by Loki Renard
With narrowed eyes, Liz watched Ayla put a shiny egg into her bag. "You have made a mistake," she mumbled. "I am very important. I am the most important person you have ever met."
Vix doubted the truth of that statement. Ayla was probably the most important person Ayla had ever met. At every significant junction of history, Ayla had been present. She was a part of history, a figure to be admired and indeed, respected. Liz's apparent disregard for the witch was somewhat upsetting. In Vix's wildest nightmares, she could not have imagined speaking to Ayla the way Liz did.
"I thought spies were supposed to keep quiet," she murmured, letting her voice only just be heard.
"I am discovered," Liz declared, as if it might be news to somebody. "But that will not stop me reporting to Ariadne. I will tell her that you intend to interfere, and she will be greatly displeased."
"You will tell her nothing," Ayla said firmly. "Because you will be staying with us until we reach the camp."
"Ha!" Liz declared defiantly. "Ha!"
That seemed to be all she had to say on the matter, for it was all she said.
Chapter Five
"Aeron."
Having tended to Blaine's wounds, Kira had to deal with the other, more difficult soldier. She found Aeron sitting in her tent, looking into the middle distance as if the blank walls contained some mystery unseeable to any other person.
Aeron did not look up, let alone get up. Any other soldier in the camp would have leaped to attention upon perceiving the great Kira in their presence, but Aeron was not so easily impressed.
Her wounds had been tended, a single stitch applied to her forehead somewhat marring the beauty of her otherwise pleasing features. She was a handsome young woman, bold and strong, the sort of soldier who made Kira's blood rise in approval. She was also the single source of most of the trouble in the camp. Aeron did not care for the approval of her peers, nor did she fear the pain of reproach or the shame of chastisement. Once she had decided her course, she dedicated herself to it without regard for consequences. When she met the enemy, she acquitted herself with the bravery of an immortal. Unfortunately, she was equally dangerous in the bosom of her allies.
"Come with me."
Aeron rose from the bed and followed obediently. Kira lead her to a part of the camp not often occupied by soldiers, a part where iron cages were had been constructed for the holding of prisoners. She held open the door to one such cage and pointed to the interior. "In."
Aeron went in without so much as asking a question or lifting a brow. Kira felt a pang. If only the soldier could be convinced to behave such measures would not be required, but Aeron didn't care about why she was being locked away, or how she might avoid it in the future. She went and sat on the simple bed which had been set up in the corner of the cell.
"Don't you care that you are being locked away?"
"If you want to lock me away, then lock me away," Aeron said, her liquid brown eyes holding nothing but simple obedience. "I am yours to command."
"Except for when you turn on others."
Aeron shrugged. "Blaine is a liability. She should leave."
"Not so much a liability that she cannot defend herself. You weaken our position by fighting with your comrades."
"She is not my comrade."
"I am your commander, and I say she is."
"You are my commander," Aeron repeated. "But she is not my comrade."
The stubborn little wretch was going to cause herself all manner of trouble, but what she did not yet realize was that she was not being caged as a punishment. She was being caged for her own safety, and for the safety of the others. The punishment was yet to come.
"You will not be assigned to any patrols for the next month," Kira informed her.
Aeron's eye's widened and her jaw dropped. Her voice rose in a squeal of complaint. "But I have to ensure the perimeter is secure!"
"Others will do that."
"Others!" Aeron's eyes narrowed in plain disdain for her comrades. "Others are not me."
"No," Kira said simply. "They're not."
"I must go on patrol," Aeron insisted. She was becoming quite agitated, her teeth flashing as her lips drew back.
"You must do nothing," Kira said firmly. "Besides learn to exist with those who fight with you. There are enough enemies in the world. You do not need to turn your friends into foes as well."
Aeron stood and stalked to the bars so she was all but nose to nose with Kira, or rather, nose to chin, for she was not as tall as the warrior. "You invite weakness into our camp," she growled. "And you punish strength."
"There are different kinds of strength in this world," Kira replied, her dark eyes lidded as she looked down at the angry soldier. "You will have to learn that, or you will live your life in cages of one kind or another."
"This cage will not hold me if I decide to escape it," Aeron said, her arrogance boiling over into anger.
"This cage will hold you to the end of your days if you are not careful," Kira replied, her voice cold and harsh. Though she had some tenderness in her heart for the rebellious soldier, she could not allow any of it to be seen. Aeron was testing her very last shred of patience.
"Yes," Aeron said with a short, barking laugh. "This cage will hold me because you have to resort to iron. None can best me, not even the immortal Kira will cross me..."
Aeron had been about to say something else, but it did not emerge from her lips, for Kira had summarily yanked the cell door open and stepped into the little lion's den.
"You want to prove yourself?" Kira cocked a brow. "Show me."
Suddenly uncertain, Aeron took a step back. Her shoulders slumped and she held her head much lower than before, her eyes darting around for an exit that did not exist.
"These cage bars do not protect me from you," Kira said, her voice soft but deadly serious. "They protect you from me."
Chapter Six
Vix sat down and began whittling, avoiding the chaos of conflict in the work of her fingers. Ayla had returned to the task of packing in her improbable fashion, putting everything into a little bag which did not grow any larger for the objects it contained. Liz was standing by indignant, her mouth moving without words, for it seemed she could not voice the full depths of her annoyance.
"You have struck me," she finally said. "And so you must be struck back!"
Vix looked up just in time to see Liz dart forward and slap Ayla fiercely across her ample rear.
Ayla calmly put her bag down and turned to Liz, who seemed to have realized her error for she was already backing away. Unfortunately there was nowhere to back. She soon found herself pressed against a wall whilst before her, Ayla beckoned slowly.
The witch did not seem upset. If anything, she seemed amused, but it was not the sort of amusement which would bode well for Liz. It was the sort of amusement which would likely come to full fruition when Liz was squealing her apologies at the top of her lungs.
In all her days, Vix had never come across someone so determined to find trouble. It was with a certain amount of envy that Vix watched the scene play out in front of her. Liz was rude and she was disobedient and in return she gained the attention of the beautiful witch.
Whittling harder, Vix returned to her labors. Her pockets were beginning to grow full of little bits and pieces, parts of what would one day be a larger whole. That was what really mattered, not the silly little games playing out before her.
There was a whacking sound, followed by a plaintive yelp. She supposed Liz was being thrashed, but she could not be bothered looking up to see. Neither Liz nor Ayla seemed to notice that she was still in the room. She had disappeared without the use of an invisibility potion.
As she whittled, the squealing and the smacking grew in intensity. It seemed that Liz was paying aplenty for her rudeness. A quick glance revealed that Liz's bottom had been bared, and her naked cheeks were glowing red. Ayla had managed to wrangle Liz over her thighs and was wasting no time or energy in teaching a les
son. Every time her palm landed a fresh blaze of red bloomed on Liz's bottom.
A little smile spread over Vix's face. The attention Liz was getting didn't look quite so fun now. It looked painful and very embarrassing. She could see every part of Liz's privates, including the blondeish down covering her vulva and the winking sphincter of her bottom. Her jealousy faded as Liz's cries turned plaintive.
"I loathe you!" Liz screamed the words at the top of her lungs.
Her loathing did not seem to do anything to dampen the effects of the witch's palm. Ayla tightened her grip on the material at the scruff of Liz's neck and spanked harder still, making her cheeks jiggle and wriggle with a hard, fast rhythm that sounded not unlike the beating of a clockwork heart.
Liz lacked maturity, Vix mused to herself. She was yet to learn that when one was faced with bigger, stronger, more powerful people it was best to avoid their wrath. That was maturity, avoiding things and maintaining decorum whilst one did. It was very immature to yell precisely what one thought, to recklessly express oneself without carefully considering all the possible ramifications of one's actions.
Liz very much deserved the thrashing she was getting, Vix thought smugly to herself. It was a shame for a woman of Liz's age not to have learned to meekly assent to the will of Ayla and those like her, the betters of the mere mortals of Lesbia.
"Stop it!" Liz demanded at the top of her lungs. "Stop it at once!"
"Do you really think shouting is going to make her stop?" Vix could hold her tongue no longer. "Why do you not try apologizing? This is in very bad taste."
"If you have a bad taste in your mouth maybe you should remove your tongue from this witch's rear," Liz shot back. "You're eating sh... owwwWW!"
Ayla slapped Liz soundly on her upper thigh before she could finish the thought but it was too late, the unpalatable image was already firmly embedded in Vix's mind.
Fortunately for Liz, Ayla did not have all day to beat her. They needed to make haste to Kira's camp and so the witch soon set the badly behaved small giant aside in order for them all to depart. They did so with various levels of excitement. Ayla seemed heavy of heart, Liz seemed sore of behind, Moon was somewhat distracted thanks to a decent dose of forest herb and Vix, well, Vix felt out of place and out of sorts as per usual.
Chapter Seven
The journey from Ayla's home to Kira's camp was short and eventful, but hardly in a way worth mentioning other than to say that Liz frequently pushed her luck and frequently lost her footing in favor of flailing over the witch's knee.
"Ayla." Kira met them at the entrance of the camp. She was in full armor, gold edged black steel plates covering every inch of her impressive body. Only her head was bare, her braid wrapped about her head in usual style, her eyes narrowed with obvious irritation. "I'm fairly certain I asked you to keep these two away from here."
"And I'm fairly certain I'm not one of your soldiers to be ordered about," Ayla said smoothly. She met Kira's gaze evenly, without concern. The warrior was still no match for the witch, no matter how great the armlette she commanded.
"Ayla doesn't follow the laws of the land or of common decency, for that matter." Liz appeared from the nearby forest. She was walking somewhat gingerly, and her gaze, when it landed on Ayla, was particularly bitter.
"Who is this?" Kira forgot her annoyance, her dark eyes focusing on Liz with no small amount of interest.
"I'm Liz," Liz said boldly. "I'm Ariadne's envoy and this witch's whipping girl."
Kira turned her gaze back to Ayla. "She looks just like her."
"I know." Ayla spoke the words almost like a ventriloquist, her lips clamped together to stop stray emotion from escaping.
"You think..."
"I don't know what to think," Ayla said curtly. She turned to Liz. "You may run along to Ariadne now, tell her of what has passed."
"I will," Liz said, chin raised. "She will wreak her vengeance upon you, and it will be full of venge."
Kira snorted in amazement. "She even sounds like..."
"I don't need to hear this," Ayla cut Kira off shortly.
Liz was already off, running at a fast lope. That left Moon and Vix by Ayla's side, both looking sheepish under Kira's less than impressed stare.
"How long was it before they convinced you to come here? A day?"
"A matter of hours," Ayla said. "What is it that has these two so very concerned?"
"Who knows? They are not soldiers," Kira shrugged. "I imagine everything concerns them."
"Ariadne's plan must be stopped," Vix said, finding her voice and her courage. "She is operating outside the purview of nature."
"It would be easier to stop it if we knew what it was," Ayla said. "But they cannot speak directly to the nature of the plan."
"So two army dropouts tell you something is wrong and you drop everything and come rushing into a war zone to do... something about something?" A slow grin spread over Kira's face. "You were bored."
"A witch is never bored."
"You were bored," Kira laughed out loud. "You couldn't stand being left out of the fun. Come along then, there is room in my tent for you. As for your guides, they can report to the usual quarters."
Moon and Vix shot one another hopeful looks as they sloped off toward the canvas tents which held the general rank and file. That left Ayla and Kira alone, walking back through the camp toward the grand black tent in which Kira lived.
"You didn't need to come," Kira said, holding the tent flap open.
"You knew I would," Ayla replied. "You knew what would happen when you left your little friends at my home. You wanted me here."
Kira smirked. "It's always nice having you around, Ayla."
"I should thrash you for being so devious."
"Don't you have a whipping girl for that?" Kira began removing the heavy shoulder guards.
"She deserved everything she got," Ayla replied firmly. "She's impulsive, rude, mouthy..."
"And she looks a lot like Atrocious."
"A passing resemblance," Ayla said, trying to play it off. "She is not Atrocious. She is a disobedient, disrespectful..."
"Sounds like Atrocious to me."
"Atrocious is gone."
"I know." Kira put her hand on Ayla's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm sorry. This must be hard for you."
"It's another of Ariadne's little games," Ayla said grimly. "I am sure of it."
"If it is, it's a cruel one."
"I'm afraid I may have taken it out on Liz somewhat," Ayla sighed, taking a seat. She crossed one leg over the other, graceful even under pressure. Her hair was long and loose as always, flowing gently down her back and over her shoulders, nearly brushing the floor. "I have had little patience with her, and shown even less kindness."
Kira shrugged as she removed her breastplate, revealing a leather tunic which conformed neatly to the lines of her body. "She didn't seem too worse for wear."
"It's not her hide I worry about, so much as her heart. She is fanatical about Ariadne."
"That won't last long. Ariadne is the only goddess who does not want to be worshiped."
"She wants to be a witch, but she has no magical aptitude at all," Ayla rested her head on two of her fingers and sighed. "It's quite sad."
"Sad, maybe, but not your problem. Ariadne's problem."
Ayla nodded slowly, then clasped her hands together in her lap. "Are you going to tell me what the big secret is?"
"I don't know what the big secret is," Kira said. "I'm just a grunt. I bring the muscle."
"And Ariadne brings the dark plots," Ayla mused.
"Can't argue with the goddess who grants eternal life," Kira agreed. She settled herself down on her bed, arms behind her head.
There was a moment's silence before Ayla responded. When she did it was in a casual tone which belied the significance of the statement. "Actually, I rather think you can. I intend to."
"What?" Kira sat bolt upright. "What do you mean?"
"It means I tire of her tyr
anny."
"So you are on the side of the queen."
"I am not on any side," Ayla said. "This war does not concern me. The boundless goddess who sends innocents to do her work does."
"But..."
"I know you pledged your loyalty," Ayla said, waving Kira's concerns away with one long, elegant hand. "I do not expect your help. This is a matter between Ariadne and I."
"No." Kira stood up, shaking her head. She stood over Ayla, pointing a finger at her with a demeanor which was undeniably stern and staunch. If she had been addressing anyone other than Ayla, it might have had some effect. "This is your attempt at suicide."