front of Gedan’s mind.
“Mm,” she purred. “I’m looking forward to this.”
“Is that so?” asked Kristov, folding his arms across his chest and fixing her with a hardy stare.
“Oh yes.”
Gedan's entire pose spoke succinctly of eager anticipation and excited impatience - and not an ounce of fear or trepidation. She pointed her perfect feet, toes wriggling in a manner too enticing for any tickler to resist, towards the brooding figure of Kristov.
"You don't seem very afraid," said Kristov.
"Why should I be afraid?" asked Gedan. "I'm about to get the tickling of a life time and that sets a fire in my blood, Mr Kristov. Indeed, the very thought of it has put a massive smile on my face and I doubt it will leave me for many hours."
"A true voluptuary at heart."
"Without a shadow of a doubt."
“Well, as pleasing to me ears as that is, I intend to test the strength of that smile,” said Kristov.
Gedan held the seat of her stool with her hands securely, though her shoulders were raised a little higher that usual, as if she were slouched or at ease. Her tail swished lazily at her back and her face beamed a smile that drew all hearts present to an extra beat.
“Be sure you do,” she purred. "I would hope for nothing less."
“You may find your eagerness wanes once I get started,” said Kristov.
“And you may find exhaustion creeping into your limbs long before I wilt.”
Kristov bristled at her words and the ill temper that came off of him made the bogeys close by cower in fear. The room fell silent in the aftermath of their verbal exchange – everyone was holding their breath to see what would happen now that she thrown down the ticklish gauntlet.
“Have a care, gentle Gedan,” said Spooner, still cowed in the presence of Kristov. “You do not know what atrocities Kristov is capable of doing!”
“Your kindness is noted, Mr Spooner,” she said, “but fear not. I’m quite certain that whatever treat Kristov has in store for me will not get the better of me – well not unless I want it to, of course.”
Kristov smiled and it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “Your confidence strikes me as arrogant,” he said. “and I dislike arrogance.”
“I bet you dislike a lot of things, Mr Kristov,” she said.
Kristov nodded. “There is but one love in my life,” he said, “one obsession that calls to each and every bit in my body.”
“Tickling?”
“Helpless and eternal tickling.”
“I know that hunger well,” she said and giggled. “Oh you do grow on me, Mr Kristov. I just adore that in a person."
"Is that so?"
Gedan nodded and chuckled sweetly. "You’re just a grumpy little toe tickler, aren’t you?”
Spooner grinned. Kristov’s face remained humourless, unaffected by the charm in Gedan’s words. He walked forward and stood at her feet, so only a few scant inches separated them.
Gedan pushed with her feet, trying to touch Kristov’s arm but they fell just short.
“Go on,” she teased, “tickle me; brush my helpless feet with your fingers, Mr Kristov. Trace the sweetness of my soles with those talented fingers of yours. You will find them quite warm and soft; very receptive to your touch.”
Mr Spooner gulped, once again utterly entranced by her words. Mr Fitch wrung his hands together, hesitating mid way up the stairs on his way to fetch the others. The pair of them were helplessly snagged, keen to experience the treat Gedan promised and kept in check only by their fear of Kristov.
“Your sweet words will not work on me!” snapped Kristov.
At the sound of Kristov’s displeasure, Mr Fitch disappeared up the stairs and through doorway. Spooner staggered backwards even more.
Gedan’s smile dipped a little. "A pity," she said.
“I will taste the sweetness of your soles and bask in the tortured cries of your laughter,” said Kristov, “but all in good time. First of all, I wish for you to meet my friends.”
"Oooh good," said Gedan, "I do so love meeting new people."
The rumbling thunder of footsteps came from the stairway Mr Fitch was the first to appear, an excited and impatient look on his face. He pushed the door open wide and then hurried down and past the recumbent Mr Spooner.
"I daresay you will have ever met a group of folk like this before, Gedan," said Kristov.
The first figure to appear was a small dwarf-like woman with bark like skin the colour of mahogany, lime green hair that flowed like tree vines from her round face. Her large eyes were amber coloured and filled with glee but from her hands were overly long and branch-like fingers that were filled with frilly leaves and fronds. She wore the ragged ruins of once well fitting farmers gear until her new form had left it in state.
"Larla," said Mr Fitch. "A farmer's wife until the touch of a God awakened her anew."
The second and third were identical twins, as least in their new form. Tall and lean and with alabaster white skin, like marble poured to make human dolls. They were bald headed and three eyed with the unmistakably human looks of excitement on their faces. Wheels of feathers whirred with delicate precision from the joints where their arms should have been.
"Istan and Ichbod," said Mr Fitch. "No good drinkers and wastrels, now given purpose."
The fourth figure was something Gedan had never seen before. If it had a gender there was no way of knowing it; it was a large snake standing at least six feet tall but even then its body was still coiled beneath it. Its scales were diamond shaped and a staggering mix of earthy browns and forest greens and the tiny slits for eyes on the side of its head were gold. But more immediately eye catch were the four pair of arms with the wiggling fingers.
"Ah," said Mr Fitch with a sigh. "This here was once a woman named Maria Sid's touch affected her more strongly that the rest of us. It put the hunger in her so strong that when it came to making her one of us it forever changed what she was."
The last figure was an old man with a mane of thick white hair that waved in menacing throngs in every direction. He was bent and crooked looking with age, yet the blue gray of his skin looked smooth and untouched by age. There was something almost cute about him, Gedan thought, but the cackle that rose from his throat was not in the least bit human.
"And finally we have dear old Will Brix," said Mr Fitch. "Perhaps one of the saddest of our company. He was unlucky enough to be fetching wares when the God-Sid waged his war. He was caught in amongst it and found himself helpless before Sid. Left behind a family in his urge to sate his new hunger."
The five figures followed Mr Fitch down the stairs and gathered around Mr Kristov. They huddled together like a pack, following the strongest of them. Even Mr Fitch curled obediently about Kristov's legs. Only Spooner, who still looked too scared of Kristov to move, remained where he was, staring numbly at what was going on.
"See now the glory our Bogey brotherhood?" said Kristov, spreading his arms before him. "These are the folk who will break you, Gedan!"
*
Gedan closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind spread before her. She felt all that was around her, the cold and hard stone and wood. Even before her sense touched those who stood before her, she could feel the raw hunger that burned in them. A desire and a passion for tickling and voluptary delights so strong that it changed everything about their nature. She shivered and bit back a sigh to feel such strong need.
But when her mind brushed theirs her smile froze and her brow furrowed. She touched each mind gently with her own, seeing their lives that were and their lives that would be. She saw normal lives, sometime happy, sometimes sad but always there was a sense of choice about what lay ahead of them. She felt all the wonderful myriad of emotions life Tabor brought.
And then there was Sid.
Everything changed. Hunger, such a wilful and demanding need for satisfaction, over took their lives. Their every nerve and sense screamed for gratification in the shadow of a touch that none could resist. Memory of what was lay in shreds in the wake of this new and limb trembling thrill. It was complete and utter indulgence. She felt in each of them a soulless ache filled with a joyous hunger for tickling torments.
"I see them," she said and opened her eyes.
"And what do you think?"
Gedan sighed. "I think they make me feel sad," she said.
"Sad?!" spluttered Kristov. "There is nothing about them to feel sad about! Hah! Why would you feel sad for them? They are immortal, enlivened, transported to a higher degree of consciousness by the whim of a God!"
Gedan nodded. "And not one of them chose to be this way," she said. "This was a life thrust upon them by a being so far beyond comprehension it beggars belief. This is not something they wanted - this is something they have to endure. Poor things."
Kristov sneered and waved the comment away. "Your words have a truth to them, Gedan," he said, "but it so obvious and overstated that it carries no wisdom."
"Obvious and overstated," said Gedan wryly, "and almost always ignored under the foolish belief that truth has to be complex and complicated. Choice is a very simple concept and that is what these folk have been robbed of."
"Choice is an illusion. No one chooses life," said Kristov. "We do not choose to be born and we do not choose to die. They happen beyond our will and despite our wishes. You may shake your fist and cuss in the face of them but you cannot reasonably expect a response or even their consideration. What happened to these folk is just as helpless - and just as pointless to complain about."
"That does not separate us from our accountability," said Gedan.
"Nonsense," snapped Kristov. "Accountability has nothing to do with it."
"In fact it has everything to do with it," said Gedan. "Without accountability, we are at the mercy of disaster and cataclysm."
"You know not of what you speak," said Kristov. "To hold something accountable is to have power over it."
"I would say it was more to be vulnerable to something."
"Clearly you are not up to date on the events in this county." Kristov's face stiffened. "This creature..Sid...and the LittleBigHead...do you know what they are?"
Gedan shook her head.
"They are like life and death given form," said Kristov, his massive fists flexing in troublesome thought. "Quite literally in the case of my companions here. They are legend and fear given form; primordial things that snatched these witless fools out of their mediocrity and spared them oblivion. They should be impossible but some twist of fate makes them possible; abstract beings with power and a need so strong that it sets them outside the natural laws of life, of creation itself."
Gedan nodded. "Whether you are aware of it or not all thing are held accountable for what they do," she said.
"A lie to soothe the vagaries of life," said Kristov. ""To even think about making Sid accountable for his deeds...what a joke! Does a lion seek accountability from a doe when it hangs limp in its mouth? No, and nor should it. Such things are beyond our power and thus beyond any sense of accountability. Against such things you can only hope to survive. Accountability is for those who have the power to enforce it."
"Your analogy is flawed, Kristov," said Gedan, her voice softer in front of his uneasiness. "You mistake the circle of life and death for the much larger law of Creation. Accountability is much more than the physical act of retribution."
"Whatever it is," said Kristov, "we do not possess it over those two antediluvian behemoths."
"You are subject to it nonetheless," said Gedan. "Not for Sid or the LittleBigHead, but for your own deeds and in particular those involving your new kin. You may have chosen your life, and even though to know that makes me smile, those with you did not."
"In the shadow of his touch," said Mr Fitch, "it was either this or madness and death. We chose life and while it would not be one of our choosing ordinarily, not one here bears regrets or remembers anything sweeter."
"They are carefree," said Kristov. "Carefree and jubilant."
"Not all of them," Gedan said in her softest words and her eyes flickered a tender look in the direction of Spooner.
"We are all subject to Sid and the LittleBigHead," said Kristov, "and all those in this here room are subject to me. That is the law of the Universe."
"I hope your resolute belief does not lead you astray," said Gedan.
"No matter," said Kristov. "We have shared enough words with you Gedan. It is time we heard your soul, lifted from its equilibrium by the endless wreaths of our ticklish treats. Go, my brothers and sisters, show her what your new lives are equal to."
And as one the five new comers closed in on Gedan, limbs wriggling and eyes ablaze with voluptary delight.
Gedan wriggled in anticipation and purred merrily, but all the while the kind green of her eyes never left those of Spooner, who sat staring numbly at what was going on.
"Come then," said Gedan with a beckoning wiggle and put her hands behind her head, "tickle me till I want for nothing else..."
* * * *
Larom found the Low Roads equal to their dark reputation.
The night had been dark and cool about him as he'd ran, his pace steady and light, senses waiting. He felt certain that he could either outrun or outfight most things he may encounter, yet still the niggling doubt persisted at the back of his mind. He had barely run a mile through its sunken pathways before he stumbled upon trouble which summed up everything he'd learned about Tabor County. He stopped and ducked in thick foliage to watch.
A convoy, some four wagons and a couple of horse pulled carriages, had been stopped by a fallen tree placed across their path. And naturally some had let the safety of the wagons to move the tree, not knowing what peril was awaiting them. The convoy was quickly set upon on all sides and for the briefest of moments sounds struggling and screaming filled the air; then, with slick inevitability, those sounds were replaced by something much sweeter.
Helpless ticklish laughter.
Larom smiled and felt a pleasant shiver pass up his spine. Such sights and sounds were a wild rush to every Kat, but more so for him. His protective responsibilities meant that he was not able to indulge his whims as often as the other Kats, which some considered a down but on the plus he spent a lot more time in the presence of Gedan - and that more than made up for it. With a deep sigh of indulgent voyeurism he ran his eyes over every little scene.
The wagon at the end of the convoy was without its wheels, which now rested against its sides. A middle aged man and his wife sat tied to the spokes of the wheels, blind folded and shaking with laughter while a purple skinned woman with white hair and four arms scratched her nails up and down the soles of their feet.
An old man stood tied to a tree just beyond them, hands tied above his head while leafy looking tendrils fell from the tree above to nestle with ticklish deviancy in his armpits and in his belly button. He spluttered and wriggled and squeaked helplessly but his cries for help went on unheard by his wife who watched on, smiling from the other tree - she was waiting for her turn and had no qualms about what awaited her.
The second wagon, filled with bags and luggage, had been overturned and in its shadow a buxom lady sat in the lap a creatures whose entire upper body was a nest of feathery tentacles. She howled and squealed, ecstatic with ticklish delight, peeling off her clothes for more of its dizzying touch. Escape had long ago fled her mind, as had any notion of being anything other than a willing tickle slave.
On the third wagon, two boys and a girl, all almost out of their teens sat with their feet in stocks. By the look of it, Larom guessed the attackers had brought the stocks with them. The two boys were sat on either side of the girl and were red with hysterics from the attentions of odd looking goats licking the soles of their feet. The girl, trapped between them and blushing at their excesses, could only bite her lip and wait for her turn. As Larom watched a large bellied man appeared and started brushing her bare feet with a brine soaked brush - a third goat waited hungrily at his side.
Suddenly a naked man burst from the behind the fourth wagon, his body slick and covered with blushes and helpless signs of excitement. There was a look of panic and near ecstasy on his face as he bolted for the forest. For a moment Larom thought he might escape, but with quicksilver speed three bare breasted woman, their lower halves snake-like shot after him. They snared his ankles and then, with sweet promises of endless tickle pleasures, they started pulling him back. He clawed the earth with his hands but it was to no avail and in moments he was back in their grip, well hidden and exquisitely helpless.
Larom found himself purring loudly at what he saw. Such tickling excess was thrilling to see, especially in creatures outside of his fellow Kats. The nature of how it came about, force and maybe the threat of violence, gave him a moral pause for thought. Had anything more sinister than tickling had been administered, he would have had to intervene. But such sweet and exquisite tickling was wonderful to his eyes and almost impossible to resist.
"I mustn't get distracted," he told himself. "I must remain focused!"
In the very last wagon, in front of which milled the now free horses, three people had been tied up and seemed to be awaiting their fate. A trio of odd looking men and women, as unique in appearance as they were blatantly not human, danced around them, chanting merrily:
"Hi-ho and away you go,
To feel no worry and carry no woe.
We have such treats for your ticklish feet
And there are many more giggles to know!"
"Like little lambs all lost afar,
All sundered from your hope by fears.
Snug in the arms of your Bogey hosts
You'll bare our revel for untold years!"
"For we are the timeless tickling kin,
Whose hunger knows no bounds,
By finger or frond, feather or tongue,
We're the jolliest folk of all around!"
Their voices were grating and horrid to hear but the words gave Larom a shiver. These Bogeys spoke well of themselves as dealers in the ticklish pleasures and he wondered how they would fare against the touch of a Kat. A louder purr rose in his throat at the thought of it - perhaps he should kidnap one and find out.
-Larom-
At once Larom dropped to his knees as the voice filled his head. "My Lord," he said.
-Stay focussed-
Larom grinned. "Yes, my lord," he said.
-Any success?-
"Not yet my lord but I suspect these Bogeys are involved somehow."
-Mm. I wonder at that. They are wonderful creatures true enough, but there is something much bigger and much more powerful at work in Tabor county. The very air hums with antediluvian power. We need to tread with care, Larom, lest we get caught up in it.-
"My Lord?"
-There is at least one God all ready set lose in Tabor, Larom. Yes, an actual God. Can you imagine what that portents for the people caught in its wake?-
"A God?!"
-Oh yes and its power is unlike anything I have ever felt before. If my sense of things are right, it seems this God is linked to the Bogeys and to all that will fall here. It makes me uneasy, Larom; so many things yet to come to pass and us - we're just sideways distractions for the greater picture. We must retrieve Gedan and get out while events allow us to-
Larom frowned. "But my Lord..."
-Yes?-
"I have given my word to Chester Allgoode, the Mayor of Tabor County that I would repay his kindness. If we leave I will have broken my promise."
There was a brooding silence. -If chance requires it, you will fulfil your vow, Larom. On the condition that we are swift in finding Gedan.-
"Thank you. What are your orders, my lord?"
-There is a settlement nearby owned by a creature named Dox. It is a scant few miles from your position. Head there at once. You will find gossip aplenty and more than likely some clue as to where my little lover has landed herself.-
"And what of you, my Lord?"
-I will meet you there Larom.-
Larom shivered with excitement. "You're coming here, my Lord?"
-Oh yes! There is a tickling God afoot, so to speak. Who would want to miss that?-
* * * * *
Gedan felt a thrilling sense of helpless anticipation as the five figures approached. She shivered and bit her lip coyly, trying to keep each and every one of them in her sight as they formed a circle about her.
"Oh yes," she cooed, "this is going to be excellent."
Larla stood at Gedan's feet, a wicked and knowing smile on her wooden face. At this close range her scent, like that of a damp forest, was overwhelming. Larla's amber eyes were a rich amber in colour, warm and viscous, as if you could stare in them and be trapped.
"Larla gonna give you such a sweet tickling," she said, her voice like the wind whipping at leaves. "Larla make you beg for more, make you want to hang in my limbs like fruit, eager for my touch."
Gedan purred. "I hope I do, Larla," she said, "because my feet...so soft and bare, are just ripe for your tender touches."
Larla's hair shivered as if stirred by a breeze, but it was from the deep pleasant sound of her laughter that it shook. Gedan's words were like a taper to her Bogey heart and Larla needed no further invitation to proceed.
"Giggle for Larla...wiggle for me..."
Larla lifted her hands and with them came a multitude of vines and fronds, writhing like a nest of snakes stirred to life. With the delicacy of the mornings breeze's first kiss, the tips of Larla's limbs fluttered up and around the underside of Gedan's toes, They touched fleetingly, teasingly, only giving enough to spark the nerves.
"Eeehehee," giggled Gedan. "Oh, yes, sweet Larla, more like that!"
Egged on by Gedan's thrill call, Larla's finger-fronds wiggled with tantalising delicacy on Gedan's toes. They curled about them, sliding with expert grace and precision, encompassing each toe and flickering up and down them.
"Aaaaha ha ha ha eeeh he hee hee hee hee hee! Oooh he hee hee hee ahh haha! Hahaa ehehe....my..eehehteehahahaaa...what a wonderful toe tickler you are! Ahahaaaaa!"
The feeling was intoxicating, even for one as veteran as Gedan. Larla's finger-fronds felt the lightest of kisses on her skin but sent the fiercest of ticklish shots through her. It was like each was held gently and being treated with exquisitely soft tickles.
"Ahahhaha" laughed Gedan, feeling the waves of ticklishness getting stronger. "Oh my, ah aha haha ehehe hah hahahaha! What a treat you give me!"
As teasing as the words were, Gedan found Larla's tickling captivating. She knew straight away that no mortal could feel such a touch and hope to resist it - it was the succubus kiss for tickle lovers. Even Gedan felt the urge at the back of her head to give in, to surrender to it.
"Soo soft, soo tender," Larla teased. "So raw...the touch of my limbs. See how they seem to bypass the flesh and touch the sweetest nerve root."
Gedan nodded, a cute gesture on her behalf, but instead of speaking felt a rush of laughter steal her intended words. Had her nerves been that of a mortal creature, she would be in sweet hysteria - her mind on the verge of breaking. What wonderful ticklers these Bogeys were! She felt the smooth and unblemished skin of her feet crease, wrinkle and stretch at Larla's touches.
"Oh sweet Larla!" Gedan gasped. "That's it! Lovely! Hahaha eeh heheheahahaha! But...wouldn't it be nice to hold my feet while you tickle them, hm? Cradle them gently while your nerve shredding touches render me your willing victim?"
"Yes yes, my sweet," Larla cooed, "let your heavy feet rest in Larla's hands; let me transport you from this place into a world where only laughter and the feel of my fingers exist."
Larla's words were shiver inducing and gave Gedan such a wonderful promise of ticklish indulgence that the captured Kat gave a delighted giggle that buzzed in the ears of all those present. Spurred on further by such a sound, Larla lifted her hands so Gedan's heels rested gently on her palms, barely noticing their weight, then set her finger fronds at a faster, more debilitating speed.
"Tickle tickle," teased Larla.
"Eeeeheehee hahaha haha hahaha hahaaaaa!"
At that moment Istan and Ichbod, the marble skinned twins, moved closer with their eyes locked hungrily on Gedan. Maria the snake woman made a sweet hissing sound and uncoiled behind Gedan, the upper pair of her arms reaching out to hold her wrists and stretch her arms to the side and then up above her head.
"Ssssweet twins," said Maria, "sssee how she stretches for you!"
The tickling on her feet rendered Gedan near speechless, but she gave each twin a look of welcome invitation. "You hahahheehehe!! You don't need to restrain me! Hehehahaahaa! Oh yes Larla, such a devilish touch!! Ahahaha I will hold my arms up for you!"
Maria snickered. "Holding you is for my pleasure, not yours," she said. "I will hold you to keep you secure." Then with her lower pair of arms Maria gently ripped the shoulder straps of Gedan's dress. "Now do you see, little Gedan?"
Gedan nodded and laughed. She wriggled and writhed so that the dress hung on her breasts, threatening at any second to reveal them to her ticklers. A collective chorus of approval fired from the throats of those around her.
"Peel your clothes away we will," said Maria, licking Gedan's ears with her snake tongue. "Peel and peel till you are a mass of twitching bundle of hungry nerves. Till you are naked and crave only our touch."
If they hoped such a thing would bother Gedan, they were doomed to disappointment. She made a louder purring sound and wrapped her tail about Maria's neck.
Istan and Ichbod, stirred into action by Gedan's new state, started whirring the feather wheels on the underside of her stretched arms. Those soft and delicate looks feathers with the care of a lover over Gedan's arms and in the crook of each armpit. She bucked and twisted at the new sensation, drawing welcome sounds from the marble twins. Gedan laughed and giggled and writhed the most perfect of dances for any tickle-loving voyeur.
"Mm," Kristov made a groan. "You are delicious Gedan. You are the perfect companion for any Bogey blessed enough to have you at their disposal."
Gedan made a purring sound that somehow rose above the sound of her laughter. "And all you need to do is ask," she said.
"Do you wish to surrender now?" Kristov asked. "They can and will go on for days without stopping and it will be even longer before they grow disinterested?"
"You...ehehehahahaha underestimate my strength!" said Gedan, jolting with a near shriek as Maria's tongue lick in each ear and then down her neck.
"They have barely started with you," said Kristov. "Even the dullest of bodies has exquisite creases and curves that when gifted with the proper touch will cause the mind to snap. I guess a body as refined as yours will be especially sensitive."
Gedan nodded but didn't speak, preferring to laugh for her Bogey tormentors.
Old Will Brix stepped forward, no trace of his apparent age on his movements and with his old hands he dug them into Gedan's hips and sides. She jerked and her laughter grew louder. She twisted from side to side, a mock attempt to escape.
"Oh!" cried Gedan. "What wonderful ticklers you are!"
At the inevitable moment Gedan's wriggling and laughter caused her dress to fall free and rest about her hips, revealing the sweet swell of her bare chest, the tips of Old Will Brix's beard rose with a life of its own to tickle there. A new sound, deeper, more sultry rose from Gedan's throat and for the briefest moment she froze, her eyes wide.
"Oh...yes!" said Kristov. "We have found her level, brothers and sisters! Do you not hear the warmer tones of pleasure in her voice! It the sweeter and more intimate of tickles that shall unravel this figure! Mr Spooner, step forward!"
Spooner rose to his feet, careful and submissive.
"I have the sweetest of tasks for you," said Kristov. "I want you to remove what remains of our prey's dress and then I want you to apply your wild skill to whatever sweet creases lie therein. We will have her yet!"
Spooner hesitated. "But...Mr Kristov..."
"Now, Mr Spooner!"
"I..."
"You will do as I say!"
Spooner looked at Gedan, who despite her ticklish excesses managed to meet his eyes and a look passed between then.
"No," he said with a faltering voice. "No, Mr Kristov, I will not."
"What did you say?"
"I will not do as you say," he said.
Kristov's face and entire body froze with rage. "You know the consequence for refusing me my command?"
"I do," said Spooner, feeling fearless now he was locked in Gedan's gaze.
"Your objection, while honourable, is pointless," said Kristov. "If you refuse me I will be forced to punish you; and then have someone do it anyway. Better you do as I ask."
Gedan, sensing something terrible about to happen, shook her head. "Mr Spooner..."
"No," said Spooner, cutting her off. "This is my choice, Gedan. I will not do this to you."
"You have my permission," said Gedan, a growing dread edging her laughter. "it's all right. Do not risk yourself over me, please!"
Spooner smiled. "I hear you plea but do not accept it. I will not do this for even as a Bogey. I have my limits. And what I see in your eyes is more compelling to me than any threat Kristov can conceive. And I will not do as he demands."
Kristov turned, his face obscenely devoid of expression. "I hope whatever you see in her eyes is worth it," he said, "for it is the last thing you will see."
"No!" cried Gedan.
Spooner had but a moment to feel the sudden rush of fear, for his face to register what was upon him and for his young eyes to go wide, before a single monstrous blow from Kristov struck him in a blur. It was so fast that Gedan didn't see it until after it had happened. The blow crushed Spooner's head and buckled the upper portion of his body; even the floor beneath him cracked. For a moment the soul-hollow body remained upright and then it collapsed to the floor - a still ruin.
Kristov sniffed, disgusted at what remained of Spooner, and turned back to the others. But something was wrong - terribly wrong. The room had gone deathly quiet, as if every voice had been stolen away. "Why have you stopped?" he snapped.
And then he saw: they hadn't stopped at all. Each of the Bogey's were still working their trade but Gedan was no longer laughing. She had turned to stone, the wild tickling call of the Bogey's touch rendered inert by something far stronger. One by one they stopped their tickling, uneasy as the non-effect of their touches.
Then the silence was broken by the most heart breaking of sounds - a sound that will reach across the stars and summon a storm all of its own.
Gedan was crying.
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To be continued....
Please find below for your consideration the penultimate part of my tribute story to LBH. In this section Gedan's ticklishness is well and truly put to the test and the shadow of doom starts to fall on Mr Kristov and his followers.
Part 1: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=66393
Part 2: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=66977
Part 3: http://www.tickletheater.com/showthread.php?t=69124
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Gedan sat back with her bare feet resting in the stocks, waiting. The stage was set for a tickling extravaganza that none present would ever forget and she was going to at the centre of it. The mere thought of what was to come brought waves of giddy happiness to the front of Gedan’s mind.
“Mm,” she purred. “I’m looking forward to this.”
“Is that so?” asked Kristov, folding his arms across his chest and fixing her with a hardy stare.
“Oh yes.”
Gedan's entire pose spoke succinctly of eager anticipation and excited impatience - and not an ounce of fear or trepidation. She pointed her perfect feet, toes wriggling in a manner too enticing for any tickler to resist, towards the brooding figure of Kristov.
"You don't seem very afraid," said Kristov.
"Why should I be afraid?" asked Gedan. "I'm about to get the tickling of a life time and that sets a fire in my blood, Mr Kristov. Indeed, the very thought of it has put a massive smile on my face and I doubt it will leave me for many hours."
"A true voluptuary at heart."
"Without a shadow of a doubt."
“Well, as pleasing to me ears as that is, I intend to test the strength of that smile,” said Kristov.
Gedan held the seat of her stool with her hands securely, though her shoulders were raised a little higher that usual, as if she were slouched or at ease. Her tail swished lazily at her back and her face beamed a smile that drew all hearts present to an extra beat.
“Be sure you do,” she purred. "I would hope for nothing less."
“You may find your eagerness wanes once I get started,” said Kristov.
“And you may find exhaustion creeping into your limbs long before I wilt.”
Kristov bristled at her words and the ill temper that came off of him made the bogeys close by cower in fear. The room fell silent in the aftermath of their verbal exchange – everyone was holding their breath to see what would happen now that she thrown down the ticklish gauntlet.
“Have a care, gentle Gedan,” said Spooner, still cowed in the presence of Kristov. “You do not know what atrocities Kristov is capable of doing!”
“Your kindness is noted, Mr Spooner,” she said, “but fear not. I’m quite certain that whatever treat Kristov has in store for me will not get the better of me – well not unless I want it to, of course.”
Kristov smiled and it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “Your confidence strikes me as arrogant,” he said. “and I dislike arrogance.”
“I bet you dislike a lot of things, Mr Kristov,” she said.
Kristov nodded. “There is but one love in my life,” he said, “one obsession that calls to each and every bit in my body.”
“Tickling?”
“Helpless and eternal tickling.”
“I know that hunger well,” she said and giggled. “Oh you do grow on me, Mr Kristov. I just adore that in a person."
"Is that so?"
Gedan nodded and chuckled sweetly. "You’re just a grumpy little toe tickler, aren’t you?”
Spooner grinned. Kristov’s face remained humourless, unaffected by the charm in Gedan’s words. He walked forward and stood at her feet, so only a few scant inches separated them.
Gedan pushed with her feet, trying to touch Kristov’s arm but they fell just short.
“Go on,” she teased, “tickle me; brush my helpless feet with your fingers, Mr Kristov. Trace the sweetness of my soles with those talented fingers of yours. You will find them quite warm and soft; very receptive to your touch.”
Mr Spooner gulped, once again utterly entranced by her words. Mr Fitch wrung his hands together, hesitating mid way up the stairs on his way to fetch the others. The pair of them were helplessly snagged, keen to experience the treat Gedan promised and kept in check only by their fear of Kristov.
“Your sweet words will not work on me!” snapped Kristov.
At the sound of Kristov’s displeasure, Mr Fitch disappeared up the stairs and through doorway. Spooner staggered backwards even more.
Gedan’s smile dipped a little. "A pity," she said.
“I will taste the sweetness of your soles and bask in the tortured cries of your laughter,” said Kristov, “but all in good time. First of all, I wish for you to meet my friends.”
"Oooh good," said Gedan, "I do so love meeting new people."
The rumbling thunder of footsteps came from the stairway Mr Fitch was the first to appear, an excited and impatient look on his face. He pushed the door open wide and then hurried down and past the recumbent Mr Spooner.
"I daresay you will have ever met a group of folk like this before, Gedan," said Kristov.
The first figure to appear was a small dwarf-like woman with bark like skin the colour of mahogany, lime green hair that flowed like tree vines from her round face. Her large eyes were amber coloured and filled with glee but from her hands were overly long and branch-like fingers that were filled with frilly leaves and fronds. She wore the ragged ruins of once well fitting farmers gear until her new form had left it in state.
"Larla," said Mr Fitch. "A farmer's wife until the touch of a God awakened her anew."
The second and third were identical twins, as least in their new form. Tall and lean and with alabaster white skin, like marble poured to make human dolls. They were bald headed and three eyed with the unmistakably human looks of excitement on their faces. Wheels of feathers whirred with delicate precision from the joints where their arms should have been.
"Istan and Ichbod," said Mr Fitch. "No good drinkers and wastrels, now given purpose."
The fourth figure was something Gedan had never seen before. If it had a gender there was no way of knowing it; it was a large snake standing at least six feet tall but even then its body was still coiled beneath it. Its scales were diamond shaped and a staggering mix of earthy browns and forest greens and the tiny slits for eyes on the side of its head were gold. But more immediately eye catch were the four pair of arms with the wiggling fingers.
"Ah," said Mr Fitch with a sigh. "This here was once a woman named Maria Sid's touch affected her more strongly that the rest of us. It put the hunger in her so strong that when it came to making her one of us it forever changed what she was."
The last figure was an old man with a mane of thick white hair that waved in menacing throngs in every direction. He was bent and crooked looking with age, yet the blue gray of his skin looked smooth and untouched by age. There was something almost cute about him, Gedan thought, but the cackle that rose from his throat was not in the least bit human.
"And finally we have dear old Will Brix," said Mr Fitch. "Perhaps one of the saddest of our company. He was unlucky enough to be fetching wares when the God-Sid waged his war. He was caught in amongst it and found himself helpless before Sid. Left behind a family in his urge to sate his new hunger."
The five figures followed Mr Fitch down the stairs and gathered around Mr Kristov. They huddled together like a pack, following the strongest of them. Even Mr Fitch curled obediently about Kristov's legs. Only Spooner, who still looked too scared of Kristov to move, remained where he was, staring numbly at what was going on.
"See now the glory our Bogey brotherhood?" said Kristov, spreading his arms before him. "These are the folk who will break you, Gedan!"
*
Gedan closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind spread before her. She felt all that was around her, the cold and hard stone and wood. Even before her sense touched those who stood before her, she could feel the raw hunger that burned in them. A desire and a passion for tickling and voluptary delights so strong that it changed everything about their nature. She shivered and bit back a sigh to feel such strong need.
But when her mind brushed theirs her smile froze and her brow furrowed. She touched each mind gently with her own, seeing their lives that were and their lives that would be. She saw normal lives, sometime happy, sometimes sad but always there was a sense of choice about what lay ahead of them. She felt all the wonderful myriad of emotions life Tabor brought.
And then there was Sid.
Everything changed. Hunger, such a wilful and demanding need for satisfaction, over took their lives. Their every nerve and sense screamed for gratification in the shadow of a touch that none could resist. Memory of what was lay in shreds in the wake of this new and limb trembling thrill. It was complete and utter indulgence. She felt in each of them a soulless ache filled with a joyous hunger for tickling torments.
"I see them," she said and opened her eyes.
"And what do you think?"
Gedan sighed. "I think they make me feel sad," she said.
"Sad?!" spluttered Kristov. "There is nothing about them to feel sad about! Hah! Why would you feel sad for them? They are immortal, enlivened, transported to a higher degree of consciousness by the whim of a God!"
Gedan nodded. "And not one of them chose to be this way," she said. "This was a life thrust upon them by a being so far beyond comprehension it beggars belief. This is not something they wanted - this is something they have to endure. Poor things."
Kristov sneered and waved the comment away. "Your words have a truth to them, Gedan," he said, "but it so obvious and overstated that it carries no wisdom."
"Obvious and overstated," said Gedan wryly, "and almost always ignored under the foolish belief that truth has to be complex and complicated. Choice is a very simple concept and that is what these folk have been robbed of."
"Choice is an illusion. No one chooses life," said Kristov. "We do not choose to be born and we do not choose to die. They happen beyond our will and despite our wishes. You may shake your fist and cuss in the face of them but you cannot reasonably expect a response or even their consideration. What happened to these folk is just as helpless - and just as pointless to complain about."
"That does not separate us from our accountability," said Gedan.
"Nonsense," snapped Kristov. "Accountability has nothing to do with it."
"In fact it has everything to do with it," said Gedan. "Without accountability, we are at the mercy of disaster and cataclysm."
"You know not of what you speak," said Kristov. "To hold something accountable is to have power over it."
"I would say it was more to be vulnerable to something."
"Clearly you are not up to date on the events in this county." Kristov's face stiffened. "This creature..Sid...and the LittleBigHead...do you know what they are?"
Gedan shook her head.
"They are like life and death given form," said Kristov, his massive fists flexing in troublesome thought. "Quite literally in the case of my companions here. They are legend and fear given form; primordial things that snatched these witless fools out of their mediocrity and spared them oblivion. They should be impossible but some twist of fate makes them possible; abstract beings with power and a need so strong that it sets them outside the natural laws of life, of creation itself."
Gedan nodded. "Whether you are aware of it or not all thing are held accountable for what they do," she said.
"A lie to soothe the vagaries of life," said Kristov. ""To even think about making Sid accountable for his deeds...what a joke! Does a lion seek accountability from a doe when it hangs limp in its mouth? No, and nor should it. Such things are beyond our power and thus beyond any sense of accountability. Against such things you can only hope to survive. Accountability is for those who have the power to enforce it."
"Your analogy is flawed, Kristov," said Gedan, her voice softer in front of his uneasiness. "You mistake the circle of life and death for the much larger law of Creation. Accountability is much more than the physical act of retribution."
"Whatever it is," said Kristov, "we do not possess it over those two antediluvian behemoths."
"You are subject to it nonetheless," said Gedan. "Not for Sid or the LittleBigHead, but for your own deeds and in particular those involving your new kin. You may have chosen your life, and even though to know that makes me smile, those with you did not."
"In the shadow of his touch," said Mr Fitch, "it was either this or madness and death. We chose life and while it would not be one of our choosing ordinarily, not one here bears regrets or remembers anything sweeter."
"They are carefree," said Kristov. "Carefree and jubilant."
"Not all of them," Gedan said in her softest words and her eyes flickered a tender look in the direction of Spooner.
"We are all subject to Sid and the LittleBigHead," said Kristov, "and all those in this here room are subject to me. That is the law of the Universe."
"I hope your resolute belief does not lead you astray," said Gedan.
"No matter," said Kristov. "We have shared enough words with you Gedan. It is time we heard your soul, lifted from its equilibrium by the endless wreaths of our ticklish treats. Go, my brothers and sisters, show her what your new lives are equal to."
And as one the five new comers closed in on Gedan, limbs wriggling and eyes ablaze with voluptary delight.
Gedan wriggled in anticipation and purred merrily, but all the while the kind green of her eyes never left those of Spooner, who sat staring numbly at what was going on.
"Come then," said Gedan with a beckoning wiggle and put her hands behind her head, "tickle me till I want for nothing else..."
* * * *
Larom found the Low Roads equal to their dark reputation.
The night had been dark and cool about him as he'd ran, his pace steady and light, senses waiting. He felt certain that he could either outrun or outfight most things he may encounter, yet still the niggling doubt persisted at the back of his mind. He had barely run a mile through its sunken pathways before he stumbled upon trouble which summed up everything he'd learned about Tabor County. He stopped and ducked in thick foliage to watch.
A convoy, some four wagons and a couple of horse pulled carriages, had been stopped by a fallen tree placed across their path. And naturally some had let the safety of the wagons to move the tree, not knowing what peril was awaiting them. The convoy was quickly set upon on all sides and for the briefest of moments sounds struggling and screaming filled the air; then, with slick inevitability, those sounds were replaced by something much sweeter.
Helpless ticklish laughter.
Larom smiled and felt a pleasant shiver pass up his spine. Such sights and sounds were a wild rush to every Kat, but more so for him. His protective responsibilities meant that he was not able to indulge his whims as often as the other Kats, which some considered a down but on the plus he spent a lot more time in the presence of Gedan - and that more than made up for it. With a deep sigh of indulgent voyeurism he ran his eyes over every little scene.
The wagon at the end of the convoy was without its wheels, which now rested against its sides. A middle aged man and his wife sat tied to the spokes of the wheels, blind folded and shaking with laughter while a purple skinned woman with white hair and four arms scratched her nails up and down the soles of their feet.
An old man stood tied to a tree just beyond them, hands tied above his head while leafy looking tendrils fell from the tree above to nestle with ticklish deviancy in his armpits and in his belly button. He spluttered and wriggled and squeaked helplessly but his cries for help went on unheard by his wife who watched on, smiling from the other tree - she was waiting for her turn and had no qualms about what awaited her.
The second wagon, filled with bags and luggage, had been overturned and in its shadow a buxom lady sat in the lap a creatures whose entire upper body was a nest of feathery tentacles. She howled and squealed, ecstatic with ticklish delight, peeling off her clothes for more of its dizzying touch. Escape had long ago fled her mind, as had any notion of being anything other than a willing tickle slave.
On the third wagon, two boys and a girl, all almost out of their teens sat with their feet in stocks. By the look of it, Larom guessed the attackers had brought the stocks with them. The two boys were sat on either side of the girl and were red with hysterics from the attentions of odd looking goats licking the soles of their feet. The girl, trapped between them and blushing at their excesses, could only bite her lip and wait for her turn. As Larom watched a large bellied man appeared and started brushing her bare feet with a brine soaked brush - a third goat waited hungrily at his side.
Suddenly a naked man burst from the behind the fourth wagon, his body slick and covered with blushes and helpless signs of excitement. There was a look of panic and near ecstasy on his face as he bolted for the forest. For a moment Larom thought he might escape, but with quicksilver speed three bare breasted woman, their lower halves snake-like shot after him. They snared his ankles and then, with sweet promises of endless tickle pleasures, they started pulling him back. He clawed the earth with his hands but it was to no avail and in moments he was back in their grip, well hidden and exquisitely helpless.
Larom found himself purring loudly at what he saw. Such tickling excess was thrilling to see, especially in creatures outside of his fellow Kats. The nature of how it came about, force and maybe the threat of violence, gave him a moral pause for thought. Had anything more sinister than tickling had been administered, he would have had to intervene. But such sweet and exquisite tickling was wonderful to his eyes and almost impossible to resist.
"I mustn't get distracted," he told himself. "I must remain focused!"
In the very last wagon, in front of which milled the now free horses, three people had been tied up and seemed to be awaiting their fate. A trio of odd looking men and women, as unique in appearance as they were blatantly not human, danced around them, chanting merrily:
"Hi-ho and away you go,
To feel no worry and carry no woe.
We have such treats for your ticklish feet
And there are many more giggles to know!"
"Like little lambs all lost afar,
All sundered from your hope by fears.
Snug in the arms of your Bogey hosts
You'll bare our revel for untold years!"
"For we are the timeless tickling kin,
Whose hunger knows no bounds,
By finger or frond, feather or tongue,
We're the jolliest folk of all around!"
Their voices were grating and horrid to hear but the words gave Larom a shiver. These Bogeys spoke well of themselves as dealers in the ticklish pleasures and he wondered how they would fare against the touch of a Kat. A louder purr rose in his throat at the thought of it - perhaps he should kidnap one and find out.
-Larom-
At once Larom dropped to his knees as the voice filled his head. "My Lord," he said.
-Stay focussed-
Larom grinned. "Yes, my lord," he said.
-Any success?-
"Not yet my lord but I suspect these Bogeys are involved somehow."
-Mm. I wonder at that. They are wonderful creatures true enough, but there is something much bigger and much more powerful at work in Tabor county. The very air hums with antediluvian power. We need to tread with care, Larom, lest we get caught up in it.-
"My Lord?"
-There is at least one God all ready set lose in Tabor, Larom. Yes, an actual God. Can you imagine what that portents for the people caught in its wake?-
"A God?!"
-Oh yes and its power is unlike anything I have ever felt before. If my sense of things are right, it seems this God is linked to the Bogeys and to all that will fall here. It makes me uneasy, Larom; so many things yet to come to pass and us - we're just sideways distractions for the greater picture. We must retrieve Gedan and get out while events allow us to-
Larom frowned. "But my Lord..."
-Yes?-
"I have given my word to Chester Allgoode, the Mayor of Tabor County that I would repay his kindness. If we leave I will have broken my promise."
There was a brooding silence. -If chance requires it, you will fulfil your vow, Larom. On the condition that we are swift in finding Gedan.-
"Thank you. What are your orders, my lord?"
-There is a settlement nearby owned by a creature named Dox. It is a scant few miles from your position. Head there at once. You will find gossip aplenty and more than likely some clue as to where my little lover has landed herself.-
"And what of you, my Lord?"
-I will meet you there Larom.-
Larom shivered with excitement. "You're coming here, my Lord?"
-Oh yes! There is a tickling God afoot, so to speak. Who would want to miss that?-
* * * * *
Gedan felt a thrilling sense of helpless anticipation as the five figures approached. She shivered and bit her lip coyly, trying to keep each and every one of them in her sight as they formed a circle about her.
"Oh yes," she cooed, "this is going to be excellent."
Larla stood at Gedan's feet, a wicked and knowing smile on her wooden face. At this close range her scent, like that of a damp forest, was overwhelming. Larla's amber eyes were a rich amber in colour, warm and viscous, as if you could stare in them and be trapped.
"Larla gonna give you such a sweet tickling," she said, her voice like the wind whipping at leaves. "Larla make you beg for more, make you want to hang in my limbs like fruit, eager for my touch."
Gedan purred. "I hope I do, Larla," she said, "because my feet...so soft and bare, are just ripe for your tender touches."
Larla's hair shivered as if stirred by a breeze, but it was from the deep pleasant sound of her laughter that it shook. Gedan's words were like a taper to her Bogey heart and Larla needed no further invitation to proceed.
"Giggle for Larla...wiggle for me..."
Larla lifted her hands and with them came a multitude of vines and fronds, writhing like a nest of snakes stirred to life. With the delicacy of the mornings breeze's first kiss, the tips of Larla's limbs fluttered up and around the underside of Gedan's toes, They touched fleetingly, teasingly, only giving enough to spark the nerves.
"Eeehehee," giggled Gedan. "Oh, yes, sweet Larla, more like that!"
Egged on by Gedan's thrill call, Larla's finger-fronds wiggled with tantalising delicacy on Gedan's toes. They curled about them, sliding with expert grace and precision, encompassing each toe and flickering up and down them.
"Aaaaha ha ha ha eeeh he hee hee hee hee hee! Oooh he hee hee hee ahh haha! Hahaa ehehe....my..eehehteehahahaaa...what a wonderful toe tickler you are! Ahahaaaaa!"
The feeling was intoxicating, even for one as veteran as Gedan. Larla's finger-fronds felt the lightest of kisses on her skin but sent the fiercest of ticklish shots through her. It was like each was held gently and being treated with exquisitely soft tickles.
"Ahahhaha" laughed Gedan, feeling the waves of ticklishness getting stronger. "Oh my, ah aha haha ehehe hah hahahaha! What a treat you give me!"
As teasing as the words were, Gedan found Larla's tickling captivating. She knew straight away that no mortal could feel such a touch and hope to resist it - it was the succubus kiss for tickle lovers. Even Gedan felt the urge at the back of her head to give in, to surrender to it.
"Soo soft, soo tender," Larla teased. "So raw...the touch of my limbs. See how they seem to bypass the flesh and touch the sweetest nerve root."
Gedan nodded, a cute gesture on her behalf, but instead of speaking felt a rush of laughter steal her intended words. Had her nerves been that of a mortal creature, she would be in sweet hysteria - her mind on the verge of breaking. What wonderful ticklers these Bogeys were! She felt the smooth and unblemished skin of her feet crease, wrinkle and stretch at Larla's touches.
"Oh sweet Larla!" Gedan gasped. "That's it! Lovely! Hahaha eeh heheheahahaha! But...wouldn't it be nice to hold my feet while you tickle them, hm? Cradle them gently while your nerve shredding touches render me your willing victim?"
"Yes yes, my sweet," Larla cooed, "let your heavy feet rest in Larla's hands; let me transport you from this place into a world where only laughter and the feel of my fingers exist."
Larla's words were shiver inducing and gave Gedan such a wonderful promise of ticklish indulgence that the captured Kat gave a delighted giggle that buzzed in the ears of all those present. Spurred on further by such a sound, Larla lifted her hands so Gedan's heels rested gently on her palms, barely noticing their weight, then set her finger fronds at a faster, more debilitating speed.
"Tickle tickle," teased Larla.
"Eeeeheehee hahaha haha hahaha hahaaaaa!"
At that moment Istan and Ichbod, the marble skinned twins, moved closer with their eyes locked hungrily on Gedan. Maria the snake woman made a sweet hissing sound and uncoiled behind Gedan, the upper pair of her arms reaching out to hold her wrists and stretch her arms to the side and then up above her head.
"Ssssweet twins," said Maria, "sssee how she stretches for you!"
The tickling on her feet rendered Gedan near speechless, but she gave each twin a look of welcome invitation. "You hahahheehehe!! You don't need to restrain me! Hehehahaahaa! Oh yes Larla, such a devilish touch!! Ahahaha I will hold my arms up for you!"
Maria snickered. "Holding you is for my pleasure, not yours," she said. "I will hold you to keep you secure." Then with her lower pair of arms Maria gently ripped the shoulder straps of Gedan's dress. "Now do you see, little Gedan?"
Gedan nodded and laughed. She wriggled and writhed so that the dress hung on her breasts, threatening at any second to reveal them to her ticklers. A collective chorus of approval fired from the throats of those around her.
"Peel your clothes away we will," said Maria, licking Gedan's ears with her snake tongue. "Peel and peel till you are a mass of twitching bundle of hungry nerves. Till you are naked and crave only our touch."
If they hoped such a thing would bother Gedan, they were doomed to disappointment. She made a louder purring sound and wrapped her tail about Maria's neck.
Istan and Ichbod, stirred into action by Gedan's new state, started whirring the feather wheels on the underside of her stretched arms. Those soft and delicate looks feathers with the care of a lover over Gedan's arms and in the crook of each armpit. She bucked and twisted at the new sensation, drawing welcome sounds from the marble twins. Gedan laughed and giggled and writhed the most perfect of dances for any tickle-loving voyeur.
"Mm," Kristov made a groan. "You are delicious Gedan. You are the perfect companion for any Bogey blessed enough to have you at their disposal."
Gedan made a purring sound that somehow rose above the sound of her laughter. "And all you need to do is ask," she said.
"Do you wish to surrender now?" Kristov asked. "They can and will go on for days without stopping and it will be even longer before they grow disinterested?"
"You...ehehehahahaha underestimate my strength!" said Gedan, jolting with a near shriek as Maria's tongue lick in each ear and then down her neck.
"They have barely started with you," said Kristov. "Even the dullest of bodies has exquisite creases and curves that when gifted with the proper touch will cause the mind to snap. I guess a body as refined as yours will be especially sensitive."
Gedan nodded but didn't speak, preferring to laugh for her Bogey tormentors.
Old Will Brix stepped forward, no trace of his apparent age on his movements and with his old hands he dug them into Gedan's hips and sides. She jerked and her laughter grew louder. She twisted from side to side, a mock attempt to escape.
"Oh!" cried Gedan. "What wonderful ticklers you are!"
At the inevitable moment Gedan's wriggling and laughter caused her dress to fall free and rest about her hips, revealing the sweet swell of her bare chest, the tips of Old Will Brix's beard rose with a life of its own to tickle there. A new sound, deeper, more sultry rose from Gedan's throat and for the briefest moment she froze, her eyes wide.
"Oh...yes!" said Kristov. "We have found her level, brothers and sisters! Do you not hear the warmer tones of pleasure in her voice! It the sweeter and more intimate of tickles that shall unravel this figure! Mr Spooner, step forward!"
Spooner rose to his feet, careful and submissive.
"I have the sweetest of tasks for you," said Kristov. "I want you to remove what remains of our prey's dress and then I want you to apply your wild skill to whatever sweet creases lie therein. We will have her yet!"
Spooner hesitated. "But...Mr Kristov..."
"Now, Mr Spooner!"
"I..."
"You will do as I say!"
Spooner looked at Gedan, who despite her ticklish excesses managed to meet his eyes and a look passed between then.
"No," he said with a faltering voice. "No, Mr Kristov, I will not."
"What did you say?"
"I will not do as you say," he said.
Kristov's face and entire body froze with rage. "You know the consequence for refusing me my command?"
"I do," said Spooner, feeling fearless now he was locked in Gedan's gaze.
"Your objection, while honourable, is pointless," said Kristov. "If you refuse me I will be forced to punish you; and then have someone do it anyway. Better you do as I ask."
Gedan, sensing something terrible about to happen, shook her head. "Mr Spooner..."
"No," said Spooner, cutting her off. "This is my choice, Gedan. I will not do this to you."
"You have my permission," said Gedan, a growing dread edging her laughter. "it's all right. Do not risk yourself over me, please!"
Spooner smiled. "I hear you plea but do not accept it. I will not do this for even as a Bogey. I have my limits. And what I see in your eyes is more compelling to me than any threat Kristov can conceive. And I will not do as he demands."
Kristov turned, his face obscenely devoid of expression. "I hope whatever you see in her eyes is worth it," he said, "for it is the last thing you will see."
"No!" cried Gedan.
Spooner had but a moment to feel the sudden rush of fear, for his face to register what was upon him and for his young eyes to go wide, before a single monstrous blow from Kristov struck him in a blur. It was so fast that Gedan didn't see it until after it had happened. The blow crushed Spooner's head and buckled the upper portion of his body; even the floor beneath him cracked. For a moment the soul-hollow body remained upright and then it collapsed to the floor - a still ruin.
Kristov sniffed, disgusted at what remained of Spooner, and turned back to the others. But something was wrong - terribly wrong. The room had gone deathly quiet, as if every voice had been stolen away. "Why have you stopped?" he snapped.
And then he saw: they hadn't stopped at all. Each of the Bogey's were still working their trade but Gedan was no longer laughing. She had turned to stone, the wild tickling call of the Bogey's touch rendered inert by something far stronger. One by one they stopped their tickling, uneasy as the non-effect of their touches.
Then the silence was broken by the most heart breaking of sounds - a sound that will reach across the stars and summon a storm all of its own.
Gedan was crying.
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To be continued....
