Tales of Thuria 1: Red Sonja in Chains - Chapter 6 - Part 2

Chapter 6: Vengeance Obtained - Part 2

Juruk peered through the tiny peephole in the hidden room into which he and two other pirates had fled. He had retreated to the room along with two other men as soon as he had seen which way the battle was going. Now he stared in disbelief as the redheaded bitch who had completely destroyed his pirate band slept just yards from his hiding place.

"Watcha seeing?"

"Shaddup," Jukuk whispered fiercely. "Shaddup or I'll gut ye." He moved away from the peephole taking the other two men with him.

"What is it?" Tarn whispered when Juruk indicated they had moved a safe difference.

"The redheaded whore is jest the other side of the door. Asleep and alone."

"Maybe we should just leave her alone," Shrop, the third pirate cautioned. "I seen her gut a half dozen of us."

"No," Juruk, replied determinedly. "We make her pay. We take her alive; gives her what she deserves and then kill her slowly and painfully before we gets off the island."

"Right," Tarn agreed. "Who's the one to take her? I ain't fer going up against her on me own."

"Ye still got that deck o' cards?" Juruk asked Shrop. "Then take it out and we cut fer it. Face card and we all take her. Anything else and it's up to me."

"Seems fair," Shrop said. "I'll draw the card."

"Not from yer own deck ye won't," Juruk objected. "I'll make the draw. You mix 'em up."

Shrop took out his deck from inside his tunic and gave the pasteboards a shuffle. They were badly worn and almost certainly he could identify every one without seeing their faces. He riffled the deck twice and then set it down before Juruk. Right," he said, "yer play."

Juruk cut the deck a third of the way down and turned the card over. The Queen of Cups smiled back at him. "Shit, jest my luck," Juruk muttered. "But a deal's a deal. I'll take her. You two be ready to tie her up." He tiptoed slowly back up the passage toward the hidden door.

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Sonja slept the sleep of absolute exhaustion. Her ordeal at the hands of the pirates and the fierce battle she had fought in defeating them had left her utterly spent. As a result she did not hear the slight creak as the panel opened just yards from her pallet. Nor did she hear Juruk's clumsy attempt to steal silently across the room, but some instinct warned her just before he struck and suddenly she was wide awake. She rolled off the pallet, but her movement took her the wrong way. The club Juruk swung came down across the top of her head, stunning her and leaving her sprawled on the floor. In a moment he was on her, pulling her arms behind her back and using his weight to hold her even as she struggled to recover her senses.

And then there were two more men in the room. Together they bound her hand and foot and forced a filthy piece of cloth into her mouth and tied it tight. Bound, gagged, and helpless she looked up at her three leering captors. "I've got ye bitch," Juruk crowed. "And this time ye won't live long enough to try any of yer tricks. But first we're gonna have a bit more fun with ye."

The gag was unnecessary. There was no one Sonja could call to for help, but Juruk was taking no chances. Slinging her body over his shoulder he reentered the hidden room and carried her down a dark passage. "Zul had everything figured out," Juruk explained as he moved farther into the darkness. "His own secret hidey-hole. Jest in case."

From her face down position Sonja could see very little of where she was being taken, but she could see that the floor Juruk was walking on was made of smooth cut stone and was wide enough for a man or woman to walk comfortably. It seemed to have been cut through solid rock and judging from the appearance of the stone there was no way that Zul had ever built it. The passage was ancient; almost certainly constructed by the builders of the original palace.

The passage sloped downward as they carried her deeper and Sonja became aware of the smell of the sea and the slight sound of water lapping. This was accompanied by the movement of air against her skin and then suddenly the passage opened into a large cavern. It was lit by light coming through a small opening at the end of a long inlet that occupied most of the cavern. It was here that Juruk dumped her unceremoniously on her backside and allowed her to see the rest of the cavern, revealing that it held a most impressive secret.

"Ye see," Juruk chortled pointing toward an elegant boat suspended just above the surface of the inlet. "It were here all the time and we never knowed until those damned savages chased us into the room ye chose fer yer sleeping spot. Found it by pure accident behind that stack of crates. Zul must have known about it and kept it to hisself."

Unable to do more than grunt Sonja looked up at her captors. She had sensed something else in the cavern; something beside the dank salt air; something she had come to loathe and distrust. Magic, but she was unable to communicate her fears to her captors, and might not have done so in any case.

"Yer time has come to an end ye redheaded whore" Juruk leered. "I'm gonna gut ye and toss yer entrails to the fishes while yer still alive. But first I'm gonna plumb yer sweet cunt one more time."

"Not just you, Juruk," Shrop reminded him. "We all take her."

"Of course," Juruk agreed. "We'll take her quick. No telling when those savages'll be back and we should be outa here."

He pulled Sonja to her feet and while Shrop and Tarn held her ripped open the front of her shirt. "Sweetest tits I ever seen or felt," he said as he cupped Sonja's breasts. He squeezed hard. "Firm as ripe grapefruit." And then twisted her nipples.

He didn't even bother to remove her trousers. He just jerked them down around her ankles and while Shrop and Tarn held her, forced her legs apart and thrust into her. It was a quick, dirty rape and it was followed by Shrop and Tarn each taking their turn.

"Still damned tight," Tarn gasped as he forced his member fully into her. "Damned tight. It's a shame to lose a cunt like this."

"She's used up all of her chances," Juruk replied. "The bitch must have been sent to us by Baal to plague us. Now finish her it's time to stick something else into her. Now hold her." He had taken out his knife and as Tarn grabbed her arms he moved toward her.

Sonja strained at her bonds. During the triple rape she had worked ceaselessly at them, but had done nothing more than remove the skin from her wrists. Her chest heaved as Juruk held his knife to her belly and then teasingly moved to point to a spot just above her vulva tracing a bloody line in her silken skin. "Feel free to scream, whore. This is going to hurt a lot."

There was a scream, but it came from behind him. "What?!" He turned and saw a thick black snake rising from the water. It was followed by another and then another even as the first wrapped itself about Shrop's ankle.

"Erlik's balls!" Juruk and Tarn both tried to flee toward the passage leading from the palace, but several other sucker-studded snakes burst out of the water and caught each of them around the legs. Screaming they were pulled toward the water even as a pulsating black body rose from the darkness of the inlet while Sonja watched in mixed fear and awe.

She had seen creatures like this before and even fought them, but bound and helpless there was nothing she could do but watch. And then Juruk's knife clattered off the stone next to her. Rolling toward it she managed to get it into her hands and twisting her body forced its edge against the ropes binding her wrists. She worked in desperation, straining at the ropes as she worked the knife back and forth against them. Luckily Juruk's blade was sharp and the monstrous creature remained occupied with the three screaming pirates, all of whom were slashing at the tentacle beast in desperation.

Suddenly the strands parted, just as Shrop disappeared into the water. Juruk hacked fiercely with his sword, cutting through one of the tentacles. With a gurgling roar the monster heaved itself even farther out of the water and wrapped two more tentacles around Juruk, pinning his sword arm to his side. The movement revealed a gaping maw filled with razor-edged teeth and a single round eye the size of a shield. Screaming, both Juruk and Tarn were pulled toward the mouth then the monstrous yes caught sight of Sonja just as she cut through the last rope.

Like lighting a tentacle whipped out, encircling Sonja's waist. It was crushingly strong, tightening about her like a fleshy vise, the spiked suckers on the arm sinking into her, preventing any chance of escape. Like Juruk and Tarn she was drawn toward the gaping maw, but unlike the two hapless pirates she had managed to keep her arms free.

Tarn shrieked as the knife-like teeth sank into him, cutting him in half. With a gulp the monster swallowed one half and then the next. Juruk followed. Weeping in terror he screeched as the monster bit off both of his legs and then swallowed the rest of him with a single gulp.

Sonja had just one chance. Its mouth wide the monster welcomed her, but for the briefest of moments she was within striking distance of its single eye. Her arm moved like lightning, slitting the eye like an over-ripe melon. White humor gushed out and the monster gave a hideous cry, its tentacles suddenly straightening as it retreated beneath the waves. Sonja fell from its grip splashing into the water. She came up and swam hard for the shore, fearful that the monster might still return. But it stayed wherever it had gone and she pulled herself up on the smooth stone. I have had enough of this cursed island, she thought. It is time to leave. But first there was one more thing she had to do.

---

"I've got blisters on my blisters," Vanda whined.

"I told you to wrap your hands in cloth before handling the ropes," Sonja replied. "Now help trim that sail before I use the flat of my blade to put blisters on your backside."

Whimpering Vanda did as she was told while Sonja turned her attention to another aspect of handling the boat that had been hidden in the cavern. It now held thirty-one passengers; herself, nine other women and twenty-one children ranging in age from infants to teens. It had taken them the best part of a day to get the mysterious boats into the water, stock it with food and water, and work it out of the cavern. Incredibly the boat proved to be completely seaworthy, with not a trace of rot. Even the sails were in perfect condition. All of this confirmed Sonja's suspicions that there was powerful magic at play, a notion that made her profoundly nervous. If the boat was protected by magic, who had laid on the spells and how long might they last? She had no desire to find the boat she was on suddenly transformed into a sinking hulk while she was still out of sight of land. As a result she was somewhat short-tempered with her inexperienced crew.

Not knowing where she was also added to her fears. She had headed the ship west, but had no idea whether or not that was the direction of the closest land. So far the weather had favoured them. The wind had blown moderately from the northeast and the seas had been calm.

"Yo!" The call came from the masthead where she had stationed one of the teenaged sons of Tonya, one of the few women who had shown any sense. She had once served the pirates on her back, but several pregnancies had changed that and she had been the chief cook when Sonja had been captured. She seemed to have passed on her intelligence to her children and Sonja had trusted the oldest with the position of lookout.

"What is it, Selwin? Report."

"Land," the boy said, pointing in the direction the boat was heading. "I see land."

It transpired that Sonja's adventure had landed her a hundred of so leagues down the coast from the town where she had been placed on the slaver by Jaff and Gorff. It took her a week of leisurely riding to make it back to Sultanpur. She left the women and their children in the small fishing port where they had made landfall, but before she left she sold the boat to a local merchant who traded up and down the coast. It was enough money to give the women and their families a decent start. She even gave a share to Vanda and Ambria. What each of the women did with it was up to them. She had given them a decent start and they would thrive or fail on their own. Now there was just one more thing she needed to attend to.

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Thog heaved his massive bulk against the binding chains, but there was no give, as he knew there wouldn't be. He had forged every link himself and he knew the work to be excellent. Anything strong enough to hold a draft horse would certainly hold him. He tried to call for help, but managed only a strangled whimper. The redheaded bitch had done something to his throat and taken his power of speech; now he could do little more than make inarticulate grunts and groans.

She had waited until early evening to strike. One heartbeat he had been closing down his forge, the next instant he had been on the floor of the smithy, barely conscious as heavy chains were placed on his arms and legs rendering him helpless. Then the bitch had rolled him over and straddled him, a slender dagger in her hand. "Remember me?" she asked. "I was here a moon ago when you and your two Dwarf companions took turns raping me. Now it's time for a little payback."

The dagger flashed out, too quickly for Thog's eyes to follow it. There was an excruciatingly sharp pain in his throat and suddenly he couldn't speak or make any sound at all above a whisper. "That should keep the noise down. Now there's just one more thing to do before I take you to the docks." She moved the dagger down and cut the laces that closed the front of his trousers.

"Nnnggh!" he screamed as he realized what she was going to do. But the sound was not loud enough for anyone outside the closed doors of the smithy to hear it, not even when he screamed even louder as she made one more precise cut.

"You won't be needing these where you're going," she said, tossing his gonads into the still hot coals of the forge. "Now on your feet or I'll take the whole thing."

Through the darkening streets of the town she had marched him to the waterfront. She took him along the dock, past the regular slave traders to where a small coastal vessel was tied up. She went to the door of a small warehouse and pounded on it five times in a coded knock.

"Here's the second part of the deal as promised," she said when the door was opened.

"So ye did get that Dwarven bastard," exclaimed the man who stepped through the door. He was carrying a partially shuttered lantern that threw a light into Thog's face.

"I said I'd get him and I keep my promises," the redhead answered.

"And no one knows he's here?" the man asked.

"Just you and me" the redhead nodded. "Now give me the promised payment and I'll be on my way."

"Gladly," the man replied. Gold coins clinked in the darkness. "I've dreamed of the day I'd get even with this Dwarf bastard. He cheated me one to many times. He'll get me a good price on the east coast."

"You are welcome to him," Sonja said. "Turning, she mounted her horse and rode off into the darkness.

(The End of Tales of Thuria Episode 1 Red Sonja in Chains)

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