ElFewja
2nd Level Red Feather
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,295
- Points
- 38
Restoring a relic */f all over mostly feet
Through the dusty inn window Lexian gazed at the night sky, the nearby forest brushing back and forth, swaying the sooty clouds away from the pearl divinity that blessed the land a silver hue. Leaning forward, she placed her elbow onto the window sill, resting her chin in cupped hands as she sighed. Glancing towards the stack of disheveled notes she had taken from her studies in Ber'nar, she mused on the riddles of the lost relic she sought and of the method to awaken it. A shiver rolled down her spine as she recalled the days spent in the stockades while she waited for those that tormented her feet to offer their end of the bargain.
The sky seemed to hum as the stars tweedled a gentle, warming harmony. Craning her neck upward, her ears perked as the silent song draped itself about her neck. A tingling came to her knees as thunder crackled like pebbles underfoot. Kneeling as one entity, the trees bent inward, away from the inn. A roar of wind assaulted the small building, the walls shaking as the shingles shuddered.
A buzzing nipped at the ends of her ears as the stars violently flashed a beckoning. Warmth nuzzled her shoulders and backside as the tingling in her knees became a wildfire. Sliding to her feet, she held her chin high while forcing her spine to stiffen. The sparkling silver of her dress glittered in the moonlight as she rose, her spruce pony tail spraying over her shoulder and over her left breast. As she turned and stepped away from the table, she brought a hand to her neck and spun about, staring at her belongings. Nodding, she returned, bending down and lifting her sack before swiping them into her backpack and shouldering it. Spinning on the heel of her tall black boots, she nodded again then descended the stairwell, her shoulders and head unwavering as the planks loudly proclaimed her withdrawal with their creaky cries.
Upon reaching the last step she stood still, coals tumbling within her. Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and ejected her doubt through pursed lips. Straightening herself, she fetched a fresh breath of the mildewy air. Hands trembling slightly, she closed her eyes and exhaled again. Shaking her head, she stumbled forward, her shoulders rolling like a supple wave. Turning sharply around a corner she made eye contact with the burly, oaken inn keep, a cold chill weaving through her, firmly planting her shoulders in place. To her right, she could feel warm air reaching for her, calling for her. With a nod to the man she spun on her heel, placing a hand upon the chill knob as she whipped the door open, slipping past the splintered board as it slammed shut.
A tornado of hot air swirled around her, all but pushing her forward onto the dark path that led towards the nearby woods. Gliding forward, the air about her murmured and purred whispers. Above her the stars winked and blinked pleasantly like a smiling light house welcoming a ship into harbor. Dirt crackled beneath her as she sped forward, walking at a near run, the coals in her stomach popping as though the furnace that held them grew hotter than the searing stars that sought her out. Dilapidated fencing hung limply in dried mud alongside forgotten farmland that the night hungrily gulped into the depths. At the corner of her eye she could see a wolf pacing in a circle, eyeing her with snarling fangs before turning and leaping down a small hill.
Tufts of grass bashed their way through the path as she strode between two pillar like trees. Within a few steps the blades overtook the path, engulfing it into nothingness. Though the trees swung their branches madly, the blazing goddess above her cast its pearly light, illuminating a path to the right. Looking down, Lexian lifted her legs high, stepping over a knee-high bush as the wind nudged her forward. Dried leaves snapped at her transgressions while small sticks splintered begrudgingly beneath her. Above her the sky seemed to turn to a blaze as the stars' howls grew almost palatable. Raising her arms, she began to use her hands to propel herself forward, swimming past the thick trees that barred her entry.
Felling tree after tree, she arrived at a small glade where moonlight gushed into a small spring. Enchanted by the drone above her, she slowly slipped forward, nearing a beam that pierced through a thick coat of black leaves. Kneeling, she brushed aside some dirt, revealing a glittering, fist sized purple gem held to a golden chain with links so tiny that it appeared as a single strand of the sun's hair. The blaze from above seemed to pour down into her as she slowly turned the gem about within her hand. Slipping it over her head, she allowed the relic to fall between her breasts.
The trees shimmered, their silvery leaves flickering. A long, slender hiss rolled from beneath her. Looking down, she saw a steamy mist coil from the purple gem, the milky gas dropping to the forest bed like wet, wilted petals. Trembling tendrils reached upwards before collapsing into puddles, rising and falling again and again. Placing a hand to her breasts, Lexian looked through the canopy as the stars slowly winked out of existence, the buzzing beacons mutedly vanishing. Like a fierce dragon, the mist rent itself into existence, spiraling around her and shutting the world above and around her away.
A pressure crashed against her from all around. Lifting her leg, she slowly began to run though she moved as if surrounded by water. The purplish-grey fog pulsated and crackled as she ran, sinking into the bulbous smog. Swaying like the trees that had been around her, she moved her legs against the fog that stuck to her like carnivorous mud. The gem near her neck flashed and the embers within her burned alive again as warm air gently massaged her shoulders, whipping a small smile onto her lips. Within seconds her knees vanished. Struggling harder, she watched as the cloud gulped her hips and then midriff, then captured her arms and swallowed her up until tiny tendrils brushed her chin.
A chill tightness wrapped itself about her arms as she felt them lifted perpendicular to her beneath the bog. Above her a ghostly rattle of metal rustled together as her arms freed themselves of the smog, the mist dripping away from her arms in a downpour. Drifting upwards, her arms were raised above her head. A thickness like honey coated her mind as she hazily turned her head upwards, watching as a blueish white spectral chained snaked itself about her wrists several times, then cascaded down her arms. Feeling as though her body lost all weight, she slowly floated into the air, the clouds sucking at her as she flew upwards, the near invisible chains continuing to spin around her like a ball of yarn, wrapping around her torso as it appeared. Wintry fangs sucked the heat from her stomach and hips as she was hoisted into the air, the teeth gnawing their way down her legs.
A hum emanated from the gem. Looking down, a black swirl spun about like storm clouds. Another low hissing sound rocked around her as the immaterial chains clenched her together. At once it felt as though a thunderstorm rent her, twisting about inside of her as the gem spewed a thick, light-less cloud. The hiss ended and the storm abated, the puff of smoke shuddering in front of her as her head drooped like an overladen flower, weakness seeping through her like rainwater that stole away through the cracks in a wall.
Pulsating, the cloud took form, limbs spinning into existence as the void took the shape of a human. The mass became smooth, wavering between several shapes as it settled, depth miraculously forming as it grew a face, smoldering garnet and topaz beads blinking into existence. Through the murky pitch a ripple slid, snaking across where the creature's face coalesced: a simple, a light-less hole in a dank void. Whisping forward, the form glided a large circle, closing in tightly as it sped up, twirling about Lexian as it stole features her features, embedding its contours into shapes that mirrored her muscle tones as a limp veil grew like grass, wafting and waving as the thing spiraled about.
Between her breasts the gem grew pleasantly warm. Sighing, Lexian's head drifted forward, bobbing as it fell, her eyelids fluttering. Through her lashes, she caught the world ripple and waver, the mists bubbling while an unnaturally warm wind slowly coiled around her, tightening and constricting her as though it were an anaconda. Pressing her cheek and right eye into her shoulder, her gaze rose upwards as the wraith like creature flew forward like an avalanche, the world trembling like water disturbed from its slumber. Stiffly raising an arm, it methodically neared, a single finger-like appendage approaching her head. Lifting her face, Lexian tugged lightly at her wrists, turning her body away ever so slightly as the finger grazed her lower lip, circling upwards.
All at once it felt as though a pleasantly warm mist of rain coupled with the ice-cold of night sucked at her lips, the impossibly smooth, inviting touch of the creature's cloud like flesh melding with own. The smoldering, ever changing hellfire that was the creature's eyes dashed out as its eyelids closed while the crease that formed its mouth widened further, slicing almost towards where its eyes had been. As though a wintry wind blew within, Lexian felt warmth spill from her into the point that the shade touched her. Shivering lightly, she smiled, her lower spine arching as wonderful icicles pricked through her. As she slowly threw her head back the shade tapped its finger once. Warmth pooled around Lexian's face, and as she looked down she witnessed a simple sheet of pure darkness bubble at her lips, wrapping around her head, covering her mouth in such a way that she could not force it open. A smile mirroring the shade's curved beneath the mist as she shivered again, the glowing links above her ringing their ghostly song.
The creature glided backwards as the world shook. One at a time, wispy tendrils pawed into existence from the misty walls before vanishing into a puff. The sly things danced and shimmered, some slowly lashing towards Lexian while others fell limp, drifting back into the recesses from which they had emerged. Raising its arm, the creature's fiery eyes winked back into existence as the depth of its smile vanished. With two fingers raised, the creature motioned its arm slightly downward, its arm stretching forward towards Lexian until its fingers slipped through her hair. Though she tilted her head back and to the side – a rebellious strip of hair fleeing, covering her eyes as she did so -- the fingers latched onto a few strands of hair, rubbing its fingers against them before twirling the strands around their dark shapes. As Lexian pulled her head further away, the fingers released the hair from their captivity before wafting forward, defeating the rebels that had blinded Lexian and returning them to their proper place. The arm contracted and the smile returned to the creature as it raised its hand to its head.
The shadowy lips of the creature parted and a swish like sound echoed through the chamber as a small cloud of sooty, sparkling dust flew from the creature towards Lexian. Her breath grew turbulent, bustling through her nose slowly yet loudly while the fervent storm replenished its energies through quick, stab like inhales. The dust wafted about, sprinkling through the air like uncertain rain as the creature smiled, placing a hand on its chin and the other on its hip. As the dust encroached her face, her upper body shook, the chains rattling as she tossed and turned, her head ineffectively fanning the specks away. A single piece darted towards the tip of her nose and landed as softly as a snow flake, immediately needling her with a shock and gasp of a throaty, muffled squeal. Her eyes darted open then immediately shuttered shut as she turned her head into her shoulder, the flecks landing across her cheek, neck and ear in an uneven bombardment, her skin screaming alive with a thousand pinpoint pricks of laughter.
For an eternity of seconds her face came alive, shadowing out her body as the world vanished into darkness around her. Different sized needles pricked and pierced through her, preying upon and sucking up sensations that seemed to too readily pool upwards from some forgotten depths deep within her. At once her stomach tightened and her throat constricted while her shoulders shuddered and shook, the painful joy digging further and further into her cheeks and lips while the sensations oozed down her neck and pinched her nose.
Trembling lightly, she felt a hot smile mold itself beneath the gag that held her chuckles prisoner, instead forcing the feelings to well up in her throat as she shook her hips, rocking back and forth in the air. As the sensations faded the wraith flew forward until it hovered a few feet from her face, the garnet light radiating from her eyes subdued by her upper eyelids as the creature's joy reigned in several creases upon its too-cheeky face. Lexian's own cheeks burned lightly as she felt blood pool there, reddening them, her own wide, joyous and carefree eyes welling up water as a plead for more, though a cold lump weighed down her stomach, attempting to forbid and confuse the hungry, dying fire that whimpered in her chest.
Again the creature raised its hand as Lexian's eyes darted open, her head violently shaking back and forth, scattering hair about her into a near blindfold while small beadlets of sweat darted towards the tendrils that groped the air. The creature's smile widened as Lexian's face betrayed her, mirroring her captor's. The wisps that composed the creature's left arm spun about, quickly swirling and recomposing in front of Lexian's face as the fingers brushed Lexian's berserk hair back into line. As the mist combed through her hair she felt a furious blaze of laughter crawl along her scalp like incessant lines of ants. An abhorrent chuckle crawled from where the shade stood as the sound of wind dashing through leaves emancipated itself from the walls. The creature's hand leaned down as the thing bent forward toward Lexian's exposed under arm. Her eyes flashed wide as the creature blew dust towards Lexian's immobile flesh.
The smoky cloud spun about, sparkling as it approached. Looking up, Lexian spiraled her fingers through a loop of the chain as she thrust her weight down, tugging at the bondage that illuminated her into a ghastly blue. Sympathizing with her, the chain rattled hollowly and cried for release, its begrudging and half forced howls garnishing no reprise from the mists that held and formed the links. Sighing, Lexian looked down towards the black wave that sought to usurp her feelings, her eyes remaining focused upon the cloud as she threw her weight to her right, tugging harder. Beneath her the mists refused to yield as they clasped tightly at her knees, tendrils slipping from the ground as though to pull her further down. A single speck landed near her elbow, the needle-like sensation piercing through her as her eyes shot wide open, her arms pressing into the sides of her head as her stomach tightened and her shoulders tensed against her neck.
At once the flurry began to bombard her, the chill and evaporation of snowflakes pelting her intermingled with the beaming and majestic warmth of sunlight parading across her, lighting her skin alive with an otherworldly blaze while simultaneously chipping and buzzing at her like a thousand tiny mosquitoes. Choking the chain with her fingers, she pulled down hard, stretching her body upwards as muffled howls of laughter bounced against the gag. The chains screamed above her, clanking and rattling loudly as she thrashed back and forth, her arms quivering and shaking with each attempt to slam them back by her sides.
The chalky warmth plagued her body, whispering around her like maddened butterflies as they sought a home. Settling in her chest, the maddened things fluttered about, zigging and zagging a hot net around her lungs as the pests at her arm siphoned more and more of her strength away. With a groan she tugged harder, her legs clearing the depths slightly as fresh air swirled about her now free calves. Biting into the chains with her fingers she felt them slip away, the sweat that readily grew on her palms greasing the ghastly metal. Gripping harder, she tugged again, her elbow coming down a little as her legs further liberated themselves by an inch. Beneath her and despite the giggles and laughter that kept her mind occupied, she felt her right foot slip through her boot, her heel pressed against where her ankle should have been. A cool breath of air rushed through her as the bonfires under her arm alighted anew. Clenching her toes, she gripped the leather of her boots as caws and cackles radiated in her chest, overwhelming and threatening to burst through the gag.
The broad side attack, having run through its stockpile of ammunition, settled into a sudden intermission to survey the damage it had wrought. Exhaling every tiny bit of vent up frustration and overspent giggle at once, Lexian fell limp, her elbows slightly lax as she hung by her wrists, her fingers spread like petals overly laden with morning dew. Slowly twirling from left to right, she let her head bob down as she whistled out several pants, her nose hungrily lapping up fuel as beadlets of sweat raced down the sides of her forehead. A haze of oppressive warmth hung about her as she drew in more and deeper breaths, coughing lightly as several rogue streams teased her taut armpits.
Closing her eyes, Lexian breathed in a slow, heavy breath that gripped the edges of her lungs with cool fingers. Like threading a needle, she meticulously released the captured air, feeling her diaphragm retract as the warm air spun around within her, filing out from each crack and cranny. Inhaling again, she listened to the chilled air as it hollowly knocked about, sealing itself within the various fissures in her body. As she repeated the process, the webbed thoughts that cluttered her were vanquished by a growing bubble of emptiness. Slowly the ache in her arms melted away, the nipping pain at her wrists following suit shortly after. In the bubble a verdant hill appeared, the thousands of blades of grass tussling with one another as a gentle breeze whispered its malcontent misgivings. At the center a lone hibiscus quickly blossomed, its gentle yellow petals shooing the wind away as the grass fell into a silent celebration of the Queen that had risen among them.
Dismissing still another breath, Lexian lifted her eyelids half way, her sooty black eyes glinting a passionate light. The shade chuckled as Lexian defiantly raised her head into a statuesque pose. Stroking its chin, the wraith nodded, gliding forward and pressing its face against Lexian's as the monster's hole-like smile crested towards its faux ears. A hard breeze blew, brushing the flower of her inner world into the ground while a pale cloud stretched itself widely across the northern hemisphere.
From the top of her hill Lexian watched the crystal blue sky ripple as sensations like stars pelted her midriff. Looking down, she watched the shade's hands wiggle as they dipped through her garb and body, her stomach violently spasming in response. Crunching her shoulders against her head, she pressed her face into her elbow as she shut her eyes. Her body vibrated at a maddened pace as a crazed tingling was pulled from within her to the surface of her buzzing skin. Clenching her teeth Lexian shivered, her hands shaking as they rubbed the crackled links above her in search of a distraction. Humming, she cast aside the waking world and returned to tend the small garden of a hill.
A blazing hot wind roared, kicking the tiny flower about as the grass gave way to the conspirator that labored against them. The cloud amassed a smidgling of girth, swelling as it captured more of the punctuated sky while Lexian sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees, her stomach throbbing with emotion. As she stared at her boots a wave coursed through her; with a sharp exhale, she knit her eyes shut, clamping her toes together tightly. The outside world informed her that her foot was not where she imagined it as an invisible hand slowly plucked the boot of her inner world away. Swiping at the air in front of her, she quickly grabbed the ends of the boot and pulled it up tightly, though the interior betrayed her motives by constantly murmuring the truth. A canyon formed in the clouds and she knew the shade had smiled.
Again and again the wind rammed against her, battering at her as the flower shook wildly. A small amount of water began to pool in her eyes as she watched the flower cast aside a single petal with three of the four its remaining compatriots reaching after it. Gasping, she felt herself whisked to the reality the shade had conjured, its sizzling, icy hands waving through her underarms as they absorbed the intense, burning tingling that bubbled there through its fingers. Lexian's eyes bulged as her mind screamed brash commands to her arms not to fight with the chains.
The shade chuckled as it weaved its dark hands through Lexian's body, imposing its wintry will into her flesh. Above her, her arms quivered, spasming wildly as they desperately sought to obey their orders. Suddenly the shade sped its assault, flailing its hands up and down Lexian's sides as her shoulders flinched ferociously, her hair cascading into a knotted mess that formed a stalwart shield against the world. Blockading her throat preemptively, she issued an indictment against her stomach should it stitch together any laughter. In the murky mists above her she watched the tendrils whirl together, an image of the flower lighting itself into existence just as two of the petals breached their oaths and scampered off into the skies together. Puffing out air, she watched as the last petal fought valiantly, slashing back and forth recklessly with iron-cast abandon.
The flower stood still. Letting her gaze drift away, she looked at the shade as it glided backwards, a hand on its chin and a devastatingly abyssal frown wrenching its face into a contorted mess. The thing’s eyes beamed and blazed a forbidden light as the hand stroking the chin spewed out violent strands of snake-like smoke. The thing's neck twisted as its head spun upwards, staring at the little panting flower weighed down by the single petal. The shade snickered, its arms disappearing and re-emerging half bent towards the sky as the wraith cackled a simultaneously high and low pitched guffaw. The smoke that comprised the apparition twirled about it as it seemingly spun out of and into existence while soundlessly snapping the fingers of its right hand once. Between her breasts the gem grew as hot as an inferno and as heavy as an iceberg, pleasantly singeing her chest as her head was suddenly forced down by the weight. The chains rattled and she felt herself rise slightly, the mists beneath her rippling as her knees broke through the surface.
The gemstones that bubbled and jumped in her stomach suddenly ceased in their revelry as she felt a tightness around her ankles. The sensation of leather dripping down her sole while the chalky mist eagerly replaced it greedily grasped her attention. Her eyelids quivered exactly once as she watched her boot surface, that forbidden flesh fleeing from it with untold haste as she was lofted further away. Like a dying ship, the boots bubbled beneath the waves, surrendering her nude foot. Raising its arm, the wraith flipped its hand so that its palm faced the ceiling while extending its index finger. Quickly, the shade pointed up and two separate tendrils shot like serpents from the ground, wrapping themselves tightly around each of Lexian's leg. Holding her breath, Lexian closed her eyes as she sought out the trembling flower, the hill shuddering as she felt her naked leg raise itself towards her captor. Waving the garden away, she felt a drop of sweat drip down the side of her face as she watched a new set of the glowing chains pull her foot upward, placing her sole directly in front of the shade, its mouth seeming to water ravenously.
Shimmering with an ethereal, black light, the shade's arm flickered, hazily whipping towards Lexian's naked feet. Staring into the creature's vapory eyes, she heard a light scrape as pressure pinched around the sides of her heel, chill ice sucking the warmth from around her ankles. A sheet of snow grated against the top of her right foot as the shade caressed it lightly, rubbing from Lexian's toes slowly before giving the squirming foot a buzzing pat. The hand suddenly billowed away into a puff of smoke before reconvening at her sole. With a fencer's accuracy, a single finger slipped up the center of Lexian's sole, swerving around the side of her ball. The bindings of the petal began to tatter as it struggled to free itself.
As though an avalanche spilled over top of her, she felt her foot burn to life, laughing sensations shrieking for her attention. At once her eyes bolted open, her hands railing against the chains as she yanked herself upwards, her shoulders trashing as her torso spun about. Pursing her lips tightly, her teeth slammed shut, barring a squeal from escaping her throat, forcing it to instead rattle about against the barricades. Though her legs convulsed, the murk below and the chains above grappled with them, forcing them to behave. The pressure of the wraith's fingers gripped like iron bonds, refusing to let her foot do anything other than wiggle its toes back and forth. As her eyes fell to slits, she brought her head back down, starring into the shade’s devious eyes as it brought its hand to its misty face. Extending a single finger, the shade's gaze remained focused upon Lexian's foot. As it tapped its finger against its lips, the thing looked as if it were a purveyor at a feast, carefully deciding its course of action.
With a whip like motion the apparition’s arm whistled downward again. Turning, Lexian's lips parted as she grit her teeth, her shoulders shielding her neck as she shut her eyes. A second passed and her arms trembled. Carefully exhaling and recapturing a vast amount of air, she tightened her defenses as she spiraled herself together, the prisoned air burning her lungs as it fought for its escape. Exhaling again, she turned slightly, peeking her head from behind her arm just as the shade's hand dripped down, plucking at Lexian's pinky toe.
At once the flower kicked against the breeze, turning slightly and protecting the final petal with its stem. Lexian's arms quivered as her head ducked into her chest, her chin bumping into the hellfire that burned between her breasts. Panting several times, she felt as though the world around her collapsed upon itself. A second light pinch shook her, stealing sensations from the toe next to her pinky, the tiny bit of flesh pleading with her head to shiver. Clenching her toes, she tugged with her hip, seemingly inducing a pinch at her middle most toe. Instead of immediately fleeing, however, the wraith's fingers caressed their way to the exit as Lexian's body rocketed in place, her lips curving at the edges as they parted, her teeth barring themselves against her enemy.
A tightness tugged at her cheeks when the shade gently brushed its finger against the nail of her longest toe, a gentle buzz nipping at the shores of flesh it harbored. As the wraith pinched its fingers around her toe it felt as though a sea of gnats hummed about her, the hissing of their wings kissing at her flesh. Digging her fingers into the gaps of the links, she shook the chains that held her violently as she flailed about. As the villain rubbed its fingers up and down the lengths of her toe a bead of liquid balled into existence at the far side of each of Lexian’s eyes. The wraith continued to rub Lexian’s toe, she felt the world cackle at her predicament. Beads of water bounded from her eyes, streaking down her cheeks, each one racing over top the furling mists that formed her gag as they pelted onward, towards her chin until at last they met and quarreled over who the winner was. Releasing her toe, Lexian gasped a sigh of relief just as the shade flicked against the pad of her big toe. With an eep she coiled about, contorting into a spiral as her toes spread wildly. Distantly she saw the flower again, the last petal ripping away but hanging onto the stem with a mere fraction of itself as it flailed in the ravenous gale, envious clouds inking the sky a mutinous black.
With a thunderous cackle, the shade threw her head back as the clouds muttered their disapproval. Collapsing forward, Lexian gulped at the air, her body seeming to radiate heat as she panted. Lifting her head slightly, she gazed through her the hair that sought to protect her from the sight of the wraith as it crept forward, wiggling its fingers in preparation of the onslaught. Shirking back, Lexian pulled her arms in front of her head, pressing her face into her elbows as the monster pelted and peppered her sole with light, precise taps. With each carefully planned touch she felt a ripple upon her skin that ached maddeningly, yearning for release. They were quick and light, yet the ripples continued to force her to convulse with a sea of giggles. Each new touch crested the wave of a former ripple, pulling forth a new sensation that crashed and merged with the rest, intensifying into a magnitude that forced her to punctuate the ocean of laughter with small vessels of gasps and yelps as the creature imposed the verdict of her will onto Lexian's sole.
The lick of the flames dogged at her skin, but as the fingers swept upward she felt the cool, ghostly aftermath of their touch. Wiggling her toes, she felt a deep need within the vacated flesh to be touched again, to be warmed with the light of fire while a dreadful mix of agony and longing filled her. The wraith's eyes glittered with this knowledge as Lexian grit her teeth, spreading her toes backward and flitting her foot back and forth while the infection spread into her.
Large drops of rain began to splatter against the hill, kicking up clouds of dust that concealed the eruptions of mud. Within seconds the light plats became like the rustling of leaves in the wind as the clouds poured out their displeasure. The prattling of taps hastened their pace, forcing Lexian's giggles to evolve into guffaws just to keep up, her body curving and wrinkling in the air as her foot flailed wildly, casting its toes about like several drunkards rolling around in a small wine cellar. No matter where her toes fled, though, the wraith whipped about, predicting their location and tapping them into a laughing obedience. Focusing all of her energy upon her foot, she wailed it around as rapidly as her restraints willed it, yet no matter how she flourished the shade anticipated, meeting her and tickling her upon arrival. Audibly yawning, the wraith pulled away, raising its hand to cover her mouth. Gasping in relief at the eye of the storm, Lexian's muscles relaxed, dropping her back as the monster winked, dropping its hand quickly and swiping down Lexian's foot. With a howl Lexian jerked herself upwards, sensing the remaining petal fleeing to the wind to join its brethren.
Cackling again, the wraith quickly cast its hand up and down the entirety of Lexian's sole, seemingly grazing every step of her smooth skin at once. Reeling forward, she screeched, her foot burning alive as though a dragon flew by, searing her skin a deep scarlet with its molten breath. Releasing her fingers from the chains, she fell back, letting the links hold her up by the wrists as she cast her head aside, screaming out laughter. The world around her vanished from existence as she returned to the vacant hill, an overly fat dragon with golden scales dipping through the storm clouds, marinating the hill with its blazing breath. Sooty, black smoke claimed the air as the rain sizzled into steam mid flight, the grass melting away. Circling the sky, the dragon heaved, parting the clouds so that the sun from which he crawled let its forgotten rays glint and shimmer against its scarred and scratched scales. Rising straight up, the dragon twirled then dove down, crashing onto the hill with a quake. Raising its head and roaring, he looked around, catching sight of the flower stem that miraculously managed to avoid combusting with the rest of the hill. With anger in its eyes that mirrored the landscape, the dragon released its foul breath directly upon the flower. In spite of the direct assault, the flower cantered about, weaving its way through the flames without so much as singeing itself.
Clamping her teeth shut, Lexian opened her eyes, dug her fingers into the links above her and pulled herself up, no longer laughing though her torso still flung itself about. Pulling down hard, she moved her arms in front of her head again, crashing her left cheek into her elbows as she willed her foot to clench its toes to the assault. Inside of her other boot, her remaining foot flailed maddeningly in an attempt to carry some of the burden of the sensations that mobbed her, the thick, muddy mists that held it in the ground hugging into her leg. A sinister, high pitched and steam-like hiss crackled like electricity as the gemstone bobbed against her skin.
Throwing its head back and barring its teeth, the shade growled, its face contorting almost into a cat's, its nose extending and ear like appendages forming at the top of its head. Reforming, the wraith cast a smile sweeter than a mother's as a tightness wrapped Lexian's submerged ankle. Immediately, her boot clad foot shot up, joining its comrade as chains wrapped around her legs. The wraith plucked the boot away, tossing it aside to slowly sink into the depths. Looking down, the dark smoke dangled about the tops of her toes. Wiggling them in defiance, the smoke latched onto her toes, forcing them to conform together. Gritting her teeth, Lexian pulled them shut, pressing her toe pads into her soles. Smirking, the shade shook her head as Lexian's toes darted back up, flexing into their original positions. Raising its hand, the wraith's hand morphed into a long, gassy appendage that tugged her foot down within the swamp like mist. With a thin smile the shade began brushing against Lexian's exposed, immobile sole while her the waters lapped at her submerged foot at the same time, returning her feet to their natural, laughing state.
A flood of molten hellfire coursed through her as she laughed, the water in her eyes staining her cheeks as she cackled. All of her muscles tensed to the point that she sat near motionless, her completely level face spouting a mountain of resources at the behest of the ghast. Losing herself to the heat that cycled through her, she saw the dragon one last time before it took off through the clouds, leaving behind the ruined wasteland that had been her garden until that too faded into the night. As her spirit looked upon the ashen wasteland she saw her feet poke above the landscape like flowers, the molten blaze that spun across them staining them various hues, turning them into beacons of laughter that banished the emptiness and in so doing guaranteed that her soles and the sensations were all that remained of her garden. She felt as though she had melted into a bundle of nerve endings that ceaselessly taught her about the world that had been. They prattled on and on into the night as her eyes fell heavy and she dozed between this world and the next, the comforting sounds of his words propping against her like pillows.
Another sizzling hiss reverberated, the smoky walls quaking and contorting with ripples. Tears streamed down her chin and neck as Lexian's head shook about, a near permanent smile sloppily plastered onto her burning face. Her laughs choked and fizzled into squeaks and then silence, the bounty claimed from her feet having run her ravaged throat dry. Despite her inability to show it any longer, the blaze burned hotter than before, the jubilation that haunted her soles bottling itself up, unable to express itself. Shifting from in front of Lexian to her side, the wraith made a hushing sound, cooing as it pressed a hand on Lexian's shoulder without allowing the sensations at her feet to yield even a little. The shade's gaze fell slightly, calling Lexian's to fall onto the gem. A deep crack ran over the top of it, siphoning the black air from around her. Above her she felt the chains loosen slightly as she limply fell downwards, through the miasma. With a smile thicker than jelly the wraith closed its eyes, the back of its hand drifting down Lexian's shoulder before circling her chest. Leaning forward, the shade slowly and simply slipped its hand, then its arm, into Lexian. The body of the creature puffed into a thin, snake like cloud that quickly pierced Lexian's chest like a spear. Around her the world wavered, flickering between the bright green glade and the depths. Suddenly she felt gravity call to her and she fell.
With a thud, she landed half upright, the soles of her bare feet pressing against cool soil and damp grass. Wiggling her toes within the mud, she inhaled the misty air as she took in her surroundings. A spark of gleaming orange caught her attention and she looked down to see the cracked gemstone sinking within the grass and mud, a pale, wicked light glittering inside of it. Chuckling, she knelt down, feeling lightning crackle as her fingers approached the gemstone while smoke smoldered within her chest. Deep inside her mind she felt her mind scream no while the haunting click of the chains resounded within her ears. The world flickered as she took it in hand, and as she flung the chain over her neck a crimson light sparkled within her eyes. The touch of wiggling grass sparked against her arches and she gasped, a deep need to protect herself flooding her. Immediately she wove several strands of air, sensing her boots deep within the mud beneath her. Pulling them to her, she covered her feet and turned, squinting through through the trees.
Clasping her hand around the gem, she felt the soul of the vessel she inhabited scream with girlish laughter while her feet were assaulted. Within moments she gave up the name of a nearby village and the directions to it. As though a black light spilled from her, she saw a pathway lead from her left and towards her destination. A sneering smile wrapped around her lips as she envisioned the energies she would drain from the townspeople. Tightening her grip over the gem, she felt the woman within her squeal and she drank upon the heated desires of the woman, further empowering her as her new body rode along the pathway towards her destination.
Through the dusty inn window Lexian gazed at the night sky, the nearby forest brushing back and forth, swaying the sooty clouds away from the pearl divinity that blessed the land a silver hue. Leaning forward, she placed her elbow onto the window sill, resting her chin in cupped hands as she sighed. Glancing towards the stack of disheveled notes she had taken from her studies in Ber'nar, she mused on the riddles of the lost relic she sought and of the method to awaken it. A shiver rolled down her spine as she recalled the days spent in the stockades while she waited for those that tormented her feet to offer their end of the bargain.
The sky seemed to hum as the stars tweedled a gentle, warming harmony. Craning her neck upward, her ears perked as the silent song draped itself about her neck. A tingling came to her knees as thunder crackled like pebbles underfoot. Kneeling as one entity, the trees bent inward, away from the inn. A roar of wind assaulted the small building, the walls shaking as the shingles shuddered.
A buzzing nipped at the ends of her ears as the stars violently flashed a beckoning. Warmth nuzzled her shoulders and backside as the tingling in her knees became a wildfire. Sliding to her feet, she held her chin high while forcing her spine to stiffen. The sparkling silver of her dress glittered in the moonlight as she rose, her spruce pony tail spraying over her shoulder and over her left breast. As she turned and stepped away from the table, she brought a hand to her neck and spun about, staring at her belongings. Nodding, she returned, bending down and lifting her sack before swiping them into her backpack and shouldering it. Spinning on the heel of her tall black boots, she nodded again then descended the stairwell, her shoulders and head unwavering as the planks loudly proclaimed her withdrawal with their creaky cries.
Upon reaching the last step she stood still, coals tumbling within her. Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and ejected her doubt through pursed lips. Straightening herself, she fetched a fresh breath of the mildewy air. Hands trembling slightly, she closed her eyes and exhaled again. Shaking her head, she stumbled forward, her shoulders rolling like a supple wave. Turning sharply around a corner she made eye contact with the burly, oaken inn keep, a cold chill weaving through her, firmly planting her shoulders in place. To her right, she could feel warm air reaching for her, calling for her. With a nod to the man she spun on her heel, placing a hand upon the chill knob as she whipped the door open, slipping past the splintered board as it slammed shut.
A tornado of hot air swirled around her, all but pushing her forward onto the dark path that led towards the nearby woods. Gliding forward, the air about her murmured and purred whispers. Above her the stars winked and blinked pleasantly like a smiling light house welcoming a ship into harbor. Dirt crackled beneath her as she sped forward, walking at a near run, the coals in her stomach popping as though the furnace that held them grew hotter than the searing stars that sought her out. Dilapidated fencing hung limply in dried mud alongside forgotten farmland that the night hungrily gulped into the depths. At the corner of her eye she could see a wolf pacing in a circle, eyeing her with snarling fangs before turning and leaping down a small hill.
Tufts of grass bashed their way through the path as she strode between two pillar like trees. Within a few steps the blades overtook the path, engulfing it into nothingness. Though the trees swung their branches madly, the blazing goddess above her cast its pearly light, illuminating a path to the right. Looking down, Lexian lifted her legs high, stepping over a knee-high bush as the wind nudged her forward. Dried leaves snapped at her transgressions while small sticks splintered begrudgingly beneath her. Above her the sky seemed to turn to a blaze as the stars' howls grew almost palatable. Raising her arms, she began to use her hands to propel herself forward, swimming past the thick trees that barred her entry.
Felling tree after tree, she arrived at a small glade where moonlight gushed into a small spring. Enchanted by the drone above her, she slowly slipped forward, nearing a beam that pierced through a thick coat of black leaves. Kneeling, she brushed aside some dirt, revealing a glittering, fist sized purple gem held to a golden chain with links so tiny that it appeared as a single strand of the sun's hair. The blaze from above seemed to pour down into her as she slowly turned the gem about within her hand. Slipping it over her head, she allowed the relic to fall between her breasts.
The trees shimmered, their silvery leaves flickering. A long, slender hiss rolled from beneath her. Looking down, she saw a steamy mist coil from the purple gem, the milky gas dropping to the forest bed like wet, wilted petals. Trembling tendrils reached upwards before collapsing into puddles, rising and falling again and again. Placing a hand to her breasts, Lexian looked through the canopy as the stars slowly winked out of existence, the buzzing beacons mutedly vanishing. Like a fierce dragon, the mist rent itself into existence, spiraling around her and shutting the world above and around her away.
A pressure crashed against her from all around. Lifting her leg, she slowly began to run though she moved as if surrounded by water. The purplish-grey fog pulsated and crackled as she ran, sinking into the bulbous smog. Swaying like the trees that had been around her, she moved her legs against the fog that stuck to her like carnivorous mud. The gem near her neck flashed and the embers within her burned alive again as warm air gently massaged her shoulders, whipping a small smile onto her lips. Within seconds her knees vanished. Struggling harder, she watched as the cloud gulped her hips and then midriff, then captured her arms and swallowed her up until tiny tendrils brushed her chin.
A chill tightness wrapped itself about her arms as she felt them lifted perpendicular to her beneath the bog. Above her a ghostly rattle of metal rustled together as her arms freed themselves of the smog, the mist dripping away from her arms in a downpour. Drifting upwards, her arms were raised above her head. A thickness like honey coated her mind as she hazily turned her head upwards, watching as a blueish white spectral chained snaked itself about her wrists several times, then cascaded down her arms. Feeling as though her body lost all weight, she slowly floated into the air, the clouds sucking at her as she flew upwards, the near invisible chains continuing to spin around her like a ball of yarn, wrapping around her torso as it appeared. Wintry fangs sucked the heat from her stomach and hips as she was hoisted into the air, the teeth gnawing their way down her legs.
A hum emanated from the gem. Looking down, a black swirl spun about like storm clouds. Another low hissing sound rocked around her as the immaterial chains clenched her together. At once it felt as though a thunderstorm rent her, twisting about inside of her as the gem spewed a thick, light-less cloud. The hiss ended and the storm abated, the puff of smoke shuddering in front of her as her head drooped like an overladen flower, weakness seeping through her like rainwater that stole away through the cracks in a wall.
Pulsating, the cloud took form, limbs spinning into existence as the void took the shape of a human. The mass became smooth, wavering between several shapes as it settled, depth miraculously forming as it grew a face, smoldering garnet and topaz beads blinking into existence. Through the murky pitch a ripple slid, snaking across where the creature's face coalesced: a simple, a light-less hole in a dank void. Whisping forward, the form glided a large circle, closing in tightly as it sped up, twirling about Lexian as it stole features her features, embedding its contours into shapes that mirrored her muscle tones as a limp veil grew like grass, wafting and waving as the thing spiraled about.
Between her breasts the gem grew pleasantly warm. Sighing, Lexian's head drifted forward, bobbing as it fell, her eyelids fluttering. Through her lashes, she caught the world ripple and waver, the mists bubbling while an unnaturally warm wind slowly coiled around her, tightening and constricting her as though it were an anaconda. Pressing her cheek and right eye into her shoulder, her gaze rose upwards as the wraith like creature flew forward like an avalanche, the world trembling like water disturbed from its slumber. Stiffly raising an arm, it methodically neared, a single finger-like appendage approaching her head. Lifting her face, Lexian tugged lightly at her wrists, turning her body away ever so slightly as the finger grazed her lower lip, circling upwards.
All at once it felt as though a pleasantly warm mist of rain coupled with the ice-cold of night sucked at her lips, the impossibly smooth, inviting touch of the creature's cloud like flesh melding with own. The smoldering, ever changing hellfire that was the creature's eyes dashed out as its eyelids closed while the crease that formed its mouth widened further, slicing almost towards where its eyes had been. As though a wintry wind blew within, Lexian felt warmth spill from her into the point that the shade touched her. Shivering lightly, she smiled, her lower spine arching as wonderful icicles pricked through her. As she slowly threw her head back the shade tapped its finger once. Warmth pooled around Lexian's face, and as she looked down she witnessed a simple sheet of pure darkness bubble at her lips, wrapping around her head, covering her mouth in such a way that she could not force it open. A smile mirroring the shade's curved beneath the mist as she shivered again, the glowing links above her ringing their ghostly song.
The creature glided backwards as the world shook. One at a time, wispy tendrils pawed into existence from the misty walls before vanishing into a puff. The sly things danced and shimmered, some slowly lashing towards Lexian while others fell limp, drifting back into the recesses from which they had emerged. Raising its arm, the creature's fiery eyes winked back into existence as the depth of its smile vanished. With two fingers raised, the creature motioned its arm slightly downward, its arm stretching forward towards Lexian until its fingers slipped through her hair. Though she tilted her head back and to the side – a rebellious strip of hair fleeing, covering her eyes as she did so -- the fingers latched onto a few strands of hair, rubbing its fingers against them before twirling the strands around their dark shapes. As Lexian pulled her head further away, the fingers released the hair from their captivity before wafting forward, defeating the rebels that had blinded Lexian and returning them to their proper place. The arm contracted and the smile returned to the creature as it raised its hand to its head.
The shadowy lips of the creature parted and a swish like sound echoed through the chamber as a small cloud of sooty, sparkling dust flew from the creature towards Lexian. Her breath grew turbulent, bustling through her nose slowly yet loudly while the fervent storm replenished its energies through quick, stab like inhales. The dust wafted about, sprinkling through the air like uncertain rain as the creature smiled, placing a hand on its chin and the other on its hip. As the dust encroached her face, her upper body shook, the chains rattling as she tossed and turned, her head ineffectively fanning the specks away. A single piece darted towards the tip of her nose and landed as softly as a snow flake, immediately needling her with a shock and gasp of a throaty, muffled squeal. Her eyes darted open then immediately shuttered shut as she turned her head into her shoulder, the flecks landing across her cheek, neck and ear in an uneven bombardment, her skin screaming alive with a thousand pinpoint pricks of laughter.
For an eternity of seconds her face came alive, shadowing out her body as the world vanished into darkness around her. Different sized needles pricked and pierced through her, preying upon and sucking up sensations that seemed to too readily pool upwards from some forgotten depths deep within her. At once her stomach tightened and her throat constricted while her shoulders shuddered and shook, the painful joy digging further and further into her cheeks and lips while the sensations oozed down her neck and pinched her nose.
Trembling lightly, she felt a hot smile mold itself beneath the gag that held her chuckles prisoner, instead forcing the feelings to well up in her throat as she shook her hips, rocking back and forth in the air. As the sensations faded the wraith flew forward until it hovered a few feet from her face, the garnet light radiating from her eyes subdued by her upper eyelids as the creature's joy reigned in several creases upon its too-cheeky face. Lexian's own cheeks burned lightly as she felt blood pool there, reddening them, her own wide, joyous and carefree eyes welling up water as a plead for more, though a cold lump weighed down her stomach, attempting to forbid and confuse the hungry, dying fire that whimpered in her chest.
Again the creature raised its hand as Lexian's eyes darted open, her head violently shaking back and forth, scattering hair about her into a near blindfold while small beadlets of sweat darted towards the tendrils that groped the air. The creature's smile widened as Lexian's face betrayed her, mirroring her captor's. The wisps that composed the creature's left arm spun about, quickly swirling and recomposing in front of Lexian's face as the fingers brushed Lexian's berserk hair back into line. As the mist combed through her hair she felt a furious blaze of laughter crawl along her scalp like incessant lines of ants. An abhorrent chuckle crawled from where the shade stood as the sound of wind dashing through leaves emancipated itself from the walls. The creature's hand leaned down as the thing bent forward toward Lexian's exposed under arm. Her eyes flashed wide as the creature blew dust towards Lexian's immobile flesh.
The smoky cloud spun about, sparkling as it approached. Looking up, Lexian spiraled her fingers through a loop of the chain as she thrust her weight down, tugging at the bondage that illuminated her into a ghastly blue. Sympathizing with her, the chain rattled hollowly and cried for release, its begrudging and half forced howls garnishing no reprise from the mists that held and formed the links. Sighing, Lexian looked down towards the black wave that sought to usurp her feelings, her eyes remaining focused upon the cloud as she threw her weight to her right, tugging harder. Beneath her the mists refused to yield as they clasped tightly at her knees, tendrils slipping from the ground as though to pull her further down. A single speck landed near her elbow, the needle-like sensation piercing through her as her eyes shot wide open, her arms pressing into the sides of her head as her stomach tightened and her shoulders tensed against her neck.
At once the flurry began to bombard her, the chill and evaporation of snowflakes pelting her intermingled with the beaming and majestic warmth of sunlight parading across her, lighting her skin alive with an otherworldly blaze while simultaneously chipping and buzzing at her like a thousand tiny mosquitoes. Choking the chain with her fingers, she pulled down hard, stretching her body upwards as muffled howls of laughter bounced against the gag. The chains screamed above her, clanking and rattling loudly as she thrashed back and forth, her arms quivering and shaking with each attempt to slam them back by her sides.
The chalky warmth plagued her body, whispering around her like maddened butterflies as they sought a home. Settling in her chest, the maddened things fluttered about, zigging and zagging a hot net around her lungs as the pests at her arm siphoned more and more of her strength away. With a groan she tugged harder, her legs clearing the depths slightly as fresh air swirled about her now free calves. Biting into the chains with her fingers she felt them slip away, the sweat that readily grew on her palms greasing the ghastly metal. Gripping harder, she tugged again, her elbow coming down a little as her legs further liberated themselves by an inch. Beneath her and despite the giggles and laughter that kept her mind occupied, she felt her right foot slip through her boot, her heel pressed against where her ankle should have been. A cool breath of air rushed through her as the bonfires under her arm alighted anew. Clenching her toes, she gripped the leather of her boots as caws and cackles radiated in her chest, overwhelming and threatening to burst through the gag.
The broad side attack, having run through its stockpile of ammunition, settled into a sudden intermission to survey the damage it had wrought. Exhaling every tiny bit of vent up frustration and overspent giggle at once, Lexian fell limp, her elbows slightly lax as she hung by her wrists, her fingers spread like petals overly laden with morning dew. Slowly twirling from left to right, she let her head bob down as she whistled out several pants, her nose hungrily lapping up fuel as beadlets of sweat raced down the sides of her forehead. A haze of oppressive warmth hung about her as she drew in more and deeper breaths, coughing lightly as several rogue streams teased her taut armpits.
Closing her eyes, Lexian breathed in a slow, heavy breath that gripped the edges of her lungs with cool fingers. Like threading a needle, she meticulously released the captured air, feeling her diaphragm retract as the warm air spun around within her, filing out from each crack and cranny. Inhaling again, she listened to the chilled air as it hollowly knocked about, sealing itself within the various fissures in her body. As she repeated the process, the webbed thoughts that cluttered her were vanquished by a growing bubble of emptiness. Slowly the ache in her arms melted away, the nipping pain at her wrists following suit shortly after. In the bubble a verdant hill appeared, the thousands of blades of grass tussling with one another as a gentle breeze whispered its malcontent misgivings. At the center a lone hibiscus quickly blossomed, its gentle yellow petals shooing the wind away as the grass fell into a silent celebration of the Queen that had risen among them.
Dismissing still another breath, Lexian lifted her eyelids half way, her sooty black eyes glinting a passionate light. The shade chuckled as Lexian defiantly raised her head into a statuesque pose. Stroking its chin, the wraith nodded, gliding forward and pressing its face against Lexian's as the monster's hole-like smile crested towards its faux ears. A hard breeze blew, brushing the flower of her inner world into the ground while a pale cloud stretched itself widely across the northern hemisphere.
From the top of her hill Lexian watched the crystal blue sky ripple as sensations like stars pelted her midriff. Looking down, she watched the shade's hands wiggle as they dipped through her garb and body, her stomach violently spasming in response. Crunching her shoulders against her head, she pressed her face into her elbow as she shut her eyes. Her body vibrated at a maddened pace as a crazed tingling was pulled from within her to the surface of her buzzing skin. Clenching her teeth Lexian shivered, her hands shaking as they rubbed the crackled links above her in search of a distraction. Humming, she cast aside the waking world and returned to tend the small garden of a hill.
A blazing hot wind roared, kicking the tiny flower about as the grass gave way to the conspirator that labored against them. The cloud amassed a smidgling of girth, swelling as it captured more of the punctuated sky while Lexian sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees, her stomach throbbing with emotion. As she stared at her boots a wave coursed through her; with a sharp exhale, she knit her eyes shut, clamping her toes together tightly. The outside world informed her that her foot was not where she imagined it as an invisible hand slowly plucked the boot of her inner world away. Swiping at the air in front of her, she quickly grabbed the ends of the boot and pulled it up tightly, though the interior betrayed her motives by constantly murmuring the truth. A canyon formed in the clouds and she knew the shade had smiled.
Again and again the wind rammed against her, battering at her as the flower shook wildly. A small amount of water began to pool in her eyes as she watched the flower cast aside a single petal with three of the four its remaining compatriots reaching after it. Gasping, she felt herself whisked to the reality the shade had conjured, its sizzling, icy hands waving through her underarms as they absorbed the intense, burning tingling that bubbled there through its fingers. Lexian's eyes bulged as her mind screamed brash commands to her arms not to fight with the chains.
The shade chuckled as it weaved its dark hands through Lexian's body, imposing its wintry will into her flesh. Above her, her arms quivered, spasming wildly as they desperately sought to obey their orders. Suddenly the shade sped its assault, flailing its hands up and down Lexian's sides as her shoulders flinched ferociously, her hair cascading into a knotted mess that formed a stalwart shield against the world. Blockading her throat preemptively, she issued an indictment against her stomach should it stitch together any laughter. In the murky mists above her she watched the tendrils whirl together, an image of the flower lighting itself into existence just as two of the petals breached their oaths and scampered off into the skies together. Puffing out air, she watched as the last petal fought valiantly, slashing back and forth recklessly with iron-cast abandon.
The flower stood still. Letting her gaze drift away, she looked at the shade as it glided backwards, a hand on its chin and a devastatingly abyssal frown wrenching its face into a contorted mess. The thing’s eyes beamed and blazed a forbidden light as the hand stroking the chin spewed out violent strands of snake-like smoke. The thing's neck twisted as its head spun upwards, staring at the little panting flower weighed down by the single petal. The shade snickered, its arms disappearing and re-emerging half bent towards the sky as the wraith cackled a simultaneously high and low pitched guffaw. The smoke that comprised the apparition twirled about it as it seemingly spun out of and into existence while soundlessly snapping the fingers of its right hand once. Between her breasts the gem grew as hot as an inferno and as heavy as an iceberg, pleasantly singeing her chest as her head was suddenly forced down by the weight. The chains rattled and she felt herself rise slightly, the mists beneath her rippling as her knees broke through the surface.
The gemstones that bubbled and jumped in her stomach suddenly ceased in their revelry as she felt a tightness around her ankles. The sensation of leather dripping down her sole while the chalky mist eagerly replaced it greedily grasped her attention. Her eyelids quivered exactly once as she watched her boot surface, that forbidden flesh fleeing from it with untold haste as she was lofted further away. Like a dying ship, the boots bubbled beneath the waves, surrendering her nude foot. Raising its arm, the wraith flipped its hand so that its palm faced the ceiling while extending its index finger. Quickly, the shade pointed up and two separate tendrils shot like serpents from the ground, wrapping themselves tightly around each of Lexian's leg. Holding her breath, Lexian closed her eyes as she sought out the trembling flower, the hill shuddering as she felt her naked leg raise itself towards her captor. Waving the garden away, she felt a drop of sweat drip down the side of her face as she watched a new set of the glowing chains pull her foot upward, placing her sole directly in front of the shade, its mouth seeming to water ravenously.
Shimmering with an ethereal, black light, the shade's arm flickered, hazily whipping towards Lexian's naked feet. Staring into the creature's vapory eyes, she heard a light scrape as pressure pinched around the sides of her heel, chill ice sucking the warmth from around her ankles. A sheet of snow grated against the top of her right foot as the shade caressed it lightly, rubbing from Lexian's toes slowly before giving the squirming foot a buzzing pat. The hand suddenly billowed away into a puff of smoke before reconvening at her sole. With a fencer's accuracy, a single finger slipped up the center of Lexian's sole, swerving around the side of her ball. The bindings of the petal began to tatter as it struggled to free itself.
As though an avalanche spilled over top of her, she felt her foot burn to life, laughing sensations shrieking for her attention. At once her eyes bolted open, her hands railing against the chains as she yanked herself upwards, her shoulders trashing as her torso spun about. Pursing her lips tightly, her teeth slammed shut, barring a squeal from escaping her throat, forcing it to instead rattle about against the barricades. Though her legs convulsed, the murk below and the chains above grappled with them, forcing them to behave. The pressure of the wraith's fingers gripped like iron bonds, refusing to let her foot do anything other than wiggle its toes back and forth. As her eyes fell to slits, she brought her head back down, starring into the shade’s devious eyes as it brought its hand to its misty face. Extending a single finger, the shade's gaze remained focused upon Lexian's foot. As it tapped its finger against its lips, the thing looked as if it were a purveyor at a feast, carefully deciding its course of action.
With a whip like motion the apparition’s arm whistled downward again. Turning, Lexian's lips parted as she grit her teeth, her shoulders shielding her neck as she shut her eyes. A second passed and her arms trembled. Carefully exhaling and recapturing a vast amount of air, she tightened her defenses as she spiraled herself together, the prisoned air burning her lungs as it fought for its escape. Exhaling again, she turned slightly, peeking her head from behind her arm just as the shade's hand dripped down, plucking at Lexian's pinky toe.
At once the flower kicked against the breeze, turning slightly and protecting the final petal with its stem. Lexian's arms quivered as her head ducked into her chest, her chin bumping into the hellfire that burned between her breasts. Panting several times, she felt as though the world around her collapsed upon itself. A second light pinch shook her, stealing sensations from the toe next to her pinky, the tiny bit of flesh pleading with her head to shiver. Clenching her toes, she tugged with her hip, seemingly inducing a pinch at her middle most toe. Instead of immediately fleeing, however, the wraith's fingers caressed their way to the exit as Lexian's body rocketed in place, her lips curving at the edges as they parted, her teeth barring themselves against her enemy.
A tightness tugged at her cheeks when the shade gently brushed its finger against the nail of her longest toe, a gentle buzz nipping at the shores of flesh it harbored. As the wraith pinched its fingers around her toe it felt as though a sea of gnats hummed about her, the hissing of their wings kissing at her flesh. Digging her fingers into the gaps of the links, she shook the chains that held her violently as she flailed about. As the villain rubbed its fingers up and down the lengths of her toe a bead of liquid balled into existence at the far side of each of Lexian’s eyes. The wraith continued to rub Lexian’s toe, she felt the world cackle at her predicament. Beads of water bounded from her eyes, streaking down her cheeks, each one racing over top the furling mists that formed her gag as they pelted onward, towards her chin until at last they met and quarreled over who the winner was. Releasing her toe, Lexian gasped a sigh of relief just as the shade flicked against the pad of her big toe. With an eep she coiled about, contorting into a spiral as her toes spread wildly. Distantly she saw the flower again, the last petal ripping away but hanging onto the stem with a mere fraction of itself as it flailed in the ravenous gale, envious clouds inking the sky a mutinous black.
With a thunderous cackle, the shade threw her head back as the clouds muttered their disapproval. Collapsing forward, Lexian gulped at the air, her body seeming to radiate heat as she panted. Lifting her head slightly, she gazed through her the hair that sought to protect her from the sight of the wraith as it crept forward, wiggling its fingers in preparation of the onslaught. Shirking back, Lexian pulled her arms in front of her head, pressing her face into her elbows as the monster pelted and peppered her sole with light, precise taps. With each carefully planned touch she felt a ripple upon her skin that ached maddeningly, yearning for release. They were quick and light, yet the ripples continued to force her to convulse with a sea of giggles. Each new touch crested the wave of a former ripple, pulling forth a new sensation that crashed and merged with the rest, intensifying into a magnitude that forced her to punctuate the ocean of laughter with small vessels of gasps and yelps as the creature imposed the verdict of her will onto Lexian's sole.
The lick of the flames dogged at her skin, but as the fingers swept upward she felt the cool, ghostly aftermath of their touch. Wiggling her toes, she felt a deep need within the vacated flesh to be touched again, to be warmed with the light of fire while a dreadful mix of agony and longing filled her. The wraith's eyes glittered with this knowledge as Lexian grit her teeth, spreading her toes backward and flitting her foot back and forth while the infection spread into her.
Large drops of rain began to splatter against the hill, kicking up clouds of dust that concealed the eruptions of mud. Within seconds the light plats became like the rustling of leaves in the wind as the clouds poured out their displeasure. The prattling of taps hastened their pace, forcing Lexian's giggles to evolve into guffaws just to keep up, her body curving and wrinkling in the air as her foot flailed wildly, casting its toes about like several drunkards rolling around in a small wine cellar. No matter where her toes fled, though, the wraith whipped about, predicting their location and tapping them into a laughing obedience. Focusing all of her energy upon her foot, she wailed it around as rapidly as her restraints willed it, yet no matter how she flourished the shade anticipated, meeting her and tickling her upon arrival. Audibly yawning, the wraith pulled away, raising its hand to cover her mouth. Gasping in relief at the eye of the storm, Lexian's muscles relaxed, dropping her back as the monster winked, dropping its hand quickly and swiping down Lexian's foot. With a howl Lexian jerked herself upwards, sensing the remaining petal fleeing to the wind to join its brethren.
Cackling again, the wraith quickly cast its hand up and down the entirety of Lexian's sole, seemingly grazing every step of her smooth skin at once. Reeling forward, she screeched, her foot burning alive as though a dragon flew by, searing her skin a deep scarlet with its molten breath. Releasing her fingers from the chains, she fell back, letting the links hold her up by the wrists as she cast her head aside, screaming out laughter. The world around her vanished from existence as she returned to the vacant hill, an overly fat dragon with golden scales dipping through the storm clouds, marinating the hill with its blazing breath. Sooty, black smoke claimed the air as the rain sizzled into steam mid flight, the grass melting away. Circling the sky, the dragon heaved, parting the clouds so that the sun from which he crawled let its forgotten rays glint and shimmer against its scarred and scratched scales. Rising straight up, the dragon twirled then dove down, crashing onto the hill with a quake. Raising its head and roaring, he looked around, catching sight of the flower stem that miraculously managed to avoid combusting with the rest of the hill. With anger in its eyes that mirrored the landscape, the dragon released its foul breath directly upon the flower. In spite of the direct assault, the flower cantered about, weaving its way through the flames without so much as singeing itself.
Clamping her teeth shut, Lexian opened her eyes, dug her fingers into the links above her and pulled herself up, no longer laughing though her torso still flung itself about. Pulling down hard, she moved her arms in front of her head again, crashing her left cheek into her elbows as she willed her foot to clench its toes to the assault. Inside of her other boot, her remaining foot flailed maddeningly in an attempt to carry some of the burden of the sensations that mobbed her, the thick, muddy mists that held it in the ground hugging into her leg. A sinister, high pitched and steam-like hiss crackled like electricity as the gemstone bobbed against her skin.
Throwing its head back and barring its teeth, the shade growled, its face contorting almost into a cat's, its nose extending and ear like appendages forming at the top of its head. Reforming, the wraith cast a smile sweeter than a mother's as a tightness wrapped Lexian's submerged ankle. Immediately, her boot clad foot shot up, joining its comrade as chains wrapped around her legs. The wraith plucked the boot away, tossing it aside to slowly sink into the depths. Looking down, the dark smoke dangled about the tops of her toes. Wiggling them in defiance, the smoke latched onto her toes, forcing them to conform together. Gritting her teeth, Lexian pulled them shut, pressing her toe pads into her soles. Smirking, the shade shook her head as Lexian's toes darted back up, flexing into their original positions. Raising its hand, the wraith's hand morphed into a long, gassy appendage that tugged her foot down within the swamp like mist. With a thin smile the shade began brushing against Lexian's exposed, immobile sole while her the waters lapped at her submerged foot at the same time, returning her feet to their natural, laughing state.
A flood of molten hellfire coursed through her as she laughed, the water in her eyes staining her cheeks as she cackled. All of her muscles tensed to the point that she sat near motionless, her completely level face spouting a mountain of resources at the behest of the ghast. Losing herself to the heat that cycled through her, she saw the dragon one last time before it took off through the clouds, leaving behind the ruined wasteland that had been her garden until that too faded into the night. As her spirit looked upon the ashen wasteland she saw her feet poke above the landscape like flowers, the molten blaze that spun across them staining them various hues, turning them into beacons of laughter that banished the emptiness and in so doing guaranteed that her soles and the sensations were all that remained of her garden. She felt as though she had melted into a bundle of nerve endings that ceaselessly taught her about the world that had been. They prattled on and on into the night as her eyes fell heavy and she dozed between this world and the next, the comforting sounds of his words propping against her like pillows.
Another sizzling hiss reverberated, the smoky walls quaking and contorting with ripples. Tears streamed down her chin and neck as Lexian's head shook about, a near permanent smile sloppily plastered onto her burning face. Her laughs choked and fizzled into squeaks and then silence, the bounty claimed from her feet having run her ravaged throat dry. Despite her inability to show it any longer, the blaze burned hotter than before, the jubilation that haunted her soles bottling itself up, unable to express itself. Shifting from in front of Lexian to her side, the wraith made a hushing sound, cooing as it pressed a hand on Lexian's shoulder without allowing the sensations at her feet to yield even a little. The shade's gaze fell slightly, calling Lexian's to fall onto the gem. A deep crack ran over the top of it, siphoning the black air from around her. Above her she felt the chains loosen slightly as she limply fell downwards, through the miasma. With a smile thicker than jelly the wraith closed its eyes, the back of its hand drifting down Lexian's shoulder before circling her chest. Leaning forward, the shade slowly and simply slipped its hand, then its arm, into Lexian. The body of the creature puffed into a thin, snake like cloud that quickly pierced Lexian's chest like a spear. Around her the world wavered, flickering between the bright green glade and the depths. Suddenly she felt gravity call to her and she fell.
With a thud, she landed half upright, the soles of her bare feet pressing against cool soil and damp grass. Wiggling her toes within the mud, she inhaled the misty air as she took in her surroundings. A spark of gleaming orange caught her attention and she looked down to see the cracked gemstone sinking within the grass and mud, a pale, wicked light glittering inside of it. Chuckling, she knelt down, feeling lightning crackle as her fingers approached the gemstone while smoke smoldered within her chest. Deep inside her mind she felt her mind scream no while the haunting click of the chains resounded within her ears. The world flickered as she took it in hand, and as she flung the chain over her neck a crimson light sparkled within her eyes. The touch of wiggling grass sparked against her arches and she gasped, a deep need to protect herself flooding her. Immediately she wove several strands of air, sensing her boots deep within the mud beneath her. Pulling them to her, she covered her feet and turned, squinting through through the trees.
Clasping her hand around the gem, she felt the soul of the vessel she inhabited scream with girlish laughter while her feet were assaulted. Within moments she gave up the name of a nearby village and the directions to it. As though a black light spilled from her, she saw a pathway lead from her left and towards her destination. A sneering smile wrapped around her lips as she envisioned the energies she would drain from the townspeople. Tightening her grip over the gem, she felt the woman within her squeal and she drank upon the heated desires of the woman, further empowering her as her new body rode along the pathway towards her destination.
