Tender Mercies: Book 1 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The evening sun shone down warmly on the backs of the grazing herd of deer. Of the six deer, the buck in charge of his does caught an unfamiliar scent and looked up nervously. From his other side a reassuring hand lightly touched upon its coat, stroking it soothingly. At first startled, the buck did not instantly bolt. It regarded the tall black-skinned elf that had managed to sneak into the midst of the herd and catch them unaware. Still uncertain, the deer again caught the strange scent, this time stronger and closer. It detected danger in the scent, causing its ears to prick up and it to move nervously.

Kelnozz tried again to soothe the dear, but it was to nervous now. It grunted a warning to it's females and they all turned to run. The does ran away, but the buck took three steps before its flight ended in a crash to the ground. The dark elven warrior sighed and slid his blade back into its scabbard. He walked over to the body of the slain deer and noticed the beautiful rack of antlers the severed head still boasted.

"How'd you manage that?" Kelnozz's friend, a short human warrior dressed as a gladiator asked.

"Not as easily as it should have been, the two of you need to bathe and stay downwind next time!" He replied. "You nearly made me lose the kill, and we would have then gone hungry tonight."

The other warrior, a giant of a man called Nordan, laughed loudly and said, "If not this deer, then another we would have found! You worry to much, Kelnozz, let us eat!"

Kelnozz scowled good naturedly at the gruff barbarian. Pompey knelt down and began to dress the deer.

"Do we camp now or continue to the tower?" Pompey asked, trying to determine how he should deal with the meat.

"The wizard's domain is half a day distant still," Kelnozz said, already surveying the area they were in for a good campsite.

"Aye, it's settled then, we camp!" Nordan said happily, pulling out a skin filled with mead and draining half of it in one pull.

The three companions started a fire, spit the carcass, and roasted it while setting up the rest of their camp. The sun set as they began their meal.

"Do you believe the townsfolk?" Pompey asked after they finished their meal and sat quietly.

"About what?" Kelnozz asked.

"That this wizard is protected by demons?"

Kelnozz shrugged. "What difference does it make?"

"I just like to know what I'm going to be facing," Pompey grunted, irritated by the casual attitude Kelnozz held towards such powerful beings.

They lapsed into silence for a time, and finally the silence was broken by the snoring sounds coming from Nordan. Kelnozz smirked while Pompey shook his head in continuing disbelief at how easily his companions dealt with things.

"I'll take first watch," Pompey offered, figuring he wouldn't be sleeping for a while.

Kelnozz nodded and lay down on his own bedroll. In seconds he was asleep.

---

They moved out the next morning. Already three days out from the Town of Sanctuary, they moved more cautiously now. Ahead lay the demesne of a powerful wizard said to plague the inhabitants of the surrounding lands. Fortunately, the only civilized lands nearby belonged to the people of Sanctuary, a rough and hardy lot to be sure.

"Are the priests right?" Pompey asked during their midmorning trek. "Is this wizard truly trying to summon a being able to lead a force of darkness aimed at dominating the world in his name?"

"He's a wizard, who knows what he wants," Nordan said gruffly, his distaste for wielders of magic showing.

"They believe it, and more importantly, they are paying us to deal with it, which is something we need after that incident the two of you got us into when we met that merchant caravan."

Nordan chuckled and Pompey sighed at the memory. "Yes, they cheated at cards better then we did."

Kelnozz shook his head disapprovingly and walked on in silence. The other two followed suit. Another hour of walking had them fording a stream, and as soon as they set foot on the opposing bank all three of them felt the change.

The air became colder, and a chill ran down their spines. The chatter of insects and birds dropped off abruptly, leaving them in eerie silence in an otherwise bright and cheery day. Kelnozz motioned for his friends to wait behind while he scouted ahead.

Chafing at the caution, the two warriors waited while the dark elf sneaked ahead. They didn't have to wait long, though the fifteen minutes seemed to be hours. Kelnozz returned and motioned them to quietly follow him. Preparing their weapons, they followed the quiet rogue as he slipped through the increasingly dark and foreboding forest.

Ere long they hid in the underbrush at a tree line where the forest ended and the clearing that the tower stood within began. The tower stretched up roughly sixty feet into the sky. A plain oaken door bound in iron stood at the base of it, with a sculpted statue of a horrific creature on each side of the door. The statues resembled a cross of something that was half vulture, half man. Pompey suppressed a shudder as they examined the tower and its surroundings.

"You know that those statues are anything but statues, don't you?" Kelnozz asked.

Nordan grunted and Pompey nodded his head yes, though in truth he had no idea.

"Any other ways in?" Pompey asked, hoping the magic in his spear was enough to pierce the hide of the magical guardians.

Kelnozz shook his head and stood up to prepare for the conflict. He drew his twin long swords and waited for his companions to join him. "We must strike quickly and true, for the wizard will no doubt know of our assault as soon as it is begun. Nordan you take the door, Pompey and I shall defeat the guardians."

Before anyone could respond, Kelnozz was off. Pompey cursed and set off after him, lowering his spear at one of the guardians. Nordan let out a war cry and joined them.

As they neared the tower, the statues shimmered and came alive. Their flesh faded from a stony gray to a pallid white. They both screeched loudly, brandishing lethal looking claws.

Battle was joined. Kelnozz deftly avoided the razor sharp talons and let his swords bite deeply into the demonic guardian. Pompey used the length of his spear to keep his assailant at bay, swinging it back and forth to keep the creature from closing. Nordan ignored them both and swung his hammer at the door.

The door shattered in a magical explosion under the powerful onslaught. Nordan staggered backwards a few steps from the force of the explosion. Shaking his head, he shrugged off the effects of it and plunged into the tower.

Kelnozz cursed at Nordan and adopted a more offensive role against the demon he fought. The demon was able to slash twice at Kelnozz in this way before the magical blades the elf wielded found a home in its ribcage. The creature screeched weakly and dissolved into smoke, dispelled back to its home plain.

Pompey took an opening he had and plunged his spear into the bowels of the demon he fought. It howled in rage and agony and grabbed onto the shaft of the spear. Pompey pushed forward, certain it would try to rip it out. Instead, the demon pulled on the spear and pushed its body forward, impaling it even deeper but bringing Pompey closer. When Pompey realized what was happening, he dropped the spear and struggled to pull the gladius from his belt. The guardian was to close by then though, and its talons slashed down at him, cutting him deeply on the arm and latching onto his shoulder.

Kelnozz ran inside to find another shattered door and a entry room beyond. To the side a stair case wound around the outer wall of the tower, leading up. Seeing some blood stains along the wall, Kelnozz knew Nordan had gone this way. He followed quickly, taking the steps two and three at a time.

The next room up was a living quarters and study. Great book cases lined the walls, filled with arcane texts. The stairs continued up, and now the sounds of battle came from above. Muttering oaths under his breath, Kelnozz continued up.

What awaited him was a surprising sight. The wizard stood behind a podium with scrolls stretched across it. In front of him lay a summoning circle with a pentagram engraved upon the floor within it. The wizard was chanting and a white glowing portal was slowly taking shape within the circle.

"Kill the wizard!" Nordan shouted.

Kelnozz's attention switched to Nordan and he saw that he battled against a terrible foe. A demon with six arms, a cruel and wicked looking weapon in each hand. The upper body of a well proportioned woman and the lower body of a snake. The demons tail was in fact wrapped around one of Nordan's legs, immobilizing him effectively.

Obeying his wishes, the elf dropped one of his swords and drew a dagger from his belt. Flicking his wrist, he smiled vindictively as the wizard jerked back from the impact of the dagger and stuttered his incantation. The look of pain on his face disappeared as he realized what had happened. He struggled to regain control of the spell, but it was too late. The magical energies took on a life of their own.

Reclaiming his sword, Kelnozz hacked at the tail that his friend was caught up in. In a spray of black ichor, the tail was severed and Nordan free. Howling in barbaric glee, he charged forward, swinging his hammer without abandon. Kelnozz leapt beside his friend and joined the attack, driving the wounded demon back and finally backing it against a wall. Using coordinated attacks, they beat past the six deadly blades it wielded and struck again and again, until the supernatural being was weakened enough to allow them to strike a blow that dispatched it back to the abyss from which it came.

"You fools! You ruined my spell and caused all of us to die! But I will make sure you die first!"

Both of them spun about quickly to see the wizard raising his arms. Blood flowed from the dagger still impaled in his belly, but this time the spell completed as intended. A searing beam of fire shot out from each hand, striking each of them and driving them back as the tried to escape the agony of the spell.

The wizard began another spell, knowing that the invaders still lived. Before he could finish it he jerked forward. The arcing electricity that had begun to gather around his hands instead began to flow down into the wizard. It made him spasm and convulse, finishing off the job of killing him. The magical electricity arced up the metal shaft of the spear transfixing him and entered the hands and body of Pompey. Pompey was blown back by the force of the magic and slammed into a wall before crumpling to the floor unmoving.

The magical summoning in the middle of the room continued to grow and pulse. Nordan finished rolling around putting out the flames on his furs and proceeded to help Kelnozz take off his nearly red hot chain mail. Once free they watched the rogue summoning, both of them injured but ready to fight again. Pompey remained motionless, with neither of them certain if he still lived.

The light continued to grow brighter, and soon they could see a humanoid shape outlined within it. With a final brilliant pulse of energy the light receded and the standing figure collapsed to the floor.

When their vision cleared, they saw that what had been summoned did not appear to be a ferocious demon. It did not have the looks of a bloodthirsty minion of hell. In fact, it looked about as harmless as a kitten. What it appeared to be was a wet and naked young women only recently come into her prime. Her magical origins were nearly confirmed when they looked at her though, for her form seemed beautiful above and beyond what was mortally possible. Long flowing black hair graced her head and a figure the Gods would be hard pressed to recreate. She rolled over and groaned as she opened her eyes. They saw that the only hair that appeared on her body was on her head.

"What manner of being are you?" Kelnozz said, eyeing her warily.

Nordan was speechless, finding the object of beauty something that nearly separated his wits from his body.

The summoned creature looked at Kelnozz in surprise. She looked at her surroundings and quickly jumped to her feet and tried to back up. When she reached the edge of the circle, however, she was unable to retreat any further.

"What are you?" Kelnozz asked again, taken back by the creatures defensive behavior.

The girl frowned, and opened her mouth and made a noise. Neither Nordan nor Kelnozz could understand her, however. At that time the girl seemed to realize that she was naked. Her arms quickly sought to conceal herself, though obviously it did little save make her look more appealing.

"Wait here," Kelnozz told them, not caring whether the girl understood or not, and went downstairs to the wizards bedchamber. He poked around very carefully, mindful of magical traps, and found a spare robe that was the wizards. He noticed the magical runes and insignias on it and shrugged, figuring it was better then nothing.

Returning he found Nordan staring lewdly at the girl, who looked increasingly uncomfortable. "Be ready," he warned, and stepped towards the circle.

Scuffing his foot across the line of powder that formed the circle, Kelnozz broke the circle of protection. He advanced upon the girl, his stance ready to spring away in a second if she threatened. Gingerly she reached out and took it from him, retreating beyond the circle to put the podium between herself and them before she quickly donned the robe. When it was about her, she shivered briefly in spite of the heat in the room.

Less self conscious, she spoke again, "Who are you?"

Kelnozz was surprised that he could understand her this time. "Nay lass, who are you?"

She realized they were the ones holding the weapons and in control of the situation. "Um, I'm Alesha. Alesha Koronski."

"Are you a demon?" Nordan asked, his mind free to work now that it wasn't preoccupied with her nudity.

"A...demon?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes, a demon... a being from the abyss, summoned by the wizard to lead his armies to conquer the world," Kelnozz said, his eyes narrowing as he examined her.

"No... no, I'm just a girl. I was taking a bath and my little brother was being a brat and trying to get in the bathroom. He finally picked the lock and opened the door up quickly, it hit the sink and my blow dryer fell off and I was terrified that it was going to fall in the bathtub and electrocute me and I.... And I would die... is that what happened? Am I dead? Is this Heaven? Or...the other place?"

Kelnozz raised his hand to try and stop her talking. Once started, she didn't appear to want to stop.

"Nay girl, you are not dead. This wizard," Kelnozz kicked the wizards corpse, "was trying to summon a great demon when we intruded upon him. We stopped him but not early enough, instead his spell went awry and it appears to have conjured you instead."

"Um...a wizard? Magic? Where am I?" she was clearly having trouble absorbing everything told to her.

"Where are you from that you know not of this place?" Kelnozz interrupted.

"St. Petersburg. Florida."

Kelnozz and Nordan looked at each other for an answer. Neither had one, so they turned back to her.

"This is Belurian, two days northwest of Sanctuary," Nordan answered.

"Nordan, check on Pompey," Kelnozz said, remembering their fallen companion.

"Where on earth is Belurian?" Alesha asked in a small voice.

"This world is known as Belurian, not Earth, though the earth is indeed beneath us."

"I'm not on Earth anymore..." The girl collapsed to the ground, fainting from the sudden shock of her situation.

"Some champion of evil," Kelnozz muttered as he went over to her and made sure she wasn't injured. He picked her up easily and carried her over to where Nordan knelt next to Pompey.

"How is he?"

Nordan looked up at Kelnozz and shook his head. "The demon wounded him badly, perhaps enough to kill him, given time. But the wizards magic made sure of it."

Tightening his jaw, Kelnozz nodded. They left the tower then, leaving it as they had found it, plus two corpses. Outside the tower they noticed that the evilness in the ground and air had abated with the death of the wizard. Figuring themselves safe, they set up camp outside the tower as night was fast approaching.

Alesha woke soon, and stayed mostly quiet, huddling within her new garment. Finally she said, "What's this... um... this place, what's it like?"

Nordan looked to Kelnozz and shrugged, indicating the elf should field the question. "What do you mean?"

She forced her gaze away from the fire and looked at him. "What are you? I've seen black people before, but never like you. Your eyes... your ears... they're different."

Kelnozz smiled, "I'm a dark elf. Pretty average for my race. There are no elves where you come from?

She shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. "What else is there here?"

Kelnozz tipped his head to the side, trying to think of how to answer her. "Well, there are dwarves, halflings, orcs, light elves, ogres, giants, trolls, lizardmen, dragons, and the list goes on and on. Most anything you can think up has existed here at one time or another."

"I feel like I'm in a bad movie," she muttered, staring back into the fire again.

Kelnozz chuckled at her tone, even though he had no idea what a movie was.

"Kel, how come we can understand her now and she us?" Nordan asked, finishing up with cleaning the rabbits they had snared for dinner.

"I think it's that robe I found for her. See the sigils on it? I believe it's a wizards robe."

"Should she be wearing it?" he was spitting the first rabbit.

Kelnozz shrugged.

"Jesus Christ! Quit talking about me as if I'm not here!" Alesha snapped, jumping to her feet.

"Who?" Both men asked, looking around quickly.

Alesha's stopped pacing and stared at them open mouthed. "Jesus Christ, son of God," she whispered, afraid to hear their response.

"Never heard of him," Nordan said, finishing the last rabbit and beginning to roast them.

"Which God?" Kelnozz asked, trying to be a little more calming to her.

Her jaw snapped shut and she closed her eyes tightly. Finally she took a deep breath and said, "I need to take a walk and get some fresh air."

Kelnozz frowned but Nordan said, "Be wary, it should be safe around here, but some other minions of the wizards may still be about."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Look, I'll be fine." With that, Alesha walked off into the darkness of night. After a few moments, Kelnozz scowled and rose to his feet as well.

"Where are you going, the rabbits are almost done," Nordan said, scowling at what he knew was the answer.

"I'll be back, I'm going to make sure she doesn't get herself killed."

Snorting, Nordan went back to spinning the conies over the fire.

The girl had stepped on rocks and sharp twigs several times so far, leaving her feet sore and bleeding. She sighed when she came to the quiet stream that marked the edge of the sorcerers lands. Sitting on the bank of the stream she let her feet dangle in the water to soothe them.

She had no idea where she was or what was going on, but she did have to admit that it was very pretty here. Not to mention much cleaner. Even the air smelled cleaner. Colors seemed more vibrant and she just felt more alive then she had before.

Still, she was terrified of what was happening to her. Not only was she stuck with two strange looking and acting men, but they had both seen her naked! Not even her boyfriend had seen her like that before.

The black one was nice at least, but he looked so odd with those high cheekbones and pointy ears. A black Spock! She giggled briefly at the thought of it. She always hated that show, Star Trek, but her father had watched it enough she knew that Kelnozz looked like a Vulcan. Except for his eyes. In the light they looked only a little odd, being lavender in color. But when it had gotten darker, they had almost seemed to glow with an inner light.

Then there was the other one, Nordan. She had known his kind before. A bully and a brute, he used his strength before what little mind he had. And when his mind did come into play, it was often his other head that did the thinking.

The thing that really upset her was their response to God. She'd always been rather borderline on religion, but she had been baptized and believed in God. If they didn't know about God, then she was even more alone then she thought possible.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a shuffling in the brush on the other side of the stream. Looking up she saw it move and then first one figure came out, then another and another. Finally a full eight figures stood on the far shore, considering her. They were roughly her height, a few inches shy of six feet, but all were stocky. One of them stepped forward into the moonlight and Alesha felt her breath catch in her throat. It had a face that was a cross between a man and a pig, with emphasis on the snout.

The creature in question turned to the others and grunted out something to them that she couldn't hear. Then all eight of them charged across the stream towards her. She tried to get to her feet and run, but she tripped on the robe and heard it tear as she fell to the ground. Struggling again, she made it to her feet as the creature grabbed a hold of her robe from behind. She opened her mouth to scream but was stopped short when its hand closed over her mouth.

Grabbing each of the orcs hands, she pivoted so that the orc flew over her shoulder and slammed into the ground. Another one grabbed her before she could do anything else to it though. Refusing to give in to her panic, she stabbed her heel into the orcs instep. It howled in pain, then had the breath knocked from its lungs as her elbow hit it in the abdomen. It released her and hopped back. Taking her chance, she again tried to run. The first orc on the ground grabbed her leg on her way past though, tripping her. The others then surrounded her.

The orcs spun her about and began grunting quickly to each other. Alesha was still able to understand what they were saying because of the magic of the robe, and she wished that she hadn't been able to do so. One held her while another pulled out an evil looking dagger and used it to cut her robe free from her. Twice in one day, Alesha found herself stark naked in front of strangers.

She was crushed against the ground and held under the rotting breath of one of the orcs while it worked at its breeches. In a few short seconds to terrifying to remember, She felt the orc grunt in victory and she felt its hard member press against her. She fought and twisted against it, but her strength was no match for the brutal rapist. She shrieked in agony when the orcs manhood violated her, tearing her maidenhood in a vicious thrust.

Her will was broken, she lay limp under the orc as it rutted against her, sliding faster as it lubricated itself in her blood and juices. The pain and the shame seemed somehow distant to her, and her mind floated in a haze. Dimly she realized that the orc no longer held its hand over her mouth, and that her shriek might bring help. She nearly chuckled at the thought of help, and realized it did not matter to her.

Her attention focused as the orc raping her grunted again and thrust into her even harder, then filled her with its evil seed. The warmth inside of her was a counter-point to the cold feeling that grew in the pit of her stomach. She looked at the orc as it climbed off of her and vowed then and there that it would pay for what it had done to her.

Another orc took its place as soon as it was off of her, and she laid there helpless, thinking that perhaps if she let them have their way with her they would let her live so she could exact her vengeance. The orc groped at her breasts, squeezing, pinching, and scratching them while it used its cock to batter away at her wounded sex. After a few excited thrusts, it found the entrance it sought and plunged deeply into her, sending shocks of agony anew into her.

In no time she felt another warm splash of liquid. The body on top of her stopped moving and collapsed on her, crushing her under its weight. She realized that it did not get up from her, and after a few more seconds of coherent thought she further realized that the liquid had splashed across her face, throat, and chest, as well as inside of her. She brought her now free hands up to touch the liquid. Looking at, she realized it was the orcs blood.

She grabbed the orc and rolled it off of her, gritting her teeth as it pulled free of her. Once the orc was off she saw that six of the eight orcs lay dead or dying. Another soon joined them and the remaining orc had started to run away. Kelnozz pulled a dagger from his belt and threw it, ending the orcs flight in a grunt followed by the crash of it falling into some bushes.

The elf walked up to the wounded orc and pulled his dagger free from its hamstring. The orc turned to see him, then tried desperately to crawl away from him. Kelnozz raised a sword and prepared to end the wretched creatures life.

"Wait!"

Kelnozz and the orc both looked back to Alesha, who had risen from the ground and now walked towards them. A look of determination was on her face, and combined with the blood on her upper torso and surrounding her lost virginity, she looked to be an angel of doom.

"Stake him to the ground," she demanded, towering over the orc.

"Got any rope?" Kelnozz asked, keeping the orc from moving by placing a foot upon its chest and keeping his sword at its throat.

Alesha turned to the slain orcs and glanced them over. She saw a couple of them carried a length of dirty and torn rope. Moving quickly, she pulled the rope free from their corpses and returned to Kelnozz.

"You want them tied up, you do it."

She nodded, strangely silent, but then sank to her knees beside the orc and began tying it up. After a few minutes she was finished and the orc had its arms secured behind its back and each leg tied to a tree, spreading them wide. Kelnozz put his sword away and sat down on a nearby rock to watch.

"What are you going to do?" he asked curiously.

"This is the one that raped me first," she explained, as if that was enough.

Kelnozz nodded, figuring she wanted to slowly kill it. He was concerned when he saw her pull the orcs breeches back down. His concern changed forms when she grabbed a fist sized rock in her hand and raised it above her head. The orc's mouth opened in a silent scream as her hand descended and crushed its testicles. With a mixture of amusement and pity, Kelnozz saw the orc pass out from the incredible pain that Alesha had inflicted on it.

She stepped back and glared at the orc for a while, still no emotion evident on her face. She moved to the stream and, cupping her hands, brought some of the cool water over to the orc and splashed it on its face. The orc awoke sputtering, then immediately grimaced in pain and began breathing heavily.

"Give me one of your knives," Alesha said to Kelnozz, still staring at the orc.

Kelnozz frowned. Instead he hopped off the rock and picked up a discarded short sword one of the orcs had carried. He handed that to her instead.

"Good idea, this is duller and rusty," she observed, examining the weapon as though she knew what she was looking at.

Kelnozz bit back his chuckle and watched as she again knelt down by the orc. She took his flaccid member and placed it on the ground between his legs. Touching his ruined sack caused him to whimper in pain. With one hand holding his penis to the ground, the other brought the tip of the short sword to rest on the base of the orcs manhood. Slowly, she pushed, making the orc scream in agony at first, then once it was mostly severed, it again passed out from the pain. Seeing her sport done, she finished the dismembering quickly and left it there on the orcs chest.

Alesha returned to the stream and did her water trick again to the orc to force it awake. When it came to its senses this time its eyes were watering in pain and it moaned constantly. She slapped it hard across the face to get its attention then spoke to it in its own language.

"I hope you die, asshole! But maybe I'll get lucky and you'll live. You'll never do to anyone what you did to me though, and you'll live forever in pain and ashamed. It won't make it up to me, but it helps."

Kelnozz was surprised by her. He kept his chuckle to himself that time too though. Alesha used the short sword again to sever the ropes that bound the orc. As soon as it was free, it cupped its hands to its ruined groin, then howled in agony again at the pain the contact with its swelling genitals caused. It stumbled to its feet and in a crouch, tried to run away from them.

"Teach me how to use this," Alesha said after a few moments of silence.

"You want to be a warrior?" Kelnozz asked checking the bodies of the orcs for any coins or other valuables.

"I thought that the self defense class I had taken was enough to keep myself safe. But it wasn't. I've nothing left now. I want to get some of it back!" She looked at Kelnozz and saw him looking back at her.

"Tell me everything of this world. This isn't a dream, and if I can't go back, I'm going to succeed here," she explained to his questioning look. "I was a twenty-two year old innocent earlier tonight. I'm different now. Things that used to matter to me don't now. Going to college or becoming a doctor doesn't matter to me anymore, since I'm stuck here. I suppose I should be thankful to be alive, since my hair dryer falling in the tub would have killed me, but I want more then to be alive. I want revenge. My life was ruined, everything I wanted and hoped for is gone. Somebody or something is going to pay for that."

She was talking more to herself then she was to him, but Kelnozz listened raptly. Much of what she said made no sense to him, but he had encountered beings from other plains of existence before, so he was not bothered by it.

"Clean yourself in the stream, then we'll head back to the camp."

She nodded and walked back into the stream. Finding a deep pool, she knelt down and was able to fully immerse herself. Coming back up, she worked her hands through her hair and over her skin rapidly, trying to scrub the blood and grime and other filth from it. After furiously scrubbing until her skin was raw, she finally gave up and came ashore. Her manner seemed to have softened, and she looked as though she had been crying. Kelnozz politely ignored her puffy red eyes as she stood before him.

"I'm ready."

"Do you want to steal some of the clothes from the orcs?" he asked her gently.

"No, I'll get something else from that tower."

Her voice seemed drained and empty. Kelnozz nodded, realizing she had endured a lot better then many would have. He led her slowly back through the forest to the camp. As they grew closer, they saw a flickering light ahead. They realized it was a fire. A very large fire. At that realization they began to run. Leaving the edge of the forest they saw the wizards tower engulfed in flames. Alone between them, a figure was silhouetted by the firelight. It turned when it heard them and their fears were put aside as they saw it was Nordan.

"What happened?" Kelnozz asked.

"Went in the tower to search for some gold, took the sword that demon snake bitch dropped before we slew her, then I started going through the wizards stuff. I grabbed a couple of books and saw a ruby fall from the ceiling."

Kelnozz brightened, hoping some of the books had been saved.

"Remember that mage we fought back in those mountains near Land's End? I thought it might be the same kinda thing, so I got the hell out of there. Got lucky, no sooner then I left the door it blew up. The fire is from that," Nordan explained.

"And the books?" Kelnozz asked.

Nordan nodded to a bag filled with the tomes on the ground nearby. He noticed Alesha was naked again, and that brought a smile to his face.

"What were you two doing?" he grinned lecherously.

"She found a group of orcs before I found her," Kelnozz said, glaring at Nordan to shut him up.

"Oh." Nordan said, catching Kelnozz's look and not pressing the matter.

"What am I going to wear?!" Alesha asked, realizing that her stolen wardrobe of wizard robes had just gone up in smoke.

"Nothing," Nordan said, grinning again.

"Don't be so worried, feel how warm it is? It's cool right now, normally it is warmer here. Many people go nude in part or in full here. Not much protection in a fight, but someone like you could use that to her advantage," Kelnozz explained.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not catching on.

"You're a beautiful woman, one of the best I have ever seen," he said to her, heading back towards the campfire. "And now that you're not trying to hide yourself from us, you're acting much like the people here do."

Alesha blushed and self consciously moved to cover herself. She realized it was useless and gave it up, but now that she was fully aware of it again she was again self conscious. "Thank you, I think. But um, I mean... Well, you guys have seen me a couple of times now, and you've helped me, but won't complete strangers try to do what those pig-men did to me?"

"Those were orcs," Kelnozz offered.

"Oh, some of them might try," Nordan said casually. "If you let them."

Alesha looked at the hulking barbarian and nodded after a moment to show she understood. "Well then, I guess for now this is my outfit. Until I get money and new clothes, that is."

They retrieved the bag and returned to their campfire to eat the now cold rabbits. Kelnozz rifled through the contents of the bag and pulled out the weapon that Nordan had mentioned. It was a very finely crafted katana with runes etched along the back edge of the blade.

"Here, this will work much better then that orc sticker you have," Kelnozz handed the sword to Alesha. "And you can sell that other sword and have some money for food or clothing."

She took the weapon and was surprised at how light it felt in her hands. Prior to that night she'd never held a weapon of such sorts in her hands before, yet this one seemed to fit in her palm very nicely. It was even warm to the touch. She recognized the design of it a moment later from several bad movies she had seen in her life.

"This is a katana!"

Nordan grunted and Kelnozz looked at her curiously, wondering why that excited her.

"No, I mean, this is a katana! Something from my world... are there Japanese people here too?"

"Japa-what?" Nordan asked, tossing the bones of his dinner in the fire pit.

"Don't think so," Kelnozz said, equally at a loss to explain what a Japanese was. "Katanas are used primarily by the elves, both light and dark. The demon probably got it from a light elf as repayment for some favor it needed."

"Oh," she said, disappointed.

"Hey, I don't have that robe on and we can still understand each other!" She exclaimed, excited. "And I was able to talk to that orc after I'd lost my robe too!"

Nordan looked at Kelnozz and saw he was only half listening. "Maybe the magic from the robe was permanent," he offered, not being sure.

Thinking about it, Alesha lay back on the ground and stared into the beautiful night sky. A night sky filled with strange constellations. Tears again filled her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.

Kelnozz continued to examine the books in the bag, being careful not to try and open them if they seemed magically guarded. At long last he sighed contentedly and placed them all back in the sack.

He looked around and saw both his companions asleep and most of the night gone. Figuring sleep a lost cause at that point, he remained awake and on watch, paying close attention to watch Alesha. He knew she'd have to learn much by the time they made it back to Sanctuary or she would be in trouble as bad as what the orcs had down to her. Or worse. Nudity was common, but beauty such as hers was nearly unheard of.

---

A few hours later Nordan snorted and woke up. Letting loose a belch, he nodded to Kelnozz then rose up and walked a few paces away from the dead fire pit. Dropping his breeches, he began to relieve himself.

"Oh God, I didn't need to wake up to that!" Alesha swore quietly, staring straight at Nordan from an angle that allowed her to see him quite clearly.

Nordan looked at her and winked lewdly, which drew a grimace from her. Kelnozz chuckled and rose up to begin readying their gear for travel.

"OW!" Alesha almost screamed as she tried to stand up.

"What's wrong?" Nordan asked, returning to pick up his pack.

"Damn I'm sore!" She cursed, cupping her hands over her crotch protectively.

"Can you walk?" Kelnozz asked, helping her to her feet.

"I think so," she said after taking a few steps and trying to stretch out a little bit. "But not to fast please!"

They nodded and finished gathering their gear in preparation for heading back to Sanctuary.

"What am I going to do with these?" Alesha had picked up both the katana and the short sword.

"Carry them," Kelnozz said, hiding his amusement at her discomfort.

Her mouth hung open for a moment as she digested that, then finally she snapped it shut, realizing that being pretty would get her nothing in this world. Her parents had been wealthy enough and their station high enough that she'd never had to do much in the way of work, other then keeping herself in shape, and now she discovered that she was about to get a hard lesson in humility.

They set off soon thereafter, setting what felt to Alesha to be a pace meant to drive her into the ground. By the ease with which Kelnozz and Nordan walked she could tell they were used to going faster. Gritting her teeth against the pain in her loins and her feet, she vowed that her first purchase would be a pair of shoes.

"If we cover enough ground, I'll start showing you how to use that blade when we camp tonight," Kelnozz offered to her in what he hoped would be encouragement.

"If I'm still alive," she muttered back to him, but forced a smile of thanks on her face anyhow.

"Tell me of religion here," Alesha said, trying to get her mind off her discomfort.

Nordan chuckled and quickened his pace to scout ahead while Kelnozz was left with the task of educating the girl on the workings of Viconia. Inwardly he groaned, it was going to be a very long day.

Continued in Chapter 3

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