Tales of Thuria 1: Red Sonja in Chains - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Defeated

"Ho, landlord, bring us ale, meat, and bread and keep the first coming!"

Vignus Thane looked up as the door to his tavern burst open and a dozen road-worn warriors spilled into his tavern, bringing some of the dust of the road with them. "Sonja," he grinned as the woman who had spoken strode to across the room, heaved herself into a chair and put her feet up on the table. "I trust you met with success these three fortnights?"

"We did," she replied, plunking a heavy leather purse next to her boots. "We took the bandit leader's head and earned the gratitude of the merchant's guild of Khorosun. Now we eat and drink as part of our reward."

"Quickly!" Vignus shouted at the two serving wenches. "You, Vanja, bring a pitcher of ale for Red Sonja and then fetch more for the rest of her band. And you, Cindra, fetch bread from the kitchen."

While the girls scurried off he turned once again to Sonja. "It's fresh baked today, and I will carve the joint for you myself. It's been turning on the split these last four turns of the glass and should be ready."

"The Black Parrot has never disappointed me," Sonja grinned as the first pitcher of ale was set before her. Vignus worked his son and two daughters hard, but he had made his inn the best one in Dhanpur, Sonja's current base of operations.

Across the room a short heavyset individual had taken in the scene with more than passing interest. "So that's Red Sonja," he thought. She certainly was strikingly beautiful with flame red shoulder-length hair and an incredible figure that her leather jerkin and trousers did little to hide. The fact that she was a good foot taller than him made little difference so far as he was concerned.

"Fancy that bit of cunny do ye, Jaff?" his companion asked, jabbing an elbow into his ribs. "She'll likely take yer head off with that wackin' great sword she's wearin'."

"Maybe she will and maybe she won't. I'll wait till she's downed a few afore askin' her," Jaff snarled. "It's been a while fer both of us, and the innkeeper's daughters are still a bit young fer my taste."

"That never stopped ye in the past," Gorff chuckled. "I remember down in Koraja that there little blonde couldn't have been more than eighteen summers if that."

"I was drunk and she was a whore," Jaff snarled. "That don't count. And besides she told me she were eighteen. Anyway you aren't one to brag. You've diddled a number on the light side of seventeen if I remember right."

"Aye, but I like 'em young. They don't charge as much and they're damned tight."

Their relative morality settled, both Dwarves resumed their heavy drinking, a sport at which they excelled until finally Jaff decided he had waited long enough. He had watched while the flame-haired beauty had consumed several jugs of ale, without any apparent effect other than the fact that she was singing some bawdy song at the top of her lungs and keeping time with vigorous waves of her drinking cup. He lurched to his feet and made his way to her table.

Sonja looked up as the Dwarf arrived. She was familiar with his people, having served as escort on several convoys from Dwarven mining operations, and had no particular prejudices against them, but she stopped her singing and set down her cup as he leaned over her table. "Ye seem like a right fine lass," the Dwarf stated. "How'd ye like a bit of fun between the covers."

Sonja looked over her suitor. Like most Dwarves he was fairly short, barely coming up to her chin, but he was massively built and probably weighed twice what she did. However, she was not the least bit intimidated. She answered, punctuating her reply with a silvery laugh. Well, Sir Dwarf. I'd like that fine. But I choose my own lovers and you're not one of them. Besides," she added, softening her reply, "I've not yet finished my last jug."

"Ye have now," the Dwarf snarled, tipping the remaining contents of the jug onto the floor. "Now ye can come with me."

Sonja replied by straightening her legs while bracing the back of her chair against the wall. Her boots caught the Dwarf full in the chest and knocked him halfway across the room. "Cursed fool," she shouted. "That jug was half full." Before the dazed Dwarf could regain his feet she was out of her chair. "Take yourself and your business elsewhere," she raged, as she grabbed the Dwarf by his collar. With an impressive show of strength she hauled him to his feet and propelled him across the room and out the door of the inn. He flew across the porch and landed face first in the mixture of mud, horse manure, and organic garbage that served as the main street of Dhanpur. Without waiting to see what the Dwarf's reaction would be she turned and reentered the inn, calling out as she did so. "Vignus, another jug of ale. Some idiot spilled mine."

It took Jaff a few heartbeats to realize what had happened, but when he did he rose to his feet ready to commit murder. "Redheaded slut. I'll slit her gizzard." But he got no more than a single step before Gorff restrained him.

"No ye don't, Jaff. The inn's full of her men, and I don't doubt she'd take yer head if ye braced her."

"I'll get that Hyrkanian whore for this," Jaff snarled. "See if I don't."

"Maybe ye will, but not tonight," Gorff insisted. "Now let's go somewhere and get that shit cleaned off ye. Either that or we're not sharin' a room tonight."

Despite his advanced state of inebriation, Jaff was able to see the wisdom of his brother's suggestion. He went, but not before repeating his vow of vengeance. "I'll see that cunt on her back with her legs spread before I'm through. Ye just see if I don't."

---

One Moon Later

"You think they know we're followin' them?" Gorff asked as he stirred the ashes of the cold campfire.

"Don't see how," Jaff said. "We've kept our distance. Not all that hard when we know where they're goin'. We're just two travelers goin' the same way they are."

They were a day behind the caravan Sonja and her band were escorting, an easy trail to follow considering the speed of the wagons and the deep ruts they left in the road. "Tomorrow they'll reach the gorge at Vezek. The river should be flowin' this time of year. It will take a full day to float the wagons across and the escort will have nothin' to do but watch. Since there is a guard post at the gorge they won't be expectin' anythin'. We'll take her then."

"I hope this is worth our while," Gorff grumbled. "We'd be better off workin' our claim."

"I said I'd spread that cunt's legs and I will," Jaff replied. "You go back if you like, but I'm goin' to get her."

"No," Gorff answered. "We're in this together. "I just hope it doesn't cost us our balls."

Sonja arched her back. She'd spent all day helping to muscle the wagons and horses onto the raft that crossed the deep gorge. Normally she would not have been involved in that sort of physical labour, but the rope used for hauling the raft back and forth across the swift flowing stream had parted and it had taken the best part of the day to retrieve the raft and get the rope strung again. As a result Altun, the caravan chief had offered to pay her double normal for the day if she and her band would pitch in. She had agreed and had spent the rest of the day helping to wrestle the heavy wagons onto the raft so that they could be floated across before dark. It was grinding work and they had finished just an hour after sunset. Now it was a matter of floating their own horses across to join the wagons.

"You go with the first lot," she said to Tarim, her chief lieutenant. "I'll follow with the rest. Just make sure you have a fire going and some stew on the go before I join you."

"Right, Captain," Tarim answered. Like her he was looking forward to setting up camp and a meal followed by a good night's sleep.

She watched the raft set off, pulled from the other side by the men working the tow rope. By the time it was halfway across she had lost sight of it in the gathering darkness.

"No moon tonight," Sonja mused. "Too much cloud." She had the remaining horses on a string, the rope of the lead horse in her hand. The raft would be back in half a turn of the glass and then it would be her turn. The horses stirred restlessly and the shuffling of their feet muffled the sound of the assailant that crept up behind her. She had no idea he was there until the club struck the back of her head.

She awoke to movement and acute discomfort. She had a Gods-only-knew-how-bad headache, and there was a loud clanging close by and a strong scent of hay and horse manure. Wincing at the pain she opened her eyes and peered about her. As her senses had already told her she was in a stable and the clanging sound came from the pounding a of blacksmith's anvil.

"So yer awake, Redhead. Well, ye can just stay there for a bit. When we've got some proper irons for ye we'll allow ye to move."

Sonja knew that voice, and she reacted at once only to discover that she had been placed against a wooden post and tied securely to it, her arms pulled behind her and around the post and bound at the wrists. Another rope encircled her neck, preventing all but minimal movement. She was in a sitting position with her legs straight out in front of her and her ankles were also tied.

"Release me at once, Dwarf, or I'll have your balls before I take your head."

"I see ye still got lots of spit, girl. Good, it'll be fun knockin' it out of ye, and ye can be sure that yer goin' to wish ye had never laid eyes on Jaff Ironaxe."

Sonja strained at the ropes binding her wrists. If she could just get a hand free….

"None o' that," Jaff warned. "Ye'll keep still until I'm ready to let ye loose." He moved into view and stood over her. Reaching down he placed his hand under her chin and began to raise her head, an action he quickly regretted as she sank her teeth into his fingers.

"Arrgh, ye redheaded bitch." Jaff jerked his hand free and used the other to give her an ear-ringing slap. "Yer gonna regret that. Regret it and more afore I'm finished with ye."

At that moment the pounding on the anvil ceased. "Ye finished, Gorff?" Jaff shouted.

"I am," a voice replied. With a clanking of metal a second Dwarf appeared. Sonja vaguely remembered seeing him in the inn the night she had thrown Jaff out. He was carrying a set of irons and chains. "She won't be gettin' out of these," he said. "Stand her up so I can fit her."

"My pleasure," Jaff replied. Form the tone of his voice she knew that he had been especially looking forward to this and she soon learned why.

He moved behind her, cut through the rope securing her neck and roughly lifted her into a standing position. He kept her that way by tying her legs to the pole just above the knees and then he moved back in front of her. "Right," he grinned. "Let's get started."

He removed her jerkin by using his knife to slit the material over each shoulder and then ripped the rest of it from her body with brute strength. It left her stripped to the waist except for her breast band which he also quickly removed. "Ye hardly needed that," he said as he stepped back to look at her. "Ye got tits like a goddess." Rage swept over her as he took one of her breasts in each hand and gave them a bruising squeeze. "Firm as ripe melons," he observed as she turned crimson in shame and anger.

"You'll lose your hands for that," Sonja shouted. But it was a hollow threat. She could do nothing until she somehow managed to escape.

"I don't think so," Jaff sneered. "Put the irons on her."

"My pleasure," the other Dwarf answered. He moved behind her and placed a heavy shackle joined by a thick metal rod on each arm just above the elbow. It was a simple device, each metal band held closed only by a metal cotter pin, but impossible to reach with either of her hands. He then added a heavy metal collar, locking it securely about her neck, and then linked chains to the metal rod so that a heavy chain encircled her torso just below her breasts. But he wasn't quite finished. He next attached a length of chain from between her breasts from the collar to the chain around her waist. Every link was held in place with cotter pins, but since she could not reach any of them they were just as effective as padlocks.

He adjusted everything until all the chains were tight against her body and then stepped back to admire his work. "Yep, that'll hold ye." He reached out as Jaff had done and tweaked her right nipple. "As soft and sweet as raspberries," he observed.

Sonja gritted her teeth, barely able to contain her rage. More threats would get her nowhere. There was nothing to do but bide her time.

"Ye'll not be goin' anywhere now," Jaff crowed. "It's time to get goin'." Moving behind her he untied the now superfluous ropes, freeing her from the post. That turned out to be a mistake as the moment she was loose Sonja put her feet to good use. Gorff was standing right in front of her and she delivered a kick between his legs that had him screaming in pain. She then spun to face Jaff, but the same attack was not going to work on him as he held his hands low to protect his manhood. She kicked him in the face instead, staggering him across the stable, and she followed it up with a kick to his now unprotected groin, and then drove her foot into his mid-section. She then turned and ran toward the stable door.

She burst through it and ran straight into still a third Dwarf. In fact she bounced off his chest and ended up on her backside. She tried to kick him as he came at her, but he proved a bit more alert than the other two Dwarfs. He dodged her attempt and to crush his testicles and quickly moved behind her, taking advantage of the fact that her prone position limited her movement. He grabbed her from behind, using her shackles to control her body. "Yer not goin' anywhere. I didn't spend all that time making these irons just fer you to run away."

She struggled furiously to escape, but he muscled her back into the stable, where two very angry Dwarfs were waiting for her. "Ye redheaded cunt, ye broke my nose," Jaff shouted. "Hold her still."

He grabbed a piece of tack from a peg on the wall. It was a heavy piece of leather and it served well as an instrument of punishment. He used it furiously, bringing it down on Sonja's unprotected head and shoulders as well as her breasts. "Ye bitch, I'll skin ye alive."

There was nothing Sonja could do to escape the blows, and Jaff might have gone on beating her had not his brother intervened. "Enough," Gorff said, placing his hand on Jaff's arm. "There's a much better way to punish her."

Panting from exertion Jaff stepped back from his battered victim. "I take yer meaning," he said as he began to release the ties on his trousers. "Ye Hyrkanian cunt," he said to Sonja. "Ye'll pay for all of that and more. I'm goin' to split ye like and log. Ye'll beg fer mercy afore I'm done with ye."

"That's better," Gorff agreed. "This bitch needs to be taught her proper place. Perhaps a few inches of Dwarven steel will tame her."

"There's more steel in a rusty pin than there is in your limp noodle, Dwarf," Sonja gasped. She was marked by the blows Jaff had rained upon her, but had suffered no more than a severe bruising. As Jaff began to lower his trousers she struggled frantically to escape.

"Ye see," Gorff pointed out. "A stiff cock is what she really fears. We'll have her screamin' fer mercy."

The third dwarf, who appeared to be the actual owner of the stable, judging from his blacksmith's attire dragged her over to the wall of one of the stalls and secured her there by lashing the iron collar to one of the posts. It prevented her from moving anything except her legs, and she could only kick feebly as Jaff drooped his trousers, revealing an erection worthy of a stallion. Sonja blanched when she saw it and renewed her fruitless attempts to escape, an effort that did not escape Jaff's attention. "I'll give ye a much better reason to wiggle yer ass. Spread her for me lads."

Sonja kicked and cursed as the two dwarfs each took a leg and lifted her from the floor. Holding her by the thighs with one arm they used the other to first remove each of her boots and then wrenched her leather trousers down over her hips. Her struggles intensified, but she was unable to prevent the Dwarfs from completely stripping her.

Jaff stepped forward, running his hand up and down his stiffening shaft. "About as sweet a slit as I've ever seen," he commented, admiring then the region between her thighs. "Let's see how this fits." He moved between her quivering thighs, placed his hands beneath each of them and thrust into her.

It took all of Sonja's self-control not to scream. Once again she was experiencing the pain and horror of a brutal rape. Jaff's shaft was huge and he forced his way into her in a deliberate attempt to cause as much pain as possible. "Squeal ye redheaded bitch," he roared, and thrust even harder, finally penetrating her almost fully and then moving in and out of her with brutal satisfaction.

"Tightest cunny, I've ever had, and a pair of the sweetest tits," Jaff exulted. He grunted as he attempted to penetrate her even more deeply and then took her nipple into his mouth. His short stature positioned him perfectly to savage her breasts and he bit down until she bled, but nothing he did elicited more than a grunt of pain. Finally he finished with her, jerking hard as he released into her.

Panting, Sonja waited for the next round, her chest heaving and sweat pouring down her body in rivulets. She appeared utterly beaten, but as Gorff moved to take his turn she attempted to kick him between the legs.

"Still a bit of vinegar in ye," Gorff commented. "Now we'll see if yer remark regarding my shaft holds true." He dropped his trousers, revealing a shaft even larger than Jaff's, something Sonja would not have thought possible, but she gave no sign of the fear or revulsion that swept through her; instead she waited passively for her ordeal.

Like Jaff, Gorff took her hard, but this time the pain was lessened somewhat due to the fact that she was already slick from her own juices and those of Jaff; even so it was not easy for the powerful Dwarf to force his way into her and as he penetrated her fully she grunted in pain. "Yer own fault fer bein' so damned tight," Gorff commented, "not that I'm complainin'." He ended his comment by plunging still deeper within her and then began a hard fuck that slammed her back against the post with every thrust, and he kept up at it for much longer than Jaff had, leaving her so exhausted she could barely stand.

Then it was the smith's turn. He proved the easiest of the lot, taking her slowly and focusing on his own pleasure rather than on giving her pain, but it was still a painful and humiliating event, and when he was finished Sonja legs were quivering from exhaustion and she would have fallen had not Jaff released the rope binding her too the pole and allowed her to sink to her knees. She squatted there, sinking of sweat, blood, and semen, but she was not allowed to rest long.

"Get up ye, whore," Jaff commanded, pulling her up by her hair. "We've a boat to catch."

The last comment mystified Sonja, but she forced herself to her feet and stood while Jaff hobbled her ankles once more. Even in her exhausted and beaten state the Dwarfs were taking no chances.

Almost sobbing in rage and shame, she was dragged from the stable and into the streets of the town. She blinked in the bright sunlight, and then realized where she was. Sultanpur, a small port on the Vilayet Sea just southeast of Vizek. Jaff pushed her forward. "Hurry it up. We want to make the boat afore she sails."

"Boat? Where the in the name of Mitra were they taking her?" Zaproska. It was just across the Vilayet Sea. If they got here there….

Jaff seemed to read her mind. "But I vowed to spread yer legs and I did, but yer worth more than a hard fuck. If we get ye to Zaproska there's a five-hundred gold reward waitin' for ye there. Now move," He gave her another hard shove and she almost fell.

"I see yer having a bit of a hard time walkin'," Gorff jeered. "Don't worry it'll take the boat three days to cross the Vilayet. We'll have plenty of time to break ye in proper."

---

Utterly humiliated she was marched down the dusty streets of Sultanpur. Half naked she attracted many stares, but no one made an effort to stop them. It appeared that the slave trade was alive and well in the port city and she was regarded as just one more very attractive victim. In fact their progress was interrupted only once

"That's a right beautiful prize ye got there," a man commented as they passed. "Hyrkanian by the colour of her hair. How much ye want for her?"

The Dwarves stopped to look at him. "She's not fer sale," Jaff replied.

"No?" the stranger answered. He was well dressed and a bit overweight and was accompanied by an armed retainer. "I'm willing to offer fifty gold."

"Temptin'," Jaff replied. "But we've got better offer wait'n' us."

"Well," the stranger replied. "Good luck with her. Looks like she might be a bit hard to tame."

"Don't worry about that," Jaff chuckled. "I'm goin' to more than enjoy breakin' this bitch." With that they continued their trek through the streets of the port city.

It turned out that the stables where they had shackled her was on the western outskirts of the town, and reaching the harbour required crossing the entire town. She was suffering badly from her ordeal, and she staggered in the heat of midafternoon. Weighed down with the heavy chains and with her arms painfully pinioned, she could not get a breath and within another dozen paces she fell to her knees.

"Get up," Jaff commanded. "I thought ye were supposed to be some kind of mighty warrior. Get up or I'll take the leather to ye."

She attempted to rise, but her knees buckled once more, and Jaff laid about her with the leather strap he had taken from the stables. But the beating had only one effect. Utterly defeated and beaten beyond even her endurance, her senses swam and Red Sonja collapsed in defeat.

Continued in Chapter 2

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