Closed [Guest ST][Shiress] Without a Quicker Blood

[Philomena]

Elijah stood, the groan and crackle of worn and painful joints accompanying the movement. He watched as the great, muscular girl whimpered and cringed under the pain. He chuckles quietly, and looks down derisively at his slave.

"Yes… you are a brave girl, aren't you, Shearsy? A brave thing. The other shoulder on our friend, hmm?"

He nodded to the man holding up Haddy. He grinned doltishly, bent his thumb and dug it into the arm.

"Oh… yes, my little bitch, my little slut. You are a brave one, aren't you? So brave! Well, if you demand a death…"

He turns and looks at Haddy.

"I tell you what, Shearsy, my girl. We'll start smaller. You stand up and take your dress off, that's all I ask. And I'll lower my threat. I won't kill you. Just you're puppy here."

He grins and nods at the great oaf of a man. He reaches into a holster at his side, and draw out a shining, steel knife blade. The man reaches with one hand and grabs a handful of hair pulling hard down, with a crack of the woman's neck, leaving her chin pointed up, and her neck exposed. The other hand, with a sinuous pleasure, sets the knife tip against the woman's neck. She draws slowly, carefully, with an almost erotic pleasure in his eyes, the tip leaving a shallow line of red in the sweaty skin, there.

Elijah chuckled softly, and wipes his face, sweaty and feverish.

"I'll try to keep our friend here under control, Shearsy, my girl. But he does so enjoy his work. Do you hear that very quiet little swishing? That's the hourglass in my head. When it runs out, I lose interest, and we cut a touch deeper into your friend. After all. I have no use for her. Just you. You should… try to make sure she's still useful. Swish. Swish."

--------------

Seduction is the luxury of the lonely and the leisurely. Lona was too busy to be attracted to the smoldering fellow, at the moment. Her general frustration clarified her own place in the situation, and let her brush away the subtlety of sexual attraction. The man wanted to petch? That's what he wanted out of this?

She looked in his eyes, and saw there the peculiar hunger she'd pushed out of the memory of her childhood, that hunger that they though was for sex, that they though was simply for a keyhole for their key, but really wasn't. The sex was secondary. They wanted something else. Sometimes, they had wanted to control her. Sometimes, they wanted to be praised. Comforted, Reminded. Feared. It didn't matter, in the end, it had the same core. That was the insight of a girl who'd been a skinny, flat chested eleven year old, underneath the heavy, angry male bodies - what they wanted was to know they were strong. And the fact they needed it meant they weren't.

And maybe, she reflected, had reflected before, they weren't always that way. Maybe. But she'd never seen evidence to the contrary. So fine. Let the petcher feel strong, if that's what he needed.

She approached, dropped her shoulders, simultaneously making her look weaker and revealing a bit more breast - enough even to show the ugly scar of her slave branding close to her left nipple - though not the nipple itself. Even she, who never sought this shyke out by choice, knew that much - show just enough. Not an inch more.

Petch she was tired. This would be her second time at this damned game, today.

"Alright, doctor. I need your help, cleaning a bit of a mess up. Maybe we can cut through this damned dance. This is what you want for your price? Fine. I've got a room, you don't seem the sort to take your whores home with you. Lets get it done with. I'm not going to ask much - you take a trip out of the walls, save someone's life. A friend of yours anyway. Deal? Or do I have to go and do something stupid?"

She felt irritation with herself - she could appear just a little more attractive? But, she was no tart, not anymore. Hopefully the man would just be animal about it. And then, if he refused to do his bit afterward, well, a man alone in her room was easier to... persuade than in a public house.

[Hadyn Skellig]

He was a real petcher, this Worm. His words were as oily and fetid as the lips from whence they sprung. Shiress' reaction to his foul deed was dangerous but Hadyn couldn't help but feel a surge of pride as the auburn girl disobeyed the wretched shyke of a man. But as the brunette suspected the Worm would use her as bait to make Shiress comply. Were she unrestricted by the gag Hadyn would've encouraged her friend to stay defiant. But gods was he wicked in his method of submission. The weaponsmith had barely recovered from the first assault and now he'd ordered a second on her other shoulder. At least she knew what to expect.

Two more tears slipped down her cheek, though they were likely a result of boiling rage. Her limbs ached something fierce and she wanted nothing more than to sink to ground and relieve the astriction on her muscles. But if Shiress was to stay strong then Hadyn would too, if only to show solidarity against this fuck of a man. Though she was too embroiled in the sensation shooting down her arm to listen to the Worm's threats, the change in demeanor was not lost on the woman. Her captor released her arm and adopted a far more threatening pose, yanking back a fistful of Hadyn's hair, wrenching her skull painfully to expose her neck.

Hadyn was no fool. It was a predictable move though she'd hoped they'd go through the song and dance a little longer before it came to this. Her vertebrae were on fire, the man's grip forcing an arc in her spine as she tried to relieve the pressure. The sting from the knife drawing slowly across her neck was late to register but she kept perfectly still, chest pulling in labored breaths as she kept her eyes on the sky. Her shoulder pressed to her captor's body, the stench of sweat and rot pulsing from him as the blade halted against the opposite side of her neck. Liquid wept tentatively from the thin incision, sliding down her neck, over her collar bone and seeping beneath her shirt. The Worm spoke again, threatening Shiress like a cat batting a mouse before he makes a meal of it. Unable to see much Hadyn remained rigid, unwilling to release the tension and display defeat. Perhaps the stupidity of the stubborn but she'd watch Rhysol spare the innocent before she relented to this swine. She prayed Shiress was of the same mind.

[Shiress]

This was not what was supposed to happen. Any other sound minded person may have been able to see this coming a mile away, but for Shiress, the retribution of her contempt had gone very wrong. To her, this felt like she was stabbing herself, but the one she loves was the one bleeding.

As Jordan barked his command, Shiress closed her eyes. Her fight was not hurting herself, but her friend. Hadyn's cries of pain were wrenching, but it was the blade pressed against her friends throat that sent a jolt through the girls heart. "NO! Please?" She called out, her voice low and her tone saturated with defeat. "OK, just please, don't hurt her, please."

She nodded her head, understanding now that conceding to her master would ensure her friends safety, and lifted her arms for the woman to free her wrist. She turned away her face with a gasping cry,having no choice but to be a slave again.

Her hands and feet were freed and she stood, tears falling gently down her face, as she began to loosen her dress. Soft, ivory skin left in the wake of trembling hands as fingertips worked reluctantly to free the buttons, then the sash tied at her waist.

The soft fabric came across her shoulders, slipped past her arms and fell effortlessly to the dirt. Shiress drew in a shaky breath and closed her eyes, her thin body covered only by long ,wavy strands of her auburn hair, as she stood, naked and vulnerable, in the face of evil.
OOCSorry for such a terrible post

[Orion Michaels]

Well this one was annoying. He could feel his jaw tighten, causing him to keep a deep breath trying to calm himself. He wasn't going to have some bitch ruin his evening. "If you aren't interested in a free drink and some conversation, then feel free to see yourself out." He raised his glass again, drinking form it slowly. Brilliant blue eyes watched her from over the rim as he took in what she said. What in the world was she talking about?

"Don't worry, I'm not even the slightest bit interested. You've got a knack for killing attraction," he remarked through a cool gaze. "So please, cover yourself a little. If you haven't noticed, we're in a fine establishment, not a whorehouse." Like he had any right to say anything along those lines. Before she opened her mouth and pissed him off, he was ready to see about taking her up to a room and losing himself in a night of passion. Better be done with her, now.

But something bothered him, so he couldn't turn away. What did she need him for?

"I must ask...what is going on? A friend of mine is in danger?" He ran through his short list of people he considered friends. Fallon was a squire complete with patron. She should be fine, and he doubted a woman would come offer her body to get him to come aid her. The Knights would be involved in any issues there. His Drykas buddy, Tourmal? He'd not heard from him in some time...

"Who is so important to you that you'd trade your body for it?" He shook his head, sacrilegiously swallowed down a full glass of expensive wine, and rose to his feet. He'd not be fully armed for this. Just the sword resting on the table. So why was he going to do this?

Oh yeah. The wine. He was invincible right now.

"If there's a life to save, then let's save it. You'll see me in action, regret your choice of words, and then I'll have a chance to reject you properly." After attaching the weapon to his side, he looked at her expectantly. A little too much drink, and a little too much faith in a world that he could have lost all hope in awhile ago. A dangerous combination, and one which always led to stupid choices. He could only hope this wasn't one of those times.

[Philomena]

When the dress began to move, the man's nostrils began to snuffle, like a wild animal. Each button made him lick his lips a little bit, his eyes burning with something passing desire and three-quarters down the road toward hatred. He looked at his former slave with the need, fear, and loathing that a starving man might look at a maggot-infested piece of meat. His voice was queer, now, high-pitched and slathering.

"Hurry up about it, bitch! Petch-Vayt-and-smear-it, let it be there, let it be there..."

The other thugs standing round the grave looked disinterested, mildly disgusted even, both with thier employer, and with his little toy.The older woman held two long knives, just in case the slave tried anything untoward. The dress dropped, and the woman stood naked. The man who held Haddy up snorted derisively.

The old woman frowned.

Elijah stepped forward, her greasy, filthy fingers reaching towards the woman's calf. There, on the slave's calf, just above where the skirt would have hung, it glowed. Shiress was bcovered in the ugly bruises and filth of her binding, the cruel binding leaving red looping welts just below, but there, on the top of her calf, it showed.

A shining silver root. A gnosis mark.

Elijah pet it with quivering, desire maddened fingers and began to giggle wildly.

"Yes! Yes... there it is. This little walking shyke-brain, she thought she would take you away from my, my little root, didn't she?"

He turned to the people around, his eyes wild, the stubble of a patchy beird white and grey against the combined rosiness of the horrible skin ailment and his rising excitement.

"There! There, you all see it! I told you. I told you! Lona told you! And you didn't believe me, did you?"

------------------------

What. A. Blood-soaked moon-rag of a man.

It was a wise man who said once that insulting a Suberthian lass was something like throwing pebbles at a Zith - you are best hoping it DOESN'T have an effect. As someone who frankly would soon have control over whether this pompous little whore of a man would live or die away on the edge of the Bronze Woods, Lona found it something between amusing and offensively stupid how quick this man was to destroy any advantage his charm might give him, simply for the opportunity to assuage his own pride.

"Aye, I bet you aren't interested. You like the fawning, and needy, don't you? You like them to pet you and shiver and tell you how petching pretty you are don't you, you little popinjay?"

She heard his questions, but the man was obviously just a touch soggy-brained at the moment. Never trust a man thinking with his pants not to augment it with his throat. She'd more or less gotten him... well, not where she wanted him, but where she needed him. just far enough that he'd come with her, but sure enough of his own damnable superiority to her to blind himself with illusions of his own heroism.

She straightened her shoulders, and shrugged slightly. She was not con-woman. If a bit of liquor was going to help her efforts in getting the man out to the woods, she wouldn't complain. After the gates... well, she'd seen him fight. She knew she could outdo him if it came to it, just another spoiled rich squire, talking honor out his mouth, and petch-me-drink-me out his arse.

"Alright, doc. Very well. Come on. You're going to need a doctor's bag. I dunno know what, I only break folks, I can't fix 'em. You tell me - I need something ugly enough a lass'l look like she's done for to a bunch of mercenaries, but that you can fix up passably well. Maybe your superios Syliran wisdom can suggest something specific, 'eh? And hurry up about it. I'm already pushing my luck."

[Hadyn Skellig]

She may as well still be blindfolded. The angle with which the bastard held her head, tipped back to expose her neck to his overeager knife, made it nigh impossible to see anything. But the Worm's words provided enough imagery. Shiress submission pained Hadyn though there was really not much to be done. The demand to remove her dress sickened the brunette, her wrists twisting uselessly against their bonds. Gods help her if he meant to rape the girl here in the middle of the forest like an animal. But it didn't seem likely, considering the way he demanded her to remove it, just to humiliate her rather than subdue her with force and take what he wanted.

But the man was mad.

Listening carefully Hadyn sensed a change in the Worm's demeanor, the timbre of his voice rife with urgency. What could he desire so much from Shiress' body that he couldn't wait one more petching chime? When at last he had what he wanted an exclamation exploded from him though Hadyn couldn't imagine what he was referring to. Something about Shiress' skin. A birthmark? some branding he'd put upon her? the woman was at a loss but she didn't dare waste this opportunity.

It seemed the small retinue was entranced by whatever the Worm was prattling on about. The grip on her head lessen only a fraction but it was enough to given Hadyn leave to readjust her feet beneath her. A tiny change but enough to bring minor relief. Swallowing with some effort the woman closed her eyes, the gag in her mouth biting into the corners of her lips.

A thought passed through her mind as she stood there like a pig waiting for the slaughter. How'd he found Shiress? Not much of the girl's past was known to Hadyn - enough to discern that she'd fled this vermin. But he'd managed to not only track her down but attack her in her home. Hadyn vaguely recalled a female voice barking at them in the box, but it seemed that bitch was either silent or dismissed. And there'd been someone else, a man. He'd fallen quiet as well. Without her sight, memory of the captors voices was all she had.

Another consideration tugged restlessly at her thoughts. How the petch were they going to get out of this one. The Worm would certainly not go through all the trouble to dispatch of Shiress now, especially when he was squealing gleefully about whatever he saw on the girl that pleased him so. But Hadyn - she was expendable. Perhaps he'd try to make her a slave as well. Fat chance of that happening. But maiming, beating or killing her, those were all very real possibilities. And she was entirely useless at present. It drove her mad to have not an iota of control. She was loathe to be vulnerable, helpless and at the whim of others. Damsel in distress was a role Hadyn abhorred and refused to place herself in but she was very much in distress right now.

OOCSorry for the plegh post

[Shiress]

It had been quite awhile, but Shiress still knew where to put herself away to be safe from Elijah Jordan. To know the girl, one knows when she is upset, scared, in pain or even angry, her eyes close and she leaves, she drifts away to a safe corner in her mind and she'll stay there until the threat passes. She has never been a fighter, fighting her enemies would have gotten her beaten, tortured and even killed..slowly.

Before the dress had completely left her body, her eyes closed and she was gone. The voice of her master faded away behind the echo of her pounding heart and the subtle ambience of owls, crickets and cicadas whispering through the thick trees.

She turned her face away as she heard the footsteps of her master bring him closer. Her body shook with fear as tears fell slowly past her parted lips that drew in short quivering breaths through clenched teeth. She lifted her arms and crossed them over her chest. She knew something was coming, like trapped prey staring at a bow and readied arrow, she felt the pain before it was given.

Shiress winced as his cold, clammy flesh touched her skin, but it was his laugh that caused the girl to open her eyes. She didn't turn to him and she knew better than speak. She glared off into the trees and the darkness that surrounded them, more twisted in confusion and dread.

Bala

[Orion Michaels]

"Don't forget how I want to hear about how I'm the best they've ever had, so much bigger and better than their last boy toy. And besides, aren't my eyes just the most beautiful things you've ever seen?" This woman was something else, and she wasn't from around here. He'd lived in Sunberth long enough to pick up that accent when he heard it. It was curious, even in his slightly inebriated state. He'd deal with it if anything came of it.

Turning to a random patron, the former doctor narrowed his eyes, fully aware they were making somewhat of a scene. "Don't even think about touching my wine, boy," he stated, narrowing his eyes at the uninvolved man. "It'sss...expensive."

The woman had began to speak, causing him to change his focus to here, regrettably leaving the would be thief to eye his wine bottle. Unacceptable, but necessary it seemed. "Hrm..." He began to walk towards the exit of the inn, glancing back sadly at his drink before exciting. "Well, I need to run by the dorms to get my equipment, unless you happen to have some supplies wherever it is you're taking me. And as far as an injury...well, a cut on the head will bleed a lot and seem a lot worse than it is. If they know anything about how to kill a person, anything in the torso is pretty bad news...." His gait was slightly off as the effects of the drink were making themselves quite plain. His speech was slurred, but it didn't stop him from spouting his knowledge out, requested or otherwise.

"A shallow laceration on the midsection could get the job done, too, but you'd have to keep it shallow. Catch any of the guts, and there isn't a thing I can do."

[Philomena]

The fellow holding Hadyn up now frowned, uncomfortably, "Sure. We see it, boss. What the petch we do now?"

Elijah thought was oblivious to this, pulling himself in a half crawl over closer to the calf he held in his fist. He bent there, ignoring the naked slave above him, and breathing hard and heavy began rubbing his face against the calf, at first slowly, almost tenderly, then faster and faster.

"Yes... yes, yes..."

He panted in a dry-throated lascivious way, and then staggered up to his fight, almost drunken-faced.

"You... you, all of you... tie them both up, again. We leave in the morning."

The torturer at Hadyn's should shrugged, sheathed his knife, let go of her hair. He pushed her down to her knees, and went to tie up the slave, now allowing himself a lascivious smile. Elijah was climbing down from the cart now. He grabbed the woman's wrist, and pulling off his own belt, wrapped it tightly wrong Shiress's hands. Then he looked up with his piggish eyes at the older woman, who looked sour. Almost bored, now.

"Eh, Hetty. Seems a shame now I have my belt off anyway not to petch sumpin' so easy to hand eh?" he sniggered unattractively and gripped his member through his riding breeches.

Hetty snorted, grabbing a bit of rope to tie the girl's feet. Her knots were cruel, and sharp, and twisted Shiress's ankle bones, making her fall if she had not been supported by the rough hands of the man behind her.

"Sure thing, go right on with it, no skin off my teeth."

The man looked a little unsure, even perhaps horrified at this comment. Hetty took the slave woman pushed her down in stumbled, and planted a knee against her neck, cutting off part of her airflow as she grabbed her hands and ankles and tied them together in a tight hog tie. "Just... don't come pissing and crying to me in the morning, when your petching tadger looks like the boss's face, eh?"

She lifted her knee, leaving a heavy black bruise on the flesh of the slave's neck.

------

Lona looked at the man with simple, visceral disgust when he spoke to her, "Sure, Doctor. You're the petching most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Now. Come on with it, eh?"

She stalked out of the place with the doctor in tow, listening carefully but irritably to his mindless prattle, speaking only occasionally, and only to gently direct the conversation, ensure the drunken oaf didn't land himself in a place saying something too loudly and too dangerously for the thinning streets of Syliras. He got his bag, she took her own horse, and a second for the doctor, and headed out the gates of the city, a nod to the guard, who smiled with no subtlety about his lasciviousness back.

A little distance between the city came, but she said nothing. They approached the woods, and if she was not stopped, she led him inside. A little ways in, she led him into a hollow dell, and nodded.

"Alright, doc. Here you are. Don't even know her damned name."

She averted her eyes, troubled, and tired, now. The long ride leaving her a bit less guarded. She berated herself interneally for this.

"Blacksmith lass. I will be.. perhaps an hour. She'll tell you all about what a monster I am, no doubt. Keep your damn head down in the meantime."

She turned her face away and began to canter her horse, but stopped again, mumbled.

"Sorry... I can't bring the other one."

[Hadyn Skellig]

And then, within a matter of chimes, it was over. Hadyn managed to maintain her lifeblood within her body and the Worm appeared bored with whatever disgustingly captivated him so. Well, perhaps he wasn't bored but from what the blacksmith could hear he was seemingly done with his show of obsession, the tone in his voice switching to a more disoriented, aloof timbre. For her part the brunette was glad the ordeal was paused, particularly for Shiress' sake.

The bastard at her back pushed to her down, her knees sinking into the rough earth with a thump. Behind the gag she repressed a groan and closed her eyes against the fall. Opening them she witnessed her captor approach Shiress and remove his belt. Hadyn tensed only relaxed slightly as he bound the girl's wrists. But his following comment awarded him a fierce glare from the blacksmith. She twisted angrily against her bonds, sitting back on her heels as she tested the strength of the knots binding her.

The bitch's response was even more enraging, causing Hadyn to bite against the gag to avoid making any muffled noises. At this rate the two of them wouldn't last until morning. But Hadyn's visceral response to the woman's foot on Shiress' neck was considerably less inconspicuous. The blacksmith thrashed against her bonds, feral noises rising in her throat as she effectively growled at them like some strangled predator, brows furrowed. She had no intention of swaying them from whatever lewd acts they may attempt, but she'd be damned if they thought she'd just sit there like a whipped mongrel. Her knees adjusted as much as her tied ankles would allow to spread her base of support as her fingers agonized against the rope. She wanted to give Shiress courage not to submit to this horror.

Bite him if he dare tries, Hadyn urged silently, unsure if such a thought could be transmitted through a glare.