by Tom Gallier
“You!” Alex cried, charging toward Lord Kalis. “Where is Thaleia?”
Lord Kalis pulled his sword and ordered his men to attack. Alex had just enough time to notice the nobleman wasn't wearing any jewelry, which reminded him about earlier conversations about magic. Since he didn't use magic, then he really was dependent on talismans for his magic.
Guards rushed Alex from all sides. He had to stop and defend himself. Alex spun left, then right, sword a blur as he fended off swords and spears. It was all he could do to defend himself, and some strikes got through to leave painful cuts on his arms and legs.
“Kalis, you coward!” Tiana cried as she charged down the stairs. “Stand and fight!”
Pirates flooded down the stairs. Almost everyone disengaged with Alex to turn toward the new threat. Lord Kalis looked anything but afraid. Indeed, Alex thought he just looked angry. He cursed vehemently, before hurrying down to the next level.
The big blond barbarian cried out in frustration as he plowed through the guards. He slashed left and right. They quickly thinned out as he neared the stairs. Alex rushed down the stairs without a second thought. Tiana and her pirates could take care of the guards.
“Let go of me!” Thaleia's rich voice echoed through the tower. “My father will have your head!”
“Hang on, Thaleia!” Alex cried. “I'm coming!”
She continued calling for help.
The next level was divided in half by a wall. The door into the room was thick with a small window. Alex figured it was a jail cell of sorts where Kalis held Thaleia prisoner. The door was open and the cell empty. Inside, there was only a wooden bucket and a small cot.
Alex hurried down the next flight of stairs. He heard a scuffle before he reached the next level. Lord Kalis was dragging a kicking and scratching princess down the next flight of stairs. He had only the briefest sight of them before the five guards attacked.
“You can run but you can't hide, Kalis!”
The guards spread out in a semi-circle. Alex stopped, looking them over with contemptuous eyes, and stalked forward. They didn't look impressed.
“Surrender, pirate, or you will die,” one of them said.
“Well, someone's going to die,” he snarled.
Every one of them looked competent and confident. They wore iron cuirasses and leather kilts, which he still sometimes thought of as mini-skirts. Their lower legs were protected by greaves and leather bracers protected her forearms. None of them wore a helmet.
Unlike the previous guards, those men were all white like him. Two of them were even long-haired blondes.
“Anyone from around Jarn?” he asked.
That made two of them pause. It was enough. Alex launched his attack at the closest man to pause. The guard swung his blade to parry, but Alex changed the direction of his swing and slashed his belly open. He planted a foot, spun and kicked out at the same time. Deep within, he marveled that he even knew that could be done. That kick to the side of the head sent the wounded guard crashing into the next man over.
“Bloody death to you all!” Alex cried, planting his foot again. He forced his body to spin in the other direction. Even with his powerful fantasy world body, it wasn't easy. A foot lashed out and slammed into the guard's knee, snapping it as Alex drove that knee to the floor. Without pause or thought, Alex drew his blade across the injured guard's throat. “No one stands between me and Thaleia.”
Tiana came screaming down the stairs. The three remaining guards turned towards her. Alex saw his chance, so took off running for the stairs. He went down them three and four at a time. The next level was empty, but he heard Thaleia's angry threats and curses. So he continued down.
“Thaleia!”
“Help me!”
They were close. He could hear her soft grunts and gasps. Kalis cursed and threatened her to no avail. Alex grinned. She might be a pampered princess, but Thaleia had spirit.
Coming down the stairs to the ground floor, Alex caught his first good look of the kidnapped princess. Thaleia had been stripped of all her finery, except for her bikini bottoms. It was mostly gold chain, with a little triangle of white silk to cover her nether region. Her waist-length hair was flying all about, and her boobs jostled so sweetly. Despite the situation, he paused for half a heartbeat to bask in her beauty and glory.
“Alex of Jarn?” Thaleia asked.
Both she and Kalis paused to stare at him. Then Kalis shoved the princess to the floor. That's when Alex noticed her wrists were bound. She landed with a gasp of pain. He turned baleful eyes on the exiled Kandosian noble.
“You've made a fatal mistake, Kalis,” Alex snarled.
“How dare you address me as an equal,” Lord Kalis cried. “I'll put you in your place, barbarian.”
Lord Kalis moved into an aggressive stance, sword presented. Alex recognized it as the first stance of a dueling style popular in and around Qûm. It was mostly popular with the nobility since it was a pretty style that he thought looked more like dancing than fighting. Appearance was everything among the ruling elite.
“You will try,” Alex said, moving on the nobleman with grim determination.
They closed quickly. Neither man showed any caution. Blades clashed and scraped. Alex tried to kick him, but Kalis was nimble for such a large man. Alex finally broke through Kalis' guard to leave a long cut under his right eye.
“Ouch, bet that hurt,” he taunted.
Kalis just smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile. Alex waved Thaleia behind him when she rose to her feet. The stairs back up the tower was behind him. Getting her aboard Wraith was his first priority.
“A-ha!” Tiana cried from the stairs. “You're mine at last!”
Thaleia squeaked. Alex half-turned as Tiana came screaming across the room. Too late he saw Kalis thrust at his heart. The blond warrior tensed, expecting to be impaled upon his foe's sword.
“No!” Thaleia cried, grabbing Alex's hair and yanking him back and around.
The sword strike missed. Alex stumbled straight into the stone wall, slamming into it head first. His knees buckled, and he slowly slid down to the floor as darkness engulfed him.
“Thaleia!” Tiana cried angrily. “Die!”
He wondered why Tiana was so angry with her. Had the pirate captain told him? He couldn't remember. Couldn't remember much of anything as darkness finally claimed him.
Chapter 29
“What the hell?” Alex grumbled, feeling his body jostling. Was he being dragged? “Let go of me, you moron.” Someone kicked him in the ribs. “Ugh!”
“Shut up, barbarian,” a rough, man's voice said.
“My Lord, the pirates have reached the treasury,” another man said, sounding out of breath.
“Dammit! Can anything else go wrong today?” Lord Kalis said.
Alex managed to force his eyes open. He took a quick inventory of his situation. His head and body ached like crazy. They'd bound his wrists, and two men were dragging him across the flagstone floor by said wrists. Behind them, another man followed with Thaleia thrown over his shoulders. The guard had the audacity to stroke, squeeze, and slap her almost naked butt as they went, which had her screaming in outrage. She kicked and squirmed, but was also bound by her wrists and helpless to save herself. Behind them, Tiana was unconscious and draped over another guard's shoulders. His hands were exploring, too, but she didn't know it.
He could hear, but not see, Kalis.
“Take them to the dungeon,” Lord Kalis commanded. “I'll decide their fates after I deal with the other pirates.”
Alex wanted to toss out an insult or threat, but his head was still spinning and he couldn’t form the words in time. Instead, they dragged him down stone stairs. He was jolted down one step at a time. That woke him up, but he stayed limp. While his first instinct was to fight, he thought they'd be more careless if they thought he was still unconscious.
“Get your finger out of my butt!” Tiana cried, making the guards all laugh.
“We
ll, the Queen of Pirates is awake,” one of the men dragging Alex said. “I wish I had my finger up her tight little tush.”
“I'll cut off all of your fingers and shove them up your – Uggh! Stop it!”
Alex couldn't take it. No one touched his woman and got away with it!
He twisted violently to turn over and regain his feet. The guards dragging him turned with big eyes. He thrust kicked one down the stairs, ducked under the other's wild right cross, and then kneed the hapless man in the nuts. The second guard doubled over and tumbled down the stairs.
“Ugh!” both Alex and Thaleia cried when she was bodily thrown against Alex.
The two of them went tumbling down the stairs, grunting, groaning, and crying out with pain and surprise. Alex tried to not strike her on the way down, but neither of them had any control of their bodies. They landed in a pile atop the first two guards.
There were more men on that level who helped the guards separate everyone. Alex was popped on the head again, giving him another knot to throb. Before he regained his senses, they dragged him across the room and lifted him up. There were manacles hanging from the ceiling. His bound wrists were cut free, and then locked into the manacles.
“Agh, you sleazy goat lickers!” he growled. “I'll kill you.”
That proved an amazing strain on his shoulders. He was still dazed and weak from two blows to the head and a tumble down stairs. Alex watched through hooded eyes as Thaleia's unconscious body was hung from the manacles to his right, and Tiana kicked, screamed, and threatened bloody death as three men struggled to hang her from the manacles to his left.
He watched the guards dump his and Tiana's weapons on the floor across the room. His hand itched to be filled with a hilt. Hacking men to bloody bits flashed through his mind. It was such a brutal scene it shocked him back to rational earth Alex.
I wish this was a dream, he thought. Maybe it'd be over soon. And wouldn't hurt so much.
Of course, Alex had a bad feeling Lord Kalis was going to make it end rather badly for him in the very near future.
“I heard Captain Tiana was a wild cat, but wow,” one of the men said. Then he punched her in the belly. “Bitch broke my nose.”
Tiana coughed and gagged, and then after the other two each punched her in the stomach, she puked. The beautiful, redhead cursed a blue streak, struggling with her bindings, but finally relaxed from exhaustion.
“I will have your heads on stakes before the sun sets,” she croaked out.
“More likely you'll have your ass on my stake,” one of the men threatened, grabbing his crotch.
“I'd like to see you try,” she said, eyes flashing.
“Keep your hands off her!” Alex shouted.
He lashed out with a foot and caught one of them in the face. The man fell straight back, unconscious before he hit the floor. One of his comrades pulled a knife and moved toward Alex. Tiana kicked him in the side of the head, and then there were two unconscious guards. Three more pulled knives, but another stopped them.
“Leave them be, boys,” he said. The guard glowered at Alex and Tiana. “Lord Kalis' magic will do far worse than anything we could do.”
They turned hostile, but viciously eager eyes on the hanging prisoners. They left, dragging their downed friends. Alex was happy to see them go.
“This is a fine mess you got me into, Alex,” Tiana accused.
“I did?” he said. “I had the upper hand against Kalis, until you charged in screaming and distracted me.”
“You're blaming me? How dare you!” she cried. “I'll gut you, you ungrateful barbarian.”
“Great. You're threatening me with bloody death, but I'm the barbarian,” Alex grumbled. Thaleia moaned miserably, starting to stir. “Princess Thaleia? Are you all right?”
“You're an idiot. Of course I'm not all right,” she whispered, voice getting stronger. “Ugh. Why am I hanging from the ceiling?”
“You're lucky,” Tiana replied. “If it was me, I'd have hung you up with an anal hook.”
Alex gawked at her. They had anal hooks in that world? Tiana never hinted that she was into that kind of kink.
“Tiana? What are you doing here?” Thaleia said, looking shocked.
“Looking for vengeance,” Tiana sneered. “And I'll have it, as soon as I figure out how to get down from here.”
“Stay away from me!” Thaleia cried. “I didn't do anything to you, whore! Your father supported Lord Kalis in the plot to overthrow my father. He deserved to die.”
“Aaaaiiieee! I'm going to skin you alive, and then send your pelt to your father!”
Alex looked back and forth between them. He understood there was bad blood between them. Tiana, at any rate, didn't like the princess. But he didn't know her father tried to overthrow the government with Lord Kalis.
“Well, this rescue is going well,” he said.
“Shut up!” they both shouted.
“Listen up,” he said, using his most commanding voice. “To escape we all need to help each other. If even one of us turns on the others, then we are all doomed.”
Neither of them said a word. They averted their faces, glaring off into space as they stewed in their own juices. He shook his head woefully. Alex had a bad feeling they were going to get them all killed. Probably in a very grim and painful manner.
“Promise me, Thaleia,” Alex demanded.
“Why should I?”
“Weren't you listening?” he replied. “Lord Kalis will kill all of us if we don't cooperate.”
“Not me,” she said. Thaleia smiled at him. “He needs me alive. Kalis was going to marry me today, and he still might. You two are dead meat.”
“Wow,” he said. “Why am I trying to rescue you?”
She dropped her eyes, but also bit her lip. He was about to berate her, but noticed tears welling up. Thaleia looked anguished and uncertain for a moment. Then a tiny sob escaped.
“I'm sorry, Alex,” she whispered so low he barely heard her. “I'm not used to being treated like this. I'm scared. I just want to go home.”
“Prissy little princess,” Tiana sneered. “I'm going to –”
“Shut it,” Alex snapped. “We are all going to fight for and help each other. Once we are safely away from this place, then I'll referee this argument between you two.”
“What does 'referee' mean?” Tiana asked.
“It means I'll help you resolve your fight without either of you dying or losing any body parts,” he said. “Besides, your fight isn't with Thaleia, it's with her father.”
“But killing her is the easiest way to hurt her father.”
“Tiana!”
She sighed and looked away. He waited. Finally, she rolled her eyes and glared at him.
“Fine. We'll do it your way. But I don't like it at all.”
Thaleia looked at Alex, and then Tiana. She worried her lip a moment.
“Swear on your honor, Tiana,” the princess said. “On your sacred word of honor.”
The pirate captain gawked at the princess. Alex knew something was going down, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Tiana was looking Thaleia up and down, over and over. The pirate looked suspicious, but she didn't say anything.
“Swear it, Tiana. Swear that you will never torture or kill me,” Thaleia demanded. She looked at the dark doorway when the sound of men laughing reached them. “You have to decide now.”
“Aaagh,” Tiana cried, struggling with her bindings. “Fine. I give you my sacred word of honor that I will never try to kill or torture you. Happy?”
“Quite,” the princess said, and grimaced as she started struggling with her wrists. She twisted and turned, grunted and groaned. And one hand slipped free. Thaleia winked at Alex, who was staring incredulously at her. “I have really tiny wrists.”
After a little more struggling, she was completely free. The princess paused to rub her hands and wrists, which were all bruised and scraped. Then she did a quick search of the chamber before returning wit
h a key and stool. She put the stool under Alex, letting him stand on it and release the pressure on his wrists.
“Hold still,” she said. “Bend your knees.”
Thaleia climbed up Alex, standing on his thighs to get enough height. The princess's naked boobs rubbed all over his face when she reached up to unlock his wrists.
“Once we're safely away, I'll let you have more than that,” she purred.
“You don't have to remain a virgin?”
“Ideally,” Thaleia said.
“She hasn't been a virgin in years,” Tiana said. “Princess Thaleia has a torrid reputation, which is why every prince within a thousand miles has 'courted' her, but no offers of marriage have come forth.”
Thaleia glowered at Tiana, but didn't deny it. Her face did turn a pretty shade of pink.
“Why should men have all of the fun,” she replied quietly. One, then the other manacle snapped open. “There. You're free.”
Alex felt such a sense of relief. Until that moment, he hadn't realized just how much it hurt and stressed out his wrists and shoulders. Hell, his whole body. Thaleia handed him the key and stepped back.
“You can free her.”
He moved the stool over and Tiana sighed when she finally got some relief for her tortured body. He joined her atop the stool, one arm around her waist to steady him as he reached up to unlock the manacles.
“Are you going to be a good girl?” he asked.
“Never,” Tiana said, giving him a smoldering, challenging look. “But I will keep my promise not to kill Thaleia.”
Thaleia knew the layout of the castle. Tiana wanted to go to the treasure room and join the fight, but the princess just wanted to escape. Since the princess knew where she was going, she got her way. They arrived in Lord Kalis' bedchamber in the keep.
“Why'd you bring us here?” Tiana cried. Her eyes landed on the large bed. “Even you're not so sex-obsessed as to want a threesome. At least not until we're safely away. Are you?”